518 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 15, 1893. 
fruit trees innumerable—Cocoa Nuts, Mangoes, 
Oranges, Sapadillos, Guavas, Grape fruit, Star 
Apples, green and red, bread fruit, Bananas in their 
tens of thousands, acres of Sugar-cane, groves of 
Coffee and Chocolate, besides Pineapples, Plantain, 
Yams, and a dozen other fruits and vegetables. You 
pass what looks like a careless thicket—on closer 
inspection you find it to be Coffee. Everything 
seems to grow as a part of Nature, not a product of 
cultivation ; the whole island laughs with abundance 
as if mocking such unnecessary labour as tillage and 
harvest. From every thicket peep little cabins, 
thatched with Palm-leaves or Guinea-grass, where 
the negro families loiter to nod you a bright good- 
day. They are perfectly charming in their good 
nature these natives. They will come out with some 
of their fruit or vegetables, a branch of Oranges or 
a. few yams. “A present, a present,” they say, 
offering it, and do not refuse a small present in 
return. But they would give, without any return. 
When they are not loitering, they are marching. 
Drive when you will upon any of the roads leading 
into Kingston, and you will meet or pass a hundred 
barefooted natives, women for the most part, bear¬ 
ing their burdens balanced on their heads and 
moving with that stately carriage which belongs to 
those who spend their lives as Caryatidae in motion. 
Even thus burdened they manage to give you good 
day, and turn upon you that unblinking stare of 
genuine, undisguised curiosity which is troubled by 
no self-conscious shyness. After some experience of 
this endless procession of black folk, you come to 
realise the fact that Jamaica, out of a population of 
640,000, has only some 14,000 white inhabitants. 
The day we left Jamaica we drove twenty miles 
through the mountains to Castleton. The valley 
scenery was varied, but always luxuriant. We 
assed minySugar,Tobacco,and Banana plantations, 
and finally came to a point on the slopes descending 
to the north, where, in a lovely amphitheatre of 
hills, the Government Botanic Gardens are situated. 
A stream, whose course we had been following 
down, formed the base of the garden, and up the 
side of the hills to the west rose this little tropical 
paradise. Here were Palms of every kind, chief of 
all, the perfect Royal Palm. And here the Victoria 
Regia Lily spread its great frying-pan leaves over 
the surface of a whole pond. Large flowering trees, 
the Dithenia speciosa and the Sapthodea grandiflora, 
gave colour to the upper air, and Ferns and Orchids 
gave grace with colour to the lower levels. 
The wealth of Ferns in Jamaica is extraordinary, 
and here could be seen the silver Fern which prints 
off, over and over again, its tracery upon a dark 
cloth. Nutmeg and Cinnamon trees fringed the 
walks, and in the grass could be found,,the delicate 
little Sensitive Plant. It was Kew, and something 
better than Kew, in a mnch more limited space. The 
gardens are to be removed to Hope, only some five 
miles from Kingston, where they will be more 
accessible, though they will never find a more lovely 
situation .—The Globe. 
-- 
MANURES: HOW TO MAKE AND 
USE THEM.* 
What applies to manures and the making of them 
in America also applies in this country. The waste 
of manure is a sad reflection on the science of the 
nineteenth century, and still it is allowed to go on 
notwithstanding all protests on the part of scientific 
men to the contrary. This American book appeals 
to every one having anything-to do with the cultiva¬ 
tion of plants, and as its teachings on the whole are 
sound they may be relied upon. The information 
therefore is not new to physiologists and others on 
this side of the Atlantic, who make plant life the 
subject of scientific research; but there are 
thousands engaged in plant culture who have not 
the slightest idea of the science of the subject, and 
cannot therefore go beyond the beaten track of 
practice whatever the conditions of soil, climate, 
and locality, etc., may be. A scientific study of 
plant life, however elementary, if correct, would 
enable gardeners and farmers to surmount many 
difficulties by which, at present, they are baffled, 
notwithstanding the means of information quite 
within their reach. 
* “Manures: Howto Make and Use them.” A new practical 
treatise on the chemistry of manures and manuie making. 
Written specially for the use of farmers, horticulturists, and 
market gardeners. By Frank W. Sempers. Published by W. 
Atlee Burpee & Co., Philadelphia, Pa., 1893 
We do not agree with the book in every detail, 
even though the disagreement may be on matters of 
minor detail. For instance, the best physiologists 
in this country are agreed that only ten elements of 
plant food are absolutely essential. The Americans, 
it would appear, reckon that fourteen of them are 
essential. The four extra ones are chlorine, 
sodium, silicon, and manganese, the latter not 
being included in some of our older books on the 
subject, and which are getting, to say the least of 
them, old-fashioned. Chlorine, sodium, silicon, and 
several others are nearly always present in plant 
tissues, but by the process of water culture it has 
been determined that they perform no useful function 
in plant life, and are not even essential to the life of 
the plant. Many chemical elements are taken up by 
the roots of plants simply because they are present 
in the soil, and there is no physical obstruction to 
their ingress into plants. The writer quotes the 
opinion of M. Georges Ville, that “ the omission of 
soluble silica is very prejudicial to vegetable 
activity”; but physiologists here investigated the 
subject and found that the laying of Corn was due, 
not to the absence of silicia in the soil, but to thick 
sowing and the obstruction to light having a proper 
access to the stems which were weak because the 
proper thickening of the cell walls was thereby 
prevented. The process of water culture also 
demonstrated that Maize could be properly grown 
without silica. The writer wisely states that 
manganese "is sufficiently abundant in all soils for 
the use of plants and is rarely used as a fertiliser.” 
The proper making of farmyard manure is a good 
feature of the book, and ought to be studied by 
farmers and horticulturists everywhere. Various 
other natural manures, including night soil, peat 
composts, guano, bones in various prepared forms, 
humus, green manuring, and others are dealt with 
in the same practical manner. Artificial or chemical 
manures also occupy a considerable portion of the 
book. A large number of formulas are given for the 
making of artificial manures for certain specific 
crops, and this we consider as one of the best 
features of the treatise and ought to encourage 
cultivators to extend the system greatly by experi¬ 
ment on their own farms and gardens. The science 
of agriculture cannot be limited by strict rules as the 
conditions vary so much. This then is the reason 
why the cultivator should undertake experiments on 
his own account. 
- ^ - 
fiARDENING f|[lSCELLANY, 
FAIRY PRIMROSE. 
There is a white variety of Primula minima in cul¬ 
tivation but is very rare, if not lost. The type is, 
however, moderately plentiful and grows pretty 
freely when grown in a tolerably moist, sheltered 
position, so that it does not get dried up under the 
influence of a scorching sun in summer. When the 
cultivator has not a suitable position at his disposal, 
he can grow it in pots in cold frames, where it suc¬ 
ceeds admirably. The whole plant does not exceed 
an inch in height and is often less than that. The 
leaves are wedge-shaped, toothed along the top and" 
of a bright shining green. They form a close carpet 
from which the flower scapes rise, bearing only a 
single flower as a rule about an inch in diameter, 
and vary from rose to deep purple, and pubescent in 
the throat. The flowers are stated to make their 
appearance during the summer time, but when 
grown under glass it blooms early in March, as we 
noted in the nursery of Messrs. J. Laing & Sons. 
HELICONIA AU REO-STRIATA. 
1 he foliage of this plant is always of an attractive 
character, and as it seldom flowers under cultivation, 
it is a fine-foliaged plant pure and simple. The 
leaves are ovate or inclined to be ovate-elliptic, 
pointed and of a bright green with incurved yellow 
lines proceeding from the pinkish midrib and run¬ 
ning through the greater part of the length of the 
leaf. The petioles are also of a pinkish hue and 
smooth, so that they alway present a clean appear¬ 
ance. There are several species in cultivation, but 
that under notice is one of the best and commonest. 
The habit of the plant is similar to that of Calathea 
zebrina, and it is in fact a member of the same 
family as the latter, but more nearly allied to the 
Musas. The flowers are by no means showy. All 
come from the tropical regions of the western hemis¬ 
phere, and therefore require to be grown in the stove. 
GREVILIEA BAN KSII. 
The species of Banksia vary greatly in the form of 
the leaves, some being small and quite entire, while 
others are much divided as in the case of G. robusta, 
to which G. Banksii may be compared. The leaves 
are pinnatifid with oblong segments which are 
broader than these of G. robusta. The plant grows 
much more slowly however, and would therefore 
remain longer in a useful condition for decorative 
purposes. Some of the Grevilleas prove difficult to 
raise from cuttings, but can readily be raised from 
seeds when such are procurable. This is the method 
adopted with G. robusta, of which seeds are obtain¬ 
able in great plenty. That under notice will have to 
be raised in the same way, and provided seeds can 
be obtained in plenty there should be no difficulty in 
raising the plants in quantity, and if such is the case 
there is a prospect of the plant becoming popular. 
ANEMONE RANUNCULOIDES. 
Yellow is a very unusual colour amongst the 
Anemones, just as white, purp'e, and scarlet, with 
intermediate shades, are common. The species 
under notice has a purple-flowered Pyrenean variety, 
but the type is golden yellow with five sepals, and on 
superficial examination bears a remarkable resem¬ 
blance to a Buttercup. The analogy ends with the 
golden-yellow flowers, the coloured parts of which 
are sepals and not petals. The involucral leaves are 
deeply three-parted, and therefore fully charac¬ 
teristic of the genus to which it belongs. A small 
bed of it upon the grass may be seen in the Royal 
Gardens, Kew, and the plants are now in full bloom, 
forming a mass of golden-yellow. We have often 
seen this plant in pots, but no conception of its 
beauty can be formed from half-starved specimens 
grown in that way. Anemones of this class must be 
planted out in friable moderately moist soil fully 
exposed, in order that their capabilities may be 
understood and appreciated. It is as hardy as the 
common Wood Anemone, and evidently as easily 
cultivated ; in fact, it is naturalised in some parts of 
England, and although an old plant, has been very 
much neglected. 
DRABA AIZOIDES. 
The species of Draba in cultivation have mostly 
yellow flowers, but a few cf them are white. The 
regrettable part is that they are not more plentiful in 
gardens in early spring. Some of them are incon¬ 
spicuous and weedy plants, but a goodly proportion 
on the other hand are both neat and attractive, 
forming little tufts suitable for culture in the more 
moist crevices of the rockwork. Some of them are 
not particular as to moisture, however, and provided 
the roots can get beyond the baking influence of the 
sun in summer, they thrive in a comparatively 
small quantity of soil. That under notice has bright 
yellow flowers on scapes an i£in. to 2 in. high, and 
this season they made their appearance about the 
beginning of March, even in the open air and unpro¬ 
tected in any way, as might have been seen in the 
nursery of Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, Forest Hill. 
The leaves are linear-lanceolate, ciliate, and pro¬ 
duced in small dense rosettes, giving the whole 
plant a very neat appearance. 
A NEGLECTED WALLFLOWER. 
Popular as the common Wallflower is, there is still 
room for some of the other species in gardens, 
including the showy Cheiranthus mutabilis, a sub- 
shrubby species from Madeira. It is considered 
only half hardy, unfortunately, but it may be safely 
wintered in a cold frame, where many other subjects 
of less importance are often well cared for. There 
is a batch or two of it in the nursery of Messrs. 
Barr & Son, Long Ditton, Surrey, where the plants 
stood the severe weather of December and January 
last uninjured, and are now in full bloom. The 
flowers are richer in colour than we have ever seen 
them before, a fact due, no doubt, to the clear skies 
and bright sunshine of March. They are borne in 
dense racemes terminating the branches. The un¬ 
expanded calyx is of a deep brownish-purple, and 
when the petals open they are of a deep orange red, 
almost scarlet, wiih darker veins at first, but they 
soon change to deep purple and then to pale purple. 
All these shades may be seen on a truss of bloom at 
the same time, and render the plant highly orna¬ 
mental as it is uncommon. The plant is easily 
propagated from cuttings, and would be highly 
ornamental in the greenhouse or conservatory. 
