JOURNAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Mardi 21, 1872. 



strike the eye us noTcl in colour, size, or peculiarity of bloom. 

 I think the usual mixed flower-betl, frequently seen in such 

 locations, is poor taste ; and although I yield to no one in my 

 love for this class of plants, I should manage to create a 

 pretty hed on the side rather than at the front of the house. 

 Here let it receive ,i graceful flowing outline, rather than the 

 old-fashioned circle. In it the plants should always receive due 

 care in their arrangement, with an eye to fitness and position 

 as well as beauty. Above all things, shun the now fashionable 

 misnomers termed vases. I aUude, of course, to those little 

 nondescript articles that are a burlesque on the name and an 

 outrage on good taste. In many of our country towns I have 

 seen almost every enclosure disgraced with these wash-basins 

 perched up on posts, with often a sickly-looking plant leaning 

 over the edge, as if ashamed to be seen in such questionable 

 company ; and not only one, biit frequently several together, 

 in imitation of a crockery establishment where the owner is 

 desirous of displaying his wares. Now I do not wish to be 

 understood as deprecating altogether this class of adornments, 

 but in the name of good taste do let us exercise some discre- 

 tion in the matter. 



Climbers. — One of the greatest improvements to a smaU 

 cottage, is the prevalence of vines clambering over it, so as to 

 ahuost entirely conceal its outline. For this purpose nothing 

 can be better than the American Ivy (Ampelopsis) , and Golden- 

 veined Honeysuckle (Lonicera aureo-reticulata), closely inter- 

 twined, so that during the autumn months the effect of the 

 golden and crimson foliage is beautiful beyond description. 

 Over the front of the house, especially if there should be a 

 porch, the effect wiU be heightened by a rampant-gi-owing Cle- 

 matis, either C. Vitalba, the European Travellers' Joy, or 

 C. virginiana, our native Virgin's Bower. The abundance of 

 pm-e white fragrant bloom on each of these, aided by a dense 

 mass of foliage, is productive of good results. The Prairie 

 Roses, owing to their entire hardiness and free-flowering habits, 

 are also worthy of due consideration as cottage runners ; but 

 there is an air of stiffness and primness about them which 

 never harmonises so well with then- surroundings as do the 

 vines before mentioned. When the cottagers of America are 

 willing to receive a lesson in floricultm-e from the Paisley 

 weavers, we may then date an era of progression which is 

 sadly needed throughout our land to-cfay. The few hours 

 spent during the evening, or early in the morning, on a bed 

 of choice flowers will return compound interest, in pleasure, 

 on a capital invested in labour ; and my reputation for veracity 

 will never be questioned when I state that, when men are once 

 induced to feel an interest in plants, it increases with their 

 years, so that rarely is it ever forsaken. 



Decoeation of Lawns. — We now arrive at another and more 

 ambitious style of garden — one rising to the position of a lawn. 

 This class embraces the majority of small places, situated in 

 the suburbs of our rural towns, and, to my eye, if planted 

 properly, is unexcelled in quiet, yet attractive beauty. The 

 winiUng walk, coimnencing, perhaps, at one corner of the 

 grounds, gives one an opportunity of planting groups of choice 

 shrubs at every turn. Among the newer kinds, of undoubted 

 excellence for this purpose, none can surpass the Hydrangea 

 paniculata grancUflora, with its enormous panicles of pure 

 white flowers ; the Viburnum pUcatum, Uke the old-fashioned 

 snow-ball, producing large globular heads of snow-white flowers ; 

 Weigela horteusis nivea, with its silver bells ; the dwarf variety 

 of Weigela rosea, with variegated foUage and pale rosy-pink 

 flowers ; Spirffia Thunbergi, with narrow linear leaves and 

 minute white flowers ; and then the Rhododendi-ons and 

 Azaleas. The sooner we disabuse ourselves of the idea that 

 special receipts are needed for preparing the soil for the last 

 two kinds, the sooner these lovely plants wiU become popular. 

 Nothing whatever is necessaiy before planting, excepting to 

 merely pare off the grass thinly, and then pulverise the soil 

 beneath. Decaying grass roots preserve the soil in a mellow 

 state, and afford nourishment to the mass of small fibres 

 common to all ericaceous plants. A mass of Rhododendrons 

 is always attractive from the peculiar nature of their glossy 

 green leaves, but, when in bloom, the blending of colours pre- 

 sented by the many hardy kinds, renders them pre-eminently 

 the queen of flowering shrubs. The Ghent Azaleas, although 

 deciduous, are, nevertheless, gorgeous in flower ; their colours, 

 of almost every hue, are dazzUng in their brightness, especially 

 the crimson, scarlet, and orange shades of colour. The pure 

 white, ^ and different shades of rose, are Ukewise especially 

 charming. It is not necessary for me to give you a Ust of 

 hardy shrabs to plant ; that can be procured from'any niu-seiy- 



man's catalogue ; hut, before leaving this class of plants, I 

 would merely mention the Pfeonia Moutan, or Tree Pseony, as 

 being especiaUy adapted for clustering on a well-kept lawn. — 

 (American Horticulturist.) 



EESTOEING THE LEADEE OP A CONIFEE. 



Philip, my employer's son, planted on Christmas-day, 1865, 

 a tree, a Silver Fir, Picoa pectinata, and in a few days after 

 left home and sailed in that ill-fated ship the London, which, 

 sank on the l'2th of January, 1866, and in which he was 

 drowned. His parents had a tablet placed at the foot of the 

 tree inscribed, " Planted by Philip, Christmas-day, 1865." 

 They had also a fence made around the tree, about 5 feet high 

 and about 8 feet square, to protect it. The growth had been 

 but stunted until last summer, when it made a nice start and 

 a good strong leader. This afternoon my mistress called me 

 to it to show that about 15 inches of the leader had been 

 cleanly cut off. It had been done about three days. Although 

 the tree of itself is not of great value, I have heard my master 

 say he would not have it damaged for £500, so you can better 

 imagine his feeUngs than I can write them. My object in 

 writing is to ask advice how I am to manage it. The shoot is 

 about 2 inches round where it is cut off, and about 5 inches 

 below that are two side branches about 14 inches long. I was 

 thinking if I could get one of these for a leader ; and again I 

 thought, Would a graft grow ? If you think it will, tell me what 

 form of grafting would be best, and the best time. — W. Nock, 

 Lutwyche Hall, Much Wenlock. 



[A side branch will not make a good leader. Purchase 

 another Silver Fu' with a leader of about the same size as that 

 cut oft', and graft it at once in the manner represented in the 

 accompanying illustrations. Fig. 1 represents a grafted Fir, 



in which A is the scion and c the terminal shoot of the tree to 

 be grafted. Fir). 2, a is the scion, cut at its lower end in the 

 form of a wedge. Fiff. 3 is an enlarged figure of the terminal 

 shoot c 1, in which a cleft is made between the crown buds at b. 

 The scion a 2 is inserted m the cleft b 3, and when bound 

 round by a cotton or bast hgature, and covered with clay or 

 grafting-wax, the operation is complete. The whorl of 

 branches situated immediately under the graft between b andc, 

 fig. 1, should be shortened to half their length, or tied down 

 in a curve if it is desirable to retain them, so as to throw more 

 strength into the graft.] 



GEAFTING.— No. 5. 



Gratting bt a Twig with a Shield. — Recourse is had to 



this process for propagating some plants, and especially the 



Variegated Negundo. The best season at which to perform 



this operation is in August and September, and it is done with 



