142 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



r Much 37, isee. 



afcifted into 11 and 12-inch pots, and grown on in the asnaJ way. only 

 thai they arc not kept so dry in antamn and winter as is desirable for 

 earij-starting plants. The tempcrataro, too, is kept 5'' higher than for 

 QaeenB at rest ; the object being not to ripen, as it were, the growth of 

 these so as to predispose (hem to start in spring. The heat is qoickened, 

 both top and bottom, in Febmary, and they make a spring growth; are 

 rested in May and .Tune by being kept drier and cooler ; and then, with 

 increased heat and moistnrc, I rarely over fail in starting them all in 

 June and July. Care must be token that thry never get too dry at the 

 root, particularly in spring, as that wonld be likely to start them before 

 this is required. This applies with the same force to Jamaicas. These 

 will keep up the supply of fruit till the end of the year. 



*' It is necessary to have a later lot of these two varieties to come in 

 for spring, and this I find rather ditlicult in the ease of the Smooth 

 Cayenne. It makes suckei-s still more tardily from late plants. The 

 method 1 geuerally adopt is to save the old st<?ms of those that ripen 

 their fruit through the winter, and place them in strong bottom heat 

 to spring the latent buds. These grow into nice plants, ready to shift 

 into eight-iuch pots in September, and I shift these into their fruiting- 

 pots in March, and hy pushing them on they start in September and 

 October, and succeed those started in Juno and .July. For this purpose 

 I most decidedly give the preference to the Cayenne ; and from plants 

 o£ it so managed, I have had very fine fruit in the spring months. 

 They are kept on at a temperature of from 60^ to 65^ all winter, with 

 a steady bottom heat of 80^. 



*' There is nothing peculiar in the management of these winter fruit- 

 ing sorts, except it be that I never keep them so dry and so completely 

 ai pest in winter as those intended to start early. This is with the 

 ▼iew of their not resting and maturing themselves so thoroughly in 

 aotumn and winter as would canse them to start when excited in spring. 

 The Smooth Cayenne requires more moisture at the root when growing 

 than is good for most other sorts. It is also more impatient of bnght 

 sun early in the season than any I know, more especially if kept gently 

 on the move all winter. And rather than allow the foliage to become 

 bronzed, ^hade should be applied for a time, as already directed. 

 When swelling off in winter, water at the root will of course not require 

 to be so frequently given as in summer, and there should be no syring- 

 mg. The evaporating-trays will keep the air snfliciently moist. Air 

 must be put on for a short time in the middle of every fine day." 



With respect to the treatment of plants that fail to start into 

 fruit, til. Thomson says : — 



" When I have room to conveniently operate on these I cut the plants 

 over at the surface of the soil, and strip a few of the leaves off them, 

 and pot them deeply and very firmly in fruiting-pofs. They are slightly 

 shaded for ten days, by which time, with a brisk bottom heat, they be- 

 gin to send out wonderfully strong roots, and then the phading is dis- 

 continued, and they are watered. In this way they are transformed 

 into dwarf strong plants, and I always find they start into fmit very 

 Bfloo after, and swell off fine fmit." 



LOBELIAS, \T3RBENAS, AND ZON.\LE 

 GERANIUMS FOR BEDDING. 



In reply to a query from " Ne3:o" in your Number of the 

 6th inst., I write to say that I sowed a packet of Lobelia Snow- 

 flake about six weeks ago, and though the seeds were a long 

 time in coming up, yet I have now about fifty or sixty plants 

 above ground. 



I Bowed four kinds of LobeUa the same day — Blue King, 

 Paxtoniana, Speciosa, and Snowflake — with very different re- 

 sults, though they were all treated alike, Paxtoniana coming 

 up very freely and quickly, and Blue King next. Snowflake 

 was a long time before it made its appearance. I am incUned 

 to think that at this time of the year persons are apt to give 

 many seeds too great heat and moisture, which they cannot 

 stand till the days are longer, and there is more light. Small 

 seeds, too, like those of the Lobelia, will not germinate if 

 they are covered with too much soil. I always mix my seed 

 with Calais sand previously to sowing, prepare a pan, smooth 

 the top soil, and water it, then scatter the sand with the seed 

 mixed in it over the top ; the white sand helps vei-j' much to 

 show where the seed falls, and to sow it evenly. I never cover 

 it any more, but put a sheet of glass over it, and place it near 

 the light in a temperature not exceeding from 50° to 55°. 

 Lobelia seeds with this treatment scarcely ever require any 

 more water till they are up. 



A few words with respect to Verbenas, which seem according 

 to some accounts to have kept badly thi.s winter. The only 

 kind I have seen really showing signs of disease is Mrs. Hol- 

 ford, and I have seen traces of disease on that for two or three 

 years in several different gardens. Last September was too 

 dry and hot for Verbenas, and, unless cuttings had been 

 secured previously, it required a great deal of care and 

 management to secure a healthy stock of plants afterwards. 

 Ko plants are more easily injtured by over-dryness at the roots. 



I have known many a healthy pot of fine established cattingB 

 permanently iujiired by one day's ciposurc to a drying snn 

 after the pots were dry. Many gardeners are too much afraid 

 of the watering-pot for Verbenas in the winter. My own ex- 

 perience is, keep them always slightly growing, as near the 

 light as possible, give plenty of air underneath the stage, and 

 water and syringe regularly, but always allow a little fire heat 

 to dry off superabundant moisture from the leaves. With this 

 treatment, and by nipping back the shoots whenever they are 

 more than 3 inches long. Verbenas may be kept healthy and 

 strong, without green fly, mildew, or thrips, and will supply 

 any amount of cuttings in the spring. 



I agree with Mr. Kent that it is a great pity that Verbenas, 

 with the exception of Purple King, are so much neglected ; it 

 is often, I think, from want of attention, and because they 

 are dillicult to winter without proper care, and will not stand 

 the treatment that the Zonale Geraniums have to live 

 through. The following sorts all bedded well with me last 

 year : — Cruor, Firefly, Foxhunter, Mrs. Harrison, Madame H. 

 Stenger, Nemesis, .\riosto, Mrs. Klphinstone, Sultana, Ocean 

 Pearl, Miss Field, Brillant de Vaisc, Purple King, Giant des 

 Batailles, Garland, and Shades of Evening. Of these. Fox- 

 hunter, Miss Field, and Madame Hermann Stenger have rather 

 too straggling a habit, but the flower.* are very perfect of their 

 kind. Nemesis is so like General Simpson that I consider 

 them the same, and the General was first in the field. 



The following Verbenas arc also, I consider, well worth 

 growing for mixed beds, and I hardly know any bed that is 

 more effective or more interesting than a mixed bed of Ver- 

 benas : — Apollo, Mulberry Superb (Lady V. Scott or Miss 

 Trotter svnonj-mons), Mrs. Mackay, Black Prince, Lord Leigh, 

 Lord Craven, The Moor, Heine des Violettes (useful in colour, 

 but bad-shaped truss), Evening Star, Miss Hanmer, Eubens, 

 Mrs. Pennington, Silver Star, Tj-rian Prince, Cicero, Lady 

 Cotton Sheppard, and Victor Emmanuel. This number might 

 be increased by many of the new striped sorts, but I h-ive not 

 tried them, and therefore cannot form an opinion of them as 

 bedding plants. I only had a few of them in large pots in a 

 cold frame last year, but I intend to give them a trial this 

 summer. 



While on the subject of bedding plants I wish to add that I 

 Em going to make an experiment this year with all the new 

 sorts of Zonale bedding Geraniums, both Nosegay ard others, 

 which I can obtain. I have Mr. W. Paul's new seedlings and 

 several others of Bull's, Carter's, &c. Thoise of which I have 

 only a few, I shall plant in large mixed beds, and, including 

 old sorts, I have more than a hundred to try. If any person 

 wishes any seedling or other Geraniums to be tried alongside of 

 the older-established sorts, and also with some of the new sec- 

 tions from Donald Beaton's, I shall be very happy to try them 

 and report on them. With your permission I will send you 

 a report in the autumn of the results of my experiments. I 

 wish to see which of the new sorts will stand the test of being 

 planted side by side in Yorkshire with the older-established 

 sorts, as Tom Thumb, Trentham Rose, Stella, Ci^stal Palace 

 Scarlet, &c.— C. P. Cleaver, 



TEJIPERATURE-RECORDING APPARATUS. 



In" the spring of last year I purchased one of Negretti and 

 Zambra's maximum thermometers (a cheap one on boxwood is 

 the kind necessary for the purpose) — a thermometer where 

 the mercury remains in the graduated portion of the stem on 

 the slightest faU in temperature, and thereby shows the maxi- 

 mum heat attained during any given period. Now. any one 

 who has such a thermometer in his possession will perceive 

 that on tilting the instrument, bulb uppermost, the mercury 

 detaches itself from what remains in the bulb and the portion 

 of the stem near thereto, owing to the obstruction in the tube, 

 which prevents the merctuy retreating into the bulb on a de- 

 crease of temperature. It occurred to me at once that the por- 

 tion of mercury detached could be made use of if means were 

 devised for its measurement. Such a thermometer as I have 

 described, where the obstruction is caused by compression of 

 the glass tube and not by a piece of glass or enamel, when 

 placed in a vertical position, acts as an ordinarj- thermometer ; 

 the mercury from its weight always passes the obstruction in 

 the bent portion of the tube, and the reading of actual present 

 temperature is obtained. If, however, the thermometer be 

 tilted from the vertical position, the mercury will detach itself 

 at the bent portion and nm down to the farthest end of the 



