m 



JOUilNAL OF UOBTICUIiTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



r Uaj 22, VX$. 



mlitore of slacked lime ^vitli a strong deooction of tobacco, 

 applied with a brush to the lower part of the stems, a most sure 

 .and reliable means of kcepiug the rabbits awny from the trees. 

 — A. Fnndleu in .-InKniiin Gardener's ilontMy. 



MUNOCII.KTUM ENSIFERUM CULTURK. 



Tnis very fine wintcr-flowcring plant is deserving of a place 

 in every collection, however select. It cannot be ranked as a 

 stove plant, for it grows too lanky in a stove heat, neither will 

 it thrive in an ordinary greenhouse, l)ut it reiiuircs the tem- 

 perature of an intermediate-hoase, or from 45° to 50° in winter 

 from fire heat. 



Cuttings are to be taken from the free-growing shoots, their 

 upper part with three or four joints and the growing point. 

 The shoots should be about half ripe, or with their base a little 

 hard and brown ; they will, llieroforc, he from 'A to 4 inches in 

 length. Cut them transversely below the lowest pair of leaves, 

 remove these as well as those on the next joint, and insert the 

 cuttings round the sides of a 4j-inch pot. Drain the pot to 

 one-third of its depth with potsherds, on these place a thin 

 layer of moss, and then fill up with a compost of sandy peat 

 and loam, .10 that when the cuttings arc inserted their bases 

 may be within the least possible distance of the soil ; the pot 

 is then to be filled up with silver sand. Place this pot inside 

 one of larger size, and so that the rims of both may be on a 

 level. Fill the interval between the pots up to within an inch 

 of the rim with small crocks, and the remainder of the space 

 with silver sand. Insert the cuttings up to the lowest leaves, 

 and not so closely as to crowd thcra. Give a gentle watering, 

 and, -when dry, cover them with a bell-glass resting on the 

 sand hetwcen the pots. Tlace the cuttings in a mild hotbed of 

 from 70" to 7.)", shade from bright sun, and tUt the bell-glass 

 an inch or so on one side at night, but keep it close by day. 

 Be careful not to make the sand very wet, otherwise the cut- 

 tings will damp off, and yet it must be kept moist. The pre- 

 .sent is a good time to put in the cuttings. They will be well 

 rooted in six weeks, and, having been hardened off by remov- 

 ing the bell-glass gradually, they should be potted off singly 

 into small pots, using the same compost as for cuttings. After 

 potting, the jilants will require to be slightly shaded, and to be 

 lept in a rather close atmosphere imtil established ; they 

 should then have a light and airy situation in a house, such 

 as a greenhouse during the summer, having a temperature of 

 from 5J' to CO' at night. 



^When the jilants fill the pots with roots, shift into 4 J -inch 

 pots, and by September, if they have grown well, they may be 

 shifted into pots a size larger, but this will scarcely be neces- 

 sary, and should not be practised later than the beginning of 

 ihe month, so that the roots may take firm hold of the soil and 

 reach the sides of the pots before dull weather set in. The 

 5oil for these pottings may consist of one-third turfy sandy 

 peat and two-thirds turfy loam, broken and made rather fine, 

 with the addition of one-sixth of silver sand. It is impera- 

 tively neces.'ary to drain the pots well, for though the plant is 

 as free in growth during the summer months as a Fuchsia it is 

 ty no means so easy to winter. Provision should therefore be 

 .made to keep the drainage free by jilacing over the crocks a 

 thin layer of moss, or the turfy parts of the compost with the 

 soil knocked out. In all pottings, the neck or collar of the 

 plant should be kept slightly elevated in the centre of the 

 pot. In winter the plants should have a position near the 

 glass in a light airy structure having a night temperature of 

 from -;.")"' to .jO", and be very carefully watered. 



By the following March cuttings treated as above will be 

 sturdy compact plants in 4J or G-inch pots, though equally 

 .good could be obtained at most nurseries for less than half the 

 cost of raising them. However, in whatever way obtained, if 

 ia 4{ -inch pots they should be shifted into (5-inch ones, and 

 if in the latter size into 8-inch pots, using a compost of 

 sandy turfy peat one-fourth, leaf mould well reduced one- 

 fourth, and one-half turfy loam of medium texture. The pots 

 should be of a porous nature, and well washed inside and out- 

 side. Place a rather large crock over the hole ; some of less 

 size above it ; then others broken smaller still, so as to fill 

 altogether one-fourth of the depth of the pot ; and over all a thin 

 layer of moss or the rougher parts of the compost. This, pre- 

 vious to use, should be chopped rather fine, but not sifted, and 

 mixed with a good proportion of silver sand. Having placed a 

 little of the compost over the drainage, the pot is prepared for 



I age, and pick away the old soil from among the roots ; or, if this 

 I cannot be done without injuring them, loosen the sides of the 

 ball with a pointed piece of wood, and remove the soil from the 

 surface down to the roots. Pot rather firmly but not very 

 tiglitly. and keep the collar of the plant rather high, yet not 

 more than half an inch or so above the surface. Give a gentle 

 watering, and place in a temperature slightly warmer than 

 before for a few days, or keep rather close and slightly shaded 

 for a week or ten days until the roots are working in the new 

 soil. The plant will be much benefited bj- a gentle syringing, 

 and any shoots that grow irregularly should bo stopped up to 

 the end of .Inne, when no further stopping should take place. 

 The growth should be regulated by stopping and tj-ing out the 

 shoots BO as to form an evenly balanced cone. The watering 

 should not be at any time excessive ; no water should be given 

 until really wanted, then sufficient to show itself at the drain- 

 age ; but although the plant is not to be delugfd with water, it 

 must nut be allowed to suffer through the soil becoming dry. 

 A free and sturdy growth can only be secured by the plentiful 

 admission of air, and an abundance of light. 



In .June, if the pots are full of roots, shift the plants into 

 12-inch pots, and when the roots take hold of the fresh soil 

 stop the shoots for the last time, for it must be remembered 

 that the flowers are produced from their points. In August 

 expose fully to light, and afford abundant ventil.ation, so as to 

 harden the wood well, and the harder it is the better will the 

 plants winter ; their tendency to go off after blooming is a great 

 ihawback. 



In September, if the plants have heeu grown in a warm 

 greenhouse during the summer, or in one not very highly ven- 

 tilated, nor shaded by climbers, they will be nice cones a yard 

 or so high, and stiff and compact in growth. A cold pit would 

 be a much better place for the plants from May to September, 

 than any house, for then the requirements of individual plants 

 can be better provided for, and I find that small plants do much 

 better in small than in large, lofty houses. 



Place the plants in their winter quarters by the middle or 

 end of September, and avoid a place overhung with climbers, 

 and the ventilation distant. Give a light and airy situation 

 near the glass. Do not wet the foliage after this, nor preserve 

 a close atmosphere, otherwise the leaves will become brown at 

 the ends, and avoid watering more than can be helped — that is, 

 give no water so long as the soil appears moist, and the plant 

 does not show the want of it. I find the most suitable tem- 

 perature to be 50°, and not less than 45'. In a higher tem- 

 perature it grows, and the leaves have a sickly hue. The sur- 

 face of the soil should be kept free of moss by frequent stirring, 

 and be careful not to overwater, and then there is no danger if 

 only the drainage be good. When in flower the plant requires 

 more water, and also when expanding and swelling the flower- 

 buds, but any excess at these times ends in the plant going off 

 at the collar after flowering. It is, therefore, well to have 

 young plants in store. 



After flowering keep the plants rather dry, and do not en- 

 courage growth in winter, but cut them in early in spring, and 

 when the growths are a few inches long repot, picking away the 

 old soil, then shade and keep close for a few days. The shootfi 

 may be stopped up to July, but only those which are strong ; 

 the weaker ones will At require any stopping. — G. Abbey. 



QUEEN VERSUS SMOOTH-LEA'S^D CAYENNE 

 PINES. 



I.N order to prevent & wrong impression, wiU you allow me 

 to offer a remark on what your ab^^orrespondent Mr. Robson 

 has said about these t-:\o varieties of Pines in his criticism on 

 the little work on the Pine Apple which I hove recently pub- 

 lished ? He says that Smooth-leaved Cayennes are more ex- 

 tensively grown in Scotland than Queens ; and that here and 

 at Dalkeith, as two instances, the Queen is not so extensively 

 grown as the Cayenne. Doubtless this conclusion has been 

 arrived at on the "part of Mr. Robson from the fact that at the 

 time of his visit the whole of the early Queens had been fruited 

 and used. At Dalkeith Queens are far more largely grown 

 than any variety ; and here the two varieties in question are 

 fruited in about equal proportions, from the fact that there is 

 most demand for ripe Pines during the London season, and 

 from October to March. It is for winter supply that the Cay- 

 enne is so much appreciated, and of sixty Pines that will be 

 cut here for the next three months only three will te Cayennes. 

 I am sure Mr. Eojbson's, wfill-knovm regard for truth and. Jagts 



