a 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ January 20, 1870. 



variety, we may expect to find Aucubas forming quite a fea- 

 ture of our future gardening, and especially town gardening. 

 Already we have many beautiful varieties, both male and 

 female, all of which seem to be equally hardy with the common 

 sort, and I have no doubt of the new kinds receiving an equal 

 share of our attention. The kinds that I have seen most 

 of are : — 



.1 ..,. '. — Green leaves ; distinct and fine. Male. 



A. japoni mascu elegans. — Leavos of a plain green, with an 

 irregular golden blotch in the centre, having a deeply-toothed margin. 

 Male. 



A. japoti ' solor. — Large green leaves, with an irregular 



stripe of whitish yellow along the centre. TZ^. 



f. japo -Rather long narrow green leaves. 



Male. 



A.japonica limhata. — Leaves with a broad white stripe in the centre, 

 equal in width to about one-third of the leaf ; the margin of the leaf 

 green. It is by far the finest of all the variegated-leaved sorts. 



. — Leaves green, longer and narrower than 

 in most varieties. It is of elegant growth, and one of the best of the 

 green-leaved sorts. The leaves are deeply serrated. 



' /' vudaica. — Leavos bold, serrated, and bright glossy green ; very 

 free in growth. This and the preceding are in my opinion the (future 

 ' Laurels of town gardens." 



A. japouva /'>,, *.,,:>. — Green leaves, being, perhaps, the original of 

 the common variety, now known as A. maculata, and, like it, bearing 

 a profusion of coral-red berries. i'.^S? 



A.japor, -- — Broad, plain green leaves, notched~with 



shallow teeth ; very distinct and handsome from foliage aloni 



A.j'iponi', L i'cta. — Leaves with a broad blotch of yellow in the 

 centre, and an irregular margin of green ; edges coarsely serrated. 

 Male. 



A.japonica vera. — Leaves of a bright dark green. Apparently a 

 highly-ornamental shrub. 



A. japonica grandis. — Leaves very large, deeply and irregularly 

 serrated, and of a beautiful dark green. Female. 



A.japonica marmorata, — Leaves deeply toothed, bright deep green, 

 spotted all over with yellow ; very fine. Female. 



Excepting A. limbata, there is none of the variegated sorts 

 equal to the old kind, and as a berry-bearer it is most prolific. 

 All the varieties named are, however, well worthy of cultiva- 

 tion ; and such green-leaved kinds a6 A. longifolia, himalaica, 

 and grandis cannot, in my opinion, he too extensively propa- 

 gated, as they are certain to be in great demand for town 

 gardens. 



All Aucubas are readily increased from cuttings put in under 

 a cold frame, from the end of August to the end of September, 

 in sandy soil, and kept close, shaded, and protected from frost 

 by a covering of mats in severe weather. The best cuttings 

 are those of the current year's growth, with a small portion or 

 heel of the two-year-old wood. By the following autumn they 

 will be rooted, when they may be removed and planted. Any 

 riot rooted may be again put in under the frame. They should 

 have air in mild weather, drawing off the lights, but protection 

 from heavy rains and from frost. During bright days keep on 

 the lights, but shade and admit air by tilting the lights. After 

 Apiil the lights may be withdrawn. Water as required in 

 summer. 



Propagation by cuttings, answering as it does well for the 

 old kind, is too slow a process for increasing the stock of the 

 new varieties. These should be worked on the common kind. 

 Every eye will make a plant in about half the time that we 

 could hope for from a cutting of a length sufficient to form 

 half a dozen grafts ; and when we find that half a dozen 

 plants in place of one can thus be obtained, and in less time, 

 no one can fail to see the advantage of grafting as compared 

 to propagation by cuttings. The grafting is a very simple 

 process. Place in 4 or 6-inch pots as many plants of the oom- 

 mon Aucuba as are wanted. Their stems should be clean, and 

 in thickness about half that of the little finger. Place them 

 in a cold frame, and this being done early in September, the 

 plants will be ready for grafting in six weeks, and will continue 

 fit for use up to March. Being in a frame, the stocks are 

 always in condition. The best time for operating is, probably, 

 in autumn, after growth ceases, and the wood has become firm, 

 and early in spring before the scions commence growth. The 

 branch is cut into lengths of an eye each in a slanting direc- 

 tion from the back of each eye or leaf, and about half an inch 

 above it, preserving the top or growing point also for a graft 

 after the shoot has been out up into as many lengths as there 

 are eyes with joints far enough apart. An inch, or an inch 

 and half, is quite long enough. Care must be taken of the 

 leaf from each eye, or rather each leaf, at the base of which is 

 a bud. The scions are put on the stocks quite close to the 



surface of the soil, and as shown in the accompanying wood- 

 cut. This method is a sort of side-grafting, as the head of the 

 stock is not cut away until the grafts show, by their growing, 

 that the union is effected; then it is cut off close to the soion. 

 This is done when the 

 eye of the scion begins to 

 grow. The scion is se- 

 curely tied with a strip of 

 matting, taking care that 

 the barks of scion and 

 stock meet each other 

 exactly on one, if not both 

 sides. Set the plants in 

 a frame placed inside a 

 house from which frost is 

 excluded, but no more, 

 and daub the light or lights 

 with a size of whiting and 

 milk, which will give an 

 agreeable shade. Keep 

 the lights closed, and see 

 that the plants have water 

 as required. Do not give 

 any air, or but a very 

 little, in case of damp, 

 until the scions begin to 

 grow ; then by degrees ad- 

 mit air, increasing the 

 amount with the growth, 

 and hardening-off gradu- 

 ally. The grafts will make 

 good plants in a year. 



Plants obtainedby graft- 

 ing are just as good as 

 those from cuttings, and 

 when they are planted out 

 the junction of the stock 

 and scion should be co- 

 vered with soil, and in due 

 course a mass of fibres 

 will be pn d iced from that 

 part. Grafting, then, is 

 not only the most speedy 

 means of obtaining a stock of the new sorts, but on their own 

 roots — strong, vigorous plants, and very many more of them. 



Producing berries, as the female varieties do freely, it is from 

 these that we may look for new varieties, both green-leaved and 

 variegated. The seeds are usually ripe in April or May. They 

 may then be separated from the pulp, placed in dry sand for a 

 few days, and afterwards sown in good, rich, light soil, cover- 

 ing them from one-half to three-quarters of an inch with fine 

 sandy soil. Set the pots in a cool greenhouse, cold pit, or 

 frame, protecting them from sun by shading, and using mats 

 as a covering in severe weather, the soil being kept moist, but 

 not saturated. In the course of a year the plants will appear. 

 When large enough to handle they may be potted-off and con- 

 tinued in a cold greenhouse until established, and then planted 

 out in the open ground, though they will grow more freely 

 kept under glass for a time ; or planting out may be deferred 

 until they become strong. However, as hardy plants, the less 

 pampered they are the better. The novelty of treating them 

 as pot plants will soon wear out. To save space, the berries 

 may be kept in damp sand in a flower pot until the February 

 after gathering, and may then be sown. 



The rage at present is all for berried Aucubas, which cer- 

 tainly are fine ornaments for the greenhouse when bearing 

 good clusters of their coral red berries. They are in season 

 for decorative purposes from midwinter to spring, and from the 

 great substance of the leaves they will stand in a cold room 

 longer than many others, whilst in cold halls and rooms, and 

 those not overlight, Aucubas are very useful, as tender plants 

 cannot be placed there without injury, whereas the Aucuba 

 will bear a three-months' sojourn without any great, if any, 

 injury. Flowering, as the male does, several weeks or months 

 before the female plant, we have to resort to artificial fer- 

 tilisation. The female plants that are showing largely for 

 flower should be taken up early in spring, or as they com- 

 mence swelling the buds, and be placed in pots sufficiently 

 large to hold their roots without cramping. They should then 

 be set in a light, airy position in a cool house or pit. This 

 will cause the female flowers to expand earlier, and the male 

 plants being retarded by keeping them in a cool place, the 



