June 17, 1876. ] 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGK GAEDENEB. 



467 



example, and instil into other minds a taste for the beautiful 

 and good. Long may they prosper. 



I onght to have said that the crop given as that of last year is 

 too great for a year-to-year crop. The crop on Vines with the 

 rafters named — 13 feet inches, ought not lo exceed thirteen 

 bunches for Black Hamburgh, Mrs. Pince, Black Muscat, and 

 Muf cat of Alexandria ; six to eight should be the extreme 

 for Gros Gaillaume, whilst Lady Downe's will carry eighteen 

 as well as the other do their respective number. The crop 

 last year was for a purpose I need not here explain, and 

 though high feeding may help with an overcrop it is not 

 commendable. — G. Abbey. 



SALVIAS FOR WINTER DECORATION. 



The thought has often occurred to my mind that there is 

 Bome analogy between a cook and a gardener ; with the cook 

 no sooner is one meal prepared and dispatched than another 

 has to be thought about, and such is the routine of a gar- 

 dener's life. If we have necessaries for the table and season, 

 and plants in perfection and fit for any purpose of decoration, 

 even this does not tell us that we may rest and be thankful. 

 Our motto must be " Onward," and the present time demands 

 much at our hands, for not the head at work alone will suffice, 

 the hands must be diligent to keep abreast of pressing work. 



We have feasted our eyes on the beauty of many plants 

 during the last few months, but their mission is over for this 

 season, and we must now turn our attention to providing 

 others for another period of bloom. 



When the days are bright and sunny, and the earth is 

 mantled with beautiful flowers and foliage, we are apt to 

 forget that the dreary days of winter will overtake us, but let 

 us be on the alert and be prepared to meet those dark days 

 with bright flowers suitable for the season. For that purpose 

 ■we must now turn our attention to the Salvias, for they are 

 very cheery flowers for the dull months of autumn and spring, 

 for which purpose S. gesnerieflora is invaluable ; but S. splen- 

 dens also claims our attention and is equally valuable, and 

 being the earliest bloomer must first engage our attention. 

 This variety after flowering is by many cut down and grown- 

 on for another year, and, perhaps, without repotting. This is 

 a practice we never follow, for we propagate annually by strik- 

 ing cuttings now, or a little earlier is better; but even now 

 good portable plants can be grown fit for most ordinary pur- 

 poses. We seldom grow them in larger than 9-inch pots. A 

 warm greenhouse, or what is called a cold pit, at this time of 

 the year will be a suitable place to grow them in. Good loam, 

 leaf soil, or well-rotted manure, and a little sharp sand with 

 ordinary care will grow them well. 



We hope the practice of riddling potting soil is becoming 

 extinct; in most cases of plant-growing good drainage is 

 essential, and also clean pots. It is not always necessary that 

 a pot should be washed every time it is need, but the inside 

 ought to be well rabbed-out ; it must also be perfectly dry. I 

 have heard people remark. What is the good of having a clean 

 pot to put soil in again ? Why does a workman prefer a clean 

 bright tool to a dirty one ? Simply because it is much easier 

 to work, and the work is much better done. If anyone is 

 dubious about this let them use a dirty pot with soil and roots 

 adhering to its sides ; let the pot be wetted before it is used, 

 taking care not to let it dry before the soil is put in, and have 

 the soil as dry as possible, and whenever it is thought that 

 the roots of this potted plant have reached the sides then turn 

 it out. If the operation has been properly carried out the 

 result will be, the newly-made roots will have taken hold of 

 the sides of the pot and the old soil, and, as a matter of 

 course, the plant will be robbed of its newly-formed roots. 

 Whereas if the pot is clean and the soil not too wet the plant 

 and soil will turn out as clean aa a sponge-cake out of the 

 mould of a pastrycook. 



As the plants advance in growth they will require frequent 

 piuchings so as lo keep them bushy. It must, however, be 

 borne in mind that the longer they are pinched the later will 

 they bloom, eo that they ought not to be pinched later than 

 Jnly. S. spleudens if grown in too dry a heat is liable to be 

 attacked with red spider, for which the best remedy is the 

 syringe night and morning. This variety will bloom well in 

 tre autumn months, lasting well up to Christmas. It will 

 bloom better and last longer in an intermediate or a warm 

 greenhouse. Alter the flowers have fallen its scarlet calyx 

 will last a long time in beauty. S. gesuerffiflora succeeds 

 Bplendens and blooms in the spring mouths. At all times 



during the growing season keep them as near the glass as 

 possible, so as to prevent weakly-drawn shoots. 



Plants which are already struck may also bo planted-out 

 now to be potted-up in the autumn. By this means we have 

 had huge healthy pyramids which in spring have been very 

 effective. S. Ileerii is very similar to S. gesnerfoBora, but is, 

 perhaps, dwarfer in habit; it is very useful for spring deco- 

 ration. The old S. fulgens if potted will afford a con- 

 tinuation of its rich scarlet blooms until December, when 

 S. splendeus and S. gesneneSora will continue the succession 

 until March. That is a period when scarlet flowers are in 

 great request, and I know no class of plants which will 

 give them more easily and certainly than the winter-blooming 

 Salvias. — G. K. Allis. 



VARIEGATED KALE. 



Now that Beet is permissible in the flower garden in sum- 

 mer, surely the variegated Kale may have a place in the 

 borders in winter. That there is a certain amount of pre- 

 judice against admitting vegetables in the parterres is certain, 

 but it has not been sufficient to keep out the Beet even when 

 flowers and fine-foliaged plants are abundant ; therefore it 

 should not keep out the Kales at a time when we have scarcely 

 anything to add a ray of cheerfulness to our gardens at the 

 dull period of the year. Bat prejudice cannot say the Kales 

 are coarse, for no more elegant foliage can be found than is 

 afforded by the fimbriated varieties ; neither can they be 

 asserted to be dull and colourless, for they range from pure 

 white to pink, purple, and crimson. They are also hardy. 

 Herein they possess a trio of qualities in a degree which no 

 other plants possess during the very dullest period of the 

 year. When other plants fail these assert their power to 

 attract, and they preserve their attractiveness just so long and 

 no longer than the time at which spring decorative plants un- 

 fold their charms. Thus they are emphatically winter plants, 

 and it is on that rare quality which mainly rest their claims to 

 culture. 



It is fair, however, to presume that very often Kales are 

 condemned without a fair trial, for it is seldom that when a 

 superior strain is examined that the plants not only escape 

 the penalty of threatened expurgation, but they receive the 

 reward of appreciative praise. It is undeniable that great dis- 

 appointment is felt at the result of plants which have been 

 raised by purchased seed. In the first place, a length of time 

 must elapse before the plants show any variegation at all, and 

 when the variegated character is assumed it is only worthy of 

 notice in about one plant in twenty, the re^t being miserable 

 apologies for variegated plants. This arises from the extreme 

 sportive nature of the plants, and it is only by very special 

 care that anything like a pure stock can be preserved by seed. 



In order to have attractive plants in the autumn it is neces- 

 sary to plant out extensively in the spring, so as to have a 

 considerable number to select from, and the probability is that 

 a choice may be made of plants both attractive in form and 

 brilliant in colours which are well worthy of a place in the 

 flower bed or border. To raise plants for ordinary flower- 

 garden purposes the seed should not be sown early in spring, or 

 the plants will be tall, coarse, and unwieldy by their long 

 season of growth. Small compact plants are generally far pre- 

 ferable, and such may be had by sowing seed early in June. 



In transplanting for summer growth it is necessary that the 

 site be very exposed , and the plants be set out thinly. If planted 

 close, in a sheltered place, they become drawn and the bottom 

 foliage is quite spoiled. They do not show their variegation 

 until late in the autumn, and just at the time when colour 

 in most other plants vanishes. That is why they are valuable ; 

 and if the colours are nicely mixed a bed will be infinitely 

 more inviting when planted with these g*v Kales than it was 

 a fortnight before by the waning bedding plants. 



I have seen beds and plants of Kale in December, January, 

 and February elicit the warmest approbation from all who have 

 seen them, and win the praise of those accustomed to enjoy 

 the best and brightest flowers which could be produced. Ex- 

 cept when snow is on the ground these Kales are always 

 attractive during the winter months. They should be planted 

 in November sufficiently deep that the leaves rest on the 

 ground, and the contrast with the milk-white foliage of some 

 and the dark soil, and relieved by purple, pink, and crimson, 

 will certainly be as attractive as any other plants in the garden. 

 They should remain until nearly in flower, and the very best 

 cm then be removed and planted together to perfect seed. I 



