December  19,  1901.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
563 
needless  to  apologise  respecting  the  suggestion  conveyed  as  a 
little  amendment  to  his  menu,  and  the  young  brother  in  the 
bothy ;  if  there  is  one,  will  have  no  stumbling  block  over  which 
he  might  trip — over  which  so  many  have  tripped.  That 
“  J.  H.  M.”  and  all  in  bothydom  may  have  a  happy  Christmas  is 
the  hearty  wish  of — An  Old  Boy. 
The  above  is  the  title  of  what  you,  Mr.  Editor,  called  “  a 
seasonable  letter  with  a  good  spirit  in  it.”  This  made  me  recall 
my  mind  to  some  years  ago  when  I  was  in  the  bothy — not  a 
modern  one,  either.  One  of  my  colleagues  had  had  far  too  much 
of  what  our  friend  “  J.  H.  M.”  speaks  of  as  “  a  wee  drop  of  some- 
is  so  genial  in  its  survey,  and  has  such  an  obvious  ring  of 
prudence  pervading  it,  that  we  have  not  the  slightest  qualms 
that  such  a  young  gardener  will  not  be  able  to  take  “  a  wee  drop 
o’  something  short  ”  and  yet  conduct  himself  within  the  bounds 
of  rigid  common  sense.] 
- - 
Rhodochiton  volubile. 
Sometimes  one  dares  to  say  there  are  not  enough  variety 
among  our  greenhouse  climbers.  There  are  sufficient  beautiful 
RHODOCHITON  VOLUBILE. 
thing  short.”  Now,  sir,  I  have  seen,  and  I  still  frequently  see, 
the  dreadfully  ill  effects  of  this  “wee  drop,”  and  I  would 
earnestly  urge  upon  all  our  young  men  to  leave  it  alone.  Enjoy 
life  as  much  as  you  can  ;  do  not  be  dull,  but  merry  ;  ay,  and 
it  can  be  done,  even  at  Christmas  time,  without  strong  drink. 
I  have  experienced  it  for  many  years,  and  know  that  there  are 
many  gardeners  holding  good  positions  to-day  who  have  done 
the  same  without  “  the  wee  drop.”  Now,  Mr.  Editor,  I  wish  you 
a  most  Happy  and  Merry  Christmas,  also  to  our  <j;ood  old  Journal 
artel  its  writers.  How  we  should  miss  it  each  week !  A.  J. 
Brown. 
[Far  be  it  from  the  minds  of  any  one  of  our  readers  to  imagine 
that  we  countenance  or  counsel  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  to 
the  extent  that  they  lead  to  bodily  or  mental  perturbation ;  we 
abjure  such  foolish  indiscretion.  Yet  the  letter  of  “  J.  H.  M.” 
climbing  and  twining  subjects,  if  only  we  would  select  and 
grow  them.  Ithodochiton  volubile  is  one  of  the  best,  yet  one  of 
the  least  grown.  It  is  now  eighty-nine  years  since  the  plant 
which  we  figure  on  page  563,  was  brought  home  from  Mexico,  so 
that  it  is  not  a  noveltv  by  any  means.  The  illustration  saves 
us  the  need  to  describe  the  form  and  general  habit  of  the  flowers 
and  the  shoots,  the  colour  of  the  former  being  bright  pink  in 
the  calyx  and  dark  purple-red  in  the  corolla.  A  moderately  rich 
compost  of  turfy  loam,  well-decayed  leaf  soil,  and  sand,  suit 
it  well,  though  it  is  at  times  found  planted  out  in  borders.  It 
requires  little  care,  except  thinning  the  shoots  and  removing  the 
weak  and  straggly.  We  trust  it  may  be  given  a  trial  by  those  of 
our  readers  who  have  not  hitherto  grown  it. 
