290 



JOUBNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



some Ranuncnlns blooms, " Wlint flowers are these?" I 

 assert, fearless of contradiction, that no flower sm-passes the 

 Ranunculus in brightness of colours, in srmmetrj- of form, 

 and variety of combination of tints. ■\Ti"lien massed in a bed 

 it as far surpasses the Tnlip and Anemone a-, the lloss sur- 

 passes the Briai' Rose. The neglect of the Ranmiciilus is a 

 mere caprice of fashion, and I do hope that amateurs and 

 societies wOl aid in restoring to the prominence it deserves 

 this brilhant flower. — Sesex. 



heard also from him, and the failures probably were occasioned 

 by his not living where the letters were addressed to. 



AlIMONIA VERSUS RED SPIDEE. 

 Eefebkixg to a coimnuiiication, signed " J. W.," in your 

 number for SeiJtember 11th, 1871, beaded " Ammouia itcsin 

 Red Spider and llealy Bug,'' would your contributor inform 

 me tlu'ough 3-oui- columns what strength of guano water I 

 could safely apply m soaking the inside border of a vinery 

 20 feet by 14 ? It is heated by hot water, but there is no eva- 

 porating-pan on the pipes. For a few years past I have 

 watered the border with cow urine, and attribute the keeping- 

 down and almost extinction of the red spider, with which the 

 house was annually infested, to the ammonia arising from this 

 application. In consequence of " J. W.'s " letter I am anxious 

 to try his recommendation if I can steer clear of not over- 

 dosing the house, and so hurting the foliage of the Tines. — 

 .loHX Ferme. 



^In yom- coiTespoudenfs case I should hardly attribute the 

 extu-pation of red spider to the ammonia evolved from water- 

 ing the border with cows' urine, as the soil would not part 

 with any appreciable quantity to the atmosphere. The benefit 

 that the Vines would undoubtedly derive from the watering 

 increasing their vigour, would, just to that degree, render them 

 less vulnerable to spider attacks. I should water the border 

 as ususil, seeing that good results ai'e produced, and in addition 

 use guano for generating ammonia in the atmosphere. I 

 should in the first place recommend that evaporating-troughs 

 be fixed on the pipes. If such troughs be not employed, 

 then set large saucers or pans on the pipes, or about the bouse, 

 and fill them with a strong solution of guano. Another mode 

 of proceeding would be to spiinkle the paths with guano, and 

 the guano with water, on closing in the afternoon. If the 

 border is shghtly spiinkled at the same time it can do no harm. 

 From 1 to 2 ozs. of guano per gaUon for troughs on pipes will 

 be quite safe and certainly beneficial ; double that strength if 

 used in saucers not standing on the pipes ; and for sprinkling, 

 a handful spread over, say, 20 squai'e yards of flooring is the 

 quantity I use. This may amount to H or 4 ozs., and is sufiS- 

 cient. I do not use the guano every day, but only on bright 

 smmy days, when the foUage of the Vines is fully expanded, 

 and their absorbent powers the greatest on closing the house 

 early in the aftei-noou. It is well to use it sparingly when the 

 Vines are setting theb fruit, and until they have completed 

 the stoning process. "When they have passed that stage I have 

 mixed a pound in the evaporating-tray on the top of an 

 Amott's stove, and never perceived the slightest ill effect fi'om 

 it, but the reverse. In regular- practice, however, the quantities 

 previously named need not be greatly exceeded. 



If for the sake of a change of food — and this is always 

 good — it is desired to discontinue the cows' m-ine, I would top- 

 dress the inside border with guano, at the rate of li oz. to the 

 square yard, and soak it in. If the urine is continued as 

 usual, I would add as a top-dressing 1 to 2 ozs. of supei-phos- 

 phate of lime, as the urine is deficient in phosp'uates. Cows' 

 urine is exceedingly variable in strength ; when fresh it is very 

 rich in carbonic acid and deficient in ammonia, but when 

 putrefied with water the carbonic acid more than half vanishes, 

 and ammonia increases to nearly eight times the amount. 



With respect to the strength of guano water for Vines, I 

 may add that three years ago I had a house of Grapes severely 

 attacked with mildew. I reduced the atmospheric moisture to 

 nil, and to compensate for excessive transpiration I soaked the 

 border with .3 ozs. of guano and 1 oz. of salt per gallon. The 

 good eflfeet was immediate. Jlildew v,-as an-ested, and a fine 

 crop of Grapes ripened. As to the use of ammonia as an 

 antidote to red spider, I may say that I never syringe the 

 Vines, and have never seen a red spider on them for six years. 

 Some years' experience prior to this also confirms the efficacy 

 of this method. — J. WKianT.] 



WINTER BEDDING AT ST. HELEN'S, 

 CO. DUBLIN. 



There is at present to be seen, on the upper terrace at St. 

 Helen's, a successful example of what may be well and aptly 

 termed " winter bedding," in contradistinction to what has 

 ah-eady received the name of " spring bedding." The head 

 gardener, Mr. "Webley, jjlanted last summer the two chain 

 lines of beds on this ten-ace with various Sedums and Saxi- 

 frages, so as to have each bed carpeted v.ith a distinct variety. 

 When the tender succulents, such as Echeveria metallica and 

 sanguinea, Sempervivum tabulaeforme. Agaves, Yuccas, &c., 

 which were " let in " or " set in " these cai-pet beds, were re- 

 moved on the approac'n of winter, ilr. Webley allowed the 

 "cai-pets" to stand as they were, but substituted for the 

 tender succulents with which they had been dotted hardy 

 fine-foliaged plants of various colours ; so that at the present 

 time eveiT bed is completely covered or carpeted with various 

 shades of colour — the green .shades, of eorurse, being predomi- 

 nant ; varied, however, with such varieties as the golden-tipped 

 Sedum acre, the piu-ple hue of Sedum reflexum, and the giey 

 Sedum prumosum. 



It is worthy of notice that all the plants used in this example 

 of winter bedding are of the cheapest description, and that 

 they increase with wonderful raiudity. They are prmcipally 

 Sedums — viz, acre, acre aureum, angUcum, reflexum, corsicum, 

 and sexangulai'e ; Saxifrages, Aizoon, pyramidalis, densa, cunei- 

 foUa ; and Sempervivum califomicum. The cost for half a 

 dozen plants of each of these would be very trifling ; and these 

 half a dozen, if properly divided and treated, would each, in a 

 year's time, cover any moderate-sized bed. Being hardy, of 

 course there is no expense of keeping them ; and thus, every 

 garden of any pretensions might have the beds from which the 

 summer plants ai-e removed filled with bedding plants, which, 

 if not quite so bright in colom-s as the summer bedding plants, 

 are yet quite as interesting in winter, and, at least, do away 

 with the cold and bleak appeai'ance of the beds ; which beds 

 are, generally speaking, sititated in full view of the mansion or 

 dwelling-house. 



In passing through the kitchen garden our attention was 

 attracted by the appearance of a plot of coloured Cabbage of 

 very dwarf growth. These, Mr. Webley stated, were the result 

 of a cross between white variegated variety of the Fearnought 

 Cabbage and the Red Dutch, the result being the production of 

 varieties of several shades of colour, including pink, rose purple, 

 red and crimson, white and cream, all the varieties, of course, 

 being more or less variegated with green. The great value of 

 this cross is its dwai'fness and lateness in going to flower. At 

 the present time the Variegated Kale is quite 4 feet high and 

 running to bloom, whilst Mr. Webley's "hybrid'' is not more 

 than a foot high, and will not go to bloom for six weeks to 

 come. — {Irish Fi(rmer.) 



EXPLANATION NEEDED. 



We have received several letters testifying that "Amateur" 

 supphed the writers with cuttings satisfactorily. We have 



^ A GOSSIP ON THE GENUS BEGONIA. 



Fifteen' or sixteen years ago, before the equivocal phrase 

 " foHage plants '' became famiUaiised by the force of daily 

 use. Begonia Rex was introduced to and welcomed by British 

 gardeners. It created quite a furor among plant-lovers, for it 

 was remarkable and novel, there having been nothing in culti- 

 vation previously, except B.xanthinaand its varieties argeutea 

 and mai-morata, that approached in any respect the peculiar 

 leaf-character of Rex. 'This so-called King of Begonias was 

 an immense improvement on any of his nearest jire-existing 

 blood relations, but his claim to a royal title was not very well 

 founded — a statement that has been clearly verified in the 

 short-lived run of popularity which he and his draasty of 

 "foliage" successors have had. When the glamour of novelty 

 abated, it was seen that he could only be regarded as a very 



' petty and rather coarse princelet in the great faimly of Begonia. 



! He was, in fact, only a scion of one of the smallest branches of 

 the faniUy, the principal recommendation of which was an odd 

 singularity of character, unaccomiiauied by any feature that 

 could in any sense be i)ut forward as ornamental. The proto- 

 type of tills branch, B. xanthina, now haidly to be seen in cul- 

 tivation, except in some of the botanic gardens, a circumstance 

 which only the lovers of curious plants will regl"et, is one of 

 the oddest of aU Begonias. It appears to have boiTov.-ed the 

 fashion of its brownish-oUve leaves fi-om the lop-ears of the 



