Nov. 29th, 1884. 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
205 
stems, and though not so showy as the one above- 
named, is a very desirable kind to have up a rafter. 
T. exoniensis is a hybrid, raised from a cross between 
the two, and a remarkably fine thing it is, as it 
partakes in an equal degree of the high qualities of 
both of its parents, and is very fine and distinct. 
T. ignea was thought a good deal of at one time, but 
it is too shy and tender, and has been quite superseded 
by the first-mentioned, and is now rarely seen. 
T. manicata that used to be much grown has also 
disappeared, and with such a trio as those referred to 
these two latter can well be left out in the cold. 
Among the Passifloras, none are better than the 
old P. racemosa cferulea, which not only flowers with 
remarkable freedom, but has bright, shining green 
leaves, and a light, graceful habit. P. racemosa rubra 
is of similar growth and appearance, but bears red 
flowers, and therefore forms a good contrast. The 
next deserving of notice is P. Comte Nesselrode, 
P. edulis, and P. Imperatrice Eugenie, the latter of 
which has large pale blossoms and very fine foliage, 
Passifloras are not at all particular about soil, and will 
grow and flourish in any ordinary border, after the 
plants get a good start; but to do the Tacsonias well they 
require equal parts of fresh peat and loam, which 
should be chopped up roughly, and, after being mixed 
with a little sharp sand, laid in on plenty of drainage, 
when all will be ready for turning out the plants. 
These should have their roots disentangled and 
spread out, as when left coiling round the ball, 
after being turned out of the pots, they are apt to 
strangle each other, and thus spoil the growth. To get 
the heads quickly up into the roof, the way to manage 
them is to nip out all side shoots as they show and 
only leave the leader, which should be carefully tied and 
trained straight till it has reached the desired place, 
when the end may be stopped, which will force out 
the laterals, and these will need thinning and regulat¬ 
ing from time to time, but the less tying they have 
the better they look, as both Tacsonias and Passifloras 
ought to hang from the main stems just as they 
grow. 
Another plant well adapted for the roofs of conser¬ 
vatories is the Mandevilla suaveolens, which produces 
long racemes of lovely, pure white, sw 7 eet-scented 
blossoms, the size and shape of those of some of the 
Dipladenias, wdrich they greatly resemble, and wdien 
used with then, in glasses or epergnes, associate well. 
Bignonias must not be forgotten, as they are very 
showy, the best being B. chirere, B. capreolata, 
B. grandiflora, and B. venusta, the latter requiring a 
little more heat than the others. Although the 
Lapagerias are not quite suitable for exposed sunny 
roofs, they are grand where they can have shade, and 
look beautiful when grown together, the red with the 
white, as they blend and show each other off to the 
greatest advantage. Where the Lapagerias do best is 
on strained wires against a cool, damp wall, as there 
the atmosphere just suits them, and when so favoured 
they maintain their foliage in the most healthy condi¬ 
tion by keeping free from thrip and other insects that 
so often assail them. In starting with Lapagerias, 
free drainage is of the first importance, for requiring, 
as they do, plenty of water, it is essential that it passes 
through the soil without making it stagnant or sour, 
in which latter condition the roots would not long 
remain healthy or live. What the plants do best in is 
very rough fibry peat and loam in about equal parts, 
and if they can have that mixture, together with some 
sharp sand, their growth will be rapid. The proper 
depth for the border is from 2 ft. to 2 ft. 6 ins., and 
the width corresponding according to the accommoda¬ 
tion there is in the house. The most suitable time to 
plant is just when the young shoots are showing, 
which they do early in the year, and at the same 
season the roots are becoming active and quickly get 
hold of the soil. 
Eor training to furnish panels or pillars, few things 
are equal to Habrothamnus elegans, which is rarely 
out of bloom, as every shoot shows at the end, where 
clusters of tube-shaped flowers are formed, which are 
very bright and showy and of great value for cutting. 
Bhynchospermum (or as now called Trachelospermum) 
jasminoides does remarkably well as a pillar plant, 
as does also Cantua dependens if it can have a high 
sunny position to ripen up the young wood, with¬ 
out which it is rather shy blooming. Another 
plant, now too rarely seen, is the Clianthus puniceus, 
which has very large Pea-shaped flowers of a 
brilliant red, that come in long racemes and produce 
a most striking effect. Plumbago capensis is likewise 
a valuable thing, and affords a shade of colour that 
few other plants yield. I had almost forgotten Cobnsa 
scandens variegata, which is particularly telling on a 
roof, where, if necessary, it may be made to fill a large 
space.— S. TV. 
— — >s > - — 
NURSERY JOTTINGS. 
Messes. G. Cooling & Son’s, Batheaston, Bath.— 
Owing to the prominent position which this Firm has 
occupied in the list of awards at the leading Ilose 
Shows during the last few years, Bath has almost 
become as well-knowm for the excellence of its Boses 
as it has so long been celebrated for the virtues of its 
waters. But a visit to the nurseries, which are 
situated in the suburbs of the city, show that young 
fruit-trees, which are remarkably fine and w 7 ell-trained, 
are equally as well done in this establishment as the 
Boses, and that the soil and situation are both 
congenial to their requirements. The same remark 
also applies to the ornamental trees, shrubs, and 
evergreens. 
In the frame ground I noticed recently a grand 
batch of Tea Boses in pots, some of them being like 
well-grown pot Vines, and designed for training 
against pillars, &c., but the majority of the plants 
were in 6-in. pots for forcing and supplying cut blooms 
from Christmas till they can be cut out-of-doors next 
season. These included such sterling varieties as 
Niphetos, Souvenir D’Elise, Marie Van Houtte, 
Monsieur Eurtado, Isabella Sprunt, William Allen 
Bichardson, &c. One good-sized span-roofed house 
is filled with a few permanent trees of Marechal Niel, 
having stems 16 ins. or 18 ins. in circumference, and 
these, trained under the roof, supply thousands of 
grand blooms during the season. The shoots are 
simply thinned out and shortened back a little at 
pruning time; the finest results being secured from 
young well - ripened shoots of the previous year’s 
growth. 
Several houses are filled with Azaleas in 48’s and 
32’s for forcing, and well-flowered plants of Erica 
hyemalis, Camellias, and stove and other greenhouse 
plants in variety, together with a large stock of 
Chrysanthemums of the leading varieties. The con¬ 
dition of the plants grown under glass as well as the 
trees, <fcc., cultivated out-of-doors, point to a well- 
managed nursery business.— H. TV. IV. 
— a— - Vw -0- ? i — • — 
FORTHCOMING NEW ANNUALS. 
Phacelia campanulaela. —Foremost among the novel¬ 
ties must be placed the pretty new, blue, Phacelia 
campanularia, now in course of distribution by Mr. 
William Thompson, Tavern Street, Ipswich. It is 
botanically related to the well-known Whitlavia 
grandiflora (which is now placed by botanists in the 
genus Phacelia), and which will be remembered for its 
upright growth, free flowering character, and rich 
deep blue flowers. There are in cultivation two forms 
of Phacelia, viz., congesta and tanacetifolia; the 
former has a crowded raceme of flowers (hence its 
name, congesta) ; and was introduced from Texas in 
1835 ; it grows to the height of one foot or so, and 
has pale purple-blue blossoms. P. tanacetifolia (the 
tansy-leaved Phacelia) is a well-known blue-flowered 
annual, growing to the height of 18 ins., and it came 
from California in 1832. Both are valuable for bees. 
The new form under notice has a much more spreading 
and bushy habit of growth, and is therefore more 
floriferous ; an average plant will cover nearly a foot 
of ground. Then it is considerably dwarfer than 
either of the preceding, being from 6 ins. to 8 ins. in 
height, and it branches freely. It bears large and 
numerous flowers of the finest deep gentian satiny- 
blue, of a shade rivalling that of Salvia patens, 
produced in terminal racemes of from twelve to 
twenty blossoms, which are developed in succession. 
It is a Californian species. 
Aceoclinidji album floee-pleno is a new double 
white form of Aeroelinium. The double rose-flowered 
variety came out three years or so ago, and proved a 
valuable novelty. The white form is a seedling from 
this, and is equally double and valuable. The habit 
of the plant is more vigorous and branching, and the 
pure white flowers larger than those of the single 
variety. Both the foregoing have received First-Class 
Certificates from the Boyal Horticultural Society. We 
may say of the Acrocliniums that they are among the 
most valuable of summer-flowering annuals, and if 
the seed be sown early in April, in light ground, they 
will germinate freely, and fine full-blooming plants 
will result. The Acrocliniums are sun-loving plants, 
and an open spot suits them best.— Quo, 
NOTES BY THE WAY. 
Berkhamstead.—The quaintly picturesque little 
town of Berkhamstead, twenty-eight miles from 
Easton, is situated on the western side of the valley 
intersected by the North-Western Bailway and the 
Grand Junction Canal. There is an old world air of 
rest and contentment about it. The clean wide High 
Street, dotted here and there along its margin with 
venerable Pollard Elms, its comfortable-looking bay- 
windowed houses, its venerable church and grammar 
school, bespeak a quiet homely prosperity, for which 
one may look in vain in crowded and bustling 
manufacturing towns. It has a history, too, this 
Berkhamstead, which reaches back to stirring times. 
For did not Edward the IHrd’s son, the famous Black 
Prince, make the castle his home ? But our business 
is not with historical Berkhamstead, however 
interesting that may be. 
The name is associated in the minds of the 
gardening fraternity with the firm of Messrs. H. 
Lane & Son, whose extensive nurseries are situated 
at the north end of the town, and on the Common, 
two miles east of it. Just a glance, however, at the 
place must now suffice. On another occasion, perhaps, 
we may say more. The principal feature of interest 
in the home nursery is the great span-roof vinery, in 
which grew the magnificent bunches of Muscat of 
Alexandria, Black Hamburgh, Alicante, Golden 
Champion, and other Grapes, that have from time 
to time carried off the blue ribbon at our great shows. 
The house itself is a plain unpretending structure, 
some 120 ft. by 22 ft. A curious fact with regard to 
the Vine border is that quite close to the lower end of 
the house—it is built on sloping ground—is a small 
but perennial spring, which must have the effect of 
keeping the Vine roots perpetually moist. A 
fortnight ago there were still hanging some splendid 
bunches of Alicante. Fruit-tree propagation is 
carried on extensively both at the home nurseries and 
the large grounds on the Common, and also Boses, 
both on the Briar and the Manetti. Enormous 
quantities of Conifers, Deciduous trees and shrubs, 
Bhododendrons and Evergreens are grown on the 
extensive nurseries on the Common. 
Our visit to the neighbourhood was for the purpose 
of taking a leisurely survey of the allotment gardens. 
There are several groups of these conveniently 
situated in different parts of the parish, and, on the 
whole, with the exception of those at Minehead, North 
Somerset, they are the best cultivated plots we have 
seen. They number altogether about 300, and each 
plot is either 10 poles or 20 poles in area. The rent 
is 4 d. per pole, or £2 13s. 4 d. per acre. Farm land 
lets at from 20s. to 30s. an acre, 4 d. per pole, there¬ 
fore, for land so conveniently situated is a very 
moderate rentcharge, and, as a consequence, the plots 
are in great demand. Prizes to the extent of £40 
a year are awarded at the annual Cottagers’ Show, 
when the competition is very close. 
Those of our readers who take an interest in the 
question of allotments, one of the most urgent and 
important as regards the agricultural labourer, are 
familiar, no doubt, with the forlorn and uninviting 
aspect of allotment-grounds in the winter. After the 
crop of Potatos has been lifted the ground is frequently 
left untouched until the following spring. Sour and 
sodden as the soil must be, one need scarcely be 
surprised that the next year’s crop is deficient in both 
quantity and quality, and more liable to the attacks of 
the disease. Now the Berkhamstead plots are produc¬ 
ing a splendid second crop of various useful vegetables 
in response to thorough cultivation and dressings of 
manure. No sooner are the Spring Cabbages disposed 
of and cleared off—the tenants can’t afford to grow 
Cabbage-stumps—than the ground is thoroughly dug 
and manured, and planted with second early Potatos, 
the earliest being succeeded by Turnips, perhaps, or 
Celery. Some of the best worked plots had splendid 
patches of Veitch’s Autumn Giant Cauliflower, the inner 
