316 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 17, 1865. 



phenomenon of all is, that some of these Willows, still crowned 

 . by a verdant capital of branches, have their hollow boles filled 

 by tap roots sent down by these branches themselves, and by 

 the splitting of the rotten stump this inner system of pipes 

 and roots comes to light. — Mauoabet Plues. 



ACHYRANTHES VERSCHAFFELTI— COLEUS 

 VERSCHAFFETI— STELLA GERANIUM. 



Vasious opinions have been given durmg the past few months 

 respecting the qualifications of Achyranthes Verschaffelti 

 (commonly called Iresine Herbstii) as a bedding plant, and 

 after hearing so much of this " new red leaf plant," I was 

 anxious to give it a trial. A few plants were purchased, and 

 after being placed in heat for a short time soon produced a good 

 crop of cuttings, sufficient to make plants for one bed in the 

 first week in June. The plants had been tolerably well hardened 

 off, but did not make much progress for several' weeks. Being 

 in London on the 1st of .July, my employer gave me a ticket for 

 the Rose Show at the Royal Horticultural Gardens, at which 

 place I saw a large bed of this new plant, and to tell the truth, 

 I was somewhat disappointed after hearing so much of it. The 

 Amaranthus in the same garden was, in my opinion, much 

 superior, both in habit and colour. On my return home I was 

 anxious to see how the Achyranthes was getting on, and found 

 that it had made but little progress. Still I thought we might 

 as weU be out of the world as be out of the fashion, and the 

 plants were allowed to remain, thinking that after a little ex- 

 perience they might do better. We have not been disappointed, 

 the plants have been regularly pinched in, and have made quite 

 a thick bed, and hkewise become more of a red colour, which 

 is what was wanted. We have secm-ed a good crop of cuttings, 

 and shall place some in stove, gi-eenhouse, and cold pit. A 

 stove or wai-m greenhouse will, I expect, be the best place 

 for them. 



The Coleus Verschaiielti disappointed many as a bedding 

 plant, and I beUeve there are but few who use it extensively at 

 the present time. The best beds of it that I ever saw were at 

 Shrubland Park, last year, under the management of Mr. Blair, 

 and "taking a leaf out of his book," we planted a bed very 

 thickly ; this has done well all the season, and is one of the 

 best beds in these gardens. 



Mr. Fish has lately said that Geranium Stella is " Al " with 

 him. We call it our Al, for it is undoubtedly one of the best 

 Geraniums, if not the very best, that ever was introdirced. The 

 only drawback it has, is that its flower-stalks are rather too long. 

 We have been fortunate in raising a variegated Stella, and if it 

 should bloom as weU as its parent, it will be " a Stella indeed." 

 — John Pekkins, Tltoniham Gardens, Siiffulk. 



PEAR BLOSSOM IN OCTOBER. 



The long-continued summer is now at an end, and here in ■ 

 Lancashire, at least, the rain which has for many weeks past 

 been so tiying a necessity, is falling in abundance." The bedded- 

 out plants, as a matter of course, are rapidly losing their bright- 

 ness, and even the cheerful Michaelmas Daisies, which in the [ 

 south you call by the pretty name of " Farewell Summer," have 

 been so di-enched and battered that it is questionable if they 

 will recover the condition they were in on Satiu'day. The bloom 

 is by this morning (October 11th), entirely beaten away ; but it 

 may be •.. orth while to place upon record, that on October 7th, 

 1865, two Jargonelle Pear trees standing in a garden at Coley- 

 hurst, not more than a quarter of an hom-'s quick walk from 

 the Manchester post-office, were perfectly white with bloom, 

 just as in April. To see a few flowers, or even a branch or two 

 at the close of a fine season like the one we have just enjoyed, 

 is, perhaps, not very unusual ; but fora whole tree to be covered 

 with bloom, is, I thiuk, quite exceptional. The first excla- 

 mation on seeing it was naturally, "No Pears next year;" 

 but on examining several twigs, it appeared that only a por- 

 tion of the flowering-buds had thus prematurely expanded, 

 and that plenty remained to give promise, at aU events, of a 

 crop of fruit in 186C— whether to be fulfilled or not, will be : 

 known in twelve months. 



The trees are situated in the immediate neighbourhood of j 

 some dye works, the warmth of the atmosphere caused by 

 which, and possibly some of the chemical matters cast into the 1 

 air may probably have had something to do in inducing this j 

 remarkable precociousness. Independently of the existence of 



unexpanded flower-buds, it is quite likely that the splendid 

 autumn we are now passing out of, will have so ripened the 

 wood of these, and of other trees that may have similarly 

 bloomed elsewhere, as to give them strength and impetus to 

 develope new ones. The organic bases of which leaves and 

 flowers are composed are primarily alike, and it is quite con- 

 ceivable that on the same principle that plants " run to leaf," 

 w-hen over- saturated with moisture, here there may be a suffi- 

 cient tendency in the contrary direction, owing to the fine 

 season and its effects, to compensate the loss caused by the 

 production of flowers in October. 



I have noticed in many places, Strawben'ies in fuU bloom. 

 In one garden, I thiuk near Bristol, the bed was covered with 

 flowers, and the same is the condition of things rather ex- 

 tensively with the wild Strawberry of the hedge-banks. Very 

 pretty was it the other day, dm-ing a long walk in the lanes of 

 Derbyshire, to note the white circlets of this Uttle favourite, 

 and how sweet and unaccustomed a contrast they formed with 

 the azm-e beUs of the round-leaved Campanula. What an 

 amazing quantity, too, this season of red berries in the hedges ! 

 The Hawthorns bend their branches with the load, and the 

 great clusters of the wild Rose heps stand so erect and proud, 

 and shine so brightly in their vivid vermilion, that in its de- 

 cline the plant seems to eclipse even its own summer. How 

 glorious, too, this year, the Acorns and the Chestnuts. Surely 

 that beautiful passage in the seventh Eclogue must have been 

 penned after such a season at that of 1865. — Leo. 



Theee is now (October 7th) in the garden of Mr. Hall, linen- 

 draper, High Street, Stoke Newington, a Jargonelle Pear tree 

 in full bloom. It ripened its fruit in July, and is now bare of 

 leaves, but the blossoms are as abundant as if it were spring, 

 and apparently as well developed. — A Subscribeb for Many 

 Years. 



PREPARING STRAWBERRY PLANTS FOR 

 FORCING. 



I have a number of good Strawberry plants which I am pre- 

 paring for forcing, but have no better forcing-house than a 

 vinery heated by a flue, and which cannot be started very early ; 

 I therefore propose making up a slight hotbed about the end 

 of January, but fear the roots would be injured by much bottom 

 heat. I presume I may place boards for the pots to stand on, 

 and remove the plants into the greenhouse vinery just before 

 they come into bloom. — A Gardener. 



[You cannot do better, but decideiUy use the boards, and 

 give plenty of air at first. After the first fortnight you might 

 place a few leaves between the pots, to give these a little more 

 heat, but it is safest not to let the pots be more than 2° or 3" 

 higher than the atmosphere in Januars'. Farther on in spring 

 plunging the pots in a mUd heat would do no haim. If this 

 is done early, rooting and foliage are more apt to be encou- 

 raged than flower-trusses. We generally start our succession 

 crops in frames. Even a cold frame is better than no other 

 assistance.] 



KNFS'ES OF MOWING JSLiCHINES. 

 In reply to your correspondent "Verax," as to the best 

 method of grinding the knives or cylinders of his mowing ma- 

 chine, I find that a piece of grindstone laid flat below the 

 machine instead of the ledger plate, answers the puqjose very 

 well. Care must be taken to turn the crank of the driving wheel 

 so that the cutter revolves in a contrary direction to the way 

 it does when cutting. Also, it is of the greatest importance 

 to have the knives a Uttle higher, or convex in the middle, so 

 that the point of contact with the plate may be easy, without 

 causing a giating noise. When using emery, the emery ought 

 to be shaken well on to each end instead of the middle, as is 

 done in most cases, and which often causes the machine to get 

 qmte out of order, as the middle of the cylinder becomes 

 concave, and only the ends touch the ledger plate, causing the 

 machine to make a noise without cutting at all. — George 



ROTHNIE. 



Having noticed a letter signed " Verax," in your last week's 

 Jortmal, we take the first opportunity to state, that all the 

 cutters of our machines are properly tested before being sent 

 out, and that we guarantee them to give entire satisfaction ; if 

 not, they can be at once returned unconditionally. 2iidly. The 



