334 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
April 22, 1905. 
Moore lias grown liis plant relatively cool, and at present bears 
the palm of having been the most successful cultivator of the 
largest known Pitcher Plant. 'A dried specimen of this, species 
was shown with a leaf between 5 ft. and 6 ft. long, the 
pitcher was of handsome size, and the lid of it was nearly 1 ft. 
long. The largest pitcher of this plant which has been seen 
had" a capacity for holding two quarts of liquid. Naturally 
cultivators would like to succeed with this remarkable plant. 
A very striking Pitcher Plant is N. edwardsiana, unknown out¬ 
side herbarium specimens. The pitcher of this is of great 
length and remarkable structure. Another very curious one 
shown was N. echinostoma, which is equally scarce and un¬ 
known to cultivation. 
Of frequently cultivated species, a number were shown, in¬ 
cluding N. Veitchi, notable for its long, greenish-yellow and 
very hairy pitchers. As a cultivated plant it is most appre¬ 
ciated for its broad, rich brown and shining collar. Much 
better known is N. raffiesiana, which is frequent in collections, 
as well as the hybrids of which it has been one of the parents. 
For many years this and N. hookeriana jostled each other sicle 
by side in collections. A more remarkable Pitcher was N. 
northiana, named after Miss North, who was instrumental in 
bringing it to the attention of cultivators by her painting of 
it, doneln Borneo, its native home. The pitcher is remarkable 
for its length, nearly cylindrical outline, and by the great 
beauty of the markings on the conducting surface at the mouth 
of the pitcher. Equally interesting in its way is a cultivated 
species named N. bicalcarata, which lias two horns or spurs 
beneath the lid and directed into the pitcher. It is said that 
birds and perhaps other animals reaching too far into the 
pitchers are unable to get out again owing to the presence of 
these spurs, which are sufficiently strong to resist an animal of 
some size. Another with some peculiarities of a similar nature 
was N tentaeularia. N. celebica does not seem to have been 
introduced in a live state. It has a horn opposite the lunge of 
the lid. A rather pretty one fairly frequent in cultivation was 
N. albo-marginata, the pitchers of which are reddish in the 
upper part, with a distinct white ring below the collar. 
A point of some importance to gardeners was unravelled bj 
the exhibition of specimens of N. Burkei and N. B. excellent 
The typical form is really the male plant, and has narrow and 
less ornamental pitchers than N. B. excellent The pitcher of 
the latter is very much inflated in the lower half with a dis- 
tinct constriction, above which it again widens. 
_ o This form has 
larger pitchers beautifully blotched with red-brown in the 
lower portion, and merely represents the female form of the 
plant. Numerous slides of these two showed the various 
peculiarities and minute structure of the pitchers. 
An easily grown plant is N. ampullaria, which is notable for 
the enormous number of pitchers produced on good-sized speci¬ 
mens, but the pitchers being small lose much in interest for 
the cultivator. Other species brought under review were N. 
khasiana, boschiana lowiana, villosa, and distillatoria. I he 
latter is rather a scarce plant, but was represented by a fresh 
Pitcher from Glasnevin. It comes from Ceylon, but the pitchers 
being rather green, they are not very popular amongst cul¬ 
tivators. N. khasiana, it may be remembered, was one of the 
parents of N. mastersiana, which is one of the most popular of 
cultivated Pitcher Plants. 
Great importance attaches to the recently raised N. bit W. i. 
Thlselton-Dyer, which was the result of crossing two hybrids, 
and produces the largest known pitchers of any Nepenthes in 
this country. The pitcher is nearly cylindrical, and much of 
the same shape as N. dicksoniana, but larger and more highly 
coloured. The largest pitcher produced by it held If pints of 
liquid, and this specimen may be seen in a museum at Kew. 
It was raised by Messrs. J. Yeitch and Sons, and being easily 
cultivated, has been grown successfully in other establishments 
which have been able to secure it. 
Many of the best-known Pitcher Plants have been excluded 
from the above list, but the exhibit was mainly intended to 
illustrate the peculiarities of the different forms or types, both 
from wild and cultivated specimens, including garden hybrids 
which have proved of value to the cultivator. The 1 unpublished 
species would, of course, appeal to the botanist. 
Double White Rocket. 
{See Supplement.) 
The ordinary single forms of Hesperis matronalis in a con¬ 
siderable variety of colours ranging from white to purple are 
all inhabitants of gardens, and even cottage gardens, in the 
most remote parts of the country. In many cases the single 
form is regarded as having become naturalised. These are 
therefore of very easy cultivation, but the double varieties are 
somewhat more refractory owing to the fact that the plant is 
inclined to be biennial or a short-lived plant. The single 
forms, however, produce seed in abundance, and by such means 
the plant is scattered about in gardens and seedlings come up 
of their own accord. These plants are known under various 
names, such as Damask Violet, Damask Rocket, Dame’s Violet, 
and Common Rocket. 
The double white Rocket (II. matronalis alba fl. pi.) in our 
opinion is the best of all of them. The flowers are perfectly 
double, pure white, and deliciously scented, especially at night. 
As far as we are aware, there is only one form of it, but cul¬ 
tivation, climate and soil seem to exercise a considerable effect 
upon the number of flowers on any given length of the stem. 
Our supplementary illustration this week shows a couple of 
spikes which have evidently been grown in very rich soil, 
possibly more or less influenced by shade, thus causing an 
elongation of the stem, whereby the flowers are spaced at some 
distance along it. In the North of Britain the spikes are 
usually as close or dense as those of a Ten-Weeks Stock. In 
such excellent form it serves the same purpose as a White 
Stock, and comes into bloom much in advance of the Ten- 
Weeks Stock, so that both could be grown with great pro¬ 
priety even in the same border, the one forming a succession 
to the other. 
There is some little difficulty in keeping up a healthy stock 
of this fine variety in the South of England, especially in dry 
seasons, because, being a short-lived perennial or half inclined 
to be a biennial, the plants are liable to flower themselves to 
death, much in the same way as the hybrid Cheiranthus Mar- 
shallii. The best antidote to this state of matters is to cut 
down the flower-stems immediately after the flowers cease to 
be effective, and water the plants if the weather is diy so as 
to encourage fresh crowns from the rootstock. If once the 
cultivator can secure these fresh crowns, he is placed in a posi 
tion to multiply his stock by division or by cuttings. Ihese 
cuttings are almost certain to be veiy short, but every one of 
them will root if the propagator is sufficiently careful to cut 
low enough to secure a bit of the stem or axis at the base of 
the leaves. 
After having cut off one or two of the lower leaves, these 
cuttings can be inserted singly in the centre of thumb pots in 
very light sandy soil and placed in a cold frame kept close until 
the cuttings are rooted. After a week or so ventilation might 
be given at the top in the same way as is done for various other 
herbaceous plants if the weather happens to be hot at the 
time, otherwise there is no necessity for ventilation until the 
cuttings are rooted and show it by commencing to push up the 
young leaves in the centre. 
If these cuttings are rooted sufficiently before the advent of 
winter to fill the pots with roots, it would be well to repot the 
young plants into a large size before winter, otherwise they 
should be left in the small pots until well on in February or 
March, according to the state of the weather. By repotting as 
soon as this becomes necessary larger plants are obtained than 
where the cuttings are left to starve in the thumb pots till 
planting-out time about the end of March or beginning of April. 
Practically this is the most important point in keeping up a 
srood stock of this excellent Rocket, which may be used for the 
decoration of beds, borders, for forming edgings and for cut- 
flower purposes. . . 
The flowers are deliciously scented, but particularly m the 
cool of the evening, when it is most powerful and closely similar 
to that of the scented varieties of East Lothian Stocks. Any 
good garden soil will meet the requirements of this plant. 
Where it is inclined to be heavy it can be ameliorated by 
