March  29,  1900. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
271 
Apple  Sturmer  Pippin. — I  think  this  is  a  much  over-rated 
Apple.  In  growth  and  freedom  of  cropping  it  is  all  that  is  claimed  for 
it,  but  in  point  of  flavour  in  February  and  March  it  is  sadly  deficient. 
In  my  own  case  it  does  not  keep  plump,  but  shrivels,  although 
my  store  room  is  a  good  one,  in  which  fruit  of  Cox’s  Orange  Pippin 
will  keep  quite  fresh  until  the  end  of  February. — E. 
Apple  N’orfolk  BeefiDg. —  ““W'.  R.,”  in  his  useful  notes  on 
page  242,  refers  to  this  old  English  Apple  as  Norfolk  “  Beaufin.” 
The  name  is  so  given  in  several  catalogues,  so  the  mistake  alluded  to 
is  excusable.  If  he  turns  to  Dr.  Hogg’s  “Fruit  Manual”  he  will 
find  this  note: — “The  name  of  this  Apple  is  sometimes  written 
Beaufin,  as  if  of  French  origin  ;  but  it  is  more  correctly  Beefing,  with 
a  good  English  ring,  from  the  similarity  the  baked  fruit  presents  to 
beef.”  It  is  a  very  dark  coloured,  firm,  long-keeping  Apple.  Dried 
fruits  of  it  are  colloquially  known  in  Norfolk  as  “  Biffins.”  I  have 
had  fruits  of  it  hard,  sound,  and  fresh  throughout  the  month  of  May. — 
POMOLOGIST. 
Seneclo  klllmandscbarlca. — This  new  Senecio  (or  giving  it  its 
more  popular  garden  name,  “  Cineraria  ”)  has  recently  been  intro¬ 
duced  from  British  Central  Africa,  seeds  being  sent  to  Kew  in  I89S 
by  Mr.  Mahon.  It  is  too  early  to  prophesy  as  to  its  ultimate  worth  as 
a  garden  plant,  though  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  when  its  require¬ 
ments  become  better  known  it  will  find  a  place  among  greenhouse 
winter  flowering  plants.  The  plants  at  Kew  were  allowed  to  make  a 
few  slender  branches,  which  were  trained  round  stakes,  and  from  every 
node  on  the  upper  half  of  the  branches  large  trusses  of  flowers  are  pro¬ 
duced.  The  leaves  are  somewhat  fleshy,  varying  from  2  to  3  inches 
across,  and  are  curiously  shaped,  being  almost  reniform,  with  a  deep 
indentation  at  the  top.  The  flowers  are  yellow  and  star-shaped,  about 
the  same  size  and  borne  in  similar  sized  heads  to  those  of  S.  Heritieri. 
If,  when  it  becomes  better  known,  its  habit  can  be  improved  on,  it  will 
be  a  good  plant  to  grow  with  the  ordinary  garden  Cineraria. — -W.  D. 
bCltrarla  cocclnea. — In  the  early  fifties  no  greenhouse  plant  was 
more  interesting  to  the  writer  than  the  Chilian  Mitre  Flower,  with  its 
small  opposite  or  sometimes  trifoliate  leaves,  and  solitary  flowers  of  a 
bright  scarlet  colour,  about  1^  inch  long.  The  habit  of  the  plant  is 
of  a  trailing  sub-shrubby  nature,  and  if  trained  over  a  trellis,  an  upright 
cylindrical  one  by  preference,  a  good  specimen  may  be  secured,  and 
in  which  form  the  writer  once  grew  it  for  exhibition  purposes  in  a  cool 
greenhouse.  In  mild  districts  it  has  proved  hardy  out  of  doors.  For 
growing  large  specimens  from  a  12  to  16-inch  pot  is  sufficient,  and  the 
plants  may  be  cultivated  in  the  same  pots  for  several  years  if  liquid 
manure  is  applied  during  the  season  of  growth.  A  compost  of  sandy 
peat  and  turfy  loam  suits  the  plant  admirably.  After  flowering  the 
current  year’s  growth  should  be  shortened  back  to  within  a  few  inches 
of  the  base.  Mitraria  coccinea  (fig.  74,  page  273)  ia  one  of  those  much 
too  neglected  greenhouse  plants  which  would  assuredly  receive  extended 
recognition  were  its  merits  better  known. — W.  G. 
Impressions  of  Terns. — Apropos  of  this  subject — your  answer 
to  “Journeyman,”  on  page  257 — allow  me  to  supplement,  for  his 
benefit,  the  excellent  process  you  describe  by  another  I  have  successfully 
employed  on  various  occasions.  This  is  to  oil  a  sheet  of  foolscap  by 
sprinkling  it  lightly  with  salad  oil,  or  any  clear  oil,  distributing  the  oil 
evenly  over  the  paper,  and  allowing  the  paper  to  absorb  it.  When  it 
has  gone  off  the  surface  smoke  the  paper  by  holding  it  over  the  flame  of 
a  lamp  or  tallow  candle  until  it  is  uniformly  black.  This  supplies  the 
medium  for  printing  from.  To  operate  lay  the  Fern  frond  face  down 
on  the  blackened  paper,  place  a  sheet  of  clean  paper  over  it,  and  rub 
gently.  The  frond  may  then  be  lifted  and  placed  on  a  sheet  of  clean 
white  paper,  the  blank  flyleaf  of  a  book,  or  whatever  it  is  desired  to 
have  the  impression  upon.  By  again  placing  a  sheet  of  pap>er  over  the 
frond  without  disturbing  it  another  gentle  rubbing  gives  the  trans¬ 
ference.  Any  leaves,  as  well  as  Fern  fronds,  particularly  those  of  hard 
texture,  such  as  the  leaves  of  Eoses,  give  admirable  impressions  by  this 
method,  not  only  in  outline,  but  the  delicate  tracery  of  the  veins  comes 
out  very  distinctly. — -K.,  Duhlin. 
Apple  Xady  Hennlker.  —  This  Apple,  according  to  the  late 
Dr.  Hogg,  was  raised  at  Thornham  Hall  in  Suffolk  fully  fifty  years  ago. 
It  is  a  variety  not  cultivated  as  much  as  its  merits  deserve.  Its  quality 
for  cooking  is  excellent,  and  for  dessert  it  is  quite  passable ;  the  only 
fault  in  this  respect  is  the  size.  It  is  a  good  keeper,  lasting  well  into 
March.  In  growth  it  is  vigorous,  and  in  consequence  it  does  not  fruit 
freely  in  a  young  state  ;  by  allowing  it  to  run  rather  freely  the  first 
few  years  it  gradually  gets  into  a  bearing  condition.  For  strong  soil  it 
is  excellent. — E.  M. 
A  Gigantic  Seaweed, — “  The  largest  plant  in  the  world,”  said 
an  eminent  naturalist  to  a  writer  in  a  transatlantic  contemporary 
“is  probably  a  gigantic  seaweed,  known  as  the  ‘  Nereocytis,’  which 
frequently  grows  to  a  height  of  more  than  300  feet.  The  stem  of 
the  plant  is  as  strong  as  an  ordinary  rope,  and  large  quantities  of  it 
are  dried  and  used  as  rope  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  South  Sea 
Islands,  where  the  curious  vegetable  ropes  are  found.  This  seaweed 
usually  grows  to  a  depth  of  from  200  to  300  feet.  As  soon  as  the 
plant  takes  root  a  spear-shaped  balloon  is  formed,  which  grows  with 
the  stem  towards  the  surface  of  the  centre.  This  balloon  frequently 
has  a  diameter  of  6  feet  or  more.  It  has,  of  course,  an  upward 
tendency,  and  therefore  keeps  the  stem  growing  until  it  floats  on  the 
top  of  the  water.  This  enormous  weed  grows  in  such  quantities  that 
large  meadows  like  islands  are  formed,  which  are  often  so  big  as  to 
impede  navigation.  The  ropes  made  from  the  stems  of  the  plant  are 
used  for  building  purposes,  and  the  balloons  when  dried  make  very 
serviceable  vessels.” 
A  Uew  extlle  Plant. — Some  years  ago,  an  explorer  in  Asia 
discovered  a  plant  of  silken  fibre,  used  by  the  Turkomans  for  the 
manufacture  of  withes  and  cord,  and  by  the  Canagues  for  woven 
goods.  This  plant,  known  as  Apocynum  venetum,  is  a  sort  of  bush 
with  slender  cylindrical  branches,  sometimes  6  feet  high.  It  grows  in 
Europe,  Siberia,  Asia  Minor,  the  north  of  India,  Manchuria  and  Japan, 
but  is  not  cultivated,  and,  up  to  the  present  has  been  used  only  in  the 
natural  state.  The  branches  die  yearly,  and  in  the  spring  new  shoots 
start  horizontally  from  the  roots.  It  flourishes  best  where  the  laud  is 
under  water  during  a  part  of  the  year,  notably  in  the  neighbourhood' 
of  rivers  that  overflow  at  stated  periods.  Under  favourable  conditions 
the  Apocynum  develops  quickly,  and  in  a  short  time  the  branches  form 
a  thick  growth,  almost  like  a  miniature  wood.  The  best  fibre  is  obtained, 
says  a  colonial  exchange,  by  cutting  the  branches  in  midsummer,  when 
the  plant  has  obtained  its  full  growth.  The  attention  of  the  Kussian 
Government  was  called  to  this  plant  in  1891,  and  in  1895  they  began 
to  use  it  in  the  manufacture  of  bank  notes,  and  since  then  the 
plant  has  been  cultivated  at  Poltava.  The  results  obtained  thus 
far  are  considered  excellent,  and  the  time  is  doubtless  near  when 
the  Apocynum  venetum  will  take  an  important  place  in  the  textile 
market. 
Barge  Onions. — A  recent  note  on  large  Onions  and  their  keeping 
qualities,  as  evidenced  by  the  fine  sample  sent  me  by  Mr.  Beckett^ 
inspired  another  able  Onion  grower  of  Hants,  Mr.  Kneller  of  Malshanger 
Park,  Basingstoke,  to  send  me  a  sample,  that  I  might  see  how  his  had 
kept  also.  Mr.  Kneller  attributes  some  of  the  special  keeping  pro¬ 
perties  of  these  big  bulbs  this  winter  to  the  thorough  maturing  they  got 
last  autumn,  and  that  no  doubt  has  much  to  do  with  it.  But  something 
is  due  to  the  material  improvement  effected  in  the  character  of  Ailsa 
Craig,  the  variety  in  question,  and  still  by  far  the  best,  by  annual 
selection,  the  very  firmest  bulbs  and  best  keepers  being  specially 
retained  for  seed  stocks.  The  Hampshire  bulbs  were  a  little  larger 
than  the  Elstree  samples,  but  otherwise  not  superior.  But  all  the 
samples  served  to  show  bow  weir  the  very  large  ones  are  keeping  this 
winter.  I  have  planted  for  securing  some  seed  several  of  the  very  best, 
and  others  have  been,  or  will  be,  cooked.  Those  that  have  been  gently 
stewed,  then  served  with  a  little  butter  and  milk,  were  most  delicious 
and  mild  in  flavour.  Onions  ordinarily  grown  have  too  much  of  that 
quality  called  flavour,  which  is  found  in  offensive  hotness  and  perfume. 
It  is,  therefore,  so  much  to  the  credit  of  these  big  bulbs  that  those 
characteristics  are  lacking,  and  thus  they  become,  when  properly 
cooked  and  served,  delectable  food.  Those  who  would  have  such  this 
season  find  they  are  much  too  late  for  seed  sowing.  But  if  they  have 
strong  plants  of  Tripolis  or  Roccas  growing  in  drills  outdoors,  and 
having  trenched  and  heavily  manured  a  small  area  of  ground,  will  in 
the  course  of  a  week  or  two  carefully  lift  some  of  these  plants,  and 
will  dibble  them  out  thinly,  they  will  secure  fine  bulbs  in  the  summer 
,  —A.  D. 
