352 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



place far tea roses. These we should prefer to grow on briers of three feet, with a 

 few, such as Dcvonicnsis, on their owu roots, and some of the showieot hybrid per- 

 petuals on their own roots to give rich cohjurs. We need not give the names of 

 varieties, as our pages are studded with selections. On the wall itself you might 

 train a few choice things that are commonly too tender for our own climate, such 

 as Escallonias, Desfontania spinosa, Pernettya mucronata, Berberidopsis corallina, 

 Euonymus latif )lia aurea, and other very < hoice subjects. But you ought to make 

 the border a font wider if the walls are to be covered. 



Six good Camellias. — A. B, S. — Valtavaredo, Mathotiana, Marchioness of 

 Exeter, Cup of Beauty, Alba plena, Donckelaari. Your old plants that have grown 

 too large may be cut back in February, and in the February following they may be 

 turned out, reduced at the roots, and potted back into smaller pots. By this course 

 of procedure large camellias may be made into small ones. But perhaps a better 

 course for you would be to plant them out ; the probability is that they would thrive 

 as merrily as laurels or junipers. 



Cherry and Plum Tree Grafts failixg. — A. B. — The cultivated varieties 

 of cherries and plums are for the most part earlier in leaf than the wild varieties 

 they are usually grafted on. Cultivation has rendered the varieties precocious in 

 their movements. To succeed, therefore, the scions should be retarded by heeling 

 in, and should be put on early. The safest procedure is to bud then:, and in all the 

 nurseries budding is the customary practice. The success of grafts of apple and 

 pear put on the stocks on the 1st of May does not suii)rise us. \i'e have frequently 

 recommended late grafting of these, and have seen late grafting practised success- 

 fully in the Kentish orchards, and elsewhere. Stone fruits are far less accom- 

 modating, owing, perhaps, to the gummy nature of their outer wood layers. 



Hays's Constaxt Stove. — Several Correspondents. — The agent has disap- 

 peared, leaving no address, a parallel case apparently to the Waltonian business. 



Plants to Exchange. — An amateur having a few dozen of strong plants of 

 Gesneria zebrina, and others, more than she requires, would be pleased to exchange 

 them for a Lilium giganteum. Variegated Aloe, or any attractive thing in that 

 -way. Applv, in the first instance, to " Flora," the post-office, Marlborough, 

 Wilts. 



Lapageria rosea. — In November, 1864, I sent you an account of my attempt 

 to grow Lapageria rosea in a small way, but forgot to give the dimensions of the 

 box in which it grows. It is 3 ft. Gin. long, 1 ft. 7 in. broad, 2 It. deep. The 

 plant is now in vigorous health. Five or six shoots have run up to the top of my 

 small conservatory, and are obstinately resisting the attempts of my gardener to train 

 them sideways along a trellis. There are sixty-nine flowers and buds now hanging 

 on it, and strong young shoots coming up constantly. For more than a year it 

 has been watered only like the other plants, with a watering-pot, or syringed. 

 Could I get one of the shoots to root by making it grow through a flower-put 

 placed on the soil of the box ? And is there danger of the plant dwindling and 

 dyinc by and by for want of more room for its roots: You have said that cut- 

 tin o-s do' not grow, and the flowers on my plant never go to seed. — R. R. [You 

 raav easily obtain rooted pieces of the Lapageria by layering on the bed or parsing 

 them through pots. We have certainly objected to plants produced in this way, 

 and still hold to the opinion, which is based on much_experience in the cultivation 

 of this plant, that seedlings are by far the bet^t. But as you evidently wish to 

 raise a few from your own plant, and it does not give you any seed, go on with 

 the layering, and hope for the best. We have seen some very pretty specimens 

 three feet high in p't*, and covered with flowers that wcx-e grown from layers by 

 Mr. Tanton, of the Epsom Nursery. Your plant will want refreshing with new 

 peat. When it is quite at rest, turn it out, remove some of the soil from the roots, 

 prune the roots back moderately, and replant in good turfy peat, with plenty of 

 silver sand added. At the same time give it a larger box if you can.] 



Propagatixg Rhododexdeoxs. — P. B. — As you are acquainted with the process 

 of gr-^fiing, we have but to mention that rhododendrons are largely propagated by 

 layeis. These are easily made ; the shoots are bent down, and slightly cut and 

 pegged firm ; the month of February is the best time to operate. Water from the 

 gasworks is a good wash for apple-trees, but we prefer a mixture of salt and water, 

 used rather strong, and quite hot. This completely eradicates American blight. If 

 plum-trees are affected with blight, brine is not so good as a mixture of strong 

 tobacco water and soft soap, with clay added to make it thick. 



