64 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



Current of Kitchen Girden, Flower and 

 Farm Seeds." John Fras^r, Lea Bridge 

 Road Nurseries, Essex, N K., "General 

 Descriptive Seed Catalogue." George 

 Walker Dixon, 48a, Moorgate Street, 

 EC, "Catalogue of Kitchen Garden, 

 Grass, Agricultural, and Flower Seeds." 

 Barr and Sugden, 12, King Street, 

 Covent Garden, W.C., " Illustrated 

 Guide to the Flower and Kitchen Gar- 

 den." J. B. Brown and Co., 18, Cannon 

 Street, E.C., '• Illustrated Catalogue of 

 Guaranteed Agricultural Implements, and 

 Descriptive Lists and Noticesof Wirework, 

 Ironwork, Mowing Machines, and other 

 ," articles of Garden Furniture and Embel- 

 lishment." John Salter, William Street, 

 Hammersmith, W., "Catalogue of Chry- 

 santhemums, Dahlias, Pseonies, Phloxes, 

 [ Fuchsias, Iris, Hardy Variegated Plants, 

 etc." W Cutbush and Sun, Highgate, 

 " Catalogue of Vegetable, Flower, and 

 Farm Seeds." B. S. Williams, Hollo- 

 way, " Catalogue of Flower and Vege- 

 table Seeds." 

 Best Season for Planting Evergreens. 

 — Can you account for the difference of 

 opinion about the proper time to trans- 

 plant evergreens? People appear to be 

 agreed that the best time is from the 

 middle of September to the middle of 

 November — the first part of the period 

 being preferable for the more tender 

 kinds ; but after that period I can find 

 no agreement. An editorial reply to a 

 correspondent, which appeared in the 

 " Gardener's Chronicle" ot t!i2l4th Janu- 

 ary, says that " that operation [the 

 moving of evergreens] had better be 

 done now than a month later." Again, 

 I was in Ireland the middle of last 

 December, and being in a first class 

 nursery there, and speaking to the prin- 

 cipal about the transplanting of some 

 hollies, I said, " I thought it rather late, 

 and I would rather w'ait till next 

 Mnreh." "No," said he, "doit now. 

 March is a bad time with its drying 

 winds." Now, old Abercromby tells us, 

 in his Calendar, quite the contrary of 

 the two foregoing. Le says, to give up 

 planting evergreens in December and 

 January (except some few of Ihe 

 hardiest), and to begin in March. I 

 moved one holly with good, fibrous roots 

 the beginning of December, and it does 

 not appear to have sullered. Certainly 

 I mulched the roots. In List April I 

 moved some evergreens. That dry, warm 

 weather came immediately after, and 

 though the roots were carefully mulched 

 and kept moist, some Cotoneaater micro- 

 phylla died back to stumps. I am 



beginning to think that hardy ever- 

 greens, such as hollies and cotoneasters, 

 etc., had beiter be moved in winter, in 

 mild weather, if the ground be mulched 

 to keep off frost from the roots, rather 

 than to leave them to spring. They 

 appear to want their heads shaded if 

 planted in spring [Yes, and frequently 

 sprinkled too], as much as they want 

 their roots mulched if planted in winter, 

 and it is easier to do the latter. With 

 hollies up in a hedge it may be 

 different, as frost could hardly be 

 kept from their roots. — A. JB. [In 

 the Floral World, of September 

 1860, an article on planting commences 

 thus, "Plant at once anything and every- 

 thing in the way of hardy tiees and 

 shrubs." It has been the rule in this 

 work to recommend autumn planting, 

 and we can only repeat that August and 

 September are the best months in all the 

 year, for all evergreens, and October and 

 November the best for all deciduous 

 trees. If moved during severe frost, or 

 if severe frost follow the moving, deaths 

 are likely to occif, and it is the fear of 

 that contingency makes Abercrombie 

 advise suspending operations during 

 December and January, and recommenc- 

 ing them in March. March is ceitainly 

 a bad time because of the drying winds, 

 hut a good time because if the trees can 

 be helped through the windy time, they 

 get rice showers soon alter, at the very 

 season when they are pushing vigorously 

 new shoots and new roots. Many thou- 

 sands of evergreens have we planted 

 with our own hands in the month of 

 May, and they have done well ; but 

 much depends on seasons, soils, and other 

 circumstances.] 

 Hyaci.nths, Farfugium, Arums, etc. — 

 J. J. P. — If a hyacinth throws up more 

 than one flower-spike, the removal of all 

 but one will cause the one left to attain 

 to much finer proportions than two or 

 three spikes would. When intended for 

 exhibition, there ought to be but one 

 spike to a bulb; but for home decoration 

 cultivators may do as they please, have 

 two or three medium-sized spikes or one 

 thumper. We prefer the latter. When 

 hyacinths refuse to throw up their spikes, 

 and when the spikes are dumpy, the 

 cause is always the same, deficiency of 

 roots, and the cure is the same, gentle 

 bottom -heat. Mr. Hibberd has alone 

 pointed this out in his papers on hya- 

 cintns ; other writers have agreed in 

 the nonsensical practice of putting paper 

 caps over the crowns ; Mr. Hibberd has 

 said, " induce the formation of good roots, 



