80 



JOUENAIi OP HOETICULTUBE AlStD COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



t July 23, 1874. 



If our eorrcspondeut lias a well-woodecl, retireij place ia his 

 garden, and that garden is moderately extensive, he may ap- 

 propriately erect there a rustic structure such as that of which 

 we now publish a woodcut, (fin. '2"i), and for advice relative to 

 which he may apply to Mr. .J. Gavtjn Fox, Koyal Horticultural 

 Society, South Keusingtou. 



NOTES ON VILLA, and SUBURBAN GARDENING. 



Budding Bases. — The objects contemplated should be well 

 understood before the work is begun. If it is intended only to 

 make the performance subservient to tho production of stand- 

 ards, then I would suggest tho inquiry whether in the locality 

 standards are desirable or not. A blind passion for a Koso tree 

 with a tall stem and heavy head has been very prev.%lent of 

 late years, and has often been indulged without regard to good 

 taste or appropriateness. Now, it appears to me, that in itself 

 a standard Rose is not so elegant as a common wall-traiaed 

 busb, or a plant grown in the pillar fashion. A leafless stem 

 requiring a strong stake for its support, as all standard Koses 

 do, has certainly nothing of beauty or ornament in it, while a 

 Eose growing on its own roots and trained pyramidally to the 

 height of 5 or Ij feet, is a magniticeut object when in bloom. 

 Wo commonly see in small gardens a lanky Briar or two spring- 

 ing-up from a lawn and making ua wonder what such wild un- 

 sightly things can do there, till on inquiry we are told that the 

 proprietor intends budding on them at tho proper season. Now, 

 in such cases, there are two chance's to one that the budding 

 does not succeed. If it succeeds, it will take two or tliree years 

 to form a head ; and when a head of first-rate character is pro- 

 duced, the whole affair does not embellish the garden half so 

 much as a pillar Rose would have done, in some cases, in the 

 course of one season. Standard Roses are only useful and 

 desirable when a display is required above the heads of more 

 lowly plants, and in such cases they may be introduced with 

 fine eflect. An avenue of standard Roses may bo made a fine 

 object when there is a good undergrowth of small productions ; 

 or single standards may be introduced with advantage when 

 space is limited, since they allow of flowers being grown imder- 

 neath. But even when standards are clearly desirable, the 

 amateur should remember they ought to be placed in a finished 

 state in the spots they are intended to occupy. 



So much in reference to standards. But budding has other 

 objects and higher claims upon our notice. It confers a hardi- 

 ness upon Roses otherwise tender, so that many which would 

 not endure our winter on their own roots, will resist it when 

 receiving into their structure the more vigorous juices of 

 the Briar. Then a more rapid attainment of the flowering 

 state is in this way secured. For example : A friend gave me a 

 cutting of the beautiful Bourbon Rose Paul Joseph in the 

 mouth of August last year. I had only a choice of two courses 

 to pursue with regard to it ; one was to endeavour to make it 

 produce roots as a cutting, the other to bud it upon a stock. 

 Had I taken the first course it would probably have perished, 

 as cuttings of fine Roses demand much skill for successful 

 striking, and if it had lived it would scarcely have been strong 

 enough to produce flowers in twelve months. I adopted the 

 second course, and inserted the only two buds I had into a 

 climbing Rose, which I cut down for the purpose. In June 

 these buds were half a yard long, have produced llowers, and 

 supplied me with buds enough to insert in about a dozen Briars. 

 Expedition and certainty are therefore attained by budding, and 

 on these accounts the art is highly important to all amateurs. 



Grecniiouse Pelargoniums. — Among the plants which now 

 require attention preparatory to another season, Pelargoniums 

 by almost universal consent claim the first place, for there are 

 few persons who do not admire them, and not many plants 

 which are more worthy of admiration. It may be said there is 

 little skill required in growing a Pelargonium, and this may be 

 true, but there is some little art in producing them in that style 

 of excellence which is characteristic of the plants exhibited at 

 the horticultural fetes in the neighbourhood of the metropolis. 

 It mmt be admitted that while there are plenty of gardeners who 

 can produce luxuriant specimens, we have but few cultivators 

 who can procure a head of bloom commensurate with the size of 

 the plants. The reason of this is that in our desire to grow plants 

 we lose sight of an important physiological law — narnely, that 

 whatever conduces to luxuriant growth is favourable to the 

 production of flowers, and vice versa, and hence prize cultivators 

 never allow their plants to become what they term " autumn 

 proud " — that is, gross and luxuriant at that season. They keep 

 them, by potting them in poor soil and supplying them mode- 

 rately with water, in a healthy but no means luxuriant growing 

 state. The effect of such treatment is the production of a great 

 quantity of active roots and the storing-up of sap in a highly 

 elaborated state, which, being brought into action by the in- 

 creased light and heat of spring, is expended in the production 

 of flowers instead of branches. 



This is the theory of the cultivation of the Pelargonium ex- 

 emplified in the best management of cultivators. To apply it 



to practice, the plants that have done flowering must be turned 

 out of the house and placed in the full sun under a south wall 

 to ripen their wood previously to being cut down, and it will bo 

 well at the same time, if seed is nol desired, to remove the 

 whole of the flower-stems, but retaining as much of the foliage 

 as possible. In cutting the plants down the amateur must be 

 governed by circumstances, such as the size of plants he wants 

 in the coming season, and the convenience he has for large 

 specimens. As a fucral rule I would never recommend the 

 growth of large specimens. Small ones in 32 or 21-sized pots 

 are far more iuterestiug, and there is as much merit in produc- 

 ing them as those of a larger size — that is, if grown as plants 

 ought to be, with the branches depending over tho sides of the 

 pot. Some importance has been attributed to the quantity of 

 old wood left in a plant at the time it is cut down, but the ad- 

 vantage of having a quantity of wood is, I think, to a consider- 

 able extent imaginary, though it cannot be doubted but it ia a 

 reservoir of nourishment for the branches in case of need. — 

 W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST AND PRESENT WEEKS. 



HAnnY FKCIT GAKBEK. 



The soakiug rain which has been highly beneficial to flowers 

 and vegetables has also produced good results on the fruit trees. 

 So thoroughly dry had the subsoil become, that Cherries 

 shrivelled prematurely and readily parted from the stalks. 

 Some of thi earliest Pears and Apples have also dropped off 

 matured, but they caunot be said to be ripe, as flavour is want- 

 ing. "We have not managed to finish tiio summer pruning of 

 dwarf and pyramid trees ; usually they have been pruned much 

 earlier, but it is a question whether it is desirable to prune 

 them very early in the season, except when the trees are young, 

 in which oaae the young growths may be stopped when they are 

 long enough, so that a second, and, if the trees are vigorous, 

 eveu a third set of growths may be produced. Trees treated in 

 this way increase in size much more rapidly than those not 

 summer-pruned. Wo have not yet succeeded in getting rid of 

 the Apple maggot ; a small proportion of the fruit seems to be 

 attacked by it. There ia no better way than to look over the 

 trues and pick off all fruit that contains maggots, and all that 

 falls should be gathered up daily and destroyed. This has been 

 our way of dealing with the enemy, and so far it has been satis- 

 factory. 



It does not seem to bo of much use growing Cherries on pyra- 

 mids ; the fruit sets and ripens very well, but the starlings have 

 such a fancy to them, tliat unless the trees are securely netted, 

 which is a very troublesome affair when large, we do not gather 

 any ripe fruit, as it is all gone long before the last stage of ripe- 

 ness has been reached. On the walls netting the trees is easy ; 

 the nets are merely nailed to the top and base of the wall, and 

 stretched out by forked sticks 1.5 inches long. 



Strawberries have not been large, as the best fruit was de- 

 stroyed by late frosts ; the crop has been excellent, and has kept 

 well. The fruit gathered for preserving was in capital condi- 

 tion ; Black Prince and Keens' Seedling are the sorts esteemed 

 here for that purpose. Frogmore Late Pine cannot be too 

 highly recommended for dessert purposes ; of course it is Pine- 

 flavoured and slightly acid, but it can be had after British 

 Queen, Dr. Hogg, and other fine sorts are over. It is also a 

 large fine looking fruit. All the runners were layered by the 

 l'2th of the month; these have also been abundantly produced. 



Baspberries. — Where a thicket of suckers had been thrown 

 up they have been thiuned-out; it cannot be good policy to 

 allow the young growths to smother each other during the grow- 

 ing season, to be thinned-out in winter. Better to grow only as 

 many canes as will be required for next year's crop, so that all 

 the growing force of the plant may be usefully employed. 

 Keep the ground free from weeds, and bear in mind that the 

 Raspberry loves a deep rich soil and dehghts in moisture. 



FRDIT AND rORCINO HOUSES. 



Vineries. — The early houses have been cleared of fruit, and as 

 the ascending sap is not required by the bunches, lateral 

 growths are freely produced ; these have been stopped-back, 

 and any other growths will be stopped at once. The leaves of 

 the Vines, the walls and woodwork of the houses, have also been 

 thoroughly washed with the garden engine. However carefully 

 the Vines have been attended to, there is always a trace of red 

 spider on the leaves, which multiplies very fast if it is not 

 washed off. The weather was exceptionally hot at the time 

 that Lady Downe's Grape was hable to scald, but owing to 

 thorough ventilation only one or two berries on some of the 

 bunches were scalded. During hot dry weather all late vineries, 

 whether containing Muscats or not, should be well ventilated 

 in the day, and the ventilators be left open a little at night. 

 But as regards fire heat, our experience, gained north of the 

 Forth in Scotland, and on the banks of the Thames in England, 

 leads us to recommend the use of the heating apparatus in the 

 north, and to dispense with its use in the south all tho time 

 that the Grapes are colouring. Even in unfavourable ceasone 



