February 24, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



145 



mate work— the formation of fruiting wood. Bush trees are 

 treated upon the same principle by grafting every main branch 

 after it is shortened to about a foot from the stem. Pyra- 

 mids also have a graft inserted in every side branch, the form 

 of a cone being retained by leaving the lower branches a foot 

 in length, and graduating upwards to some 3 or 4 inches 

 near the top. The principle which rules the operation in 

 each instance is to retain what may be termed the frame- 

 work of each tree, regarding the stem and main branches as 

 supports for the fruiting wood, and which, when once formed, 

 should be retained so long as they answer that purpose. — 

 Edwabd Luckhuest. 



LIBONIA FLORIBUNDA CULTURE. 



Considering the time of year at which the above plant 

 blooms, its long duration and easy culture, I think that it is 

 not so extensively grown as it deserves ; to promote its more 

 general employment as a decorative plant I will state the mode 

 of culture which I find sucoessful. Cuttings taken at the 

 present time and inserted in good sandy soil will readily strike 

 root in a bottom heat of about CO '. I generally place three or 

 four cuttings in a small pot, and as soon as struck give them 

 a shift without disturbing the ball, as by this means bushy 

 plants are sooner formed than by growing only one plant in a 

 pot. A sandy loam with an admixture of leaf mould is a 

 good compost to grow them in during the early stages of their 

 growth, after which a little decayed manure should be added. 



By growing them on in a cool well-ventilated house they are 

 ready to take their stand by the side of Azaleas, &a., when 

 the latter are placed out of doors for the summer, the Libonias 

 to be treated the same as the Azaleas, with the exception of 

 the soil they are grown in. When the time arrives for housing 

 them they will be found to have grown into stiff bushy plants 

 studded with numerous buds, to burst forth ere long into 

 beautiful crimson and orange flowers, which open at a time of 

 year when flowers are generally scarce. 



For duration of blooming it is one of the best greenhouse 

 plants, as with tolerable attention it may be kept in flower 

 from December to March, producing a good eiJeot when placed 

 amongst Deutzias, Corouillas, &a. It is also useful for cutting 

 from for bouquets, and is generally admii'ed by ladies. 



After the blooming season is over the plants may be shifted, 

 or, if convenience requires, only the surface soil may be re- 

 moved and replaced by a rich compost, and the pots placed in 

 an airy part of the greenhouse until the time comes round to 

 remove them out of doors again. They require a good deal of 

 water, and especially during their growing season should not 

 be allowed to get dry, or a shedding of the lower leaves is the 

 consequence. — W. W. 



LEEKS. 



Cambeia may have adopted for its emblem the Leek for its 

 usefulness and to spite its neighbouring kingdoms. Anglia 

 had adopted the Rose, Scotia the spiny dreaded Thistle, and 

 Hibernia the lowly mystic Shamrock. The Rose emblematic of 

 the beautiful, the Thistle of resistance, and the Shamrock of 

 dependance, all lack the representative utility expressed by the 

 Leek. Leek is not a greatly favoured article of Welsh vegetable 

 diet, and is not cultivated by the possessors of gardens, in 

 small or large plots, as are Gooseberries by the Lancastrians 

 or Celery by the Sheffield cutlers. It is not in Wales or among 

 the Welsh that the Leek finds its votaries. It is not until we 

 advance to and even pass the " border " northward that we 

 find extended and careful culture given the Leek, and where it 

 is valued at its worth as an ingredient of soups, stews, &c. 

 There the occupier of, it may be, but a rod of ground brings 

 to bear upon his Leek trenches so much skill and enthusiasm 

 as to attain a result shaming that of those of vastly higher 

 pretensions. 



In Leek culture size is the all-important object sought — a 

 stout stem well blanched. This can only be attained by high 

 culture, affording rich soil and very liberal treatment during 

 growth. The practice of some is to raise their plants in gentle 

 heat as for Celery, and transplant to well-manured trenches, 

 and dose frequently with manure water, and blanch with soil 

 as for Celery. This plan answers well; but I find a result 

 almost if not quite equal at a considerable lessened entail of 

 labour, by sowing the seed the first open weather in March in 

 drUh 18 inches apart on ground that has been trenched and 

 heayily manured in autumn, and thrown-up roughly for the 



winter, and thrown level in February, giving a dressing of 

 well-decayed manure and wood ashes, pointing-in a few days 

 prior to sowing. Some fine wood ashes are sprinkled in the 

 drills after sowing, and the seeds are sown rather thinly. 

 Hoeing is practised to keep down weeds, and the plants are 

 thinned to 3 inches apart, and then to G inches, leaving the 

 strongest each time, and every other plant is removed as re- 

 quired for soup, the plants being left 1 foot apart in the rows, 

 and after May liquid manure is poured between the rows, 

 blanching being effected by ashes, sawdust, or cocoa refuse. 

 For general purposes I sow in rows 15 inches apart, thin to 

 inches apart, take out every other plant as required through 

 the summer, and do not blanch. 



Henry's Prize Leek has been looked upon hitherto as the 

 finest sort, it and Ayton Castle Giant having probably still the 

 longest and cleanest stem ; but Carentan last year had a stem 

 twice the thickness but shorter, appearing a giant Mussel- 

 burgh, and as like in growth as two Leeks not having the same 

 name can be, and this is probably the best kind for general 

 purposes. — A. G. 



WAE WITH INSECTS.— No. 2. 



Now is the time to wage war with outdoor insects as well as 

 those inside, while they are comparatively scarce and not very 

 active. Wait another month and it will take three times the 

 amount of labour to exterminate them, while the result will 

 be less satisfactory. Depend upon it, their head quarters are 

 not far from the places which they visited last summer. 

 Crevices of walls, old shreds, and spaces between fruit buds 

 and branches are favourite winter resorts for them. With the 

 aid of a microscope they may be seen there now, though 

 perhaps quite inactive ; but a few sunny days of spring will 

 bring them out in strong force, and trees which appear clean 

 and healthy one day may the next day be seen swarming with 

 red spider and aphis. It is too late then to attempt a cure, 

 for no strong measures can be taken till after the flowers are 

 set, and by that time the new foliage will have received such 

 injury that it will remain crippled and curled, and keeping it 

 clean then is out of the question. 



Trees which are very subject to insect attacks, as Peaches, 

 and the like, should always have the old shreds removed and 

 burned, or at least scalded, and the walls to which the trees 

 are trained should be dressed as well as the trees. My plan 

 for dressing them is very simple, and I have not yet seen 

 anything so effectual. It has been described before in your 

 columns, but perhaps it is worth repeating. Some fresh-burned 

 lime is procured, and a little of it put into a tub with some 

 warm water ; a little sulphur — about a handful to a quarter 

 peck of lime — is sprinkled on the top, and while the lime slakes 

 the sulphur is dissolved, and sulphuret of lime is produced. 

 Soot or other harmless colouring matter is used to produce 

 the colour which is least objectionable (for mind, it is a fixture 

 when it gets on to the wall, and also on the trees till growth 

 removes it), and the mixture is left in the consistency of 

 mortar till required for use, when more water is added to make 

 it about the consistency of thick cream. It is then strained 

 and applied with a syringe all over the walls as well as the 

 trees. All old shreds are of course removed before this, and 

 the trees if possible are completely trained afresh ; at any rate 

 they are nailed suflicieutly to support them. 



But someone will say Peach trees are not pruned tUl their 

 buds are far advanced, and then they will not bear this dress- 

 ing. Well, those who still prefer such late pruning, against 

 all reason and the best teaching, must still go on crippling 

 their trees with the knife at the most critical time, and keep 

 up their stock of insects to do the rest. My trees of all sorts 

 are pruned by the middle of January. They ought to be done 

 by the middle of December, but I am not often able to manage 

 it. If an insect or an insect's egg escapes with its life the 

 dressing I recommend it will be unusual. Standard trees are 

 dressed in the same way. A dozen old Apple trees, infested 

 with American blight so badly that the thought of destroying 

 them was entertained for a time, were well syringed only once 

 in winter with this mixture, and the following season only 

 three or four little patches could be found which had escaped. 

 It also thoroughly eradicates moss and lichen from the stems ; 

 and bullfinches, if they are not very hard up, will not touch 

 the buds. 



I do not like syrmging wall trees daily, as many people do 

 in summer. I fail to see the use of it. It takes up much time 

 when time is valuable, and it often does a great deal of injury 



