September iS, 1867. ] 



JOUKNAIi OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



2.95 



althongb I beliovo tho plants did not make their appearance 

 aboveground until the middle of May, when other plants of the 

 same kind were being planted out in favoured places against 

 walls, A-c. ; but the season proving unusually warm occasioned 

 the plants from self-sown seeds to ripen fruit also. A hot dry 

 season will also ripen, or in a great measure do bo, Capsicums 

 growing out-doors, and its effects are also visible on some 

 plants hardier than our commonest weeds. Jerusalem Arti- 

 chokes will flower in dry fine autumns, and Indian Corn will 

 likewise ripen better than when the season is unfavourable. 

 It is not only in tho production of flowers and fruit that a hot 

 sunny summer has marked effects, but the growth of plants 

 from warmer climates than our own is accelerated accordingly. 

 The warm seascms of 1H.")7, 185H, and IH,"/.) led many to form 

 groat expectations of Hulciis saccharatus as n forage plant for 

 cattle ; but the next year upset all their speculations, other 

 subjects being s milarly affected. Now, although the summer 

 of lb(i7 has been more favourable than that of 1800, there are 

 nevertheless many tender plants that have made but little pro- 

 gress out of doors, and amougst them Tomatoes; and although 

 autumn is only just commenced, nevertheless the moisture in 

 the earth will prevent the ground receiving that warmth so ne- 

 cessary to ripen a fruit that requires all the heat of our hottest 

 seasons. It is, however, good practice to stop the shoots, to 

 cut away all useless wood, and allow the fruit to have all the 

 exposure it can ; and further than that, it is advisable to run 

 a spado down a short distance from the collar of the plant 

 all round, so as to cut the points of the roots, and thereby 

 check all attempts at mere growth of wood. These remedies, 

 with a slight covering when a sharp frost is expected, will help 

 tho plant to live on until the fruit is more matured ; but it 

 can hardly bo expected that fruit thus starved into a resemblance 

 of ripeness can be so good as that which ripens earlier in the 

 season and under more natural conditions. By adopting these 

 means, however, its quality is better than would otherwise be 

 the case ; and as Tomatoes have all to iindergo a cooking or 

 preserving process before being brought to table, and receive 

 additions in the shape of seasonings, etc., their immature con- 

 dition is not of so much consequence as with dessert fruits. 



My object in making the foregoing remarks is chiefly to 

 direct attention to the fact that it is impossible to have To- 

 matoes and similar crops in such abundance in dull seasons as 

 in those which are hot ; and although in favoured situations a 

 crop may at all times bo looked forward to with every prospect 

 of success, even then the difference of seasons is as perceptible 

 as in less favoured localities, which are far more numerous. 



— J. ROBSON. 



CULTURE OF BEDDING CALCEOLARIAS. 



" Ronis RovK " seems to me to infer that a robust and 

 vigorous growth is a remedy for canker in the Calceolaria. I 

 cannot say that I have not found it ho in practice. Although 

 the plants under my care have in years past suffered but little 

 from its ravages, and have quite escaped it this season, yet 

 whenever it has made its appearance strong plants, apparently 

 rejoicing in an exuberance of health, and certainly of fine green 

 foliage and large trusses of bloom, have succumbed to it in 

 quite as large numbers as the weaker plants. 



" Robin Rovf, " advocates pot culture. I must say that for 

 bedding purposes I very much prefer a Calceolaria which has 

 never been in a pot at all. It is a good old saying, that " Ne- 

 cessity is the mother of invention ;" and having to provide a 

 Urge stock of bedding plants with a small quantity of glass to 

 winter them in, caused me to try to grow Calceolarias without 

 pots, and also without heat. I do not advance any claim to 

 originality for my plan, as I know it is practised in many gar- 

 dens, if not just as I state, yet in a manner so nearly approach- 

 ing it that the diflerence is quite immaterial. 



The cuttings arc taken off about the last week in September 

 (and here I must say that I quite agree with " Kons Rote " 

 in his preference for autumn-struck cuttings) ; they are inserted 

 tirmly in soil consisting of equal parts of leaf mould and 

 sand, in a cold brick pit, near the glass, and every attention is 

 paid to giving plenty of air and water, never suffering them to 

 flag at all, or to present that starved and dwindling appearance 

 which they will do if at all badly treated. They are well pro- 

 tected during winter with mats and dry litter, and the lights 

 are taken off whenever the weather permits ; and although I 

 have had them covered nearly a fortnight at a time, yet upon 

 opening the lights I have never known them look much the 

 worse in consequence of being so contined. 



Treated in the above manner tho plants will grow so freely 

 as to require stopping twice or thrice before their removal, early 

 in March. At that time of the year I am unable to spare any 

 boxes or hand-lights, I, therefore, adopt tho following plan : — 

 A bed or pit is prepared for the plants on a warm border in this 

 way : the soil is taken out to the depth of 15 inches, the sides 

 are made sloping, and are faced with flat tiles or slates to pre- 

 vent the soil from falling in on the plants ; 8 inches of soil 

 consisting of two parts leaf soil, one part loam, and one part 

 sand, being then put in, and if this is somewhat rough so 

 much the belter. The plants are then taken up carefully, re-., 

 moved from the brick pit, in which, by this time, they have be- 

 come very much crowded, and are planted far enough apart to 

 allow of a liberal growth. They are protected during the night, 

 and on cold mornings by hurdles thatched with straw, and care 

 is taken for the first week to shelter them from cold winds. 

 They soon become established, growing freely, and requiring to 

 be stopped several times before they are removed to the flower- 

 beds. By the time they are wanted for this purpose they will 

 have become such tine, busby, vigorous plants, as I venture to 

 say are rarely, if ever, to be equalled by plants grown in pots. 

 I also think that plants having such a mass of fine healtny roots 

 as these will have when taken to the flower garden, must pos- 

 sess a great advantage over a plant which has become even 

 slightly pot-bound. — Edward Lcckiiuest, UanUncr to J/rs. 

 Simeon, Eifcrton House, Egcrton, Kent. 



I ONCE heard a head gardener of no little pretensions say to 

 his foreman, " It is now time to begin propagating our stock 

 of bedding plants for next season ; and as the Calceolarias take 

 a long time to strike, you had better put in cuttings of them 

 before the Verbenas." I need hardly remark that the cuttings 

 did take a long time to strike, when I state that they were 

 taken off at the end of August, at which time the plants were 

 in full flower, and when, consequently, all their energies were 

 directed to the production of flowers, whilst excessive evapora- 

 tion from the leaves was going on under the influence of sun 

 and drying winds. Probably at that season the plants were 

 also dry at the root, which would tend to dry up the sap in the 

 shoots, and destroy the tissue of the leaves, thus preventing 

 the plants from forming the organisable matter necessary for 

 the production of roots. 



Well, the cuttings were put in according to the gardener's 

 directions in small 32's, from fifteen to eighteen cuttings being 

 inserted in each pot, and the pots placed in a pit. September 

 passed, and no signs of rooting. " Keep them drier," was the 

 order, which made bad worse. The following three months 

 passed, and only one or two cuttings in each pot struck, whilst 

 many more had perished altogether. This was a failure from 

 which I learned much, and, although then a lad, it taught me a 

 lesson which it will take me a lifetime to forget. 



I will now describe the plan which I have adopted for several 

 years with great success in propagating and wintering Cal- 

 ceolarias. 



Any time in September I collect a lot of old leaves, half- 

 decayed dung, refuse from the kitchen garden, &c. 1 then 

 measure the width and length of my frame or frames, and make 

 my bed 2 feet thick and 2 feet wider and longer than my frame, 

 using the material I have collected more for drainage and keep- 

 ing the necessary moisture at the roots than for bottom heat, 

 which is unnecessary. On the centre of the bed I then place 

 my frame, and in it I put about (J inches of moderately rich 

 open soil, and, after levelling this, I place a little sand or grit 

 over it ; I then give a slight watering to settle the sand, and 

 the bed is quite fit for the reception of the cuttings. 



The cuttings are taken when the plants are growing moat 

 rapidly in the autumn, which is when nearly all the flowers are 

 off, and when refreshed by the September rains and dews. I take 

 off my cuttings below the third joint from the point, leaving 

 the point and one pair of fully developed leaves on the cutting. 

 After I have made a few I insert them in lines across the 

 frame at about 2J inches asunder. I then give a gentle water- 

 ing through a fine rose, and keep the frame closed. The after- 

 treatment consists in keeping them sprinkled twice aday, and 

 giving them a little shading on sunny mornings. 



When all the cuttings are struck, I give a little air, and 

 afterwards gradually inure them to the air, so as to make them 

 as hardy as possible before winter, by removing the lights 

 altogether on every favourable opportunity. By this mode of 

 treatment they are enabled to withstand several degrees o£ 

 frost with impunity. 



During winter I pack leaves, dry Fern, or straw arotind the 



