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JOUUNAL OF UORTICULTURE AN'D COTTAGE GAKDENKB. 



[ September 19, 166T. 



haps, by a mere handful of bedding plants, then I would not 

 hesitate to use them with a very free hand. 



In mentioning the bine KauUussia I am reminded of Ana- 

 gallis Monelli, a blue half-hardy herbaceous plant, which 

 another of your correspondents recommended to me last spring 

 for bedding. Never having seen it usad for that purpose, with 

 some trouble I obtained half a dozen plants, and put them out, 

 but have not yet had a dozen flowers upon the whole of them. 

 It is, however, an old favourite with many, and a really beauti- 

 ful thing for pot-culture in a greenhouse. — AYESHinE Gabdkner. 



and in themselves constitute what is usually termed a species ; 

 that they differ only in the Peach and Nectarine having a 

 greater development of more succulent cellular tissue in the 

 envelope of the fruit than the Almond has ; and that the ruit 

 of the Nectarine differs from that of the Peach in having a 

 smooth instead of a downy skin, and as these characteristics 

 are so variable that each has been discovered on trees of the 

 other without artificial hybridisation, we are led to the con- 

 chision that they are mere varieties of one more fixed form — 

 the Almond, and, consequently, may readily be expected to 

 cross the one with the other. — H. 



SEEDLING PEACHES AND NECTARINES. 



Early in August we had the privilege of tasting some of the 

 early kinds of Peaches raised at Sawbndgeworth. The very 

 early kinds were past as they had ripened in the middle of .July, 

 but some few of what may be called the second series were 

 ripe. And here we have to notice a curious physiological fact — 

 nearly all the seedling Peaches and Nectarines have a smack of 

 the Stanwick Nectarine flavour. This is not only the case with 

 those purposely crossed with that sort, but nearly all the others, 

 as if the pollen of this foreign variety possessed some peculiar 

 vigour, so as to impregnate to a certain extent all the blossoms 

 in the house. 



Not only is it by the direct crossing or the influence of the 

 pollen communicated in other ways, that the Stanwick has 

 infused its flavour into the first produce from the cross, but 

 even in the second and third generations is this influence ex- 

 hibited, even where direct crossing has not been practised. Ml 

 through these new varieties of Peaches and Nectarines which 

 Mr. Eivers has been so fortunate in raising does this flavour of 

 the Stanwick pervade, with all the persistence of a subtile 

 essence. 



We were particularly attracted by the following — a seedling 

 Elruge Nectarine rather larger than its parent, and ripening at 

 the same time, is a veritable Stanwick Elruge, so strong is 

 the combination of flavours. A Peach raised from Eivers's 

 Orange Nectarine, had the most exquisite flavour — a combi- 

 nation of the Stanwick and the Pitmaston Orange Nectarine. 

 A seedling Early York Peach, with glandular leaves, had also a 

 mixture of the Stanwick Nectarine with the peculiar and de- 

 licious flavour of the Early York Peach ; and a very remark- 

 able early Nectarine raised from the Early Albert Peach, 

 seemed to be most original in its combination of the Peach and 

 Stanwick Nectarine flavour. Many other novelties presented 

 themselves araopg some hundreds of seedlings, to such an ex- 

 tent that Mr. Kivers finds it difficult to select the kinds most 

 deserving of cultivation. He has, however, as a general rule, 

 resolved to bring out and name only those kinds that are very 

 early and late, or any seedling like the glandular Noblesse and 

 glandular Early York Peaches, that have all the fine qualities 

 of the parents with an improved habit. 



We were much interested in the curious effect of one cross. 

 Some three or four years since Mr. T. F. Rivers fertilised the 

 flowers of the Leopold Peach (a late sort with large pale flowers) 

 with the pollen of the Chinese Double Crimson Peach, pre- 

 \riously removing the stamens from the blossoms of the former. 

 The efftjct is very remarkable. The flowers of the seedling are 

 large, single, and of the colour of the Leopold, with no crimson 

 tint, the only feature that attracted attention being the fine, 

 stout, Camellia-like petals, and regular cup-shaped corolla. It 

 is, therefore, most curious and interesting to find all the fruit 

 on the tree of the same form, size, and nature as those given 

 by the Double Crimson Chinese Peach, being compressed and 

 pointed, with but little pulp — in fact, more like an Almond than 

 a Peach. Such a remarkable effect of the power of the male 

 parent in changing the nature of a fruit only, leaving no trace 

 of its form in the leaves and flowers, is a physiological fact, 

 perhaps worthy of record. 



From this, and from what we have already stated with respect 

 to the influence of the pollen of the Stanwick Nectarine, and 

 also from what we know of other instances of hybridisation, we 

 learn that the more distinct either of the parents is in any of 

 their characteristics, the more apparent will be the effect on 

 the progeny. It would be instructive if Mr. T. F. Rivers were 

 to reverse the experiment, and see what the result of the pollen 

 sf Leopold Peach would be on the Double Crimson. 



But after all, when we examine the subject physiologically, 

 there is nothing so remarkable in this result of hybridisation 

 as at first sight appears. When we consider that the Almond, 

 the Poach, and the Nectarine, are all mere forms of each other, I 



CULTIVATION OF VIOLETS IN POTS. 



To have Violets, '-deep blue Violets— April's loveliest coro- 

 nets," with certainty and at an earlier season, they are grown 

 in pits and frames when the flowers only are the object, and 

 in pots for decorative purposes in the greenhouse and the con- 

 servatory. On this latter mode of culture I now tender a few 

 hints, hoping to meet the requirements of more than one of 

 your readers. 



After the plants have flowered they will, under favourable 

 circumstances, commence growth, and send out runners in all 

 directions. To encourage the rooting of the runners a few 

 good waterings should he given, especially if the weather prove 

 dry during the early part and during May, and the last week in 

 April or first in May an inch of fine and moderately rich soil 

 should be placed around the old plants, and for some distance 

 all around them, as this benefits the old, and secures the better 

 and more speedy rooting of the new plants or runners. When 

 the latter are nice little plants, with a moderate amount of root, 

 they should be detached from the old plants and be taken up 

 carefully, so as to preserve any roots they may have formed or 

 be in course of forming, and be potted into three-inch pots, using 

 a compost of loam from rotted turf two-thirds, and one-third 

 leaf mould or very decayed manure. 



After potting they should be placed on ashes in a cold frame, 

 and a good watering given. The lights are then to be drawn 

 on close, and a mat or mats thrown over them to protect the 

 plants from the sun. The lights should be kept dosvn close, 

 and the plants be sprinkled overhead with water every morning 

 through a fine-rose watering-pot, the lights being drawn on as 

 before, and shade given from sun. In the course of a week the 

 plants will have commenced rooting into the soil, and the lights 

 should be tilted at the back and kept open until 'i or 4 p.m., 

 when a gentle watering overhead may be given and the lights 

 drawn on close, the mats being continued over the lights until 

 the sun's power is lessened, or until 6 p.m., when they are to 

 be withdrawn. This is to be continued for ten days or a fort- 

 night, increasing the openings caused by the tilting of the 

 lights from a little to a considerable, or their full extent by the 

 fortnight's end, lessening the shade by degrees, but not so 

 much so as to cause the plants to flag, and keeping the soil 

 moist, but not so wet as to become sodden, and sprinkling 

 overhead in the morning to maintain a moist atmosphere. 



Under the above treatment the plants will be established in 

 a fortnight or three weeks, and become capable of enduring 

 sunshine without flagging. The lights are then to he drawn 

 down, and kept off day and night, the plants being watered 

 overhead very morning early, and again in the evening, unless 

 the weather be showery, when it will be unnecessary. The 

 soil of the pots should also be examined, and any that are dry 

 be watered. 



Under such conditions the plants will grow vigorously, and 

 by the end of June have filled the pots with roots. They may 

 then be repotted into pots i\ inches in diameter, in a compost 

 of rather strong loam from turves a few months old, and very 

 old manure or leaf mould (two-thirds loam and one-third leaf 

 mould or manure). Good drainage is an essential, and a sprink- 

 ling of half-inch bones over it will not be lost upon the plants. 

 The plants should be kept well supplied with water, and be 

 watered overhead every evening during dry hot weather with 

 soot water, made by placing a peck of soot in a hogshead and 

 pouring thirty gallons of rain water over it, stirring it well up, 

 and allowing it to stand a few days to clear. An east or west 

 aspect is the best of positions, and a warm south dry aspect 

 worst of all for the plants. The pots may be three parts 

 plunged in coal ashes and placed on a bed of the ssme, allowing 

 sufficient space between the pots for the growth of their foliage, 

 and to expose it fully to light and air. The runners should be 

 kept closely stopped up to July. 



