Oct. 18th, 1884. 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
101 
is more important, the habits and comparative 
sizes of the different species and varieties of trees 
it is intended to plant must be fully understood 
beforehand. 
To ascertain the effects of the soil and climate oil 
the trees, it is only necessary to observe the growth 
of aged trees in the immediate locality, and to learn 
the habits and proportionate sizes of any special 
variety, the best Nurserymen's Catalogues and Hogg’s 
Fruit Manual may be consulted with advantage. It 
is always advisable to allow too large rather than 
too limited intervening spaces, because the Kentish 
method of cultivating small bush fruits, potatos, or 
other crops between them will, for at least some years, 
not only prevent waste of ground, but also prove 
advantageous to the trees.— Scribo. 
s - aX >-; 
SCHIZOSTYLIS COCCINEA. 
Though introduced some twenty years ago this fine 
plant has not yet found its way into many gardens. 
During my stay in North-west Lancashire I have not 
seen a single specimen beyond those under my own 
care, but westward, on the borders of Cheshire, I saw 
it about this time last year growing by the dozen in a 
shrubbery border in the garden of S. Williamson, Esq., 
M.P., Copley House, Neston. The plants were as tall 
as any I have seen, and w T ell furnished with flower- 
spikes. As this garden is on the red sand¬ 
stone formation, where the soil is compara¬ 
tively shallow, perfect drainage and an 
augmented temperature of the soil are 
secured at all times. Stagnant water is one 
of the greatest enemies of plants of doubtful 
hardiness. When I first made the acquain¬ 
tance of the Schizostylis it was regarded as 
half-hardy, but in the South it has been 
planted out of doors for years, and I never 
recollect an instance of its having suffered 
in the least. It would be interesting to know 
if since its introduction it has succumbed to 
the rigours of our winters. If any of your 
correspondents would kindly relate their ex¬ 
perience of it, it might "inspire confidence 
in numbers who may wish to plant it out, but 
are at present hesitating. From two clumps 
received here three years ago we have two 
dozen good pots, and this number being 
sufficient I planted some out in front of a 
vinery last autumn, and the others last 
March. All are showing spikes, but last 
winter cannot be considered a fair test of 
the hardiness of any plant. 
Pot Culture .— In pots the culture of the 
Schizostylis can be safely conducted with 
certainty of success by any one possessing 
a cold frame that can be used for the pur¬ 
pose of sheltering them in order to secure 
fine blooms, as w 7 ell as to afford assistance to the 
plants after they are potted, which should be done 
before the end of March. We pot ours in February 
by inserting about a dozen of its tuberous roots in 
a 7-in. pot, and we are rewarded by as many 
promising spikes not yet expanded. We have already 
given them the protection of a cold pit, as we had a fall 
of snow on the 9th inst. which, however, disappeared 
as fast as it descended. This snow was succeeded at 
night by 11 degs. of frost. This was a warning to 
get other things beside the Schizostylis under cover. 
Hitherto our plants have been plunged in ashes in 
a south aspect since they were turned out of the pit 
early in May. I am not prepared to say which is the 
best sort of soil to use for pot culture, but we use the 
same as that mixed for Pelargoniums, except that we 
allow more loam. We have found it best to give them 
fresh soil every year, which involves shaking the 
plants out and dividing them, as the pots become a 
mass of roots in one year. I find the plant will bear 
slight forcing, and if there is a dearth of flowers we 
have only to introduce some of the plants into heat 
and they quickly respond to our wishes by throwing up 
successional spikes, as well as developing those already 
formed and the plant’s flowering-season may be said 
to cover a period of four months, which should 
command for it a place in every garden in the 
country.— Ii. [This showy plant flowers so freely 
during October and November, and is so easily grown, 
that it well deserves more attention.— Ed.] 
JACOBS’ STRAWBERRY APPLE. 
We are indebted to Messrs. G. Bunyard & Co., 
Maidstone, for some specimens, one of which is here 
illustrated, of a most valuable early Apple either for 
the table during August and September, for marketing 
or for exhibition purposes. It was exhibited under 
the name of “Jacobs’ Strawberry” in both the 
months named, before the Fruit Committee, and 
received a First-Class Certificate. The fruit is above 
medium size, of a lemon-yellow ground colour, 
shaded and streaked with various tints of crimson, 
and the flavour all that can be desired. Without 
doubt, it is one of the handsomest and best-flavoured 
early Apples known, and will doubtless become a great 
favourite. 
Of its origin but little is known, and the only 
information we have been able to glean respecting it 
is contained in a letter from Mr. Arnold, of Petworth, 
published in The Garden of Saturday last. Mr. Arnold 
states that he has seen the two trees which Mr. Jacobs 
possesses bearing fruit for the last seven years, and 
has come to the conclusion that too much cannot be 
said as regards its excellence, either as a dessert'or 
exhibition Apple. “ It begins to colour beautifully in 
the latter part of July, and in August it comes into 
use, some of the fruit ripening in the first week of 
that month, and others lasting till the first week in 
October. It is a very prolific bearer, indeed I have 
JACOBS STRAWBERRY APPLE. 
never known it to fail. Both trees are handsome, the 
largest covering a space of twelve square feet, and, 
although so heavily laden with fruit this year, they 
are full of bloom-buds for next season.” 
TUBER-BEARING SOLANUMS. 
At this period of the year when Potatos engage so 
much attention, and when disease-resisting kinds are 
—in bad years at least—eagerly sought after, an 
epitome of a paper recently published in The Journal 
of the Linnean Society, by Mr. J. G. Baker, of Kew, 
may interest readers of The Gardening World. It is 
entitled “ A Review of the Tuber-bearing Species of 
Solanum.” We give the introduction in full:— 
“ The subjects of the differential characters, the 
relationship to one another, and the climatic and 
geographical individuality of the numerous types of 
tuber-bearing Solanums are of great interest both from 
a botanical and economic point of view. As there are 
many points which are still to be unravelled, I propose 
in the present paper to piass in review the material 
which we possess ip England bearing on the question. 
It was at the instigation of Earl Catheart that I 
undertook the inquiry ; and in carrying it out I have 
gone through all the dried specimens at Kew, the 
British Museum, and the Lindley Herbarium, have 
carefully studied the wild types which we grow in the 
herbaceous ground at Kew, and have visited the 
extensive trial-grounds of Messrs. Sutton & Sons at 
Reading, whose collection of cultivated types in a 
living state is probably the most complete in existence, 
and to whom I feel much indebted for them kind aid. 
I propose in the first place to deal with the species and 
varieties in detail geographically, then to summarize 
them from the point of view of the systematic botanist, 
and finally to make a few general remarks on the 
economic bearing of the facts.” 
Mr. Baker then passes in review each of the 
supposed species which have been described, in the 
following order:—1. Species from Chili; 2. Brazil, 
Uruguay, and Argentine Republic; 3. Peru, Bolivia, 
Eueador, and Colombia; 4. Mexico; and 5. South- 
Western United States. He then says :— 
“ So far as I can judge from the material and 
information which we possess in England, out of 
twenty species which have been named, six, viz., 
S. tuberosum, S. Maglia, S. Commersoni, S. cardio- 
phyllum, S. Jamesii, and S. oxycarpum, possess a fair 
claim to be considered as distinct species in a broad 
sense ; and of the others, eleven, viz., S. etuberosum, 
S. Fernandezianum, S. imminite, S. colombianum, 
S. Otites, S. Valenzuetas, S. verrucosum, S. debile, 
S. stoloniferum, S. utile, S. squamulosum, and S. 
Fendleri, are certainly, or probably, mere forms or 
varieties of S. tuberosum, and S. Ohrondii and S. 
collinam of S. Commersoni.” 
The following are the habitats of the six species :— 
1. S. tuberosum. —Andes of Chili, Peru, Bolivia, 
Ecuador, and Columbia; also in the mountains 
of Costa Rica, Mexico, and the South-western 
United States. 
2. S. Maglia. —Shore of Chili, down south 
as far as the Chonos Archipelago; also likely 
Peru. 
3. S. Commersoni. — Uruguay, Buenos 
Ayres, and Argentine territory, in rocky and 
arid situations at a low level. 
4. S. caediophyllum. — Mountains of 
Central Mexico, at an elevation of 8,000 ft. to 
9,000 ft. 
5. S. Jamesii. —Mountains of South-west¬ 
ern United States and Mexico. 
6. S. oxycarpum.— Mountains of Central 
Mexico. 
An excellent figure [of each of these six 
species is given. 
The following are Mr. Baker’s “ Economic 
Suggestions ” :— 
“ What Lord Catheart asked for were any 
suggestions that a botanist might be able to 
give, founded upon his knowledge of the 
Potato-plant and its geographical distribution, 
that were likely to be of practical value to 
cultivators. In reviewing the subject, the 
considerations of this character that occur 
to me are these:— 
“ In the first place, it always seems to 
me that cultivators work upon the tacit 
assumption, if I may so express it, that the one 
object in life of the Potato-plant is to grow potatos, 
and that this assumption has no sound foundation 
in fact or reality. Solanum is one of the largest 
genera in the vegetable kingdom. About 900 names 
stand in the botanical books as species, and 
Bentham and Hooker estimate that probably 
700 of these are really distinct. Of these 700, 
it is only six that grow Potatos at all, and the 
remainder all maintain their hold in the world as 
most plants do, by means of then- flowers, fruits, and 
seeds. I do not think that the Chilian S. etuberosum 
and Mexican S. suaveolens, are more than mere forms 
of S. tuberosum, and they are said to be quite destitute 
of tubers; and there is the fact noted by Sir J. D. 
Hooker, that when S. Maglia was first grown at Kew, 
for two years it did not yield any tubers. A great 
many of the cultivated varieties rarely produce flower 
and fruit. Any plant brought to the tuber-bearing 
state is in a disorganized unhealthy condition, a 
fitting subject for the attacks of fungi and aphides. 
“ The great difficulty with which we have to contend 
in fighting disease is that in the Potato, as in other 
cultivated species, we grow in great masses plants 
which in a state of nature are scattered amongst 
others. The relationship of tuber to fruit is so clearly 
shown by one of the experiments of Mr. T. A. 
Knight, that I will cite it in this connection. ‘ Every 
gardener knows ’ (he writes in Philosophical Tran¬ 
sactions, 1806, p. 297), ‘that early varieties of the 
