326 



JOUBNAL OF HOKTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAKDEI^B. [ Octeber 27. 1S6S. 



bevond one or two which might be accidental, the general 

 Ke still beino- green, and Mr. Findlay. the mtell.gent 

 feor there, jn'stly expected they woidd be very gay in a 

 frw days aftenvardl The soU was the da.-k sandy one 

 «.mmon in the district; the situation was unfortunately 

 tornear the city for the welfare of most trees and shi-ubs 

 c^ltivlted there: and they were evidently suffermg much 

 and yearly becoming worse as the amount of coal smoke 

 kent "increasing on all sides. ,■ ^ ■ ,. i „,i :„ 



The proverbiaUy rainy character of the district lad in 

 the eai?y part of the past season been m some degi-ee 

 reversed ami May, Juni, and July, were said to have been 

 much di-er than usual, but the situation of the Gladiolus- 

 beds in the garden was not one where the plants were likely 

 to suffer much from that cause. As I have stated they looked 

 weU thou-h they fell short of the vigour and robustness 

 Tf o-rowth^of another l,ed I saw JB the same neighbourhood, 

 but^farthcr removed fi-om the smoke. ,, ^ , 



At Foo- Lane in the suburbs of Manchester, Mr. Cole, one 

 of the most successful exhibitors of plants at the London 

 and other shows, has established a nui-sery, and amongst 

 other things was a bed of G. Brenchleyensis in the most 

 piWsing condition I ever «^^. «>%f°lf g^^'^'^S ^^eeP 

 Sreen to the very tips, and the knotted spikes of bloom 

 momised to be Very stm-dy and thickly set. Mr Cole 

 attributed his success in a great measure to the ap- 

 plication of liquid manui-e, which he had given at various 

 times during the season, and there could be no doubt what- 

 ever of the beneficial effects it produced, as an adjoining 

 bed of the same kind which had not been so treated, was 

 much less promising although at the same time looking weU. 

 The sod was much the same as that m the Botanic Garden, 

 a black soil containing more sand than is usually met with 

 elsewhere, and I believe of sufficient depth to meet aU the 

 requirements of vegetation. It was certamly richer m 

 unctuous matter than the peaty sods of some districts 

 famed for Bhododencb-on-growing, although the latter seem 

 not unfitted to the growth of Gladiob, but I had not an 

 opportunity of witnessing both at the same time. 



More recently, however, I saw m one of the Bagshot 

 nurseries a bed "of Gladioli, which of course had done flowei- 

 ino- some time and were ripening down, but they appeared to 

 have flowered pretty well. I must confess having heard great 

 complaints about the plant in some places, and it would be 

 weU if all the facts bearing on the cases where fadures have 

 occurred could be laid before us, and if the evd be found to 

 arise fi-om bulbs imperfectly ripened in the proce^bng season, 

 some means may perhaps be adopted of avoidmg it for, to 

 use an old trite saying, a knowledge of a disease is halt its 

 cure, and this case need be no exception to that rule. 



' J. EOBSON. 



sphere of our close hothouses is yet a field where there is 

 much to be done. It should always be borne m mind, how- 

 ever that it can only be after many experiments and long 

 practice that any of our highly concentrated salts, such, 

 for instance, as muriate of ammonia and hartshor n, can be 

 applied properly and with benefit. — D. T. 



AMMONIA IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF 

 HOTHOUSES. 



The following is Mr. Thomson's reply to several inquii-ies 

 upon the suliject. , -, -i, 



No doubt the atmosphere could be charged with ammonia 

 in many ways besides that of applying guano water to the 

 pipes, or sprinkUng the sm-faee of the soil or floors ol hot- 

 houses with the same. The solution formed by pom-ing 

 water on o-uano holds in suspension the ammonia and a 

 very small proportion of the phosphates. The organic 

 matter sinks to the bottom : hence the application of guano 

 water need not be a du-ty operation, there being no necessity 

 for applying the sediment to pipes or flues, whde at the 

 same time there need be no waste, as the orgamc matter 

 may be appUed elsewhere as a manm-e. No doubt sulphate 

 of ammonia, which is readily soluble in water, might pro- 

 duce the same result ; so would ammoniacal water ti-om the 

 •rasworks, fi'om which ammonia in the very concentrated 

 form of hartshorn is now obtained. I am incbned to thmk 

 that the application of guano water is safe and wholesome 

 as well as the least troublesome way of producing ammonia 

 in the atmosphere of a hothouse where tender plants ai-e 

 grown. We apply it regidarly here in om- Pme-pits m a 

 very diluted form, yet sufficiently strong to be discovered 

 whenever the atmosphere of the pits reaches the olfactory 

 nerves. I fully believe that the composition of the atmo- 



NEW EOSES— No. 2. 



In resuming this subject, so fertile in grumblings and 

 complaints as all gi-owers for siile can bear witness, I may 

 observe that another commentator, while viewing the 

 subject from a different stand-point, amved at very much 

 the same conclusion. My object in refen-ing to it is only 

 to show that the same sort of feeling is pervading the 

 minds of a great many rosarians at the present day, and 

 that it would be a gi-eat boon if a stop could be put to 

 this wholesale French invasion to which England is sub- 

 jected every year; but the temptation is one which even 

 om- own raisers cannot resist. To have two or thi-ee Eoses. 

 by which, perhaps, the owner makes ^200, is for any one. 

 but especially a French nurseryman — who, whatever his 

 Emperor may do in war, certainly does not grow Koses 

 for an idea, but for a pretty good consideration— a thing 

 which it requires uncommon vutue to resist The day may 

 come when a change may ai-ise, but tdl then we must, I 

 suppose, •■ bear those ills we have." And now to resiune the 

 revision of the lists. 



GRANGEK. 



25. Baronne PeUetan de Kinkelin ! beautifully shaped 

 and imbricated ; red, shaded with piu-ple. 

 2G. Kate Hausburg, cup-shaped ; lively rose. 

 "7 Leopold Hausburg, red, shaded with brown and pui-ple. 

 28 Louis Van Houtte, globular ; carmine rose. 

 29. Sffiui- Oppenheim, carmine red, shaded with purple 



'^°M^Grano-er is the raiser of that fine Rose Maui-ice Bern- 

 hanlin, and I shoidd think, therefore, knows what a good 

 flower is • if so, then 25, albeit its outrageous name, is likely 

 to be an acquisition. So is 20. 27 I shoidd doubt the colour 

 of 28 Sounds well. 29 I should not consider much, it is 

 hardly likely that flve good Koses should come from the 

 same raiser in one season. 



LACHAKIIE. 



All honour to the raiser of Charies Lefebvi-e well does he 

 deserve to have that flue Rose Fran^'ois Lacharme called 

 after him ; and as a modest man, as no doubt he is, he sends 

 out but one Rose this year. ■, i. j , -n, -„i„f ot 



30. Gabriel de Peyronney, fiery red, shaded with violet at 

 the centre; full, and of fine form. «- „v-„^ 



I think tliis may be regarded as Ukely to be an effective 

 Hose. 



TOirVAIS. 



31. Centifolia Rosea, rose colour. 

 32 Jean Touvais, pm-ple rose, shaded with crimson. 

 I do not think that either of these promises much, and 



we never have had much from M. Touvais, so I should 

 decidedly mtu-k these out of the list. 



PEKNET. 



33 Gloire de Sacr^ Cojiir (what a name! who but a 

 Fienchman would ever have thought of it?), flesh rose, 

 shaded with red and pui-ple. •„„„ii„ ^^,^a^a 



34. Marechal Canrobert, Uvely rose, occasionally shaded 



"^ m' PeSl't's name is unknown on this side of the Channel, 

 I think, and I should, therefore, have mucn hesitation m 

 trusting his description. 



OGEB. 



35. Charlemagne, Hvely cheiTy red. 



30. George Senior, brilliant reddish-crimson. 



37 Madame Malherbe, blooming in clusters ; lively rose. 



38 Marquise de Bi-ug.~-3, crimson velvety red. 



39. Michael Ange, lively reddish-purple. ,=? f^.. 



M. Oger has the singular modesty to chai-ge only ISf- for 

 his Roses ; but as we have not had any Roses that I recoUect 

 oms tha are worth much, I can hai-dly giv^ him the credit 

 of believing that it is aU modesty, and his Eoses, therefore, 

 would be put in my discarded lot. 



