78 



JOURNAL OF HORTIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July SO, 1868. 



I con only give a selection of a few of the best. Of the varieties of 

 A. poutica, Thompson's pontica alba, creamy white ; macrantha, deep 

 sulphur, large ; maguibca, creamy white, large ; graudiflnra, deep 

 yellow ; couspicua, yellow ; and multidora pallida, pale sulphor. Of 

 the English varieties, Aurautia major, pale orange ; Calendulacea coc- 

 cinea, orange scarlet ; Coccinea major, dark scaxdet ; Calendulacea 

 elegans, yellow shaded with red, distinct and large ; Cuprea splendens, 

 piuk with yellow ; Decorata, pink, very beautiful ; Hartnelli, orange, 

 shaded red ; Mirabilis, pink ; Prince of Wales, salmou red. orange in 

 the upper segments, large : Princeps grandiflora, deep pink ; Rosea 

 flEvescens, rose and yellowish ; Triumphans, orange ; and Rosalie, 

 salmon red, yellow in the upper segment ; and, for their sweetness, 

 Viola odora, orange and salmon, small, very sweet : Viscocephala, 

 sulphur white, very highly scented ; Viscosa tloribunda, white, small, 

 and very sweet ; Double Blush, pretty ; Monstrosa fascicnlaris. yel- 

 lowish orange, dwarf habit ; and Monstrosa variabilis, yellowish orange, 

 changeable, dwarf habit. Of the Ghent varieties the following are 

 good : — Ne Plus Ultra, orange scarlet, large ; Morten, rich yellow and 

 deep rosy red ; Prineesse d'Orange, salmon pink, large ; Marie Do- 

 rotbee, whitish, slightly shaded with pink, with yellow in the upper 

 segment, large ; Admiral, deep red, large ; Coccinea speciosa, orange 

 scarlet, large ; Cymodoce. deep red, shaded orange, large ; Elector, 

 orange scarlet, large ; Julius Ca?sar, deep scarlet red, reddish orange 

 in the upper segment, large ; Grand Due de Luxembourg, deep scarlet, 

 large ; Fulgida, orange scarlet, large ; Perle de Printemps, salmon 

 pink, large ; Rubens, red and orange, dark, large ; tjuadricolor, buff, 

 shaded salmou and deep sulphur; Van Dyck, deep red, large; Reine 

 de I'Angleterre, orange red, yellow in the upper segment, large ; Splen- 

 dens, bright orange scarlet, large ; and Unique, deep scarlet, large. 

 All the preceding are good varieties, and make excellent groups, which 

 is the best method of planting ; indeed, groups of not less than half a 

 dozen plants, the more the better, should be planted in order to afiord 

 a full estimate of their beauty aud effect. The groups or beds may 

 he edged with Azalea amoena ; its neat habit and bright rosy purple 

 flowers render it very desirable for the front of American beds. The 

 Azalea thrives under the same conditions as the Rhododendron. I 

 shall therefore treat of the propagation and culture of Azaleas when 

 treating of the Rhododendi-on. 



Bryanthus erectl's. — Evergreen. Leaves bright deep green. It 

 forms a dense dwarf bush, having tine headsof pale piuk flowers in June. 

 It does not exceed 9 or 1*2 inches in height, aud is best grown on rock- 

 work, in sunny fissures, in a compost of peat and grit, which must he 

 kept moist. In appearance it very closely resembles Rhododendron 

 chamtEcistus, and its flowers seem intermediate between that Rhodo- 

 dendron and Kalmia latifolia. Probably it is a natural hybrid. Layers. 



Cassiope tetragona is a very beautiful Heath-like shrub, and 

 ought not to be overlooked. It attains a height of from 9 to V2 inches, 

 and produces several white bell-shaped flowers. Requires to be grown 

 in wet stones, peat, or grit, in sunny fissures of rockwork, and should 

 never lack water, nor have defective drainage. 



CiiAiLELEDON (Azalea) procumbess. — A neat-growing alpine 

 Azalea, succeeding under the same circumstances as the Bryanthus. 

 It produces pinkish flowers in June. 



Epig-Ea repexs. — A pretty trailing shmb, having in July white 

 flowers that are delightfully orange-scented. It is an evergreen, re- 

 quiring heath soil or sandy peat, and needs slight shade from power- 

 ful sun, being best grown under bushes. — G. Abbey. 

 (To be continued.) 



A HANDY AND POWERFUL LEVER. 

 In working in soft ground, whether at pulling stumps or 

 moving Btones, the great want is a firm place on which to set 



iuch lifts a crooked lever has many advflTitages. The ring to 

 which the powerful inch-iron hook is attached should, perhaps, 

 pass through the bar closer to the inner angle than is repre- 

 sented. It might equally well be made so as to slip over the 

 bar and hold in a notch on the inner side. Such a lever may 

 be from 7 to 9 feet long, aud made of oak or ash. It may be 

 operated by hand, by attaching the upper end of the rope to a 

 stump, and pulUog down upon the lower end ; or by horses, by 

 fixing the lower end and carrying the upper one off to where 

 the team may be conveniently and efficiently used. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

 Lieut.-Gen. Hon. C. Gkey has been elected by the Council 

 a Vice-President of tee Royal Hoi;ticultur.\l Society for 

 the year 1868-9, in place of Mr. Henry Cole, C.B., resigned. 



the lever. The accompanying engraving is of a lever which 

 requires a vei7 simple base, and if rigged with a puUey^or 

 block and tackle, as shown, gives a great lifting power, " " 



For 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN OiRDEN. 



It is a pood plan to dig down early in summer the plot of 

 Winter Spinach when it has attained the height of 2 or 3 feet, 

 and to plant the space with Brussels Sprouts, So >tch Kale, and 

 Savoys, for an early supply ; and the vigour with which they 

 will grow will convince one that such a method might be 

 adopted with great advantage where manure is scarce and 

 ground plentiful. Cabbages, in late situations it would be ad- 

 visable to sow a bed of the earlier sorts for transplanting about 

 the beginning of next March. The middle of August used to be 

 the appointed time for this sowing some years ago, but this is 

 too late for many places. See that the beds previously sown 

 are not too much crowded with plants. Kndive, sow a large 

 bed for the last time this season, and if you keep it over 

 winter it will help the salads till the spring-sown Lettuces come 

 in. Kidney Beans, sow in a situation where it will be possible 

 to defend them from early autumn frosts by covering with 

 mats, choosing the dwarfest sorts, such as the Early Dan, or 

 the Robin's Egg or China. Onions, preparations should now 

 be made for sowing thickly the Strasburg, or any other hardy 

 sort, to stand over the winter and furnish large Onions early 

 next summer. Part of them may be drawn for salads during 

 winter, and the other thinnings planted out in March. Sow 

 again in a fortnight ; ground previously occupied with early Cau- 

 liflowers, or Strawberries that require digging down, will be suit- 

 able. Peas, make the last sowing, choosing the earlier varieties. 

 Turnips, if you have no access to field-grown Turnips, which are 

 always preferable to garden ones, you bad better sow a large 

 breadth of them in some light portion of the garden for winter 

 use. 



fruit garden. 

 Attend to removing the breastwood of Apple, Pear, Cherry, 

 and Plum trees, shortening the leading shoots, and cutting 

 back to a couple of inches the side shoots of Currants and 

 Gooseberries (unless when the latter are made to bear almost 

 exclusively on young wood), and thinning and shortening the 

 shoots of Apricot and Peach trees as previously recommended. 

 Cover with mats or thin waterproofed cloth those Cherries, 

 Gooseberries, and Currants, that you wish to preserve as late 

 as possible, and defend the remainder from biids by netting. 

 This is a much more pleasant method than attempting to ex- 

 terminate the feathered tribe. It is only during the fruit 

 season that blackbirds, thrushes, &c., interfere with our com- 

 forts, and for a little peculation now they amply repay us by 

 the number of slugs and other enemies which they devour in 

 spring, to say nothing of their cheerful notes at " early mom 

 and dewy eve." The Hawthornden and Codlin Apples grow freely 

 from cuttings planted under a north wall in November, and no 

 doubt many Pears will do the same. Sometimes people ex- 

 press a wish that they could rear sufficient of these cuttings to 

 plant in a kitchen garden to see if they would be more dwarf, 

 and to ascertain if the flavour of the fruit would be different 

 from that of grafted trees. There is nothing in particular to 

 recommend this experiment, but there are points connected 

 with it which may be of more general application, and are 

 not usually acted on. if, indeed, they are rightly uuderstood. 

 Any one who intends to put in cuttings in November of frui^ 

 trees, or, indeed, of any hardy tree that is difficult to stril- , 

 ought to begin to prepare the cuttings before the end of tlr-.' 

 month, by shortening the shoots to one-half or one-third of 

 their length. The passage of the ascending sap being thus 

 ' cut off, it will so accumulate in the remaining portion of the 



