162 



JOUHNAL OF HOBTICUIiTUUE AND OOTXAGE QABDENEB. 



( Aagiut 26, 1869. 



but. here it wonid be difllcalt to Cnd a place nbere tbeso Bab- 

 Btauccs Datnrally exist in f;reater abundance tban tbo border 

 where the Tocoas are growing. Tbe Bubatratum is an open 

 stone Bbatter, which can be penetrated by tbe roots of troen, and 

 is mach lilted by Ibem, and, no doubt, by tboeo of the Yuccas 

 as well. These, with Irises and some other plants, occupy a 

 border by the side of a terrace wall, fully expcscd to the south, 

 and sheltered on nil the other sides. Many of the Yuccas are 

 of great age, and have occupied their present site many years ; 

 but those who plant Yuccas for effect must not expect tbem to 

 bloom hke relargouiums, immediately after pliiuting ; however, 

 when the situation and season are favourable, they will be re- 

 warded by spikes of bloom sooner than they expect. — J. Uobson. 



CAMPANULA TYRAMIDALIS CULTURE. 



This fine old plant seems for many years to have been under 

 a cloud, so seldom has it been seen in fashionablo quarters; 

 but as it has claims which will not bo set aside, it is almost 

 certain that it will soon come up again with almost tho fiosh- 

 ness of a novelty, and gardeners may succestively find out 

 that two or three plants tenfold more worthless might with 

 advantage be transferred from the greenhouse to the rubbish 

 heap, to make room for the steeple Bellflower of olden times. 



Although it has been treated with coldness by many of those 

 who ought to have known bettor, it has been all along a 

 favourite window plant with amateur cultivators, and I can 

 Bay without fear of contradiction, that no other plant grown 

 combines in iteell so many of the qualities ossentiul to plants 

 Buitable for win'.low decoration. In the first place it is stiik- 

 ingly handsome ; it is no miuuie beauty which v.e must bend 

 over, and after due examination pronounce pretty, but it levies 

 the tribute of admiration at first sight from all who see it. It 

 is not, in general, thought " the correct thing " to stare in at 

 people'd windows ; but when they contain one or more of these 

 blue pyramids, 8 or 9 feet high, there is no help for it. It is 

 also easy of cultivation, not subjtct to the attacks of vermin, 

 and, which is a great desideratum in window plants, it does 

 not obstruct much light. As an example of what can be done 

 with it as such, I was taken a few days ago to see two plants 

 grown, and at present flowering in the windows of a large 

 public school. They had been in flower for nearly two month3, 

 and seemed likely to continue so for a month longer. One ot 

 them was Sj, the other 9 feet iu height, and their cultivator, 

 on my remarking that they were only iu 8incb pots, informed 

 ms that in general he found every inch in the diameter of the 

 pot counted a foot in the hei;",ht of the flower spike; thus, if 

 the last shift was into G, 8, or 10 inch pots, the plants would 

 throw up stems 6, 8, or 10 feet high. 



The reason why this Campanula is so seldom grown, will 

 most likely be found in the fact that, as things go, it is rather 

 a slow subject. In these days, when Vines have to carry heavy 

 crops at eighteen months old, and when the old saying, that 

 " He who plants Pears plants for liis heirs," has became ab- 

 solute nonsense, it seems folly to expect that any consider- 

 able number of people could be found who would patiently 

 wait nearly three years for a spike of Bluo-bells, however 

 grand ; but if we begin at the beginning, and raise our own 

 plants, wo mast do so. 



Campanula pyramidalis is generally propagxted either by 

 seed — and sgedlings make the best plants — or by division of 

 the old plants after flowering. The seeds sh luld be sown in 

 heat about the middle of March in light sandy soil, and merely 

 covered with a dusting of fine peat and silver sand. When 

 large enough to be handled, prick out tho seedlings singly iu 

 small pots, and continue them in heat until the pots are filled 

 with roots ; afterwards place the plants in a cjM frame or pit, 

 giving small shifts when necessary, tho last for the season 

 taking place not later than tho begiuuing of August. For this 

 use a rich but porous compost, and take care to insure perfect 

 drainage. Daring winter the plants should be kept rather 

 dry, in any place where damp rather than frost can be guarded 

 against, and for that purpose the sill of a large, light window 

 is all that can be desired, Eeceiving tho same treatment 

 during the second summer, with the addition of frequent 

 manure waterinss, nest August should find them in 8 or lOinoh 

 pots, leaving room for one more shift in spring, just before the 

 flower stems begin to rise. After the roots have penetrated 

 this, and all the time the plants are in flower, continue to give 

 rather weak guano or other manure water every second day, 

 and soon the great blue Gothic spires, which more than suffi- 



ciently repay all these littlo attenliona, will be worth look- 

 ing at. 



After tbe flowers are past, cut the stems over, and in tha 

 following spring, when growth has begun, divide the old stools 

 into as many plants as there are growing points. Treated the 

 same as seedlings, these will flower in the second season, bat I 

 have always found plants fiom seed the freest-growing. 



Of course plants are to be bought if wo know where to pur- 

 chase tbem, and thus much trouble is saved ; but when once 

 a beginning is made, and a dozen plants or so are raised every 

 year, they form a succession, and the weary waiting for more 

 than two years, which so harasees the imagination, is lost 

 Bight of. 



The white variety is scarcely bo robust, but when grown 

 along with the blue is equally ornamental. As plants fur the 

 mixt'd or herbaceous border, these Campanulas are very fine, 

 although there they have not the same stately dimensions nor 

 delicate colours which characterise them under glass. A warm 

 sheltered border, backed by a waller shrubbery, is the situation 

 which suits them best. — Ayrshire Gaedeseb. 



THE QUINCE STOCK. 



I DELiEVE more men fail with the Peai- upon the Quince than 

 upon the Tear, for the simple reason that they fail to perceive a 

 very different mode of treatment is necessary for the one than 

 the other. It is not uncommon to hear a gardener say, "Well, 

 I have discarded the Quince stock as useless. I planted a num- 

 ber of them with a number worked upon the Pear side by side; 

 they all received the same treatment, and tbo end of it is, I 

 would not see them about tho place ! " Now this is exactly 

 what I find fault with. Such gardeners belong to the same 

 clasB as those quack doctors, who will not be loath to make you 

 believe that they can give a box of pills, or some other traeh, 

 which will cure humanity of all the ills to which it is heir. 

 Let the gardener who plants Pears upon the Quince understand 

 that he has a very diflerent subject to treat than the Pear upon 

 the Pear. The latter is in its natural and most congenial 

 position ; the former is, as it were, a sojourner in a foreign 

 land. The former is sure to succeed if tho soil and climate 

 suit, if root-pruning is attended to regularly, and the tree kept 

 free from its various and many enemies. But then there are 

 many soils and situations where the Pear will not succeed upon 

 the Pear unless deep artificial borders are made. 



The west of Scotland, as I formerly said, is one of these, the 

 average depth of soil in many of its districts not being more 

 than 12 or 15 inches, while close beneath this lies a stratum of 

 gravel highly impregnated with iron. Now I will ask any 

 reasonable m.iu, Will the Pear stock succeed in such a position, 

 seeing that it must be utterly impossible to keep the roots from 

 entering this bad substratum, even suppose we had the power of 

 root-pruning once a-month? It may be possible for a few 

 years, but only for a few. Almost as soon as the tree began to 

 bear, disease, canker, and death would be draining its very 

 life blood out at every leaf. Another enemy we here have to 

 contend against is wet ; and I believe and know from experience 

 that the Quince is a better resister of damp than the Pear, 

 where properly managed. 



I have hero about five dozen Pears on the Quince and five 

 dozen on the Pear. They are open for inspection to every in- 

 quirer. They are five and six years of age, and I have no 

 hesitation in decidedly affirming that those upon the Quince 

 are the best trees, produce the best wood yearly, which ripens as 

 hard and brown as a Vine, and, to add to all, their appearance 

 is much more hiudsome ; and from what I have seen elsewhere, 

 when they arrive at full bearing, the Quince will prove the 

 more profitable investment of the two. 



Those worked upon the Pear will be root-pruned this year in 

 autumn, which will be the second time during their five years' 

 existence, and in some cases it will have been oftener. 



Those upon the Quince we manage in quite a different way. 

 Every year, or at least every two years, we cut a trench round 

 each plant, being as careful as possible not to injure one of the 

 roots. We often remove the soil away from them to a little 

 extent, to enable us to get tbe fresh materials placed as near 

 the body ef the roots as possible. This being done, we intro- 

 duce a fresh mixture of richly manured loam, placing the 

 roots which were laid bare into their position as we proceed. 

 We also proceed to uncover theupper surface all over tbe extent 

 of the plant to the depth of 3 or 4 inches, or until we find that 

 we are coming into contact with the upper roots. Into this we 



