Octob«r SI, 18«7. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTDBB AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



329 



and a poor one to bloom in. They are propagated by oEfseta 

 ianmediately after removal, but must not receive any sun. 



Aulirietia ili'lloiili'ti. — Tliisis one of the prettiest little spring- 

 flowering plants I know; it does well in common garden soil, 

 and is increased by division. A bed of this plant edged with 

 white Daisy, is very pretty indeed. It does not exceed 6 inches 

 in height. 



Arabis litcida varii'gatn, and .-1. nibida, are the only varieties 

 I have in use, the former has a very pretty effect as an edging 

 next the grass, and the latter is one of the earliest blooming 

 plants we have ; its white flowers around the dark foliage of 

 the evergreens is very pretty. 



Ximiw/s.— Those named in my list of last week I generally 

 sow broadcast in common soil in the beginning of August, and 

 transplant into the beds in October or November. If any 

 failures occur, I sow again in pots in January, place them in 

 gentle heat, and when the young plants are of sufficient size I 

 harden them off gradually, and plant out in February. In this 

 way they do quite as well as when sown in August. They seed 

 freely, and if care is taken enough .seed may be saved to last 

 foi' some time, excepting in the case of CoUinsia verna ; of this 

 the current year's seed must be sown, older seed will not 

 vegetate. 



Bulbs. — Those I use are the cheap or bedding kinds bought 

 by the hundred, in mixed or distinct colours ; the single ones 

 are the best of botli Hyacinths and Tulips, and when planted I 

 place a handful of sand around each bulb. Precautions must 

 be taken against mice, which are vei-y fond of them. — Tuojias 

 RiiCOKD, Uaickliurst. 



ORCHARD-HOUSE MANAGEMENT. 



Mn. Rivers finds my short paper, page 257, amusing — in 

 wliat respect I am at a loss to know, unless that I own to have 

 been mistaken, and he appears to be fast coming to the same 

 conclusion with regard to his own practice. I hope I shall 

 never be too old to learn, or unwilling to admit my mistakes. 



I think that I cannot be wrong in contending against de- 

 stroying the surface roots of a Peach, for the sake of changing 

 a small portion of the soil in which it is growing. If it be true 

 that by covering with manure the soil in which a potted Peach 

 is growing during summer, it is less inclined to grow through 

 the bottom of the pot, but, on the contrary, roots are produced 

 where the food is supplied — that is, on the surface, may we 

 not conclude that the surface roots are the more valuable, and 

 ought to be preserved ? I do not see the force of the illustration 

 (if it be one), of the field ploughed fi or 3 inches deep, nor what 

 connection it has with the so-called top-dressing of trees in 

 pots. It might, perhaps, bear some resemblance to the pro- 

 posed plan of using pots of less depth, if the corn were drilled 

 at wider intervals. 



Mr. Rivers also contends for the term " top dressing," when 

 the operation consists in removing several inches of soil, to be 

 replaced by fresh. The term is borrowed from agriculture. 

 What does a farmer mean by it ? Is it not manure spread or 

 cast upon the surface ? We ought never to be too old to speak 

 correctly, and to show how necessary it is that such terms 

 should have a definite meaning, I will relate an anecdote. 



One day I met a gentleman very fond of his orchard-house. 

 Who said, " Well, Mr. Pearson, I have a capital crop this year, 

 but, as I think my gardener does not understand much about 

 their management, I want yoii to tell me how you are now 

 treating your plants." 



I replied that they had just been top-dressed with horse ma- 

 nure and mnlt dust. 



The next time I met him, he said, " A pretty mess yon have 

 made for me, my gardener top-dressed the plants according to 

 your directions. They have dropped nearly all their fruit, 

 some have lost their leaves, and I have no doubt will die." 



Judge of my surprise, when I found a (luantity of soil had 

 been removed, and the manure placed in contact with the un- 

 covered roots. "If you were," I asked, "told to top-dress 

 your meadow with bones or guano, would you remove the 

 turf ? " "Of course not." " Then how was it to be supposed 

 you would remove the surface soil in your pots ? " " Does not 

 Mr. Rivers, the inventor of orchard-houses, call that top- 

 dressing ? " 



What reply can be made to that question, except that I 

 ought to have remembered that he had changed the meaning 

 of the phrase, and carefully distinguished between "surface 

 dressing," and top-dressing? 



Well, I must try and remember in future, that by " top " is 

 not intended the upper surface. 



In answer to Mr. Douglas, I may say I have fruited all the 

 Peaches he mentions, and many more, and am only surprised 

 he can compare any of them with Noblesse or Grosse Mig- 

 nonne, or even with French Galande. Early York is with ma 

 the best very early variety, but in flavour never first-rate. 

 Royal George is hardly ever equal to French Galnnde, and much 

 more subject to mildew. Princess of Wales, Walburton Ad- 

 mirable, Teton de Venus, are very valuable late kinds, but 

 never here equal or nearly equal to Noblesse or to Grosse 

 Mignonne. They come in after these two are over, and are 

 indispensable to a good collection. 



Mr. Douglas's soil must be very light for his plants to re- 

 quire watering three times a-day ; his climate is, perhaps, much 

 warmer, his treatment is certainly very different, and so his 

 experience differs, as is natural. If my plants were turned out 

 in summer, they would be red enough, but not ripe. If left 

 out during winter, I should not expect them to retain their buds, 

 and if we had a cold winter, I should expect some to be killed 

 outright. If I found Peaches flagging at 11 o'clock a.ii., I should 

 think they might have been sprinkled at eight, but certainly 

 not watered. With trees flagging after being watered three 

 times in a day, I should be surprised if Mr. Douglas's ex- 

 perience in the flavour of fruits, did not differ much from mine. 

 If his soil is not very peculiar, he must " surface " dress, not 

 " top " or bottom dress with water. — J. R. Peakson, Chilwell. 



ROSE CULTURE. 



Having grown Roses on the Manetti stock for the last eleven 

 years, and considering it as, perhaps, the best stock known, I 

 have been greatly interested by Mr. Radcljile's recent papers 

 in the Journal. The pruning recommended by him is, how- 

 ever, rather new to me — viz., to leave comparatively few shoots, 

 and to leave those long; in other words, to do little more than 

 top them. Would not this make the plants " leggy," and aUow 

 the bare stems to be visible ? In my light sandy soil I have 

 found hard pruning the best ; possibly his Kne soil and excellent 

 culture might make such pruning permissible, but it may be 

 open to doubt whether for average soUs it would be the best 

 method. 



I have a Rose border or bank with about one hundred plants 

 planted 2 feet apart, aud very well they have flourished ; but I 

 see Mr. Radclyffe recommends 3 feet apart every way, would it 

 be desirable to shift them to 2} feet? 



This year, for the first time, I have followed Mr. Rivers'g 

 advice as to how to promote autumnal blooming — viz. .if a Rose 

 tree throws up twelve shoots with blossom buds, to cut away 

 half the shoots to the third or fourth eye. This I have done 

 with all my P.oses, besides those in the border mentioned ; the 

 result has been quite satisfactory, and I shall not fail to pursue 

 the same system again. My plants have been continuously in 

 flower from the end of May to the present time. — Richard 



POWLE, FkOSS. 



[If the Roses do well in the sandy soil at 2 feet apart and 

 with hard pruning, I should not alter the system. I am obliged 

 at Okeford Fitzpaine to put plants closer than I prefer. They 

 like a free circulation of air between them. I do not find my 

 plants " leggy," but bushy. — W. F. Radclyffe.] 



NEW LOBELIA LITTLE GEM. 



Rt far the best Lobelia that I have seen is Little Gem, a 

 seedling from Paxtonii, raised by Mr, Bowie, gardener to the 

 Earl of Tankerville, Chillingham Castle. The flowers are some- 

 what in tho style of those of its parent, tut with a larger 

 white blotch in the centre, and a better-defined blue margin. 

 In its robust, compact, dense, free-flowering, upright, dwarf 

 habit, it is infinitely superior to anything hitherto seen among 

 Lobelias ; moreover, it has gained the highest award the Floral 

 Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society could bestow 

 upon it — viz., a first-class certificate. As a proof of its en- 

 during qualities I may mention that the plants exhibited at 

 South Kensington on the 15th of October were lifted from the 

 flower garden, potted five days prior to that date, sent to 

 London, a distance of more than three himdred miles, and were 

 yet in such a condition as to meet the approval of the Committee. 

 The stock is still in the hands of Mr. Bowie : whoever shall 

 be successful in securing it for distribution will be fortonate 



