July 16, 1868. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



45 



are certainly not snrpassod, if equalled, either for exhibition or 

 conservatory decoration, aa by a selection of the earliest, the 

 medium, and the very late sorts they can be had in bloom 

 from Christmas till the end of .June. The earliest and most 

 forward plants may ho introduced to the forcing house from 

 about the middle of October, at intervals, to keep up a Bucces- 

 sion of bloom. All the varieties, observes Mr. Kinghorn, at 

 whatever season they bloom, are much improved in quality by 

 being kept in rather a close warm temperature while expanding 

 their blossoms."— (7'7oii.'i( and I'onwlogist, :i scries, i., 1 l-O.) 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

 The following competitors (those marked with an asterisk 

 (•) being Chiswick students) had certificates awarded at the 

 Gakdeners' Ex.\minations in April, at the Society of Arts : — 



The prizes offered in these subjects by the Society of Arts and 

 the Koyal Horticultural Society, were awarded to the following 

 competitors : — 



R. C. Kingston. . 

 R. L. Eeenan . . 



B. Wynne 



F. W. Bnrbldge 



Floriculture. 



S.A. first prize, £5 

 R.H.S. first prize, £5 



S.A. second prize, £3 

 R.H.S. second prize, £3 



Fi-uit and Vegetable 

 Culture. 



S.A. first prize, £5 

 R.H.S. first prize, £5 



S.A. second prize, £3 

 R.H.S. second prize, £3 



The Cardeners' Chronicle prize of £3, oiiered for the above 

 subjects, was awarded to Mr. Kingston, who has also gained the 

 first prize in chemistry (£5) and the Prince Consort's prize of 

 2.5 guineas ; and Mr. Keenan has won the Society of Arts' first 

 prize in botany (£5) and the Eoyal Horticultural Society's first 

 prize in botany (£5). 



At the Tuesday Meeting of the Royal Horticultural 



Society, August 18th, Three Prizes will be offered for Twelve 

 Gladioluses, the first prize being £3, the second £2, and the 

 third £1. 



A TIME FOR ALL THINGS, EVEN FOP. 

 CUTTING DOWN THISTLES. 



Db. Adam Clark has made this curious calculation : Suppose 

 that each Thistle bears 80 heads, each containing only 300 seeds : 

 the first crop is 24,000; the second, 576,000,000; the third, 

 13,824,000,000,000; the fourth. 31,776,000,000,000,000; the 

 fifth, 7,962,024,000,000,000,000,000, a progeny more than suffi- 

 cient to stock not only the surface of the whole world, but of 

 all the planets of the solar system, bo that no other plant or 

 vegetable could possibly grow, allowing but 1 square foot for 

 each plant. This wonderful power of reproduction should 

 teach every man to regard the Thistle a common enemy — to be 

 attacked and destroyed wherever found. 



And here it may be well to introduce the substance of a 

 commimication to the Journal of the New York State Agricul- 

 tural Society. Afarmerhad a field, about thirty-five years ago, 

 completely covered with Canada Thistles ; he cut them, and not 

 one ever revived. This curious fact led him to a long series of 

 experiments to discern if the particular d.ate at which they 

 were cut might not explain the phenomenon. For many years, 

 therefore, he has cut the Thistles, marking dates, and watching 

 the results. He practised this cutting every day in the season 



except Sundays. For four years past he has cut them on 

 August 15th, i7th, 18th, 20th, and 24th, and not one has lived. 

 His reasoning as to their destruction is, that at this period the 

 pith is not full in the stalk ; that rain and mjisture settle in 

 the stalk, and thoy rot to the root. 



This is certainly worth a fair trial. If by the simple obser- 

 vance of certain dates the roots of the Canada Thistle will die, 

 and thus prevent Eumbern of plants from springing up, the 

 world has gained an invahmlilo blesting. It is an experiment 

 that will cost nothing, and in any event the Thistle will be 

 cut off. — (Prairie Farmer.) 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCnEN GARDEN. 



Ci'lrrii. — This is a thirsty plant, and, like the Asparagus, 

 delights in the richest liquid manure after it has fairly begun 

 to grow. Never put off earthing-up the earlier rows too long, 

 but earth-up a little at a time — indeed, those who prefer earth- 

 ing-up their main crops in succession instead of all at once, 

 should also bear this in mind. Cabhaijc:,, if the first sowing 

 for early spring use is not yet in the ground, there is no time 

 to spare. Feus, a last sowing may now be made of some of 

 the earlier sorts. A sowing of dwarf varieties may be made 

 towards the end of the month where the situation is very 

 favourable and means of protection can be resorted to. 

 Potatoes, those who are partial to young Potatoes may now 

 plant some tubers saved from the earliest crops. If previously 

 greened in the sun they will grow more vigorously. The rows 

 may either be covered with litter on the approach of frost, or 

 they may be dug up and the produce kept in dry sand. Toiim- 

 tocs, keep these fastened to the wall or fence, thin out the 

 shoots and leaves, and pinch out the points before the clusters 

 of blossoms, where early fruit is desirable. Without the 

 assistance of a wall they will not do much good north of Lon- 

 don, except in favourable situations. For their culture, for 

 that of Capsicums, &o., and for the forwarding of early crops, 

 dwarf walls with sloping borders ought to exist in every gar- 

 den. When a gardener crops rather closely his fruit-tree 

 borders, in nine cases out of ten it is the result not of choice 

 hut of necessity, for he is aware that the somewhat inferior 

 condition of his fruit trees will not be such an unpardonable 

 evil as being behindhand with a good early supply of tho best 

 vegetables. The succession crops are now mostly confined to 

 salad plants, such as EiuUoe, which should be planted out in 

 succession about once every three weeks. Continue to sow 

 Lettuci's and small salads, only as the Lettuces do not run to 

 seed in the autumn, you may now sow more of them at a time 

 than could be done for summer supply without waste. 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



Take advantage of the first showery weather for budding the 

 stocks of stone-fruit trees, and for inserting buds of esteemed 

 kinds upon the branches of established trees. Propagation by 

 budding, though generally confined to stone fruits, may also 

 be resorted to with advantage with scarce varieties of Apples 

 and Pears. The principal work here is to guard the crops from 

 birds and insects, and to keep the trees clean and free of 

 superfluous wood. 



FLOWER OARDEN. 



The summer climbing Roses, such as the Ayrshire, Boursault, 

 Eanksian, and many of the Evergreen and Multiflora divisions 

 are now fading off for the season, leaving blacks in the rosery, 

 along the arcades, and on pillars, walls,banks, and other positions, 

 which will not be filled up again in many places till next June. 

 Twenty years ago this would have been thougiit of little con- 

 sequence ; but in these days we are so accustomed to a rich 

 display of autumnal Roses, that from May to November the 

 rosery is expected to exhibit a perpetual succession of bloom. 

 We cannot possibly do away with our beautiful summer gar- 

 lands without losing the best feature of our flower gardens ; we 

 must, therefore, endeavour to clothe our summer climbers by 

 budding on them autumnal-flowering Roses, using those only 

 that are of a rather dwarf, compact habit, so that they may 

 not interfere with the free habit of their foster-parents. Hybrid 

 Perpetuals and Chinas are best suited for this work, unless, 

 indeed, the climbing Roses are against walls with favourable 

 aspects, when the dwarf Bourbons and a few of the Tea-scented 

 kinds may be employed instead of the China Roses. Tho pre- 

 vailing tint in summer climbers is whitish, and as some of the 

 sorts to be budded on them may be expected to flower occa- 

 sionally at the same time with them, it may be as well to make 



