M8 



JOUENAIi OP HORTIOULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ March 19, 1B68. 



Holly best. Care must be taken to prevent the plant being 

 destroyed by rabbits, if tbey abound, as they are very fond of 

 this tree. May is about the best time to plant, if the weather 

 is. not too dry at the time, and if the plants have been removed 

 a year or two previously they will be all the better, as the 

 Holly is not the easiest plant to remove successfully. It may 

 ; be remarked that it is not bad practice to plant a HoUy here 

 ■and there in a Quickset hedge, say one at every G feet or so ; 

 the Hollies thus look cheerful, and give more shelter in winter 

 than the Quicks alone. 



Peivet. — This plant occupies a position many grades below 

 the Yew and Holly, but it has the advantage of soon attaining 

 the requisite size, is not particular as to soil or situation, and 

 •will bear cutting into form at any time of year. It may also 

 1)6 planted at almost any time ; its drawbacks are its inability 

 to support itself against heavy accumulations of snow, and that 

 late in the winter it is almost denuded of leaves. To give it 

 strength it is better to plant Quicksets (Whitethorn), with it, 

 say one plant in three, and the close interlacing of its shoots 

 partially compensates for the lack of foliage in March and April 

 after a severe winter. The chief merits of Privet as a hedge 

 plant are its rapid growth, the trim appearance which it pre- 

 sents when fresh cut, and the great accuracy with which that 

 operation can be performed without danger to the plant ; it is 

 also less injured by rabbits and hares than the Whitethorn, 

 but is not entirely exempt from attack where the former are 

 numerous. Privet will thrive in almost any soil, but if planted 

 by the side of a rich border, it will exhaust it more than is 

 proper for the other plants. On the other hand, it will grow 

 Tinder trees where hardly anything else would succeed, and is 

 on many accounts useful. 



Box. — It is scarcely necessary to remark that this is still 

 more slow of growth than the Yew, and the number of tall 

 hedges of Box is necessarily few ; but there are cases in which 

 a low hedge is wanted, and where variety may also be desirable, 

 and in these Box comes in useful, especially as its colour 

 ■differs widely from any of the three plants previously described, 

 and it bears cutting-in well. Box adapts itself to almost any 

 situation ; but the more shaded it is the deeper the green it 

 presents. The varieties of Box differ considerably in their 

 growth. The dwarfest edging Box grows very slowly indeed ; 

 I have some that was planted out in nursery rows on ground 

 of fair quality, and which has not much exceeded the height 

 of an ordinary edging iu five year.s, although it has never been 

 out all that time, and was not very small when planted. On 

 the other hand, some of the varieties of tree Box grow faster 

 than others, and there are some intermediate varieties. 



In general. Box thrives best where lime, either as chalk or 

 in some other form predominates ; but ordinary good garden 

 soil answers very well. It transplants well, but always prefers 

 a'a improved soil at each change, otherwise the progress is slow. 

 The oidinary tree Box of British origin makes a better hedge 

 than the Majorca species, the latter now and then succumbing to 

 such hard winters as those of 1838, 1845, 1855, 18C0, and 1807, 

 although the injury which it sustained in these years was not 

 the same at all places. An old Box hedge that has extended 

 beyond its allotted space may be cropped-in almost to the 

 naked stems of the central upright shoots, and fresh shoots 

 will be produced, provided one side of the hedge be cut at a 

 time, so as always to preserve sufficient foliage to keep the 

 plant healthy. A fresh growth may be secured by this means 

 in two years or so. Unlike most of our indigenous plants, the 

 Box does not reproduce itself to any great extent naturally by 

 seeds, excepting iu favoured situations. I believe that on the 

 chalky hills iu the neighbourhood of Dorking it is so produced ; 

 but in many places where the plant even thrives and does 

 well, the quantity of seed furnished is very small. 



Laukustinus. — As an ornamental bank or line, this is well 

 worthy of a place, but it must not be cut so exactly to form as 

 the preceding plants, otherwise the bloom will be destroyed ; 

 it likewise requires to be allowed a greater width for growth, 

 and its top ought to be rounded. The Laurustinus does 

 best in dry ground, ripening its shoots better, and withstand- 

 ing the winter better. Very severe winters, however, injure it, 

 such as that of 186(J-(J7, when so many plants were killed 

 in various places ; even here some were much injured, while 

 others were scarcely in the least affected, and ripened their 

 summer growth and commenced flowering in August. This 

 plant, however, is more tender than most of those previously 

 named, and is not so well adapted for the formal trimmed 

 hedge ; but for a screen to hide unsightly objects it is excellent, 

 and its flowers are at all times interesting, more especially 



when they are produced in a mild winter, giving cheerfulness 

 at a time when flowers, excepting under glass, are few and far 

 between. 



CoMuos L.icnEL. — This is a sturdier plant than the last, 

 being seldom injured by snow or frosts in the south of Eng- 

 land, although it was so very much last year ; it will also bear 

 cutting to any shape. It ought not to be cut with the shears, 

 although this is often done ; but the knife makes better work, 

 not severing the large leaves like the shears. It grows rather 

 fast, and is not particular as to ground, although the better 

 that is the faster it grows. Usually dry stony ground, with a 

 subsoil favourable to roots descending a good depth, is the best 

 for the common Laurel. 



The best time, perhaps, for cutting a Laurel hedge or bank 

 is the end of July, after which a small amount of growth takes 

 place, which affords additional foliage to the hedge for the 

 winter. The shoots thus produced, being mostly about 3 inches 

 long, if the ground is dry will ripen to their tops and look as 

 perfect as if cut to the size ; but if any of undue length ap- 

 pear they may be cut out with the knife in the autumn. The 

 hedge or bank will consequently look well all the winter and 

 spring, up to the time when growth takes place again early in 

 the summer. For some years I have managed some Laurel 

 banks here in this way, and find that from the middle to the 

 end of July is tho best time for cutting them. Of course some 

 attention is paid to the character of the season, but in general 

 the above is the best time. If the Laurels are cut earlier the 

 aftergrowth is more than is wanted ; while, if cut later, there 

 is not suflicient aftergrowth to clothe the cut portion of the 

 hedge, which will consequently appear raw and naked. It is 

 scarcely necessary to remark that a wet autumn, and possibly 

 a wet situation, will prevent these autumn shoots ripening well ; 

 but as a rule they do so when the soil is dry, and when the 

 plants upon it exhaust all its moisture, as is usually the case 

 with the Laurel. It grows faster than the Laurustinus, and is 

 capable of being formed into any shape ; but when a steep 

 bank has to be covered, alternate slopes and perpendiculars 

 look best.' — J. liOESON. 



(To be continued.) 



DISA GRANDIFLORA CULTURE. 



A STATEMENT Copied from a French contemporary relative to 

 this beautiful Orchid induces me to say a few words about it, 

 for it is a marvel to me that it is not more generally cultivated, 

 as there is nothing more beautiful than it is when well grown, 

 and there is no plant more easily managed ; and yet, strange 

 to say, one very rarely sees it, and even when seen it is not in 

 the flourishing condition it ought to be. I have had now some 

 years' experience in growing it, and as my plants are the ad- 

 miration of all my neighbours, I may be allowed to speak from 

 experience. 



The statement to which I allude was that the writer had 

 succeeded in making it produce three or four blooms, and had 

 induced the same plant to flower three or four times. I wrote 

 a few lines about it ; but even with the Editor's remarks thereon 

 I cannot see what the Frenchman did or did not do. As to 

 producing three or four flowers, I have had it with six ; and I 

 believe Mr. Leach, of Clapham Park, who first taught us the 

 way to grow it, and who gave me my plants, has had eight or 

 nine. But what the meaning of the second feat is I do not 

 know. The habit of the plant is peculiar. It throws up one 

 stout shoot ; the shoot gradually developes itself into a flower- 

 ing shoot, while at the same time the young shoot which is to 

 form next year's plant appears alongside of it. This stem 

 having flowered, gradually begins to rot away, and at last 

 comes off from the plant just bslow the surface, and the next 

 year's shoot takes its place. Now, if the Frenchman says he 

 made this flowering stem produce flowers four or five times, I 

 simply do not believe him ; if he means that the same plant 

 flowers again next year, I do not see that there is much in 

 that, for it might go on in this way indefinitely. My short 

 note brought me one from Mr. Leach, who says the "French- 

 man does not seem to have done any great wonders." 



As to soil, I have used a mixture of peat and cocoa-nut fibre 

 and sand. Mr. Leach uses peat, and says, " I am somewhat 

 astonished at your continuing to use cocoa-nut fibre. I have 

 never ventured to try it with Disa. With other Orchids I used 

 it for a time freely, but after six or eight months I was glad 

 to take the plants out of it and fall back on the peat and 

 sphagnum." This has not been my experience this year. I 

 ' have one large Italian pan in whieh there are three or four 



