86 



THE FLORAL VfOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



planted now, but the usu.il plan is to begia 

 potting in December, and thence occasionally 

 to pot additional selectiun^ till the en'l of April 

 to keep up a succession. Ol'course when potted 

 early they must be protected Irom frost, and the 

 best place for them is a well-sbeltered cold pit. 

 The foUon-ing are sis good ones in each of the 

 three sections : 1. Archimedes, Brenchleyensis, 

 Count de Morny, Don Juan, La Quintinye, 

 Napoleon III. 2. Abd-el-Kader, Crocata, Im- 

 perialis, Lady l''raaklin,,Orauge Bovea, Paxtoni. 

 3. Duchess "d'Orleans, La Fontaine, Louis Van 

 Houtte, Sebastopol, Taglioui, Victoire Pe\6. 



AValtoniax Case.— Clianthus Dampiebi. — As 

 many amateurs, like myself, find their flnjers 

 oily after trimming the Waltonian lamp, I should 

 like them to know a very simple remedy for that 

 evil — it is cutting a hole in the top of the tin to 

 pour in the oil, and thus avoid messing the 

 liugers in unscrewing the brass ring, a serious 

 matter when you are expecting to hear the 

 railway-bell every minute. Except Lady Ply- 

 mouth no cuttings put in my case look as if 

 they had too much d.imp, and yet I catch half a 

 pint of water from the legs every day ; it distils 

 over. I wanted to make the most of a few 

 plants of Golden Chain ; so, after taking the 

 usual leaf and stem cuttings, I sliced all the 

 bare branches into lengths of two eyes, and they 

 are model plants now. I have just raised some 

 Clianthus Dampieri from seed ; any informa- 

 tion about them would oblige. — Yours obliged, 

 JEf . B. [There is one point settled about Clian- 

 thus Dampieri, and that is that it is a biennial. 

 Messrs. Henderson's plant, which was the talk 

 of horticultural circles for months together, 

 died after producing about a thousand of its 

 splendid blossoms. To do it well it must be 

 grown quick, else the red spider gets hold of it. 

 Plenty of drainage, plenty of water, a generous 

 greenhouse temperature, the soil to consist of 

 one X'ai't each of turfy peat, turfy yellow loam, 

 old cow-dung, and charcoal, broken as small as 

 hazel-nuts. Give weak liquid manure as soon 

 as the plants are a foot high. It will do better 

 turned out into a good border than in a pot, 

 but if shifted as soon as the roots touch the 

 pot, it may be grown to splendid proportions 

 and bloom profusely. "Whatever checks the 

 growth is serious injury to it. As to the Wal- 

 tonian, it has enabled thousands of j^eople to 

 propagate plants who were never able to accom- 

 plish it before ; but some people expect the 

 Waltonian to do tiie whole work of affording 

 bottom-heat and managing the plants too. It is 

 in that expectation that disappointments occur. 

 We are keeping two cases at work now, and 

 propagating all sorts of things that we do not 

 want, for the mere fun of the thing. AVheu 

 once we have set the ease going we hiive not 

 heart to stop it. Those who really wish to 

 learn the art of propagating should certainly 

 adopt it.] 



CuLTUBE or THE Leek. — S.J.K. — The iiote you 

 refer to was written by Mr. J. B. Weir, of 

 Galasheils, and here itis,verhafim etUfcfatim: — 

 " The leek, from the delicacy of its soup, and its 

 forming an essential ingredient in Scotch kail, 

 has become a permanent favourite in the 

 kitchen-garden. Of this plant there are two 

 principal varieties, generally known in cottage 

 culture imder the distinctive appellations of 

 Scotch and English. The Scotch variety is 

 much hardier than the other, grows much 

 thicker, and does not run so soon to seed, and 

 is therefore better suited for late winter and 

 spring use, while the English sort is generally 

 earlier, stands frost ill, and therefore is more 

 fitted for autumn and early winter use. The 

 ordinary method of cultivating the leek is so 

 weE understood that I forbear alluding to it, 

 but will introduce to notice a mode of pro- 



pagation which I have pursued successfully for 

 several years, and which I presume has not 

 been previously submitted to the public. In 

 the botanical descriptions of the leek, it is 

 geuerall}', if not always, said to be a biennial, 

 and its root as ' not a bulb, but rather the 

 blanched ends of the leaves' (Khind's Vegetable 

 Kingdom, page 2G8). Xow this is a radical 

 mistake, which a little attention will soon make 

 evident, and which the experience of every cul- 

 tivator of leek-seed cm attest by the number 

 of little bulbs which he must have seen attached 

 to the bottom of the stalk after the seed has 

 ripened. In fact, the leek is a true bulbous 

 perennial, requiring two years to perfect its 

 bulbs, and subdividing itself after the manner 

 of the potato-onion, and thus, like it, can be 

 propagated without rearing from seed after a 

 stock of bulbs is once obtained. These ought to 

 be planted in rows nine inches asunder and four 

 or six inches distant in the row, in rich soil, not 

 newly manured, and at least three inches deep. 

 In autumn they should be taken up, a sufficient 

 quantity planted in fresh soil, and the remain- 

 der stored for use. These bulbs, which are easily 

 reared to the size of eight or nine inches cir- 

 cumference, form when stewed a very delicious 

 dish, indeed much superior to the onion ; and 

 what adds not a little to this superiority is the 

 fact of the flavour being as if one onion and 

 three delicate turnips were harmoniously 

 blended together, the usual flavour of the 

 leek being as it were lost in one more pleasing." 

 Seed Sowing, Daphnes, etc. — T. E. P. — The 

 seeds of cyclamen should be sown in February, 

 but as you have lost the proper time, sow at 

 once. Use large seed-pans, or wide-mouthed 

 shallow pots, filled with a mixture of fibrous 

 peat, chopped to the size of walnuts, with all 

 the crumbs and dust, or very sweet leaf-mould 

 and old cow-dung passed through a half-inch 

 riddle, with about a sixth part of sharp sand. 

 Press the stuff firm, put a little of the finest of 

 the mixture on the top, sow thin and cover 

 with about the eighth of an inch of dusty peat. 

 Cover each pan with a square of glass, and put 

 the pans in a shady part of the greenhouse tUl 

 the seeds are up. The use of the glass is to 

 prevent auy need for watering, which might 

 wash out the seeds. The plants must be left in 

 the paus, and carefully attended to for air, 

 light, and water, till August, and then be pot- 

 ted singly in thumb-pots, in a mixture of equal 

 parts turfy-loam, leaf-mould, and very rotten 

 cow-dung, and a half part of sand. Shade after 

 potting for a week, then let them have plenty 

 of light and be kept safe from frost all winter. 

 Persicum is rather tender, the others may be 

 wintered in a cold pit. April is the proper 

 season to repot seedlings of the previous year, 

 after which they should be encouraged to grow 

 by means of extra warmth and moisture. The 

 next shift should be in October, at which time 

 large bulbs will require six-inch pots, and all 

 kinds, except Coum, should be planted with the 

 crown of the bulb above the soil. Gentianella, 

 sow in June, in the open border. They like 

 sandy soil, on a dry bottom; may be moved 

 at any time when well furnished with roots. 

 Daphnes are propagated by layers made in 

 June. Cut a tongue in the und[er-side of the 

 branch to be layered, and insert a chip of wood 

 or small pebble to keep it open; peg it down in 

 its place, which should be trodden hard into a 

 small depression, and cover the tongued part 

 with a spadeful of sandy leaf-mould. Seedling 

 plants of fragrant cyclamens do not always 

 produce fragrant flowers, and seedlings of those 

 without scent sometimes produce fragrant flow- 

 ers. AVe cannot name nurserymen for the 

 supply of plants. Our advertising pages enable 

 our readers to pick and choose for themselves. 



