290 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t October 16, 1866. 



troughs with water when it is found necessary to charge the 

 house with moisture. These troughs are also necessary to 

 hold sulphur to guard against the red spider and mildew, and 

 as soon as they cease to be required for evaporating-purposes 

 they should he at once partially filled up with sulphur. Al- 

 though there may he no appearance of either of the above 

 pests, it is well to bear in mind the old adage, that " prevention 

 is better than cure." 



Haying detailed the arrangement of the houses, I will now 

 describe the process of making the border both inside and 

 outside. After excavating the clay and rubbish to the desired 

 depth, a number of nine-inch pillars will be built about 

 15 inches above the bottom ; these are to support the large 

 flags with which the bottom of the border will be covered. 

 The border outside will be 12 feet wide; this will also be 

 covered with flags the same as that inside, and at the front of 

 the outside border will be two rows of four-inch pipes, of which 

 the uppermost pipe will have a trough on it to be filled when 

 necessary with water from a small lead pipe. The heat from 

 these pipes will be shut in, and made to pass through the 

 hollow chamber below the border; some ventilators will be 

 placed at intervals of 3 feet along the front wall of the border 

 through which air will be admitted to the house by means of 

 an air-chimney, which will communicate with the main body 

 of the house and the chambers below the borders when it is 

 too cold to open the front lights. The water being turned at 

 will into the troughs, a genial degree of moisture with a good 

 current of warm air can be maintained in the house in the 

 coldest day. 



I am no advocate for heating Vine-borders by means of hot- 

 water pipes placed directly beneath them ; when the pipes arc 

 so placed they are sure to dry up the border for a foot or 

 18 inches above them, and for 2 feet to the right and left. If 

 the border has been properly made, and plenty of good drainage 

 placed in the bottom, the Vine roots are sure to make their 

 way thither very soon after planting, and there is no doubt that 

 the Vine thus derives much vigour, for we often find the most 

 healthy roots amongst the drainage. If we turn out a Vine 

 that has been growing in a pot we invariably find the most 

 healthy roots at the bottom of the pot amongst the drainage ; 

 if, then, a hot-water pipe is placed anywhere near the mass of 

 roots, which will certainly be found at the bottom of a well- 

 made Vine-border, we may easily imagine what will follow ; 

 but by simply having the pipes placed in the front of the 

 border, as described above, no harm can be done to the roots, 

 and the air can always be kept in a healthy state. 



The border being elevated above the bottom water will be 

 prevented from standing near the roots, and the whole of the 

 outside border will be covered with glass. The framework will 

 he made in pieces, fixed together and kept in their proper 

 places by means of little hooks. I have had it made in this 

 way so that portions of it may be lifted off the border when 

 not wanted, and easily taken for covering a bed of Strawberries, 

 early vegetables, bedding plants, &c. I intend to have the 

 whole of the border of the new range, described above, covered 

 in this way, so that I can keep the roots from being drenched 

 with rain and snow if necessary, aud by taking off the cover 

 over the pipes the 12-feet border can be made available for 

 sheltering bedding plants, and for growing early Peas, Potatoes, 

 and numerous other things in boxes. The whole of the 12-feet 

 border in front of the range I am altering now will be used 

 for similar purposes, for I shall not make any border outside 

 for the first year. The spaces between the brick pillars which 

 support the front of the range will be filled up with loose 

 bricks, so that these may be easily taken out when it is found 

 necessary to extend the border outside. There should, how- 

 ever, be a thin coat of mortar spread on the inside to prevent 

 the roots from growing in amongst the bricks, also to prevent 

 the air doing the roots injury frcm the outside. 



After the flags have all been properly fixed I shall place over 

 them a nine-inch layer of lime and brick rubbish, mixing with 

 it a liberal quantity of bones broken into pieces varying in size 

 from a quarter of an inch to 3 inches ; then chopped sods, 

 lime rubbish, boiled hones, and charcoal in layers of 9 inches 

 or 1 foot in thickness. The whole of this should be well in- 

 corporated together, but the sods should not be chopped in 

 pieces smaller than 3 or 4 inches square, and they should 

 not be more than 21 or 3 inches thick when they are first cut 

 from the field. Before taking them the grass should be mown 

 as closely as possible. When cut they should be set in rows on 

 their edges for a week or two before they are wanted, so that 

 they may be sweetened by the air passing freely through them. 



This is a very important point to be borne in mind by every 

 one who contemplates the formation of a Vine-border. Success 

 often depends on paying proper attention to what are often 

 termed minor, and by many useless, details. If the border be 

 made when the sods are in a nice medium state of dryness, 

 there is no fear of its ever becoming sour or unhealthy. Be- 

 tween each layer of the above description I shall place 2 inches 

 in thickness of lime rubbish and boiled bones mixed in the 

 proportion of about two-thirds of lime rubbish to one of bones. 

 The border will be made in this way from the bottom to the 

 top ; each layer will be thrown on, and merely pressed down 

 with a fork or spade, and no one will be permitted on any 

 pretence to go on the border, for it must be allowed to settle 

 gradually and of its own accord. The top layer will be com- 

 posed of some good loam, which has been lying in a heap for 

 six or eight months ; to it will be added a liberal quantity of 

 boiled bones, and a little well-decomposed stable-manure will be 

 mixed with it in a healthy state. Over this a liberal sprinkling 

 of raw half-inch bones will be given after the Vines are planted, 

 but no manure of any kind will be used in the layers beneath ; 

 that in the top layer is only to encourage rapid root-action. 



The whole of the details described in this article will be 

 carefully carried out, and the future results I have no doubt 

 will amply repay the trouble, and fulfil my most sanguine 

 expectations. — J. Wills. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS AND THEIR STAKES. 



I have occupied my leisure for the last fortnight in staking 

 my Chrysanthemums, a process specially productive of two 

 things — thought, and backache ; it is with the former only that 

 I wish to trouble you. My first thought and wonder was that 

 the Chrysanthemum should be such a favourite in the me- 

 tropolis and its environs, and still be so neglected in the 

 country, which as far as my experience goes is certainly the 

 case, for it really is a piteous sight sometimes to see the old 

 plants left to grow on year after year without the slightest at- 

 tention being paid to them, with their bare attenuated stems 

 left either to the mercy of the winds or tied round the middle 

 to one stake, which will persist in lolling sidewise, making the 

 plant look decrepid and woe-begone. Now, of all plants the 

 Chrysanthemum comes to us at the most acceptable seasoB, 

 when it may almost be said to reign supreme, and although I 

 must admit that its perfume is not of the most grateful kind, 

 still its brilliancy and variety of colour far more than compen- 

 sate for that one drawback. It is almost endless in its variety 

 of colour, inexpensive as a rule, and the easiest plant to propa- 

 gate we have in the garden, but to grow it well, as the Londoners 

 certainly do, is another matter. 



The method of growing this plant well has been so frequently 

 described that it would be useless here to introduce it at length ; 

 one or two hints, however, I will venture to suggest. Take the 

 cuttings as early as possible from the young shoots, and having 

 struck and potted them off into separate pots, they should be 

 allowed to become thoroughly established before the process of 

 pinching is commenced. When, however, you do pinch, pinch 

 boldly, and when the laterals have shot out from the first pinch- 

 ing give them time to gain strength before you pinch them ; 

 from this time the pinching must be regulated by the shape of 

 plant you desire. The plants must never be allowed to know 

 what drought is, or all their leaves will turn yellow and fall ; 

 and it must be remembered that the Chrysanthemum is a 

 hungry as well as a thirsty soul, and rejoices in liquid manure, 

 but I never give my plants any till they have finished their 

 growth and have commenced to form their flower buds, and then 

 I give it liberally, taking care not to touch the leaves with it. 



A word now as to stakes. I have never liked painted wood, and 

 a solid square, or more generally circle, of unpainted deal stakes 

 is my abomination ; so when I use deal stakes at all, I stain 

 them with oak staining, which is a quick and inexpensive opera- 

 tion, perfectly innocuous to the plants, and decidedly more sub- 

 dued in appearance than either of the other forms. The best 

 wooden stakes I know are the twigs of the Blackthorn cut when 

 the leaf falls, trimmed, and tied tightly in bundles, to be left 

 through the winter to dry. The stakes do not warp, and the little 

 notches on them not only help to take off their lank appearance, 

 but serve as an excellent holdfast for your bast in training. 

 The stake, however, that I specially wish to advocate the use of 

 is galvanised iron wire, which I procure of various lengths and 

 thicknesses, and, after having used it for five years to stake 

 my Chrysanthemums, Picotees, and all perennials, I can confi- 



