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JOTTENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



1 July 14, 1863. 



Burpassing beauty, wood, hill, and stream combined— was 

 the subject of universal remark ; the ladies especially were 

 lavish in their commendations, and long before the day's 

 ■rambles were ended, had exhausted their vocabiUary of 

 terms in which to express admiration of the lovely and 

 picturesque scenes in which they found themselves. _ Among 

 the Ferns gathered were— Polypodium phegoptens. Poly- 

 podium dryopteris, or Beech and Oak Ferns ; these were 

 found in abundance all up the vaUey. Towards the top and 

 near to High Greenwood, Schistostega pennata (Slunmg 

 Moss) was found in limited quantity. Lower down the vaUey 

 Hypnum ochraceum, Ac. and several fine forms of Athynum 

 and Lastrea were noted, and the fine evergi-een fronds of 

 Polystichum lobatum and aculeatum were conspicuous m 

 very many places ; a soUtarj- plant of the Asplenium tri- 

 chomanes"was also seen. Many of the Manchester and 

 Huddersfield parties had to retm-n by the 7.30 train to take 

 the 'busses, &e.. from those towns to their respective homes. 

 Afterwards those who were able to stay later took tea at 

 the White Horse Hotel. >Ii-. Grindon, Secretary of the Man- 

 chester Field Naturalist .Societv. when tea was over, made a 

 resume of the day's employments and enjoyjuents. and the 

 remainder of the party left by the later trains. Perhaps a 

 company of so elite a character, in such niimbers. never 

 before visited the Hardcastle Valley ; the day was delight- 

 fully fine. — Halifax Courier. 



MIiniLUS CUPKEUS AND AMARANTH US 

 MELANCHOLICUS. 



I HA VI tried both of these this season. They were sown in 

 strong heat in February. Mimulus cupreus grew very rapidly 

 afterwards in a cold frame, always kept close, and covered 

 with matting by night ; it is now in flower, but about lialf 

 of the plants ai'e inferior in colour to the rest, one hali' being 

 a rich orange scarlet, and the other a sort of washed-out 

 orange. I have placed them in a ring round a bed of 

 Heliotropes. 



The AjnaranthTis gi-ew readily, and promised well at first. 

 I kept it longer in close heat. 1 hardened it off as gradually 

 as I could, but the leaves turned yellow at the ba.se, and then 

 •Irc.pped-ofi' in a truly melancholy way. Those plants only 

 which have been kept in a close cold frame, and constantly 

 supplied with liquid roamu-e, ai'e doing well. — S. L. J., 

 Cornwall, 



STKAWBEERIES IN FRANCE. 



Woe to the man who ventui'es to express his opinion, 

 if that opinion fixll not in with the notions of exhibitors ; and 

 fortunate for him if, by a long coiu'se of no gentle applicatiou 

 of abuse, his skin becomes rhinoceros-like, so that trifles do 

 not woiTy him. The first jilace for experiencing the "pleasui-es 

 of abxise" I give to the office of a. .judge, the second to the 

 reporter of a flower show. If one happens to say that Mr. 

 A's Grapes were superb, and Mr. B's magnificent, and Mr. 

 C'e excellent, even then the superlatives are measured out 

 earefiilly ; and if one be not as expressive as the other, but 

 if Mr. D.'s are said to be wanting in flavour or colom% 

 immediately aU the "quills of the fretful porcupine" ai'O 

 protruded, and a great injuiy suiiposed to be done. Surely, 

 the least thing one might expect is that credit would be 

 given for fair intentions, even though one were set down 

 as an ignoramus. And so M. Ferdinand Gloede attacks me 

 for what I said about his Strawbemes ; and, if I vmderstand 

 his charges, they are these : — 



1. That I had some sinister motive in representing his 

 StrawbeiTies as inferior. 



2. That they were excellent, or they would not have 

 obtained a first prize. 



3. That the reason that they were not fii-st-rate was 

 because the Exhibition took place at a bad time for his 

 plants. 



1. As to this charge, I am at a. loss to conceive what it 

 means. I do not know anything of M. Gloede personally. 

 I only know that he has written on the Strawben-y so 

 strongly that I was led, when I saw his name, to expect 

 much. He is the coiTespondent of a gentleman whom I 

 esteem very highly, and therefore I could have no motive in 



misrepresenting what I saw. It could not be because he 

 was a Frenchman, as I think your readers pretty well know 

 by this time that 1 have ever desired to say what good I 

 could of our neighbours , of whom, indeed, 1 am by descent 

 one. 



2. As to the second charge, I can oidy say that he had, if I 

 recoUect rightly, no competitor, and that tiiere was not a 

 bit of fruit at the Show that woiUd have gained a fifth prize 

 at our metropolitan exliibitions. 



3. As to my possessing no knowledge of pi'actieal garden- 

 ing, I do not exactly see what is meant. I certainly do not 

 go out for a day's work, nor do I often take the spade in my 

 hand ; but I do claim to knowing a little about even Straw- 

 berries, and perhaps if I had said M. Gloede's were admirable, 

 my practical gardening would not have been called in ques- 

 tion. I did not pretend to know all about " practical gar- 

 dening" in France, nor the climate of Les Sablons. I 

 spoke of the Strawberries as I saw them ; and that my judg- 

 ment was tolerably i/on-ect is evident. I think, from M. 

 Gloede's own showing, or else why endeavour to explain 

 that the time was a ijad one for Mm ? 



I have thus disposed of M. Gloede's critique, and would 

 strongly urge him not U:> look for bad motives where none 

 are intended, and to believe that if criticism is adverse it 

 may at the same time be impartial. — D., lieo'i. 



THE CULTIVATION OF ROSES IN POTS. 



SECOND SEASON. 



I PREFER potting in this way : — Having placed my com- 

 post on the potting-board, I procui'e a quantity of turves as 

 they are brought in fi'om the field, and veiy rough, pretty 

 dry, well decomposed cowdung. The jjots being ch'ained, 

 and on the potting-ljoard, I tear off one oi- two lai'ge pieces 

 of the turf, and put it into the bottom of the pot on the 

 drainage, top downwards. In general thi,< wUl be of suffi- 

 cient height for the ball of the plant to rect upon ; if not 

 quite high enough, I put in a little of the mixed material 

 to raise it to the required height ; next, tear off pieces of 

 turf, 6 or 7 inches long, and 2 or 3 inches wide, and as many 

 thic?k ; about four such pieces should be crammed in between 

 the ball and the side of the pots peiTjendicularly. Between 

 tliis, place large pieces of rough cowdung, neiu'ly equivalent 

 in bulk to the size of the Icjam, and fiU up all crevices and 

 cavities with the mixed compost, finishing off with the same, 

 and making the whole quite firm. Diuring the operations, 

 care is requii-ed not to leave any ca\dties between the mould 

 and pot, but to fill aU up compaijtly. Tliis is to be the treat- 

 ment of the strong-growing vai'ieties. The Teas, Chinas, 

 &c., may be potted in a similar w:iy, excejJt leaving out a 

 portion of the rough cowdung, and using more of the mixed 

 material in its pla<!e. 



This manner of potting may appear strange to some ; but 

 if such ))ersons will give the after-treatment I shall now 

 describe, the beauty of the plants in the following season 

 will be to them equally novel. The gi'eat use of this rough 

 potting diu-ing the following season of growth, will be ap- 

 parent, allowing, as it will, water, whether soft, or liquid 

 manure, to pass freely throTigh, and the ah' to act upon the 

 roots. 



The plants ■,ught now ^September), to be ]>roperly trained 

 — those intended for climbers, such as the Hybrid Chinas, 

 Hybrid Bom-bons, and strong-growing Noisettes, round neat 

 stakes, 3 to 4 feet Idgh. If these had been thinned during 

 the previous summer, they will now require little or no 

 pruning, but merely to have theh' branches tied neatly and 

 regularly round, shortening the extreme points. Any very 

 strong-growing Perpetual or other summer Koses, may be 

 trained iu a pyi'amidal form, by placing stakes round the 

 side of the pots, and making them meet at from 2 to 21 feet 

 liigh, passing a hoop round them at about li foot from the 

 pot ; the branches must be tied down to the rim of the pot, 

 and round the stakes up to the summit, liearing in mind to 

 keep the branches well dov.'n, as there will no difficulty in 

 filling u)) the top the foUowiiig spriug. These, like the 

 others, do not requu'e much pruning ; thinning-out where 

 crowded, shortening where too long, and regulating the 

 branches, will be enough. This appUes also to the less robust 

 Hybrid I'erpetuals, Bourbons, Chinas, Teas, &c. ; the plants 



