Fabraarj 3, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND OOTTAGE GARDENER. 



87 



Irom my April sowings of them for the table, and in the 

 middle of September I gathered my ripe seed, and Peas fit to 

 cook from both the sorts. They will produce for a longer 

 period than any other kinds that I am aware of. 



This is a small history ; but, according to my experience, it 

 is of a capital assortment of Peas. Not always large and 

 sweet, bnt Peas of various sizes, colour, and flavour, and each 

 of them tender and very good. All the varieties mentioned 

 above, with the exception perhaps of Dr. Hogg, are what are 

 termed " branching Peas," and require to be sown thinly. 

 My plan is to cast out a drill, with a narrow spade 4 inches 

 broad and 2J inches deep. Then place the Peas singly, in two 

 lines, about' 3 inches apart, in a triangular manner. The 

 result I find quite worth the trouble. — Robert Fenn. 



FORCING EOSES. 



Fob this purpose Roses on their own roots or on the Manetti 

 are preferable to those budded on the Briar or Dog Rose ; but 

 good Roses can be produced from plants budded on the Briar. 

 The best way is to take them out of the ground about the begin- 

 ning of October, and pot them in medium-sized pots in rather 

 rich but not heavy soil ; by the middle of December they will 

 be nicely rooted. They can then be pruned and taken to the 

 house to be forced as wanted ; but this should not be done 

 •very early the first year. 



Roses which are required to bloom by the beginning of 

 February should be pruned by the middle of November, and a 

 week or two afterwards started in a temperature about 45°, 

 increasing it to G0° by the time they flower. In fact a vinery 

 started at Christmas is exactly the place to suit them. When 

 the flowers have expanded they can be removed to the con- 

 servatory, which would be perhaps 10' lower. This will pro- 

 long the freshness of the blooms. 



When the plants have done flowering they should be re- 

 moved back again to the warmer house, where they must have 

 as much light and air as they possibly can, and in a few weeks 

 they will bloom again ; and with care in keeping them free 

 from mildew and green fly they will bloom the third time. 

 The last time a very little before they come in out of doors. 

 If a batch of Tea and Hybrid Perpetual Koses are placed in 

 the same house to be forced, the former will flower some time 

 before the latter. 



After they have done flowering plunge them in ashes out 

 of doors, and if any flower buds appear pinch them off, and in 

 August take them out of the ashes, and lay them on their sides, 

 keeping them rather dry, which will enable the wood to get 

 well ripened by the time they are pruned. Care should be 

 taken not to over-pot them, as that is one of the chief causes 

 of mildew ; but if it should appear syringe with soot and 

 water, syringing again a few hours after with clear water, or 

 dust with sulphur. — H. Etheeingion. 



PEACH-BLOW POTATO. 



New Potatoes — or, indeed, any new introductions in the 

 vegetable world — must be able to run the gauntlet of adverse 

 criticism, or they cannot estabUsh their claims to support. 

 Healthy honest criticism is most valuable and beneficial, and 

 is, no doubt, equally appreciated by the vendors of new vege- 

 tables as by the public, for the " honour " of introducing any- 

 thing new is not only empty, but in the end most damaging 

 to it^ patron if the article proves new and " bad " instead of 

 " new and good." 



Bat criticism, to afford sound guidance, must be discrimi- 

 nating, and we must not, for instance, adjudge all American 

 Potatoes bad because some of them may fail to be valuable, 

 any more than we must regard all our American cousins dis- 

 honest because one or two of them have been " tarnation 

 sharp " with " other people's money." 



Your reviewer of a pamphlet advocating the value of raising 

 Potatoes from eyes has, I think, made rather " small Potatoes " 

 of that innovation, yet I think that at least there may be some 

 of the American Potatoes worthy of individual examination, 

 to see if we cannot find a little corn amongst the chail. In 

 the aggregate the " foreign novelties " have no doubt been 

 " over-estimated," but I think that verdict can hardly apply to 

 the variety named. Peach blow has not been unreasonably 

 puffed, and, so far as my experience goes, it is not only the 

 best of all the American sorts, but is as good, and in some 

 lespects better than many of our standard Eaglish varieties. 

 I have grown Peach-blow and found it good, and I have seen 



it grown extensively by better growers than myself, and they 

 and their customers have found it good also. 



Your reviewer has mentioned Lincolnshire. Well, it is in 

 that county where my experience of this sort has been gained. 

 Mr. Lumsdenof Bloxholm has, I believe, grown it largely, and if 

 a Potato satisfies that cultivator I always have a suspicion that 

 there is "something good in it." Unless I am in error Peach- 

 blow has satisfied Mr. Lumsden. A neighbour of Mr. Lumsden'a, 

 a good and extensive grower of Potatoes — Mr. Frisby of Blank- 

 ney — has I know also grown Peaoh-blow freely, for I have seen 

 some wonderful crops of it in the Blankney gardens, and have 

 heard Mr. Frisby extol its good qualities, and he, too, is a 

 gardener not likely to be deceived. Further, I have known a 

 farmer iu Lincolnshire grow it by the acre, and although he 

 charged the " tip-top " market price for the produce, such was 

 the fame of Peach-blow amongst the consumers of the neigh- 

 bourhood that the demand could not be met. I think it is 

 fair to this variety, and to its introducers, that this statement 

 of facts should be recorded. 



Peach-blow is a round white variety with pink eyes, hence 

 its name. It is a heavy cropper, ripening early, and is of good 

 quality. It would be well to know if its good qualities and 

 general usefulness under ordinary field and garden cultivation 

 are sustained. My remarks refer to a period of three years 

 ago. — J., Lincoln. 



AURICULAS. 



YouK correspondent " Alfred " asks me if I know where he 

 can obtain a plant of Taylor's Glory and of Page's Champion. 

 I regret that my reply is brief and disappointing. I do not 

 know any grower at the present time, private or otherwise, who 

 has plants of these two varieties to part with. I could tell 

 " Alfred " where the plants lie among the collections of 

 members of the National Auricula Society ; just as it is said 

 that in the diamond trade the whereabouts of the finer gem is 

 known to the jewellers; but if I were wanting Auriculas of 

 such scarcity as the two in question I should consider the only 

 equivalent would be the offer of some exchange with other 

 sterling varieties of Auricula. Their money value even if their 

 highest catalogue price were doubled is iu the present scarcity 

 of the flower no compensation. A guinea can be won over 

 again, bat an Auricula like Glory or Champion cannot be 

 replaced. 



I do not know the weight of character in "Alfred's" 

 collection, but if he be strong iu one or two first-rate white or 

 green edges, and would come to the National Auricula Society's 

 Exhibition iu Manchester next April, he would be welcome in 

 the brotherhood that is so distinctly " florist," and might 

 make his wants known to us. 



In Auriculas I think more may be done iu filling up a good 

 collection by exchanges than by mere money. I should ba 

 sorry to melt down all my Champions and Glorys at many 

 times their money quotations, for they would simply be lost, 

 and that which won them from me could not win them back. 

 These two beautiful varieties both in habit of plant and quality 

 of flower have not been seen much at the National Exhibition. 

 They are both early risers in the spring, generally starting 

 before January is out ; they aie both rapid in coming into 

 flower, and have been always a week or so too forward with my 

 own plants of them for a show in the fourth week of April. 



They are models of the two styles of Auricula foUage, 

 mealed and green ; and the white edge of Glory and the green 

 edge of Champion are splendid specimens of that most peculiar 

 point of beauty iu the florist Auricula "the edge." — F. D. 

 HoBNEK, Kirkby Maheard, Ripon. 



OUR BORDER FLOWERS— LOOSESTRIFES. 



Among the flowers of autumn none stand out more promi- 

 nently than the family of Loosestrifes. Our subject, Lythrum 

 Salicaria, is a most accommodating plant. Wild it may be, and 

 quite at home by the rippling stream or the stagaant pool, 

 and many secluded nooks away from the haunts of man. In 

 shrubbery borders or the wilderness, by the margins of pools 

 or lakes, we can say of it " Always at home." Its cheering 

 rosy-pink-colonred flowers are very attractive and eiiective at 

 a distance. Being of pleasing habit the plant is suitable for 

 the back row of a border. 



There are other kinds that should not be passed by. Lythrum 

 roseum superbum is a stronger grower than the first-named 

 kind, and has larger flowers a shade or two darker in colour, 



