478 



JOUBNAL OF nOBTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDEKEB. 



[ December 12,1865. 



not BO long as they can get paid for a certain number of rods 

 per day. I must, liowever, say that the Lancashire drainers 

 are a very fair-working set of men, they appear anxious to earn 

 a fair day's wages, and to give satisfaction to their employers. 



I found the case difiereut in Cheshire three or four years ago, 

 when I drained the gardens at Oulton Park. Either from igno- 

 rance or some other cause the men would not put the jjipes in 

 the proper viay, and if I left them for ever so short a time 

 when I came back something was WTOug, so at last I was obliged 

 to jump into the drain and lay the pipes myself. It was only 

 by these means that I was able to get the gardens drained 

 thoroughly. I stuck to the drainers three weeks, until I had 

 the whole of the kitchen gardens inside the walls, four acres in 

 extent, drained to my entire satisfaction. As the foundations 

 of the walls were very deej), I found it necessary to go below 

 them w ith my drains ; I, therefore, had to put in drains, 6 feet 

 deep, all round by the walls, and as I had a largo quantity of 

 old brickbats that had come out of some walls that had been 

 pulled down, I had 18 inches of these laid on the pii)es, and in 

 such a manner that uo two pieces should lie flat together — 

 i. c, there was a space of an inch or more left between all the 

 pieces. These, as well as the pipes, I laid myself for a length 

 of drains altogether amounting to nearly a thousand yards. I 

 mast say I was heartily glad when the job was finished, but 

 the results I obtair.e.! well repaid me for the soi'e hands and 

 throat which I had from the job. It was wonderful to see the 

 improvement the draining made in the growth of CTerything 

 that was planted in the gardens. The fruit trees soon lost their 

 mossy appearance, and instead of their, iu some cases, making 

 long and sappy shoots, and in others dying prematurely, they 

 have been steadily improving iu appearance in every way, and 

 are now perfect models, being literally covered with bloom- 

 buds. 



The open quarters of the gardens at Oulton were di-ained 

 with ordinary four-feet drains. During the process of digging 

 our new drains, we came uj-ou drains almost innumerable that 

 had been put in perhaps centuries ago, and others of more 

 recent date, but the only way in which they acted was to 

 take the v.'ater from one spot wliei-e it was in abundance to 

 another where it was not so. This was, of course, causing j 

 destruction right and left. As it had been the practice to dig 

 deep holes for the fruit trees and to fill up partly with new loam '• 

 and manure, these holes acted as basins for the water, and 

 all the lower roots were decayed. The trees, had, therefore, j 

 to be constantly expending their strength in making fresh i 

 roots at the collar or base, to make up for the loss of those 

 which the water was killing, as it rose higher and higher in 

 winter iu proportion to the wetness of the season. 



The whole of the trees, small and large, were lifted out of . 

 this " Slough of Despond," aster the draining was finished, ' 

 placed on the natmal surface, a mound made round them, 

 and to shield them from the drying winds of spring and the ; 

 heat of summer, a thick coat of furze was placed all over the \ 

 ground about the trees. There is nothing that will encourage 

 the small fibrous roots to the surface so much as this when it 

 decays, but one evil must be guarded against — the furze will be 

 strre to encourage a large stock of mice, and if they are not j 

 well looked after by constantly trapping, they will very soon 

 peel all the bark oli' the trees as high up the stems as these 

 are covered. Two years ago I was afraid I should have lost 

 some very fine trees in this way. As soon as I discovered the 

 mischief that had been dune, I had the jiart of the stems that 

 had been injured printed over with a very thin coat of gas tar. 

 This was not palatable to them, and, besides, by using the 

 traps freely the depredators were caught, so that I afterwai-ds 

 had the happiness to see the trees grow- as freely as if nothing 

 had happened to them. Fortunately the inner bark was not 

 injured, otherwise the trees must have been killed. 



The system of removing fruit trees, the proper time to do so, 

 &c., must form the subject of another paper. The v.hole of 

 the trees just mentioned were replanted early iu October when 

 the leaves were qmte green, and before the sap had begun to 

 descend. -J. Wills, Huntroyde. 



coloured is to keep the plant rather stunted, closely stopped, and 

 near the glass. I find that if I only allow the shoots to grow a 

 few inches the leaves begin to become gi'een, I therefore chiefly 

 attribute my success in respect to their colouring to close 

 stopping. I never aUow the shoots to grow more than 3 inches 

 long before stopping, and the lateral shoots which are produced 

 on these are of a most beautiful pink and white. All who 

 have seen my plant say that they have never met with one so 

 finely variegated. I know of no plant better adapted than 

 Hibiscus Cooperi either for exhibition or for the decoration of 

 the dwelling-house on special occasions, it being so distinct from 

 any other. 



The soil which I use is peat, loam, and sand. The plant 

 may be kept with advantage in the same pot for a long time, 

 taking care not to allow it to suffer from want of water. Now 

 that my plant has become very much potbound I give it a little 

 wi a"c manure water occasionally, otherwise it would not grow 

 a'ter having been so closely stopped. This Hibiscus maybe 

 grown large enough for any jiurpose in a 1'2-inch pot ; my 

 plant is in a nine-inch one, as I only want small plants. I 

 hope that those who hold it in but little estimation may be 

 induced to give it another trial, and if attention be paid to 

 stopping I think that they will be pleased with it. — Chas. 

 Edwakds. 



METEOROLOGY OF FRUIT-HOUSES. 



Since I last wrote I have procured Dr. Bennet's third edition. 

 I will therefore give you again the temperatures of the winter 

 months at Mentone. 



HIBISCUS COOPERI CULTURE. 



This is one of the most beautiful of our ornamental stove 

 plants ; but it is rarely seen in good C(mdition. Many refuse 

 to grow it, on the ground that the foliage becomes quite green, 

 losing every vestige of its beautiful pink variegation. 



The mode by v.hich I manage to have the foliage beautifully . 



These are for the winter of 1864-65. The first night on 

 which the thermometer went below 40° was December 24th, 

 the last was April 1st ; during these 122 days it was only 

 thirty-one times below 40^, and only twice as low as 33°. With 

 this temperature at Mentone the deciduous trees lose their 

 leaves in December, and such cold nights are sufficient to re- 

 tain them in a dormant state till April. Now let us turn to 

 " The Orchard-House," and see what Mr. Rivers recommends 

 under the head of " Forcing Orchard-House." " I commenced 

 forcing Peaches and Apricots in this house about the middle of 

 January." " In March the fruit was set and swelling fast." 

 " In severe weather in February the fire was kept up with more 

 care, just to keep the thermometer up to 35°." Again : " About 

 the middle of January forcing may be commenced, the tempe- 

 rature by day kejit up to 50° by lire heat, with sun to 60° or 70" 

 for a short time ; the night temperature may go down to 40°." 

 " When the blossom-buds are fully open, which will be iu about 

 twelve days .... if the weather be keen and frosty air must 

 stiU be admitted, and a brisker fire kept up, so that the tempe- 

 rature may not be lower than 50" by day and 3G° by night." 

 " As soon as the fruit is set and begins to swell, a day tempera- 

 ture of 60°, and a night of 40° to 45°, should be kept up, and 

 when sunny abundance of air may be given, for the thermo- 

 meter will then rise to 80° and 90°." I think there must be 

 some mistake about these temperatures ; but be that as it 

 ma}-, he certainly says that, in spite of abundant ventilation, 

 the sun at this early period of the year is able to raise the 

 temperature from 60" to 80° or 90°. This is more than I sup- 

 posed, and verifies the remark, that in the south of England, 

 these largo orchard-houses h:;ve the summer climate of Tou- 

 louse. May I not be permitted to ask Mr. Elvers if it is not 

 more dangerous to submit trees that have only just set their 

 fruit to a variation of temperature of from 40° to 90° than, in 

 the case of trees going to rest, of from 45" to 90° ? 



Great care should be taken not to mix up questions of me- 

 teorology and geology with the relative jjowers of hothouses. 

 I will give two instances that have come under my notice this 

 year. Grapes have been ripened in the open air at Chester 

 and at Ackworth. In both these cases the Vines were grown 

 against the south side of a house, so that not only had they all 

 the advantages of climate, but also what was equal to a fiued 

 wall ; .and therefore to say that this proves a span-roofed 

 orchard-house would be successful anywhere in Cheshire or 

 Yorkshire I must deny, both these places being exceptional iu 

 their couutic. 



V»'e know that a crop of Grapes can he ripened in five months, 



