170 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



[ Febmaiy 22, 1872. 



■wood is ottaiued for the mauj- purposes it is said to be applied 

 to. Toys, mathematical instruments, blocks for engi-aving, 

 and a multitude of other articles are made of this choice wood. 

 I believe in years gone by Turkey, Asia Minor, and adjacent 

 countries fm-uished supplies, and perhaps may do so yet. — 

 J. EOESOK. 



GRAFTING THE WALNUT. 



As the Walnut wUl not admit of being grafted after every 

 ordinary method, we have tried several others, and have suc- 

 ceeded in effecting what the Society of Agriculture wished, by 

 means of the same treatment as that to which the Oak and the 

 Vine show themselves amenable — a graft in the cleft of a fork. 



It should be doue in the spring, just as the sap is beginning 

 to flow, and the buds to swell. The grafts are branches of the 

 ]irevious year kept alive in a dark place among gravelly sand, 

 which does not become so day as common earth. The union of 

 two kinds whose course 

 of growth is uneijual 

 should be avoided, the 

 graft being, in eveiy 

 case, of a kind coeval 

 or less advanced in its 

 nature than the stock. 

 It should be from 3 to 

 Cinches in length, and 

 cut at the end into a 

 triangular shape — as in 

 the case of a common 

 giaft, and placed in a 

 cleft made by splitting 

 up the stock as far as 

 the centre of the knot 

 formed at the forking 

 of two branches. These 

 branches should be 

 shortened to about 

 10 inches, and the 

 ."•hoots ivhich srise 

 from them pinched as 

 the buds of the graft 

 progress, taking care 

 that the earlier leaves 

 are left to draw up- the 

 sap, which they do 

 without starving the 

 graft. In the following 

 August the snags of the 

 stock may be lopped 

 of}' close to the graft, 

 when the scars w ill heal 

 before the fall of the 

 leaves. 



If the graft be too 

 pithy the cut should be made diagonally, so as to resemble the 

 mouthpiece of a flute, and the bark of the projecting side 

 trimmed off as far as the sapwood. In this case the stock 

 should be cut obliquely, and not vertically. A graft of two- 

 years-old wood at the base will do verj' well for making the cut 

 upon ; but if it be of wood only a year old, care should be taken 

 that it have a terminal bud. The fork in the stock can always 

 easily be obtained by pruning or pinching the leader at the 

 height intended for grafting. — Chakles Baltet (in liidhtin du 

 Circle HorticoU). 



THE EOYAL HOETICULTUBAL SOCIETY AT 

 BIEMINGHAM. 



Messes. J. C. 'Wheei.ee & Sox, Seed-growers, of Gloucester 

 and London, have placed at the disposal of the Local Com- 

 mittee for the Bmningham Show of the Eoyal Horticultural 

 Society, the sum of ten guineas, to be oiiered for the best col- 

 lection of plants in pots, in bloom, bearing sweet-scented 

 flowers, such as Eoses, Lilies, Honeysuckles, Stocks, Jasmines, 

 Mignonette,- Violets, Carnations, Pinks, &e., ornamentally 

 gi'ouped. 



should have ample funds at their disposal, would it not be ad- 

 visable to open a few classes in which prizes should be offered 

 for manufacturers only, of some of the leading articles ? for 

 example, lawn mowers, garden rollers, garden engines, garden 

 seats, vases for different purposes, flower pots ornamental and 

 otherwise, collections of spades, forks, hoes, &c. In addition 

 to these prizes the Judges might visit the stands of all othei- 

 exhibitors and distribute prizes to articles of merit not in- 

 cluded in these classes. — H. 



It will have been noticed that a resolution was passed at the 

 public meeting, requesting the Local Committee to give their 

 attention in a special manner to the exhibition of horticultural 

 implements, buildings, &c. If the Special Prize Committee 



AMONG THE CONIFERS.- -No. 3. 

 Near large towns where the ah' is tainted with smoke- 

 Conifers win not thrive. Exist they certainly will, but then- 

 begrimed attenuated appearance is not such as to add to the 

 beauty of the spot on which they are planted. To be callci 

 handsome a Conifer should be clothed at the base with a mass 

 of thick foUage, and should rise upwards, tapeiing gracefully, 

 and being perfectly wanting in heaviness or formality. 



When walking lately through a nursery near London, I 

 noticed that whilst the Conifers were in poor condition some 

 large breadths of hybrid and Pontieum EhodoJendrons and. 

 green HoUy were in excellent health. It is worthy of note 

 that two such valuable shrubs thrive so well under conditioas 

 tiying to the health of most hardy plants. 



The various shades of the foUage deserve more attention 

 than has hitherto been given them, as by judicious care in 

 arranging them most charming combinations may be wrought 

 out. Light and shade may here have fuU play, the sombre 

 hue of Taxus baccata, the common Enghsh Yew, finding ample 

 relief from the glaucous foliage of Picea nobUis, or losing aU 

 its heaviness when contrasted with the bright-toned Chinese 

 Juniper — one of the hardiest and most beautiful evergreens in 

 cultivation. Such Pinuses as muricata and insignis with their 

 pleasing green, the Heath-like Eetiuospora ericoides, the varie- 

 gated Biota orientalis elegantissima, and Chamseeyparis 

 sphffiroidea variegata play an important part here. Floweiing- 

 shrubs should also be introduced, and the best for this purjjose 

 are such trees as Acer rubrum, Acer Negundo variegatum, 

 the snowy Mespilus (Amelanchier Botryapium) (valuable both 

 for its flowers and the beauty of its foUage in autimin), the- 

 purple, weeping, and Fern-leaved Beeches, the scarlet and 

 purple Oaks, coeeinea and nigra, and the variegated Elm 

 (Ulmus microphylla variegata), a beautiful, but too-httle-knowu 

 tree, of which there are some fine specimens at The Mote, the 

 seat of the Earl of Romney, near Maidstone. Then there are 

 the Weeping Birch, the Fern-leaved Walnut, Liquidamber, 

 and some of the deciduous Magnohas. With such materials 

 beautiful groups might be formed. 



This is an interesting work which requires more than a mere 

 superficial acquaintance of the plants on the part of the planter,, 

 whose aim should be so to arrange them that they shall not 

 only produce a pleasing effect in the first instance, but also- 

 annually increase in beauty, individually and collectively. To 

 obtain such a desh'able result there must be no crowding- 

 Close attention also should also be given to the habits of growth, 

 so that they may be graduated from the tallest kinds down to 

 the front ranks, where even the dwarf Savins, tamariscifolia and 

 prostrata, find a place as an appropriate edging. Here come 

 some of the other dwarf-gro^-ing kinds, such as Abies puniila,. 

 pygmfea, and elegans, the dense clanbrasUiana, the pretty 

 Thuja ericoides and many of the Junipers, which form an in- 

 teresting fringe to the taller and more graceful kinds. la 

 addition to these the foUowing afford a rich variety in form, 

 colour, and height: — Abies orientalis, the bright-coloured 

 Thuja (Biota) elegantissima, Chamiecyparis sphteroidea glauca, 

 Cupressus Lawsoniana erecta "viridis, so fine in form and bright 

 in colour, Cupressus Lawsoniana gracilis, Juniperus thurifera, 

 Thujopsis dolabrata, and Abies Albertiana, which with its 

 pendulous branches rivals that of canadensis. Then there is 

 the Weeping Spruce (Abies excelsa inverta), the Swiss Stone 

 Pine (Pinus Cembra), a distinct kind, of a close rigid aspect,, 

 but -nith its branches so disposed as to foi-m a handsome 

 pyramid. It is one of those kinds that acquli-e beauty with- 

 age. Cedrus atlantica, and SaUsburia adiautifolia also deserve 

 a place. Like the Deodar, Cedrus atlantica varies vei-y much 

 in the colour of its foUage, being in some instances of a dull 

 green, and in others of a bright sUvery hue. There are others 

 not so symmetrical in form, but ha-ving beautiful foUage. The 

 most remarkable of these are Pinus Benthamiana -with deep green 

 foliage nearly a foot m length, and Pinus macrocarpa, a valu- 

 able and distinct variety, having long dense foUage of a greyish 



