ICO 



JOUHVAL OF HORTICULTtTBB AND COTTAGE GARDENEK. 



[ FcbroaryST, IBCB. 



saddlc-fanfting, in wbicli taso Uio top is removed. Tlie fotmcr 

 bas the inlvautuge in one rosiiect— that it laii be rejieated with- 

 out laiicb injury to the stock iu case tlic first iirail fails, if the 

 operator has taken the jirecantion not to giaft too low down 

 the fust time ; but it irf not advisable to repeat the operation 

 the same season. The suJdle mode is more sure, and makes the 

 strongest and best plants, but a failure destroys the stocks. 

 Wlien piafled the stocks should be placed on (not in) a hotbed, 

 and kept close and warm till the scions are safely united. A 

 clever juipapitor will make uinetcou out of twcutj- s;row, whilst 

 an inexpcricuood man will kill more stocks than he will make 

 into plant:!. 



After-maxagement. — Treat the plants as half-hardy green- 

 house evcrgi'eens — that is, give no more heat than is necessary 

 to keep out frost. In watering use enough to soak through 

 the pots, and never let tliem become too dry, nor give water till 

 they reqiuro it. Keep the foliage jicrfcctly clean ; if necessary 

 wash each leaf with a sponge dipped in warm water, or soap 

 iiud water, this is far better than using the syringe. If the 

 plants require potting, it should bo done as soon as possible 

 after blooming — indeed, almost before they are out of bloom. 

 Never turn the plants out of doors ; if they cannot be placed in 

 a house with a north aspect, nse a shade iu hot weather. Do 

 not use the syringe except for a few days after they are re- 

 potted, when the house may be kept a little close to promote 

 growth, at all other times give plenty of air. Treated in this 

 way the Camellia makes strong vigorous shoots and healthy 

 foliage, and there will be no complaint of falling buds, dead 

 roots, unhealthy foliage, or miserable flowers. — J. Pearson, 

 ChilwcU. 



THE COILING OF TINES. 



I HATE derived much satisfaction, and have been amply re- 

 paid for the small trouble I took in transferring to your columns 

 the opinion of my old French friend on this subject. If it had 

 done nothing more than have brought out Mr. D. Thomson's 

 opinion, as given in jinges & and 84, I should have felt amply 

 rewarded. Still I have a strong leaning towards the opinion of 

 my old friend, a fruit-cultivator of upwards of three score and 

 ten, with a hard head and a constitution ccjuaUy hard, for he 

 was at Moscow with Napoleon in 1812, and returned un- 

 scathed, with the exception of being a " toiuacur (cougherj for 

 life," as ho says. 



In the second paragraph of Mr. Thomson's sensible article, 

 he alludes to coiling as having roused discussion many years 

 ago. This was not coiling of Yines, but coiling of Vino shoots 

 in pots, so as to have a crop from them. Mr. Mearns was, I 

 thiul;, the inventor of the system, which failed. 



In his third )iaragi-nph, Mr. Thomson thinks that coil plant- 

 ing is opposed to the laws of Nature. To bury in the ground 

 the stem of a tree, which will not put forth roots, is a sure way 

 of destroying a tree. Wherever I have seen earth heaped to a 

 depth of 4 or 5 feet round the stem of a tree, so as to cover 

 a surface of, say, 10 feet in diameter, thus excluding heat 

 and air from its roots, certain death has ensued ; but what 

 shall we say to the assertion of " T. T.," page 142, that it 

 " has a very beneficial effect?" It is just possible that earth 

 may be piled up close to the stem of a tree, so as not to cover the 

 circumferential surface of the soil, without kiUing it, and that 

 is aU. If trees happen to stand near railway embankments, so 

 that their roots are covered, they die. This is, however, very 

 different to coiling a Vine, and covering it with 2 inches (mis- 

 printed " 10 inches ") of earth- — every fi'esh root gives vigour. 

 The vignerons of France would not constantly layer their Vines 

 unless they experienced this effect. 



In the foiuth paragraph of Mr. Thomson's article, he con- 

 founds the coiling of the shoot of a Vine Ughtly covered with 

 soil with the layering of a Vine deeply. The difference is most 

 material. He layered his Vines, and covered them 8 inches deep. 

 The shoots were too deep to receive any benefit from those 

 grand sources of life — light and heat ; consequently they put 

 forth no roots, the sap circulated languidly, and the Vines 

 suffered. If they had not been bo deeply buried they would 

 have put forth roots from every inch of stem, instead of having 

 a bimch of roots only " close to their necks — near the surface 

 of the soil," and if the numerous roots thus formed had a good 

 compost to run into, they would have interfered with the ori- 

 ginal root, by leaving it but Uttle to do ; but they would have 

 given immense vigour to the Vines. 



In the fifth paragiaph. the stems of the Vines alluded to were 

 most probably too deeply covered, and shaded from the direct 



layg of the sun by the front wall : under such circumstances 

 they would not put forth roots. In old times, when Vines for 

 sale in the nurseries were propagated by layers, I perfectly well 

 remember a twist being given to the shoot before it was layered, 

 which made it root more freely. This is an approach to culling, 

 the twist in wluch has undoubtedly been found, in France, to 

 have the same effect. 



Eeferriiag to the old system of propagating Vines for sale from 

 layers, I well remember the long wall at the Urompton Park 

 Nursery, in front of which the shoots of Vines from the wall 

 were annually layered. I can recollect that here in a light 

 sandy soil the layers rooted admirably close to the surface, at 

 the collar, but the lower pait of the Vine, which was buried 

 8 inches below the surface, was generally bare of roots. 



In his sixth paragraph Mr. Thomson seems to have mad6 

 a great mistake. One feels suri'rise that so clever a cultivator 

 could have made such a faux juli. The roots of the Vines wero 

 buried to the depth of 10 inches below the surface ; they, in- 

 stead of imparting vigour to the " splendid Tines, with buds 

 hke nuts," ruined them by not mo\-ing, because they were out 

 of the influence of light and heat, those essentials to life in 

 evci-ything. 



It will, I think, bo seen, that in no one instance has Mr. 

 Thomson planted coiled Vines after the manner I endeavoured 

 to describe in No. 'JIS ; still we owe liim thanks for his kindness 

 iu saying what he has said, and in giving so lucidly an acconnt 

 of his experiments in Vine planting. 



I have a strong idea that coil jilauting will be found better 

 adapted for the pot culture of Vines, and for Mnes planted in 

 the area of a house fa vineyard under glass), than for Vines 

 planted under rafters in the usual way. ^^'hat occasion can 

 there be for any change, when Urape culture is so perfect as it 

 is under the management of our great gardeners ? The planting 

 of the area of a house, and training the Vines perpendicularly 

 to rods, is equivalent to mailing a French Vine garden in Eng- 

 land. I have a small span-roofed house planted with forty 

 Vines trained after this manner. It was these Vines that 

 brought out my old French friend, for he immediately laid hold 

 of one and said, " Ton ought to have had double rigour in this 

 Vine, and you might have had, if yon had coiled it." This led 

 to the description of how to coil a Vine, which your readers 

 wUl find in No. 248. 



As to my own doings, I haTS two dozen Vines in pots, placed 

 on hot-water pipes. They were originally 8 feet in length : in- 

 stead of reduciug this length by cutting off the line, plump 

 fruit-buds at top, I have layore<l the base of each, coiling it 

 round just inside the rim of the pot, and covering it 1 inch 

 deep, so that my Vines are uovr a little more than 5 feet in 

 length. ^Vith the exception of two or three, they are breaking 

 well. I shall watch the coil as to its time of rooting, or not 

 rooting, with much interest. 



With regard to my " vineyard nnder glass," I intend to coil 

 every Vine — this is the second year of their growth — and thus 

 see if this very simple variation in the planting of Vines has 

 any effect. I hope Mr. Thomson will visit London in May, to 

 see the International, and I trust he will come here, so that wo 

 may " reason together." I always haU with dehght the visits 

 of our gieat gardeners, it is quite refreshing to contrast my 

 eccentric ways with their sound and long-practised systems. — 

 T. K. ■ 



MUSHROOil-GRO-SVING IN POTS. 

 A coRr.Esi-o.\i>EXT speaks of growing Mushrooms iu pots ; I 

 have done so with very good success. Having some 18-inch 

 pots I filled them with fresh droppings, and spawned them at 

 once, setting them under a stage through which passes a hot- 

 water pipe covered with a grating, and placing a mat over the 

 pots. I find the Mushrooms so produced veiy useful when 

 beds are perhaps longer in coming in than calculated on. — 

 W. McA. 



New Hvheid Azalea. — I send you some blooms and foliage 

 of what I consider to be one of the greatest acquisitions in the 

 way of early spring-flowering greenhouse plants I have seen for 

 a long time, and I shall be glad to have your opinion of it. 

 The plant has been brought to me for inspection, and, as soon 

 as I saw it, 1 told the fortunate owner of it that I considered it 

 a novelty of first-class merit. The description which I re- 

 ceived of its origin is, that it is a seedling from the pretty and 

 useful Azalea named amana crossed with lihododendron 

 Princess Alice ; but, fiom the general character of the flower, I 



