Aagnst 2S, 1873. ) 



JOURNAL OF HOKTIGULTUSE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



lit) 



EUand Flower Show, which was one of the most successful 

 exhibitions I have ever seen. — John B. JI. Camh, Brii/lioiixv. 



FLOWERS FOE OUR BORDERS.— >To. 15. 



OXALIS ELEGANS.— Elegant Wood-soerel. 



Ix common with most of its congeners, it is produced from 

 a bulb of small dimensions, and appears likely to prove nearly, 

 if not quite, hardy. The leaflets are bluntly triangular, gene- 

 rally of a pale green beneath, but, in some plants, of a bright 

 reddish purple. Judging from our own specimen, we should 

 infer that both varieties of foUage may be found on the same 

 plant. The leaves are less numerous than in the 0. cernua 

 and some others ; but in the case of full-sized bulbs, are much 

 larger than in many of the species. The flower scape is about 

 twice the size of the petiole, supporting a truss of from six to 

 ten blossoms of a purple colour, the eye of the flower being of 

 a very intense shade. 



The sepals, or divisions of the calyx, are remarkable for four 

 minute linear orange-coloured glands at their tips, which, 

 although too small to be readily detected by the unassisted 



UiLalis elegans. 



eye, are easily perceptible nnder a microscope of low power, 

 such as the Stanhope or Codrington lens. These glands form 

 an excellent mark of distinction. As in all the species, the 

 petals are twisted in the bud, and form, when expanded, a flat- 

 limbed corolla. It ia a native of the Andes of Pern. 



In the case of many species of this genus the new tubers 

 annnally formed require to be dug up after flowering, as they 

 are produced at Buch a distance from the surface that, tinloss 

 this precaution is adopted, they will eventually be lost. In 

 the case of O. Bowiei and other autumn-flowering nearly hardy 

 species, it is advisable to defer the removal of the tubers until 

 spring, as in severe winters they would be safer at a depth of 

 some inches ; and from the late period at which the blossoms 

 are produced, the young tubers would suffer from being dis- 

 turbed in their immature state. As they do not commence 

 their rowth until the following summer, the month of April 

 will be snfliciently early to replant them. 



The Imlbs of the Oxalis elegans do not penetrate the soil so 

 deeply as some of the other species ; but they should, notwith- 

 stancUng, be replanted every autumn, after the decay of the 

 leaTes. The soU best salted to this and most of the Oxalises, 



is a light sandy loam, with an admixture of peat or leaf 

 mould. A dry suuny situation should be chosen, for the 

 blossoms expand only under sunshine. 



Oxalis elegans is a very free flowerer, even the small bulbs 

 win generally produce several umbels. The trusses will need 

 the support of a small rod to prevent them from being dashed 

 to the ground by heavy rains ; and for this purpose nothing 

 is better than the top of a slender unpeeled osier. These 

 supports are commonly employed by professional florists, but 

 they are not so generally in use among amateurs as they 

 deserve to be. Their pale bark renders them very incon- 

 spicuous, and their freedom from knots or roughness, and 

 tapering form, makes them, in our opinion, far more desirable 

 than the brittle hazel rods or painted sticks ordinarOy used 

 for these purposes. 



The hardiness of the present species has already been ad- 

 verted to. It will be prudent, however, to afford the roots 

 some protection in very severe weather ; but the covering 

 should not be suffered to remain too long, or the bulbs would 

 be forced into premature growth. 



All the Oxalises may be cultivated in pots ; and when thus 

 treated, they can easily bo preserved through the winter in a 

 dormant state. Considering the great interest attaching to 

 this pretty genus, and the showy character of their blossoms, 

 we are really surprised that they are not more frequently met; 

 with. A bed of mixed species, planted in clumps of eight or 

 ten bulbs each, forms in sunny weather one of the most at- 

 tractive objects imaginable. All the half-hardy species which 

 flower in summer and autumn may be thus grown, and their 

 tubers may be dug up after the leaves are withered, and pre- 

 served in dry sand. Among the most desirable species, whether 

 for the open borders or pots, are arborea, yellow; spectabilis, 

 pink ; violacea, violet ; caprina, flesh ; crenata, ycUow ; cuprea, 

 copper-coloured ; lobata, yellow ; laRiopetala, pink ; geniculata, 

 yellow ; and variabilis, with its varieties grandiflora and Simsii, 

 with white flowers. — {Thompson's English Flower Ganlen, Re- 

 vised hij the Author.) 



POTATO DISEASE DURING WINTER. 



Some of the points suggested by Mr. Brehaut's communica- 

 tion on this subject were illustrated by experiences of my own, 

 also in the island of Guernsey, during last winter ; and although 

 these have been already published in detail in the Gardeners' 

 Chruniele and AgrieuUural Gazette of 22ud March, yet as 

 many horticulturists may not have the means of referring to 

 them there, a brief abstract of the results may possibly be of 

 service in the discussion now proceeding in your columns. 



On August 19th, September 7th, and September 20th, 

 Bivers's Ashleaf and Mona's Pride were planted out of doors 

 in a sound dry loam, moderately manured with cow manure 

 only. Disease showed itself on the leaves and stems of all at 

 successive periods from 1st of November to 1.5th of December, 

 when the tubers were about the size of walnuts. The growth 

 was entirely arrested, but the disease seemed not seriously to 

 attack the young tubers — in fact these, and even the old set, in 

 the case of the first-planted lot, showed a tendency to throw-up 

 new stems after the first growth had been killed to the ground. 

 Over a portion of the last-planted lot glass lights were placed 

 in the beginning of November ; this delayed the appearances 

 of the disease, but it ultimately appeai-ed and pursued its 

 regular course. 



A further lot of the same and other kinds were planted in an 

 orchard house of about one-eighth of an acre in extent towards 

 the end of October. Disease appeared on these about the end 

 of December, affecting first some that were under a drip off the 

 glass, but ultimately spreading to the whole. No water was 

 given artificially during the period of growth. The crop proved 

 extremely scanty, but the few tubers produced were of fair 

 size, and hardly affected by disease. The weather during the 

 whole winter was very dull and damp, but mild till the end of 

 January, afterwards cold, though not frosty. 



The conclusions I drew were that the disease is not caused 

 solely either by the season of the year, the wetness of the soil, 

 heat or electricity (though no doubt all or any of these in- 

 fluences may enhance the liability or augment the virulence of 

 the disease), but that it originates in ill-elaborated sap form- 

 ing a favourable nidus to the well-known fungus. This im- 

 perfect elaboration of the juices occurs chiefly, of course, in 

 the more tender varieties, and in summer may arise from too 

 much grossness or luxuriance, in winter from absence of sun- 

 shine. I would recommend the experiment of passing a heavy 



