106 



JOUENAL OF IIOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ Aoffust 8, 1865. 



evemng, with clean water, which removes any deposit of the 

 Gishurst compouncl, and leaves the foliage l)ut little marked 

 by the deposit. I am convinced that any remedy to ke at all 

 effectual should he applied immediately a trace of the disease 

 ii> discovered. Tlie old saying is emphatically true in this case 

 — " A stitch in time saves nine ;" and not only must some 

 remedy be applied at once, but it must also be persevered in 

 from time to time as the disease re-appears during the season. 

 The remethes recommended are ine.\pensive and easy of appli- 

 cation, and he who does not make use of them in case of their 

 being required does not deserve to possess a good collection of 

 the queen of flowers. 



My remarks, although I fear already too long, will not be 

 complete without mentioning what sorts I have found most 

 subject to mildew. Out of a collection of about one humb-ed 

 different sorts, chiefly Hybrid Perpetuals, I find none so sub- 

 ject to the pest with me as Gc-ant des BataUles : I have three or 

 four plants of it in different situations all on Manetti, and they 

 suffer more than any others. Blarii No. 2 and Prince CamUle 

 de Eohan are also much infected with the pest ; but ia these 

 cases I am not sure that it may not be something in the situa- 

 tion, rather than any predisiiositiou to this disease, that makes 

 them worse than others. I must not close this communi- 

 cation OTthout expressing a hope that the readers of it will 

 contribute so far as they can to the elucidation of the subject 

 discussed, especially by furnishing information as to the pre- 

 valence of the Kose mildew in their own locality, the remedies 

 used for its removal, and the kinds of Eoses most subject to 

 the disease. Such information I cannot but think will be most 

 interesting and valuable to many of your readf rs, and especially 



to- -A COHNTKY CUEATE. 



TLAXTS FOR ROOMS. 



IT The atmosphere of halls and ante-rooms is so variable — 

 sometimes close and stifling, often subject to draughts, and 

 always much drier than plant-houses generally — tliat plants 

 cannot be placed in such situations without sustaining a certain 

 amount of injury, especially as there is usually a great 

 deficiency of light. Drawing and sitting-rooms, likewise, are 

 but ill-adapted for jJants ; for, though there is not so much 

 danger of currents of air, the air is drier, the rooms are 

 equaUy dark, and often so warm, especially in winter, that the 

 plants begin to grow, become unhealthy, and flower badly. 

 However desirable plants may be for the decoration of rooms, 

 I can only regard growing them for this pui"pose as preventing 

 the production of fine specimens, and taxing the patience and 

 energies of the gardener to the utmost, particularly if he is at 

 all proud of his plants, and grows them year after year fi'om 

 cuttings up to handsome specimens. It is, indeed, rare to 

 meet with an estabUshment remarkable for its specimens, where 

 plants are largely employed for in-door decoration. There is, 

 notwithstanding, an increased demand for decorative plants 

 for rooms, that demand being generally greater where there is 

 no cousei-vatorj- or greenhouse that can be entered or seen fi-om 

 the mansion. .fl>a«w- 



It is by no means unusual for plants to be most in i-equest 

 where the conveniences for growing them are none of the best. 

 Many structures are so ill-contrived for the growth of plants 

 that an exhibitor would not know how to proceed in order to 

 grow a plant worth looking at. Justice compels me to note 

 the impracticability of growing fine specimens where the 

 means ;;re limited to ^-Lneries and stoves, the proper occupants 

 of which require different treatment from the plants. More 

 credit is due where good Grapes are grown in vineries in which 

 every nook and corner is occupied with plants, than where 

 every structure is used for its proper purpose ; for plants and 

 Vines may be grown well together at certain times, whilst at 

 others the %eatment which will suit one wiU not suit the 

 other, and in the endeavoiu- to grow both neither obtain justice. 

 There may be no lack of skill, perseverance, and de.sire to 

 make the most of the means at command, and yet the plants 

 will never be so fine as those grown in light and proper plant- 

 houses. Fruit-houses are the worst of plant-houses, for their 

 occupants are so different from plants in their requirements 

 that the cultivator, seeing that he can grow only one tiling 

 well, tries to do that, and makes the other a secondary con- 

 sideration. Take, for instance, plants in a vinery. Up to 

 May the plants may be grown without any great detriment, 

 either to themselves or the Vines, but by that time the Vines 

 wUl shade the roof too much for flowering-plants, which will, 



consequently, be drawn up weak, producing plenty of leaves 



but few flowers. The plants must, therefore, be moved to more 

 suitable quarters, and their place occupied by others requiring 

 a certain amoimt of shade. After a time the Grapes wUl 

 change colour, and the plants must then suffer, or the Grapes 

 be defective in their colouring. I am perfectly aware that 

 sometimes, and under certain conditions, plants can be grown 

 fairly in vineries, and yet Grapes of average excellence be 

 produced ; but my experience leads me to doubt whether 

 excellence in fruit and plants can be attained in the same 

 structures. To have fine jjlants structures entirely devoted to 

 them are necessary, and to obtain fine fruit nothing should 

 interfere mth it. 'Whatever, therefore, is grown in vineries, 

 in addition to the Vines, should not remain there a day after 

 they interfere with the Grapes, or are interfered \vith. I will 

 assume that the correspondent for whom these remarks are 

 chiefly intended wishes to have Grapes of average merit in 

 addition to plants, and, bearing this in mind, I will proceed 

 with the answer, led only by my own experience of plants in 

 vineries where Grapes are the principal object, and of those 

 plants suitable for or which have been employed for room 

 decoration. I confess that I have no luiowledge of gi'owing 

 plants in vineries, making the Vines a secondary considera- 

 tion. The correspondent to whom I reply " has a stove and 

 vinerie.', but no greenhouse." I wiU assume that he has two 

 vineries, and pits or fi'amcs. 



In jAxn.iT.Y we may expect in bloom from the stove — Eran- 

 themum pukhellum, and E. strictum ; Poinsettia pulcherrima ; 

 Euphorbia jacquiniieflora ; Justicia speciosa ; Begonias nitida, 

 insignis, lucida, and some of the variegated kinds, as B. grandis, 

 andMarshaUi; Torenia pulcherrima; Gardenia citriodora; Epi- 

 phyllums tnmcatiim vars. magnificum, purpiu-eum, salmoneum, 

 cruentum, and violaceum ; Thyrsacanthus rutdans ; Ardisia 

 crenulata, for its red berries, and its white-aud-yellow-bemed 

 varieties ; Aphelandi-a aurautiaca ; Hebeclinium atrorubens, 

 and H. ianthemum ; Gesnera zebriua splendens, and G. cinna- 

 barina splendens. From vineries — CameUias ; Primulas ; Cy- 

 clamens coum, Atkinsi, persicum vars. ; Coronilla glauca ; 

 Daphne odorata rubra, and its sub-variety alba ; Acacias hybrida, 

 rotimdifolia, oleifoUa elegans, and longiflora magnifica : and in 

 addition Snowdrops, Scilla brevifoUa, and S. bifolia ; last, but 

 not least, LiUes of the Valley brought into flower in a cool 

 part of the stove, along %vith the two preceding, all on a shelf 

 near the glass, and from the same a few Hyacinths, Narcissus, 

 and Crocus, and a few pots of Tulips ; nor must I omit Andro- 

 meda floribimda, and Lamustinus on short stems, that come 

 fi'om the rineries without any forcing. 



In this month it is to be expected that one of the vineries 

 will be thoroughly cleaned (this we shall term the early vinery), 

 and forcing commenced so as to have Grapes in Jime. Such 

 being the case, we may introduce plants of the dwarf Ehodo- 

 dencirons, as K. caucasicum album, dauricum atro's'irens, ciha- 

 tuni, gemmiferum, varieties of Nobleannm, and other hybrids, 

 nice dwarf plants well set with bloom-buds ; common sweet- 

 scented I'.ardy Azalea ; Kalmia glauca and latifolia ; Deutzia 

 graciUs ; Dielytra spectabiUs ; Weigela rosea ; Sweet Briar ; Eoses 

 (assigning them the lightest and airiest situation) ; also Lilies 

 of the Valley, Hyacinths, Tulips, Narcissus, Crocus, Seillas, and 

 a few pots of tree and Neapolitan Violets. Plants of the old 

 Hydrangea will bloom the earher if afl'orded a Uttle heat, and 

 it is one of the best plants for rooms. To the above we may 

 add some of the most forward Pelargoniums, Cinerarias, Cal- 

 ceolarias, a few Fuchsias, Salvia splendens, varieties of Azalea 

 indica, especially amceua, and a few pots of LUium lancifohum 

 speciosum. A few Gloxinias and Achimenes may be potted 

 and introduced into the stove, and also a few more bulbs to 

 keep up a succession mitU those in the early vinery come in. 

 If tbei-e is convenience, a bed of leaves or tan may be made in 

 the early vineiy, and this will be useful for the deciduous plants 

 introduced for forcing, of which I find that I have omitted 

 Primus triloba flore pleno, Ehodora canadensis, standard and 

 dwarf Eibes, and Lilacs, and the double-blossomed Peach ; also, 

 Daphne cneorum and Berberis Darwinii, which are evergreens. 

 It wiU also be of semce for forwarding Begonias Evansiana, 

 manicata, coccinea, Prestoniensis auperbn. Sauudersi, and JMar- . 

 tiniana, and a few of the variegated-leaved varieties. 



Feekuabv. — In adtUtion to the plants already mentioned for 

 January, and they may be expected more or less up to March 

 and April, from vineries we may expect Solanum capsicas- 

 trum, for its red berries all the winter; Magnoha fuscata; 

 Lachenalias quadricolor, pustulata ; OxaUs fulgida, and 0. tri- 

 color ; Linum trigynum ; Hovea Celsi ; Mouochajtiim ensiferum ; 



