July 18th, 1885. 
731 
flowers and fruits, I regret to say is on the increase. 
Such practices of course deprive the exhibitors of 
any merit that may be claimed for the productions 
shown, and to say the least, the whole business is 
most objectionable.— Dottble Glo’ster. 
Work in the Plant-houses.— At the present 
season of the year the most important work in con¬ 
nection with the plant-houses will be to see that all 
winter-flowering plants are potted on as they require 
it. Begonias (winter-flowering) should soon be ready 
for potting into their flowering pots, and any that 
require it should be stopped for the last time. 
Salvias should also have their final shift by the end 
of the present month. Tree Carnations and Bouvar- 
dias will also require attention, especially with regard 
to tying, as, where exposed, they are very liable to 
break off, if we get rough, stormy weather. Although 
some of the Bouvardias that are grown on for succes¬ 
sion may be stopped later, yet the main crop should 
now 7 be gone over for the last time. Cinerarias and 
Primulas must not be neglected, as Cinerarias 
are sure to get crippled by insects if allowed 
to get pot-bound, while Primulas that are allowed 
to stand too long before being potted on never make 
good plants, and will very probably flower prematurely. 
Where it is required to have a batch of Primulas for 
spring flowering, or for seeding, a sowing should be 
made at once. Cinerarias sow 7 n now will also come 
in very useful, and will retain their foliage better than 
those sown earlier. 
Solanuji capsicastbuji. —This is one of the most 
useful plants for winter decoration. The plants should 
now be well in flow 7 er, and to get them to set their 
berries well they must be well exposed, but must on 
no account be allowed to suffer for want of water, 
and as soon as the berries are well set they should 
be liberally supplied with manure-water. 
What is a Herbaceous Plant ?—When acting 
as a judge at a country flower show not long since, I came 
upon a class for twelve bunches of hardy herbaceous 
plants distinct, and among them I found Boses and 
Sweet Williams. These are not herbaceous plants 
in the strict sense of the word, but I found that the 
aim of the framers of the schedule was to secure the 
presence of hardy flowers, and they used the term 
herbaceous in the form of hardy, and not merely 
as including perennials, for Sweet Peas were shown 
also, and they come under the denomination of hardy 
annuals. “Herbaceous” is a term that should be 
employed with great care in schedules of prizes. Let 
us suppose that the simple question, What is a herba¬ 
ceous plant ? be proposed to a number of gardeners ; 
it would be found there would be a considerable degree 
of variation in their answers. It is not that there 
is any difficulty in defining what is strictly meant by 
the term herbaceous, yet it is evident, from the state¬ 
ment made above, that certain notions on the subject 
appear to prevail that are not quite correct. 
A strictly herbaceous plant is one that j>roduces an 
annual stem ; the term is used as opposed to ligneous 
or arboreous, which means partaking of the nature 
of a tree or shrub, with enduring woody stems and 
branches. Of this character there is a vast propor¬ 
tion of the vegetable kingdom, and it embraces 
numerous annuals, biennials, and perennials. The 
annuals perish stem and root, soon after they have 
perfected their seeds ; biennials, which endure two 
years, and in some cases more, generally perish after 
they have once fulfilled the same conditions; whilst 
perennials, which are of many years’ duration, 
annually put forth fresh stems. If these stems die 
down soon after they have borne flowers, they may 
be regarded as herbaceous. It will be seen, therefore, 
that herbaceous plants are very distinguishable from 
woody, ligneous, or arboreous ones. And further, 
bulbous plants are herbaceous. 
In all probability, seeing the broad interpretation 
that is put upon the term herbaceous at country 
shows, it would be well if “ hardy,” or “ hardy peren¬ 
nial plants,” were the term used instead of herbaceous. 
At present, many hardy shrubs are included, and it is 
difficult to see how they can be rejected, unless the 
schedule of prizes should reject everything that, like 
the Bose, is in the form of a woody shrub.— Quo. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Aristolochia ornithocephala. — Considering 
the freedom with which they grow and bloom, the 
handsome character of the foliage of most of them, 
and the singular formation of their flowers, there are 
few more strikingly ornamental stove climbers or 
pillar plants, and yet how seldom do we meet with 
them in houses in every way adapted to their require¬ 
ments. Next to A. Goldieana, that somewhat recent 
introduction from Old Calabar, and which produces 
the largest flowers of all, we should be inclined to 
place A. ornithocephala, flowers of which are before 
us from the gardens at Scone Palace, Perth, where 
it seems to be well grown and appreciated, as its 
merits deserve. The singular resemblance of the 
flower to a bird’s head, and its colour, pale yellow, 
with a network of dark purple-brown, render it a very 
conspicuous object. It is a native of Brazil, and 
in good hands may be grown as well on a balloon trellis 
as up a rafter, though we confess to liking it best in 
the latter position. 
-- 
Antirrhinums. —Mr. W. Caudwell, The Ivies, 
Wantage, who grows extensively some of the most 
popular of our hardy florists’ flowers, has favoured 
us with a bunch of his strain of white-throated 
Snapdragons, which have not only size but good form 
and great variety in the colours to recommend them. 
His large bed of them must have been very imposing 
before the hot weather set in. 
-^- 
Diplacus glutinosus. —This old-fashioned flower 
is well grorvn at Broomhall Field, where there is now 
a good specimen plant in full bloom. Clrandiflorus, 
Lord Derby, and Sunbeam are improvements on the 
species, and merit more general cultivation.— J. 
Udale. 
Exacum affine. —A compact bushy stove annual 
from the rocky Island of Socotra, where it grows 
abundantly on the banks of water-courses, and pro¬ 
duces numerous flowers of a bright lilac-blue. It 
was introduced by Dr. Schweinfurth. A good figure 
is given in the July number of The Botanical 
Magazine. It is a pretty little plant, with small 
shining green leaves, and flowering freely during the 
early spring months. It is easily grown and requires 
only very simple treatment. 
Narcissus pachybolbus. —This pretty and dis¬ 
tinct Narcissus belonging to the Tazetta group is 
figured in the July number of The Botanical Magazine. 
It is distinguished from other species of the group to 
which it belongs by its very large bulbs, stiffly erect 
glaucous leaves, and small pure white fragrant 
flowers. It is a native of Algeria, where it flowers in 
December and January; and in this country a little 
later, as the plant from which the drawing was made 
was exhibited in Febuary last at the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society by E. G. Loder, Esq. It was 
introduced to cultivation about twenty years ago by 
the late Mr. Giles Munby. Coming from so mild a 
climate, it is not suited for open-air cultivation with 
us, but must be grown with other greenhouse or half- 
hardy bulbs. 
Corydalis pallida. —This is a pretty branching 
perennial, with elegantly-cut leaves, and long racemes 
of bright yellow flowers. It is figured in the July 
number of The Botanical Magazine. Seeds w 7 ere 
received at Kew from Mr. Ford, of Hong-Kong, who 
had collected them on the opposite coast of China, 
north of the Canton River. They were sown in 
September, 1884, and flowered in the herbaceous 
department in the following March. Several species 
of this genus are well known as useful plants for the 
perennial border. 
-- 
Rhododendron niveum var. fulvum. —This 
handsome Rhododendron is figured in the July 
number of The Botanical Magazine. It differs from 
the species in having a buff-coloured instead of 
snow-white tomentum on the under side of the leaves, 
and in the larger truss and deeper colour of its 
flowers. It is one of the original plants raised from 
seeds collected by Sir J. D. Hooker in Sikkim, in 
1848-9, and is planted in a bed in the south-west 
angle of the Temperate House at Kew, where it 
flowers freely every year, and is said to far exceed in 
beauty E. niveum itself. The number of Sikkim 
Rhododendrons numbers about thirty species, all 
handsome greenhouse plants, and some of them 
especially so; their chief drawback being that they 
require a rather large amount of room. They are 
also the parents of some of our most beautiful 
hybrids. 
- g—- * r T ' ir ^ > ' £T ^ ■ -S. - 
The Kitchen Gardener’s Calendar.— Onions : 
The middle of next week will be a good time to make 
the first sowing of Onions to come into use in April 
and May next, and again about the middle of next 
month, for use in June and July. In cold districts 
the first sowing should be made a few days earlier, 
and, in order to secure the best possible results, a dry 
and light soil should be selected in preference to a 
damp and heavy one, and the site should be well 
exposed to the south or west. The ground should be 
liberally manured and deeply trenched, and afterwards 
it should be trodden all over, and then roughly raked, 
and after receiving a good surface-dressing of soot it 
should be again raked, this time evenly, and with a 
finer tool. The drills should be drawn at from 12 ins 
to 15 ins. apart, and 1 in. deep. The seed should be 
sown somewhat thickly, and covered, and be finished 
off in the same way as spring-sown Onions, and the 
after-treatment be identical with that given to the 
latter. The young plants can be thinned out when 
necessary, as required for salading in the autumn ; 
they should, however, be left sufficiently thick in the 
rows to make allowance for mishaps during the 
winter months. The varieties most suitable for this 
sowing are the Queen and Early White Naples, and 
these come into use in the order in which their names 
appear. The Bed and White Tripoli and “White 
Naples, if sown, as already stated, in the middle of 
August, will make a good succession. The result of 
these sowings will fill the blank that would otherwise 
most probably occur between the bulbs of the pre¬ 
ceding and current year’s growth, through that of the 
former becoming flabby, and consequently of little 
value for culinary purposes, from the bulbs starting 
into growth in May and June.— H. W. Ward. 
Ellam’s Early Dwarf Cabbage. —My experi¬ 
ence of this variety is that when sown on July 20th 
for spring cutting it grows into good stocky plants 
with the lower leaves touching the ground, and 
always stands the winter well. But it must be cut as 
soon as it is ready; or if a good shower of rain 
comes followed by a little sunshine it cracks all to 
pieces, and is useless for the table. This is its 
peculiarity with me, and I should be glad to know 
whether other growers have experienced the same 
thing. For a market man who can cut the heads 
as soon as they are ready it is A 1. A new variety, 
called the Early Warwick, has been strongly 
recommended to me, but not to be sown before the 
1st of August. Have any of your readers any useful 
information respecting this sort to communicate to a 
brother Gardener ? 
Tomatos. — I have tried all the new Tomatos as 
they have come out, and find Phillips’ Perfection the 
very best of them all, but as a cropper our own strain 
of the old Bed is the heaviest.— G. 
-• 'I - -D — 
Garden Refuse. —Looking over the large kitchen 
garden attached to the Metropolitan Police Orphanage 
at Twickenham the other day, I was much interested 
to note the way in which Mr. Gardiner, the super¬ 
intendent, disposes of his garden refuse, leaves, 
sweepings, Ac. A piece of ground is always kept 
vacant which trenching will improve. A trench 2 ft. 
in width and depth is thrown out, and into this is 
placed all the refuse of the garden as collected. 
When full and well trodden in another trench is 
thrown out, and the soil covering the refuse in the 
first trench deeply, and, of course, raising the ground 
somewhat for a time. In the course of a year a 
large piece is thus treated and improved.— B. A., in 
The Gardeners’ Chronicle. 
