246 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



[ September 29. 185S. 



Tliis should be chopped up with the spade and about a cart- 

 load of old mortar rubbish added to every eight loads of loam, 

 and to this about 4 cwt. of inch unboiled bones, and a load of 

 thoroughly well-rotted hotbed or horse manure, and it will 

 form what may be termed a first-rate border. Should the 

 loam be more inclined to clay than sand, the amount of lime 

 rubbish should be increased in proportion as the soU is heavj-. 

 We have in such a case used charcoal dust, and have also 

 charred a portion of the soU in order to counteract the ten- 

 dency that clayey loams have to become consolidated, no 

 matter how turfy they are when used. 



The number of varieties of Grapes which " A TouNO Gar- 

 dener " proposes to plant in a house only 30 feet long is 

 six. This is certainly quite variety enough, and unless 

 some special object were in view, it would be advisable to 

 have fewer sorts. We should prefer at the most three or 

 four varieties of standard reputation. This is more particu- 

 larly desii'able fi'om the fact that the vinery having an east 

 exposure and not a southern one, and also fi'om the fact that 

 the vinery is to be used for keeping bedding plants for a 

 good many months in the year. Under such circumstances 

 it coixld scarcely be hoped that Muscats would be ripened, 

 because with all the advantages of a southern aspect, and a 

 high temperature, this fine Grape is in some seasons difficult 

 to ripen. Cue of the very best sorts is, therefore, excluded. 

 We will, however, name six sorts, as such is desu'ed. 



Black Hamburgh, Royal Muscadine, Snow's Muscat Ham- 

 bui'gh. Lady Downes', Raisin de Calabre, and Black Prince. 

 Making a selection of four sorts, we would plant one Royal 

 Muscadine, two Black Hamburghs, two Muscat Hamburghs, 

 and one Lady Downes'. 



It is now proved beyond all doubt that Snow's Muscat 

 Hambui'gh is one of the finest Grapes ever introduced ; 

 and, therefore, even for so limited a collection, two Vines 

 of it are recommended. It is, however, when grafted on the 

 Black Hambiu'gh that it conies up to its highest pitch ; and 

 so treated it can be grown into bunches little short of the 

 Barbarossa in size, even in berry, and under any cu'cum- 

 stance its flavour is second to no Grape grown. It has also 

 the great recommendation of ripening perfectly along >\-ith 

 such sorts as Black Hamburgh and Lady Downes' ; and, 

 therefore, we in this case recommend it in preference to the 

 Muscat of Alexandi-ia in any of its forms for an east aspect ; 

 and for a mixed assortment Hamburghs should be planted for 

 stocks to it, and after the stocks have commenced to grow, the 

 Muscat Hanibiu'ghs should be inarched on to them, green 

 wood to green, and they will take in a few days comparatively. 



As the vinery is to be used for bedding plants, it may be 

 an advantage to delay the planting of the Vines till May 

 instead of March. By so doing, more particularly if they 

 are to be planted inside the house, it may be more fi'eely 

 used for the object of doing the best possible for the plants 

 next spring without being required to study the Vines. In- 

 dependent of this consideration, we esteem May the best 

 season for planting young Vines. The soU is then higher 

 in temperatiu'e and less artificial heat is requii'ed, and &om 

 the natni"al impulse of the plants they will make a much 

 stronger and more desirable character of growth than if 

 planted early and stimulated with more artificial heat. Vines 

 are fi-equently planted much earlier than the time here re- 

 commended ; but there are special objects in view — such, for 

 instance, as the bringing round of Vines into an early-forcing 

 condition, which it is inferred is not what is intended in the 

 present case. To plant early and allow the roots to remain 

 inactive in a cold wet snU outside, alUTnang the Vines to 

 come away without much fii-e heat till they have made a 

 few leaves, is also frequently practised ; but there is nothing 

 gained by such a practice, and tlie Vines will break more 

 strongly in their pots in a cool house, or pit, through the 

 course of the spring, and wUl be ready to plant by the time 

 the vinery can be emptied of the bedding plants, about the 

 middle of May. D. Thomson. 



RussELiA .lUNCEA. — I read with interest your treatment 

 of Eusselia juncea. It was one of the prettiest pjlants I 

 saw in Mexico. It may be important to its cultivators to 

 know that the plant succeeds best when grown something 

 like an alpine plant. The best specimen I ever saw was on 

 a river bank, the roots being washed bare by the r.ains. To 



look at it there you would think it was impossible that it could 

 obtain any nourishment from the rock and old dead wood 

 that was around it. — E. B. Spence, Nurseryman, Darlington. 



THE AURICULA. 



It is sometimes an easier matter to answer the questions 

 of correspondents by simply writing down one's thoughts 

 than to refer them to past numbers and volumes, where the 

 information they desire may be obtained ; and hence, as 

 letters both as regards the culture, and names, and descrip- 

 tions of this pet flower of mine have lately reached me, and 

 as experience somewhat modifies one's own cultivation, I 

 have thought it better to write this short paper than to 

 refer my coiTespondents to past notices on the subject ; and 

 as many things combine to lead me to suppose that it wUl 

 be a very popular flower, the observations which I am about 

 to make may be of use to others than those from whom I 

 have heai'd. 



As to growth, then. A friend rather pointedly said the 

 other day, " One doesn't grow Am-iculas, they gi-ow them- 

 selves ;" meaning that you cannot drive them as you do 

 some flowers, or even coax them as you may do some others. 

 They grow weU, look weU, and then all at once they tm-n 

 then- head on one side — a fatal sign. You examine them: 

 there is a species of black rot at the base of the crown 

 " between wind and water," and away goes the plant. Or 

 you have a sort you woiUd like very much to increase. 

 There is no taking off the top shoots, putting them into 

 heat, or any of those nice contrivances whereby Verbenas 

 and the like are multiplied by the thousand. No : you 

 must wait theu- time. "I have at last had an offset ofi' 

 my wonderful white-edge," -m-ites one of the best gi-owers 

 in the kingdom. One offset ! and that a matter of eongi-a- 

 tulation ! Hence, if AuriciUa-growing has its delights it 

 also has its drawbacks ; and one must make up his mind 

 for some of those mishaps wliich occixr in the best regulated 

 families (of AuriciUas). After a fair experiment on the 

 subject I have finally determined not to grow them in any 

 larger pots than those which are ordinarUy termed 32's. 

 This is eontr.ary, I am aware, to the exjjerience of Dr. Plant ; 

 but then we do not expect to grow them as he does, and 

 we cannot afford to lose them as he can with his immense 

 stock of plants. You may probably sometimes obtain finer 

 blooms, but there is a great risk of soddening the soU and 

 rotting the roots by ovei-potting. In the matter of compost 

 I have also been led to believe that the better plan is to 

 give it tolerably rich both when potting and top-di-essing, 

 and thus save the administration of liquid manure save in 

 a very diluted form. An over-stimulation of the plants is, 

 I believe, likely to detract from the quality of the fiower 

 and the healthiness of the plant, and is, I am sui'e, a fre- 

 quent cause of the black rot. 



Some years ago I warmly disputed with a friend, whose 

 well-known signature I'hi used always to gladden Auricula- 

 growers, as to the advisability of shaking off the whole of 

 the soU at the time of repotting, I believing in the old 

 orthodox plan of so doing, he, on the other hand, advocating 

 that a good portion should be left on. I believe his prac- 

 tice, the same as that of Mr. Lightliody, to be the con-ect 

 one ; and I have this year repotted my whole collection in 

 that way. You do not thus keep the same soU fi-om year 

 to year on them ; because, as you take away all around the 

 crown of the plant at the time of top-dressing, that which 

 remains when you repot will be replaced the foUowing 

 spring by a fresh siipph- of the same material. In another 

 point, too, I shaU alter my method of growth ; but that 

 is more owing to the early period at which the flower 

 shows are held than for any other reason — I moan the place 

 for wintering. I have generally done this in a sheltered 

 portion at the back of a waU facing the north. The conse- 

 quence was that this spring I had very few of my plants in 

 bloom by the 9th of April. Notwithstanding the exceed- 

 ingly mild winter with which we were favoured, we are not 

 so much eai'lier here as I supposed ; and hence, although in 

 principle I prefer the plan of not exposing them to much 

 sun, I must this year adopt it, and winter them facing the 

 soutli, removing them as they come into bloom into the 

 northern aspect, where my blooming-stage is. 



