348 
JOURNAL  OR  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  16,  1890 
1 
- -  Gardening  Appointment. — Mr.  W.  Dodge,  who  has  been 
head  gardener  at  Beenham  Court,  Newbury,  for  a  period  of  five  and  half 
years,  leaves  that  place  this  week  to  take  charge  of  Fornham  Park 
Gardens,  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  for  G.  Manners,  Esq. 
-  A  Big  Banyan  Tree. — The  “Ceylon  Forester”  gives  the 
dimensions  of  a  Banyan  tree  at  the  Admiralty  House  at  Trincomalee,  the 
girth  of  whose  central  trunk  is  19  feet  6  inches  at  3  feet  from  the  ground, 
the  full  height  of  the  tree  being  66  feet  6  inches,  and  the  circumference 
of  the  circle  shaded  by  its  foliage  541  feet. 
-  Linum  trigynum. — A  Buffalo  correspondent  of  an  American 
contemporary  writes  that  he  finds  this  one  of  the  best  of  the  few  window 
plants  which  flower  in  early  winter — that  is,  before  ordinary  bulbs  are 
brought  forward.  Beginning  with  the  last  of  November  the  Linum  will 
rival  the  Chinese  Primrose  in  profusion  of  bloom,  and  if  the  two  are 
placed  together  in  a  cool  window  where  the  temperature  is  kept  above 
actual  freezing  the  golden  yellow  flowers  of  the  Linum  will  appear  to 
admirable  advantage  among  those  of  the  Primroses,  and  both  will  keep 
on  flowering  until  late  in  February. 
-  Eucalyptus  globulus  in  Flower.— I  should  like  very 
much  to  know  if  any  of  your  readers  have  had  the  Blue  Gum  in  flower, 
or  if  it  is  uncommon  for  it  to  flower  in  this  country,  as  I  do  not 
remember  ever  having  seen  or  heard  of  it  before.  At  present  we  have  a 
plant  in  the  conservatory  here  with  five  flowers  on  it,  from  which  I 
trust  we  may  be  able  to  get  some  seeds.  I  may  say  that  we  have  a  fine 
specimen  of  the  Snake  plant  (Amorphophallus  Rivieri)  in  flower.  The 
huge  spathe  is  thrown  up  to  a  height  of  over  feet,  and  forms  a  very 
striking  object.  Unfortunately  it  has  a  most  objectionable  smell. 
W.  L.,  Perth. 
-  Imantophyllum  cyrtanthiflorum.  —  This  is  a  very 
valuable  and  floriferous  spring-flowering  plant  of  the  Amaryllis  family. 
Like  the  more  common  Imantophyllum  miniatum,  it  has  beautiful 
and  attractive  foliage,  the  leaves  being  long,  dark  green,  Blightly  curving 
and  distichous.  The  flowers  are  almost  bell-shaped,  of  a  very  bright 
salmon  colour,  produced  in  large,  many-flowered  corymbs,  on  scapes 
from  2  to  3  feet  high.  This  is  considered  a  hybrid  between  Clivia 
nobilis  and  the  above-mentioned  I.  miniatum.  It  is  best  grown  in  large 
Pots  or  tubs  in  which  it  is  allowed  to  increase  and  form  large  masses  of 
foliage.  The  compost  should  consist  of  rich  fibrous  loam,  with  a  liberal 
addition  of  cow  manure  and  some  sand.  During  the  growing  season 
plenty  of  water  is  needed,  but  the  plants  should  never  be  allowed  to  dry 
as  much  as  Hippeastrums,  as  they  are  ornamental  throughout  the  year. 
The  roots  are  fleshy,  the  plants  form  no  bulbs,  but  increase  readily  by 
means  of  side  shoots  or  offsets,  which  may  be  used  for  propagation.  All 
Imantophyllums  form  ripe  seeds  if  fertilised,  and  they  may,  therefore 
be  propagated  with  the  greatest  ease  by  this  means. —  T.  D.  II.  (in 
“  Garden  and  Forest  ”). 
- -  Bolted  Cabbages.  —  The  extraordinary  way  in  which 
Cabbages,  of  apparently  all  varieties,  have  bolted  so  generally  this 
spring  is  the  subject  of  common  remark,  and  also  the  cause  of  much 
loss  as  well  as  of  disappointment.  Were  cases  few  and  isolated, 
growers  for  market,  to  whom  the  loss  incidental  to  this  bolting  is 
serious,  might  consider  they  had  reasonable  claim  for  damages  against 
seedsmen.  But  when  the  phenomenon  is  universal,  then  there  is  no 
resource  but  to  endure  the  loss  as  an  act  of  the  season.  Most  earnestly 
is  it  to  be  hoped  that  in  no  case  will  this  evil  characteristic  be 
perpetuated  by  the  saving  for  seed  of  any  of  these  bolting  stocks.  Far 
better  that  seed  growers  should  suffer  some  of  the  loss  also,  than  that 
there  should  be  later  put  on  to  the  market  any  seed  product  of  bolting 
breadths.  Even  to  the  small  grower  of  Cabbages — whether  gardener 
or  cottager — the  loss  resultant  is  material  ;  indeed,  to  the  gardener, 
who  has  to  supply  an  exacting  employer’*  table,  the  occurrence  is 
indeed  a  cause  of  exceeding  worry  and  anxiety.  To  many  market 
grower*  the  loss  may  mean  hundred*  of  pounds.  When  the  bolting  is  so 
universal  it  seems  useless  to  ascribe  it  to  bad  stocks  ;  certainly,  every¬ 
body  cannot  have  bad  stocks.  It  would  be  well  if  some  more  satisfactory 
cause  than  any  so  far  mentioned  could  be  shown.  What  is  not  at  all 
an  uncommon  result  of  a  very  hard  winter  seems  out  of  place  when  found 
at  the  close  of  one  of  the  mildest  winters  on  record.  Perhaps  frost  or 
certain  low  temperature  exercises  beneficial  influence  on  autumn- 
planted  Cabbages  ;  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  we  see  spring-sown  Cabbages 
hearting-in  perfectly  under  far  greater  warmth,  so  that  the  temperature 
theory  hardly  holds  water.  Some  will  charge  the  evil  on  too  early 
sowing,  but  as  Cabbage  seed  is  almost  invariably  sown  at  exactly  the 
same  date  each  year,  that  reason  will  not  prove  satisfactory. — A.  D. 
-  Horticultural  Club. — The  monthly  dinner  and  conver¬ 
sazione  took  place  on  Easter  Tuesday,  but  owing  to  the  holidays  the 
attendance  was  not  so  large  as  usual.  An  interesting  paper  was  read  by 
Mr.  F.  W.  Burbidge  on  “  Evolution.”  The  discussion  afterwards  on  it 
was  joined  in  by  all  present,  and  a  vote  of  thanks  was  given  to 
Mr.  Burbidge  for  his  paper. 
-  Three  Hundred  Million  Narcissi  Bulbs.— This  enormous 
number  of  bulbs  is  estimated  to  have  flowered  this  season  in  the  largest 
of  the  Scilly  Isles,  which  has  a  circumference  of  only  nine  mileB.  In 
this  connection  it  is  said  that  in  Holland  about  90,000  Narcissus  bulbs 
are  needed  to  plant  an  acre,  while  of  Hyacinths  100,000,  of  Tulips 
115,000,  and  of  Crocuses  150,000  bulbs  are  needed  for  a  similar  area  ; 
this  is,  of  course,  for  flowering  bulbs. 
-  Insects  and  Flowers. — Some  experiments  made  in  Belgium 
recently  tend  to  throw  doubt  on  the  truth  of  the  assumption  that 
insects  are  guided  to  flowers  by  the  brightness  of  their  colour*.  Bril¬ 
liantly  coloured  Dahlias  were  oovered  so  as  to  expose  only  the  discs, 
and  butterflies  and  bees  sought  these  flowers  with  the  same  eagerness 
and  frequency  as  those  which  were  fully  exposed.  The  conclusion  by 
Plateau  was  that  the  insects  are  guided  more  by  their  sense  of  smell 
than  by  their  perception  of  the  bright  colours. 
-  Imitation  Frosted  Glass.— “F.  C.,”  writing  in  a  con¬ 
temporary,  says,  “  I  have  found  the  following  a  simple  method  of 
imitating  the  frosting  of  glass  : — Take  a  piece  of  putty  and  soften  it 
with  linseed  oil  until  it  is  very  sticky,  then  dab  the  surface  of  the  glass 
over  with  it  until  the  desired  effect  is  produced.  To  frost  the  glas* 
procure  some  fine  powdered  emery  or  ground  pumice  stone.  Take  a 
small  piece  of  plate  glass  and  fix  to  a  block  of  wood  to  form  a  handle. 
Wet  the  glass  and  spread  the  powder  on  it  aDd  rub  with  the  plate  glass, 
adding  more  water  and  powder  as  required.  This  is  a  slow  process, 
and  is  a  good  test  of  the  patience  of  the  rubber.” 
-  Sowing  Hardy  Annuals. — I  observed  recently  that  in  the 
extensive  flower  borders  in  the  gardens  at  Hackwood  Park  Mr.  Bowerman 
sows  his  hardy  annuals  in  good  sized  patches  in  positions  according  to 
the  relative  height  of  the  plants,  and  for  this  purpose  first  makes  a  seed 
bed  in  the  form  of  a  round  patch  of  soil  about  12  inches  over.  The  soil 
is  of  good  pot  quality  and  sandy.  In  such  case  not  only  do  the  seeds 
become  more  equally  buried,  but  germination  is  more  even,  and  when 
the  plants  are  strong  enough  for  thinning  some  are  lifted  and  trans¬ 
planted  all  the  more  easily  because  of  this  surface  of  fine  soil.  When 
that  work  is  done  more  fine  soil  is  used  to  assist  in  rooting.  The  estab¬ 
lished  plants  bloom  earliest,  the  transplanted  ones  rather  later,  and  in 
that  way  a  succession  is  secured. — A. 
- Grapes  in  Ceylon.— A  small  crop  of  Grapes  was  taken  from 
the  vineyard  at  the  School  of  Agriculture  on  the  23rd  February  and 
succeeding  days.  The  crop  of  about  twenty-five  bunches  of  various 
sizes,  but  none  very  large,  was  the  produce  from  plants  only  eighteen 
months  old,  and  which,  moreover,  were  brought  over  from  Australia 
about  six  months  ago.  The  long  drought  and  excessive  heat  that  have 
been  prevailing  have  tended  to  mature  the  Grapes  rather  too  fast,  and 
so  interfere  with  their  proper  development  and  flavour,  but  still  the 
outlook  is  not  unpromising  for  the  experiment,  which  is,  for  one  thing, 
giving  ample  opportunity  for  the  study  of  viticulture  from  a  local 
standpoint.  There  is  of  course  much  to  be  done  in  the  way  of 
modifying  the  treatment  of  the  Vires  to  suit  the  conditions  under  which 
they  are  at  present  growing. 
-  Prunus  mume. — The  same  botanical  confusion  exists  among 
the  species  of  Prunus  as  in  Pyrus  and  various  other  genera.  In  the 
case  of  Prunus  we  keep  up  the  old  English  names,  such  as  Almond, 
Peach,  Apricot,  Plum,  and  Cherry,  but  it  is  sometimes  very  difficult  to 
say  to  which  group  certain  kinds  belong.  That  under  notice  resembles 
an  A'mond  or  Peach  in  the  colour  of  the  bark  of  the  young  wood,  in 
the  colour  of  the  flowers,  habit  of  growth,  and  season  of  flowering. 
Professor  Sargent  says  that  it  is  really  an  Apricot.  In  the  collection  of 
Peaches  at  Kew,  says  a  contemporary,  there  is  a  fine  bush  of  it  about 
5  feet  high  and  as  far  through.  It  has  been  flowering  for  some  time 
paBt,  and  gives  great  promise  of  being  a  useful  plant  for  spring  flower¬ 
ing  in  shrubberies  on  lawns  and  even  in  gardens  where  space  is 
restricted.  The  flowers  of  the  Kew  specimen  are  pink  and  often  semi¬ 
double.  The  tree  ia  a  native  of  Corea,  but  has  been  cultivated  for  a 
great  length  of  time  in  Japan,  judging  from  the  fact  that  numerous 
forms  of  it  exist  in  Japanese  gardens,  differing  in  the  colour  of  the 
flowers,  the  number  of  petals,  and  in  habit. 
