Miirch 6, 1W8. 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUEB AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



183 



first removing any mouIJ or decayed leaves, and watering the 

 outtinKS if they require water. 



As soon as the cuttings are rooted they onght to be shifted 

 into large (iO or small -IS-sized pots, and in February the young 

 plants ought to be placed in a growing temperature of from 50' 

 to 55°. An intermediate house is the best for them. Not 

 having the convenience of an intermediate plant house, I gene- 

 rally place such subjects in a vinery started on the 1st of 

 February; they deliglit in such circumstances to bo syringed 

 with tepid water daily. In order to keep the plants bushy, and 

 ultimately to raal;o them handsome specimens, they ought to 

 be staked out, and have the points of the young growing shoots 

 pinched out. In June the plants will require to be shifted 

 into larger pots. In July they may be placed in the green- 

 house, and should be kept there throughout the winter. In 

 February place the plants again in a temperature of from 50° 

 to 55', increasing the temperature, of course, as the season 

 advances. As soon as the first flowers begin to expand remove 

 the plants to the greenhouse. 



I treat the Pleroma from year to year in the manner de- 

 scribed, and under this treatment it blooms profusely. I gene- 

 rally repot, if the plants require repotting, as soon as the flow- 

 ering season is past. The compost I use consists of two parts 

 turfy peat and one part loam, with a little sand and charcoal to 

 keep the whole sweet and porous. 



Statice Holfokdi is another distinct and valuable plant for 

 the decoration of the greenhouse during the summer and au- 

 tumn. One excellent quality which it possesses is, that the 

 flowers continue two or three months in perfection. It is also 

 of a very free habit of growth, and must not bo stinted for pot 

 room. It is propagated by cuttings, which may be readily 

 struck in a little bottom heat. I generally place ,.ono cutting 

 in the centre of a GO-sized pot, using the same compost as that 

 recommended for the Pleroma. The cuttings must receive every 

 attention, shading them from the sun, and keeping the leaves 

 moist. They will soon root, and will require to be shifted into 

 pots a size larger, so that they may receive no check to their 

 growth. Scarcely any plant will become a fine healthy speci- 

 men if it be stinted for water, or have not sufficient pot room ; 

 and this rule is especially true of Statice Holfordi. 



I use the same compost for this plant as for the Pleroma, with 

 the exception of a little rotted cow manure and a few crushed 

 bones. The Statice is also benefited by being watered with 

 weak manure water occasionally when the pots are full of roots. 

 The preceding remarks may be useful to those who have had 

 any difliculty in growing the plants referred to. Pleroma 

 elegans assumes a sickly appearance if it is continually kept in 

 the greenhouse, and the Statice will damp-off in pieces, and 

 the plants be rendered unsightly, but treated as above they 

 wiU not fail to give satisfaction. — J. Douglas. 



the name is Q. Hibbertii ; this makes a very charming contrast 

 to the other two. In point of foliage alone, the three (lesneras 

 named, if judiciously mixed, would make a very pretty picture 

 without a flower. Hibbertii will endure more cold than any of 

 the family, and we find it very useful for our conservatory 

 during September, October, and November. It grows about a 

 foot in height ; the leaves are nearly circular, ehaded with diffe- 

 rent tints of green, and, having the velvety appearance peculiar 

 to many of this family, render the plant very desirable. Tho 

 flowers are produced in great profusion ; they are orange scarlet, 

 and very effective. — William Payne, Fir Vale, Sheffield. 



GESNERAS FOR AVINTER BLOOMING. 



In reference to Gesnera cinnabarina, I most confidently 

 endorse all " J. W." says respecting it. There are also several 

 other most desirable kinds ; we grow one we call (resnera 

 ignea, which is far better than G. cinnabarina, having finer 

 foliage, and the flowers are extremely beautiful and bright in 

 point of colour. For contrasting with such plants as Ca'- 

 logyne cristata, Dendrobium nobile, D. Pierardi, and Eucharis 

 amazonica. it is remarkably fine, and as a single plant it is very 

 striking. We have at times filled large dishes with from eight 

 to ten pots plunged in cocoa-nut-fibre refuse ; such masses 

 are very effective. 



We also grow another winter-blooming Gesnera, called re- 

 Julgens, and by some resplendens. This is very distinct from 

 cinnabarina, growing very much larger in the same time, and 

 with the same treatment as ignea. We have now plants of it 

 from 3 to 4 feet high, which have been gorgeous objects ; the 

 leaves are about a foot in diameter when well grown, and in 

 the earliest stages of theii' development they are really lovely. 

 Theu- colour is very distinct from that of tho foliage of Gesnera 

 cinnabarina and ignea, being mostly of an exceedingly rich 

 maroon. For foliage alone these plants are well worth their 

 room. The flowers are also very fine, large, and numerous, in 

 colour a deep rose. We bring the Gesnera refulgeos into 

 bloom in the middle of October, and the plants continue good 

 for three months. We theu remove them to make room for 

 the cinnabarina or ignea section. When in a small state these 

 plants are most handsome and efjective for table decoration. 



There is another Gesnera which should be generally grown, 



LICHENS ON FOREST TREES. 



I AM anxious to know, through the pages of The JonriNAL of 

 IIonTicuLTUiiE, if any of your readers have observed the Lichen, 

 so common to forest trees, on the increase of late. 



Here it is increasing every year so much, that fine healthy 

 young Oak trees are fast dying. It has also attacked the Beech, 

 common Spruce, and Silver Fir, but not to the same extent as 

 the Oak and Whitethorn, on which it is causing wholesale 

 destruction. My attention being called to it about two years 

 ago, I suggested open drains, as I thought it might have arisen 

 from moisture at the roots, for at the place where it was then 

 so bad the soil was a stiff retentive clay. Although these 

 drains have now been open upwards of two years the Lichen 

 has not in the least decreased, and now I find it has been 

 spreading very extensively within the last twelve months. This 

 day I had some drains, which have been made more than seven 

 years, opened, thinking that they might be choked by roots or 

 some other cause, and that the water was consequently pre- 

 vented from flowing off by them ; but I found them working 

 most satisfactorily. They are stone drains from 2J to 3 feet 

 deep, with from l» inches to 2 feet of stones. 



On looking at the trees here which are so very much infested 

 with Lichen, one would be inclined to think that tho cause is 

 damp or water about the roots ; but now, seeing that drainage 

 has done no good, end the trees are fast dying, the evil is really 

 alarming. To use lime, ito., or any of the remedies for moss 

 on trees, would involve endless labour and expense. I feel 

 anxious to know if any of the readers of the Journal have 

 observed Lichens so much in other places as we have to com- 

 pain of here. 



I enclose pieces (each separately named), of the young shoots 

 of several sorts of trees severely attacked for your inspection. 

 — J. Laidley, Adare Manor, Adare. 



[The Lichen on the Oak and on some other trees is the 

 Evernia prunastri ; but there are also other Lichens, as Borrera 

 ciliaris and Usnea plicata. Wo would deepen the drains and 

 thin the trees. The drains ought not to be farther apart than 

 12 feet in such a heavy soil. If the trunks and liain branches 

 could have the Lichens removed by scraping it would benefit 

 the trees. After the scraping, wherever practicable, we would 

 pare and burn the top spit of the soil, and spread the ashes over 

 the surface.] 



IS A DRY OR MOIST ATMOSPHERE THE MORE 

 CONGENIAL FOR SETTING MUSCAT GRAPES ? 



In accordance with the request of your correspondent, 

 " Nemo," I will endeavour to answer the questions asked by 

 him, though it may be in a somewhat simple manner. 



He asks, in the first place, at what time the adherent to the 

 steaming process has his Grapes ripe. I think, if he look care- 

 fully over my communication again (see page 125), he will find 

 nothing there about a steaming process for Muscats while in 

 flower. The Muscat Grapes referred to are ripe in the month 

 of August ; the first bunches that are cut are generally for 

 exhibition. 



The next question he wished to liave answered is regarding 

 the system of Muscat-growing practised here. On starting 

 the Vines, in the first place we commence with a temperature 

 of from 45° to 50°, rising gradually as the Vines advance in 

 growth, at the same time going through the usual process of 

 syringing and damping. When the shoots have grown from 

 an inch to 3 inches in length, the syringing is discontinued, 

 steaming being carried on till the first flowers are perceived to 

 be opening, then it is discontinued altogether. During bright 

 days, whilst these Muscats are in flower, the passages of the 

 house are occasionally sprinkled. When we see the Grapes 

 are sure to set, then moisture is increased. The temperature 



