Oct. 25th, 1884. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
123 
nature, it requires much sun and only does really well 
when exposed to solar influence during the summer. 
At one time it was thought this Impatiens would turn 
out valuable for bedding, but except in hot summers 
and planted in favourable situations, it is a failure, 
which is to be regretted, as it would make a very 
beautiful bed. For pot culture it is exceedingly useful 
and showy, and it is to be hoped may lead to many 
new kinds, for, as it seeds freely, no doubt it will 
cross with the common Balsam, and if not with that, 
there is the Impatiens Ierdonire, sent out some thirty 
odd years ago, when it was figured in The Florist and 
made quite a stir. If I can get a plant of this 
latter I mean to try what I can do, and also with 
Impatiens glandulifera, the hardy species often met 
with in shrubberies and borders in old gardens.— 
Alpha. 
Berberis Darwinii. —I send you some sprays of 
this beautiful shrub gathered from the bushes here. 
They are covered with a second crop of golden-yellow 
flowers and buds, and promise to be beautiful objects as 
long as the hard frosts keep off. They began to flower 
late in spring, and have continued in blossom the whole 
of the season, except for the last few weeks, and until 
the present flowering commenced. Berberis Darwinii 
is one of the prettiest shrubs we have, and, considering 
the profuse manner in which it produces its flowers, it 
is one of the most desirable for planting. It is sur¬ 
prising that it is not more used in shrubberies to 
break the monotony of the Aucubas, Laurels, and 
other commonly-used shrubs.— James Naylor, St. 
Hilda's Nursery, Boxeth, Harrow. 
Begonia Martiana. —This is a very old and 
charming Begonia, which was not only well shown by 
Mr. H. Cannell, of Swanley, at South Kensington the 
other day, but is also employed by Mr. Barron in the 
decoration of the great conservatory there at this 
season of the year. The plants, in 5-in. and 6-in. pots, 
send out some half-dozen large branchless shoots to 
an height of 13 ins., and these are full of bold, rosy- 
pink flowers, forming pleasing spikes that look 
exceedingly beautiful, standing out of a base of dwarf 
ferns. Specially charming material for epergne or 
table decoration may be cut from this Begonia. 
Whilst the roots are herbaceous the blooms do not 
seed, but little clusters of tiny green seed-tubers are 
formed at the axils of the leaves, and these, at the end 
of the season and as they mature, fall down on to the 
soil or ash-bed on which the plants stand, and pre¬ 
sently pushing shoots develop into young plants. 
'Salvia Greg-gii. —Mr. Gumbleton informs us, 
with reference to this plant, concerning which a note 
appeared at p. 90, that it takes at least two years to 
perfect itself, so that growers should not be in too 
great a hurry to cut the plant down if they find it 
does not come into flower so quickly as most of the 
others. It is a pretty, compact, and dwarf-growing 
plant. 
Camellias in October. —Flowers out of season 
are perhaps the most welcome of all garden products, 
especially to ladies, who now look for early flowers of 
all kinds as a matter of course. Camellias in most 
places have set a wondrous crop of buds this season, 
and many are coming into bloom. The old Alba 
plena is the variety most plentiful at present, but 
Fimbriata and Countess of Orkney are opening fast, 
and the latter will make a good companion for the 
first-named. Its striped petals are always pleasing to 
the eye, and the delicate tints are so rich, that they 
are especially desirable at this season, when there is 
almost a dearth of flowers of much substance. 
Aquilegia glandulosa. —In your correspondent’s 
interesting description of “ An Amateur’s Garden,” at 
p. 104, _ among other plants mentioned he names 
Aquilegia, glandulosa. Perhaps “Luke Ellis” will 
be surprised when I tell him I doubt whether he 
knows the plant when he sees it, and still more so 
when I tell him that Aquilegia glandulosa is not in 
cultivation at the present time.— Ebor. [Our corre¬ 
spondent is doubtless correct as far as the true Aquilegia 
glandulosa of botanists is concerned. What “Luke 
Ellis” alluded to was the very fine variety so-called 
in gardens, and very well known to lovers of these 
plants.— Ed.] 
The Celery Crop. —It is seldom that we get such 
splendid weather for Celery as that we are now having, 
which keeps it in full growth ; and though we have 
had rains that soaked the earth for a time, a watering 
with liquid manure will do good now, but it must be 
carefully administered, as, with the plants partly 
soiled up, there is danger of washing the soil into the 
hearts, which would not only damage the colour of 
that part and make it dirty, but eauge rot, and thus 
spoil it for keeping. The way we have been doing 
ours is to pour the liquid manure close along the outer 
sides of the trenches, from whence it soaks right 
under the plants, feeding and nourishing their roots, 
and thus adding to the size and quality of the heads, 
which are never crisp, succulent, and good if they 
are checked from want of moisture, as then the fibres 
harden, and the Celery is tough, or becomes 
“ piped ” in the stem. Any Celery that is not yet 
earthed should have a tie of matting run round so as to 
keep the leaves together, which facilitates the soiling 
and protects the hearts of the plants by making the 
whole close and compact, instead of standing open, as 
they do when left to themselves. In gardens where 
slugs and worms are troublesome, it is a good plan to 
dust sometimes along the trenches before chopping or 
cutting down the earth, by doing which those insects 
will, in a great measure, be kept away, and the 
Celery be saved from their depredations, and con¬ 
sequent disfigurement. 
->±<- 
Cauliflowers. —Although we have been, and are, 
getting lovely weather, we cannot expect it to last 
much longer, and it will therefore be necessary to be 
on the watch for Cauliflowers that are in, or any night 
they may be all spoiled by frost, as they are very 
tender in the head, which gets nipped unless protected. 
An easy way of doing this is to break or bend the leaves 
over them, and another to stuff just a small wisp of 
hay on the top. Later on the plants may be lifted 
and laid in by the heels where they can be covered 
with straw or mats by night, or be placed in an open, 
airy shed, or other dry place, such as an old pot or 
frame, where they can have the lights put over them, 
and thus be taken care of for winter. Young plants from 
seed sown towards the end of August should either be 
pricked out in some very sheltered sunny spot or 
potted, the latter being by far the best way of treating 
them, as then they can be wintered in any cold frame 
and be turned out very early in spring without 
feeling a check. The most suitable soil to pot them 
in is three parts leaf-mould to one of loam, in which 
they root very readily, but, failing the leaf-mould, 
any light, rich material will do almost equally well. 
When potted the plants should be plunged in cocoa- 
nut fibre or other non-conducting material, and be 
kept close up to the glass, so that they can have 
plenty of light and air, as then they will grow sturdy 
and strong. If the winter turns out very severe it 
may be necessary to close down the lights and cover 
the plants by night; but if kept dry, Cauliflowers will 
stand a good deal of frost. 
Chou de Burghley. —Those who have not grown 
the Chou de Burghley should make a point of doing so 
next year, as it is one of the best and most useful 
vegetables any one can have, coming in as it does in 
the autumn, and by sowing twice or thrice for 
succession, lasting on all through the winter and late 
into the spring. In appearance it is like a very 
large sugar-loaf Cabbage, as it has long conical heads 
that fold over close, and these, when cooked, are 
exceedingly tender and delicious in flavour. The 
Chou de Burghley is said to have been raised from 
a cross between a Broccoli and a Cabbage, and 
that if allowed to stand a Broccoli forms in the heart, 
but it is as a Cabbage where its great value lies, and 
I have no doubt but that when better known it will 
be largely cultivated for market, as it produces a lot 
of food from a very small piece of ground. The 
plants we are cutting from now were raised from 
seeds sown towards the end of March, and planted 
out directly they were large enough in good land; 
and though the summer has been very dry and 
unfavourable for all the Cabbage tribe, Chou de 
Burghley has done well, and is fine. All it wants is 
a little more fixing, as the heads vary, but this may 
be done by selection, and saving only the best to get 
seed from, when no doubt a true stock will be 
obtained. 
Turnips. —How greatly these vary, some sorts 
being adapted for one part of the season and some for 
the other, the best for first sowing being the hardy 
Milan, which comes in very quick, and is not so liable 
to run to seed as some of the kinds, besides which it 
is mild and of excellent flavour. In growth it is 
dwarf, and has bulbs, tinged with purplish red at the 
top, which look like big Radishes and are usually 
clear in the skin. For sowing at the same time the 
white stone is as good as any, and succeeds the 
above named, but for autumn use my favourite is 
Veitch’s Red Globe, which stands the hot weather, 
and though the skin is heavily coloured, the flesh is 
white and firm, and instead of being strong, as many 
late Turnips are, it is mild and good if properly 
cooked.— Alpha. 
Onions. — Evidence of the of popularity this 
excellent all-the-year-round vegetable is afforded in 
the fact that at the next South Kensington Vegetable 
Show good prizes are offered for collections of these 
bulbs as well as for single dishes. In these collections 
we may well hope to see as far as possible repre¬ 
sentations of all the best known and most useful 
kinds, inclusive of the spring-sown white Spanish, 
brown Reading, conical James’s Keeping, Bedford¬ 
shire Champion, and others of that type, and the 
Yellow and Blood-red forms, all such excellent keepers. 
Pickling Onions, Tree Onions, Underground Onions, 
and as far as possible representatives of the Tripoli 
and Italian Onions, although these summer ripeners 
as a rule are bad keepers. We trust, however, no 
encouragement will be given to rubbish, simply 
because it badly represents certain kinds. A 
collection of some eight or ten good sorts will be 
more worthy of commendation than a big lot of 
indifferent bulbs. 
Beet. —This again is a valuable winter vegetable, 
not the least so that it keeps long and well, and if not 
generally consumed except in salad form, that is rather 
the fault of our insular tastes, for a more wholesome 
and pleasant eating vegetable than good Beet when 
properly cooked can hardly be found. At the above- 
mentioned show prizes are offered for collections of 
kinds, but deducting the gay-coloured Chilian sorts, 
which are hardly edible, we may count kinds worthy 
of cultivation on the fingers. Gardeners almost 
universally grow Dell’s Crimson under that or some 
other fancy name, and the market-growers prefer the 
Pine-apple, with its less dark but more spreading 
leaves. Without doubt in any individual sort-class, 
Dell’s Crimson will always bear off the palm, for 
both colour and form. The Turnip-rooted is useful 
for early work and should be found in every collection, 
but will stand no chance singly with a tapering 
variety. 
The Jerusalem Artichoke in. flower. —The 
Rev. F. Simcox Lea writes from Tedstone Delamere 
Rectory, Worcester, to the The Times: —“The 
Jerusalem Artichokes in my garden are now in well 
developed bud. Perhaps at lower elevations (we are 
600 ft. above sea level) the plant may be found in 
flower. I have only once observed the flower, in the 
warm October of 1865 when both on the Hampshire 
coast and in my East London garden the blossom was 
abundant. Usually the buds are cut off by early frost. 
The blossom resembles that of the Sunflower, and is 
about the size of a Daisy.” 
.— a— — 
How to Ascertain the nuaiber of Plants required 
for an Acre. —The number of plants required for an 
acre, at any given distance apart, may be ascertained 
by dividing the number of square feet in an acre 
(43,560), by the number of square feet given to each 
plant, which is obtained by multiplying the distance 
between roics by the distance between the plants. 
Thus trees planted 3 ft. by 1 ft., give each plant 3 
square ft., or 14,520 plants to the acre. 
