370 



JOURNAL OF HOETICXTLTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. [ November lo, 1863. 



ripen and drop off in a week or two, and the stUl greater 

 gratification to find myself the possessor of an abundant 

 brood of young offsets from each root ; and I had the yet 

 greater gratification of dislodging and consigning to a 

 proper place a number of wireworms which appeared to 

 have selected for their wnnter abode, or rather for bed and 

 board, the snuggest parts of each clump. My bulbs being 

 perfectly dry and ripe were safely stored in bags until they 

 showed signs of starting into growth again, upon which 

 they were immediately potted, and in the spring turned out 

 into beds again — beds I say, for the increase was three-fold 

 of strong flowei-ing bidbs. 



For the sake of erijeriment, the following season I tried 

 the effect of an immediate repotting and also replanting 

 after the ripening-off in the frame ; but the result satisfied 

 me that the bulbs are the better for a short airing untO 

 they show signs of growth. Some show it sooner than 

 others ; but when they do show it then is the time to pot 

 the bulbs and keep them gently gi-owing untU your beds are 

 ready for them in spring. This plan has been with me so 

 successful that I can confidently recommend it to my 

 brother amateurs. 



If I may venture to make a remark among so many 

 learned doctors, who are now so sapiently giving theii' 

 opimon on what they call the Gladiolus disease, I woidd 

 say that in my humble opinion the Gladiolus is suffering 

 from the overstimulating character of the feeding it has 

 had for the purpose of counteracting the weakening effects 

 of overbreeding. I would recommend a more plain, substan- 

 tial, and healthy diet as the best means of seciu-ing a more 

 healthy progeny, even if we amateurs should be called 

 upon tc pay the doctor's fees in the shape of an extra price 

 for healthy bulbs.— W. W. 



P.S.— I have been surprised to find how few ladies know 

 the valuable property which the Gladiolus has of opening 

 its bloom in water. I have seen more than one fair dame 

 throw the stem away as soon as the first bloom faded, little 

 t hinki ng that a day's patience would have been rewarded 

 with another glorious flower higher up the stem, and so on 

 day by day for weeks of pleasure. 



WINTEEOG BEDDI^"G-OUT PLANTS. 



Among the seasonable operations of the present time, is 

 one that more or less engages the attention of every gar- 

 dener — that is the disposal of the bedding stock. Every 

 gardener who has much to do in the way of bedding, is at 

 this time of the year put to various shifts fi-om want of 

 space, evei-y inch of which is required, both for plants that 

 are to continue under glass, and for those that are to be 

 turned out shortly. Every one who reads the weekly notes 

 of Mr. Fish will see, not only the difficulties under which he 

 labours for the bestowal of an immense bedding stock, but 

 the ingenuity with which he meets those difficulties. What- 

 ever opinions may be formed by the ordinary reader of the 

 contrivances he makes use of to clear the houses and hai'den- 

 ofr the stuff, it is only the practised gardener who can tho- 

 roughly appreciate them, and of these only such as are in 

 the habit of contriving for themselves. 



It is very well to remind the possessor of fi-ames and 

 shallow pits, that he should get his plants into them so that 

 he can harden them ofi" by pulling the lights right off every 

 day ; but what is the use of such advice to those who have 

 no such appliances, or, who, having them, find them already 

 full to repletion ? It then becomes necessary to look about 

 for some other contrivance ; and one of the most ingenious 

 is that described by Mr. Fish, and of which I intend to avail 

 myself, thanking him for the hint — that is, to dig a trench as 

 if for Celery, and to lay sticks across it on which may be 

 placed mats or any other covering. The plants may be 

 packed closely toge'ther in the trench, and as bedding stuff 

 seldom exceeds a foot in height, it is easily accommodated 

 in this way ; and while it is in a great measure protected 

 from cutting winds, a slight covering will protect it from 

 such frosts as we are likely to have at this time of the year. 



But what I would recommend as most useful where such 

 shifts have to be made, is coarse felt stretched on light 

 wooden frames of a convenient portable size. These I have 

 found excellent, both for keeping frost out of pits and 



frames, and protecting plants when not under glass. With- 

 out wishing in any way to disparage the ordinai-y gai-den 

 mat, which is indispensable, and useful for many piu-poses, 

 yet I must say that felt is equally so, and for some purposes 

 superior, as the frames covered with it are not so easily dis- 

 placed by wind. — F. Chittt. 



EOOTS AND LEAVES. 



(_Continued from page 333.) 



Where Vines grow in carrion-borders, which are one mass 

 of putridity, little beyond fleshy -root-extension takes place. 

 Very few fibres indeed appear at any time ; the stems re- 

 quii-e less heat to cause the buds to swell and break ; the 

 growth appears small, but gross and long-jointed ; and the 

 leaves, though small at first, become something like a 

 Rhubarb leaf. At this stage, if we examine the roots, we 

 shall find little or no fibres, active or inactive ; but the plant 

 ajjpears as if it depended on the humus absorbed by the 

 root-stems for its nourishment, or is indebted for its nutri- 

 ment to the atmosphere by which it is surrounded. Whether 

 the plant owes its development to the nutriment collected 

 by the roots without fibres, or to that collected by the leaves 

 from the atmosphere, the leaves will flag when the moisture 

 in the atmosphere is dissipated by the sun's influence render- 

 ing the parts about the leaves drier, and causing the leaves 

 to perspire, or the water in them to be evaporated more freely 

 than in cloudy weather. If the leaves flag under bright 

 sun, it is an evidence of deficient root-action or a want of 

 moistm-e in the atmosphere ; but fiagging is chiefly caused 

 by the leaves evaporating more water than the roots afford 

 them. If there be a quantity of fibres the case will be 

 different. Instead of the plant having one mouth, it 

 will have fifty ; and it is only reasonable to conclude that 

 a plant with fifty mouths would absorb more nutriment, 

 and supply the wants of the leaves better in a case of emer- 

 gency when extra food is needed, than a jjlant having 

 only one. 



Fibres, then, are necessary to a Vine's healthy develop- 

 ment, and the extension of the main roots essential to the 

 fonnation of fibres. There cannot be healthy development 

 in a Vine, or any plant with a fibrous root, without fibres : 

 hence the immense importance of theii' preservation, and 

 the necessity of promoting their production. Kich soils 

 hinder the production of fibres ; poor sods increase thefr 

 number. Plants grown in rich soil have more foliage and 

 less fruit than the same species in poorer soil. 



I am led to infer fr-om this that fibres are the cliief agents 

 in the production of fruit-buds ; and although I am but par- 

 tially prepared to prove it, I am persuaded that they are the 

 sole agent employed by the roots in their production. But 

 we were considering the annual reproduction of fibres. I 

 contend that all plants do partially lose the old fibres 

 annually, some plants oftener. Superficial evidence alone 

 is forthcoming in abundance to prove the fact, without 

 calling to our aid any internal evidence at all. We give 

 warmth or bottom heat to plants at the commencement of 

 forcing, keeping the atmosphere comparatively cool to in- 

 duce root-action before leaf-development commences. What 

 necessity is there for this extra stimidant to the roots if 

 their extremities are prepared to absorb niitriment on the 

 expansion of the buds ? Nature gives no such stimulant. 

 It is a point, in fact, that proves the roots have not the 

 requisite elements, lying dormant and only needing the 

 expansion of the foliage, to call them into activity. In all 

 cases of repotting the cultivator finds a quantity of dead 

 fibres in addition to the growing, and attributes the presence 

 of the dead fibres to an unhealthy root-action ; whereas such 

 is not the case, for, if there is a quantity of live fibres in 

 addition to the dead, it is erident that what suits them 

 would suit others. Sour soil very often causes the destruc- 

 tion of all the fibres of a plant ; but that has nothing to do 

 with the periodical decay of the fibres, being simply a 

 medium in which the fibres cannot extend themselves. 



Although the fibres are of so much importance to vege- 

 tation, there are cases in which their removal, instead of 

 being hurtful is highly beneficial. Mr. Kivers actually de- 

 stroys fully half of the fibres of his orchard-house trees every 

 autumn in the process of top-dressing. At page 30 of his 



