THE GARDENING WORLD. 
613 
R September Flowering 
ABELIA 
CHINENSIS. 
Shrub. 
September 21, 1907. 
Joseph Cheat in Canada. 
Mr. Joseph Cheal, a partner in the 
Il-known firm of Messrs. J. Cheal and 
.ns, The Nurseries, Crawley, who has 
it returned from a visit to Canada, has 
en giving his impressions of our pre- 
er colony to a reporter of the “ Sussex 
d Surrey Courier,” and in the course of 
e interview said he had travelled right 
rough the country from the Atlantic to 
e Pacific, having covered 13,450 miles— 
300 by sea, 6,632 by rail, 630 by inland 
;amers, and 193 by buggy. Mr. Cheal 
is in Canada five years ago, and in that 
terval he noticed in many places a 
eat advance. The country, he said, 
rapidly developing in many directions, 
id there is yet unlimited room and prac- 
ally unlimited resources; all the 
lony wants is men and money to de¬ 
lop them. 
-- 
A BEAUTIFUL 
Ornamental Grass. 
' -- ) 
Having never seen Panicum sulcatum 
entioned in the Gardening World, I 
mture to write a few words on its merits. 
It is easily cultivated and amply re- 
lys any trouble expended on it. It is 
rapid grower, and soon makes large 
ecimens, which can be used in so many 
fferent ways. As a table plant it equals 
ly Palm that is cultivated, not only in 
; graceful leaves, but being half-hardy, 
can be placed in a cool or cold room 
thout injury. Palms being very slow 
'owers, require careful treatment to 
■ep them presentable. Panicum sulca- 
m planted out of doors in good soil and 
:pt moist will hold its own with any 
.b-tropical plant that is cultivated. 
It is easily raised from seed, which can 
: obtained from any seedsman. (My 
ants were raised from a penny packet 
)tained from Ryder and Son, St. Al¬ 
ms.) Anyone who possesses a warm 
■eenhouse can grow it to perfection, the 
arm, moist atmosphere seeming to suit 
5 requirements to a nicety. 
The seeds sown thinly in boxes, in a 
impost of loam, leaf mould or peat, and 
dash of silver sand, placed in a tem- 
irature of 60 to 70 degrees and kept 
oist, soon germinate, the seedlings 
fing pricked off when an inch high, or 
Stted off singly in thumbpots of the 
ime compost and afterwards potted on 
- required, adding a little bonemeal and 
lay’s Fertiliser to the compost when 5 or 
in. pots are reached, and always keep- 
ig the compost moist. It also delights 
1 an occasional weak dose of liquid 
anure, soot water especially giving the 
•aves such a beautiful green lustre. The 
lant sends up offsets from the base and 
>on becomes quite a mass of beautiful 
)liage. The leaves are 2 feet to 3 feet 
|i length, lanceolate in shape, varying 
;om 2 to 4 inches in breadth, beautifully 
irrugated, the corrugations rising from 
ie midrib to the margins and apex, ar- 
mged alternately up the central stem, 
hich rises erect from the roots, the leaves 
eing attached by a hairy fluted stem 
anted on to the sheath, which rises from 
te root. Amateur. 
-- 
Germany calls the Dahlia “ Georgine” 
1 honour of the botanist Georgi. 
The great bulk of flowering shrubs are 
at their best during May and June, after 
which we have a straggling few consist¬ 
ing chiefly of trees. There are, however, 
late flowering subjects that keep up a 
succession till well into the autumn, and 
the above named shrub is one of them. 
The flowers are white, more or less 
deeply tinted with pink, and produced in 
clusters of two or three at the end of all 
the short twiggy branches. The leaves 
are of small size and rich dark green in 
colour, not unlike those of the common 
Myrtle, so that they form a good setting 
for the flowers. 
The species was introduced from China 
in 1844, and has been given several 
names, though the correct one is that 
above given. It is not hardy in cold 
districts, and although it may be grown 
as a bush in the open in the southern 
counties, we more usually see it at the 
foot of a wall. The main branches are 
fastened to the wall, and the twiggy 
young growths made during summer are 
allowed to extend loosely and are those 
which give the flowers which appear dur¬ 
ing the latter part of August and con¬ 
tinue more or less through September. 
The plant is very nearly evergreen, re¬ 
taining many of its leaves till well into 
the winter in sheltered situations. For 
these reasons it might well be employed 
as a shrub for covering low walls in the 
neighbourhood of dwelling houses, where 
something is often required to hide low 
boundary walls. It is always neat, and 
therefore well suited for this purpose. 
The shrub can be increased by layer¬ 
ing in spring, and by cuttings of half 
ripe wood taken during July or August 
according to their condition. These 
should, of course, be inserted in pots in 
very sandy soil and placed under a hand- 
light or put into a propagating case in a 
cold frame. These precautions are 
necessary chiefly to prevent the leaves 
from flagging, owing to loss of moisture 
during bright sunshine. The small 
frame serves the purpose of maintaining 
[.Maclaren and Sons. 
Abelia chinensis. 
