322 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTUBE ANB COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April SO, 1368. 



and an hour or more earlier when the sky is cloudy. The 

 plant, like aU others, is benefited by a little air at night, but 

 this must not lower the temperature early in the morning ; 

 the mercury must rise as the sun ascends, sink as he sinks. 

 That is the principle of air-giving, and when this comes to be 

 better attended to we shall have less trouble with insects. 



In respect to temperature, nothing is better than that I have 

 already stated as suitable for the young plant, only I may re- 

 peat that for the plant to grow well the pot or tub should be 

 plunged in a bottom heat equal to the mean atmospheric tem- 

 perature of the house, and the roots should not be exposed, 

 though protected by a pot or tub, to a fluctuating heat. 



By the end of September the plant will be a strong one, if 

 all has gone on well ; the watering should then be gradually 

 decreased, and the atmospheric moisture considerably so, 

 to induce a state of rest ; but if the plant continue growing do 

 not be in too great a hurry, but let it grow on, bearing in mind 

 that as the days are shortening and the sun heat is less, there 

 will not be so great a necessity for moisture and heat as 

 when the sun heat is greater. When the plant has ceased to 

 grow, if kept dry at the roots for a fortnight, preserving at the 

 same time a dry atmosphere, it may throw up its flower spike. 

 This being the case, the temperature should not be allowed to 

 fall lower than tji/ at night, and should be kept as near 65° as 

 possible. The watering should be moderate, and the atmo- 

 spheric moisture the same, until the first row of fruit is about 

 half developed, when the watering should be liberal. Give 

 also a top-dressing of fresh cow dung as before, and maintain 

 a moist atmosphere ; but the season being so far advanced the 

 watering and atmospheric moisture must be regulated in ac- 

 cordance with the weather. The temperature, however, should 

 be 60° or 65° at night, and from 75° to 8U° by day. The fruit 

 will be ripe in March, and it will not be nearly so fine as if the 

 plant had had a rest before it showed fruit. The bunch of 

 fruit, together with the barren end, may weigh 30 lbs. — not a 

 bad return for a plant twelve months old, and it will be a 

 valuable addition to the dessert at that season. 



To have fine fruit, the plant after September should be 

 moderately supphed with water, merely giving enough, after 

 the watering has been reduced to a minimum, to prevent the 

 foliage from drooping. Sprinkling the floors of the house, 

 walls, &c., once a-day, will ailord sufficient atmospheric mois- 

 ture, but even this will not be necessary in dull days. A tem- 

 perature of 60° at night, or not less than 55°, is ample, and 

 from 60° to 70°, with a rise from sun heat, will be suflicient 

 by day. 



Early in January any of the surface soil which will come 

 away easily may be removed, and a good top-dressing of fresh 

 cow dung given, and in a fortnight the temperature may be 

 increased till it is 65° at night by the beginning of February, 

 increasing also the supply of water, but not giving it in any 

 great quantities until the plant is fairly growing; then be 

 liberal with the watering pot, and maintain a good amount of 

 moisture in the house, but avoid having so much as to affect 

 the safety of the fruit, which is easily destroyed by moisture 

 condensed on the glass falling on the leaves, and finding its 

 way into the heart of the plant. Water, atmospheric moisture, 

 and heat should steadily increase with the plant's increase in 

 growth and with the greater length of the days. The plant 

 wiU soon show its flower spike, and it should then have a 

 rather drier atmosphere until the first row of fruit is partly de- 

 veloped ; afterwards water freely and afford plenty of heat and 

 moisture. Continue this treatment until the fruit begins to 

 ripen, then afford a drier atmosphere and a brisk heat, with 

 plenty of air at night. The watering at the root should be 

 diminished, giving no more water than enough to keep the 

 oUage from flagging ; but this dry treatment should not com- 

 mence until after the fruit has ceased to swell. Some cut off 

 the barren end to assist swelling ; I do not practise this. 



With respect to suckers, if any appear break them off close 

 to the sou, and drill out their hearts with a sharp wedge-like 

 piece of wood ; any coming after the fruit is developed may be 

 left, and after the fruit is cut should be removed and potted, 

 pulling up the old plant. If there are no suckers when the 

 fruit is cut leave the old plant a short time ; it will then pro- 

 duce plenty of suckers, and when a few inches high they may 

 be potted and grown in the same manner as the old plant. 



I have purposely avoided mentioning syringing, for it has 

 been the cause of my losing some fine heads of fruit. Better 

 not syringe at all than do that, though a good syringing every 

 evening when the plant is in its young state, and until it 

 osases growth, is of great benefit. Syringe in the evening only, 



for if practised in the morning the snn's rays striking npon 

 the foliage whilst wet cause serious disfigurement. Do not 

 syringe at all after the plant shows itself thick in the centre. 

 — G. Abbey. 



FORCING LILIES OF THE VALLEY. 



I READ with interest the article in page 203, on the Lily of 

 the Valley, and it has led me to state the method I have prac- 

 tised for producing a good supply from January until the plant 

 flowers out of doors. 



I would follow the culture given in page 293, and when roota 

 have been planted three or four years, as described, they are 

 fit for forcing. When wanted for cut flowers it is a good plan 

 to force them in boxes, which should be about 8 inches deep, 

 but may be of any convenient length and width. I have 

 found the most useful size to be 1 foot 8 inches long, by 1 foot 

 2 inches wide. A little rough material should be placed on the 

 bottom of each box to act as drainage, and the boxes being 

 taken to the Lily-of-the-Valley border, with a spade cut patches 

 that will just fit inside the boxes. Two men wiU lift a patch 

 easily with a spade at each end, and put it into the box. This 

 being done, a little rich soil should be shaken over the surface, 

 and into any crevices which may exist at the sides of the box. 



When a large supply is wanted early, it is desirable to have 

 a quantity taken up before frost becomes severe. The roots 

 may be placed in any shed, one box above the other, providing 

 the crowns of the roots are not above the box. One or more 

 boxfuls may be placed weekly in a Peach house, vinery, or on 

 the floor of the stove. The plants seem to suit themselves to 

 any place where they have a temperature of about 60°. A Uttle 

 liquid manure assists them greatly, and increases the size of 

 the spikes. 



After the flowers are gathered the plants should be gradually 

 inured to stand in a frame or any place where protection can 

 be given ; and when all danger of frost is past they may be 

 again planted out on a well-prepared border in entire patches, 

 and in two years they will again be fit for forcing. When 

 wanted for pots or vases the same practice should be followed. 

 — W. Osborne, Fota Gardens. 



A CHAT ABOUT MY GARDEN. 



Sometime ago, on my writing you a letter about "Fern 

 Habits," you asked me to write again. In that letter I stated 

 how my Ferns seeded themselves on petrified moss in a War- 

 diau case. They soon became too large for that case, and I 

 I have now a Uttle Fern house in a north-east comer, where the 

 whole of the rockwork is composed of the petrified moss ; and 

 on the side where there is water it is already fast becoming 

 covered with the germs of the Ferns and Lichen. Possibly any 

 porous stone would be the same, but the petrified moss has 

 the advantage of being much lighter and more porous than 

 any stone that I ever saw. 



You encourage private people with small gardens to write 

 about their spring flowers, and as our soil is a deep red clay, it 

 may be an encouragement to some under similar circum- 

 stances to know that we have every bed as full now as in 

 summer. 



The soil in the flowerbeds is, of course, " made soil," but 

 in spite of this many spring flowers will not succeed, parti- 

 cularly Anemones. 



I have a chain border on grass, the chain part being a narrow 

 gravel walk, each link surrounding a round bed 5 feet in width, 

 and a straight edging of tile round the whole leaves Utile three- 

 cornered beds between each circle. These three-cornered beds 

 are filled with Crocuses, which are now, of course, over, but 

 each round bed is gay. They all have a clump of Tulips or 

 Hyacinths in the centre, surrounded by borders of white Arabis, 

 blue Forget-me-not, yeUow Alyssum, and purple Arabis, alter- 

 nately ; the TuUps planted according to the border colour, 

 red with the white and yellow borders ; white and yeUow 

 Tulips with purple borders ; and pink with blue. Another 

 set of beds of the same shape has the whole of each bed of the 

 Forget-me-not, purple and white Arabis, and yeUow Alyssum, 

 with the little three-cornered beds of Cerastinm clipped closely. 



All this is done at very Uttle cost, as the Tulips are very 

 cheap, and though they must be moved before the leaves are 

 quite dead to make way for the summer bedding plants, I find 

 most of them do again with a few fresh ones added each year 

 to keep up the stock. 



The yeUow Alyssum is cut up into cuttings in June, and 



