Feb, 26-—What we consider to be one of the most "delicious vegetables is fairly plentiful on the market, these days and we often wonder why it is not more extensively grown in local gardens. We refer to" the Sweet Potato Upomoca Batatcs) and we only know one} garden where large area ly sel apart for ils cultivation. This plant belongs to the Morning Glory family and ti is said to be native to the East Indies, it thrives under soil conditions that would not be suitable for many other vegetables and as its food value is considerably higher than that of the Irish Potato, there appears to be no reason why it should not be Seen more often in our gardens. Much of the market produce comes from' the Yangstze Valley where it is cultivated on ridges. The edible Toot tubers do not possess "eyes" like the Irish Potato and. it is Renerally necessary increase stock by the insertion of cuttings old tubers are started in the Spring and the young sprouts growing from thee are remover jand used for propagation purposes. Ils proyagation is therefore similar tx that practised fin the ease of Dahlias; old Dahle tubers ower curing late Spring, while cultings taken from the plants do not flower until' the Autumn. When old Sweet Potatoes are placed in the sell in the Spring they will produce a crop during the carly days of Summer, while cultings Me serted in Spring do not produce a crop. until Winter. The creeping stems of the plants we kept under observation last year covered the whole area, there was no space for weeds 0 grow and ibe plants received little attention until the leaves were blackened during the frst cold night When the roots were dug up, they were dried in the sun before being care: fully stored. We believe that it is most import fant that care is exercised when the tubers are being stored: bruising the skin when handling them, has to be avoided. In countries "where the Sweet Potato is extensively grown, much fatiention is given to the maintenance of a proper storage temperature during the carly stage
for 0 time as Bradually 10 50° for a time and allowed to fall gradually to 50° caring: itis kept ay high as 00+ Fahrenheit now obtainable at a dollar each irom some Mar, 2—We understand that Mangoes are
fruit hawkers, although bargaining. generally Gommences ata higher Mure: The Mango tree (Gtanoifera indica) Is. decorative at any' time, but when in"fruit, {¢ fs quite stir active the fruity hang' on a" ong' stem' andthe leaves change colour as they become older. It is said {atthe mango has been in cultivation for 400 years in southern Asia and that itis "the pride the garden—the choloest fruit of Hindustan. Be that as It may, the fact romaine that Tam not fond of the fruit, T have not yet become. ace customed (o Ils peculiar favour and as 1 Rener. lly associate 1t with turpentine, shall prob. ably never enjoy it although most people. ap. pear "to be" extremely" fond of the fruit ome people refer to ils flavour a being 2 combination of apricot and pineapple, While thers say that this comparison doc not con. vey" a true idea of the "delicious piquancy perfect Mango.""It ts posite that Samples T have tasted were gathered from. trees crown irom seed, for ese are admitted to be of Poorer quality than trull produced: by" gratted frees The fruit is picked when it is fully mature, but before it has. Begun to. lose ite firmness. "The Mangosteen (Garcinia Ban. ostana) produces what Is" probably the most delicious fruit grown anywhere in. the world. 'Queen Victoria offered a prise of '£10 for thi fest fruits fo be delivered to her from Indi ut there is no record. of the reward being claimed. "We "remember discussing the Man festoon' with Covent Garden dealer some ears ego and he was bemoaning the fact that "was practically impossible to introduce ition to the [London market In any" quantity owing to losses in transit. However, in these days of ick transportation, itis possible that the tri {now on sale. there. The "Queen of Prufis" 25 the mangosteen is sometimes called, has a ery thick rind" and it should. be) fairly asy to Keep it fresh, In cold storage, for two three weeks: itis' streily tropical fruit fud the only: hope of" cultivating it here Mar..5.—The study of plant life is most in. teresting and instructive and not the least inleresting- section ig that devoted that extraordinary phenomenon known as asexual reproduction. This is tobe found in many succulents "and 2 good. example of it is to be observed in the sprouting Jeaves of the "Air-plant™ (Bryophyllum coly. cinum), This plant is a native of the East Indies, but it grows wild in Hawaii und many. other places. It requires the protection of a greenhouse here during the Winter. The leaves of the "air-plant" are fleshy and deeply divided fand in each notch there is a group of cells, these cells lie dormant so long! as the leaf is, attached to the growing plant; but shortly after It is removed, they become active and the result is the formation of a new plant complete with roots and-leaves. The fleshy leaves contain an abundance of food and the young plants do not have to find food for themselves until. they have exhausted the reserve stock. We have recently pinned leaves to walls; plac-them on plant stages and eft them lying about in various places with little or no mois ture; the result has been the same in each ease, 8 good stock of young plants has soon appeared, We have another interesting plant in flower at the present time in our small greenhouse: this Is. the Chinese New Year Flower of South China—Enkianthus quinqueflorus. It has taken 8 long time for it to open is. pinkish waxy bell-like flowers; but it was worth waiting for. No money has been spent on heating the green: house this year and this may have had something to do with the late appearance of the flowers, The flowers cannot be called showy; but they are really beautiful: the young foliage is also very colourful and this, together with the terminal corymbs of drooping flowers, makes a most charming combination, We note that the plant ig protected in Hongkong under Section 3 of the Licensing Ordinance and that a special
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.