108 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ September 4, 1S73. 



employs it chiefly for irrigating grass, and he obtains by its 

 employment four or five heavy mowings annually. This is from 

 a hght, sandy soil. 



That sterling old gardener, the late Mr. Beaton, used it in 

 the cultivation of his bulbs, and other flowers, with tlie utmost 

 success ; and until we applied it to Koses and Chrysanthemums 

 they refused to excel on a chalky soil. Mr. Beaton wrote to 

 us — " When a crop of anything is in rows, whether they be 

 bedders or for the pot or table, liquid manure of any strength 

 may be appUed in the centre between the rows with less risk or 

 danger than in any other way. I have often with my own 

 hands poured down large quantities of the very strongest 

 liquid manure between the rows of plants, one drop of wllich 

 would be destruction to any one of them if it touched the 

 leaves or roots ; but filteriug to the roots through a few inches 

 of soil all harm is avoided, which goes to show that a fair 

 porous sui-face of earth is the best and safest fixer of ammonia 

 and all over-strong matter in the liquid. Every one of my 

 own bulbs, from Crocus to Hesperanthus, gets it every spring 

 from a place which one would shudder at the idea of, and I 

 never lose a leaf. I quite agree with clarifyiug liquid manure 

 for pot culture, and in the hands of those who do not know 

 practically what a plant can digest, or what the strength of 

 their liquid is. But to keep a bed or border in good heart for 

 a whole season at the least possible expense, have no recourse 

 to clarifying the goodness out of the stuff, but give it to the 

 plants fresh from the stable, cowhouse, piggery, or where it 

 may be got much stronger, and one good soaking of it will last 

 the whole of that season ; the spring is the right time to apply 

 it. Then, in June, if a handful of mould from below the sur- 

 face is as good as a smelling bottle, you may depend upon a 

 good show of Roses, and most bedding plants, if the beds 

 wanted any assistance that way. The old florists who placed 

 4 or 5 inches thick of strong dung at the very bottom of their 

 beds, and 2 feet below their plants, were much wiser in their 

 generation than those of us who supply rotten dung on or 

 near the surface. Mr. Elvers has been recommending, for a 

 long time, one or two thorough good soakiugs of the richest 

 liquid manure to the Rose beds in the winter ; and if Roses 

 are ever to come out healthy on a thin, poor, sandy soil, that 

 is just what will do it. When flower-beds and borders get ex- 

 hausted by cropping, this strong liquid is very much better for 

 them than rotten dung." 



As to forced Rhubarb having a flavour of horsedung, we 

 know both in that and in forced Sea-kale that it is occasioned 

 by the gases emitted by the fermenting dung. The reek extends 

 no further than the epidermis, and usually may be removed by 

 washing, and always by peehng off the thinnest film of the 

 <^pidermis. 



THE CALCEOLARIA DISEASE. 



Once more there are complaints about the disease in the 

 bedding Calceolai'ia ; and although there is reason to believe 

 it is not so prevalent or so severe in its effects as in some 

 previous seasons, yet it appears to be as puzzling as ever, for 

 both the origin of the disease and a remedy have not, so far 

 as I kuow, been discovered. The qualifications of the Calceo- 

 laria for bedding purposes stand so high, that gardeners may 

 safely be trusted to try any experiment or make any effort that 

 is likely to stamp out the disease entirely, or even to palliate 

 its effects ; but as each successive season comes round it makes 

 its appearance, and is more or less destructive. At the same 

 time the disease is partial in its attacks, for while some 

 localities almost escape for one season, the succeeding season 

 is likely to bring the disease in its severest form. This differ- 

 ence and partiahty of attack lead one to conclude that the 

 disease arises from atmospheric influences. Again, taking into 

 account the time of year at which the disease makes its ap- 

 pearauce (which is generally the latter part of July or the 

 beginning of August, when the plants are to some extent 

 exhausted by their first blooming period, which, by-the-by, is 

 generally the best, and at which time the plants are less able 

 to bear any particular pressure upon their circulating powers), 

 I am led to think that the hot sun playing on the plants from 

 morning till night, and the very rapid evaporation consequently 

 going on without any counterbalancing treatment, so checks the 

 growth and favours the ripening of tlie wood, that the plants 

 eaimot recover their former vigour, and consequently die. 



Such is the opinion which I formed years ago, and having 

 always had a fancy for the cultivation of the Calceolaria, I 

 shaped out a course of treatment which I thought then, and 



still think, is not an unreasonable one. That it is a safe one I 

 have proved from experience, because since I practised it I 

 have seldom been troubled with the plants dying-off by disease. 

 I also think that in the treatment of the Calceolaria the soil 

 in which it is grown should not go unnoticed, for I am of 

 opinion that some sorts of soil predispose a plant to disease by 

 throwing it into a sickly state through obnoxious ingredients, 

 or from the want of fertility to enable a plant to maintain a 

 vigorous constitution against the attacks of disease. In the 

 case of the Calceolaria I consider a Ught sandy soil would 

 favour my last opinion, so also would a gravelly one, and a 

 poor kiud of loamy soil, if shallow, would do the same. In 

 either of these compositions the Calceolaria flowers but once, 

 and that flowering is soon over, without the plant making the 

 necessary growth for a continuance of blooming. What we 

 call a cool showery summer might alter things a little, but 

 even then they do not come up to the standard of excellence as 

 sometimes witnessed, but ofteuer wished for than produced in 

 this particular flower. 



As a rule. Calceolarias grow well at first, and again when 

 the rains and cool nights of autumn come on ; but to carry 

 them successfully through the hottest part of the year, and 

 keep them continually in flower, is where the skill of the 

 cultivator should be directed. To do this does not, in my 

 opinion, depend upon the treatment at the time, for nothing 

 seems to recover them then. It must be a pre-arranged plan, 

 mostly as regards the treatment of the plants in the spring 

 and the soil employed. 



I prefer to take the cuttings as late as possible in the 

 autumn consistent with the state of the weather, and root 

 them in poor soil not much if at all before Christmas. After 

 that I keep them as cool as they will bear night and day. At 



I the beginning of February every one will need the centre shoot 

 plucked-out, and when they show side shoots plant them out 

 in some temporarily-prepared place, but still in poor soil ; 

 here they may stand, with attention, until wanted for the beds. 

 My aim is to keep the plants as hardy as possible, and plant 

 them in a soil only rich enough to keep them in health and 

 produce growth enough that, by stopping, Ac, a foundation 



( may be laid for a good plant. I think it is a mistake to grow 

 the plants so vigorously in their wiuter quarters as some do ; 



I it is in the flower beds where this vigour is required, and this 

 must be supported by a suitable soil, which I consider to be a 

 sound turfy loam, not too retentive or binding, but a maiden 

 loam that possesses some richness. This should be chopped 

 up roughly ; then add to it about one-third of well-rotted hot- 



, bed manure, or, what is better, one-fourth of decomposed night 

 soil which has had a good sprinkling of lime. Lay up these 



! materials with the loam for a twelvemonth, and turn over the 

 compost occasionally. In spring take out the old soil, place 

 the compost in the bed to the depth of 18 inches or more, and 

 during the summer water the plants copiously — at least three 

 times a-week. If Cixlceolarias do not thrive in this soil I shall 

 be surprised indeed. I have tried this soil on a large as well 

 as small scale ; and at Hatfield, where I used it for several 

 large beds, nothing could look more cheerful than for a fa- 

 vourite plant to be in perfection both of bloom and foliage, and 

 entirely free from disease, as was witnessed and remarked upon 

 by those who were competent to judge of their merits. Pre- 

 viously, there was considerable difficulty occasioned by the 

 disease. This treatment has given me so much satisfaction 

 for the past seven or eight years that I shall not only continue 

 the practice, but would advise those who have not adopted it 

 to give it a trial. — Thomas Eecoed. 



PEACHES AND NECTARINES. 

 The spring for these fruits out of doors was the worst I ever 

 remember. Under glass, in my little vinery — the Vines being 

 cut back one-third of the length of the rafter to let in light to 

 the Peaches and Nectarines planted-out on the brick fine at 

 the back, and trained to wires — the crops are superb, the sorts 

 being Royal George, BeUegarde, Albatross (one of the largest 

 and best-formed of all Peaches here). Golden Eagle, and 

 three trees of the Rough Roman Nectarine, alias Newington, 

 which, when ripened, is the richest of all the Nectarines. 

 Out of doors, except in favourable seasons and warm gardens, 

 you can rarely ripen it. It is a clingstone. 

 I My crop under glass of Peaches was 70, and of Necta- 

 rines 45. Out of doors, of Peaches 171, and Nectarines 60. 

 i This is a poor return for so many trees, almost all small, 

 I 120 in and out of doors, some few of them being maidens. A 



