September 4, I860. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



DOUBLE BLUB. 



Btoksbe.ru.— Beautiful poroelain ; large bells, and goodispike. 



This brings ua to the last part of our subjeot— namely. Hya- 

 cinths for beds and borders. Ootober and Novoniber are also 

 the best months for planting out of doors. A light sandy loam, 

 with a plentiful admixture of deoayed oowdung, is the soil in 

 whioh thoy appear generally to succeed best, but. they thrive in 

 almost any common garden soil. Place the orown of the bulb 

 3 or 4 inches below the surface, adding to the top 2 or 9 inches 

 of cocoa-nut fibre or decayed manure as a protection against frost. 

 The latter may be removed, or partly removed, if it bo ascer- 

 tained that the leaves and spikes experienco any diffienlty in 

 pushing through. By the use of these and other spring-flower- 

 ing bulbs and plants the garden may be made as gay in March 

 and April as at any season of the year, and they may be readily 

 removed to make way for the " bedding " plants used for 

 summer and autumn decoration. The best kinds for bedding 

 on aoeount of their hardiness and cheapness are — 



Single Re d.— Amy, Herstelde Vrede, L'Ami du Occur, L'Hon- 

 neurde Sassenheim, Madame Hodgson. 



Simile Whit,: and Yellow.— Grand Vainqneur, Madame Tnrc, 

 Voltaire, Heroine. 



Single Blue.— Baron Ton Tuyll, Charles Dickens, Emicns, 

 L'Ami dn Cceur, Orondates. 



Double. — Anna Maria, white ; La Virginity, white ; Bouquet 

 Royal, rose; Groot Vorst, brush ; Panorama; red; Waterloo, 

 red; KoningAsingarns, poroelain blue; Lord Wellington, blue ; 

 Prince oi Saxe Weimar, blue. — William-Paul, Paul'* Nurseries, 

 Wttltham Gross, -V. 



GRAFTING ROSES. 



1 begret that I have not had an earlier opportunity oi sup- 

 plying the information requested by " M. D." respecting my 

 mode oi grafting Roses. The process, as Itstated in my, former 

 letter, is so very- simple that I thought a minute description 

 oi.'it unnecessary, presuming at. the time I wrote that most, if 

 not all, of your readers who would feel' interested in the in- 

 vention would understand grafting as it is generally /practised, 

 winch would at once enable them to comprehend it. The only 

 difference between my system and others is in the binding 

 material, which, being perfectly air-tight, requires do covering. 

 As the various modes of grafting are fully explained in. the 

 "Cottage Gardeners' Dictionary" and other works on i the 

 subject, it would be occupying space unnecessarily to give a 

 description of them here ; I will, therefore, confine myself to 

 the questions asked by " M. D." 



Eire*, then, the Manetti stocks were taken out of the ground 

 previously to being grafted, their roots trimmed, and their 

 heads cut back. I also gave them a goodwashing before taking 

 them in-doors in order to keep all cleanand tidy, my better 

 half being a little particular in this respect. The indian- 

 rabber bands used were such as are commonly sold for the 

 purpose of holding papers together, and may, be had at any 

 stationer's; the length and breadth depend altogether on the 

 size of the stocks; those I grafted being small, I found a 

 ring a little over 'li inches in diameter and not quite half an 

 inch broad in the band sufficient for two. The operation is 

 performed in this way -.—Take the stock in your left hand, and 

 place the thumb, with one end of the band under it, on the 

 lower end of the scion when you have it properly fitted, press- 

 ing it firmly to keep it in its place; then, with the bandcon- 

 siderably stretched, bind upwards to half an inch or so on the 

 graft and return, taking oare in binding backwards to close 

 every opening in order to prevent the admission of air, which, 

 on account of the elastic nature of the material employed, can 

 be done most effectually. At the bottom — that is, a little be- 

 low the junction, fasten the end with a piece of soft thread or 

 bast to prevent it springing back. This finishes tbo operation. 



In planting-out, it is not necessary to slacken or remove the 

 binding: the bast or thread being under tho surface of the soil 

 will soon rot, and set the indian • rubber free, which will unwind 

 itself or expand as the stock increases in size. 



Many amateur rosarians — fair ones especially — hare been 

 deterred hitherto from propagating their favourites by grafting 

 simply on account of the operation being rendered both diffi- 

 cult and disagreeable by the materials required to be used in 

 the process ; these obstacles I think I have succeeded in re- 

 moving, and have shown a way by which the operation can be 

 both easily and pleasantly performed. I- may be a, little too 

 sanguine, perhaps; but I have an' idea- tfcatr, for the smaller 



kinds of plants at least, the day is not far distant wbeB-vas 

 and clay for grafting-purposes will be looked upon. as things of 

 the past. Should the discovery be considered of suffieiant 

 importance, I would be happy to forward to the offioo oil tins 

 Journal a plant from which the indian-rubber has nut been 

 removed ; it would, perhaps, be more satisfactory than any 

 thing I have written on the subject. 



The stock to which I have alluded in former letters is* the 

 old Maiden's Blush. I would recommend amateurs to give it 

 a trial ; it produces fine growth, is very hardy, and give* no 

 trouble whatever with suckers. With regard to its propagattaoa 

 as a stock, I regret to say that I am not in a position to impart 

 much information ; 1 have been in expectation for some time 

 past of leaving this place, and have not paid that attention .to 

 it that I would otherwise havo done. It is juBt possible that: it 

 might not succeed so well in other localities, but in these days 

 when Rose stocks are occupying a good deal of attention -hVtij 

 certainly, I think, worth trying.— Loch Ness. 



NOTES ON THE FORMATION OF NEW 

 GROUNDS AND LAWNS. 



WruiEVErt differences of opinion may exist as to tbaineritS 

 of continental and British gardening of an ornamental chaise* 

 ter, there appears to be only one conclusion with respect to the- 

 position in which we stand as possessing one of the. nxwt'iis- 

 portant features of embellishment in a higher degree of ex- 

 cellence than our neighbours aaross the water, that feature 

 being a well-kept lawn. Whether we have to attribute thia-to 

 climate, or to good management, or to both combined, it is not 

 necessary here to inquire, suffice it to say that the. general 

 superiority of English over continental turf admits of no de- 

 pute. In isolated instances, however, the case may be reversedj 

 and a few notes will, perhaps, be of service to " Ai) IwomsMy'' 

 who asks for instruction how to renovate a lawn whioh i« no* 

 so satisfactory as he could wish ; at the same time I disclaim 

 all intention of attacking, the systems of other writers in this 

 Journal who advooate means more costly than can be. adopted 

 by those having an unpromising piece of ground to coveiiwith 

 a green sward; and whose means are limited. Such eases Are 

 of everyday occurrence, and though the adoption of a cheap, 

 way of obtaining a good velvety turf may not always 'be^at* 

 tended with such good results as a more expensive and caieial 

 mode of going to work, yet it often serves the end in view, and 

 leaves a good balance in the expenditure that may be applied 

 to other purposes. Good useful turf is always acceptable^ and 

 in all cases it is desirable to obtain it at a reasonable eostj As 

 some of the best lawns in the country had only a very common-, 

 place beginning, let us not despise them because the oonstit 

 tuent parts of their herbage were not allotted in the exactsealo 

 prescribed by some who assume to be authorities in auah 

 matters, the sward having merely arrived at its present-good 

 condition in consequence of being -kept duly mown andnroUad, 

 Nature, an assistant to whom, alas, we are not sufficiently 

 grateful, doing the rest. 



Let us now see in what way an unpromising piece of land 

 can be made to assume the dressed character of a lawn at' the 

 least possible expense. Assuming, therefore, that a plofc ol 

 ground, surrounding a residence which has only recently patuwd 

 out of the builder's hands haa to be operated upon (and'ther* 

 are many such plots); a cursory survey will at once show. that 

 its surface — originally grass, perhaps — is now as free o£' Hi in. 

 places as the footpaths in the London parks, while in others 

 tufts of grass and weeds make on effort to conceal with. their 

 foliage the many stones, brickbats, pieces of. wood, and other 

 rubbish scattered over the ground. Here and there a large tJfttfi 

 spot will be seen on which mortar has, perhaps, been made, 

 and which with other parts of the ground is intended 1 to be 

 laid out in some ornamental or useful way. Notwithstanding 

 all this no unnecessary expenditure has to be inourred in,lay<- 

 ing out the ground, and when Buoh a plot falls into the hsffldf 

 of the operator it has frequently to be put in order regardt- 

 less of the time of year, whether favourable or not fur. snail 

 work. Fortunately, however, most kinds of ground worh ean 

 be executed at all seasons, but planting shrubs and laying temf 

 cannot always be carried out so successfully, yet as they areexr 

 peeted to be done let ua see what are tbo best means to.adojt 

 in such a case. 



In the first place I shall suppose that apian has been decided 

 upon, and if it is of an, ornamental oharacter most likely thsM 

 will be some walks and liede, perhaps shrubbery borders, ptoie 



