272 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 11, 1870. 



many places some feet in the clay, to afford a rapid escape for 

 the water. We so manage them that they come under or by the 

 side of the hole for the tree, which was dug 2 feet deep and 

 abont 8 or 10 feet in diameter ; stones were put into the hole to 

 the depth of 1 foot, and covered with branches. We then had 

 four loads of turf from the sides of fields, roads, in fact from 

 wherever we could lay hands on it. We also had ono load of 

 rotten farmyard manure, and the same of leaf mould. I should 

 like a load of Baud or grit. These materials, well mixed with 

 the soil thrown out of the hole, made a mound 2 feet high in 

 the centre, running off to the original surface. 



Tho trees i planted last year in this way are doing remark- 

 ably well, while others, planted previously without any prepa- 

 ration, were generally doing so badly that many of tht-m have 

 been served in the same way this year. 



The following are a few which will succeed in a well-drained 

 bog without any preparation : — Cuprcseus, Thujas, Crypto- 

 merias, and others. 



It may be worth adding that, three years ago, the top of a 

 fine Araucaria was broken off while removing it. It commenced 

 making a new leader the same year, but very slowly. It is 

 now a foot long, and I fancy the bottom part of the tree has 

 been improved by it.— J. T., Naesgwynnc, South Wales. 



THE OYSTEll PLANT AND ITS CULTIVATION. 



The increasing scarcity of that dainty shell-fiBh, the oyster, 

 so dear in every sense of the word to epicurean tastes, may 

 perhaps help to push into notice this plant, and lead to its 

 being more cultivated and used either as a vegetable or a salad. 



I have cultivated it for some year3, merely as a curiosity, 

 and I had at one time as many as between three and four 

 hundred plants, which the frequent inroads of visitors, with 

 requests for " just two or three of them," speedily made fewer. 

 It is the Pulmonaria maritima of some botanists, the Mer- 

 tensia maritima of others, and is well known from the curious 

 fact that its fleshy leaves taste exactly like good, fresh oysterr. 

 When allowed to flower, the plant is of a trailing habit, with 

 pointed, oval, glaucous leaves, tho bloom upon which seems to 

 bo a saline incrustation. When cultivated, and the flower 

 stems pinched off as they appear, the leaves grow about 

 4 inches in length, and are thick and succulent, little less so 

 than those of tho Ice Plant, and, like them, always cool to the 

 touch and taste. Although a native of some of the coldest 

 shores of Britain, those of the West Highlands and the He- 

 brides, it can yet appreciate, and seem3 to like best, one of the 

 warmest spots in the garden. 



Its culture is extremely simple, and may be stated in a very 

 few words. Any time between the present week and the middle 

 of next month, procure a number of small plants, tho smaller 

 the better, and with as much of the root attached as possible. 

 For their reception, form a small trench by throwing out the 

 soil one spit deep to each side. Fill this nearly full of very 

 rotten hotbed dung, dig it over again, so as to mix the dung 

 thoroughly with the soil in the bottom of the trench, then re- 

 turn that previously thrown out, and the result will be a ridge 

 8 or lOi nohes high; level this on the top, and put in the 

 plants with a trowel or dibber, taking care the roots are put 

 well down. If tho soil is of a light, porous nature, this is all 

 that is required ; but if at all heavy and inclined to clay, sand 

 must be plentifully mixed wilh it, and the ridges made some- 

 what higher, as anything like stagnant moisture about the 

 crowns during winter is sure to kill off the plants. When 

 fairly growing, a dash of salt along the row during a wet day 

 seems very agreeable to them. Pinch off the flower shoots as 

 they appear, and also the heads, if they have any, of such 

 slugs as may be found " prospecting " about for an oyster 

 supper. 



Under the foregoing treatment good large leaves will be ob- 

 tained, and what to do with them will become the question. 

 On this subject the French oracles are dumb ; not within the 

 whole range of culinary literature is the Oyster Plant even 

 mentioned, and the presiding genius of that eminently prac- 

 tical department only thinks that if they are good for anything, 

 they may, perhaps, do instead of Spinach; but for patties, 

 " What an idea ! " Well, I have had the leaves cooked as 

 Spinach, than wbieh they are infinitely better, which is 

 certainly not saying very much ; but by this process much of 

 the oyster flavour is lost. I might also mention other ways in 

 wnioh the plant has been prepared, and highly relished by 

 some, though in fairness I must add, by others pronounced 



just a little green. However, some second Soyer may yet 

 arise and touch the Mertensia with his wand, and give oyster- 

 lovers a new sensation. — Aveshiee Gabdenee. 



REMOVING THE FOLIAGE OF PEACH TREES. 



Most gardeners have been taught to regard the leaf of a plant 

 as one of the principal organs of its existence, and to deprive 

 a plant of any portion of its foliage without due consideration 

 is, no doubt, a very dangerous practice. Nevertheless, in our 

 daily operations we often find it necessary to remove what we 

 call superfluous foliage, and consider it an advantage to the 

 plants. If so, is it beneficial to the Peach trees growing against 

 walls to remove a portion of their foliage in autumn ? Some 

 people do so every autumn, oven if there is no need, while 

 others consider the practice barbarous at any time. I have 

 been in the habit of removing the leaves every autumn with a 

 few twigs of Birch, and have not found any injury resulting 

 from the process. My reasons for it are the following : — 



In this locality the Peach and Nectarine trees are remarkable 

 for the length of time they retain their foliage in autumn, and 

 in some unfavourable seasons the leaves remain on the trees in 

 an apparently healthy state nearly to Christmas ; such foliage 

 is always at the extremity of the most vigorous shoots, which 

 bespeaks an unripened condition of the wood. Now, if we are 

 to regard healthy foliage as a proof of activity in the tree, it 

 can hardly be profitable to allow leaf-action to go on at such an 

 unseasonable time of the year; for the ripening of the wood is 

 retarded, and consequently rest ; moreover, the trees are over- 

 taken by frost, which, under these conditions, is very injurious. 

 Where such circumstances arise the soil is generally, as in this 

 neighbourhood, of a very tenacious nature, very slow in accu- 

 mulating warmth in the spring, but retaining it till late in 

 autumn ; consequently the crops are often very backward in the 

 spring, but most luxuriant towards the autumn. It appears to 

 me, that iu such a soil, and in an unfavourable season, the Peach 

 tree has not time enough to do its work ; because in the summer 

 of 18G5,and again in 18G8, the trees brought every one of their 

 fruit to perfection, and completed their growth and ripened 

 their wood in a much shorter time — not so with other seasons, 

 for much of the fiuit did not ripen, and the growth was more 

 vigorous in September than at any other time. Doubtless the 

 best remedy for this state of things is to provide thorough 

 drainage to the borders, and increase the porosity of the soil 

 by a liberal addition of mortar rubbish and road drift. Water 

 would then percolate through the soil freely, the ground would 

 become more speedily heated, and thus an earlier and more 

 seasonable growth would be encouraged. No doubt there are 

 many parts of the country similarly circumstanced, and I think 

 it better to recommend the removal of the foliage than run the 

 risk of injuring the tree by allowing it to continue its growth 

 under such unfavourable conditions. A fine, warm autumn is 

 beneficial to all kinds of fruit trees, and to the Peach and Nec- 

 tarine particularly. — Thomas Becoed, Lillesden. 



ERANTHEMUMS. 



Eraxthehujis have foliage of exquisite beauty, and ought to 

 find a place in all collections of stove plants, in which they 

 constitute a very attractive feature. They are of very free 

 growth, of easy culture, and quickly make excellent specimens. 



Ekanthehum ederovexiem, a distinct and beautiful little 

 plant, rivals in delicacy of veining the favourite Anajctochilus, 

 but is of more easy culture. It may be grown in a basket or a 

 pan. Suspended from the roof in a basket, it has a fine effect, 

 as it likewise has when grown in a pan, so as to admit of its 

 being closely inspected. It is also very beautiful when culti- 

 vated in miniature rockwork in a stove, with Ferns or choice 

 plants. It very quickly covers the rockwork, and it loves to 

 grow in a shady moist atmosphere. I grow mine in gocd fibrous 

 peat and silver sand, to which I add a little loam and cocoa-nut 

 refuse ; for drainage I use charcoal. In this compost the plant 

 quickly forms a lovely specimen. 



Eranthemtjm kjhbtjm, — This charming species comes frcm 

 Peru. The long oval leaves are of an obscure dark green, 

 covered with a diamond-like dust, through which there appear 

 a central band and veins of golden yellow, shaded with fiery 

 red in the central part. When the sun is shining upon it, the 

 effect is very fine. 



Eeanthemtjm sanguinolentuh, a compact erect-growing 

 plant, requires pinching to form a bushy specimen. It has 



