March 21, 1867. 1 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAJRDENEB. 



207 



At the exhibition I have referrea to there were hundreds of 

 samples of Grapes from all parts of France. Few, if any of 

 them exceeded 1 lb. in weight, and such Muscats as I saw tliere 

 were green, not having been grown in a mijiclentl,/ hiqh ta)Lpc- 

 ratun'. Those which I exhibited, though only such' as are to 

 be met with at our large metropolitan and provincial shows in 

 this country every y.ar, were, as compared with the bunches 

 around them, like Tntons among minnows, both in bunch and 

 berry, and for " H. S.'s •' information, I may state that thev 

 were cut from the Vinas that were, and still are, subject to the 

 barbarous treatment he denounces.— Wm. Thomson, Dalkeith 



JrdVK, 



TOWN GARDENING. 



(Contiiuied from paije 190.) 

 I MUST here observe, once for all, that I do not profess to 

 give directions for the proper treatment or culture of each 

 plant— that must be obtained by the inquii-ing reader from 

 your Journal, or from other sources. I am too much in the 

 uarK myse f as regards the science of horticulture to dogmatise 

 on the subject. It is only here and there that I venture to 

 oner such hints as are the result of actual experience. It will 

 nowever, be encouraging to some to know that I had no green- 

 nouse, and that mine was aU out-door work, simple plain- 

 saling, as it were. 



To return to perennial plants. Auriculas generally do well 

 out they require renewing after a few years, and ihange of 

 position No renewal of soil will do : they decay at the junc- 

 tion ot the offshoots with the main stem, and break off. The 

 Tu J"?. , i'i^^"i«« will grow, but can hardly be said to Hourish. 

 ihe chief difficulty with which I had to contend was the foliace 

 iirymg up and withering in the summer, to obviate which I 

 iised to sow around the plants early in the spring Virginian 

 stock- or some other quick-gi-owing annual, which shaded the 

 plant from the sun and generally preserved it. CEnothera tar- 

 axacifoha, a bright yellow flower, low and spreading, does well • 

 Md i may naention, though out of place, being a biennial, the 

 well-known Evening Primrose (CEnothera biennis), which rarely 

 Dowers in the first year. It commonly gi-ew to the height of 

 i or o feet near the walls, and its fragrance is delightful on a 

 stiu summer's evening ; but it has its defects, it scatters its 

 seed al over the beds, and becomes a weed unless well watched 



m.°° -^ a few plants are permitted to grow. 



Ihe small dwarf Campanula, blue and white ; Arabis albida • 

 the Aubnetia; the Fraxinella, red and white; and Saxifra^a 

 carnosa [?J all do well and increase. There is a perennial Hawk- 

 weed and a perennial Coreopsis, both of which increase : the 

 lormer is a showy rich brown and yellow flower, the Coreopsis 



P°°f- Fuchsias, the old sorts more especially, flower well 

 ana stand the winter when well established, but they require 



flonrirl fTi!" 'n ""^ 'P""- P°'entillas generally do not 

 flourish but the Geums succeed tolerably well. Aster alpinus 



L^r^ jP^'™?,'*'' ""'* P™"y "^"^'^ petals and a yellow 

 centre, does weU and increases, and is always admired. Gen- 

 tiana acauhs or Gentianella, gi-ows well, looks healthy, and 

 increases by division of the roots ; but its beautiful deep blue 

 Bowers never appear, not even a bud. On the other hand, 

 hf ui! °\ ^ff^y'^ Gentian grows poor and wiry, looking un- 

 healthy, but flowers freely, both the blue and the white The 

 bpiderwort (Tradescantia), all colours, but chiefly the purple 

 with golden eye, is a valuable plant, but must be occasionally 



hiZ! 'fl ''•i* "^'^"'"'^ *° S^°" '°° '"'-g^' tl^e outer stems 

 become flaccid and trail on the earth, and if tied up to prevent 

 this, the central flowers rot, after rain or watering, and do not 

 come to perfection. 



The Lily of the Valley is likewise most useful and agreeable 

 , ^^.grow at the roots of Lilacs and in corners wh«i-e nothing 

 else will succeed, the only care required being to prevent its 

 twitch-Uke roots from roving among plants where they are not 

 wanted. The little yellow and fragrant flower called Musk has 

 likewise a twitch root, and though it dies down in winter, it will 

 live and spring up again the following summer. It requires a 

 moist soil, or good watering. Pinks will languish for a year or 

 two. Carnations rather longer, but both requu-e to be renewed. 

 Home of the Indian Pinks, however, succeed better ; and I was 

 ^°°f ?.'Jf,P""?,'J "^ sowing, rather hopelessly, the seed of the 

 pretty little wild Pmk (Dianthus deltoides), which grows in the 

 neighbourhood, to find that it was gi-een and healthy during 

 the first year, and the second it flowered weU, a mass of bloom 

 but did not seed. 

 I must not omit the Clematis integrifolia, bearing a hand- 



some velvety flower of purple and cream colour. I grew this 

 m long iron baskets about 3! feet in height out of the ground 

 and It never failed during the whole term of my rtsidence. 1 

 had a species of Scabious which likewise continued throughout 

 the same period. I do not remember its name; its kaves 

 grow somewhat like those of the Pine Strav.br-rry and its 

 flowers are first of a greenish white, and become pink when 

 ma ured. The London Pride must not be overlooked, which 

 probably has its name from its prospering so weU .imid smoke 

 and scot ; and the blue Cornflower is also useful for variety 



1 must now notice a few that will nnl succeed. Money and 

 labour are thrown away in the attempt to cultivate Koses ^n 

 smoke ; Ihey must ha^e pure fresh air. I have Irifd all soits 

 and have bought the dwarfer kinds in pots, and plunged them 

 wiilst flowering, only to see the remaining buds refuse to open. 

 Ihe Chinese sorts are the best, if kept well watered and cut in • 

 but these rarely survive the season, and then only to betray 

 melancholy symptoms of dedine. I must not, however, omit 

 to state that I have seen in the same town, on the outside of a 

 house much exposed to smuke, a Banksian Bose, which for 

 several years blossomed well, and then decayed and died. P.-co- 

 nies, Hepaticas, and Pansies will not respond to coaxing. The 

 latter if purchased and planted in the spring will throw out 

 flowers throughout the season charily and diminishing in aize ■ 

 If they survive the winter they degenerate into the smaUest 

 Heartsease and fill the beds with seeds. A^olets do no better. 

 Garden Daisies immediately begin to degenerate to the common 

 field sorts. Antirrhinums, Columbines, and Salvias m.ike but 

 a poor figure, and will not increase. The Helleborus niger or 

 Christmas Rose, declines and dies in a season or two The 

 Phlox tribe will flower during one season, but rarely the next ■ 

 if they do, It IS only to exhibit a few miserable buds. The 

 plant Itself will continue for several years, but in a declining 

 state. It IS the same with the Delphinium family. I may 

 here state that when I succeeded to the garden I found in it a 

 a plant which, every year for twenty years, continued to grow in 

 great vigour and health to the height of from 3 to 4 feet acoord- 

 mg to the season, but never flowered; once or twice there was 

 a slight indication of buds forming in the autumn but thev 

 never came forward. I concluded it to be one of the larger 

 species of Phlox ; but, on removing a portion of it into the 

 country, to my surprise it proved to be a fine purple Michael- 

 mas Daisy with a yellow centre. A variety of the ordinary 

 Michaelmas Daisy which flowers in August, always did well ii 

 he smoke ; so did a small bushy sort, with flowers not larger 

 than a silver penny, but the remaining; sorts did not succeed. 



1 next proceed to mention bulbous plants. The whole of the 

 Lily tribe wil generally thrive, but more especiaUy the large 

 Orange and the \^Ti,te, and they plentifnlly increaia. Tiere 

 is an early orange Lily, also, growing only about 1 or IJ foot in 

 height which does well, but does not throw off fi-esh bulbs 

 so profusely as the larger sort. Lilium lancifolium roseum 

 and splendens succeed, and may be left in the ground all the 

 winter, being perfectly hardy ; but in this case the leaves, 

 though they push up with great vigour in the spring, begin to 

 decay before the flower is fully developed. The Turneap Lily 

 though It grows well, never, or very rarely, puts out a flower- 

 the Crown Imperial is nearly as shy. and the Tigridia pavonii 

 sti 1 more so In the instance of the Crown Imperial it need 

 not be regretted, for the foxy disagreeable odour from the biUb 

 more than counterbalances, in a small and confined garden, 

 any pleasure to be derived from looking at the plant. Hya- 

 cinths, Tulips Cyclamens, most kinds of Iris, and the com- 

 moner sorts of Gladiolus, succeed weU, the latter however 

 requiring some care Acouitum napellus, so named from the 



c es of V ""l r^ '"■%T"™'P^- i-^ a delicate and elegant spe- 

 cies of Monkshood, and flourishes in smoke under trees or 

 anywhere. I am sorry that I cannot include the Anemone and 

 Ranunculus m this list : there is, however, the common Globe 

 Ranunculus which answers pretty well ; and there is a valuable 

 autumnal Anemone, from Japan, growing IMo 2 feet high 

 with a good flower ,n two varieties, rose and white, but this 

 also requires watching, for it spreads itself in an unaccountable 

 manner. It is neither bulbous nor tuberous, and should be 

 purchased m the plant. Narcissi and Jonquils languish for 

 years, becoming more and more attenuated, but produce no 

 flowers. &o likewise the family of Mnscari Hv.-vcinths (the 



iClll 77, ?l'''"' ^™'"'^' ''•' ^'^l'' '^^^ ^'-^""w Crocus is 



the best; but of these the mice eat the bulbs, and of those 



which escape the sparrows peck out the buds to get at the 



, saftron, and htter the flowers about. I have often been angr^ 



