246 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
September  29,  1898 
Weather  in  London.— There  has  been  practically  no  change 
in  the  weather  since  Wednesday  last.  Both  the  days  and  nights  are 
gradually  becoming  colder,  and  each  morning  brings  with  it  a  mist  that 
produces  quite  an  autumnal  appearance.  There  have  been  very  slight 
morning  frosts  on  one  or  two  occasions.  On  Tuesday  evening  rain 
commenced  to  fall,  but  only  continued  for  a  very  short  time.  Wednesday 
was  bright  and  clear,  and  the  wind  cold, 
-  The  Drought. — Gardens  in  this  district  are  suffering  severely 
from  the  long  continued  drought.  Grass  is  burnt  up,  and  it  is  only  in 
shady  positions  that  a  few  green  blades  can  be  seen.  Vegetables  that 
cannot  bew  .tered  are  practically  at  a  standstill, ’while  caterpillars  are 
active  upon  the  leaf  tissues.  Celery  is  much  affected  with  the  fly,  quite  as 
much  as  when  the  season  is  a  damp  one.  Vegetable  Marrows  and  Kidney 
Beans  have  required  water  every  day  for  weeks  in  order  to  insure  some 
produce  from  them,  and  Pears  are  late  in  ripening  because  of  the  deficiency 
of  moisture  for  the  roots. — S„  Gravesend. 
-  Miniature  Petunias. — I  am  sending  for  your  inspection  a 
few  seedling  single  Petunias,  which  I  think  you  will  be  pleased  to  see. 
They  are  attractive  shades  of  carmine  rose,  with  well  defined  white 
throats  ;  the  flowers  are  fairly  good  in  outline,  and  being  borne  on  dwarf, 
sturdy  habited  plants,  are  very  striking.  The  colours  remind  one  very 
much  of  some  of  the  bright  carmine  tints  of  Primula  sinensis,  and  when 
viewed  by  gas  light  are  particularly  pleasing.  I  am  hoping  to  be  able  to 
improve  on  them  as  to  increased  size,  but,  of  course,  this  will  take  time. — 
John  E.  Jefferies.  [We  are  not  certain  that  any  great  increase  in  size 
of  these  dainty  little  oculated  Petunias  would  add  materially  to  their 
beauty.  We  have  seen  plants  with  flowers  similar  to  those  sent  in  dwarf 
dense  masses,  and  thought  them  highly  attractive.  By  all  means  effect 
what  improvements  you  can.] 
-  Mercury. — This  hardy  perennial,  botanically  termed  Cheno- 
podium  Bonus  Ilenricus,  and  commonly  known  as  Good  King  Henry,  is, 
I  imagine,  made  very  little  use  of  as  a  vegetable.  It  is  supposed  to  be 
at  home  in  Lincolnshire,  and  to  be  largely  used  by  the  poorer  folk.  I 
understand  that  by  a  system  of  earthing  the  beds  in  the  spring  the 
young  growth  is  blanched  and  can  be  cut  and  used  in  the  same  way  as 
Asparagus.  Also  the  leaves  are  said  to  be  used  in  a  similar  manner  to 
Spinach.  I  have  seen  a  bed  in  a  gentleman's  garden,  but  though  kept 
weeded  and  cleaned,  the  produce  was  never  put  to  any  use.  The  plant 
is  deep  rooting,  and  therefore  when  once  established  is  indifferent  to 
dry  seasons  such  as  the  present.  I  should  like  to  know  further  of  its 
merits  as  a  culinary  vegetable,  and  any  particulars  from  persons 
acquainted  with  its  culture  and  mode  of  cooking  will  be  interesting  and 
instructive  to  many  more  besides  myself.  Can  Mr.  W.  II.  Divers  of 
Belvoir  Castle,  or  any  other  Lincolnshire  readers  of  the  Journal  of 
Horticulture  tell  us  anything  about  it  ? — IlENRY  King,  Notts. 
-  Melon  Cactus — This  class  of  the  Cactus  family,  usually 
round,  or  as  we  might  say,  Melon-shape,  produces  a  dense  mass  of 
small  spines  at  the  crown.  This  mass  has  very  much  the  appearrnce 
of  a  covering  of  moss.  The  flowers,  appearing  among  this  mass, 
are  not  showy  generally,  but  the  crown  always  gives  an  interest  to  this 
class  of  the  family.  One  interesting  feature,  however,  is  the  production 
of  reddish  or  purplish  fruit.  This  fruit  appears  about  the  same  time 
as  the  flowers.  It  is  not  generally  known,  says  “Meehan’s  Monthly,” 
that  the  fruit  of  this  class  of  Cactus  takes  a  whole  year  to  mature. 
The  flowers  are,  of  course,  fertilised  at  the  time  of  opening,  but  after 
that  time  the  ovarium  or  seed-vessel  remains  wholly  dormant.  It  simply 
makes  a  green  speck  at  the  bottom  of  the  faded  flower.  About  the 
time  when  flowering  is  again  resumed,  this  green  speck  develops  and 
the  mature  purplish  fruit  is  the  result.  This  long  resting  season  of 
the  fruit  is  not  peculiar  to  a  class  of  Cactus.  There  are  many  similar 
instances  in  other  families  of  plants,  but  it  is  still  a  fact  of  great  interest 
to  those  who  study  the^life  history  of  plants.  All  motion  is  rhythmic. 
Advances  are  always  by  leaps  ;  but  there  is  a  vast  difference  in  the 
degree,  and  rests  between  the  lines  are  sometimes  of  but  a  few  hours’ 
duration  ;  at  others  there  are  weeks  of  intervals,  and  then  again,  as  in 
this  Cactus  illustration,  a  whole  year  of  rest. 
-  Begonia  Worthiana. — By  a  misprint  in  a  paragraph 
relating  to  a  Begonia  at  Madresfield  Court  in  last  week’s  issue,  this 
variety  was  referred  to  as  Northiana.  Probably  most  readers  understood 
the  error. 
-  Shirley  Gardeners’  Association. —The  monthly  meeting 
of  above  Society  was  held  at  the  Parish  Room,  Shirley,  Southampton,  on 
the  19th  inst.,  there  being  a  very  fair  attendance  of  the  members,  Mr.  B. 
Ladhams,  F.R.H.S.,  presiding.  The  subject  for  the  evening  was  “Vege¬ 
table  Culture,  ’  tho  lecture  on  which  was  given  by  Mr.  George  Garner, 
Cndland  Park  Gardens,  Hythe,  Southampton.  Needless  to  say  the 
essayist  dealt  with  his  subject  in  a  thoroughly  practical  manner. 
- Early  Frosts. — From  various  parts  of  the  country  we  have 
heard  of  frosts  of  sufficient  severity  to  turn  Dahlias  and  other  tender 
plants  quite  black.  On  two  or  three  occasions  within  the  last  seven  days 
5°  and  6°  of  frost  have  been  registered,  and  of  course  the  most  damage 
has  been  done  on  low-lying  grounds.  A  letter  from  Yorkshire,  dated  the 
26th  inst.,  says  that  “  bedding  plants  are  bright  and  fresh,  and  the  grass 
quite  green,”  which  is  more  than  can  be  said  of  most  places  in  London 
and  the  southern  counties  generally. 
-  Soil  Fertility. — Of  the  various  food  materials  required  by 
plants  for  their  normal  growth  and  development  there  are  four  of  which 
an  available  supply  in  the  soil  is  usually  very  restricted,  and  of  which  a 
reserve  is  thus  liable  to  run  short  if  the  land  is  not  properly  looked  after. 
These  substances  are  nitrogen,  potash,  phosphoric  acid,  and  lime.  Of 
these  the  nitrogen  and  phosphoric  acid  are  the  more  valuable,  and  conse¬ 
quently  more  expensive  to  replace  when  removed  from  the  soil  by  crops. 
The  quantity  of  phosphoric  acid  naturally  present  in  the  soil  is  usually  so 
limited  that  this  plant  food  constituent  has  been  well  described  as  the 
“  weakest  ”  link  in  the  chain  of  soil  fertility. 
-  How  the  Orchard  Thief  was  Caught. — An  amusin» 
o 
incident  occurred  the  other  evening  in  the  grounds  of  St.  Joseph’s  Retreat , 
Highgate,  London.  It  appears  that  a  gardener  saw  a  man  in  the  nppe 
portion  of  the  extensive  grounds  engaged  in  “  scrumping  ”  -  i.e.,  Apple 
stealing.  He  informed  one  of  the  reverend  fathers  of  what  he  had  seen, 
and  the  two  went  together  towards  the  spot  at  which  the  man  had  been 
seen.  The  thief,  however,  was  on  the  alert,  and  as  soon  as  he  caught 
sight  of  them  he  made  off  rapidly,  the  gardener  and  the  “father” 
pursuing  him.  Presently  the  thief  came  to  a  fence,  which  he  cleared, 
but,  as  he  had  not  looked  before  leaping,  he  dropped  into  a  huge 
butt  of  water  on  the  other  side.  He  was  hauled  out  by  his  pursueis, 
drenched  with  evil-smelling  rainwater,  and  was  given  into  custody. — 
(“Gardeners’  Chronicle.”) 
-  Hibiscus  pungens. — For  several  months  past  this  gorgeous 
flowered  species  has  been  producing  its  blossoms  freely  in  the  Mexican 
house  at  Ivew,  and  there  are  still  a  large  number  of  buds  to  open.  It  is 
a  Chinese  species,  and  is  very  like,  if  not  identical  with,  H.  Manihot.  The 
leaves  on  a  free  growing  specimen  are  large  and  handsome,  often  being 
from  9  inches  to  1  foot  across.  The  flowers  are  produced  from  each  node 
on  the  upper  half  of  the  current  season’s  growth.  They  are  primrose 
yellow  with  a  dark  purplish  blotch  at  the  base  of  each  petal,  and  each 
flower  measures  from  5  to  6  inches  across.  To  have  it  at  its  best  it  should 
be  planted  out,  but  can  be  grown  successfully  in  pots;  the  main  thing 
is  to  keep  it  growing  freely  all  the  summer,  rest  it  in  winter,  and 
cut  it  back  in  spring  to  within  an  eye  or  two  of  the  old  wood.  A 
group  of  this  plant  6tudded  with  numerous  large  flowers  is  very  pleasing, 
and,  being  somewhat  rare,  would  be  a  good  addition  to  an  intermediate 
house. — K. 
-  Disappointment  with  Stocks  and  Asters. — I,  like  “  G.,” 
(page  186),  have  had  many  single  Stocks  where  doubles  were  expected. 
One  of  the  best  varieties  of  all,  in  my  opinion,  was  the  East  Lothian 
some  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  ago,  when  there  were  scarcely  any  singles. 
To-day,  however,  60  per  cent,  are  single.  The  seeds  were  sown  last 
August.  Can  any  reader  of  the  Journal  give  any  cause  for  this  dete¬ 
rioration  ?  Has  the  competition  anything  to  do  with  the  extra  number 
of  singles?  I  find  that  Stocks  are  not  alone  on  the  down  grade.  Four 
years  ago  I  grew  Comet  Asters.  The  flowers  were  simply  grand  ;  but 
the  next  season  60  per  cent,  had  large  yellow  eyes,  and  only  about  10  per 
cent,  the  true  character.  I  tried  again  1897,  and  the  result  was  so  bad 
that  this  year  it  was  discarded.  No  doubt  some  people  will  put  down  the 
failure  to  indifferent  culture.  I  can  only  say  that  the  beds  of  failures 
were  in  better  condition  than  the  beds  that  produced  superior  flowers. 
Short  decayed  manure  and  burnt  garden  refuse,  with  deep  digging  and 
well  breaking  down  the  clods  in  the  process,  will  generally  produce  good 
results.— Geo.  Picker. 
