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JOUBNAL OF HORTIOXniTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ Uar 6, 1869. 



see but one remedy for this— before another season do away 

 with all these enormons and overgrown things. Which is pre- 

 ferable as an object of beauty, a pot Eoae in a 13 or 16-inch 

 pot, with a whole forest of stakes to uphold it, and every bloom 

 tied to its own particular stick ; or a plant of the same variety 

 in a 6-inch pot, with six or eight good Hooms, and clean and 

 healthy foliage ? I am sure the answer of nine out of ten per- 

 sons would be. The latter of course. But granted all this, I 

 believe this only appeals to those who have a taste and love for 

 flowers. I hope to return to this subject next week, as I am 

 sure it is one well worthy of the consideration of all lowers of 

 Iiorticulture.— D., Deal. 



RHODODENDRONS. AND SOILS FOR THEM. 



DuKiNo the past year several instances were brought under 

 my notice of Khododendrons suffering less during the ex- 

 tremely hot, dry weather, when growing in a mixed soil, than 

 where they were in a deep bed of peat. In many cases where 

 they were in beds of gravelly shingle, such as some persons 

 would consider unfit for any shrub, they flagged less in the hot 

 weather than in prepared beds of good peat 15 inches deep. 



If I had to form borders for Rhododendrons, even if plenty 

 of peat were to be had, I would prefer mixing the soil of the 

 border with from one-half to one-third of good healthy loam, 

 and if from an old pasture of deep soil so much the better, pro- 

 vided it were not chalky. Loam mixed with peat forma a firmer, 

 more solid compost, far less liable to be affected by continued 

 hot and dry weather, than peat alone. When Rhododendrons 

 generally retain their leaves for more than one year, it is an 

 evidence that they are feeding in something that suits their 

 uature well ; but to speak of peat without any qualification as 

 to what it was produced from often greatly misleads. In some 

 (iislriets, what I have known to be called peat was neither less 

 nor more than a black sour substance, which had been dug from 

 o low marshy place, often more or less impregnated with iron, 

 which is always detrimental to vegetation, and Rhododendrons 

 are no exception in this respect. I have also seen peat dag 

 from solid banks in pieces of the shape and size of a large 

 brick, in order to be dried for fuel. This, likewise, is not 

 suitable for Rhododendrons. I have also seen it dug from 

 hard benty commons, requiring a strong man with a sharp 

 spade, and a smart stamp of his foot, to send the spade through 

 the upper coating of bent, and a second stamp of the foot to 

 Bond the spade 6 or 8 inches down. This would be all the 

 depth of the peat, it resting upon a white pebbly bottom. Such 

 peat takes years to decay, being full of fibrous vegetable matter, 

 often as tough as Willows. I have often used peat of this de- 

 aoription from Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common, and I 

 have found that it suits Rhododendrons well, and will be none 

 the worse of having one-third good healthy loam well mixed 

 with it previous to use. I have used peat that had every ap- 

 pearance of having resulted from the accumulation of decayed 

 Oak leaves, and the common Bracken or Pteris aquilina. I 

 know a small hill of from twenty to thirty acres in extent, con- 

 sisting of white sand, but not quite so sharp as the celebrated 

 Beigate sand, and one side of the hill is covered with Oak and 

 Pteris aquilina. Here, where water could exercise no influence 

 in the formation of the peat, as the sand underneath affords 

 ample drainage, there is good peat, the accumulation of many 

 centuries, and excellent for Rhododendrons, especially if a 

 thud part of loam be added by way of giving it substance, as in 

 many cases it is a little open and spongy in texture. 



I have also been where the peat was obtained from places 

 in which the common Heath grew very freely, and to a great 

 length, and I have seen the peat from 8 to 12 inches deep, and 

 of a close black nature, without any fibre, excepting a few 

 inches near the surface. Under such peat there is in general, 

 a " pan," at from 6 to 18 inches deep, and in some instances 

 deeper. This pan is composed of a blackish layer, more or 

 teas thick, but generally very injurious to all kinds of vege- 

 tation, and water will scarcely pass through it, hence the 

 moors where it occurs usually have water on their surface 

 during winter, and, therefore, the roots of whatever may be 

 growing on them decay. Peat taken from such places is 

 seldom of any service, and Rhododendrona will not root into it 

 very deeply, as it soon becomes a compact black mass of soil. 



Whatever kind of peat we may use, it is always well to mix 

 a good quantity of sand with it, if there is none in it naturally, 

 as Rhododendrons are very impatient of water becoming stag- 

 nant about their roots. 



From the oompactneas of the roots, and the multitude of 



their fine thread-like feeders. Rhododendrons are amongst the 

 safest shrubs to remove of any I know. It properly treated 

 during the first few years of their growth— that is, if they have 

 been removed a few times in order to check the formation of 

 long spreading roots, and if they have been planted in a suitable 

 compost, they will, as a rule, soon form very large, compact 

 balls, which may be moved with the greatest safety to any dis- 

 tance. No person need be under the least apprehension as to 

 re-arranging Rhododendron beds and borders during the proper 

 season for such operations. 



Where peat cannot be had without incurring great expense, 

 leaf mould is often substituted. I often wonder that Rhodo- 

 dendrons are not far more extensively planted than they are 

 in place of the common Laurel. They are not so apt to run 

 up high or become naked at the bottom, and it ought to be 

 generally known that plants of the commonest sorts three or 

 four years old, can be obtained in many of the provincial 

 nurseries at nearly the same price as common Laurels. This, 

 of course, applies to those nurseries where the natural soil 

 suits the Rhododendron. — G. Dawson. 



CUTTING BACK UNSHAPELY APRICOT AND 



PLUM TREES. 

 I wish to recommend a practice which I have adopted with 

 great advantage for several years. It is akin to turning mis- 

 fortune to a good account, and helps to mitigate the vexation 

 that some may experience through many of their trees being 

 destitute of fruit. For pot and standard trees in orchard 

 houses it is particularly applicable. Under the best manage- 

 ment trees grow beyond bounds ; they grow too large, lanky, or 

 unshapely, and in pruning them in winter — the generally pre- 

 ferred time — the bearing shoots being all at the extremities, 

 one is generally unwilling to cut back sufficiently hard, as by 

 doing BO the crop of one year is most certainly sacrificed. I 

 speak of trees which, although only allowed to grow 2 or 

 3 inches a-year, yet in the course of ten or twelve years extend 

 a long way. Now, if any such Apricot or Plum trees there be 

 which have, unfortunately, shed their fruit, although they were 

 full of blossom, and there are a good many this year, I simply 

 recommend cutting them back into shape, having no regard to 

 the foliage that may be on the trees at the time. They may 

 be cut back, as in midwinter, into the wood of twelve years 

 ago, and they will then break out again as freely as a Thorn 

 hedge pruned in midwinter. Peaches do not so readily break. 

 It is astonishing, however, how well the Apricots do. By this 

 means old straggling shoots and unshapely trees may be quite 

 renovated, and made as shapely and handsome as before, and 

 this without the sacrifice of a season's crop. It is the same 

 practice applied to fruit trees which I also adopt with regard to 

 Lilacs, Eibes, &c. If these are pruned in winter, there is so 

 much loss of flower, but if pruning is done immediately after 

 flowering the plants are again in condition to flower the follow- 

 ing season. — Archameaud. 



PELARGONIUM CONGRESS. 



]\Ian7 of the readers of The Journal of HoRTicnLTURE will be 

 glad to hear, that the special Pelargonium Show that is to take 

 place at the Royal Horticultural Society's Gardens on the 22nd 

 inst., at Kensington, is likely, both as regards specimen plants 

 and new varieties, to far exceed any ever before held ; and as 

 there are thousands of amateurs and raisers of new varieties, 

 many undoubtedly possessing great merit, they should now 

 take the opportunity of comparing them with older varieties, 

 in order to ascertain their true value, as compared with the 

 best kinds in cultivation. 



The sum of £5 has been subscribed to be offered as a prize 

 for the best treatise by an amateur on their cultivation, the 

 paper to be read in the Council-room at eleven o'clock, when a 

 most valuable and interesting discussion is expected to follow, 

 as some of the most experienced growers will, no doubt, be 

 present. As it is well known that a few cultivators grow these 

 most interesting plants almost as easily as the ordinary Tom 

 Thumbs, it is to be hoped that the secret of their successfol 

 management will now be made public amongst growers, so 

 that amateurs generally may be able to cultivate these orna- 

 mental-foliaged plants with less difficulty in future. All persons 

 who are interested in this subject, and who can throw any 

 light upon it, are respectfully invited to attend. 



I have not the slightest hesitation in saying that both 



