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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  September  16,  1897. 
CEPHALOTUS  FOLLICULARIS. 
It  is  not  very  often  that  this  charming  little  Pitcher  plant  (fig,  36) 
is  exhibited  at  our  flower  shows,  and  those  staged  by  Mr.  H.  J.  Chapman, 
gardener  to  II.  I.  Measures,  Esq.,  Cambridge  Lodge,  Camberwell, 
attracted  a  considerable  amount  of  attention  at  the  last  meeting  in  the 
DriU  Hall.  The  plants  were  splendidly  grown,  beautifully  pitchered, 
and  a  very  great  credit  to  their  grower.  One  may  go  into  establishment 
after  establishment  and  never  see  a  single  specimen,  large  or  small,  and 
this  perhaps  makes  them  the  more  interesting.  The  following  particulars 
will  doTibtless  be  useful  to  many  readers  of  the  Journal  of  Horticulture. 
The  plant  is  remarkable  in  several  ways,  for  it  is  the  only  species  of 
the  genus,  and  is  considered  sufficiently  distinct  to  constitute  a  natural 
order  (allied  to  the  Polygonums),  and  we  thus  have  the  peculiarity  of  a 
family  composed  of  one  individual.  In  the  leaves,  too,  we  find  another 
singular  feature — some  are  flat  and  elliptical  in  form,  while  others  are 
converted  into  extremely  neat  and  pretty  little  pitchers  or  ascidia,  some¬ 
what  resembling  those  of  Nepenthes;  only  much  smaller.  They  are  dark 
green  with  a  purplish  shading,  and  pink  veins,  and  are  furnished  with 
Fig.  36. — Cephalotus  folliculaeis. 
small  lids,  the  mouth  of  the  pitcher  being  bordered  with  a  dark-coloured 
furrowed  ring.  This  Cephalotus  is  an  inhabitant  of  marshy  land  :  it 
should  therefore  be  provided  with  a  soil  composed  of  peat  and  live 
sphagnum  moss,  the  pot  being  well  drained  and  placed  in  a  shallow  pan 
containing  water.  If  the  plant  is  grown  in  a  pan,  that  should  be  placed 
inside  another  larger  one,  the  space  being  filled  with  fine  Derbyshire  spar 
and  kept  constantly  moist.  In  either  case  a  bell-glass  should  be  placed 
over  the  plant.  The  best  position  and  temperature  is  the  cool  end  of  the 
stove  or  Orchid  house,  where  with  careful  attention  in  supplying  the 
requisite  moisture  the  plant  will  grow  freely. 
DECADENCE  IN  WALL  TREE  CULTURE. 
Feom  my  own  knowledge  and  observation  I  think  it  may  safely 
be  asserted  that  one  great  cause  of  the  decadence  in  wall  fruit  culture 
lies  in  the  fact,  which  may  be  summed  up  in  a  few  words— want  of 
time.  This  is  deplored  by  jmur  correspondents.  Employers  of 
gardeners  require  so  much  work  doing  in  various  departments,  that 
wall  trees  often  have  to  wait  until  favourable  opportunities  occur  for 
attending  to  them.  It  is  then  frequently  too  late  in  the  season  for 
the  operations  in  pruning  and  training,  which  ought  to  have  been 
carried  out  sooner,  to  have  the  desired  effect. 
When  trees  fail  to  bear  satisfactory  crops  a  deficiency  of  interest 
is  manifested  in  them,  and  the  routine  work  they  require  to  bring 
them  into  proper  condition  is  allowed  to  be  neglected.  Wall  trees  are 
liable  to  fail  in  setting  fruit,  just  as  trees  in  the  open  are  from 
untoward  weather  at  a  critical  period,  hence  it  is  desirable  to  have  the 
ineans  at  hand  for  protecting  the  blossoms,  and  thus  insuring  a  crop. 
Trees  in  good  health  and  vigour  have  a  natural  tendency  to  form  an 
undue  amount  of  wood,  which  would  be  checked  by  a  reasonable 
crop  of  fruit.  When  the  fruit  is  not  there  the  trees  expend  their 
vigour  in  the  development  of  wood ;  thus  it  is  desirable  that  the 
attention  in  regulating  this  be  given  early  and  systematically,  so  that 
the  checks  may  be  steady  but  continuous. 
The  crowding  of  branches,  large  and  small,  is  a  too  common 
source  of  failure  in  the  culture  of  wall  trees.  If  branches  were  at  their 
formation  disposed  more  thinly  the  management  subsequently  would 
be  easier  and  the  results  considerably  increased.  Wall  trees  ought 
never  to  be  planted  in  unsuitable  positions.  Trees  are  frequently  to 
be  seen  struggling  for  existence  where  they  have  to  compete  for  light 
and  air  with  the  branches  of  adjoining  trees  and  shrubs.  One  or  other 
has  to  suffer.  Invariably  it  is  the  wall  trees.  It  is  not  wise  to 
tolerate  inferior  varieties  of  any  fruits  for  cultivation  against  walls, 
but  to  ascertain  which  are  the  best  and  most  prolific.  Previous  to 
planting  the  trees  the  best  preparation  possible  should  be  accorded  to 
the  soil.  Many  failures  may  be  traced  to  improperly  prepared  sites 
having  a  shallow,  poor,  and  dry  soil. 
It  is  very  tempting  to  the  cultivator  pushed  for  room  to  closely 
crop  the  fruit  tree  borders.  This  occasions  constant  digging,  causing 
roots  to  descend  deeply  instead  of  remaining  near  the  surface.  Deep 
roots  encourage  strong  growths,  which,  unfortunately,  destroy  the 
balance  so  essential  to  free  and  continued  fruitfulness. 
Wall  trees  are  specially  liable  to  insect  invasions,  though  good  and 
regular  cultivation  does  much  to  prevent  attacks.  Cleanliness  of  the 
foliage  must  be  maintained  or  the  trees  cannot  long  remain-healthy. 
Insects  prevent  the  leaves  carrying  out  their  important  function  of 
manufacturing  material  which  shall  be  judiciously  distributed  in  the 
growth  of  the  tree  whereby  fruiting  spurs  or  buds  and  wood  growth 
are  duly  supplied.  The  most  satisfactory  wall  trees  are  those  which 
receive  constant  and  unremitting  attention.  All  operations  connected 
with  their  culture  and  management  must  be  carried  out  at  the 
necessary  periods,  otherwise  the  whole  tree  may  be  thrown  out  of 
order  to  such  an  extent  that  double  the  time  is  essential  for  bringing 
it  round  again. 
Some  of  the  causes  here  indicated  have  brought  wall  dree  culture 
into  disrepute.  There  may  be  others,  and  among  them  the  enormous 
attention  given  to  Chrysanthemums.  Crowers  of  these  can  insure 
successful  results  only  when  all  the  details  of  culture  are  followed. 
No  cultivator  of  the  autumn  flower  would  expect  to  achieve  success  if 
one  or  more  of  the  essential  operations  were  omitted.  F i  uit  trees  are 
more  exacting  than  Chrysanthemums.  It  is  only  the  best  manage¬ 
ment  in  the  most  favourable  positions  that  gives  returns  in  a  satisfactory 
manner. — E.  D.  S. 
Yes,  “  Melton,”  the  hounds  are  away.  Let  it  be  full  cry.  "We 
may  have  some  difficult  country  to  traverse,  and  perhajis  experience 
SMine  nasty  falls.  It  is  the  fortune  of  those  who  delight  in  the  chase  ; 
but  what  matters  so  long  as  we  are  in  at  the  death — the  death  of  some 
popular  fallacy  V 
My  friend  from  the  aristocratic  hunting  centre  would  fain  know 
“  how  old  I  am  !  ” — a  pertinent  question  indeed,  but  one  which  has 
often  been  asked  belore.  I  seriously  ask  my.-elf  sometimes,  when  I 
notice  how  fast  the  grey  hairs  increase.  ■  They  show  that  at  least  1  am 
“  no  chicken,”  still  I  am  not  old  enough  to  be  an  “  old  fogey.”  I 
rather  rejoice  in  the  fact,  as  also  I  do  in  the  admission  of  the  old 
hunter,  “that  fruit,  generally  speaking,  is  cultivated,  so  far  as  size  and 
quality  are  concerned,  as  well  as  ever  it  was.”  That  is  surely  the  first 
consideration.  The  training  of  the  trees  is  only  a  secondary  one,  and 
it  speaks  volumes  for  the  zeal  and  knowledge  of  gardeners  of  the 
present  day,  that  they  have  been  able  to  do  so  well  under  difficulties 
such  as  the  old  generation  knew  nothing  of. 
Granted  that  gardeners  as  a  body  worked  quite  as  hard  half  a 
century  ago  as  they  do  now,  but  they  certainly  did  not  work  more 
hours,  indeed  I  question  if  at  any  previous  time  working  overtime  in 
gardens  was  so  general  as  now,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  in  all 
other  trades  and  professions  the  hours  of  labour  haye  been  greatly 
shortened.  True,  gardeners  would  not  mind  even  this,  if  by  so  doing 
they  could  keep  their  charges  in  the  condition  they  would  like,  but 
as  tne  matter  stands  at  present,  by  reason  of  reduction  of  hands  and 
increased  demands  in  the  way  of  decorations,  the  extra  hours  of  labour 
are  not  spent  in  carrying  out  their  “  hobbies,”  but  in  doing  work 
which  does  not  benefit  the  garden-  proper,  lor  the  pleasant  evening 
hours  are  largely  taben  up  in  dinner-table  decorations,  while  true 
gardening  must  perforce  be  neglected. 
Young  men  of  the  present  day  are  as  ready  now  as  ever  they  were 
to  wor«  both  early  and  late,  and  delight — as  I  have  often  done  myself 
— in  handling  the  Grape  scissors  at  4  a.m.,  and  in  doing  the  same  sind 
of  work  in  the  evening  till  dark  without  a  murmur;  but  when  it  is 
necessary  for  them  to  spend  the  same  number  of  hours  at  extra 
unproductive  work,  while  their  growing  crops  are  neglected,  can  they 
be  expected  to  take  such  a  delight  in  it  V  The.  truth  is  that  when 
judged  by  present  days,  the  “  old  gardeners  ”  had  a  good  time  of  it 
with  their  orderly  time-for-everybody  sort  of  life.  Could  they  be  here 
to-day  in  the  rush  of  a  modern  gardener’s  life,  it  would — as  “  Old 
