September  5,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
217 
Notes  on  Nymphaeas. 
Some  of  the  new  Nympbseas  seem  to  be  not  wanting  in  private 
'manners  and  customs,  occasionally  of  an  undesit  able  nature  ;  and  as 
also  the  rarest  and  most  expensive  do  not  appear  to  be  necessarily  the 
best  and  most  desirable,  a  lew  notes  on  their  habits  and  culture  may 
bi  useful.  It  is  well  to  remember  at  the  outset  that  these  plants  will 
grow  and  flower  much  better  in  good  sod — strong  loam — than  they  will 
,  iu  mere  sandy  mud,  the  washings  of  a  stream  in  light  soil.  That  the 
water  should  be  as  staznant  as  possible  compatible  with  a  maintenance 
of  the  same  he;ght  in  hot  dry  weather  ;  that  it  should  be  thoroughly 
exposed  to  the  sun,  free  from  injurious  insects,  birds,  or  water  rats  ; 
and  that  the  Laydekeri  and  smaller  varieties  should  be  grown  in  less 
than  a  foot  of  water,  and  the  Marliacea  and  more  robust  plants  should 
have  rather  a  greater  depth. 
N.  Aurora  is  generally  highly  praised,  and  c  msidered  rare.  I  do 
not  recommend  it;  the  flowers  are  small  and  short  petalled,  not  a  very 
attractive  colour,  and  not  v>  ry  treely  produce!.  Tnat  they  change  in 
colour  each  day — a  custom  for  which  the  variety  is  recommended— is 
true,  but  all  the  reds  and  pinks,  ex  ept,  perhaps,  the  true  Marliaceas, 
•do  this.  The  foliage  is  plentiful  and  prettily  marked,  but  not  large. 
N.  Ellisiana  is,  to  my  mind,  the  best  of  the  dark  or  crimson 
Nymphaeas.  It  is  not,  1  suppose  (for  it  is  only  with  thoroughly 
<  stabished  plants  that  one  can  judge  of  this),  so  large  as  gloriosa  or 
William  Fa'coner,  but  is  a  brighter  and  more  dazzli;  g  colour  than 
either.  The  flowers  on  the  third  day,  when  the  stamens  bend 
inward*,  are  of  a  wonderful  colour  in  the  centre,  very  bright  crimson 
with  a  suspicion  of  o  ange.  It  is  quite  true,  as  Mons.  Latour  Marliac 
said,  that  the  flower,  even  at  a  distance,  shines  like  a  ruby  upon  the 
water.  It  is  a  pretty  good  grower,  and  can  do  with  deeper  water  than 
.  the  Laydekeri  varieties. 
N.  gloriosa  is  still  very  expensive,  and  my  plant  has  been  in  my 
possession  little  more  than  a  year,  but  it  has  done  very  well.  The 
.flower  seems  about  the  same  size  as  the  newer  and  also  expensive 
William  Falconer,  which  I  have  seen  but  have  not  got,  and  not  quiie 
so  dark  but  a  little  brighter.  It  seems  decidedly  free-flowering,  and  I 
have  no  doubt  that  the  flowers  of  well-established  plants  in  good  soil 
are  magnificent. 
N.  Laydekeri  rosea  is  now  well  known,  and  if  size  is  not  required  is 
certainly  one  of  the  very  best.  The  flowers  change  in  colour  fiom 
•quite  a  light  pink  to  crimson.  It  is  very  free-flowering,  and  will  do 
in  comparatively  shallow  water.  L  lilacea  I  have  not  yet  flowered. 
L.  purpurata  is  of  a  distinct  purple  tint  when  grown  strong  at  its  best, 
but  this  colour  is  not  so  attractive  as  that  of  L.  rosea. 
N.  lucida  is  a  prettily  shaped  flower,  and  appears  to  be  a  good 
grower,  though  one  of  my  plants  “  went  back  ”  in  a  mysterious 
manner.  The  foliage  is  prettily  marked,  but  the  variety  does  not  seem 
to  be  very  free-flowering. 
N.  Marliacea  albida  is  indeed  a  fine  plant  and  a  flue  flower  ;  the 
leaves  are  magnificent,  and  with  me  the  finest  have  a  tendency  to 
•curl  and  form  a  rim  round  the  edge  like  the  Victoria  regia.  It  is  a 
pleasure  to  look  into  one  of  these  great  white  flowers,  for  pure  white 
in  flowers  seems  always  an  attraction. 
N.  M.  carnea  and  rosea  are  identical  with  albida  in  growth,  foliage 
and  manners,  and  are  only  distinguishable  from  each  other  in  the 
finest  blooms  an!  on  the  closest  inspection,  when  a  little  more  pink 
can  be  found  in  rosea.  It  is  certainly  not  worth  while  for  any 
amateur  to  grow  both  of  these.  The  pink  tinge  is  most  pronounced 
at  the  base  of  the  petals,  the  tips  being  white. 
N.  Marliacea  chromatella  has,  in  the  three  plants  I  have,  quite 
different  manners.  It  has  coloured  and  marked  foliage,  and  the  leaves 
are  not  so  large,  but  there  appear  to  be  too  many  of  them.  It  is 
with  me  a  strong  grower,  but  a  shy  one  to  flower.  It  may  be 
owing  to  the  poverty  of  my  soil,  but  a  number  of  shoots  which  start 
from  the  mud,  intending  apparently  to  be  flowers,  lose  heart  on  the  way, 
and  so  come  to  neither  one  thing  or  the  other,  but  ridiculous  little 
abortions  of  curled  leaves.  It  is  a  pity,  as  the  flowep,  which  is  a 
good  though  pale  yellow,  not  so  large  as  the  Marliaceas  hitherto 
mentioned,  seems  at  present  to  be  the  only  yellow  outside  the 
N.  odorata  group  which  I  canoot  grow. 
N.  M.  flammea  is  the  only  one  of  the  red  Marliaceas  that  I  have 
flowered  at  present,  and  that  not  strong  enough  to  pass  judgment 
upon.  At  present  it  seems  to  have  no  pretension  to  flame  colour,  and 
the  plant  seems  quite  unlike,  in  power  of  growth,  the  three  Marliaceas 
first  mentioned.  N.  Robinsoni  is  a  beautiful  bright  dark  red,  and  a 
finely  shaped  flower.  At  present  I  am  inclined  to  place  it  as  second 
only  to  Ellisiana  in  brightness  and  depth  of  colour.  It  seems  robust, 
but  not  likely  to  approach  the  great  Marliaceas  in  size  and  growth,  and 
would  do  probably  well  in  shallower  water  with  the  Laydekeri  group. 
N.  Seignoureti  seems  of  much  the  same  hibit  of  growth  as  the 
last  named,  but  the  flowers,  cream-coloured  passing  to  pink,  are  at 
present  small  with  me,  and  attract  but  little  attention  amongst  the 
larger  and  brighter-coloured  varieties  It  should  be  noticed  that,  as 
it  is  with  Roses,  the  flowers  will  not  come  of  their  true  distinctive 
shades  or  even  shapes  till  the  plant  is  strong  and  the  bloom*  full 
sized.  Many  of  the  red  ones  will  seem  to  come  all  alike  at  first.  As 
with  other  flowers,  it  is  b  st  to  pick  off  the  earliest  buds  as  soon  as 
they  come  through  the  mud,  and  the  past  flowers  as  soon  as  they  fail 
to  open  in  the  sunshine.  I  give  only  my  own  experience,  and  others 
may  be  able  to  correct  me. — W.  R.  Raillem. 
Figs  Onder  Glass. 
Earliest  Forced  Trees  in  Pots. — The  trees  may  be  placed  outdoors 
when  the  wood  is  ripe  ;  but  they  must  not  be  so  treated  if  there  is  any 
doubt  about  this,  keeping  them  under  glass  with  a  free  circulation  of 
air.  These  are  important  matters  in  which  the  cultivator  will  need  to 
exercise  judgment.  In  either  case  encourage  surface  roots  by  dressings 
of  manure  and  rough  loam  in  equal  parts,  adding  a  sixth  of  old  mortar 
rubbish  and  a  sprinkling  of  dissolved  bones  and  wood  ashes  in  equal 
parts.  Care  must  be  taken  in  the  case  of  trees  placed  outdoors  that 
they  do  not  root  from  the  base  of  the  pots.  Cut  off  all  roots  that  have 
passed  into  the  plunging  material,  top-dress,  after  which  give  a  good 
watering,  and  they  will  only  need  water  afterwards  sufficient  to  keep 
the  foliage  in  health.  Where  trees  have  to  be  bought,  orders  should 
be  placed.  Tne  trees  should  have  stems  about  a  foot  high,  and  well- 
formed  heads,  with  the  growth  fairly  thin,  and  the  wood  ripened  to 
the  points  of  the  shoots.  The  best  varieties  for  early  forcing  are  Early 
Violet,  St.  John’s,  and  Brown  Turkey. 
Unsatisfactory  Trees — Where  the  trees  grow  rampantly  and 
produce  thin  crops  of  fruit,  root-pruning  should  be  resorted  to, 
confining  the  roots  to  a  narrow  border  of  3  to  4  feet  width.  A  trench 
taken  out  at  this  distance  from  the  stem  after  the  fruit  is  gathered 
will  most  assuredly  check  the  tendency  to  a  late  growth  and  assist 
in  the  ripening  of  the  wood,  more  particularly  if  the  growths  are 
thinly  disposed,  and  the  points  of  the  shoots,  instead  of  being  closely 
tied  in,  are  allowed  to  grow  up  to  the  glass.  If  the  drainage  be 
defective  it  will  be  necessary  to  lift  the  treei  in  the  autumn  as  soon  as 
the  leaves  commence  falling,  and  replant  in  fresh  soil.  Place  in 
9  to  12  inches  of  drainage,  rou  'h  at  the  bottom  and  smallest  at  top, 
and  on  this  lay  3  inches  thickne  s  of  old  mortar  rubbish,  freed  of  old 
laths  and  other  pieces  of  wood,  smashed,  and  sifted  with  a  J-inch 
sieve,  using  that  remaining  in  the  sieve,  the  finer  particles  being 
mixed  with  the  soil  to  the  extent  of  one-sixth.  A  3-inch  drain  should 
be  provided,  with  proper  tall  and  outlet  to  carry  off  superfluous  water. 
Turfy  loam,  inclined  to  be  rather  strong  than  light,  forms  a  suitable 
compost,  adding  to  it  the  one-sixt’n  of  old  mortar  rubbish  before 
mentioned,  and  a  bushel  of  ground  coprolites  to  every  cartload  of  loam. 
In  replanting  ram  the  compost,  well  incorporated,  thoroughly  about 
the  roots,  spreading  them  evenly  well  up  to  the  surface,  and  with 
soil  between  each  layer,  so  as  not  to  have  all  the  roots  together.  This 
will  insure  steady  progressive  growth,  short-jointed  fruitful  wood,  a 
solidified  compost  duly  supplied  with  nutrient  elements,  securing,  with 
judicioiis  ventilation  and  management,  solidified  growth  and  large, 
heavy  fruit.  Should  the  drainage  be  good,  it  will  only  be  necessary  to 
detach  the  roots  as  advised,  confine  the  roots  to  the  narrow  border,  and 
remove  sonn  of  the  old  soil  from  amongst  the  roots,  supplying  a  top¬ 
dressing  with  the  soil  above  stated. — Grower. 
Nerves  in  Plants. —  Wordsworth’s  lines,  says  the  “Daily 
Chronicle,”  regarding  the  faith  that  believes  in  the  enjoyment  by 
the  plant  of  the  air  it  breathes  may  find,  perchance,  some  far-off 
justification — one  dare  not  say  confirmation  as  yet — in  the  researches 
of  Dr.  B.  Nemec,  who  has  published  a  learned  treatise  on  the  manner 
in  which  plants  are  capable  of  transmitting  impulses  or  stimuli  through 
their  bodies  from  one  part  or  organ  to  another.  Dr.  Nemec  thinks  he 
has  discovered  certain  speoial  features  in  the  living  matter  of  cells 
which  appear  to  warrant  the  conclusion  that  plants  possess  structures 
corresponding  to  the  nerve  fibres  of  animals.  The  researches  of  Sir  J. 
Bur  don  Sanderson  long  ago  proved  that  the  movements  of  the  Venus’ 
Ply-trap’s  leaves  gave  much  the  same  electrical  reactions  as  do  musoular 
movements  in  the  animal.  There  is  no  doubt  that  whatever  be  the 
exact  source  of  the  movements,  it  is  to  the  living  matter  (or  protoplasm) 
of  the  plant  that  we  must  look  for  the  discovery  of  the  real  seat  of  the 
action.  In  old  days  it  was  believed  that  each  cell  of  a  plant  was 
completely  shut  off  from  all  its  neighbour-cells.  Now  we  know  that, 
so  far  from  this  being  the  case,  the  living  matter  of  the  plant  is 
continuous  in  its  nature.  Fine  threads  of  protoplasm  pass  through  the 
oell-walls,  and  bring  the  various  series  of  cells  into  close  connection. 
There  is  nothing  inconceivable,  therefore,  in  the  notion  that  certain 
threads  of  living  matter  may  develop  the  funotior  performed  by  nerves 
in  animals,  that  of  conveying  stimuli.  When,  too,  we  learn  that  a 
sensitive  plant  can  be  rendered  insensible  by  making  it  respire  ether, 
the  argument  can  be  drawn  closer  for  the  identity  of  animal  and  plant 
sensation. 
