0«tob«r 29, 18CS. ] 



JODRNAIi OP HOBTlCUIiTUHH AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



317 



protection whatever durinf; tho winter, the tips of the younfl 

 brnnohes ore freiineolly killed by severe frost. This oauees the 

 buds at their base to start into growth, and the trees oonse- 

 qiiontly become more biishyand compact.— Edwaiid LuciuicnsT, 

 Egerton Home Gardnu, Kent. 



FUCHSIA RICCARTOXr. 



Amono.st tbo plants whose RrowtU or flowering has been in- 

 terfered with l)y llio heat of the past summer, the useful, hardy 

 Fuchsia Uiccartuni is ono hiivinR a sturdiness of habit and 

 deep-rooting propensity which would seem to render it sale 

 from drought ; but such has not been tho case here, for some 

 largo old plants, of which tho last year's stems had not been in- 

 jured by the winter's frost, and with roots occupying a border 

 that has been worked upwards of G feet deep, being, in fact, 

 part of au embankment of that height, nevertheless showed 

 signs of distress much sooner than might have been expected. 



The plants flowered much earlier ihaa usual, but the amount 

 of bloom, and tho length of time they continued in flower, fell 

 far short of what might be expected of bushes upwards of 

 (5 feet high, and as much in diameter. Their flowering seemed 

 to be quite over by the middle of ■Uily, and by the 1st of August 

 the foliage had assumed quite an autumnal appearance ; but 

 some rain which fell about the middle of August infused new 

 vigour into the plants, fresh foliage was produced, and although 

 much growth has not been made from the middle of September 

 up to this time (tho middle of October), the plants have been a 

 mass of bloom. The flowers appear to be produced at every 

 eye of the shoots made prior to July, rather than on those of 

 recent growth. This is certainly an unusual case, but it might 

 have been explicable enough if the plants had not had a suffi- 

 cient amount of room for their roots, but as they had a depth 

 of from G to 8 feet of soil, and that mostly of a suitable kind, I 

 can only conclude that the extreme heat, and tho deficiency of 

 moisture in the atmosphere, caused the premature ripening of 

 the shoots, which afterwards broke forth in flowers much in 

 the same fashion as Potatoes have produced a second crop of 

 tubers from the first. The situation was dry, and no water 

 was given, but surrounding the Fuchsias was a carpeting of 

 seedling Petunias, which did not seem to suffer, neither did the 

 edging of Centaurea pymnocarpa. Doubtless, the Fuchsias 

 require more moisture than either of the latter : hence the failure 

 of the Fuchsias at the time they are usually at their best ; but I 

 am by no means dissatisfied with the result, for an autumn dis- 

 play is as useful as an August one, and they pronaisb to supply 

 that as long as the weather will permit. ' ' 



Notwithstanding all that has been done in supplying our 

 plant houses with improved varieties of Fuchsias, it does not 

 appear that any one approaches Iticcartoni for out-door dis- 

 play. The raiser of this old favourite has, therefore, some- 

 thing to be proud of, if he is yet alive ; for a plant maintaining 

 its position for thirty years in an age when the most approved 

 variety of one season is superseded the next, is seldom met with 

 among garden flowers. This old Fuchsia seems likely to con- 

 tinue for many years at the head of those for outdoor cul- 

 tivation, for it there is a better, it seems not to be generally 

 known, and those possessing such would do good service by 

 stating its name and merits. — J. Eoesox. 



A GRAPE VINE AFTER TWENTY YEARS ON 

 THE EXTENSION SYSTEM. 



In the spring of 1S48 I put in some cuttings, from 13 to 

 18 inches long, of Sweetwater and Black Hamburgh Vines at 

 the bottom of a south wall and round the borders of the kitchen 

 garden, my employer being sanguine of carrying out the idea of 

 growing Grapes here (West Kent), as well as on the Continent. 



Along with the cuttings put in at the bottom of the wall, 

 there were two small rooted plants. One, which proved to be 

 a Black Hamburgh, was trained as a single rod, between two 

 Peach trees, to the top of the wall, then along under the coping, 

 where, in 18.51, it ripened pirtially about a dozen bunches of 

 Grapes. I then took the Vine from the wall, and layered it 

 across the border into a turf pit, covered with glazed sashes, 

 that had been used to winter bedding plants. There, in 18G2, 

 the Vine ripened nearly a hundi-ed bunches with sun heat only. 

 The place then passed into other hands, and I had the space 

 hetween the pit and the wall covered with glass, thus giving 

 the Vine room to extend itself, and it now covers about 300 feet 



of glass surface, and but for tho limited Fpace allotted it 

 would have covered a much larger extent. It bears annually 

 good crops, which ripen about tho first week iu June. 



I would observe with respect to layering, that tho thickness 

 of the stem, or rod, has increased very little. Where it enters 

 the ground it is only 3{ inches in oiroumferenoe ; where it rises 

 it is 10) inclieB.-T-PnACxiCDS. 



■•> 'romiJ' 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



I nyrE frequently read with much interest tho directions, 

 hints, etc., on Mushroom-growing contained in "our Journal," 

 and have, to the best of my ability, followed those instructions, 

 but never with aucoess. When 1 first commenced attempting 

 to grow Mushrooms I felt certain of succeeding, having all 

 things necessary, as I thought, immediately at hand. I have 

 abundance of holrso droppings, loose straw or litter, spare 

 cellars of both dry and moist atmospheres, and good dark 

 sheds, and I have tried spawn from several principal seedsmen 

 in London, but my efforts have never resulted otherwise than 

 in failure.' If I could, through the medium of "our Journal," 

 receive plain instructions from any amateur grower who has 

 been successful, 1 might be better able to follow them than the 

 course pursued by professional gardeners, and the first two 

 dishes of Mushrooms I grow shall be distributed, one to the 

 amateur, and the other to your.'^elf, carriage paid.— R. J. E. 



[We o^'e, very sorry that you have been so unfortunate in 

 your Mushroom-grovving, and the proffered reward is irresist- 

 ible, but we are also sorry that you give us no information to 

 enable us to be sure as to where the cause of want of success 

 is to be found, and all the more, as you seem to have tried all 

 that has appeared in our columns, and carried out all the in- 

 structions given, and yet without avail. As we would wish to 

 have a fine dish of Mushrooms ere long, we will say a few 

 words, first on tho chief causes of failure, and then give a 

 simple outline of one of the modes to be adopted to ensure 

 success. . 



The want of success is sometimes owing to bad exhausted 

 spawn. The spawn, when broken should be whitish inside, but 

 the filaments, should resemble the finest gossamer, or silky 

 hair. If they arc as large as a common sewing thread they 

 are too far gone. It niatters little about the age of the spawn 

 if it is good and' i)aB been kept dry. We have used it seven 

 years after making witlaont any diminution of the produce. 



Good spawn is often destroyed by being put into a bed of 

 wet material, or into a bed too warm, or that becomes too 

 warm after tho spawn, has been inserted. Abed over-dry is 

 safer than a bed over-wet. In the first case you can water, or 

 case with a somewhat moist substance ; in the latter case it is 

 safest to wrap the spawn in a handful of loose broken dryish 

 litter, and when it gets through that the dampish material will 

 give substance to the Mushrooms. 



The spawn will not stand long a higher temperature in the 

 bed than from 70° to 80°, and an atmospheric temperature of 

 from 5.5°; tq G0° is what it delights in, though with heat in the 

 bed the fungus will grow freely at a lower temperature than 

 that. The high temperature in tho bed is one chief cause of 

 failure. Another cause, sometimes, is mixing with the dung 

 and soil something inirnical to fungus growlh. A friend of 

 ours, to guard against slugs and worms finding their way into 

 his beds, mixed quicklime with the fermenting material and 

 soil ; but if he destroyed the invaders he also destroyed the 

 spawn and Mushrooms. We are not so sure of alkalies gene- 

 rally; but lime when hot is most effective in destroying all 

 the fungus tribe. In earthing-up we prefer a loamy soil, even 

 a stiff clayey loam, to one chalky or calcareous. 



Mushroom beds fail, also, owing to want of patience in the 

 cultivator. Sometimes they will produce iu a few weeks, but 

 from six to eight weeks is a very common time, after spawning 

 and earthing-up, and during all that time the more regular the 

 temperature of tho bed, and the less it is meddled with, the 

 better for the coming crop. We have known beds spoiled by 

 pulling them about, drenching them, and roasting them with 

 heat either from fires or warm coverings, although they would 

 have done well if merely let alone. Tlie quickness of growth 

 depends more on the condition of the materials than upon any 

 other treatment that can be given. Patience must be exercised. 



Now for a short outline of culture. We will not enter into 



various modes, nor dwell on tho treatment in various places. 



We will fix on your cellar, and as winter is coming on, we 



' will fix on the dry cellar, whilst in the summer we would have 



