Match 9, 18;8. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE QABDENEB. 



10.5 



to you. Do not let the want of it hinder you from planting 

 if you are not in a limestone district. And pray, "■T.B.," do not 

 snppoee that I shall mislead in this matter. I have no reason 

 to avoid using peat if it was really iodispcnsable, for I have an 

 unlimited supply at my disposal — tine natural beds, many 

 acres in extent and of excellent quality. It might be a?ked 

 with much propriety, Does the use of peat always ensure 

 success ? It does not. How frequently one meets with sickly 

 clumps of Rhododendrons planted in peat ! I have sometimes 

 wondered what the proprietors of such miserable scrubs 

 thought of the dogmatic sentences of the " peat or nothing " 

 men — that is to say, if they ever took the trouble to think 

 about it at all ; not that I would infer that the peat is at 

 fault— no, it is the planting. Again I say, Plant well if you 

 plant at all. How can you suppose a shrub will thrive if you 

 thrust its roots into a puddle of stagnant water ? and that is 

 precisely the case when peat is thrown into an excavation iu a 

 mass of clay or other tenacious matter holding water like a 

 pond. It is just a death-trap, in which healthy roots cannot 

 exist. Flowing water, or rather water that is percolating 

 through the soil, is not fatal to the roots, for they revel in 

 such soil. la circumstances of this nature I certainly prefer 

 peat soils. For example, iu planting a fringe of Alpine Rho- 

 dodendrons around a fountain the soil used was turfy sods 

 broken up roughly and broken bricks ia equal parts, with a 

 drain connected with the fountain waste. Thus, although the 

 soil is constantly saturated with the fountain spray, yet there 

 is no actual accumulation of water about the roots, and the 

 condition of the plants is satisfactory in the highest degree. 



Wheu the Ehododendron assumes its legitimate position 

 and becomes the shrub of all gardens it will quite supplant 

 the Laurel, to which it is decidedly superior in beauty of 

 foliage, to say nothing of the blossom. I could pick foliage of 

 extraordinary size, and I am c mvinced it is not uncommon, 

 for I have just received a tracing of a leaf measuring 11 inches 

 long by nearly 5 inches wide, growing upon a plant iu the 

 nursery of Messrs. Casson, out on the moors of Thome near 

 Donoaster. — Edward Luckhubst. 



PHAL.ENOPSIS SCHILLERIANA, 



TuE following history and mode of culture of the fine plant 

 which was exhibited by Mr. Base, Ml'., at South Kensington, 

 and to which the medal was recommended to be given from 

 the Davis fund, has been forwarded to us by Mr. Bennett, the 

 skilful gardener at Banpemore. 



" The plant was sent from India about three years since by 

 Mrs. Plowden, a great enthusiast iu horticulture, with a nu- 

 merous collection of other Orchids. They were very badly 

 packed, so much so that out of twenty-seven Phalfpuopses of 

 sorts only six arrived with any life in them. The one in 

 question had one leaf about 3 inches long quite shrivelled up, 

 and two roots broken off. They arrived m that deplorable 

 condition that, though worth a considerable sum in India, I 

 sent word to Mr. Bass when the plants were unpacked that I 

 thought they were worth about £20. Immediately upon un- 

 packing I hung them on the back wall of a north house, against 

 which I had first nailed some garden mats. These, from being 

 regularly syringed, kept the plants moist. 



" There were several blocks of mahogany wood sent over with 

 them, and to one of these I wired the Phalaenopsis ; and as it 

 began to root to it after being on the back wall for six weeks, 

 I put the end of the block in an 11-inch pot, fiUing-up the pot 

 and making the block fast in it with crocks and some lumps 

 of Epps's tibry peat, covering the top of the pot and the whole 

 of the block with live sphagnum. The first season the plant 

 sent up a weak flower spike ; the second season the roots made 

 great progress, running down the block and all among the 

 crocks and peat, and the plant made two leaves 18 inches long 

 and wide, and in the spring threw up two flower spikes bear- 

 ing one hundred flowers. The peat was then, as far as possible 

 without disturbing the roots, picked out and fresh added, and 

 last season the plant made two more leaves 1 foot long and 

 inches wide each, and showed two more spikes of bloom, but 

 from the leaves not being quite so long this season as last, I 

 decided on only leaving the one spike. 



" The present spike is r, feet long and 8 feet across, and the 

 plant measures, including the spike, (> feet 'A inches high. 

 There are nearly eighty flowers on the spike. The block stands 

 about 1.1 inches out of the pot, the plant being on the extreme 

 end of it, and I cannot help thinking that the position of the 

 plant has something to do with its success, as I have several 



in the same house under the same treatment as regards water 

 and temperature, only some of them are in pots and the others 

 in baskets, none on blocks in pots; these are all doing well, 

 but nothing extraordinary. I shall grow them on blocks for 

 the future. 



" The temperature baa been for the months in autumn and 

 winter from liO' to (i.5' at night with a rise of Ti' by day, the 

 summer temperature 70° to 75' at night with a rise by day, 

 with plenty of moisture ; the plant has been well watered, 

 and shaded from the sun. I cannot too strongly recommend 

 Epps's peat for Orchids ; I have found it as fresh when re- 

 potting as when first used." 



Rarely, if ever, has this beautiful Orchid been exhibited 

 with a finer spike than the one referred to, and we are glad to 

 lind that Mr. Bass's valuable plant received no injury by its 

 long journey, which is encouraging to others contemplating 

 the exhibition of commendable specimens. — Eds. I 



ROAD-MAKING,— No. 3. 



H.iviNG provided for the foundation we now come to what 

 may be called the finishing material, and here I expect to 

 be met with the usual remark, " The product of the neigh- 

 bourhood is all we have to employ." This is doubtless true 

 in many cases, but not in all ; and even where there is no 

 choice the mode of using such materials has much to do with 

 the cost of the road as well as its quality, for to empty 

 cartload after cartload upon ground plunged-up with wheel- 

 ruts and other unevenness, without any attempt at level- 

 ling, is downright waste. Where the work has to be done in 

 wet weather the carting ought always to be done upon the 

 road that is made, and it is better not to take either horses or 

 carts upon the soft ground on which the stones have to bo 

 laid ; and if it be very soft a slight covering of heath or 

 branches — even hedge clippings or rubbish of any kind — will 

 save a great many stones being lost in the clay or mud. As to 

 the material, I have no hesitation in giving the preference to 

 broken stone over sifted rounded gravel. Although the latter 

 often makes a good hard road, it is some time before it sets 

 well, especially in hilly roads ; so that where it is possible it is 

 better to have at least a portion of broken stone to mix with 

 the gravelly pebbles. 



It has often been a question amongst those most interested 

 in the well-being of our roads, whether the somewhat hasty 

 abandonment of the old-fashioned pavement or causeway 

 which took place about a century ago, was not in many cases 

 an injudicious one. Certainly the rage for macadamised roads, 

 as they are called, has received a check since then, and the 

 pavement in some streets, &c., that was pulled up to make way 

 for this so-called improvement has been laid down again, 

 (jood paved parish roads are yet to be met with in Cheshire 

 and Lancashire, and not very many years ago one of the 

 turnpike roads leading out of Bolton had rather a peculiar 

 appearance, one-half of it being paved and the other half mac- 

 adamised, a sort of a kerb to the paved portion running-up 

 the midc'.le of the road, and I believe the latter was most used 

 in winter, while the other was the summer favourite. But 

 paved roads of a common kind are often made of a soft stooe 

 where a hard one is not to be had, and it answers much better 

 in this form than if it was broken-up, besides which a paved 

 road ia much easier kept clean in dirty weather ; and it would 

 be well for those interested in such matters to give some 

 further trial to the pavement before they too hastily condemn 

 it, for notwithstanding the perfection to which macadamised 

 roads have been brought they are costly, and in spite of the 

 comfort which the steam roller has given to the pedestrian 

 crossing a street that is newly covered with fresh stones, it is 

 vexing to find how soon the operation has to be repeated. In 

 the formation of new places the value of paving should always 

 be considered, for it is particularly suitable for many positions, 

 and especially by the sides of buildings and where special 

 work has to be done needing a smooth hard surface. 



Roads ought not to be made too high in the centre, as by 

 that means the traffic is too much confined to the middle, but 

 a little roundness is necessary to throw the water to the sides. 

 Where the traffic can be controlled at the beginning it is 

 much better for it not to be always in the same route. A hint 

 this way from someone in authority will do much to more 

 speedily render the road a good one all over instead of in one 

 or more tracks. A rolling with a heavy roller will do good 

 after rain, especially if done early enough in the winter for 

 the road to become consolidated before dry weather sets in. 



