104 



JOUBNAL OF HGRTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[< Jatt« 17, 1869. 



18 inobeB in diametpr, which blossoms and bears frtut abun- 

 dantly every year. The tree is hollow, has no wood, no albur- 

 nntn.no pith, or medullary canal; itisnowonly bark, apparently 

 extremely thickened ; the solid portion of the sap separated 

 from the water which held it in solution, and becoming depo- 

 sited and eellular, supports the life of the tree. 



Here are two instances of trees each bearing fruit, one de- 

 nuded of its liber or bark by artificial means, the other from 

 natural causes, having to all appearance no other means of 

 life but the great excess of liber or bark.— J. C. H., Andover. 



tjOlOi 'r> '-■■■■! r. \.^ ■■■'"-. ,.■■■■■■ T^ 



THE AEHANGEMENT OF CUT FLOWERS.— No. a. 



Tho.se who have conservatories to resort to f>r their flowers 

 and foliage have a comparatively easy task, and can, with a 

 little practice, easily tiU their vases with beauty. The colours 

 of exotics are so clear and delicate, that nothing but simplicity 

 is required in their arraugemeut. What, for instance, can be 

 more beautiful than a Dobson vase arranged with Azaleas, a 

 few sprays of pink at the bottom and white at the top, with 

 nothing but Maidenhair Fern for foliage ? or the magnificent 

 Bucharis, with small bright-coloured flowers and leaves iater- 

 mised ? or some richly tiutod Pelargonium and the Dtutzia 

 gracilis, with any suitable Fern, though perhaps the Miudenhair 

 is of all the most effective ? Several of the fronds sho'jld be 

 tied at some distance xip the stem of the vase, to take oil the 

 bare appearance there would otherwise be ; and before the 

 flowers aie put in, the glasses should be filled with sand and 

 water, and — instead of moss, which is recommended for garden 

 and wild flowers — tbe small-leaved Ljcopod should be planted 

 all over. It will live a considerable time, and seldom requires 

 changing. Should the vase be small or the flowers very light, 

 the sand may be dispensed with. 



A group of Ferns only, in a high vase of frosted glass, has a 

 very pleasant effect in a bright sunny room, and is especially 

 recommended fur dinner-tablo decoration in summer. Care 

 should always be taken to suit the flowers to the room or place 

 for which they are intended. In a gaily furnished room plenty 

 of while flowers and foliage should be used, while in a dull or 

 shaded room brilliant culoniing is better; but the colours must 

 be well blended, or they will completely spoil each other. 

 Scarlet and white, as the most prominent colour.?, with a free 

 mixture of small blue flowers, and a tinge of jellow here and 

 there, with Ferns and Grasses, have a cheerful effect ; but no 

 two reds, blues, or violets should over be placed side by fide. 

 Yellow should be used sparingly as a rule, thoush it often looks 

 well when alone, or mixed wiili blue or violet. Purple and white 

 flowers look exceedingly well with very yellow-green foliage, 

 such as belongs to the white Periwinkle. 

 ' One very easy and effective way of arranging flowers is to 

 have a number of small vases about the room, and to fill each 

 with a distinct variety. This way is particularly useful for wild 

 flowers, as their colours are seldom decided enough to mix well 

 with other tints, and yet they will furnish many a fragrant and 

 dainty decoration for the drawing-room it skilfully managed. 

 Imagine a Dobson stand covered with deep pink Dog Bnses, a 

 basketful of Honeysuclile, a high vase of the blue water Forget- 

 me-not, and some specimen glasses with any pretty flower that 

 may chance to grow in the neighbourhood — the whole effect 

 will be very good, and the scent delightful. 



Thnu;^h it is certainly more difficult to arrange garden and 

 wild flowers than those which grow in a holhonse, yet if a little 

 time and thought be expended on the subject, it is astonishing 

 what a variety of beauliful arrangements may be made from 

 the simplest materials. Almost everything that grows in an 

 ordinary garden may be used with advantage at some time. 

 Even the twigs of trees will sometimes look well as foliage, such 

 as the dark brown leaves and nuts of the Copper Beech, the 

 brush-like flower of the Sycamore, and the sweet scented Lime 

 blossom. But everything should be arranged as Nature directs. 

 That which grows in a drooping form should still be allowed to 

 droop, and many a long-stemmed flower is spoilt by being 

 clipped to the requirements of a shallow vase. Crowding also 

 should be carefully avoided, and the light and graceful forms 

 of plants and trees should be imitated as much as possible in 

 the arrangement of flower vases. — L., Laughton. 



the flues, or on the house floor. Shake it every morning, and 

 you will have plenty of work in killing the vermin on the floor, 

 or yon may shake them into water. One trial will be suflS- 

 cient to convince anyone of the usefulness of this plan. If the 

 woodlioe are very numerous set several hampers ; I have half 

 a dozen. — Joseph Deakin. 



TRAPPING WOODLICE. 



Pr.ocDRE a small hamper, and the older the more suitable ; 

 put iu some leaves of any kind — I prefer Bhubarb leaves, and 

 when they are half rotten place the hamper on your beds, on 



THE QUINCE STOCK. 



More things than Pears are worked upon the Quince stock 

 in these days. Precociousness is a feature which is not confined 

 either to gardening or the vegetable kingdom. Eapidity of 

 action is the characteristic of the present ape. The world has 

 been going on slowly, but is now getting up steam, and concen- 

 trating its energies for the grand and final effort. The forces 

 of creation seem as if they were converging to a focus, and rush 

 on with accelerating speed, as it dragged forward by some 

 gravitating influence that exerts an ever-increasing power. 

 Every year the pace quickens. The momentum is communicated 

 to everything, and prevades all branches of industry. Even 

 the children seem to grow up sooner nowadays, and have a 

 Quince-stock maturity abotit them, talk sense, and imitate 

 their grandmothers before their teeth are well cut. Good old- 

 world notions and customs are disappearing at an alarming 

 rate, leaving in many cases but temporary substitutes behind 

 them. Now and then, in some quiet English hamlet or rustic 

 Scottish cidchan, where picnics love to rendezvous and indulge 

 the hereditary instincts of human nature, we light upon that 

 old-world leisureliness and stability of purpose which charac- 

 terised our progenitors before the age of railways and electric 

 telegraphs. But even round these isolated spots the circle is 

 gradually narrowing; and before their present inhabitants 

 have gone to rest where 



*' The rudo forefathers of the hamlet 8le?i)," 

 the tide of progress will have swept over them, and borne away 

 upon its rapid current the last vestiges of a former age. 



To no profession or industry are these remarks more appli- 

 cable than to gardening. The concentration of thought and 

 action which has been brought to bear upon all questions re- 

 lating to horticulture is now visible in the almost complete 

 mastery which the gardener exercifes over every kind of fruit 

 and vegetable that comes under his care. Perhaps the most 

 noticeable progress we have made has been in tbe culture of 

 fruit. In this department we have certainly divested ourselves 

 of many cumbrous notions, and dispensed with even more 

 cumbrous appliances. Ends are accomplished nowadays with 

 a rapidity that would have astonished our ancestors. Many, 

 with an interest in futurity which is becoming strange amongst 

 us, planted trees, and were content if they saw the first-fruits 

 thereof, leaving them as a legacy to their descendants. And 

 let us admit, that but for their foresight in this respect many 

 a fruit room in these days would show but a scant supply. 

 Now, however, he who plants expects to reap. Gardens and 

 orchards spring up contemporaneously with bricks and mortar; 

 and when the wealthy retired man of business takes possession 

 of his new mansion, he expects to find his garden furnished 

 with trees bearing fruit after their kind, and the entire horti- 

 cultural department in an already matured condition, and 

 prepared to contribute to bis comfort as regularly as his kitchen 

 or daily. This is all very gratifying, no doubt, and speaks for 

 itself, and may be called gardening on the Douoin and Quince 

 principle ; but, however, adapted to meet special ends, it lacks 

 the elements of durability, and should not ie pushed beyond 

 its special province. We have a partiality for the old, luxu- 

 riantly-laden orchards, the feature of many an homestead, and 

 chief source of supply in many an establishment. I always 

 find that where there is a reserve of this kind the fruit-room is 

 better filled. Quantity is always as important a consideration 

 in a garden as quality, and it is comforting to have a supply to 

 fall back upon after the limited produce of the orchard house is 

 exhausted Miniature fruit gardens and orchard houses are un- 

 deniable realities, however, and commendable institutions ; but, 

 compared to the fail-me-never ancestral trees in the cottager's 

 garden, they are what the thumb-pot Oaks of the Chinese are 

 to their English congeners for tbe purpose of shipbuilding. 



The remarks have been suggested by reading the very able 

 and exhaustive paper of Mr. M'Millan [see page 808] though 

 they are not intended to apply to him. I see, however, that, 

 like many others, he is impressed in favour of the Quince stock 

 — whether from practical experience or not, be does not say ; 

 and if I understand him aright, he would only be guided by 



