Dec. 27th, 1884. 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
267 
warm room, otherwise they soon fade. Centropogon 
Lucyanus is another subject, which does equally well 
under similar treatment.— TV. J. Ireland, Eeadfort. 
Aubretias.—I must venture to take to task the 
writer of the article on Aubretias which you quoted 
last week from Popular Gardening. Generally, the 
information is very good, but in some points it is 
inexact. Thus, the writer favours division of the 
plants, to increase stock at midsummer. In warm 
districts, and especially during average summers, that 
would be a dangerous course to take, for it would 
result in fearful slaughter. The very best time for 
division is about the middle of September, as then the 
newly-planted pieces have ample time to get well 
rooted by the end of November. Then we are told 
that Aubretias do not seed freely. That assertion 
may be true enough as far as original kinds are 
concerned, but the finest and richest coloured kind of 
all, and one of the very earliest to bloom, A. violacea, 
evidently not known to the writer, is not only a very 
free seeder, but it reproduces its kind from seed 
remarkably true to character. If it were to go forth 
that Aubretias did not seed, or that such seed as was 
obtained germinated badly, it might be thought that 
any ofiered for sale was an imposition. So far from 
that being the case, seeds of A. violacea will germinate 
well when a year old, simply because it is good plump 
seed and is well ripened. The pink-flowered Aubretia 
so largely grown at Belvoir, is also not named, yet it 
is one of the most distinctive of the family, and is a 
very free grower. Violacea is such a beat on most 
other kinds, that few will grow the small-flowered and 
pale-hued sorts when they have this one. I find 
Aubretias to do well if on the margin of stone or 
root-work, as the growth seems to thrive best where 
there is no damp beneath. They are a beautiful race 
of plants for spring-blooming.— D. 
Eupatorium W einmannianum . —This and 
Eupatorium riparium are special favourites of mine. 
They differ very much in habit of growth and time of 
flowering, and they also require different treatment. 
Eupatorium Weinmannianum I have had annually in 
bloom at this season for several years. Old plants in 
10-in. and 12-in. pots flower most freely during 
November and December and give a truss of small 
white blossoms at the point of every shoot. They also 
keep fresh for a length of time in a cool-house. Old 
plants of this variety bloom more freely with me than 
young ones in smaller pots. In summer time they are 
turned out-of-doors with other greenhouse plants, and 
make a good growth if kept supplied with water and 
liquid manure as often as it is convenient to give it 
them. After they have done blooming they are 
pruned in and kept in a cool-house until spring. 
E. riparium requires to be propagated every spring, 
and then to be planted out in the open borders, where 
by autumn they make nice small bushes, which we 
pot up at the end of September, as they soon get 
nipped by frost. In February and March they are a 
mass of bloom, so that, literally, we cut great quan¬ 
tities of them for the vases about the rooms and 
for other domestic decorations.— T. IV. 
-- 
Dichotrichum ternateum. —There is an excellent 
i figure of this beautiful Moluccan plant in the Decem¬ 
ber number of The Botanical Magazine (t. 6791), which 
unlike a figure in the Belgique Horticole, in 1871 
(t. 22), is drawn the right way up. It is closely allied 
to the beautiful genus JEschynanthus, though the 
habit is remarkably different. It climbs, much like 
fry, by the production of numerous adventitious root¬ 
lets along the stem and branches. It is found in the 
volcanic Island of Ternate, whence it was introduced 
by Messrs. Jacob Makoy & Co., of Li£ge. The Kew 
plant was grown against a flat board in the Begonia- 
house ; the branches are thick and pubescent, the 
leaves softly pubescent, 4 ins. to 8 ins. long, roundish 
ovate, crenate, and produced in rather distant pairs; 
the pendulous peduncles are 1 ft. to 2 ft. long, pro¬ 
ducing an umbel of about fifteen tubular scarlet 
flowers of 1 in. long, which resembles a candelabra, as 
each flower turns upwards from the end of the pendul- 
• ous peduncle. It is a remarkable and beautiful plant. 
Seakale Forcing. —There are two methods of 
conducting the operation of forcing Seakale. One is 
to convey the heat to the plants, and the other to 
introduce the plants to the heat, and gardeners in 
responsible positions are thoroughly acquainted with 
the details of both systems. Of the first method, I 
remember that in my young days it was quite a 
business to prepare the material. Days were spent in 
getting leaves and manure together in one place, to be 
turned over the orthodox number of times, and finally 
wheeled to some other place, usually a distant part of 
the garden, where the Seakale, already covered with 
pots, might be situated, and matters did not usually 
end there, as an alteration in the weather, such as a 
fall of snow on the newdy-made bed, would upset our 
previous calculations as to the time the crop would 
be ready. 
The beds are so subject to vicissitudes of temperature 
that it is not easy to tell to a week or two when the 
first dish will be ready under such circumstances. I 
have examined the beds before now and found their 
temperature scarcely higher than the soil, and the 
gardener was helpless for the want of fresh manure to 
create a little heat, and when the necessary supply of 
fermenting material has been forthcoming and a fresh 
start made, maybe another trouble cropped up, for as 
the time for cutting approached, the pots have been 
examined, only to find that the mice had already 
devoured half the produce. These vermin w r ere so 
extremely troublesome to me once when I had to 
conduct my Seakale forcing on a piece of ground near 
a wood, that I had to abandon the practise of using 
pots and covering them over and devise a more 
certain plan of securing a supply. 
The plan of moving the plants to the heat was 
familiar enough to me in those establishments where 
we had a Mushroom-house, but in the absence of a 
heated structure of that kind I had a difficulty to 
encounter. The ordinary Cucumber-frame presented 
itself as the next best accommodation, and two frames 
of one light each were placed on gentle hotbeds, and 
I planted them in four batches at intervals of a fort¬ 
night. The lights and frames were covered with short 
litter, so as to effectually exclude the light and thereby 
thoroughly blanch the Kale. Not being satisfied with 
having to devote two frames to such a purpose at 
that time of the year, when they might be of service 
to protect such things as Lettuces and Cauliflowers, I 
resolved another year to try a different plan. In the 
manure-yard I made a bed 2 ft. high, 4 ft. wide, and 
of such material as was not likely to ferment unduly. 
To prevent the sides of the bed falling, about 1 ft. 
of the outside was formed of long fitter, and was 
carried higher than the centre, so as to maintain 
the roots and the material surrounding them in their 
place. 
Boxes were made 18 ins. deep and 2 ft. square, and 
the Seakale crowns were so arranged that the boxes, 
when inverted, fitted over them. A man can move 
and replace one of these readily enough for the 
purpose of cutting the produce, and to examine it he 
has only to move the 6 ins. or 8 ins. of short Utter with 
which the boxes ought to be covered, and raise up 
one side, and the contents can be easily inspected. 
Boxes may be constructed with movable tops, 
providing the latter is made a trifle wider than the 
boxes, so as to allow of a fillet on each side to prevent 
them moving from their place during the operation of 
covering and uncovering. One of these boxes, filled 
once a week,will give a constant supply during the season 
A man will easily make the bed and put in two boxes 
in an hour, as there is no need of barrow work, for 
the bed should be made where the material is, and 
matters should be so arranged that even the soil to 
put round the crowns should not have to be fetched 
expressly for the purpose. It was our practice, when 
clearing any pits or frames, to wheel the soil near to 
the spot where the Seakale bed was likely to be made. 
If forcing were needed, we had only to make a polite 
request to the stable men, and they wheeled the 
manure from their stables and placed it against our 
Seakale-bed. The trial-stick also indicated to what 
extent their help was needed. 
No one can be so obtuse as not to perceive the 
simplicity, safety and economy of this method, as 
compared with the cumbrous system of covering the 
Seakale crowns in the open ground, and the plan 
commends itself especially to those who may not 
have a Mushroom-house, as I am pleased to say I have 
now, a house which will accommodate over 1,000 
crowns at one time, without interfering with the space 
required to yield a daily supply of Mushrooms. To 
economize labour, we do not as some do, make 
a practice of wheeling material into the Mushroom- 
house to pack round the roots of the Seakale, but 
arrange to leave enough for the purpose of an ex¬ 
hausted Mushroom-bed, for I find that it is of little 
consequence what the Seakale is planted in, as the 
produce is nearly fit for use before roots are formed. 
I would therefore advise beginners to take no heed of 
the stress laid on the quality of the soil recommended 
for packing the roots in. I was led to abandon 
the use of all kind of material from outside for 
this purpose, because it was the means of intro¬ 
ducing a number of slugs into the Mushroom-house, 
and which proved most troublesome to the Mushroom 
crops. 
To conduct this system of forcing, it becomes 
imperative to make fresh plantations annually, which, 
in the south, I believe, is a common practice, and 
involves but little labour, as one-year-old roots are 
frequently superior to some that have been growing 
undisturbed several years. Ours are, of course, not 
equal to the best production of the sunny south, but 
they are above mediocrity, and they are now being 
lifted and heeled in, and well covered with fitter, so 
that we can easily move them during the hardest 
frost. 
Since writing the above, I see Mr. Warden, p. 219, 
advocates the use of flower-pots to pack the roots in 
for forcing. This reminds me of my first attempt in 
the manure-yard, till the boxes suggested themselves 
to me. Unlike Mr. Warden, I did not cover the pots 
over with a hurdle, but with sufficient litter to exclude 
fight. The pots were placed on some manure, with 
slight warmth, as I find that Seakale, as well as 
Rhubarb, prefer the heat below to having it above.— 
North. 
-* 1 *- 
Potato, The Doctor. —One of the new varieties 
of Potato which came under the notice of the Fruit 
and Vegetable Committee of the Royal Horticultural 
Society during the past summer was named The 
Doctor. It was raised, or, at least, introduced, by 
Mr. J. Pritchard, of Sittingbourne, and it is described 
as a “ white round of the regent type and quality, the 
top growth smallish, not spreading, the tubers round 
or angular, even and neat, but scarcely handsome. It 
is a very productive variety of excellent table quality, 
and is likely to be of importance for the main crop 
and market.” Such is the description given of it by 
Mr. Shirley Hilberd, and it may be added it was 
awarded a First-Class Certificate of Merit by the 
above Committee. The stock of this variety has been 
secured by Messrs. W. W. Johnson & Son, seed 
merchants, of Boston, -who will shortly announce it for 
sale. We have had an opportunity of cooking some 
of the tubers, and it is one of those dry mealy Potatos 
so much prized on the exhibition table. It being a 
heavy cropper and having a small top it is well 
adapted for amateur gardeners where vegetable gardens 
are circumscribed in space. This is one of not a few 
fine varieties to be put into circulation at the opening 
of the new year. 
Broccoli, Veitch’s Self-protecting. — I am now 
cutting good heads of this fine late autumn vegetable. 
They come in soon after the Autumn Giant Cauli¬ 
flower is over, though I have cut some of the latter 
during the last few days. This self-protecting Broccoli 
is a very serviceable variety for gardeners to grow, 
inasmuch as it will carry us on until Snow’s Winter 
White comes in—or nearly so. It is not so large as 
the Autumn Giant Cauliflower, but quite large enough 
for any table, and the heads are very white and 
very compact. I like it much and find it very useful. 
It has also the great merit of protecting its flowers 
with its own leaves, which curl closely over the 
heads.— T. TV., North Norfolk. 
t 
