416 



JOUKNAL OP HOBTICUIiTDBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[ June 7, 1877. 



the garden. To apply such manures as guano, soot, and 

 nitrate of soda during dry windy weather is wasteful. The 

 most valuable properties of these fertilisers are volatile and 

 have a natural tendency to evaporate. They may come 

 down again sometimes {for nothing is lost), but they may 

 then not only be diluted but fall on other people's crops. 

 When you have them make sure of applying them to the crops 

 yon intend them for, and you make the more sure of that by 

 using them during rain. 



■i* The quantity to be applied depends, of course, on the manure 

 used. If I had the choice of one fertiliser only I should select 

 genuine guano, and if my garden soil was heavy I should 

 require nothing to mix with it ; but if light and hot in its 

 nature I should covet some common salt. Guano alone, or 

 mixed with one-third of salt for dry soils, and spread over the 

 surface during damp weather at the rate of, say, 2 ozs. per 

 square yard, will increase the value of any crop to which it is 

 applied. To destroy slugs half the quantity, or less in dry 

 weather, will be found highly beneficial. Superphosphate of 

 lime is a safe and valuable fertiliser, and is suitable for 

 sprinkling amongst small seedling crops of flowers and vege- 

 tables which guano might injure. These two mixed together 

 are excellent for Potatoes, being quick in their action and 

 lasting in their effects. But the most prompt of all the ferti- 

 lisers is nitrate of soda. It will, if spread at the rate of 2 cwt. 

 per acre, change the appearance of a Grass or Wheat crop in a 

 few days, as it will that of any garden crop, especially of the 

 Brassica family ; it is a valuable stimulant for early Cabbages 

 and Cauliflowers, also for Celery, Lettuces, etc. : half an ounce, 

 or less, to the square yard is sufficient for these crops. Soot is 

 a real gardener's friend if he is not afraid of using it. It 

 consists of finely divided charcoal, and contains salts of ammo- 

 nia. It must not be mixed with quicklime, or those salts will 

 be decomposed, but it may be mixed with a small quantity of 

 salt with advantage for dry soils. I know of no crops to which 

 a liberal dressing of soot is applied that are not benefited 

 thereby. It is excellent for Onions. Salt alone is very useful 

 for dry soils on account of its great affinity for moisture. The 

 soil of Asparagus beds where it has been used freely are often 

 cool and moist in summer when the surrounding ground is hot 

 and dry — even dusty. 



If a gardener has at his command any or all of the fertilisers 

 named, and uses them judiciously, he will not only be able to 

 increase the productiveness of the garden in his charge, but 

 will not require such large supplies of stable manure as would 

 otherwise be necessary to sustain the fertility of heavily cropped 

 ground. 



An important advantage in the case of guano and soot is 

 their value for making liquid manure of the best quality. — 

 A Eetieed Gabdener. 



FLOEISTS' FLOWERS EAISED FROM SEED. 



Polyanthus. — The common Primrose (Primula acaulis), is 

 the original species. Polyanthus being a variety. It is indeed 

 astonishing what a great improvement is effected in the Prim- 

 rose by subjecting it to cultivation. The common Primrose 

 reproduces itself with astonishing uniformity in nature, yet if 

 we transplant some coloured varieties among them, or near, we 

 soon find the coloured on the increase, and what sight is finer 

 than a border of Primroses in spring ? The various colours — 

 primrose, white, lilac, and several shades of red up to deep 

 crimson, even almost black, form a very pleasing combination, 

 especially if backed with Auriculais and Polyanthuses. 



Primulas and Polyanthuses thrive admirably in any position, 

 but prefer shade in summer. The finest border I ever saw 

 was about 3 feet wide, on two sides of a Quick hedge about 

 4 feet high and about 100 yards long. The east side of the 

 hedge was a sloping bank. It had been planted with common 

 and coloured Primroses. They had seeded, converting the 

 slope into a bank of incomparable beauty during spring, whilst 

 on the other (garden) side of the hedge — west, was a flat border 

 filled with Polyanthuses in great variety. Both borders were 

 beautiful, the remembrance of them still lingers in my mind as 

 one of the brightest eights of boyhood, and the Auriculas that 

 occupied the east border of the garden were a sight not to be 

 forgotten. 



Why these reminiscences ? Because I have before me daily 

 a line of coloured Primroses and Polyauthuses in a border, or 

 rather forming a margin to a border of Laurels, and the eye 

 not only looks back but onward ; for how many borders are 

 cheerless in spring when there are materials at hand for render- 



ing them beautiful ? It is truly astounding what a number of 

 seedlings spring-up about the old plants. To transplant them 

 when they can weU be handled in moist weather to the sides of 

 shrubbery and woodland walks is not much trouble, and the 

 charm they would impart would be more than compensating ; 

 besides, the insects would make their presence felt upon them, 

 causing them to show in their progeny a commingling of colour. 

 In this I am borne out by facts, for in the woods here are 

 myriads of Primroses, the whole landscape being strewed as it 

 were by the acre with them, not a specimen of which within 

 a quarter of a mile of the garden showing any trace of colour 

 except primrose, yet within that distance are to be found 

 specimens here and there of coloured Primroses, pale pink 

 suffused with yellow, and higher-coloured forms of the type. 



Though the gold-laced Polyanthuses are very beautiful there 

 is no question but that the mottled flowers from their greater 

 variety are more effective for borders, they being more hardy, 

 less impatient of drought in summer and wet in winter. The 

 seed of all the Primulas germinates as soon as it is shed from 

 the pod if it come into contact with moist soil. The seedlings 

 usually form a rough leaf or two before winter, and are fit to 

 transplant in spring. Though March is a good time to sow 

 the seed, I am persuaded it is best sown as soon as it is ripe, 

 choosing a border of good loamy soil shaded from sun during 

 the hottest part of the day, and being careful to keep moist. 

 It is well if the situation be warm, having the protection of a 

 hedge or low wall, and having full sun in winter and spring. 

 At the latter time they may be transplanted to an east border 

 6 inches apart every way, afi'ording them water in dry weather. 

 They may either be left to flower where transplanted in the 

 first instance, or be moved with balls in August or September to 

 beds or borders. They will bloom to a certainty during the 

 coming spring, and a bed of them is no undesirable object any- 

 where. 



The seed is, however, generally sown in March, in pans or 

 boxes well drained, and in a compost of yellow loam taken 

 from a pasture with its turf, and laid-up in a ridge for twelve 

 months, chopped-up fine, adding thereto equal parts of old 

 cow dung and leaf soil, the whole being well incorporated. An 

 admixture of sand may be given if the soil be deficient of that 

 substance. The surface should be made even and fine, and 

 the seed be scattered evenly, just covering it with very fine soil ; 

 the pans to be placed iu a gentle hotbed and close to the glass, 

 keeping them moist, and shading from bright sun. When 

 the seedlings appear admit air moderately, and when they 

 show the second leaves remove to a cold frame, and by the 

 end of May or early June they will be ready to transplant, 

 being nearly if not equal in size to those sown in August. A 

 border should be chosen for them shaded from the midday Bun. 

 The best shade is a deciduous hedge so that the plants will 

 have plenty of light iu winter and early spring, for, though shade 

 is desirable when they are in bloom, sunshine is needed for 

 bringing-out bright colour. If the plants are to be transplanted 

 in early autumn to their flowering quarters it will suffice if 

 the plants are put out 3 inches apart in the summer, but the 

 distance if strong plants are wanted should be (i inches. I 

 have often pricked the seedlings oS about 2 inches apart, and 

 transplanted them iu August to inches. Either plan answers, 

 I only lift the plants carefully, firming the soil well about them, 

 ' shading and watering until established. Though a shaded 

 position is desirable after April and in that month for stage 

 flowers, yet there is hardly a position in which the Polyanthus 

 will not thrive, the exceptions being a parched one in hot 

 weather and a gloomy one in winter and spring. All the 

 plants will flower the spring after sowing, or if sown in August 

 they will not flower until the second spring. The plants will, 

 however, be stronger. 



In saving seed the best-formed Sowers and clearest and 

 brightest colours only should be selected for the purpose ; but 

 if any advance is to be made crossing must be resorted to, and 

 to effect which it is necessary to remove the anthers from the 

 seed-bearer, to effect which remove the corolla down to the 

 level of the stigma, being careful not to injure it — better not 

 touch it with the scissors. This should be done when the 

 flower is about half expanded. The stigma is in a fit state for 

 fertilisation when its summit is marked by a viscous exuda- 

 tion generally covering the entire surface ; the pollen being 

 powdery, then adheres to the etigma. It is well not to fertilise 

 more than two or three pips on a plant, which will give larger 

 sounder seed than if more pips were operated on. A pocket 

 len3 is necessary to examine the organs of reproduction. I 

 do not see why we should not have gold-laced Primroses, nor 



