176 



JOUENAIi OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE, 



[ March 4, 1875. 



cutting msy lie pretly good, tie result afterwards is rarely 

 Eatisfactory, and in coneetinence is rarely adopted by expe- 

 rienced hands. 



In mentioning this lerspect to be met by tbe remark, " "What 

 unsightly-looking trees they must be !" I confess some really 

 do assume that aspect, but it is not for long, as when such 

 trees cease to bear fairly good crops of fruit they are destroyed, 

 which is better than wsiting for the recovery of an old ■worn- 

 out tree. When we have the example of those whose living 

 depends on making the most that can bs made of the plot of 

 ground they hold, we may be sure they are not likely to be far 

 wrong. Possibly, however, it would be better for the grower 

 for private consumption not to out the whole down at once, 

 but to leave some for immediate supply ; and more especially 

 we would recommend him not to prune all the trees too 

 severely at once. If ho takes the trouble to ascertain the 

 quantity and quality of the fruit the unpruned and pruned 

 trees reepectively bear, say, for the first four years or more, he 

 will then be able to form an opinion whether the views narrated 

 are correct or not. 



In closing this article I need hardly say that the bulk of 

 Apples grown in this neighbourhood are on standard trees wi'h 

 stems sufficiently high for cattle to graze under their heads. 

 These trees when planted are rarely cut until the following 

 year, but are always tied to one or more stakes, the stakes 

 being continued for some years, and each succeeding winter 

 the trees are pruned, all the shoots being shortened, and at- 

 tention paid to the intended shape of the head. This reduc- 

 tion of the head is the more necessary to enable the stem to 

 strengthen, which it would not do if the head were allowed to 

 take its full unmolested growth. In a general way it is about 

 four years before the tree is fairly capable of being left alone, 

 and ijf the ground be in grass a sort of cage or frame to keep 

 ofi cattle is often used as a means of tying it to for a year or 

 so longer; but some pruning is done every year for some time, 

 after which it may receive a look-round every third year, and 

 possibly at longer periods, until tokens of old ago creep on, 

 after which no further mutilation takes places. The tree is 

 then supposed to be past all improvement that can be given to 

 it in that way ; but I may repeat here what I stated at the first 

 — that it is still influenced by kind and generous treatment at 

 the root, and a load of dung tells its tale in a far more effica- 

 cious way than by the use of the knife and saw. 



A friend of mine, whose orchard is of considerable extent, 

 old me that he often treats an unhealthy tree to a little ma- 

 nure, which is spread over the ground, and the treat is duly 

 appreciated and becomes visible to all. Those, therefore, 

 who have recently come into possession of an orchard of old 

 unsightly trees bad better contider well before they undertake 

 any serious mutilation, while at the same time the wheel- 

 barrow or dungcait msy he safely put in force. The removal 

 of the mofs by which the trees may be covered may be fitly 

 treated of in another chapter. — J. Eobson. 



RAISING GLOXINIAS FROM SEED. 



Now ia the time to sow Gloxinia seed, not that it will vege- 

 tate better or the seedlings grow more freely than at any other 

 period of the year, but because plants that are raised now can 

 tie brought to a considerable sizn and in fine bloom within a 

 period oi six months ; and by bringing them on in f uccession, 

 selecting the strongest plants as each liatch is taken from the 

 seed pans, an abundance of fine flowers may be had from August 

 till the end of the year. Tlie cultural proeeco is very simple. 



Half-fill a pan with broken crocks, fiUiug-up to within an 

 inch of the rim with fine soil consisting half of silver sand 

 and half of peat or very old leaf mould well mixed, press the 

 soil gently, spread the dust-like seed carefully over the surface ; 

 put no soil upon it, but cover it with a sheet of glass laid upon 

 the top of the pan. Place it iu the lively temperature of a 

 hotbed or early vinery, and moisten the surface of the soil 

 occasionally with tepid water. This must be done carefully so 

 as not to disturb the seed, and the glass replaced till the 

 plants form a leaf or two. If the pan is plunged in bottom 

 heat it will, of course, accelerate the germination of the seed, 

 but that is not indispensalile. 



When the plants are large enough to handle prick them 

 singly into 2-inch pots in foil like that in the seed pan. Do 

 not, however, attempt to pot the whole of them at once, a few 

 rampant fellows always take the lead. These should form a 

 first batch to be followed by relays of others as they pain size, 

 thus forming a succession for the coming autumn. When the 



roots reach the sides of the small pots the plants are repotted 

 into 4 or 5-inch pots, in which they produce their first flowers. 

 The soil used for the second pots is of a much stronger nature, 

 and consists of turfy loam, old manure, and sand in about 

 equal proportions. 



A shaded position, precisely such as the stage of a vinery 

 affords, suits them admirably. Frequent syringicgs, a plentiful 

 supply of water, and some guano water or other liquid manure 

 when the flower buds become visible, comprise the remainihg 

 points of importance. Care should also be taken to afford 

 each plant ample space for the full development of its beautiful 

 foliage, which under the favourable treatment indicated attains 

 an extraordinary size, quite concealing the pot and forming a 

 noble mass of green, and when it is crowned with its twenty 

 or thirty buds and open flowers we have an object of such great 

 beauty as to be suitable for almost every purpose to which a 

 pot plant can be applied. 



I have now upwards of two hundred corms which were 

 raised last year very much after the manner I have described. 

 They are a very fine lot, many of them measuring 3 inches in 

 diameter. In the seed pans there are probably as many more, 

 nice plump corms about the size of a large pea, and admirably 

 adapted for a late autumnal display. 



The whole of them are from a single packet of seed ; most of 

 the flowers were good, and many of them were of such ex- 

 cellent form and colour as to afford an ample stock for future 

 purposes. — Eewaed Luckhubst. 



ROSES. 



" M. H. B." will be in despair. We have had no Rose food 

 for several Journals. It is said that Oxford is so learned 

 because " so much learning is taken there and so little is 

 brought away." This may be applied to rosarians. They are 

 a learned body because they keep their learning to themselves ! 

 They seem to be of the same opinion as a crabbed old Latin 

 author, whose words translated would say, " Learning is no 

 good to you if you let others know what you know." This is 

 ungenerous. The Egyptians are a hieroglyphic nation, and 

 they represent an incommunicative person by a dark lantern, 

 having light within but giving no light without ! 



I have but little light at present in the matter of Roses, but 

 I will communicate something, which is at any rate better 

 than nothing. A beggar once told me, upon my saying I 

 would give him nothing, " There is no taste in that 'ere 

 article, and you could not give me much less, sir." 



I said in my last article that I had on trial on weak stocks- 

 Peach EloBsom, Diana, and St. George, and that I hoped to 

 be able next year to report favourably of them. I have five 

 plants of Firebrand on Briars, which being planted last spring 

 could not in such a torrid summer be expected to be suffi- 

 ciently established to test the Rose. The blooms were good 

 for the season. The colour is that of a red-hot coal without 

 any shading at all. It is quite distinct and of cupped form. 

 Pierre Seleteky is a much better Rose than "D., Deal," has 

 allowed. It ia a good grower, hardy, and with very smooth 

 and very stiff petals — important points. Madame Lacharme 

 has grown well, but the fierce sun burnt-up the first blooms 

 before expansion, and it did not give a second series. I have 

 the following novelties on strong Manetti ttocks, or com* 

 parativelv strong stocks, and they have withstood the eever- 

 winter admirably: — John Harrison, Gould Yeitch, Francois 

 Courtin, Olga Marix, Hortense Mignard, Madame Bucheter, 

 Mdlle. Alexis Michaut, and Madame Nachnry. Let us hope 

 that we shall find among them a nugget or two ! There are a 

 good many blanks to a prize, but still it might take a rosarian 

 half a lifetime to raise as good Rose as one of the worst sept 

 out yearly. 



People do not generally know how difficult it is to raise a 

 Rose as good as the parents, or better than and distinct from 

 the Roses which we already possess. It is not enough for a 

 new Rose to bo good unless it is better than and distinct from 

 Roses in the same line of colour. I am sure we are much 

 obliged to the foreign and Eoglish raisers for procuring for ua 

 such a beautiful lot of Roses as we possess, and I for one 

 cannot bring myself to use such harsh terms as I have heard 

 occasionally applied to them. The Roses (except the summer 

 Roses and Tea Roses) that I have lately given a list of, may 

 be seen here in full bloom from July 12th to l-lth,in great 

 beauty in my frontage, lawnage, and in three other gardens, 

 lining every walk in double or treble lines of six per sort in 

 alternation of colours, or in beds of twelve to twenty per sort. 



