September 18, 186G. J JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



217 



that Lonicera aureo-retieulata was excellently managed as a 

 bedding plant. The long shoots were peg ',-.1 ilown, and then 

 it threw out short stubby shoots, which, being well oared for, 

 made an excellent and very pretty edging. Another lied near 

 here had Daphne pontioa purpurea iu the centre, rillcil in with 

 variegated Pelargonium. Tradesoantia discolor, with its leavos 

 porple anderneath, BhowedweU; while the two long beds ol 

 Mrs. Pollock filled in with the bine Lithospermum fmticosum 

 looked well, perhaps feeling a little the unpiopitious character 

 of the sea. ,ui : and at the time the Lithospermum, nut heing 

 fully iu flower, somewhat detracted from the appearance of the 

 bed. It is a beautiful rock plant, and treated thus it answers 

 uncommonly well. Pelargonium Luna, one of .\lr. Saltmarsh's 

 productions, looked amazingly well; and I expect to find Mr. 

 Wills'* new kinds. Circlet, Beauty of Oulfcm, &c, coming in 

 very usefully by-aud-hy. 



With regard to the exotic plants that I have named, there 

 was in one or two places, especially at the left-hand entrance, 

 an appearance of stiffness, which would be perhaps better 

 avoided. They look as if they were placed out of doors to 

 ripen their wood rather than to give effect to the scene. 

 Where they are not used in beds, as the Cannas, I am sure they 

 would look better as single specimens, so as to give as much 

 as possible a natural air to the appearance of the whole land- 

 scape. Talking of Cannas, what a pretty and withal strong- 

 growing variety is C. Annei ; while Canna limbata, of which 

 there is on the left-hand side, as you pass on towards the part 

 that has been recently added to the sub-tropical department, 

 a beautiful group, which is left out all the winter, covered over 

 with hay and then thatched. This preserves it from the frost, 

 and the plants are necessarily much stronger. In front of this 

 group it w:is. if I recollect rightly, that Mr. Gibson has been 

 trying the new Alternautheras, and has found sessilis ameena 

 to be very good aud distinct. Here again, too, Strelitzia 

 angustfl and another species were very fine, and gave a striking 

 '■ance to the scene ; while the manner in which Eeheveria 

 califomica and others of the same genus were adapted to the 

 edgings of beds was very beautiful. Grant that they were 

 formal and had the appearance of being almost artificial, still 

 they were very novel, and really added very much to the beauty 

 of the beds. Erythrinas crista-galli, Marie Belanger, andornata 

 were well managed, and would in a short time make a brilliant 

 display ; while the rough spiny-looking Solanums were as usual 

 prominent features in the garden. 



On coming roun I : t wards the place where we entered 



the garden, there was a very pretty bed with Ceutaurea in the 

 centre, then a star of Mrs. Pollock Pelargonium, then blue 

 Lobelia, and Eeheveria edging. Here also I noticed Pi 

 nium Wiltshire Lass, likely to prove a valuable addition to our 

 pink-coloured flowers. There were also two beds of Gybister 

 edged with Golden Harkaway; but in fact it would 

 to mention all that struck me, or to attempt to give an idea of 

 the exceeding beauty and novelty of the scene. It is one 

 no one within reach of London who is at all interested in gar- 

 dening ought to omit seeing ; and while I cannot help deploring 

 how the rage for bedding-out is driving out of cultivation those 

 flowers in which the florists of former days took such pride 

 and pleasure, one cannot help seeing that such scenes as 1 these 

 very materially aid the movement : not indeed that I would 

 venture to class Mr. Gibson's artistic efforts with the vulgar- 

 isms we too often meet with elsewhere — they are as superior 

 to them as are the masterpieces of a Landseer or a Cope to the 

 signboards of some village Apelles ; but people do not see this 

 always — they copy a few of the effects, and then imagine they 

 are copying all, Mr. Gibson is a true artist, and as such all 

 honour is due to him. We saw what he could do at the Inter- 

 national Horticultural Exhibition when put into an entirely 

 new track ; and Battersea Park, especially the sub-tropical 

 department, is a standing memorial of those rare qualities 

 which are always certain to ensure success — genius in devising, 

 and energy and practical knowledge in executing. — I)., Deal. 



RAPHANUS CAUDATUS. 



I purchased three seeds : one seedling turned out a common 

 Radish, much to my own disappointment and the amusement 

 of my friends, so of that 1 will say nothing ; and another, not- 

 withstanding every pains having been taken with it, was so 

 eaten up by earwig- and the black fly, that it could only be 

 ranked as a failure ; the third I planted in a Vine-border, and 

 .in spite of the destructive winds iu June, it turned out a com- 



plete success as regards the number and size of the pods. 

 There could scarcely have been less than 120 on the plant. 



On two or three occasions I had a dish gathered, and in order 

 that tho vegetable might be fairly teBted, I ordered my cook to 

 send it to table without sauce or addition of any kind ; the 

 result was that neither my friendi nor myself could detect any 

 flavour of any kind — good, bad, or indifferent. Somebody sug- 

 gested that it was slightly hitter, but this notion was dispelled 

 by the next mouthful. On another occasion we tried it with 

 melted butter, but the result was the same. Permit me, then, 

 to assure your readers that "the flavour between green Peas 

 and Asparagus" is a decided myth. — A Pckchasek at " 

 i-i'.k Seed, Malvern WclU. 



LARGE FUCHSIA. 



FitiEsps who have lately visited me here (Valentia, south of 

 Ireland), encouraged my conceit about the size of my Fuchsias. 

 I have just measured one plant of Riccartoni which was 

 planted in the year 1854 on a sloping grass bank in my flower 

 garden. It measures just 90 feet in circumference, taken round 

 the extremities of the branches. It would certainly have mea- 

 sured 8 or 10 feet more if it had not been cut away to prevent 

 it from encroaching on a gravel walk. The garden slopes to 

 the sea with an easterly aspect. The plant in question stands 

 perhaps 10 or 12 yards from the edge of the sea bank. Per- 

 haps some of your readers who have large Fuchsias will take 

 the trouble to measure and give the dimensions in your paper. 

 It is estimated to stand about 16 or 18 feet high, but of this 

 I cannot be positive. There never has been anything done for 

 this Fuchsia, either in the way of protection or of manuring, 

 since the day it was planted. — T. Fitzoeeai.d, Knight of Kerry. 



LIQUID MANURE FOR FERNS. 



••Who," said a gardener, a few weeks since, " watered these 

 Ferns?" "I did," responded a lad, standing by. "What 

 made you give them manure water ? You will kill them ; you 

 should never give manure water to Ferns unless you want to 

 destroy them. Their naturo is to object to manure in any 

 shape." 



I mention this conversation in order to see if it is the verdict 

 of Pern-growers, and to what extent Ferns are injured or bene- 

 fited by manure, either liquid or solid. It is true that Ferns 

 in their natural state do not seem to obtain anything of the 

 sort, but when we put Fems in pots we subject them to arti- 

 ficial conditions, and then some degree of artificial treatment 

 must follow. I have an instance in my memory where manure 

 water was used for growing Ferns, the collection comprising, 

 among many others, Gymnogramma chrysophylla. G. sulphurea, 

 G. tartarea, Pteris cretica albo-lineata, and most of the stove 

 Adiantums. These Ferns were in a stove among a mixed col- 

 lection of Orchids and stove plants which were watered once 

 a-week, in very hot weather twice or thrice, Orchids and all, 

 with manure water. It was not used, as often is the case, so 

 thick as to leave a sediment on the top of every pot, but so 

 clear as to go through the finest rose. Any one going through 

 the collection could not fail to remark What nice healthy plants 

 they were, although they were not large, being grown in small 

 pots. They were allowed to root well to the side of the pots 

 before applying the manure water. Perhaps the small pots 

 had something to do with it. — E. T. W. 



[We have repeatedly watered the stronger-growing kinds 

 of Ferns with clear liquid manure, and we thought it im- 

 proved them in vigour ; but we found those not watered 

 with the liquid grew equally strong, and the soil was not so 

 liable to become sour. The Ferns you name, and especially 

 the Gymnogrammas, we have watered not only with clear but 

 thick liquid manure, and they did not seem to be any finer 

 than those not so treated. There may be no great harm in a 

 little manure or manure water for Ferns, but we find it tends 

 to render the soil sour either by its destroying the roots or not 

 being absorbed by them. No doubt Ferns like manure, aud 

 will hardly exist without it, but it is not animal but vegetable 

 matter which they require, and the latter they have in the 

 decomposing parts of the peat and leaf mould used for potting 

 and planting in, the decomposition of the roots and fibres of 

 surrounding herbage, and the annual decay of their own roots. 

 They flemish in a soil of which the constituents are under- 

 going the process of decomposition, and grow better in a mode- 



