Ua7l3, 1869. ] 



JOUBNAIi OP HOBTIOULTDKB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



321 



beiD(; downy, Bhould be placeil thinly on the surface, and he 

 coTered with fine soil. The pot should be plunsed in a hotbed 

 where there is a temperature of from CiO" to 05° at night, and 

 from 70' to 75° by day, with a rise from sun heat. The soil 

 ought to bo kept moist, but avoid making it very wot, never 

 giving any water so long as it is moist. When the soil is dry 

 water must be given to keep the plants from flagging. 



When the seedlings are 2 or 3 inches high they should be 

 potted-ofl singly in 24 or 3-inob pots in the same kind of soil 

 as that used for sowing the seed, returned to the hotbed, and 

 kept near the glass, shading them from bright sun for a few 

 days until they have recovered from the potting ; then give air 

 freely, so as to keep them stiff and short-jointed. Nothing 

 tends BO much to make them so as keeping them near the 

 glass. 



When the pots become filled with roots, and before these are 

 much matted, transfer the plants to 4 1 -inch pots, and place 

 them again in the frame, but without plunging the pots ; or, if 

 convenient, the plants may be set on a shelf near the glass, 

 but allowing of their growing without touching it. in a house 

 having a temperature of OO" at night, and from 70° to 75° by 

 day, or 80° with sun and abundance of air. They succeed best, 

 however, in a pit or frame after the end of May, the plants 

 then being strong and in -ii-inch pots. Keep the lights close 

 for a time, give no air except what is necessary to keep the 

 temperature from rising above 75', and shut up when the tem- 

 perature declines to 7.5'. They are the better of a moist atmo- 

 sphere and gentle bedewing overhead morning and evening, 

 which may be continued until the flowers appear clear of the 

 foliage, and after that it should be discontinued, still preserving 

 a moist atmosphere by sprinkling the -walls, floors, etc., with 

 water twice daily, and especially at the time of closing the 

 house or frame. 



The plants should be potted as often as the pots become filled 

 with roots. Never allow the roots to become closely matted, but 

 as soon as they reach the sides of the pot, shift the plant into 

 one a size larger, giving the last shift by the time the flowers 

 appear. Pots 6 inches in diameter answer very well for decora- 

 tion, but for very fine plants 7 or S-inch pots are not too large, 

 as the plants under good cultivation form perfect pyramids, often 

 2 feet inches high, and such when well studded with their 

 fine Clover-like heads are splendid. No stakes should be used, 

 but the plant must be turned round frequently in order to keep 

 it straight in stem, and prevent all the shoots forming on one 

 side. 



After the last shift, and when the pots are filled with roots, 

 ■weak liquid manure may be given twice or thrice a- week, at 

 every alternate watering, but it must not be powerful ; 1 oz. of 

 guano to the gallon of rain water strained before use through a 

 hair sieve or muslin is quite strong enough. 



For successional pottings, richer soil may be employed. The 

 following compost will grow Gomphrenas well — viz., good loam 

 from turf, light rather than otherwise, and one third leaf mould 

 or old and dry cow dung mixed together, the turf being broken 

 and made rather fine, but not sifted, with a free admixture of 

 silver or sharp sand, good drainage being provided. In pot- 

 ting, the plants may be slightly sunk in the soil, but in no 

 case deeper than the seed leaves. 



When in flower a drier and more airy situation will improve 

 the colour, and increase the duration of the flowers ; in a tempe- 

 rature of 50° they long remain in full beauty. They cannot 

 have too much light, nor can they be kept too near the glass, 

 always allowing room for growing. — G. Aduey. 



FRUIT PROSPECTS IN NORFOLK. 



W.u.!. fruit of choice kinds, as Peaclies, Nectarines, and 

 Apricots will be very scarce here. Our Apricots, such as the 

 Moorpark, I find on reference to my diary were in full bloom on 

 the 20th of February, owing to the mildness of the season at 

 that time, but sharp wind and frost setting in about the 23rd 

 entirely destroyed all chance of a crop. Protected and unpro- 

 tected, all seemed to fare alike ; in fact, I think, the ordinary 

 protection of evergreen branches, &c., was the worst, as the 

 .dxaught seemed to be sharper there than where no protection 

 was afforded. On a fine old tree of the Eed Masculine, which 

 Woomed three weeks later, the bloom was very full and strong, 

 Irat the crop is very light. Peaches and Nectarines out of doors 

 are all cut off, possibly some of our neighbours may be better 

 off, as our situation is very low, being near the river. 



Tile crop of Strawberriee, I think, will be light, owing to the 



severe parching of last summer from which, on the light soils, 

 they have never recovered. Pear trees of such kinds as Marie 

 Louise, Winter Nolis, Kaster lieuriu, Colmars, and some of the 

 other Beurros are now very full of bloom, and so are Cherry 

 trees, but of the result 1 cannot say anyliiing at present. 

 Currants, Gooseberries, and llaspberries are one mass of bloom, 

 showing the result of well-ripened wood, and as the foliage is 

 well advanced, I consider them almost safe. The crop of Apples 

 will bo partial, some having no bloom, some middling, and some 

 very good, the best being Scarlet Nonpareil, Graveatein, Beef- 

 ing, Godlins, llibstou Pippin, Ingestrie, Winter Hawthornden, 

 Brandy Apple, and some Bassets, but the bloom is mostly on 

 the new wood, another instance of the ripening of the wood by 

 the heat of the season. Plums are pretty well set on the walls. 

 I purpose giving another week some remark? on in-door crops, 

 and the effect of last season on (he Vine. — T. 1'., Gardener tu 

 Sir William Ffolkcs, Bart., Hillington. 



DISEASED PEACH AND NECTARINE SHOOTS 



Some communications which have lately appeared on diseased 

 Peach and Nectarine shoots have induced me to offer a few 

 remarks on the subject. 



On taking charge of the gardens here nearly six years ago, I 

 found on a south-east wall four trees, two of which were Peaches 

 and two Nectarines. These trees were by no means old, yet 

 they were full of disease, from top to bottom of the wall I 

 might say, for they had been vigorous enough at one time, and 

 had reached the top of the 8-feet wall. The action of the dis- 

 ease was most curious — one branch would appear perfectly 

 plump and healthy for a foot or two of its length ; then would 

 occur a diseased part, having its bark brown and shrivelled, 

 with nearly all the tissues of the wood aecayed, except, perhaps 

 a slight strip at its back against the wall ; then, again, the 

 branch would appear tolerably healthy, with a little spray bear- 

 ing a few small leaves ; another branch would appear quite 

 dead ; and so it was continued over the whole surface of the 

 trees. Occasionally there was a healthy shoot, but with the 

 diseased wood greatly predominating. 



After a thorough examination of the trees I came to the 

 conclusion that three of theip were capable of being reclaimed, 

 but the fourth was quite past my skill. Accordingly, the whole 

 of the branches of each tree were cut back to within 18 inches 

 from their base ; the trees were taken up and the roots short- 

 ened in a similar manner, the soil renovated with the best 

 materials at my disposal, and the trees at once replanted, not 

 on the surface of the border as recommended in the communi- 

 cations referred to, but a few inches under its surface. In the 

 following season the trees started into growth freely, and pro- 

 duced some remarkably vigorous shoots, the majority of which 

 were quite healthy. A few shoots, however, exhibited signs o£ 

 canker ; wherever this was apparent it was at once removed. 



A pressure of work during the first year prevented me from 

 doing more to the border than giving it a digging of the ordi- 

 nary depth, and planting it with Potatoes. In this operation, 

 as the earth was turned up, the whole border was found to be 

 full of the roots of the Small Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis). 

 These were picked out as cleanly as possible, but I need hardly 

 observe that the poor starved soil failed to produce anything 

 approaching to a crop of Potatoes. However, as the next winter 

 came round, having more time at my disposal, I determined to 

 alter this, and I accordingly had the border thoroughly trenched, 

 manured, and laid up in rough ridges, care being taken to pick 

 out every piece of Bindweed root that presented itself to notice. 

 From that time till now the trees have prospered ; they have 

 produced some fruit, and have grown to a considerable size. 



I may hero remark, that when the trees were taken up I 

 fcnnd that they had been planted so deeply that the stems 

 wtre quite buried beneath the soil, with the roots deep down in 

 the cold clayey subsoil. The soil proper did not appear to 

 have been stirred deeper than 5 or G inches for some time, and 

 therefore it was not very accessible to the action of the sun 

 and air, and consequently buried as the roots were under this 

 inert mass of earth, the transmission of Ihe sap must have been 

 so slow and uncertain as to quite fail to supply the require- 

 ments of the branches. 



In endeavouring to obtain some knowledge of a disease so 



virulent in its action as to threaten with destruction trees so 



young, and but a short time previously so full of health and 



vigour, I at once turned my attention to the roots, too often the 



i Beat of disease. Take away the branches of a tree, and retain 



