JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ January 4, 187i 



your Journal their experiences the information would be of 

 great value, siiecifying at the same tune the character of the 

 soil as regards the clay, the lime, and the iron, the sorts that 

 grow best, and those tliey cannot gi-ow satisfactorily. In this 

 way the ordinai-y grower would eventually ul.taiii -oine guide 

 which would save liini much tunc and many disapjioiiitmcnts. 



The soil in mv garden varies from a hght allu\iiil to a stiff 

 clay; in the fuiiuer 1 lia\-e found Eivers's Eliza, Eclipse, 

 Keens" Seedling. !Sii- Jo>cph Paxton, and Due de Malakoff suc- 

 ceed well. In the heavier soil the Roseberry, British Queen, 

 Yates's Seedling, and the Vicomtesse Hcricart de Thuiy do 

 tolerably well. 



Mimy years ago, in consequence of some iuformatiou {but 

 whence derived I have forgotten), I dressed a worn-out Straw- 

 berry bed with the refuse of a brick-ldhi, and the birrnt eaith and 

 fragments of bricks were put ou rather thickly between the rows. 

 The effect was very good, and the blooms and fruit exceeduigly 

 tine. Eecollcct that this was a worn-out bed. Not ha\-iug 

 access now to the same material, I have not repeated the 

 experiment. — T. G. 



MADAME CHIRAED AND OTHER EOSES. 



1 EECEIVED the following from Mr. AV. Paul : — " lu my 

 judgment you ai'e right in recommending Madame Ghii'ai'd. 

 With mo it is quite first-class ; and everyone who sees it 

 pronounces it so. I first met with it iu the um-sery of Pemet 

 at Lyons, the same year that I saw Baronne de Rothschild in 

 the same uiusery, and I find that I marked them both as 

 ' first-rate.' As I journeyed northwards I found at Orleans 

 Madame Alice Dureau ; and this I also marked first-rate [It 

 is so here — TV. F. E.j , with the additional note that I rather 

 prefen-ed Madame Chuard." I do not think it equal to Per- 

 fection de Lyon or Madame Ghirai'd, two grand Eoses, of ex- 

 cellent growth and general good attributes ; but it is still a 

 first-class Rose iu the line of Reiue du Midi, which does not 

 bloom freely here. Reine du Midi is spherical and fine when 

 it opens freely. 



There is no Rose hi the line of rose-coloiu' equal to Louise 

 Peyronny alin^ Lielia, but it is not very strong iu constitution, 

 although derived from La Reine. 



I thank Mr. Peach and the electors much. Their selections 

 of Roses are good ou the whole ; but, as far as my experience 

 goes, iu this exposed place, I make out two reluctant bloomers, 

 six /»•(■«(/»(' ^j/ciHC, and six bad growers on the Manetti stock. 

 Eoses which are jtreaiine-iileioe Eoses are valuable for the 

 garden, as they bloom freely iu bad weather, and bloom late iu 

 the season, but they are bad for travelling, and show early in 

 simimer "a shilling eye." — W. F. R.U)cl\tfe. 



THE ROYAL ASCOT VINE. 



Eeferbixh to the Journal of September 2'2nd, 1870, page 221, 

 respecting this Grape, I am very happy to say I am now in a 

 position to speak most highly iu its favour. As a Vine for 

 pots it is quite first-rate, being very refreshing to eat, and so 

 black as to look well against the green leaf wheu used for table 

 decoration, while for Grapes to cut in winter and eaily spring 

 it stands without an equal. If strong selected fruit-eyes are 

 stai'ted in January, and the green canes stopped in July, a 

 nice crop cau be obtained in the beginning of the next yeai' 

 and onwards from plants iu 15-inch pots. Thus in about 

 twelve mouths from stai'tiug the eyes you have the reward of 

 all the laboiu' and care. A small dung bed and a glass house 

 without much fire heat are what is required. With a httle tact, 

 from 1.5-iueh pots capital ripe Grapes coijd be obtained in 

 July and January out of the same glass building. 



Wlien the Vines have frmted once I throw them away. I 

 know that by such treatment it will do well, but as to its bear- 

 ing perpetually I wiU say nothing. Tryhig to make a Vme, or 

 indeed any plant, work on with little or no rest is an attempt 

 to upset the laws of Nature, and from which I rather abstain. 

 I advise those who have it not to obtain it. With me it is 

 grafted for growing hi ground \-ineries, but I intend another 

 season to try it also against a wall, wheu I will state the results, 

 and the stocks I have used. Its hardihood and free bearing 

 are unexceptionable. I send with this coinmmiication (De- 

 cember 26th), a hunch of miniature Grapes obtained from a 

 green cane of this yeai-'s growth in a 10-inch pot, wluch stood 

 against an easteru wall ou which the sun ceased to sliine at 

 11.30. Here several bunches were produced. AATieu the nights 

 became frosty, however, it was removed to au outhouse until 



I had time to write this. I removed it in order to see if in so 

 low a temperature bunches could bo obtained from green canes 

 of the same year's gi'owing. Had the Vine been removed to a 

 glass house, slightly heated, all the bunches would have ripened. 

 The failure I mentioned was totally owing to the Vuies 

 which I received being from an exhausted stock, brought about 

 in the eagerness to produce a quantity of Vuies in a veiy short 

 time. The Golden Champion, I regret to see, is much written 

 against. I have seen some grand bunches in Yorkshire grafted 

 on Bowood Muscat, but I think a more hardy stock would suit 

 me better. I shall tiy my best with several stocks, because so 

 noble a fruit is worthy of some painstaking. — R. M. W., Fir 

 Vivii-, ]\'am(ij, near Slicffiehl. 



LILIES. 



I have never found an}' difficulty m growing Liliumjapoiiicuni, 

 which thrives with me in peat and leaf mould. I winter the pots 

 of this and other LUies, plunged, like Hyacinths and such thuigs, 

 in sawdust, anywhere out of reach of actual frost. I think the 

 first, or slow-growing period, should be prolonged as much as 

 possible, after which the wai'mer berth of greenhouse or con- 

 servatory encourages development to a high degi'ee. A free 

 ch'culatiou of air is, however, indispensable, and the contrary 

 most prejudicial — to wit, anything of continued close and moist 

 treatment. 



Much as I object to peat for general cultivation. Lilies un- 

 doubtedly like it. They wOl, however, do well and healthily 

 in loam, with leaf mould or very old hotbed manure. This is 

 aU that is uecessaiy for the Maitagous and other hardy sorts, 

 still I find myself giving a " bit of peat " to a favourite. 

 L. longiflonim will flourish planted under a wall for years, and 

 I have had beds of it in great beauty under peat treatment in 

 a genial situation. It is apt, as my friend Mr. Wilson says, to 

 suffer from eaily frosts. In this case gangrenous spots appeal' 

 ou the leaves, and the plants are checked and injured. Even 

 the common white Lily sometimes suffers iu the same way 

 here. L. japoniciim sometimes lies dormant for a year, which 

 I believe is induced by too dry a season of rest. L. Wallichii 

 I never could induce to start at all. L. tenuifolium came up 

 freely from seed, and thrived in absolutely pm'e sandy loam 

 under a glass frame in front of my stove. L. testaceum luxu- 

 riates with me out of doors in strong loam heavily maniu'ed. 



Lilies seldom grow or flower strongly the first season out of 

 doors after transplanting. They sometimes, too, resent division 

 in-doors. When a mass is broken-up for stock, rather small 

 pots should be used, and the plants brought ou slowly. I 

 should be glad to know what LUies are known to produce seed 

 in England. I have only observed it upon the old Martagous, 

 chalcedouicum, the old orange, and once upon L. testaceum, 

 out of doors ; in-doors, L. tigrinum speciosum and giganteum 

 have seeded, but L. japonicum and lougiflorum never. 



Your corresijondeut's autumn Daffodil might be Oporanthus 

 luteus, obtainable from the niuserymen, perhaps even now. 



By the way, Lilium lougiflorum, which forces veiy fairly, 

 becomes after that operation almost a perpetual, jumping up 

 and flowering at all sorts of odd times, sometimes " In tempore 

 quod reriim omnium est primum " — say just iu time for your 

 Christmas ball. Cainliihim forces well. — E. T. Claeke. 



HOW TO DIVIDE A PIT ECONOMIC.\LLY. 



"A" HAS apit 60 feet long, -nlth hot-water pipes along the front 

 and across one end. Now, could he manage to keep out the 

 frost, he would make a hotbed at that end, but at present the 

 heat, by diffusing itself, prevents his doing so. He would 

 also like to use the bottom of the pit for standing pots from 

 12 to 15 inches in height upon, but he is told that tliis would 

 necessitate the formation of brick divisious, which would seri- 

 ously interfere with the existing aiTaiigemeut of his water 

 pipes, aud entail au expense he does not wish to incur. 



The advantage of having the floor of the house di\-ided is 

 that one cau so regulate the temperature in the one, two, or 

 three lights fonniug a division, as to giow plants requiring the 

 most different temperatures in each, keeping that compart- 

 ment iu which the pipes meet at right angles, for those that need 

 the highest. Now to effect a very temporary cUvision a clean, 

 double mat would do well, a strong piece of calico on a frame 

 better, and a piurtition made of three cross pieces aud half-inch 

 boards best of all. The bottom should run from wall to wall 

 at any depth reqiui-ed, and the top should be made to suit the 

 slope of the rafter, leaning Ughtly against it seciu-ed by a nsul 



