101 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



[ March 9, 1876. 



than when they were grown in pots. They are in excellent 

 health. Contiguous to this range is a span-ioof forcing boaee 

 in which Cucambers and Melons are grown ; there are also the 

 ordinary adjancts of frames, &c. 



Harteholme is a beautiful garden and is well managed. For 

 some years it was in the charge of Mr. Allis, who ie appointed 

 to a higher charge on another estate belonging to Mr. Shuttle- 

 worth. Mr. Allis is, I believe, to be succeeded by Mr. .T. Ilolah, 

 who is well known to be a skilled gardener. At Hartsholme he 

 will have scope for his abilities, and both place and owner are 

 worthy of his beet services. Hartsholme is about two miles I 

 and a half from Lincoln. — .T. W. 



SOWING AUCUBA BERRIES. 



I KNOW of no place where the berry-bearing Aucubas succeed 

 60 well as here. There is one bush now so covered with fruit 

 that about a week since I directed a man in the garden to tie 

 up one of the branches, which seemed likely to break from the 

 weight of berries upon it. It is astonishing how far the male 

 plants spread their pollen. I think we have some plants with 

 a good crop of fruit at the distance of 100 yards from the male 

 plant. One of our plants is now about 7 feet high and of 

 about the eame width, with berries I might fay almost equal 

 in number to its leaves. 



As to the sowing, we have merely placed the seeds in the 

 soil in the kitchen garden, and with perfect success ; and it 

 may be useful to state that I have every reason to believe that 

 the male and female plants raised from seeds ripened here 

 flower at the same time. Though the bought male plants 

 flower earlier, they are never with us too early to affect the old 

 Auouba shrubs which we have had for very many years. — 

 W. W. E. Wynne, Peniarth, Towyn Merionrtli. 



SOIL FOR RHODODENDRONS. 



Ehodocendbons do with me as well in a good Rose soil as in 

 peat — in fact I think they do better. I can obtain plenty of 

 black bog, which is equivalent, I suppose, to peat, but I find it 

 unnecessary. The Rhododendrons here are all in the church- 

 yard with standard Roses, and I find the two do wonderfaUy 

 well together. 



If anyone wishes to make a very effective border I shonld 

 recommend him to have a background of Rhododendrons, and 

 next half- standard Roses about :i feet apart. Between each 

 standard Rose plant Lilium auratum, and in the next line 

 Chrysanthemums, and theu Gladioli. He will have flowers 

 then from May till November ; and he can, if he likes, plant 

 Hyacinths and other bulbs ad Uiitum in the autumn, provided 

 he removes them in good time after flowering. 1 make use of 

 this border in my churchyard, and it is only in the depth of 

 winter that we are without flowers. I find Gladioli answer 

 wonderfully well between standard Roses, and Mr. Kelway 

 was astonished iit the height that they grew here. 



With regard to growing Roses in my churchyard a lady made 

 a most delightful remark to me once at a Rose show. " Oh ! 

 Mr. Camm, I never will look at your Roses, for I hear they 

 are grown in the churchyard; and that being so, I kno^ from 

 where the trees derive their nourishment, and I consider the 

 idea most horrible." In vain did I assure her that the roots 

 never went further than a foot into the ground, and that our 

 object was to keep them as near to the surface as possible. 

 She was as obstinate in her conviction as an old man once was 

 in Sussex where I was curate, who never would eat mutton, 

 for he was afraid of eating his grandmother, as the sheep 

 grazed in the churchyaid where she was buried. 



Rosarians are anxiously looking out for the lixtures of the 

 Crystal Palace and Alexandra Palace Rose Shows. It is now 

 the beginning of March and they are not out. These London 

 shows ought to be fixed at the earliest possible date, as country 

 Rose shows must give way to them, and it is necessary to fix 

 the day early so as to avoid clashing with other shows. Per- 

 haps before these lines are in ptint we shall see the announce- 

 ment of the dates in your columns. — John B. M. Cam>[. 



I CAN endorse all that Mr. Luckhurst has said, and go to 

 greater extremes than he has done. Here Rhododendrons 

 grow well and flower abundantly in every kind of soil except 

 sand. I never knew in any locality the soil to vary so much 

 in a given area as it does in this neighbourhood. If I had to 

 choose between peat and loam I would certainly prefer the 

 latter, unless I could procure some better peat than we can 



obtain for either love or money, not excluding the Surrey far- 

 famed peat. 



Here we have Rhododendrons growing and flowering most 

 luxuriantly in a very stiff clay, which in a dry summer is so 

 hard that it is almost impossible to get a spade into it ; but 

 where the clay is well drained the plants do well, but where 

 the drainage is defective they only just live. Those in loam 

 without a particle of peat grow too much, for we have to be 

 constantly thinning them out or they would soon spoil each 

 other. We have had peat from a neighbouring forest to plant 

 some of them in, but thoce are best in the loam. I was re- 

 moving some last week which had been planted sixteen or 

 more years ; where the peat had been put to them they were 

 not nearly bo well rooted as those in pure loam. Localities and 

 the (luality of the peat may have an influence upon them, but 

 in this place and neighbourhood anyone can see the above 

 facts for themselves. — D. Walkeb, Tlie Gardens, Dmmrlan, 

 Tunhridge WelU, 



In the first paper on page 81 it was stated that " the plant- 

 ing of Rhododendrons was well and carefally done, and the 

 rest was left to Nature." Let me commend this sentence to the 

 attention of " J. B.," with a little more of my practice and its 

 results. 



I have repeatedly explained the importance of a careful 

 preparation of the soil for all kinds of trees and shrubs, and to 

 none does this apply more forcibly than the Rhododendron. 

 Crowd its roots into a hard crude mass of soil and it will exist 

 even for years, but it will make no appreciable progress. The 

 growth, if any ensues, is hardly perceptible, the foliage becomes 

 of a sickly sallow hue — the plant is in a state of utter stagna- 

 tion. Break-up that soil, stirring it deeply among the plants, 

 throwing it up roughly to the action of the air — you need not 

 disturb the plants — and mark the result. Why, it is just as if 

 a magician had waved his wand over the spot with a vivifying 

 power that is absolutely marvellous. The foliage acquires the 

 deep green tone of health, shoots and branches spring forth 

 clothed with foliage that is gigantic in comparison to that upon 

 the old and stunted growth, and a brief season or two brings to 

 the scene its highest finish in the crowning glory of those 

 lovely flower clusters for which this shrub stands unrivalled. 

 This is no flight of fancy, but is a simple deduction from actual 

 experience. Plant well if you plant at all, stir the soil deeply, 

 trench it if possible, only give the plants a good start, and all 

 will be well ; but pray do not just stick in your plants and for- 

 get them. A little pains and care with the soil and plants in 

 the first instance will ensure successful results ; without them 

 failure may, and in point of fact often does, ensue. We ought 

 not then to lay blame upou the soil. 



There is nothing equal to the logic of facts to enforce a 

 truism. Here is an example for " J. B." Some three years 

 ago two gentlemen purchased a few thousands of four-year 

 seedling Rhododendrons, each having an equal nnmber, and 

 placing them in the hands of their respective gardeners, with a 

 request that due attention and care should be given to their 

 culture. What is the result ? In one instance there is a fine 

 stock of healthy bushy plants, most of which will be a couple 

 of feet high by next planting season, and in the other every 

 plant has failed. Now, peat has nothing to do with this 

 success, for none was used. The plants were first put thickly 

 into raised nursery beds of ordinary loam, watered, weeded, 

 and transplanted in due course — aU very ordinary and simple 

 matters, but eminently necessary to success. 



Turning now to what " J. B." has said about loam, he 

 evidently thinks that its staple must be of the highest excel- 

 lence — " beautiful sound yellow loam that makes a gardener's 

 teeth water." I can assure him that the soil with which I 

 have to deal is far more likely to ul'feot the eyes than the teeth, 

 for it is certainly the reverse of beautiful or sound. It is thin, 

 and so miserably poor that no vegetables will grow in it in its 

 virgin state. But then I have proved that the Rhododendron 

 does not require a rich soil ; at any rate, not rich in the ordi- 

 nary acceptance of the term. Soils apparently poor evidently 

 contain certain nutritious substances suitable to its require- 

 ments ; and this opens up a very wide field for discussion as to 

 the adaptability o( certain plants to certain soils, leading to 

 the conclusion that all soil contains nutritious matter if we 

 can only discover the class of plants for which it is suitable. 

 This matter is so important that I hope to revert to it more 

 fully upon some future occasion. 



By all means use peat if you have it. I have not the 

 slightest objection to it, but do not let it prove a stumblingblock 



