April  15,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
311 
inhabitants  use  the  fruit  in  soaps  and  puddings,  or  boil  and  eat  it  with 
their  meat,  as  a  substitute  for  greens  and  Turnips,  in  which  state  it  is 
regarded  as  wholesome  and  refreshing,  but  it  is  too  insipid  to  be  much 
cultivated.  There  are  two  varieties  of  this  found  in  Cuba  ;  one  with 
soft  bristles  over  its  surface,  and  the  other  quite  smooth.” 
It  is  evidently  the  variety  with  “bristles”  that  is  grown  by  Mr. 
Thomas  Rochford  in  his  wonderful  establishment  in  Hertfordshire.  We 
had  one  of  the  two  fruits  figured  that  he  kindly  cut  and  presented,  the 
other  cooked.  The  figure  is  reproduced.  The  one  that  was  cooked  was 
similar  to  a  full  flavoured  Vegetable  Marrow,  and  may  for  all  practical 
purposes,  as  grown  by  Mr.  Rochford,  be  described  as  a  winter  Vegetable 
Marrow,  for  the  fruits  are  produced  throughout  the  winter  monthr. 
The  plants  are  trained  to  the  roof  of  a  very  large  span-roofed  house, 
each  when  in  full  growth  coveiing  a  large  amount  of  space,  probably 
300  or  400  square  feet.  The  fruits,  which  are  not  produced  in  any  great 
abundance,  are  usuallv  in  pairs  at  right  angles  with  each  other  at  the 
end  of  a  string-like  stem  15  to  18  inches  long.  The  temperature  of  the 
house  ranges  from  50°  to  60°,  and  the  culture  might  perhaps  be  profitable 
if  the  fruits  were  sold  for  half  a  crown  each. 
We  do  not  suppose  that  Mr.  Rochford  expects  them  to  “  pay.”  With 
20  to  30  acres  of  glass  he  can  well  afford  to  devote  a  house  to  the  culture 
of  a  novelty,  bo  that  be  may  eDjoy  the  luxury  (for  he  is  a  generous 
hearted  man)  of  giving  something  to  his  friends  that  they  are  not  very 
likely  to  grow  at  home. 
The  Parisian  fruits,  which  came  in  so  handy  for  affording  material 
to  the  “Graphic”  correspondent  for  a  “catching”  paragraph,  were,  as 
may  be  inferred  by  Messrs.  Vilmorin’s  letter,  imported,  and  their  flavour 
when  naturally  grown  in  their  native  habitats  for  pigs  and  Parisians 
may  be  Bomewhat  different  from  that  possessed  by  those  grown  arti¬ 
ficially  in  this  country  ;  and,  besides,  French  cooks  are  so  skilful  that 
they  can  make  almost  anything  good,  and  add  “  flavours  ”  to  suggest 
various  comparisons.  No  doubt  the  Sechium,  Chayote,  or  Ohoko,  is 
“  as  easily  cultivated  as  the  Potato  ”  in  its  native  climes,  and  we  can 
understand  its  growing  ten  times  faster  and  farther,  but  it  is  evidently 
not  so  grown  in  France,  and  is  less  likely  to  be  so  nearly  naturalised 
as  the  Potato  in  this  country.  The  “  Graphic  ”  might  perhaps  complete 
its  little  sensation  by  giving  an  illustration  of  Mr.  Rochford’*  plants, 
and  astonish  its  Parisian  correspondent.] 
HARDY  FLOWER  NOTES. 
A  stormy  month  was  March,  and  its  winds  and  rains  and  snow 
robbed  us  of  much  of  the  beauty  of  the  Crocuses.  We  thought  of 
them  sadly  atnid  the  downpour,  recalling  Herrick’s  lament  over  the 
Daffodils,  which,  he  said,  “  haste  away  so  soon,”  or  over  the  Prim¬ 
roses,  which  “  die  nnmarried  ere  they  behold  Phoebus  in  his 
strength.”  Such  was  the  fate  of  many  of  the  Crocuses.  They 
shielded  their  precious  pollen  in  their  silken  cloaks  until  these 
delicate  and  beautiful  fabrics  were  turned  into  soaked  and  colour¬ 
less  pulp.  We  could  only  look  on  sadly.  A  few  might  be  covered, 
but  these  were  the  ewe  lambs  of  the  flock.  The  others  had  to 
succumb  to  the  gales  and  rainstorms.  Vain  are  these  regrets.  The 
past  cannot  be  recalled.  The  present  is  with  us  to  solace  and 
cheer.  The  garden  is  full  of  charm.  It  is  a  season  of  flowers 
when  Flora’s  garland  is  beautiful  indeed. 
The  Daffodils  are  too  numerous  to  do  justice  to  here.  Fine  are 
they  now,  but  many  are  yet  to  open  before  the  Poet’s  Narcissus  is 
in  full  beauty  with  its  white  perianth,  and  crown  with  crimson  or 
saffron  rim.  The  great  telamonius  plenus  is  not  over  as  we  write, 
and  its  great  tasselled  yellow  blooms  contrast  well  with  the  pale 
flowers  of  pallidus  prsecox,  or  look  dark  beside  the  exquisitely 
coloured  trumpets  of  Henry  Irving.  Queen  Bess  was  the  flrBt  of 
the  medio-coronati  or  chalice-cupped  Daffodils  to  flower.  Very 
beautiful,  too,  is  this  flower,  although  we  prefer  the  many  trumpet¬ 
shaped  varieties  which  in  the  border  wave  to  the  winds,  nod  from 
the  rockeries,  or  in  the  grass  bow  gracefully  before  the  breeze. 
There  has  of  late  been  some  discussion  of  the  question  of  sun  or 
shade  for  Daffodils.  It  is  greatly  a  question  of  gardens.  In  some 
the  white- coloured  varieties  require  shade,  but  here  nearly  all  are 
planted  where  they  receive  a  good  share  of  sun  in  summer.  This 
has  been  found  an  advantage,  and  has  added  greatly  to  the  free- 
blooming  of  many  delicate  sorts.  I  am  also  of  opinion  that  many 
Daffodils  will  thrive  better  in  the  grass  or  as  rock-garden  flowers 
than  if  planted  in  the  borders.  Where  one  grows  many  bulbous 
plants  the  task  of  annual  lifting  becomes  a  physical  impossibility 
in  view  of  other  calls  upon  time  and  attention.  If  one  can  in  any 
way  avoid  this  frequent  labour  it  is  decided  advantage.  Planting 
in  grass  is  very  beneficial  to  some  Narcissi,  but  it  is  not  every  one 
who  can  afford  them  this  treatment.  Those  who  cannot  dp  so, 
but  can  place  these  favourite  flowers  on  well-drained  rockwork, 
will  often  secure  the  desired  result.  The  Rev.  G.  H.  Engleheart, 
one  of  our  best  authorities,  says  in  a  contemporary  of  N.  pallidus 
praecox  : — “  On  some  soils  it  will  live  for  a  few  years  if  planted  on 
rurf,  but  I  know  no  other  way  of  keeping  it  alive.”  Although  I 
have  grown  it  in  the  border  for  the  last  ten  years  with  success, 
this  pretty  Daffodil  is  finer  on  a  sunny  rockery  where  it  has  been 
f . »r  eight  years  without  replanting. 
A  single  bulb  *of  a  pretty  pale-coloured  variety,  once  sold  by 
Messrs.  Barr  &  Sons  as  pallidus  prsecox  Blond  d’Or,  has  been  on 
r.he  same  rockery  in  full  sun  for  the  same  number  of  years,  and  has 
increased  into  a  nice  little  clump  tHweriog  freely  every  year.  With 
uch  varieties  a*  c  rnnu»,  Co'keu  Dawn,  and  other  white  trumpets 
FIG.  67.— SECBIOM  EDULE. 
growing  in  full  sun  is  found  to  be  the  best  here,  and  we  mean  to 
experiment  still  further  in  the  direction  of  trying  delicate 
Daffodils  on  sunny  rockeries  where  they  are  carpeted  over  with 
other  plants. 
The  various  members  of  the  Primulacese  now  in  bloom  add 
much  to  the  garden’s  interest.  Quaint  and  curious  looking  are  the 
Jacks-in  the-Green — as  the  Polyanthuses  are  called — whose  bracts 
are  abnormally  developed  into  leaf-like  ruffs  round  the  flower 
itself.  In  various  colours  and  shades  they  brighten  up  the  borders 
or  the  slopes  or  paths  of  the  rock  garden.  Beautiful,  also,  are  the 
other  Polyanthuses  and  Primroses,  whose  bright  hues  and  neat 
blooms  show  how  attractive  flowers  of  this  family  are.  Less 
showy,  but  no  less  attractive  in  their  own  way,  are  the  plant*  which 
for  convenience  sake  we  call  the  species.  Only  a  few  are  as  yet 
in  bloom,  among  these  being  several  varieties  of  Primula  marginata. 
A  beautiful  little  flower  indeed  is  P.  viscosa  nivalis,  quite  as  well 
known  under  the  latter  name  alone  without  the  specific  one  of 
vi*cosa.  There  are  several  varieties  of  P.  viscosa,  which  has  two 
or  three  synonyms,  but  none  is  prettier  than  this  little  white- 
flowered  variety.  The  species  was  named  by  Yillars,  and  the 
plants  are  found  in  the  Pyrenees  and  the  mountains  of  Central 
purope.  It  belongs  to  the  group  Auricqlastra  and  the  section. 
