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JOUBNAL OF HOBTIODLTURB AND OOTTAaE GARDENER. 



[ April 29, 1875. 



at Perth to fotind the Society. It is purposed to have a show 

 of Fungi, Mosses, Ferns, and other oryptogamic plants every 

 year in various districts of Scotland in rotation. The follow- 

 ing office-bearers were elected : — President, Sir T. Moncrieffe, 

 of MoncreiiJ'e, Bart. ; Vice-president, Professor Dickie, Aber- 

 deen ; Secretary, Dr. Buchan White, F.L.S., Perth; and 

 Treasurer, Eev. J. Stevenson, Gla.mis.— {English Mechanic.} 



There is an increasing demand for land in Ceylon for 



the purpose of growing Tea, Cinnamon, Cinchona, Vanilla, 

 and other useful plants for economical purposes, as well as for 

 the spread of the Coffee plantations. A disease in the Coffee 

 plant has lately been discovered which threatens scarcity of 

 this product unless speedily checked. It is called "leaf 

 disease," and, as its name implies, is principally apparent in 

 the dearth of foliage, though the produce of the berries is also 

 considerably reduced. It is believed by competent authorities 

 to be mainly caused by exhaustion, and is in this respect 

 similar to the disease among the Lemon groves of Europe, to 

 which we alluded a week or two ago. The Government of 

 Ceylon have taken up the subject with a view to its thorough 

 investigation. — {Nature.) 



~ — The Acclimatisation Gardens in the Bois de Boulogne, 

 Paris, have received a rare collection of Aktificially Coloured 

 Plants from China. The plants are exhibited in the great 

 glass house of the gardens, and excite universal admiration. 

 Among the collection is a dwarf tree of half a metre in height, 

 the trunk of which is as thick as a finger, and the root of 

 which hardly fills the hollow of a man's hand ; the specimen is 

 about one hundred years old, and ia a species of Oak. This, 

 however, is not a natural phenomenon, but the result of 

 Chinese horticulture, which finds its highest problem in the 

 reduction of the natural size of plants. — {Nature.) 



The " Sanitary Review," a new monthly penny peri- 

 odical, states that the proposal to form a Public Garden 

 within the district of St. George's in the East has been favour- 

 ably received by the vestry. A memorial signed by G50 in- 

 habitants, including many of the most influential ratepayers, 

 was presented in favour of forming a public garden at the east 

 end of the parish churchyard, and making a thoroughfare 

 through the churchyard from St. George Street to Cable Street. 



NOTES FROM MY GARDEN IN 1874. 



EOSES. 



So much has been said on the subject of the queen of flowers 

 in the Journal, and so well said, that I fear any little contri- 

 bution that I may make to it on the subject of Koses in my 

 own garden will not be of much avail. Still, the same principle 

 that has led me to believe that notices from my small plot 

 might be of service to others leads me to add a few remarks to 

 those which I have already made on other subjects. 



I have frequently stated that mine is not a good Rose soil ; 

 and although it will grow most plants well, those which require, 

 as the Rose does, a tenacious loam, fare but indifferently. In 

 dry seasons this is more especially the case, and what I have 

 suffered from orange fungus I have already detailed to the 

 sympathising Rose lovers of our Journal. Last year happily 

 I did not Buiier to the same extent, whether owing to the season 

 or to the fact of having introduced some loam (of rather too 

 sandy a nature, I fear) into the garden, I cannot say ; but 

 certain it is my trees did not present the same deplorable ap- 

 pearance they have done for the last two years, while during 

 the winter I havo had but very few losses. Some alterations 

 I made will, I hope, add to my enjoyment of the queen of 

 flowers. This year I have made my little rosarium larger, and 

 have planted on my wall, to occupy the spaces until the fruit 

 trees fall in, some of the newer Teas on Mr. Prince's seedling 

 Briar stock. 



The two plants about which I am proudest are those of 

 Cloth of Gold and Etve d'Or, which are now fast covering my 

 house. Of the former I had some truly grand blooms and 

 clusters of blooms, and if it goes on at the same rate for a 

 couple of years longer I shall no longer cast envious eyes at 

 my neighbour Miss Whittles' truly grand tree. As to ROve 

 d'Or, I do not know where it will stop : it has forced its way 

 right through the open woodwork of the gable, and is creeping 

 round to cover the north aide of the house as well. It was 

 this last season clothed with bloom from the base up to the 

 uttermost branches, and I may say that a plant budded from 

 it on to a standard Briar was filled with bloom ; so that I 

 eannot understand that anyone has found it to be a shy 



bloomer. With me it is the most floriferous Rose I have. 

 The plant alluded to above I gave to a friend to cover his 

 vicarage, which I hope it will do; and I know of nothing better 

 for the purpose, for it ia nearly if not quite evergreen. A plant 

 which I supposed to be Climbing Devoniensis planted by my 

 yard door haa turned out to be Maruchal Niel ; and although 

 I do not like the Rose for outdoor decoration, as it hangs 

 its head and displays the decaying outer petals, yet I have 

 been obliged to give it space, and have fixed on the top of 

 the wall a wire netting 4 feet high for it to run along. A Sol- 

 faterre on the front of my house has also made rapid growth, 

 so that I shall soon have, I hope, enough of yellow Roses. 



There was a time in my select days as a Rose-grower when 

 novelties had their wondrous charm for me. No French dame 

 sallying out to see the " loves " of new bonnets at Longehamps 

 was more eaijer than I to find out the new Roses that under 

 the description of magnifique , superbe, triis grand ejfet, dazzled 

 one's eyes as each new catalogue appeared. But, alas ! expe- 

 rience has cooled one's ardour, and I can look down the longest 

 list of novelties with a sort of icy coldness that contrasts very 

 forcibly with the feverishness of former days ; and I am con- 

 tented to wait until I see their merits or demerits decided 

 elsewhere. And how very few Roses of real merit the past 

 year or two have given to us ! I had a small plant of Capitaine 

 Christy ; and not only from what I saw then, but from plants 

 I saw at Mr. George Paul's, and from a fine box of blooms 

 exhibited by him at South Kensington, I am inclined to think 

 very favourably of it, my only question being whether it will 

 suflioiently stand weather. Of the other new Roses of last 

 season I had none. 



As to sorts I may endorse what my friend Mr. Peach has 

 said, after the careful and elaborate Rose election carried out 

 by Mr. Hinton, for which all lovers of the flower owe him 

 many thanks. It is preposterous to be asking for or giving 

 lists, unless it may be that some peculiarity of soil or situ- 

 ation demands some special kinds. There are some which 

 have a hardier constitution than others, and hence a novice 

 might in a trying locality require some guidance, otherwise 

 for some time to come those lists ought to answer all purposes. 

 I have again added to my stock some on the seedling Briar. 

 But, after all, why should I talk of my stock? I have not more 

 than some six hundred Roses altogether, and these are put 

 into a much smaller space than a true Rose-grower would 

 desire to have them, and I can weU imagine the smile of pity 

 which flits across the face of some of my Rose friends as they 

 think of my little lot compared with their magnificent stud. 

 Well, be it so ; on the other hand there are many who would 

 like to grow six hundred, and therefore I may well be satis- 

 fied. I am not an exhibitor of them, or I should require a 

 vastly larger number. They are now sending forth their dark 

 healthy-looking shoots, and I hope to have much enjoyment 

 of them during the coming season. — D., Deal. 



STOCKS AND ASTERS. 



The season is fast approaching when the seed of these de- 

 lightful annuals ought to be sown. They are familiar to most 

 people, and, in my opinion, no garden of any pretensions 

 ought to be without them. Stocks and Asters may be called 

 everybody's flowerj. They possess so many good quahties. 

 Their sweetness, their various colours, and their adaptability 

 for cut flowers place them high in the ranks of annuals. My 

 object is to simplify their cultivation, as I believe many people 

 are labouring under the impression that unless they possess a 

 hotbed and a frame that it is next to useless to attempt to 

 grow them. In nine cases out of ten they are so produced, 

 and the plants are already in a forward state. I have myself 

 adopted the same mode of raising them, simply because it has 

 been a custom. Those who want early blooms must, of course, 

 sow accordingly ; in this case I shall call them summer flowers, 

 but I am of opinion that they are more autumnal than summer 

 flowers. I will here detail my own practice for the last two 

 or three years, which has reduced the labour of raising Stock 

 and Aster seeds to a minimum. 



They are grown in the kitchen garden on the side borders 

 of a central walk between 70 and 80 yards long. On these 

 borders are planted standard Roaes about "2 feet from the Box 

 edgings. A good dressing of well-rotted manure is every year 

 given, and what is good for the Rose is equally good for the 

 annuals. The borders are nicely levelled with a rake, then a 

 drill is drawn 2 feet from the Box edging, and about 2 inches 

 deep in a line with the Hoses ; this drill is for Asters. I then 



