434 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[ December 4, 1873. 



Oelestial fWiUiam Deans). — Pale primrose, Email flower, 

 abundant bloomer, and strong grower. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Modi'stij (Ware). — Tliis is one of the prettiest novelties; it 

 has moderate-sized flowers, and is almost always in bloom. It 

 is in perfection in April when planted in autumn. It is a white 

 ground, with a light-shaded violet belt and dark eye. A free 

 grower and profuse bloomer. Quite distinct from any other 

 bedding sort. 



Magjne. — This is an old favourite, but is one of the prettiest 

 in early spring ; colour deep purple, tipped with white. It is 

 useless when the sun becomes powerful, as it loses the white 

 on the petals. 



Marquis (Hooper) is a very uncommon variety ; it has a bright 

 bronze ground, striped with purplish brown. It has a large 

 flower, and is a strong grower. Flowers well throughout the 

 season. 



SiiHshine (Hooper). — A fine yellowish-bronzo flower, of good 

 shape. The plant is a strong grower, and wiU bloom in April 

 if planted in autumn. 



Stephen Nairn (Downie, Laird, & Laing). — This is the most 

 novel of all the Pansies ; it is a large flower, and a strong 

 grower ; the ground fine orange-veined, blotched and striped 

 with crimson and rich brown ; the blooms are well thrown-up 

 on high stalks. It will flower well throughout the summer ; 

 it loses its crimson colour in hot weather, but regains it as 

 autumn comes. 



Buttercup (Downie, Laird, & Laing). — This is splendid, a 

 strong grower, bright clear primrose, with large blue blotch ; 

 the flowers are very large. It blooms in April. 



A few remarks with regard to planting, soil, and propagation 

 may be useful to people unacquainted with the treatment of 

 Pansies. Many of the public are disappointed every season 

 by not knowing very simple things with regard to these flowers. 

 In the first place, they seldom plant tiU spring, when Pansies 

 should be in bloom, thus throwing them back with regard to 

 early blooming, and when they do flower they have not the sub- 

 stance or colour which they would have had a month earlier. 

 The best time to plant is in September or October ; but at any 

 rate, aU should be in by Christmas, or they wUl disappoint in 

 early bloom and richness of quahty. 



The flowers of many of the varieties shrivel-up and lose their 

 colour in hot weather. When this is the case the plants should 

 be takeu-up, and the roots cut-off, leaving only the very small 

 ones, commonly called the toes ; then pull them to pieces, and 

 plant them in a shady place, and plant-out again in beds in 

 August, when they win be well rooted. The cuttings should be 

 planted in sandy loam and fine well-decomposed leaf mould ; 

 they should be planted rather deeply, and well watered. For the 

 Pansy beds the best soil is a rather close loam not very light 

 (yellow being the best) ; it should be rich and manured well 

 the previous year, or at least have a dressing of very rotten 

 dung and leaf mould where such can be easily obtained. As 

 a rule, all Pansies flower better when young, and it should 

 be the aim of all growers to keep continually making cuttings. 

 Pansies never answer when old plants. — Edward B. Shenton, 

 Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham. 



BASPBEREY CULTIVATION. 



The present being a favourable time for making a new 

 plantation, I submit my practice to the readers of The Jouen^u. 

 OF HoRTicuLTUKE. I gather from my plantation from three 

 to four hundred quarts annually, besides supplying six or 

 seven hundred surplus canes to various persons iu and out of 

 the trade. 



The variety Northumberland FiUbasket succeeds the best 

 with me; besides, I keep the Fastolf or Filby, and for dessert 

 the luscious Dulcis, raised by a friend at Mansfield, and named 

 by the late John F. Wood ; and lastly a seedling of my own, 

 being a cross between the Fastolf and an American Blackberry, 

 the fruit of which I submitted to the Committee of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society. Other sorts which may answer in the 

 southern counties, do not appear to do well farther north, 

 consequently I have discarded them, and confine myself to the 

 above. 



A great mistake is made by the inexperienced, and frequently 

 by practical gardeners, in the choice of plants, selecting strong 

 canes which very often have two or three roots only, whilst 

 those at a distance from the stool possess a mass of fine 

 fibres, the former seldom producing any fruit the following 



season, neither yielding any sufficient quantity of young canes 

 to form a good row, whilst the latter possess all the requisites 

 for fruiting and propagation. Another mistake is frequently 

 made in planting — that is, putting manure under the plants, 

 which prevents them from taking freely to the soil, which 

 should be as solid and firm as possible ; plant in good soil, 

 and top-dress as much as you like. 



I do not approve of the old-fashioned plan of bunching 

 together five or sis canes from one stool, which is still recom- 

 mended by some, but make a trench, if possible, due north 

 and south, which will give the fruit a chance to obtain an 

 equalised portion of the influence of the sun. Avoid crowd- 

 ing, let the rows be at least 4 feet asunder ; the crop wUl be 

 heavier and better flavoured. In planting I make it a rule to 

 put alternately a larger and a smaller cane ; the former is 

 trained to a treUis, the latter is headed-down to about 10 or 

 12 inches, and throws out laterals, from which I obtain fruit 

 in long bunches tUl the frost takes all the flavour out of it. 



Another error is frequently committed by digging between 

 the rows or near the stools, by which act the supply of nourish- 

 ment is to a great extent cut-oif ; this is very injurious to the 

 plants, as the roots lie very near the surface. Nothing more 

 than hand-weeding or the scuflle should be used to clean the 

 plantation. My experience teaches me that in retaining the 

 quantity of new canes, one every 10 inches is sufficient to be 

 tied to the trellis, and not to exceed 5 feet in height. Thin- 

 ning old plantations and tying should not be delayed beyond 

 November, when a mulching of manure may be given. — 

 Joseph Buegess, Knutsford. 



THE MANETTI STOCK. 



An old woman once remarked to the clergyman of her 

 parish, when, during a very dry season, prayers were offered 

 for rain, and in the course of the week a heavy thunderstorm 

 came and nearly washed all the plants out of the old woman's 

 garden, " Ah ! sir," she said, " you be always overdoing it ; " 

 and I think the same remark may be applicable to Mr. Camm 

 with respect to his Roses on the Manetti stock. I saw them 

 myself in the summer, and certainly they were as bad as could 

 be. This was, I understand, partly to be attributed to the 

 plants not being very strong when put in, and I expect that 

 too much stable dung, not properly turned over and matured, 

 finished them. I perfectly agree with Mr. Peach iu his advice 

 to Mr. Camm not to give up his Manettis, but I would advise 

 him to manure them once only in the year and that in the 

 spring, and on no account to cover the beds with dressing 

 during the winter months. Of course, if the weather be severe 

 the plants may be covered with litter, but I firmly believe that 

 a thick top-dressing of dung tends to make the ground sour. 



That the Manetti is a far superior stock to the Briar I am 

 perfectly convinced. Witness the marvellous Roses shown by 

 Mr. Cranston this year at Hereford, which were certainly the 

 finest I ever saw staged, and they were all from the Manetti ; 

 and then, again, how Roses last on this stock ! I have plants 

 which are six or seven years old, and this season they have made 

 shoots from the collar over U feet in height ; where can you 

 see that on the Briar? My own experience, therefore, leads 

 me to say to all Rose-growers, Do not give up the Manetti ; 

 see that your manirre is sweet and good, apply plenty of it but 

 not too often, and with the addition of an occasional watering 

 with liquid manure while the buds are forming, I am sure that 

 you will be rewarded with an abundant harvest of glorious 

 blooms. 



Among the non placets in Mr. Farren's letter I was pleased 

 to see that he mentioned the difficulty, or I should rather say 

 the impossibility, of getting any breakfast either at the Crystal 

 Palace or South Kensington. After travelling all night and 

 sitting on one's Rose-boxes outside Victoria Station from 5 a.m. 

 to 7 A.M. waiting for a train to take one to the Palace, a cup 

 of coft'ee on one's arrival there would be quite as acceptable 

 to the exhibitor as a httle fresh water is to his blooms. — 

 R. N. G. Bakek, Hcavitree. 



GIVING WATER TO FEBNS. 

 I WISH to repeat in regard to growing all, or nearly all. Ferns, 

 the great advantage of allowing them to take up the water for 

 themselves by putting the pot on an inverted saucer, and that 

 saucer in a larger one, fiUing the larger one with water up to the 

 level, or hardly so, of the bottom of the inverted one. This plan 

 never allows the plant to be without water, as it only requires 



