64 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIODLTDBE AND COTTAGE GABDKNEK. 



( July 2S, vm. 



plant them in a one, two, or tbree-Iigbt frame, according to 

 the crop required, placing it where it may receive BimBhine 

 early and late : place the frame on the hare ground. A gentle 

 bottom heat will etait the plants well, though I generally grow 

 them without this, raising the plants to within a foot of the 

 glass by rough material placed below the soil. A moderately 

 rich loamy soil not very light, 1 foot in depth, is what 1 find 

 them thrive in. A three-light frame will take six plants ; isome 

 would plant twelve, but I find no advantage from it; two plants 

 to a ligbt .". feet apart, which, if an ordinary-sized frame (i feet 

 wide, will leave IS inches between the plants and the frame. 



After the plants are put in, water and shade until they are 

 estabhshed, but if the frame is properly ventilated there is no 

 need for shade afterwards. AVhen they have grown about 

 4 inches high, take the point out of the leading shoot, thus 

 causing the side shoots to appear ; train these evenly over the 

 bed. and grow them fast until they are 18 inches long. Then 

 take the point out of each of these, which, in turn, push forth 

 shoots, generally fruiting ones. These should be regulated and 

 grown with the greatest care ; when they show about two fruits 

 each, stop them one joint beyond the last fruit, and on these 

 coming into bloom, fertilise the female blossoms with the 

 pollen from the male tlowers, which should appear in abun- 

 dance at this stage. During this process a dry atmosphere and 

 more ventilation should be secured for the pollen to take effect. 



After the fruit has begun to swell, and if the weather is 

 favourable, a good watering will assist the plants, hut at all 

 times during their growth avoid too much water, keeping the 

 soil moderately moist ; but when water is applied, thoroughly 

 soak the soil. I object to the common practice of syringing 

 the foliage, as I consider the water lodges on the joints of the 

 stem, causing theva to canker and die off ; besides, I find 

 enough moisture rises from the soil to keep the foliage in 

 perfect health if properly apphed. At all favourable ojiportu- 

 nities give them air early — say by seven in the mornin?, in- 

 creasing it as the day advances, and shutting-up early — say by 

 three o'clock ; but in such hot weather like the present, a little 

 may be left on all night. 



After the crop of fruit is set, thin-out all superfluous growth 

 as it appears ; although enough must be left for the proper 

 development of the plant and fruit, it is very easy to leave too 

 much. As each fruit approaches its natural size, it may be 

 be raised on small pots, not only to keep it clear of the water, 

 but also to assist its ripening. 



In growing this or any other sort of Melon, it is best to avoid 

 planting new seed, or that saved from last year's fruit ; such 

 seed generally produces wood and foliage at the expense of the 

 fruit, and will flag at the least exposure to the sun. I find that 

 seed about four years old is in every way more desirable ; the 

 foliage is smaller and firmer in texture, consequently enduring 

 the sun much better, the growth is more compact and fruitful. 

 I therefore save a little seed of a favourite Melon every year, 

 and date it properly, therefore avoiding any such mistake as 

 above alluded to. — Tuojias Kecoud, Iltixckhuri;!. 



NOTES ON A FEW NATR^E HERBxVCEOUS 

 PLANTS. 



Whim; so much has been done by horliculturists in intro- 

 ducing and cultivating exotics, it is curious to note how our 

 native herbaceous plants have, with a few exceptions, been 

 quietly passed by as if wholly incapable of improvement. I 

 am not a believer in the absurd old adage which says that 

 *' familiarity breeds contempt," unless when the familiar object 

 is reallj- and truly contemptible ; but it seems to have done so 

 in this case, leaving many beautiful objects to be appreciated 

 only by botanists, in whose eyes every green thing is interest- 

 ing. Assuming such to be the case, there are some plants 

 eminently worthy of cultivation, and just sufficiently rare to 

 keep them out of the category of eommon plants. Foremost 

 among these stands that strikingly handsome biennial 



EcHiuJi VULGAKE. — This is thought by some to be the finest 

 of all our native herbaceous plants. It grows to the height of 

 o and sometimes 4 feet, and is of an upright formal character, 

 and therefore well suited for single specimens in a border. It 

 is composed of one central and sometimes as many as a dozen 

 side compound spikes, all clothed nearly to the ground with a 

 profusion of bright blue flowers, and as in some other Borage- 

 worts, an occasional pink one varies the general appearance. 

 It is mostly found on waste sandy places by the sides of rivers, 

 on chalky hills, and occasionally upon old crumbling wall 



To cultivate it successfallr, the border should be of deep light 

 soil, free from trees, and otherwise unshaded. It is a biennial ; 

 the seeds shonld be sown in May or June, and the plants will 

 flower in June and July in the following season. That it is 

 inclined, even when not under cultivation, to break away from 

 its normal state is very evident. Not to mention the white 

 variety, which is by some considered to be a distinct species, 

 there are numerous shades of blue, ranging from almost purple 

 to the ligbt azure tint of Myosotis. The variety of habit and 

 size of flower as seen in different plants are also remarkable, 



Mvosoiis lAi.rsTiiis, the true Forget-me-not. with its blue 

 and yellow flowers and its very pathetic but rather improbable 

 legend, has always been a favourite flower ; and although of a 

 half-aquatic nature, it can be grown very well in any rather 

 damp border. 



Myosotis s'vxvatica is also now a we^l-known plant, being, 

 along with some others not natives, largely employed tor flower- 

 garden purposes ; but there is a dwarf or alpine form of it 

 which is by no means so common. It is Mvosotis .u,iebteis, 

 and is found only, in this country, near the summits of the 

 highest mountains in the highlands of Perthshire and Aber- 

 deenshire. I have seen plants of it under cultivation, and a 

 gem it is in its way, having largo dense heads of blue flowers. 

 It is rather difiicult to cultivate, and, I beUeve, requires the 

 protection of a frame in winter. 



The YiciAS are a plebeian race, V. saliva being the common 

 Vetch of cowhouse notoriety, yet among them we find some of 

 our most beautiful climbing and trailing plants. V. sylvatica, 

 though not rare, is far from being plentiful, and is mostly 

 found in bushy " ghylls" up among the mountains. It grows 

 to 4 or G feet in height, and bears a profusion of white flowers 

 streaked with purple. Orobus sjlvaticus, which is not nearly 

 so beautiful, is sometimes mistaken for it. ■\'. Cracca is very 

 common, and very handsome with its long racemes of light 

 purple flowers. For twi.sting lightly round the glass stem of a 

 dinner-table flower-stand it is one of the most graceful things 

 to be found, and I frequently use it for that purpose. 



Mektexsia mai'.itima is another Boragewort, which I meant 

 to notice after Echium. It is said not to be found on the 

 English shores, but is frequently met with here, and all along 

 the west Highland coast. It has fleshy, glaucous leaves, and 

 curiously twisted rope-like roots, the loose racemes of small 

 blue flowers being pretty rather than showy; but the whole 

 appearance of the plant is exceedingly graceful. I have a few 

 plants of it, which were struck from cuttings, as I found it 

 impossible to extract the long bare roots from among the sand 

 and stones where I found them. It is commonly called the 

 Oyster plant, from the flavour of the leaves somewhat resem- 

 bling that of oysters. 



Calystegia SoLP.^^•EI.I.A, the Seaside Convolvnlns, is also 

 well worthy of a place in the herbaceous border. It is an ever- 

 green trailing plant, with very large rose-coloured flowers, 

 which it produces abundantly during June and July. I have 

 grown it for some years from seed saved from cultivated plants, 

 but no varieties have been produced. 



P<U!XASSiA PALCSTEis, the pretty cream-white Grass of Par- 

 nassns, though always described as a maish plant, is nearly as 

 often found on rather dryish upland pastures, from which it is 

 easily transplanted, and grows tolerably well in an American 

 peaty border. I read, not long ago, I think in " our Journal," 

 a5 an instance of plant-growing under difficulties, of a lady in 

 the city quarter of London, who grew this among some other 

 plants in pots on the leads of the house ! Doubtless, it was 

 there as a sourcnir of some breezy hillside, a wee bit of poetry 

 carried home from the country, or, perhaps, it was set up as a 

 standing protest against men's piling bricks on bricks as closely 

 and thickly as if living flowers and fresh air were superfluities. 

 — AvBsnir.E GAiiriENEE. 



FEUIT rnOSPECTS IN YORIvSHIRE AND KENT. 



The readers of " our Journal " must not conclude that be- 

 cause there is a small crop of fruit at Middlesbrough-on- 

 Tees, therefore the fruit crop is a failure throughout Yorkshire. 

 Living as I do in a cool part of Yorkshire, where the average 

 rainfall is 3G inches, I have this year an abundant crop of fruit 

 in my garden. The Peach trees, trained against a south brick 

 wall without any glass protection or artificial heat, have set a 

 most abundant crop. Hundreds of fruit had to be pulled off. 

 The first thinning was made as soon as the fruit had cast off 

 .the blossom. The second and last thinning was done when it 

 became poEsible to distinguish between the weak and the vigor- 



