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JOUENAL OF HORTICDLTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[ March 30, 1876. 



throw-np snokers ? With proper drainage and one-tenth of 

 the quantity of matmrf> would he not, in all probability, have 

 experience d a yery different result ? 



Mr. Camm in conchiBion adjures your readers to "let the 

 Dog Rose bloom in the hedges undistuibed and protect the 

 Osmnnda regalis, &c." The Osmunda needs little protection 

 with us, for in our unfavoured district you would be as likely 

 to find an Anthurium or a Poinsettia ! — Winchmoke. 



STBINGING VINES. 



" J. E. R." has written this very suggestive sentence, " It 

 was not the water, but fomething deposited from it, that did 

 the injury to the Vines.". I believe " J. R. R." to be quite 

 right ; indeed he proves 'conclusively that he is so by the use 

 of filtered water and the perfect cleanliness of the foliage and 

 fruit of his Vines. The operation of syringing is of considerable 

 importance. The syringe is almoEt always in use, but when 

 used thoughtlessly the practice merges into a practice of abuse. 

 No small amount of injury is committed by indiscriminately 

 syringing plants and Vines. The water is plied under the 

 impression that the foliage cannot be kept healthy and clean 

 without it, but frequently precisely the reverse of the result 

 sought for is the end which is attained. 



Injury is done by syringing in three different ways — firstly, 

 by ueing impure water ; secondly, by using it at a temperature 

 injurious to the foliage ; and thirdly, by undue violence in its 

 application. It is very rarely indeed that water in its natural 

 Btate is found sufficiently pure to be freely and safely applied 

 to the foliage of plants and Vines. Eain water cannot always 

 be obtained ; and if it can, it has been so long stored in tanks 

 that it ceases to be pellucid, and becomes, if not muddy, at 

 least sooty. Such water should not be used for syringing fresh 

 from the tank, but the watercang should be filled some hours 

 previously to the time of syringing, and if they are not moved 

 water fairly clean can be obtained. The carrying-out of that 

 simple practice alone will make a great difference in the clean- 

 liness and consequent health of the foliage to which the water 

 is applied. River water is still more rarely sufficiently clean 

 for syringing purposes, and requires a longer time to " settle " 

 than rain water, and such water should never be applied to the 

 foliage of plants frefh from the pond. 



Well water is yet worse, for it may be clear as crystal, yet 

 be so strong'y impregnated with minerals as to be positively 

 injurious to the foliage of plants. I have seen the foliage of 

 Vines almost white as a miller's hat, the result of syringing 

 with clear spring water drawn from wells in a limeetone dis- 

 trict. The Vines were of course not healthy, the mineral in- 

 crustation causing thtm to be little short of suffocated. Far 

 better is it that Vines never be syringed at all than that such 

 water should be used. The filter is the remedy for impure 

 water; but few have filters, and when these are not provided 

 the water should be allowed a sufficient time to settle, or not 

 be applied at all to the foliage of plants or Vines. 



Injury is also done by sjringing with water at a too low 

 temperature. In the early days of my gardening career a part 

 of my duty was to deluge the plants and Vines with water 

 drawn from the taps when frequently that water was 10° to 15°, 

 and even more, colder than the temperature of the house. 

 No wonder that ours was not considered a "plant place," and 

 that we had the unenviable notoriety of being associated with 

 shanked Grapes. I am satisfied that the great cause of our 

 failures under glass was the result of what I call stereotyped 

 reckless syringings. Tile water should first be clear and then 

 warmed to even a few degrees higher than the temperature of 

 the house; and then if properly applied, and applied at the 

 right time, the application will be beneficial. A system of 

 syringing by dockwoik is indefensible, yet the system prevails. 

 It is rarely necessary that the water be applied to plants and 

 Vines with great force, and never when the foliage is clean. 

 If insects tave gained a footing force is necessary to expel 

 them, but I then regard the "water power" as the least of 

 two evils. It is the gentle shower that refreshes, and not the 

 driving rain. 



But is the syringing of Vines necessary? Personally I fail 

 to perceive the use of it ; but others, whose position as good 

 cultivators I am bound to respect, have great faith in the efll- 

 cacy of the syringe. They live probably in red-spider-infested 

 districts, and regard the use of the syringe as the natural, and 

 almost the only effectual, antidote to the ravages of that insect. 

 Each gardener will follow the course which he has found suc- 

 oessful. I have found tnccess in Vine culture without syring. 



ing, and a quarter of a century's experience in four different 

 counties tells me that Vines can be kept clean and healthy 

 without any systematic application of water to their foliage by 

 the usual and ordinary syringings. 



That the foliage requires moisture is generally admitted ; 

 but moisture in the form of vapour is, I think, more beneficial 

 than two showers a-day from the syringe. That applies to 

 country districts distant from dusty roads. In neighbourhoods 

 where clouds of dust and smoke defile the air and deposit 

 their particles on vegetation a free use of the syringe may be 

 necessary, but in that case I should consider two washings 

 a-week to float the dust off the foliage preferable to fourteen 

 ordinary sprinklinga, which set and fix the dirt on the foliage 

 almost as fast as glue. 



The paths, &o., of a vinery should rarely be really dry, and 

 should never be swept when in a dry state. Alternate syring- 

 ings, dryings, and sweepings are the most effectual means of 

 contributing to the unsightly appearance and unhealthy state 

 of the foliage of Vines and plants. I have never found any 

 difficuliy in preserving the foliage in a healthy state by afford- 

 nig moisture in the form of vapour as the regular system, sup- 

 plementing it with an occasional washing as I think may be 

 needed. 



This washing may be given three or four times during the 

 season. It is then no ordinary squirting applied to the under 

 sides of the leaves where the filth does not settle, but is mainly 

 applied with force to the glass of the roof, the water falling 

 down on the upper surfaces of the foliage, rinsing it of the 

 particles of soot and dust which may have accumulated, and 

 thus the Vines are kept healthy and clean. 



I fear that the syringe is greatly abused, and that snfiioient 

 thought is not given to the nature of the water both as to its 

 purity and temperature when it is applied to the foliage. This 

 point is fully acknowledged and acted upon by the growers of 

 fine-foliaged plants for exhibition ; and if care in this respect 

 is necessary with the plants it is equally necessary in respect 

 to the Vines. 



I thank " J. E. R." for his suggestive communication on 

 page 205. It will lead to thought on a suViject on which 

 thought is required, and will induce some to think who have 

 not sufficiently thought of the matter before, that the syringe 

 is occasionally if not frequently abused. — Ex-Exhibiiob. 



AZALEAS IN THE OPEN AIB. 



Mr. Ollerhead in his admirable essay submits some good 

 reasons against the practice of placing Azaleas in the open air, 

 and probably there are not many cultivators who would prefer 

 to expose their plants if they had proper houses in which to 

 afford them shelter. A great number, however, of those who 

 grow Azaleas have not the desirable conveniences, and thus 

 are compelled to submit their plants in summer and autumn 

 to out-of-door treatment. It is a great merit that the plants 

 will endure this treatment, not only without leceiving serious 

 injury, but occasionally with advantage. I mean that a good 

 position in the open air in late summer is more favourable to 

 the plants than is a bad position under glass. 



The plants should never be removed from the houses until 

 their buds are set, and then the pots should always be shaded 

 from the sun, for as much injury is done by extreme heat and 

 dryness as by extreme moisture by heavy rains. Moreover, a 

 few broken slates or tiles laid over the surface of the pota 

 will do much to prevent the soil from being either seriously 

 scorched or soddened. 



Mr. Ollerhead has also detailed his mode of successfully 

 renovating unhealthy and neglected plants. His plan is pro- 

 bably the best that can be generally adopted. I will, however, 

 desciibe one more eimple, and referring immediately to plants 

 in the open air. Several years ago I was instructed to destroy 

 some unhealthy Azaleas, but instead of throwing them on the 

 rubbish heap I planted them in an obscure place in the shrub- 

 bery, the soil being sandy loam. Soon they commenced 

 mailing fresh growth, and I was pleased to find that the mild 

 winter following did not injure the plants. In the following 

 summer the plants were restored to excellent health, and some 

 of them were potted. The others were left to take their chance, 

 and they grew and flowered in the shrubbery for some years 

 until a severe winter, which brought down the thermometer to 

 zero, killed the plants. 



I write this thinking that Azaleas may be more hardy 

 than they are commonly imagined to be, and to state that 

 " turning the plants out of doors," planting them out, and 



