May 22, 13S(5. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



37i 



sus, niger, i-c. I have taken np these splendid plants and 

 tried to Iteep them over the winter ; but unless a warm place 

 can be afforded them, the trouble is next to wasted, as in a cool 

 place they will always be getting less and less. I have found 

 this plan of keeping them over the winter suitable when, in- 

 stead of a plant with one strong stem, I wished to have a bush 

 ■with five, seven, or more stems, for by cutting back the kept- 

 over plant, say a foot or 15 inches from the ground, growing it 

 on vigorously in spring, and hardening it off, a fine massive 

 bush might be obtained. For general purposes — that is, to have 

 stout single-stemmed plants with huge healthy leaves, the best 

 plan is to sow the beautiful bean-hke seeds early in March in 

 a hotbed, pot off the plants when a few inches high, and keep 

 shifting into larger pots until May, then begin to harden off 

 by giving more air, and plant out in rich soil in June, and let 

 them alone until the frost kills them. Of such kinds as Ober- 

 manni, I have obtained splendid purple-shaded leaves, much 

 larger than the fancy parasols, by placing a larga barrowload 

 of hot dung bt.low the rich soil. When this hot dung system 

 is resorted to for rather tender plants the dung becomes valu- 

 able for the surface compost in tlie following year. 



Fine effects might be produced with these plants : — Gannas, 

 Coleus, Centaurea, or Cineraria, either when regularly planted 

 in belts and the ground carpeted, or in large beds when these 

 are grouped in masses, with smaller groups of dnarfer plants, 

 as Amaranthus tricolor, Coleus, &c., and all the open spaces 

 covered at back with Cineraria maritima, and in front with 

 yellow Ivy or yellow-leaved Geraniums. Splendid beds of 

 foliage and flowers may also be made with Ricinus at the back, 

 and Canuas and Gladiolus mixed all over until near the side, 

 where a belt of Iresine, or Coleus, and Centaurea would make 

 a fine termination. In fact, grant warmth, shelter, and labour 

 power, and these tine-foliaged plants would soon do away with 

 the stiffness of our flower gardens. 



29. SoL.ixcM. — A few of the annuals, as 'Wrightii and others, 

 sent out by our seedsmen, are veiy pretty when raised in a 

 little heat and then planted out after being hardened off to 

 suit the open air. A group of Solanum lycopersieum (Tomato) 

 would be attractive when in fruit, and so would smaller groups 

 of the white and purple S. melongena (Egg-plant) ; but for 

 ornamental foliage and rich-coloured spines, as well as large 

 flowers, we must resort to such kinds as Solanum marginatum, 

 •white-edged, from Africa ; eitrullifolium, large pinnated leaves 

 and large spines ; aculeatissimum, good leaves and very prickly 

 stems ; pyraoantha, with very large orange prickles and singular 

 foilage, from Madagascar ; Balbisii, with large leaves and whitish 

 midribs, and white flowers, from South America, &c. All the 

 spined kinds should have room enough and to spare, and, judg- 

 ing from my experience, should be plrmged in their pots in 

 moss or earth, so as to get at them with the least trouble. Ex- 

 cept in very warm places they should be returned to a cool stove 

 in the end of September, unless, which -would be best in most 

 cases, as they grew with great rapidity, a young stock is kept up 

 and the older plants are allowed to perish. 



30. Spik.ea. — A few of these, as Douglasii, Lindleyana, 

 tissa, thalictroides, &c., may be used, and will take care of 

 themselves. 



31. Spakmannia AFr.ic.iNA. — This yields fine foUage and huge 

 corymbs of its singular flowers when plSited out. It lifts well, 

 and may be kept almost dormant during the winter in a shady, 

 cool place free from frost. It should be little excited before it 

 is exposed in May, and planted out in June. 



32. SrAcnYS laxata. — This woolly-leaved hardy plant would 

 be chiefly useful for carpeting the ground in such a garden — a 

 mode of ornamenting flovrar gardens that is yet in its infancy. 

 The noble pyramidal circipl I saw sometime ago at Woodstock, 

 in Ireland, would have lost a portion of their attractiveness 

 if deprived of their carpeting of moss, as close and compact 

 and green as we could make it here with such Lycopods as 

 SelagineUa apoda, denticulata, &c., under glass and shade. 

 If ever I be privileged to see Woodstock again I hopo that, 

 nnder such an enthusiast as Mr. McDonald, and such en- 

 couragers of the beautiful and progressive in art as the worthy 

 proprietors, I shall see much more of this carpeting system 

 carried out. What I did in this way used to please me much, 

 even when using such plants as Verbena pulchella. Lobelias of 

 the speciosa section, variegated Alyssum, Gnaphalium lanatum, 

 and the Cerastiums, Sedums, Crassulas, &c., with harmonising 

 or contrasting colours, standing in little groups above the 

 ground carpeting, and far enough apart for the beauty of all 

 to be seen. I used to call the plan "spotted ribboning" 

 and " raised carpeting." For instance, how beautiful a close 



carpet of Cerastium looks, with little groups of dwarf scarlet 

 Geraniums spotted over it ; and then strong plants of eveu 

 the beautifal Mrs. Pollock Geranium are not lessened in their 

 attractious when set on a carpeting of a dense blue Lobelia, 

 and a few flowers of the Lobelias just peering through the 

 foliage, as well as beneath and around the leaves. 



33. Stipa pennata. — The Feather Grass is a general fa- 

 vourite. To make it thrive to perfection it requires frequent 

 moving. It is, of course, perfectly hardy. Some variegated 

 Grasses might be introduced with propriety. 



34. Strelitzia reoin/-e.— Several times I have had this old 

 resident of our stoves in good order out of doors. It does 

 best plunged and well mulched with rotten dung. 



35. Tkitoma uvaria would bo beautiful with its masses of 

 flovrers and Sedge-like foliago. The roots might be protected 

 with moss in winter, in addition to the withering loaves of the 

 phmt, which should not be touched. 



38. ViNCAS. — V. major variegata and elegantissima sboold 

 have a place ; and tiie green, yellow, and wliite variegated 

 varieties of minor would be useful for edgings and carpeting 

 the ground, especially in shady places. 



37. WiGANDiA CAr.ACASsANA. — 1 ucver had the privilege o! 

 trying this fine plant froin the Cavaccas, but some scores of 

 enthusiasts have told me how well it does under Mi-. Gibson's 

 management. I presume it is kept in a rather warm house in 

 winter. In fact, the winter and spring treatment of such 

 plants is most important, if we cannot rest them in a shed, 

 or place them under a stage, like Cannas, or raise them 

 annually from seed like Castor-oil plants. 



S8. Yucca. — Who does not admire the Adam's Needles, with 

 their rough picturesque attractions, in bloom and out of 

 bloom? Prom filamentosa to gloriosa, through rccurvifolia, 

 angustifolia, aloifolia, and others, they would lead their 

 grotesque attractions to such a scenery, and in ordinary winters 

 would require no more attention than tying their leaves to- 

 gether by a band, that snow, or even much fiozen wet, should 

 not lodge in the heart of the plants. The tying also protects 

 the leaves from the -n-ind at a time -when it is presumed it 

 would try them the most. 



39. Zea curAeuA. — There is a striped Japanese variety of 

 this Indian Corn advertised. The commoner kinds make a 

 fine appearance in a sheltered place. Most seedsmen, out of 

 the varieties grown, can select some of robust growth for pnr- 

 chasers. In such a place as described we have had strong 

 plants from 8 to 12 feet in height, with long broad leaves 

 and with feathery crowns, besides the fruitstalks, beating out 

 of the field all the Arundo donaxes that were ever grown. A 

 few of the varieties of Holcus should also be grown, though 

 they are pygmies beside some of these large Indian Maizes. 

 To have them fine sow single seeds in a hotbed in seiiarato 

 pots in April, repot as necessary, harden off, and plant iu rich 

 soil in the beginning of June or towards the end of May. 



I thought of contiuing this article to mentioning some two 

 score kinds of plants suitable for sub-tropical out-door de- 

 coration; and amongst those occurring as worthy of being 

 named with the others at present, I will select 



40. Ac.'iw: a-ieeicaxa, the green and variegated varieties 

 of which, if large specimens and plunged, would add much to 

 the grotesque interest of the scene. In such a garden I would 

 show neither pot nor tub, so that in this respect the natural 

 should have full sway. And 



41. Rhus cotincs (The Venetian Sumach), for its masses of 

 feathery bloom, Rhus typhina, the Stag's-horn Sumach, and 

 a few plants of Ailanthus glandulosa ; the first, the Stag's-horn, 

 for the grotesque appearance of the leafless shoots, and both 

 it and the Ailanthus for the fine tropical-looking foliage. These, 

 with common treatment, will look after themselves. 



At another time 1 may add to what is here hinted at, as to 

 the combinations of such plants. Meantime, as the subject 

 seems to interest many of the readers of this Journal, I would 

 respectfully solicit help and information to correct what is 

 crude and "to supply what is deficient in this merely pioneer 

 article, confident that where house-room, time, and la'oour, and 

 a suitable protected position can be commanded, sources of 

 enjoyment will thus be opened up, to which even the greatest 

 admirers of vegetable lovehness have hitherto been strangers. 

 — R. Fish. 



Pp.otection A3AINST Rabbits. — After having tried, iu vain, 

 many things strongly recommended as preventives against the 

 gnawing of the bark of young fruit trees by rabbits, I find the 



