Sept. 20th, 1884. 
THE GARDENING- WORLD. 
43 
frame, and afterwards watered, kept close, and shaded 
from bright sunshine for a few weeks, will readily 
root, after which the plants should have plenty of air 
on all favourable occasions to prevent them from 
making a weakly growth. They should be protected 
from the effects of frost and excessive damp during 
the winter months. 
-- 
Gloneria jasminiflora. —Although this plant 
has been introduced several years, one scarcely ever 
finds it even in good cultivation, and yet it is certainly 
one of the best and most useful flowering plants that 
can be grown. Being a native of Brazil it requires a 
warm greenhouse temperature, that is to say, not less 
than 45 deg. in winter. The plant is of shrubby 
growth, with light green coriaceous leaves, and the 
flowers, which are pure white, are produced in clus¬ 
ters, Jasmine-like, and will keep in flower for several 
months of the year. It usually commences about 
February, and continues as long as it makes fresh 
growths. It is not subject to insects like many 
plants, but should it get near filthy associates it is 
easily cleaned. The best soil for its growth is a good 
mixture of fibrous loam and peat in about equal parts, 
with a little silver sand, and by using the syringe 
freely the plant is easily kept clean even in the dusty, 
foggy atmosphere of towns. This plant should be 
grown largely where choice white flowers are required, 
and for exhibition purposes I don’t think it has a 
superior.—IF. B. 
■ - ->-£< - 
Clerodendron foetidmn. — One would hardly 
expect to meet with a Clerodendron growing outside, 
and yet the other day we met with the above species 
at the foot of a south wall at Kew. The globose 
panicles of rosy lilac flowers, 3 in. in diameter, 
reminded us of an Ixora, and as they are supported 
by leaves of a rioh dark green, the effect produced was 
very pretty. It was introduced from India in 1820, 
and of course will not stand our winters without pro¬ 
tection. Whether it has been planted out this year or 
not we are unable to say. 
- *$<— - 
Episcia fulgida.— This pretty Gesneraceous plant 
is now in flower in the stove. The habit is that of a 
Gloxinia, the leaves dull olive-green, with pale silvery- 
white veins, and the flowers, which are tubular with 
spreading limb, one inch long and three-quarters broad, 
are of a fiery scarlet. It is a native of Columbia. 
The Soma Plant. —The Daily News states that 
Dr. Aitchison, a member of the Afghan Boundary 
Commission, has been sent out to study the natural 
history and botany of the places passed through, 
and orders have been sent out for him to try and 
discover the Soma plant, so celebrated in the Vedas, 
as the material from which the Soma juice was 
extracted. This plant does not grow in India, and 
is only Blown from the sacred books of the Brahmans; 
but on the assumption that the Aryans came into 
India from the mountain region of Afghanistan, it is 
thought that the plant still exists, and ought to be 
found. Should Dr. Aitchison succeed in this it will 
be a matter of great interest to Sanscrit scholars. 
Tuberous Begonia, Miss Simpson. — This 
magnificent variety, raised by Mr. A. McLeod, gardener 
to Mrs. Simpson, Sudbury House, Harrow, has been 
beautifully in bloom all through the summer, and is 
still shpwy. It has been much admired, and pro¬ 
nounced the best even among Mr. McLeod’s good 
collection of these plants. It has snow-white flowers, 
prettily edged with pink, and it is of great substance 
and durability. Its flowers are of perfect shape, and 
measure 5 in. by 4 in. 
Bessera elegans. —This is a very handsome 
flowered Mexican bulbous plant, having graceful 
spikes of pendulous scarlet blooms. It is now fine 
with Messrs. F. Horsman & Co., of Colchester, who 
are making quite a new departure in bulb culture with 
theh lovely Mexican bulbs growing in the open garden. 
The rare and pretty Tigridia Pavonia alba is also in 
bloom with them. 
Milla biflora.—This lovely star-shaped, white- 
flowered bulbous plant has been in bloom all the 
summer with Messrs. F. Horsman & Co., of Colchester, 
and it is yet good. It is a lovely bouquet flower. 
Peas. —Never, perhaps, have gardeners had a worse 
time of it than they have this year, for the heat has 
been intense, which would not have mattered so much 
if it had not been accompanied by such drought, the 
parching effect of which was so great that peas were 
scorched up, and either died outright or became so 
crippled with mildew and the attacks of that abomin¬ 
able thrip that they have not been able to bear any 
pods since. By dint of great perseverance in the way 
of syringing with water strongly impregnated with 
sulphur and soft soap, we just managed to keep ours 
alive, which we could not have done had they not 
been heavily mulched and watered, and they are now 
making a little fresh growth at the tops, but whether 
we shall get anything from them remains to be seen. 
The sort we sow for late work is British Queen, which 
I believe to be the best of any, as I have tried it side 
by side with others, and treated all exactly alike, but 
none have stood so long and borne so well as the one 
mentioned. To come in as a second early and carry 
on a supply all through the summer months there are 
none equal to Ne Plus Ultra, which is a remarkably 
free bearer, large in size, splendid in colour, and of 
most exquisite flavour. 
Scarlet Itunners.— Not only has it been a 
trying season for Peas, but Scarlet Runners failed to 
set, as the blossoms shed wholesale, but since the rain 
the growth has been free, and all late sown ones are 
bearing profusely, and will give a grand field for the 
autumn, a time of year they are specially adapted for, 
as they enjoy the cool air and moisture, and continue 
to bear long after the French kinds cease. A batch 
of these latter should now be up in frames where they 
can be afforded a little heat by-and-bye, either by 
means of dung linings or a hot-water pipe, the latter 
being best, as damp, in excess, interferes with the 
blossoms and spoils them for setting. 
Celery.— The progress this has made of late is 
so great as to be almost noticeable day by day, for 
though it may have had, to one’s thinking, good 
supplies of water, it is questionable if it ever had 
enough to soak the thirsty soil below, and if it did the 
demand on the roots was so excessive and the evapo¬ 
ration so continuous that, however large the quantity 
given, it was soon drawn out again. How thankful, 
therefore, the plants must have been for the rain 
which came down on the 3rd so heavily for twenty- 
four hours, but though Celery has had such a drench- 
ing, which it wanted, it should be borne in mind that 
it is half aquatic and must have much more water 
supplied to it yet. Not only is the Celery plant half 
aquatic, as stated, but it is a gross feeder, and cannot 
well be overdone with stimulants, provided they are 
not too strong, and therefore, where it can be got, 
liquid manure should be given freely, as the quicker it 
grows the more tender and crisp will be the heads 
when dug up for use. To keep the leaves upright and 
close together a string of matting should be run round 
each plant and tied, but not too tight, as room must 
be left for further swelling, and if this tying is done 
in the way referred to, the labour of earthing up the 
rows will be greatly facilitated when the time arrives 
for blanching. Many soil up piecemeal by putting a 
little soil into the trenches at intervals of a week or 
two, but this is a bad plan, as it is impossible to 
water after without washing some into the hearts and 
down amongst the axils of the leaves, thus partly 
spoiling the heads by the stain and discoloration it 
causes. 
-— > X ■*“- 
Cauliflowers. —A season that suits Peas suits 
Cauliflower, and therefore heads of these have been 
scarce this season and are so yet, but, thanks to the 
heavy rain, which gave the leaves such a washing, 
they are fast losing the “ blues,” with which they 
have been afflicted ever since they were planted. In 
some gardens, this was never successfully done, or 
rather the plants could not be got to live, and the 
autumn supply will therefore, in many places, be 
short, especially of Yeitch’s, on which so many 
depend. This kind, having to be got out so early and 
to stand so long, has suffered most, but like the giant 
it is, it can boar a good deal, and is fast shaking off 
the effects of the heat and showing its strength now 
cooler weather has come. Like Celery, Cauliflower 
will endure, and receive much benefit from repeated 
applications of liquid manure, and no sewage, unless 
unusually rank and strong, comes amiss to the plants, 
that is, those long established which will soon be 
forming their heads. This being so, they should be 
well soaked at the roots whenever opportunity offers, 
and any young plants, intended for wintering, pricked 
out under the shelter of a south wall, or potted, ready 
for standing in frames, the latter being the more 
preferable, as the plants are safer, and in spring they 
receive no check, for at that tune they may be trans¬ 
ferred to the open ground with balls entire, and will 
then start off at once. 
Planting 1 Endives.—The present is a good time 
to make another planting of French Moss Curled and 
Batavian Endives, to supplement later on the supply 
derived from previous plantings. The plants should 
be set about 15 in. apart on a warm border, and be 
kept free from weeds; and in the event of frost 
ensuing be covered with a sprinkling of dry fern, which 
will not only protect the plants from being injured by 
a few degrees of frost, but will also have the effect of 
blanching the heads at the same time. The fern, 
however, should be removed during wet weather, other¬ 
wise the plants would be liable to suffer from excessive 
dampness. 
Cabbage Planting. —A planting of Cabbages to 
come into use in April and May next, should now be 
made on a piece of ground well exposed to'the south, 
and occupying a dry rather than a damp situation. 
Set the plants in rows from 20 to 24 in. apart (accord¬ 
ing to the richness of the soil), and at the same dis¬ 
tance asunder in the rows. The plants should be let 
down to the lower leaves in the soil, and the latter be 
made firm about the roots and stem with the setting- 
stick as the work is proceeded with. The plants must 
be kept free from weeds by Dutch-hoeing, and be 
earthed-up in due time. Any blanks that may occur 
through the attacks of grubs or from other causes 
should be filled up forthwith. 
Autumn-Sown Onions.—Blanks frequently occur 
in the rows of autumn-sown Onions through the seed 
from some cause or other not coming up regularly; 
and where this is the case they should be filled up at 
once with young plants thinned out of the same rows. 
These should be transplanted when the ground is 
moist at about 3 in. apart from plant to plant in the 
rows, and about the same depth in the soil as they 
were before. Where the plants are too close together in 
the rows, they should be thinned out a little for salad- 
ing as required—always making due allowance for 
some of the young plants damping off during the 
winter and for being again thinned out in the rows in 
spring as required for use, or with the object of ob¬ 
taining large bulbs for exhibition purposes. The crop 
should be kept free from weeds by hand-weeding, and 
by the Dutch-hoe being run between the rows as often 
during the winter months as the condition of the soil 
will permit of its being done. 
Lettuces. —These ought now to be up, and those 
intended for winter use at once planted out in rich 
soil, either in pits or old spare frames, or on a prepared 
bed marked out the right size, for standing or placing 
over them any two or three light boxes when they 
come out of use. The sort most suitable as a winter 
Lettuce is the Royal Cabbage, or Victoria, which is a. 
tender, nice-flavoured kind, and for standing outdoors 
Hick’s Hardy Cos and the Bath Cos are the best. To 
make sure of wintering these safely, they should be- 
pricked out in double rows along the foot of a south 
wall, or in beds on a warm border, where they will 
stand and turn in very early in spring. 
Spinach just up needs timely thinning, as to get 
fine leaves the plants must have room, and ought not 
to be nearer than 6 in. or 8 in. in the rows, and these 
from 1 ft. to 18 in. between. This will give space for 
picking and cleaning and hoeing the ground, which 
should be do»e when necessary, and it is a good plan 
before carrying out this work, or immediately after, to 
sow some soot over the beds, but this only before the 
Spinach becomes advanced and ready for gathering. 
