(54 



JOUKNAL OF HOllL'ICULTUaE AND COTTAGB GARDENES. 



r 25, i877. 



variety of weepiug trees, one even in its leaflesB state being 

 very conepieaouB — the golden-twigged Ash, the drooping shoots 

 feting of a ferighl rellow 'jolotir. There are mnny fine standards 

 of Caraganas, L'ntalpas. and Genista proetratp, the latter being 

 very novel, and when in flower brilliant. Gooeeberries are 

 also propagated iu this nnrsery. This large and choice collec- 

 tion of deciduous trees requires to be seen in summer, and 

 cannot fail thtu to repay anyone visiting it. 



FELTnAM.— Tbis nursery is a short distance from Hounslow. 

 It is nine or ten acres in extent, and is occupied with Conifcra 

 and evergreens, from small plants to handsomely furnished 

 fpecimons. Espoeially fine are the variegated Hollies. Yews 

 are of almost all sizes, and ia many shapos, some as flat as 

 tables, others vase-shaped, some trained as pyramids, others as 

 standards. Rhododendrons thrive hero admirably, as also do 

 Azaleas and other American plants. Welliugtonias. Heodars, 

 and Pinnsea are largely grown, Picea amabilis (true) being ex- 

 ceedingly fine. Here the Golden Spruce thows its character, 

 the npper surface of every spray being gilded as if with a 

 brilliant ray of sunshine, the under surfaces being green. 

 Here, too, is flowering the old and valuable hardy Heath, Erica 

 codnnodes. This is a real winter-flowering plant. It is of close 

 upright growth, showirg its thousands of white rose-tinted 

 flowers to great advantage. It is likely to be in great request 

 for winter bedding when its merits become known. It ia being 

 propagated by thouiiands. Not far distant from this nursery 

 another plot of fifteen acres has been secured, and is being 

 stocked with trees and shrubs. The I'eltham Nursery is 

 mB,ragod by Mr. Pixon. and it is only just to say that it does 

 him much credit. 



Ealinu. — This is four or five miles distant from Hounslow, 

 and is convenient of access from the Great Western Railway. 

 The soil is a rich tenacious loam, admirably suited for the 

 growth of fruit trees and Roses, to which twenty-five acres of 

 ground aro devoted. The Eoees have nearly all gone, but the 

 few hundreds left tell of their robust character. The fruit 

 trees, too, are as good as trees can be — clean, healthy, and 

 well furnished. Thero are trees to suit all tastes— pjramidf. 

 standard'', espaliers, cordons, end on stocks whioh experience 

 has proved the most suitable for the several varieties. The 

 Apples number about four hundred varieties, and one more 

 useful sort has just been negotiated for— the true Russian 

 Transparent. Pears are similarly numerous, and the collec- 

 tions of all other hardy fruits, trained and untrained, are very 

 complete. There is a large house for the cultivation of Peaches 

 and Nectarines in pots, and the stock of these trees is excellent. 

 This nursery is in charge of Mr. Cannon. Such is an outline 

 of this oM and extensive business, which throughout a period 

 of upwards of a century was never in higher repute than now. 



CULTURE OF THE CVCLAMEN. 



Or all winter and spring-flowering plants none have lisen to 

 so much repute during late years as the Cyclamen persicum, 

 for its blooming period may be prolonged from the latter end 

 of October until the latter end of April. Most growers sow 

 the seed when it is ripe, and others not until the latter end of 

 .January. But it is always preferable to sow the seed in 

 August, as then the plants have a longer growing period and 

 will make larger plants. If sown in August the plants must 

 be kept growing in an intermediate house close to the glass 

 during the winter, and be grown cool in the summer. Seed- 

 lings always bloom the earliest in the season, and old plants 

 later on. 



The seed may be now town in pans in equal parts of loam 

 and leaf soil and placed on a hotbed, where the seeds will soon 

 germinate. After the second leaves of the young plants are 

 discernible prick the seedlings out into pans in the same kind 

 of compost aa the soed was sown iu, and place them back on 

 the hotbed oloso to the glass ; it is not advisable to place the 

 bulbs under thtt soil at this shift. After the plants have made 

 a few leaves repot them into small t'lU'a in a luixturu of two 

 parts yellow loam, one part cow dung, and one part leaf foil, 

 with a sprinkling of river sand, and if convenient place them 

 in a pit whore thero is a cool bottom and a temperature of 

 abont l)j'. They muet be repotted into Jy's about the middle 

 of .Tune, keeping the bulbs well up to prevent the water from 

 settling in the crov.'cs. Sprinkle overhead on fine days and 

 shade from bri(.'ht sunshine. By the middle of Augutt dis- 

 continue spriukHng overhead and give an abundance of air 

 night and day ; a httle manure water at this stage will be 

 beneficial. It will bo better for the plants if they are now 



placed on a stagf? so as to have a free circulation of air among 

 them, for they dislike damp. If they have been attended to as 

 lurtin directed they will commence blooming by the lattci 

 (nd of October. 



After they have done blooming give enough water to keep 

 the leaves from flagging, and place them in a dry and well- 

 aired situation under glass. The best time to repot them is 

 when they begin making fresh growth. It is best to grow tha 

 old plants under cool treatment, keeping them well ventilated. 

 —A. Y. 



FORETHOUGHT REijUIIiED IN GARDENING 



MATTERS. 

 PEEHArs there is no occupation that calls for more fore- 

 thought than that of the gardener in a responsible position , 

 for not only has he to tax his brain with what is likely to be the 

 wants of the family he serves during the current or comirg 

 year, but ho has to cast his mind still further ahead, and pro- 

 pagate or prepare fruit trees and ehrnbs which may be wanted 

 years hence. Besides fruit trees and shrubs other crops, such 

 as Asparagus, Seakale. SUawberries, Ac, require hi.-^ attention ; 

 for although these last several years, yet nevertheless they 

 have a period of usafulnces allotted them, after which they are 

 no longer profitable, but must ba succeeded by others, which 

 it becomes the prudent manager to provide in time equally as 

 much as the reqnifito number of bedding plants are by those 

 whose study is to make the best display postiblo iu their 

 flower beds. Now to do all this eflictually is no slight tax on tho 

 thinking powers of the person in charge, because, cpnrt from 

 what is the ordinary routine — the regular work — theje may be 

 much extra work in some departoient or other. The pleasure 

 ground may he enlarged, or new walks or drives formed which 

 it maybe advisable to embellish with shrubs, and if a quantity 

 can be brought forward in readiBesB for such alterations the 

 advantage will be great. It is better to have plenty of small 

 shrubs rather than a few very large specimens. Nothing 

 tends to enliven a walk or drive through a coppice or wood of 

 deciduous trees so much as a plentiful sprinkling of evergreen 

 shrubs, and it often happens that there is room f jr improve- 

 ment to be made this way in' the most complete places so 

 called. At the time when old walks or drives were formed 

 choice flowering shrubs or evergreens were possibly not so 

 plentiful as now, so that we must not accuse those who made 

 these drives, Ac. , of lacking liberality or knowledge of snch 

 matter?, but simply the means were not at hand ; whereas now- 

 a-days nurserymen are scattered all over the country, snd 

 choice shrubs. As . exist iu countless profusion, and are to be 

 met with at a reasonable rate — very reasonable indeed in many 

 cases, and the experience of the last few years has pointed out 

 how impoitant a part these are capable of playing in decorat- 

 ing piivate drives and public places. Kven some of the wastes 

 that have been taktu in near large towns which, though for- 

 merly producing only weeds and Gorse. now glitter with Rho- 

 dodendrons and other shrub?, to tbe delight of all who look at 

 them. Hollies also are eiinally beautiful in their way, and 

 where they exist as an undergrowth in tome well mensged 

 woods nothing possible cm look better; but they are cever- 

 thelesa not the easiest shrubs by any means to transplant sud 

 do well, and it will often be fonnd that the place where they 

 exist in the greatest ptrfection is where they have been planted 

 by Dame Nature. But where the soil is suitable other fhrnba 

 also seem capable of being naturalised. The broad-lea^ed 

 Berberry, or Mahonia as it is more properly called, will sow 

 and propagate itself where the soil and situation favours its 

 doing so; and I believe the same is the case with B. I'arwinii, 

 which is still more beautiful. But the shrub of all shiubs for 

 decorating some dry-looking sterile waste is the lihododf ndron. 

 This beautiful evergreen is now making its way over moors 

 and commons, and into plantations of all kinds, being often 

 planted extensively for game cover, and is not injured so much 

 as most other shrubs by that pest of all kinds of vegetation 

 tbe rabbit ; but to say that it is never attacked by these vermin 

 is saying too much, for I have known thousands of Rhododen- 

 drons destroyed by rabbits, perhaps not eaten or partook of 

 as food, but bit oil as thtygrew. I may further add that 

 rabbits have a particular relish for the choicest varieties. I 

 do not know how to attribute this, but I suppose it ia from 

 that inherent instinct they have for mischiefmaking they 

 choose the best. 



Examples of the accommodating capacity of the Ehodo- 

 dendron to various situations are numerous. I need only call 



