504 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



I Docsinbtr 2S, 1 



Swiss Alpn. Densely tnfted ; flowers nameroaa and white. — 

 (Ibid., t. uS08 ) 



BLASDroitniA ArnEA (Golden-flowered Blandfordia). A'a(. 

 ord., Liliacero. l.mn., Hexandtia Monogynia. — Native of ^pt, 

 peaty soils in New Sonth Wrtles. Imported bv Jlesers. VeitcU. 

 Flowers yellow.— (/(-;./., (. ,'.800 ) 



Gladiolus ciukxtus (Blood-red Gladiolus). .Va(. ord., Iri- 

 daeete. Linn., Triandria Jlonogynia. — Native of Natal. Flowers 

 deep crimson — {Ibid., t. 5810.) 



Vanda Denisoniana (Lord Londesborongb's Vanda). Nat. 

 ord, Orohidace;o. Linn., Gynandria Aionaudria. — Native of 

 Arracan Mountains, on sheltered, shaded trees. Flowers white. 

 (Ibid., t. 5811.) 



Aloe (Gastkria) Crouciiebi (Mr. Croncher's Gasleria). Nal. 

 nrd., Asphodelex. Linn., Hexandria Monogynia. — Native place 

 nnknown. Leaves white-spotted. Flowers pink, and green- 

 tipped.— (7ii,;., (. .'■)812.) 



Clematis. — Tliomas iloorc. — " Of the many beantifal forms 

 of the hardy hybrid Clematis for which the lovers of Rardens 

 have to thank Mr. George Jackman and the ■S\'oking Nursery, 

 this is certainly one of the finest. It ia, in the first place, the 

 largest at present known, since the flowers measure, when ex- 

 panded, as much as from 8 to '.I inches across. It is, in the 

 next place, one of the most striking and effective in its colours, 

 which effect results from the large spreading tutt of filaments in 

 the centre being white, so that they contrast strongly with the 

 rich violet hue of the sepals, and give the flowers quite the 

 semblance of belonging to some giant Passion-flower. It has 

 the free-growing and free-blooming habit of the other Woking 

 hybrids, and must be set down as one of the best and most 

 distinct of the series." — [Fhrist and Fomohgist, 3 s., ii., 2G3 ) 



ERECTING A GREENHOUSE CHEAPLY. 



I AM quite surprised at the very low cost of the " ornamental 

 and useful" house built by a "Yorkshire Amateur;" so much 

 surprised, that I am forced to believe that he obtained glass, 

 wood, bricks, and mortar at a better market than we possess 

 hereabouts. I am very glad that be has succeeded so well and 

 BO cheaply, and that he c^n thus hold out so much encourage- 

 ment to many who are anxious to have a greenhouse, but count 

 the cost. Like " Yorkshire Amateur," I built myself a 

 bouse, was my own carpenter, glazier, bricklayer, hodman, 

 blacksmith, putty-maker, itc, and although my structure is of 

 more modest dimensions, my bill of costs amounted to over 

 £3 10.S., and was not nearly so well done. I fear, as my snccess (?) 

 rather varies a "leetle" from the tale just told. Let me 

 trouble your editorial eyes with a few trivialities. 



I laid my foundation, thinking " never venture never have," 

 and believing that " faint heart ne'er won fair lady," an! on a 

 memorable Friday the brickwork and framework were ready for 

 the reception of the sashes. " Tliere's many a slip betwixt 

 the cup and the lip," and while I slept the enemy came in the 

 form of " tornadoes and hurricanes," and what a sight pre- 

 sented itself to my bewildered vision when looking out next 

 morning, fearing, yet hoping ! — all was one complete wreck, 

 bestrewed over a bed of Black Prince Strawberries some yards 

 away. Acting on the motto, " Try again," I raised the scat- 

 tered wreck, found it not so bad as it looked, and by the help 

 of bolts and bars made my work stronger than it ever would 

 have been, had the accident not been. Now, methinks, I'll 

 have the pleasure of seeing my plants grow and do well. Alas ! 

 human expectations were the very opposite of everyday reali- 

 sations. I could not make my plants grow ; tbey made no 

 roots, and what little they bad became unhealthy— innumer- 

 nble hordes of little white worms seemed to eat out the life of 

 them all. 1 repotted them, and paid them as much attention 

 as if they had been of my body begotten ; early and I«*.e was I 

 to be found in my "conservatory," still they grew not. Fuchsia 

 cuttings that I received in April are as small as when I received 

 them ; Dahlias, that in my neighbour's garden grow to the 

 pitch of excellence required by Mr. Glenny, in mine blossom 

 not like a Rose, but a dog Daisy ; my Solanum is happy in the 

 possession of one berry ! Dractpua terminalis is as brown as 

 wrapping-paper ; Chrysanthemums threw out their buds, 

 showed a flower which cheered my heart and house, and then 

 died from sheer frigbt at their own audacity. Of the rest, I 

 can safely say no one shames his neighbour, bat all vie to ba 

 as dull as this very dull weather, and all are as sparing of their 

 flowers as the sun has been of his presence for some time. I 

 feel quite a reverence for a good gardener, for the flowers as 

 surely obey him as the bees do our very able Mr. Pettigrew. 



X was gUd to see yoa gave na Mr. Witberspoon's experience, 



and pleased to see that he elicited several responses, which 

 were very nsefnl to poor beginners like myself. I am pleased 

 that Mr. Witherspoon is so successful. I knew him years ago, 

 and was never aware that he was given to so delightful an 

 occupation as gardening, and as the Cheshire man said to the 

 " Beoixner in Bee-keepino," "Whol onemon con do another 

 con," so I'll keep up my bead, and hope still to be a good 

 gardener. At present I am the worst I see, and yet I read 

 your .Tournal with more relish than Wilkie Collins's " Man and 

 Wife." As Sir liynert Walpole always first opened his game- 

 keeper's letter, so I first read the Journal out of the batch of 

 papers we are here blessed with on Thursday nights. 



Can yon give me any hopes of better days, by suggesting a 

 remedy for my many failures? — Ionohamos. 



[We feel quite sure that ere long, as respects gardening, you 

 will have to drop your assumed signature, and that some of 

 the best of us may well look after any laurels we have ever 

 obtained. "Trying again, and again, and again," is what 

 makes the man and the true hero. As to the expense of such 

 home-made greenhouses, yoa woirid sec from our advertising 

 columns how cheaply a neat little liouse can be obtained with 

 everything ready to be put together, but, as stated the other 

 week, all is not " gold that glitters ' in doing all such work for 

 ourselves, it the time and labour are to be counted. This, by 

 the way. In reading the racy account of your failures, we 

 first thought the house may have been built with lime of some 

 particular kind of stone, and that may not have mellowed and 

 sweetened yet; but, then, that could hardly apply to rooted 

 Fuchsias of last .\pril which refuse to grow any larger. Next, 

 we thought that the flue, if flue there is, might "be rather fresh : 

 but, then, that could not apply well to Chrysanthemums and 

 l-ahlias that should have made their flowering growth chiefly 

 out of doors, and what could so thoroughly kill the Chrysanthe- 

 mum after yielding its solitary bloom we cannot surmise, 

 unless the root had an extra dose of strong or salt waters. We 

 knew a case where plants could not be made to grow in a 

 certain place, because tbey gave first a little trouble, and a 

 certain pail came too frequently in contact with the soil in 

 which the roots were placed. 



Throwing aside all such ideas, however, and merely pre- 

 mising that besides Chrysanthemums and Chinese Primroses, 

 and forward Camellias and Epacriscs, and Winter Heaths, you 

 will not be likely to have much in bloom, unless you can com- 

 mand an average night temperature of from 45° to 50', we 

 would be incUned to think that your want of success is chiefly 

 owing to two causes. 



First, To an ignorance of details rather than of general 

 principles. In such a case as we said last week to "D. J. D.,'' 

 pages 487 and 488, we would refer yon to " Window Gardening 

 for the Many," as most of the details there given will be quite 

 as suitable for your small houao as for a window. Tou will find 

 that much depends on no'tiug, on drainage, on fibrous sweet 

 fresh soil, and the mode of watevinp, ventilating, .tc. With 

 fresh-cured sweet soil you will not be troubled with the little 

 white worms referred to. One of the safest modes of destroy- 

 ing them is to water two or three times with clear lime water, 

 made by putting a shovelful or more of quicklime in a barrel 

 of water and using it when clear. You need not be afraid of 

 the strength, as the water will only hold a certain amount in 

 solution. The best way, however, is to be particular about the 

 soil, and, if at all doubtful, beat it well and then cjol it by ex- 

 posure in a dry airy place. 



Sesondly, your want of success may be owing to impatience, 

 to an over-anxious desire to see every movement in growth, 

 rooting, &<s. Too much kindness may be just as iDJorious as 

 the want of requisite attention. We have knovm high-born 

 ladies looking with something like envy on the chubby cheeks 

 and robust frames of the toddling youngsters of their work- 

 people, who were left to run and tumble about as tbey pleased, 

 the good mother not being wonderfully npset with dust on a 

 frock or-a smear on a face. " Must not," carried to an extreme, 

 makes a sad world for a child, and no wonder that under sncb 

 constant looking-after the cheek becomes pale, and the mnseles 

 become weak and soft. So with our favourite plants. Give 

 them what is necessary, and keep them clean, and leave them 

 a good deal to themselve?. We can well enter into your feel- 

 ings if you have been a little impatient. Many scores of cat- 

 tings of Pelargonium?, Fuchsias, Myrtles would sooner have 

 become rooted plants if vre could have let them alone, but in 

 our beginnings we were everlastingly at them, examining what 

 they were doing below the soil or sand, and with what results 



