396 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



[ May 15, 1873. 



Wood, Kingston Hill. On botli occasions their Majesties were 

 pleased to convey to Sir. Veitch the sense of their appreciation 

 of the high cultivation displayed in their nurseries. We may 

 add that their Majesties also visited the Eoy.vl Horticultukai. 

 Society's Rose Show last week, as well as Mr. William Paul's 

 Exhibition of Roses, &c. 



Wood is seven to twenty times stronger lengthwise than 



transversely. 



On the 6th inst. the Central Chamber of Agriculture 



held a sitting at the Salisbury Hotel, Salisbury Square, Fleet 

 Street; Sir Michael II. Be.'icli, M.P., presided. On the motion 

 of Mr. Hodsole, seconded by Mr. Hicks, the meeting agreed to 

 the following resolution : — " That the present state of the law 

 with respect to the ch-VROEAEility of jiarket garden's to tithe 

 is unsatisfactory and requires amendment, with a view to such 

 a settlement of the question as, while just to the tithe-owner, 

 shall not act to the discouragement of the agriculturist." 



Everlasting Flowers. — The ImmorteUi' of the East 



(Helichrysum orientale), a native of Asia, has been known in 

 Europe since 1C29, but was only first cultivated in gardens 

 about 1815. Its flowers, the symbols of friendship, or tribute 

 to talent and genius, serve to make the garlands of immortelles 

 which ornament the tombs of the dead in Roman Catholic 

 eouutrios. It is cultivated in France, in the communes of 

 Lower Provence, where the soil slopes towards the Mediter- 

 ranean. It- succeeds very well on the slopes of Bandols and 

 Ciota, which are exposed to the south and enclosed by walls of 

 stone. It blossoms about the month of .June. It suffers from 

 heavy and continuous rains and strong dews, and only vege- 

 tate? well on light, stony, and permeable soils. It is propagated 

 by offsets, which are separated from the old stocks. The 

 gathering of the flowers is made iu the first days of June, be- 

 fore the bursting of the buds. As the flowers which are in- 

 sufficiently formed or too full blown are rejected by the trade, 

 it is important not to cut either too soon or too late. The 

 collection is made by women, who tie them in small bundles, 

 which are ordinarily dried on the walls of the enclosure. Finally, 

 young girls are employed to remove the down which covers the 

 ramifications. A kilogramme (nearly 2^ lbs.) of these plants 

 contains about four hundred stems, each containing about 

 twenty flowers. Each growing tuft of immortelles produces 

 sixty or seventy stems. A hectare (two acres and a half) will 

 contain 40,000 tufts, producing annually 2,400,000 to 2,800,000 

 stems, yielding 16,000 to 20,000 bundles, or SJ to 6J tons in 

 ■weight— {Eni;lish Mediaiuc) 



Melted snow produces about one-eighth of its bulk of 



water. 



At a depth of 45 feet, the temperature of the earth is 



uniform throughout the year. 



■ A GENTLE3IAN, says the (American) Western Huralist, 



anxious to ascertain the effect of transplanting at night in- 

 stead of by day, made an experiment with the following re- 

 sults : — He transplanted ten Cherry trees while in bloom, 

 commencing at four o'clock in the afternoon, planting one 

 each hour until one o'clock iu the morning. Those trans- 

 planted during the daylight shed their blossoms, producing 

 httle or no fruit, while those planted in the dark maintained 

 their condition fuUy. He did the same with ten dwarf trees, 

 after the fruit was one-third grown. Those transplanted dur- 

 ing the day shed their fruit ; those transplanted during the 

 night perfected their crop, and showed no injury from having 

 been removed. With each of these trees he removed some 

 earth with the roots. Tlie incident is fully vouched for ; and 

 if a few more similar experiments produce a like result, it will 

 be a strong argument to horticulturists, &c., to do such work 

 at night. 



Yesterd.ay, 12th inst., at Lowestoft, the 100th birth- 

 day of Lady Smith, widow of Sir James Edv:ard Smith, once 

 President of the Linne.au Society, was celebrated by a dinner 

 to one hundred of the oldest people of both sexes. — (Times.) 



SEEDS EETAINING VITALITY. 

 In the .Journal for March 6th, page 210, 1 find a list of seeds 

 furnisUed, stating the greatest age at which tliey germinate 

 freely. To my own knowledge I can vouch for Parsnips ger- 

 minating freely the second year. The Student seed gave an 

 abundant crop. Peas, Lean's, and Kidney Beans all do well 

 the second year. I keep all my seeds in boxes made of tin. 

 I think the reason of seeds not germinating is from the place 



where they are kept. A warm and dry place is the best for 

 their preservation. — S. A. Beenan, Fomnoy. 



THE BEDDING-OUT SEASON. 



The bedding-out season is again with us, and according to 

 the manner — efficient or otherwise — in which we form our 

 plans and mis the many varieties of plants together so as to 

 form a very harmony of contrasts in the distinctive colours of 

 the blooms, and the disposition of the many kinds of oma- 

 mental-foliaged plants, the future success or otherwise of the 

 whole summer's display depends. 



Nor should any be too hasty in their efforts to bed-out at as 

 early a period as possible, there being no assured certainty that 

 immunity from frosts that may injure will be ours until after 

 the 20th inst. Indeed, apart from the destruction of the 

 plants, the thermometer may fall so low as to materially in- 

 jure, as will be evidenced by the subsequent very slow progress 

 of the plants. I say, therefore, do not begin planting-out in 

 exposed situations before the above date. Even then commenco 

 with hardy subjects alone, such as Calceolarias, Ageratums, 

 Alyssums,&c., leaving always such subjects as Coleus, Tricolor 

 Zonal Pelargoniums, and the Uke untU last, or about a week 

 later, which will land you very nearly in assured safetj' — viz., 

 .June 1st. 



I have drawn attention to this subject thus prominently, 

 owing to the knowledge I have that it is almost invariably the 

 wish of growers to be as early as possible, and that the very 

 anxiety so displayed put into practice, as it frequently is, pre- 

 vious to a cold period, really throws th^m weeks behind what 

 they would have been had they been less hasty. 



Tliose who afford themselves the treat of having their beds 

 filled with early spring flowers wUl have less excuse to " bed- 

 out " early this season, owing to its lateness, as even at this 

 period beds of Forget-me-not, Silenes, Wallflowers, Pansies, &c., 

 are masses of lovely bloom, and cannot be uprooted just yet. 

 Do not, however, in the meantime permit the summer occu- 

 pants to suffer in then' pots. Keep them well watered, and 

 give an occasional soaking with manure water besides, to sup- 

 port them against being permanently checked, which greatly 

 destroys the early bloom prospects where permitted. 



As regards the annual preparation of the beds, for these 

 their summer occupants to make a really efficient display 

 scarcely any two beds should be prepared alike, excepting iu 

 so far as plants of given or kindred sorts are concerned. For 

 instance. Calceolarias, owing to the manner iu which they 

 suddenly die off during summer, should have then' beds pre- 

 pared by digging and mauuriug to a depth, where possible, of 

 A feet, more or less. Strong-growing kinds, such as Agera- 

 tums, Petunias, and the stronger types of Zonal and other 

 Pelargoniums, though they need not have this deep soil-pre- 

 paration, should not, besides, have manure too abundantly 

 worked-in on digging them, and then only the milder kinds, 

 such as leaf mould, etc., should be used. 



Let us now turn our attention to the more immediate ar- 

 rangement of colours. The remarks I make must, I scarcely 

 need add, be qualified with the statement that, as individual 

 tastes vary greatly, I bpt give the results of my own previous 

 opportunities of judging of the best effects to be produced, and 

 state what some of the happier contrasts are formed of. Though 

 I am a great advocate for quiet or neutral colours, I neverthe- 

 less refer first to " telling " contrasts afforded by a few of the 

 more showy or warmer colours. Scarlet Geraniums, or Pelar- 

 goniums, whether Zonal or otlierwise, though they should 

 never be allowed to predominate in any garden or tastefully 

 arranged parterre, hold first rank. With these must be associ- 

 ated the warmer tints of yellow, Coleus Verschaft'elti, Lobe- 

 lias, variegated and Tricolor Zonal Pelargoniums, Iresine Lin- 

 deni, Amarauthus melaucholious ruber. Golden Feather Py- 

 rethrum, and intermediate tints of Pelargoniums, varying as 

 they do to a very great degree at this period. lanthe, Waltham 

 Seedling, Lord Palmerston, Indian Yellow, Orange Nosegay, 

 Duchess, Lady Kirklaud, Blue Bell, and Hogarth are good 

 kinds. Each and alt such bedding plants as enumerated may 

 be planted in properly balanced contrasts to form either showy 

 beds or ribbon borders, &c. 



Turn we now to a few quiet pleasing contrasts, amongst 

 more neutral tints, consisting of such as Cerastium, Lobelia, 

 blue and white, Pyrethrum Golden Feather, variegated Pelar- 

 goniums, and such as have white flowers (especially Pelargo- 

 niums of the pink or Christine sections) , amongst which Beaton's 

 Silver Nosegay is especially good, all being extremely efi'eotive 



