THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



227 



ture over 50' not much less so. In large 

 places a hot-water pipe could be carried 

 along the cavity between the inner and 

 outer wall, and during severe weather 

 enough heat could be supplied to prevent 

 the temperature of the store-room falling 

 below a proper minimum. For the shelves 

 beech or elm should be preferred to deal, 

 which is apt to communicate a tlavour of 

 turp sntine. We have found well-seasoned 

 r • I deal answer for kitchen apples and 

 baking pears, but we should not like to 

 trust any kin Is of dessert fruit to it. In 

 managing such a room there must of 

 c (lira • b_- pretty free ventilation when first 

 stored ; but that should be diminished, and 

 in the course of a fortnight cease alto- 

 g;tlur, except for such occasional uses as 

 changes of weather, etc., may necessitate. 

 Damp must be driven off by a brisk cur- 

 rent, and the window closed as soon as 

 possible. Light should be admitted only 

 when required for inspection and removal 

 of fruit, and a sharp watch must be kept 

 against rats, mice, and all other vermin. 



Perhaps a word or two may be useful, 

 in conclusion, on the gathering of -fruit ; 



for, unless it be properly gathered, it is 

 just impossible to keep it, no matter what 

 plans are resorted to. There must be no 

 bruising, no tumbling of it about on the 

 grass, or rolling it headlong from baskets 

 to wooden floors. Let the gardener handle 

 them as Isaac Walton handled frogs, as if 

 he loved them. The careless way in which 

 fruit is half-torn from trees, and shot like 

 gravel on to barn floors and kitchen pave- 

 ments, has more to do with rendering it 

 scarce in the depth of winter than any of 

 the mistakes as to keeping. Gather before 

 it is dead ripe, when it parts easily, and 

 has its proper colour. To heap up for 

 fermenting is a mischievous practice ; all 

 it does for the fruit is to set the first stage 

 of decay in action. A careful handling 

 and preservation in an equable temperature 

 are the two leading points ; after that use 

 the vigilant eye, and you will be repaid 

 for your extra trouble by having plenty of 

 apples, pears, and quinces when such 

 thiugs are scarce, and when, if you had 

 not used such precautions, you must pay 

 high prices for the enjoyment of them. 



HYBEID EHODODENDEONS. 



The high character these have acquired by 

 careful breeding, in the hands of such 

 masters of the hybridizing art as Mr. 

 Standish, the Messrs. Waterer, aud others, 

 who, having large nurseries in peat dis- 

 tricts, enjoy many facilities for this de- 

 partment of horticulture, has brought the 

 Rhododendron into the category of florists' 

 llowers, aud, at the same time, made them 

 more available than they were formerly for 

 the highest style of garden and shrubbery 

 decoration. Many of the best of the new 

 varieties will grow in a good loam, and in 

 districts where peat is expensive, and the 

 soil of the garden unsuitable, leaf-tnould or 

 artificial peat may take its place for se- 

 curing a rich display of summer bloom 

 and fine masses of foliage the whole year 

 round. We advise planters of rhododen- 

 drons to use good turfy peat if it can be 

 had. We use the peat from Wanstead 

 Forest, mixed with an equal proportion oi 

 silky yellow loam from the same district, 

 and our plants thrive in it with an amazing 

 vigour. We have most of the original 

 species, as well as some of the best hybrids, 

 and we have grown some for experiment 

 in a mixture consisting wholly of rotten 

 wood, decayed leaves, aud sandy road drift. 

 In this mixture they have made good 



growth, and have bloomed abundantly, but 

 their progress is not so satisfactory as 

 those planted in the mixture of forest peat 

 and loam. Kalinia latifolia we consider a 

 good test-plant, for it will pine in many 

 soils where Ponticum rhododendrons pros- 

 per, but Kalmias planted in the compost 

 of leaves, rotten wood, and road grit, are 

 in the enjoyment of rude health, having 

 recovered in it from a sickly condition, 

 consequent on having stood for eighteen 

 months in a loam uncongenial to them. 

 This is the best time of the year to plant 

 American shrubs of all kinds, and we give 

 a list of a few of the best, to enable intend- 

 ing purchasers to make selections. It 

 should be remembered that American 

 shrubs never do well till they get thick, so 

 that in planting only so much space should 

 be left between the plants to allow for one 

 season's growth. When they meet, their 

 ample foliage screens their root3 from the 

 sun, aud they flower in their full perfec- 

 tion. For this reason, as well as the pecu- 

 liar soil they require, they are more likely 

 to succeed in beds or compartments by 

 themselves, than planted singly in mixed 

 borders. 



There is nothing that gives greater 

 satisfaction for clumps on lawns than a 



