JOUBNAL OF HORTICDLTURB AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ Jannirr S, 18e& 



forcinR. I beg to add that this communication is by no means 

 intended as a dispamRcnient o( Mr. Fish, as his is by far too 

 wise a head to learn anything from me ; but I thought it might 

 bo useful to those who may experience a little difficulty in ob- 

 taining a dishlon Christmas-day.— B. F., Liverpool. 



HERBACEOUS CiVLCEOL.VlUA CULTURE. 



In order to have fine plants to flower in May and June, the 

 seed should be sown in July in the following manner: — Take 

 a common seed-pan with plenty of holes in the bottom, fill the 

 pan rather more than half full of drainage, and upon this 

 place a thin layer of fre.^h moss, then (ill up the remaining 

 space with a compost of loam, leaf soil, a very little peat and 

 sand, well mixed, but not sifted. Some of the roughest parts 

 of the compost should be placed at the bottom over the drain- 

 age ; IJ inch of soil is quite depth enough for the seed. Cover 

 the soil with a very thin layer of pand, give a good watering 

 through a line rose, and let" the pan stand for two or three 

 hours to drain ; then sow the seed, taking great care to distri- 

 bute it equally over the surface. Sometimes the seed is sown 

 all in patches, and the youug plants come up so thickly that 

 they cannot succeed as they otherwise would. 



After sowing the seed-i press them iu gently with a piece of 

 slate or other smooth surface ; then give the slightest possible 

 covering of dry sand, set the pan aside, and give a very gentle 

 bedewing either with a very fine rose or syringe. Select the 

 coldest and most shady part of the garden ; cover the pan with 

 a piece of glass, and the whole with a large hand-glass. Keep 

 the atmosphere of the hand-glass damp and cold by daily 

 sprinklings all round the pan in dry hot weather ; the soil in 

 the pan rarely needs any water from the time the seed is sown 

 till the seedlings begin to come up, providing all about the pan 

 is kept damp and the sun totally excluded. It is usually about 

 nine days before the young jilants begin to show themselves, 

 longer if the seed is more than one year old. and as soon as they 

 are fairly up the piece of glass laid over the pan may be removed, 

 but the hand-glass should remain as it is for a fortnight, after 

 which time it should be tilted so as to admit plenty of air, and 

 in a little time it may be taken off altogether, but, in case of 

 heavy rain, it will be necessary to replace it to prevent the 

 plants being washed out. 



As soon as the seedlings can well be handled they should be 

 pricked out, about IJ inch apart, in pans prepared as for 

 sowing the seed, only not using quite so much drainage. 

 After this replace them in their old quarters, and sprinide 

 them every evening through a fine rose to encourage growth. 

 ■Wben they have become nice little sturdy plants they should 

 be potted off singly in well-drained pots, again placed out of 

 doors, and kept there as long as the weather will permit. 

 They should, however, be so placed that they can be covered 

 from the heavy rains which someliiiics occur in September 

 and early in October ; they will also be benefited by more light 

 as the season declines. 



When housed the plants should be placed as near the glass 

 as possible in a cold airy situation, either in the greenhouse or 

 cold pit. They can hardly be kei>t too cold, providing damp 

 air can be dispelled and frost excluded. Keep down green fly 

 by frequent fumigation, which, however, should be very cau- 

 tiously done ; fumigate slightly and often rather than strongly 

 and seldom. I have been disgusted before now, after fumiga- 

 tion, at finding half the leaves looking as though thev had 

 been scalded by hot water. They will not bear the smoke so 

 strong as the leaves of the generality of plants. Shift the plants 

 as they require it, never allowing them to become too much 

 pot-bound. I always shift just when the roots will keep the 

 drainage from falling about when the plant.s are turned out of 

 the pot. ^\^len glowing fast, and in a healthy condition, 

 they like a liberal supply of water, which should be clear rain 

 water. 



In the spring, from March till the end of April, the plants 

 are best kept in a frame set upon cinder ashes ; thus placed, 

 kept free from green fly, and screened from easterly winds, 

 they usually make rapid progress. In these months slightly 

 shade from the mid-day sun, and give them a gentle sprinkling 

 with the syringe at shutting-up time ; in sunny weather they 

 seem to glory in a little moisture, and in the "morning they 

 will be covered with little dew-drops, which always indicate 

 health. 



When about to throw up their flower-stems they should be 

 removed to the place where they are intended to bloom, taking 



great care to keep down green fly, and pajinR attention to 

 shading. If the plants are strong, which I presume them to 

 be, it will be no slight task to tie them out properly — a task 

 that always gives me great pleasure. The sticks should all be 

 painted green, althongh I have been, and am now, obliged to 

 use them unpainted. Wlieii the flower-stalks are rising a little 

 very weak manure may bo given twice a-week, but withhold it 

 while the plants are in bloom, at which time they should be 

 kept well shaded, otherwise the flowers will soon drop, bat if, 

 on the contrary, due attention be paid to shading, these will 

 last a long time. Allow all the air possible on all occasions 

 when the thermometer rises to 40°; they dislike fire heat. — 

 Ch.vrles Edwards. 



SOJIEXnrN'G MORE ABOUT ROSES. 



The late Mr. Ueaton was right in the main in preferring 1 

 Roses on their own roots, and in supposing, for I do not re- 

 collect his having proved it, that the Manetti stock was a 

 medium for getting them iu that form. By comparing the 

 facts furnished by contributors, and by actual observation in 

 different parts of the countrj- on the growth of Boses in dif- 

 ferent soils, I believe the truth, as far as yet ascertained, 

 amounts to this — That Roses flourish on their own roots in a 

 greater variety of soils than in any other form ; that they do i 

 best on the Manetti stock in light soils, where sands of later 

 formations predominate ; and that they do well on the Briar 

 (Rosa canina), where the Briar is found to grow most luxuriantly 

 in its wild state, as on stiff chalky land, and some clays. 

 Assuming these data as approximating reality, we can readily 

 accoimt for the preference given by so many cultivators to 

 Roses on their own roots, for the Manetti being selected by 

 others, and for the disappointment frequently expressed by 

 purchasers of Roses on the Briar, because these have been 

 transplanted into soUs less adapted to the stock than that 

 from which it was taken before the Rose was budded on it. II 

 " CorxTKY CuiuTE " is growing Boses in all these forms, he 

 will, before long, certainly lind out which will bo the best 

 suited to his situation, and had he stated what kind of soil he 

 is growing them in it would have rendered his inquiry a little 

 easier to discuss. 



The readers of this Journal are already aware of my ad- 

 vocacy of the Manetti stock, a lengthy defence of it would, 

 therefore, be a needless repetition. The soil here is very light 

 and of good depth, and being on a shght eminence is naturally 

 well drained, the subsoil is the green ferruginous sand found 

 in connection with the chalk system. I have at present in the 

 garden about one thousand Roses in all forms, budded, grafted, 

 on Briars high and low, and on their own roots. As I have ' 

 stated above, the soil is of the kind iu which I have always 

 found tlie Manetti stock preferred ; hence, I soon discovered 

 the evident superiority of that stock for propagation to any 

 other method, and that, too, as a medium for getting Roses on 

 their own roots. Roses planted out iu a soil like mine on 

 their own roots, are ven' long in becoming strong, and vigorous i 

 enough to withstand all the vicissitudes of the climate — not j 

 so with well-budded Manetti plants, in nine cases out of ten 

 they make strong shoots the first year, and in the second the 

 flowers are satisfactory. 



The theorj- of " CorsTBV CriuxE" appears feasible enongh, 

 and may be worth a trial. As the Manetti will bear moving at 

 almost any time in the year, I should recommend an earlier 

 month than November for removing the jiatch of bark which 

 be believes would be instrumental in hastening the form.'ition 

 of roots at the junction of stock and bud. If the trial be 

 made at the end of September, or the beginning of October, 

 the chance of causing a development of roots in the same 

 autumn would be as probable as iu the succeeding spring and 

 summer. I 



There is a greater distinction between grafted Manettis and 

 budded ones than many people would at first be inclined to 

 believe. My experience thus far shows that Manetti stocks 

 grafted under glass with artificial heat, useful as the plan is 

 for securing a rapid propagation of new varieties, have draw- 

 backs when planted out of doors. In the first season they are j 

 verj- liable to mildew, make little growth, and produce few 

 flowers, and it is not till the second or third year that they 

 become useful i>lants. I have also found that they do not 

 readily throw out rootlets at the point of union. With budded 

 Manetti stocks the case is different, provided they are budded 

 as low as possible and with the stock in the open ground. If 



