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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDKNEE. 



39 



If this Strawberry were better known, I may ventare to say 

 that it wonUi be largely grown. — J. Gakdneb, Ekham Hall 

 Gardens, Brigt), 



EAST LOTHIAN STOCKS. 



Hiyraif been to some conaiderable extent the means of spreaJ- 

 ing the fame of tbese Stocks beyond the locality where they 

 have been so largely caltivated, I felt very sorry lately to see 

 them depreciated by writers in your columns ; not that their 

 excellence as cultivated and described by me and others in the 

 far-famed Loithians of Sootlund can be gainsaid by anyone, bnt 

 becauee I regacded it aa a pity that such splendid decorative 

 plants should have disappointed any one in other localities. 

 Being convinced of their value, I resolved to grow them largely 

 at this place, and planted them more extensively than ever 

 they were planted at any piKoe before ; and I am happv to say 

 that in a totally different soil and soniewhat different climate, 

 they are more than equal to anything I ever saw in the Lothians 

 of Scotland ati this date. The plants are unique in habit, and 

 while the msJMity are coming into bloom, I have not yet seen 

 a single flower ainongst tbem, and I have no doubt they will in 

 this respect be equal to anything I have previously said of them 

 — namely, have 80 per cent, double. These will last in beautiful 

 blpom till winter, and, if the plants be lifted and taken care of, 

 they will bloom ^1 next summer. 

 , No wonder they have not succeeded in some places if reared 

 and treated as Stocks generally are treated — viz., sown in & bed 

 or pans, never priclied off, and planted out weak and spindling. 

 Let any other bedding plant be so treated, and what would he 

 the result ? Many other pladts now neglected would, by careful 

 cultivation, become so changed and improved as to be scarcely 

 recognised as the same. 



Doubtless some may have been disappointed and deceived in 

 obtaining the true varieties of these Stocks when applying to 

 sieedsmen. Tbis should make them more careful in future ; 

 still, I am certain the starvation system of cultivating has much 

 to do with the character they assume. I have always bestowed 

 great care in rearing these Stocks, and the results have always 

 been such as more than justified such a course and what has 

 been said in their praise. 



Mr. Lees, of Tynninghame, last year proved conclusively that 

 oultivation had an influence on the amount of double and single 

 blooms produced. He planted a certain number of plants from 

 the same sowing in poor dry soil, and some in rich soil ; the 

 former were nearly all single, the latter nearly all double. 



If, instead of sow'ing thickly in a box or frame and allowing 

 the plants to become drawn and spindling, and then to plant out 

 in carelessly prepared soil, they were sown thinly in February, 

 then potted-off singly in 3-inoh pots, and planted-out in the 

 end of April or early in May in well-prepared and rich soil, we 

 should hear less of their lateness of blooming and of single 

 blooms. This is a very late season, yet these Stocks will be 

 fine here this month, and few if any flowering plafits stand all 

 sorts of weather so well. Few, if any, plants are so well worthy 

 of extra trouble, whether they be grown in the parterre, in the 

 mixed border, in nursery beds for cutting from, or in pots. — 

 D. Thomson^ prtfmlanrig^ Gardens. 



TACSOHiA VaN,VOLXEMI CULTURE. 



My expeiienoc of this magnificent climbing plant commenced 

 a very short time after its iutroduotion to this country, which 

 took place only a few years ago. Being about that time in 

 want of a good selection of climbers for the conservatory, I 

 purchased it solely from the figure and desciiplion given in the 

 " Florist and Pomolojiist," and ever sicca it has been an object 

 of much interest and pleasure to all concerned. Although this 

 class of plants contiiius some subjects of unquestionable beauty, 

 lor instance, tljo gorgeous Taesonia ii^nea and moUisf ima, yet 

 I am of opinion that T. Van-Volxemi is unsurpassed — I may 

 say unequalled — by any of them. It possesses extraordinary 

 vigour, is, very free.loloomlog. and thrives most admirably in a 

 greenhouse ttrapei-aiuyc.'' Tne fijwers are from 3 to -1 inches 

 in diameter, thei I- colAur scarlet, and the stamens and pistil 

 stand ont ooasprcnontly, and are very ornamental. The flowers 

 are suspended fiom a green stiing-like stem, from 1 foot to 

 18 inches in length, and nearly every flower produces a fruit 

 which grows tii the length of from 4 to 6 iuches, measuring 

 li inch iu diameter at the middle, but tapciiog equally to 

 both ende. ■ . ■ • ■ ; 



From the foregoing description, which Is not at all over- 



drawn, Tacsonia Tan-Volxemi will be recognised aa a most desir- 

 able plant for anyone who has a suitable houae where it may 

 be grown and trained so as to display its decorative qualities t6 

 the best advantage. From the plant's peculiar habit of flower- 

 ing, it should be grown where the flowers can h«ng downwards 

 overhead, and be qqite clear of the foliage. Walls are objec- 

 tionable, but porches and the cross bars and roofs of houses 

 are more suitable. Of these positions the latter is preferable, 

 because if the phoote, w^jich will bear training within 4 inches' 

 of the glass, are about 6 inches apart, eveiy flower'will be so 

 placed that its beauty can be seen to great advantage. Thts 

 plant growing here ift situated at the principal entrance to the 

 conservatory, whi«h is a kind of projection from the main roof. 

 It covers the whole of this small roof, and forms a most agree- 

 able .shade to plants beneath it ; its roots are in a bed of soil 

 10 feet long, i feet wide, and 4 in depth, under the flagstones 

 Bt the entrance. This bed has plenty of drainage, and is quite 

 independent of the larger beds in the conservatory. The soU 

 is made np of one-half rather heavy turfy loam, and cue-half 

 leaf soil, mortar rubbish, and sand in equal portions. The 

 plant is supplied with plenty of moisture when growing, and its 

 pruning, up to the present time, has been confined to thinning 

 and shortening the shoots which have gone beyond bounds. I 

 am ripening the wooji just now in order to give the plants 

 thorough pruning before starting it into growth for flowering 

 daring winter, which it did last winter most profusely. The 

 plant appears to be less liable to the attacks of insects and 

 other pests than most climbers, for when others have had the'ni 

 this plant has been (jnite free, owing, as I presume, to the bafd 

 texture of the foliage. — Thomas Eeoobd, Hawkkunt. •',' 



POTATO FAILURES. 



I foe some time hoped that the stubbornness of the early 

 Potatoes in breaking through the ground was peculiar to thie 

 district. I find it is not so.- Mr. Record in page 368, and 

 " H. H." in page 388, of the last volume, both state theii 

 failures and experiences. Information from other sources also 

 brings me the assurance that the failure is by no means con- 

 fined to any particnlar locality, but, on the contrary, the com- 

 plaint is general. ' " 



It is very diflicult to assign a cause for the misfortune. If, J»s 

 some think, the failure is owing to the inclement weather which 

 prevailed at and immediately after the time when the sets 

 were planted, it ip a cause beyond our power to avert in the 

 future. According to this theory a similar unpropitious spring 

 will bring a similar unfortunate result. Whatever the real 

 cause may be, I am clear that in my case this theory completely 

 breaks down ; and I am very sanguine, should the weather 

 early in spring be the same next year as we have recently passed 

 through, that my early Potatoes will break through the ground 

 with the usual regularity. This bold assertion must hayia a 

 bold backing. 



Now for the evidence on the case — stubborn Potatoes versvs 

 stubborn facts. On the lOih of March I planted a portion of a 

 very warm well-drained south border with Early Ashleaf ; on the 

 same day I planted some of the same kind of Potato in an open 

 space^ — as cold a spot, perhaps, as any in the kitchen garden. 

 Now in the open, and by far the coldest and wettest place, every 

 set grew well — not one failed ; while on the warm south border 

 nearly one-half of them did not come up. Some Potatoes from 

 the same batch of seed and planted in a frame, served me the 

 same. Here my experience is different from that of Mr. Ilecord ; 

 but perhaps we may find halt a reason why his came up as 

 well as usual in frames, and mine did not. Mr. Record's were 

 planted in pits early in December, and all grew ; mine were 

 planted in frames in the middle of February — a difference of 

 upwards of two njonths. This period may only seem of small 

 importance, but it may have had an effect. I have just two 

 more, arguments against climatic influences, at least this year, 

 being the cause. of the failures. 1st, The finest piece of Ash- 

 leafs^I have seen this year is in one of the coldest and wettest 

 gardens in this parish,; and, 2Qd, I planted a lew cf the s^tne 

 kindiin an open place in November merely to see what would 

 be the result, and every set has done its duly well — not one 

 missed, notwithstanding the cold and wet, and tbeyhad.no 

 protection. Thus, from my own experience and cb=ervati6D, 

 I have arrived at the conclusion that the cause of the f.iilnre is 

 the Potatoes themselves being in fault. And why ? 



I will begin by saying that I believe the theory cf the Rev. 

 M. J. Berkeley is sound and is borne out by my practice, 



