March 31, 1S70. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



245 



more numerous, and the habit of plant was more dense. It 

 is a plant vrell deserving of more cultivation. — R. M. 



[All the Lopezias at present known are natives of Mexico. 

 We do not know a species called myrtifolia. Was it not a 

 mistake, and ought it not to have been macrophylla ? This 

 is portraited in the " Botanical Magaziue," t. 4724, and is so 

 like a Fuchsia when looked at from a distance, that the German 

 gardeners call it fuchsioides. — Ens.] 



CHRYSANTHEMUM CULTURE. 



LiST year I grew a splendid lot of about five dozen, nil in 

 pots, without the least solid manure. I took off the cuttings 

 about the middle of June, struck them in a cold frame, and on 

 the 12th of July transferred them from the frame to their bloom- 

 ing pots. They were shaded for a few days, and then placed out 

 of doors in the full blaze of a July sun. Each plant was topped 

 once, about a week after its transference from the frame. 

 Water was given as needed, once, twice, and sometimes thrice 

 a-day. 



By October 10th, the day on which they were removed into 

 the house, they were all large, bat manageable plants, thickly 

 set with blooms, feathered to their base, and every leaf of the 

 most beautiful green. I was surprised and pleased with my 

 success. My neighbours looked in ; and a representative of the 

 press looked in, took notes, and gave them to the public. The 

 general remark was, '-How beautifully you have grown them ! 

 What do you give them ?" To this my invariable answer was, 

 " Chamber slops and nothing else." I believe some were in- 

 credulous, seeing the quantity and quality of the bloom. 



Seeing the effect of these slops, I have during the past 

 winter poured this liquid in quantities among my Roses. 

 Already I see the result in quickly-swelling and plump buds. 



I should mention that I cut blooms of Queen of England, 

 and Alfred Salter, fnlly 5£ inches in diameter. Annie Salter, 

 too, was particularly we'll filled up. The soil used was rotten 

 turf, nothiDg else. — W. T. 



|_You have excellent varieties, and have been very successful 

 in their culture. Ton ask whether the Japanese varieties will 

 succeed out of doors ? Nearly all of them are late-flowering, 

 and only suitable for the greenhouse and conservatory. The 

 only one that will bloom well in the open ground is James 

 Salter, which is very early and very free-flowering. The cul- 

 ture is not different from that of the other varieties. Among 

 the Chinese Chrysanthemums you name, the best for pot cul- 

 ture and specimens, are Beethoven, Pink Perfection, Rival 

 Little Harry, Rotundiflorum, John Salter, Princess of Teck, 

 Virgin Queen, and Lady Harding. Hetty Barker is the same 

 as Cleopatra, and Miss Mary Morgan the same as Pink Per- 

 fection. — Eds.] 



MANURES— LIQUID.— No. 2. 



Liquid manure, from the ease of its application, and the 

 quickness with which it is absorbed, is for many purposes one 

 of the best forms of administering food to plants, especially 

 in those cases where immediate action is desirable. It comes 

 to our hands in various guises. Nature offers her most precious 

 contribution in the form of urine. Liquid manure can be 

 compounded, too, in different ways and from a variety of ma- 

 terials, such as soot, guano, sheep, cow, or deer duDg, and a 

 number of other fertilising agents which it is unnecessary to 

 name here, and it is also universally placed at the disposal of 

 rich and poor in its mojt familiar form and greatest abundance 

 as house sewage. To the value of this the public mind appears 

 to be gradually awakening, afier a wasteful carelessness which 

 has gone on for many generations ; the sewage polluting the 

 clear waters of our streams, lying exposed in gutters under 

 the very windows of our cottages, impregnating the sur- 

 rounding air with its fever-laden breath, poisoning the very 

 water we drink, and thus becoming a source of disease where, 

 if rightly used, it ought to be one of our greatest blessings. 



Sewage, then, it must be granted, ought to rank high in our 

 list of manures, for to the uso of no other fertiliser can so 

 many good reasons be assigned, as to this, the commonest of 

 all. Charged with those rich gases so necessary to vegetation, 

 and yet sufficiently diluted to be used as it is drawn from tank 

 or cistern, it is not only admirably adapted to increase the 

 yield of all growing crops, but it may be used with perfect 

 safety by persons entirely ignorant of its chemical properties. 

 It is best stored in a close cistern having a suitable pump 



attached, as all nuisance is avoided, no evaporation can occur, 

 and its strength is therefore retained. If this cannot be done, 

 and it is at all exposed to the air, some fixer or deodoriser 

 must be used. Of the many agents available for this purpose, 

 powdered gypsum is one of the best. Thompson, in his " Gar- 

 dener's Assistant," says, " The power of fixing ammonia which 

 gypsum possesses, will only prove effectual when water is 

 present in sufficient quantity. Accordingly it is moBt ad- 

 vantageously used in the case of liquid manures ; but for fixing 

 the ammonia of solid manures it does not answer nearly so 

 well." This sulphate arrests the escape of the ammonia, and 

 so changes its nature that exposure to the air does not im- 

 mediately affect it, but as all exposed manure, whether liquid 

 or solid, i3 undoubtedly in danger of Ioes, it is well to use it as 

 quickly as possible. 



In the application of solid manure to the soil, it is certain 

 that it can never be so evenly distributed as a liquid manure, 

 yet although this fact is self-evident, it is very rarely that the 

 utility of the one is at all affected by the other. Solid manures 

 are, as a rule, applied to the soil in the absence of crops, 

 by which means the ground is in most instances enriched 

 sufficiently for ordinary crops, but in the case of such gross 

 feeders as most of the Cabbage tribe, Celery, and the like, the 

 use of liquid manure during their growth is highly beneficial. 

 If given with a lavish hand, not once, but constantly, it tends 

 to promote that free quick growth so desirable, and which 

 gives the sweet ciispness to Celery and salading, the curd-like 

 whiteness to Cauliflowers, the freedom from " strings " in 

 Turnips, and assists in the development of all those high 

 qualities so essential in first-class vegetables. With the pro- 

 fessional gardener it is not quality versus quantity, but quality 

 and quantity as intimately combined as possible. 



Liquid manure, or manure in solution, is best suited for use 

 amongst growing crops, for owing to its liquid state it is im- 

 mediately absorbed by the spongioles of plants, and its bene- 

 ficial action is quickly apparent. Fruit trees, too, are much 

 benefited by frequent waterings of it while the crop is swelling. 

 " See what my black water has done," said a person to me 

 once, as he pointed to some fine bunches of Grapes hanging on 

 a Vine which had been fed with rich liquids. The exercise 

 of some caution is, however, requisite in regard to its use 

 amongst fruit trees, because hardly any monster specimens of 

 fruit can be forced to their abnormal dimensions without 

 flavour being sacrificed to size. Our aim here should there- 

 fore be to assist Nature rather than to force her ; and if fruit 

 trees, by the application of rich stimulating liquids to their 

 roots, are enabled to thoroughly mature their crops of fruit so 

 that it may attain it3 highest excellence in point of size and 

 flavour, without the tree evincing the slightest sign of ex- 

 haustion in root or branch, nothing more can be desired, and 

 this is just the point to aim at. 



Some judgment and experience are requisite to enable one to 

 decide upon the exact quantity of liquid manure to be given. 

 If the liquid be applied occasionally from the time the fruit 

 begins to swell till it approach ripeness, carefully watching the 

 progress of the fruit, and letting that be the guide as to the 

 quantity to be used, very little harm can happen, especially if 

 it be remembered that the use of liquid manure is not recom- 

 mended to promote wood growth, but simply to assist the tree 

 in bringing its crop to maturity. — Edwakd Lcckhuest, Eger- 

 ton House Gardens, Kent. 



THE FIG AND ITS CULTURE— No. 4. 



Trees in Pots. — The Fig succeeds extremely well as a pot 

 plant, and bears fruit even more profusely when so cultivated 

 than when planted out under any form. The plant is naturally 

 a gross feeder, and, if allowed, becomes exceedingly luxuriant 

 and rapid in its growth, producing gross watery shoots, which 

 hear but little fruit, especially when in a young state. Plants 

 in pots are entirely under the control of the cultivator, and may 

 be moulded at pleasure. The prettiest and most natural form 

 for the plant, and one which answers exceedingly well in induc- 

 ing fruitfulness, is that of dwarf standards, having a clear stem 

 of from 8 to 12 inches or more in height, as fancy may dictate, 

 from the surface of the pot to the commencement of the head. 

 The head or branches of the plant may then be trained after 

 whatever fashion may seem most desirable — flat-spreading, 

 bush, or pyramidal. The low bush form may also he adopted, 

 but it is not nearly so handsome or so satisfactory as when the 

 plant is on a clean stem of some few inches in height. 



To explain fully the way in which a Fig tree is so formed or 



