144 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ AuRiist 21, 1866. 



a roof at 1 foot apart, and tacked to the edges of the boards. A 

 covering of one thickness of mats should he put on by day for 

 a few days, and of two or more thicknesses at night, as the 

 ■weather may prove frosty ; but after the plants havo become 

 thoroughly established expose them in all mild weather, merely 

 protecting at night from frost. Due attention should be paid 

 to watering, never supplying more than is sufficient to ieep 

 the soil moist, and when water is given in the morning, a 

 sprinkling now and then overhead will do good. 



The plants having been stopped lor cuttings in April, or if 

 these are not wanted then, merely stopped if they seem dis- 

 posed to become lanky (and this may be done from the middle 

 of March up to the middle or end of Aprill, they will by the 

 middle of May be strong and bushy, and will lift with good 

 balls. The first showery weather after this they are to be 

 planted out finally in the beds or borders. These should be 

 prepared for the reception of the plants by being deeply dug, 

 and have a liberal dressing of leaf mould, or well-rotted 

 manure worked in. 



As to dealing with the pit and frame of " A Young Ama- 

 teur," what to do in the matter of wintering Verbenas is not 

 clear. For my part I should elect to retain the frame for 

 Calceolarias, and divide the pit into two by a 4.j -inch brick wall, 

 carrying it up to the rafter, or bar supporting the lights. One 

 half, or two lights, I would fill to within 15 inches of the glass 

 with any kind of rubble, and then place 3 or 4 inches of the 

 rougher portion of the soil, and an inch of sand over all, pre- 

 paring and putting in the cuttings as in the former case, and 

 treating them in precisely the same manner. The only ob- 

 jection to this plan is that the rubble renders the bed a per- 

 manency, whereas it may be desirable after the bedding plants 

 are cleared out to make up a bed for Cucumbers or Melons, or 

 for forwarding half-hardy annuals and other plants for bedding- 

 out. In that case the Verbena and Gazania cuttings may be 

 inserted in well-drained pots, with an inch of the sittings of the 

 compost placed over the drainage, and the pots filled to within 

 an inch of the rim with a compost of two-thirds light turfy 

 loam, and one-third leaf mould ; afterwards fill to the rim with 

 sand. A six-inch pot will hold a dozen cuttings. After the 

 cuttings have been put in set the pots on coal ashes in a cold 

 frame, watering gently to settle the sand about the cuttings. 

 Keep close, and shaded from bright sun, and sprinkle the cut- 

 tings overhead occasionally in the morning, admitting a little 

 air at night. The sand in which the cuttings are inserted 

 should be kept moist, but never very wet, avoiding extremes 

 as much as possible, and in this manner proceed until they 

 show signs of rooting, which may be known by their commenc- 

 ing to grow, and withstanding sun without flagging. Give all 

 the air practicable after that, protecting only from heavy rains, 

 and keep the soil sufficiently moist. 



Although I have detailed the treatment of Verbena and 

 Gazania cuttings in pots, I would recommend them to be 

 struck without pots in beds. I would devote two lights to them, 

 and the other two to bedding Pelargoniums, which I presume 

 to be struck either in pots or boxes, and wintered in these in 

 the pit. Of their management there I shall treat when I come 

 to the wintering of old plants'. 



Of Verbenas, I may state that Gcant des Batailles, crimson, 

 with a dark centre; Defiance, scarlet; and Boule de Neige, 

 white, winter well. Purple King ; Lord Raglan, cerise scarlet, 

 lemon eye; Ariosto Improved, mulberry; and Blue King, do 

 fairly; but none excel Imperatrice Elizabeth, and Velvet 

 Cushion, magenta. Cherry Ripe, a charming rosy pink, like- 

 wise does well. Of Gazanias I care for none except G. spleu- 

 dens. 



Should thrips or green fly make their appearance, cover the 

 frame or pit with mats, and on a calm evening, when the 

 foliage of the plants is dry, fill the frame with tobacco smoke, 

 and on the next night but one repeat the fumigation. When- 

 ever mildew is discovered, dust the leaves and shoots with 

 flowers of sulphur. — G. Arbey. 



(To be continued.) 



CULTURE OF TRACHELIUM CjERULEUM. 



I have just now a good plant of the somewhat-neglected 

 Trachelium ereruleum. When a year or two ago I saw it grow- 

 ing in a window of a friend's house in London, I was so much 

 struck with it that I begged some seed, and have grown a plant 

 or two every season since, as it has now become not only with 

 myself but with my employers an established favourite. 



The seed should be sown in June. This will admit of having 

 good strong plants in i-t-pots to stand the winter. In spring give 

 them a good shift into 21 or 10-sized pots, keep them as cool and 

 as near the glass as possible, and pinch back constantly till the 

 end of May, by which time the plants will have two or three 

 dozen blooming stems. As it is properly an autumn-flowering 

 plant, the plants would be better plunged in ashes out of doors 

 till tho bloom is about to expand, when they may be carefully 

 tied out, and removed to the conservatory, verandah, or any 

 sheltered nook where they are not exposed to the rain. The 

 large masses of cerulean blue, often 6 inches across, which each 

 stem will produce, will make each plant a handsome specimen, 

 and will well repay the small amount of labour they have cost. 

 — A. D., Jluybiislt (in i".< i ,' ' <i ,..' /'. ■,:<■ /<»;/V). 



St. Jclien Strawberry. — For the sake of Strawberry lovers, 

 I wish you would recommend a seedling sent out by Messrs. 

 Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, named St. Julien. It is a very 

 fine, beautifully-formed, dark-coloured fruit, most prolific, and 

 for flavour' one of the best I ever tasted. I have had a wonder- 

 ful crop this year off beds made last March, and I intend to 

 recommend it strongly to my friends. — A Subscribed. 



VARIEGATED MAIZE. 



In- answer to "A Yorkshire Clergyman" respecting the 

 Variegated Maize, I am sorry to say that I have been equally 

 disappointed. My employer obtained from a respectable Lon- 

 don house a shilling packet of seed, which contained only four 

 seeds ; only one grew, and the plant is now about 4 feet high, 

 but in just same state as "Yorkshire Clergyman " describes, 

 the bottom leaves being dead and the tips of the others dying. 

 I also obtained a shilling packet of seed from Messrs. Carter 

 and Co. ; it contained eight seeds. These produced six plants, 

 which grew rapidly, but one has since died ; they are not so 

 forward as the plant first referred to, but I find they are going 

 in the same way. 



I may mention that my plants are in some large ornamental 

 pots, and have leaves about 30 inches long, from 2 to 2$ inches 

 wide, and beautifully variegated. If anything could be done 

 to preserve the leaves, by placing three plants so as to form 

 a triangle in a pot or in a clump in the borders, this Maize 

 would be a great ornament to our gardens and conservatories. 

 The soil which I used was loam, leaf mould, and a little drift 

 sand. The plants have never been allowed to suffer for want of 

 water or pot room. The plant raised from the first packet is 

 under glass, the rest out of doors. I hope others will report 

 their experience. — S. Taylor, Barbourne Terrace, Worceeter. 



NOTE ON BORDER-HEATINCK 

 [The following paper by the Rev. W. Kingsley, of South 

 Kilvington, appeared in the third Number of the " Journal 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society," recently published. This 

 contains, besides, a continuation of Professor Schultz-Schult- 

 zenstein's dissertation on the nutritive constituents of water ; 

 a note on the cultivation of Amherstia nobilis, by Mr. Taplin ; 

 a report on Peach and Nectarine trees at Chatsworth, by Mr. 

 R. Thompson ; articles on a disease in Celery, on two species 

 of Rudgea, and on Asplenium ebenoides, a supposed hybrid 

 Fern from Philadelphia, by the Rev. M. J. Berkeley ; observa- 

 tions on certain species and varieties of Crata'gus and Pyrus 

 as ornamental plants, by Mr. T. K. Shortt ; hints on hybrid- 

 ising fruits, by Mr. Standish; and a short note on the horti- 

 culture of Hungary, by Miles Berkeley, Esq. Both of the two 

 last papers have already appeared as extracts in our pages.] 



TnE border which I have the means of heating is about 

 120 feet long and 10 feet wide, and is at the foot of a south wall 

 12 feet high, with a cross wall at each end. Four pipes run the 

 entire length, and are in the midst of a mass of drain-tiles, which 

 are at right angles to these hot-water pipes, and lie in lines 

 sloping upwards towards the wall, with rise enough to secure 

 the flow of the water, and the circulation of the hot air ; upon 

 the drain-tiles there is a layer of coke. The result gives me 

 a temperature about that of a very gentle hotbed. I do not 

 think I should construct the bed in the same way again ; but I 

 had been doing a good deal of draining, and the defective tiles 

 were good enough for this purpose. My fruit-trees are in pots, 

 some as large as 2 feet across, but most of them 15 inches. 

 The pots stand upon the coke, or very little above it. In winter 

 they are covered with earth and dry litter, so as so keep the 

 frost off completely ; but in the mild weather they are little 



