490 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTIOULTUBE AND GOXTAQK GABDENEB. 



( Deo«mber S, 1874. 



bear so Boon ; but I am acting under another's direction, I 

 cannot nse my own jadgment. If I could I would certainly 

 give Mr. Taylor's plan a trial. 



The honse is kept well damped down, but in spite of this 

 the red spider continues to trouble us. Syrioging is then 

 freely applied to destroy this troublesome little pest ; then 

 mildew follows, when we use flowers of sulphur distributed 

 on the leaves through a muslin bag ; but as soon as we get 

 clear of one pest we get another as bad, and an ever-watchful 

 eye is needed to keep them clear and in good growing order. 



Would it not be better it there were two pipes round the bed 

 for top heat, as the water in them has often to be kept boiling 

 to maintain the required temperature, rendering the atmo- 

 sphere hot and dry ? The variety used here is Rollissou's 

 Telegraph. 



Permit to ask others who maintain this high temperature 

 if they meet with good results. I for one, and no doubt many 

 more young gardeners, would be glad to learn the right way 

 to grow good Cucumbers during the winter mouths. Nothing 

 does more credit to the gardener than a good house of Cu- 

 cumbers. — S. J. A. 



ERYTHRINA CRISTA-GALLI CULTURE. 



This, " the Coral Plant," introduced a century back, is now 

 but seldom seen, except in the large gardens of places of some 

 note. 



For being grown well few plants are more accommodating ; 

 it may be flowered either as an early stove or late green- 

 house plant, on a conservatory wall, or even in a warm open 

 border, with a little care. It may be had in bloom early in 

 spring by placing a plant in the stove not later than Christ- 

 mas, and a succession may be kept up by starting at intervals. 



In the greenhouse, if kept rather cloee when beginning to 

 grow, the plants wiU bloom freely about midsummer ; while if 

 started in a common hotbed in March, and then gradually 

 hardened off, they will bloom in May and June. 



It is best to commence with young plants, and give liberal 

 treatment to encourage luxuriant growth ; for the stronger the 

 growth and the finer the foliage, the stronger will be the crown 

 of the plant, and consequently the more vigorous the supply 

 of shoots. 



In the following season the plants should have large shifts, 

 and a free supply of liquid manure, with plenty of drainage. 



The most suitable compost I have always found to consist 

 of three parts fibrous peat, two of fibrous loam, and one part 

 a mixture in equal quantities of leaf mould, well-rotted sheep 

 dung, and silver sand. 



A gentle bottom heat is very useful in obtaining a good 

 supply of roots. The temperature of the house need not be 

 more than about 60°. When the plants have made some pro- 

 gress let air be given to prevent the shoots being drawn up, 

 and give them a good syringing every evening. 



Erythrina is one of the finest plants I have ever grown 

 against a conservatory wall, where it flowers beautifully. If 

 grown in the flower garden, the best plan is to take the plants 

 Dp at the end of autumn, keeping them out of the reach of 

 frost, and nearly dry tUl spring. — W. Giles. 



PRIMULA JAPONICA CULTURE. 



This beautiful winter flower in most places will be making 

 a start to do its best. Of course it can be had in flower earlier, 

 but the blooms are wanting in colour and substance, and 

 always appear to me to be out of season. I want my earliest 

 in flower about the middle of November, which I manage to 

 get near the mark by sowing on the 1st of June ; and as some 

 of them are a little behind the others, they make a succession 

 ior some time, to be followed by a later lot some two or three 

 weeks after the first batch, which keeps up a good show until 

 late in the spring. 



When the plants in the seed pans are large enough to handle 

 I put them singly into thumb pots in a mixture of loam, peat, 

 well-rotted leaf mould, and a good share of silver sand. The 

 subsequent pollings into 48's and 32's, less sand must be used, 

 and in addition charcoal broken small. The tendency the 

 plants have to fall sideways can be remedied by settling them 

 down a little at each potting. My second batch are flowered 

 in small-sized pots. Primulas with poor blooms will make a 

 good show, but now that so many advertise their " choice 

 strains," a poor Primula bloom ought not to b3 seen. 



I once had the misfortune to be taken-in with some Primula 



seed I paid a high price for. After incurring some trouble in 

 growing the plants, I was rewarded with a lot of colourless 

 flimsy rubbish, but fortunately at the same time I had a few 

 plants from another source that were very good, so from those 

 I determined to save my stock to prevent future disappoint- 

 ment, also to see how long the seed would keep and germinate. 

 This is the seventh year I have sown and grown from my first 

 packet of seed, and the plants for the first time came weak. I 

 tried this to prove it the statement was correct, that the seed 

 would not grow after the second year. I may add that new 

 seed was sown each year, expecting every time to see the end 

 of my first packet. Is it generally known that Primula seed 

 wUl grow when so old ? — M. B. 



VINE CULTURE. 



RENOVATING EXHAUSTED VINES. 



Vines are not unfrequently injured by cropping them too 

 heavily for a series of years. This is apparent in the weakly 

 character of their growth and diminutive Grapes. Where the 

 border is considered in a sufficiently good condition not to re- 

 quire renewing, the best treatment for Vines thus broken 

 down is either to forego a year's crop altogether, or to crop 

 them very lightly for a year or two. 



Exhaustion of Vines from crowded training and close stop- 

 ping is sometimes met with in its worst forms. As has already 

 been referred to, the rods of Vines should never be trained 

 closer than 3 feet apart, and the fruit-bearing spurs not closer 

 than 16 to 18 inches. I have seen, in conjunction with close 

 training, the fruit-bearing wood pinched at the bunch, or just 

 one joint beyond it. This, with anything like heavy cropping, 

 is certain in a very few years to cripple the Vines. They are 

 in fact smothered, and worked hard into the bargain. To 

 put fresh vigour into such Vines, cut the superfluous rods out, 

 to give those left more room, and let the laterals grow two or 

 three joints beyond the bunch. 



The premature destruction of foliage is another fertile source 

 of injury, whether it takes place from red spider or scorching. 

 The evil most commonly arises from the ravages of spider. As 

 the pulmonary arteries of the body convey the blood to the 

 lungs, there to be exposed to the air we breathe, and undergo 

 change, and be diffused through the system for its nourish- 

 ment, BO is the sap in the Vine sent up to the leaves, there to 

 undergo change and be made fit for plant-nourishment. And 

 injury to the lungs does not more certainly lead to debility in 

 the animal than does the premature destruction of the foliage 

 to the Vine or any other plant. 



Early forcing, especially when the roots are in a cold ill- 

 diained border, is most injurious to Vines ; and when the 

 principal cause of exhaustion is from a cold ill-drained soil, 

 and where they are otherwise in such a condition that good 

 results might be expected from them it in a more congenial 

 border, the best way is to clear away the whole soil, dis- 

 entangling and saving every root that can be saved, to make the 

 drainage effectual, and make a new border, carefully planting 

 the Vines again. The best time for this operation is in autumn, 

 after the Grapes are cut, while the Vines are still in leaf and 

 able to make fresh roots. Supposing the Vines have roots in 

 both outside and inside borders, the one should be renewed 

 one year and the other the next. When the operation com- 

 mences, shade the root with canvas ; and after the roots are 

 laid in the fresh soil, give a good watering at 120°, and cover 

 up the border with dry litter to retain the heat. In 1856 I 

 lifted a house of Vines, as thus recommended, the first week 

 in October, only the whole instead of halt the roots were lifted ; 

 and by the end of July, 1857, cut a fair crop of Grapes from 

 them. And in December of 1858 I lifted a Vine after it had 

 been three years planted, and planted it in another vinery in 

 which I had previously commenced the forcing of pot Vines, 

 and it ripened ten good bunches in May, 1859. These in- 

 stances are mentioned to show how well Vines bear being care- 

 fully transplanted or lifted. — D, Thomson (in the Gardener). 



GARDEN LABELS. 

 My experience is that wooden ones are, after all, the best, 

 cheapest, and most enduring. I have some in use now quite 

 five years old, and showing no sign of decay ; perhaps the 

 only drawback to them is the white paint so soon gets dirty, 

 then the name is not so legible. My plau is to paint the label 

 well all over, except the place for the name, with two coats of 

 white paint, and when thoroughly dry and fit for nse write 



