March 30, 1876. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



257 



too, that hold a prominent place in onr estimation, beinp; alike 

 nscful for in or ont-door work. The dwarf Naroiaeua Ajnx is 

 also a very attractive border plant. A mixture of sandy loam 

 and peat, welUdeoomposed vegetable matter, and sand or lime 

 rubbish, will afford them a suitable element to develops them- 

 selves in. They may be increased by seed and division after 

 they have matured their growth. — Veritas. 



CULTURE OF THE HYDRANGEA. 



Hydringeas are amongst the most eiifeotivo of decorative 

 plants duriug the spring and early summer months. I allude 

 now to those small plants with large heads that are to be seen 

 in such rare perfection in Covent Garden from April to July. 

 Plants are frequently seen in 5-inch pots having stems about 

 a foot high, and with flower heads fully a foot in diameter. 

 These flowers continue in beauty for several weeks, and are 

 very attractive. These plants are deservedly popular for the 

 adornment of rooms and conservatories, and being of easy cul- 

 ture they should be extensively grown. Such plants as I 

 allude to are produced as follows : — 



For early-bloomiug plHnts the present is the best time to 

 insert the cuttings, of which you will find an abundance spring- 

 ing up from the base of the plants. I place them singly into 

 thumb-pots, iu equal parts of losm and leaf mould with a 

 little sand, and plunge in a gentle bottom heat, where they will 

 soon root, after which they should be placed in a cold frame 

 till they are well estiblished. They should then be repotted 

 into48-Bized pots ; pot very firmly, using two parts of loam to 

 one of well-decayed manure, and place them in an exposed 

 situation iu the open air, and there let them remain till the 

 autumn frosts cut the foliage o£f. They must then be removed 

 to a cold frame till they are wanted for forcing. When the 

 flower trusses appear the plants must be well supplied with 

 mannre water till the flower* begin to show colour. 



Plants for blooming later may be provided by inserting the 

 cuttings early iu June, when they should be put into small 

 pots and plunged in a close cold frame till they are rooted, 

 when the lights should be removed altogether. They must 

 not be repotted until after Christmas. These will not require 

 nearly so much mimure water as the spring-propagated, and 

 they will last in bloom a much longer time. Many gardeners 

 have failures with Hydrangeas, which I think is due to the 

 plants not being in an exposed situation during the summer 

 months, which will cause them to become drawn and weakly, 

 and the consequence is when they start them they have 

 nothing but leggy plants and small heads of flowers. — A. Y. 



[We have inquiries as to changing the colour of tho flowers 

 of Hydrangeas — having the flowers pink or blue as desired. 

 It has been stated that a solution of alum applied to the roots 

 will change the colour of the flowers, and that a mixture of 

 iron fiUngs in the soil has the same effect. We should be 

 glad to hear from those who have tried these or other experi- 

 ments with Hydrangeas.] 



MYRSIPHYLLUM ASPAEAG0IDE3. 



This plant is noticed on page 238 as being largely grown in 

 America, and is recommended aa one of the best plants that 

 can be grown for affording delicate sprays for associating with 

 out flowers. The plant and its cultivation is referred to as fol- 

 lows by Mr. Fithian in the American " Gardener's Monthly."- 



" This beautiful plant, commonly known as Smilax, is 

 from the Cape of Good Hope ; the word Myrsiphyllum means 

 myrrh-scented. It is now used iu the cities for decorating, 

 and as affording green sprays for bouquets to such an extent 

 that there is a great demand for it by our city florists. 



" It is very easily cultivated, the seed being sown in boxes of 

 light but rich soil in August, and placed in a close and shaded 

 greenhouse. I saw at one time seed sown in two boxes, one 

 box being placed in a close house, the seed in it germinating 

 very well ; the other box was put in a hotbed, the heat being 

 95"; there it remained for eight weeks, only five or six seeds 

 germinating. Supposing the balance of the seed had decayed, 

 the box was taken out of the hotbed and placed with the first 

 box. In less than a week every Eeed germinated and grew at 

 a rapid rate, the plants soon outstripping those in the first 

 box. When large enough the seedlings should be potted-off 

 in 2-inch pots and placed in a warm house, and kept growing 

 until early spring, when they want a rest, for it must be 

 remembered they belong to the Lily family. After gradually 



drying place them under the bench, taming the pota on their 



sides. 



" The 1st of August they will begin to show life by throwing 

 up long slender shoots of a light purple colour, and looking 

 somewhat like Asparagus. They are now just one year old, 

 and want planting-out or potting. If they are desired for cut 

 flowers by all means plant them out ; they are tremendous 

 feeders— requiring plenty of room and water to bring them 

 to purfeotiou. Plant iu soil composed of two parts rich ma - 

 nure, two parts good loam, one part old sods, and one part 

 sand. Give plenty of water, never allowing them to become 

 dry; their two greatest enemies are drought and red spider, 

 either of which causes them to drop their leaves, and then 

 they are worthless for cut flowers. Each plant will throw up 

 six or eight shoots, and will need strings to hold them up ; 

 twine three or four shoots to one string, and when they have 

 grown to the height of 5 or G feet they are ready for maikst. 



" After they are all out dry-off gradually, and give a slight 

 top-dressing of fine but strong manure. Each following year 

 they will increase in value, throwing up more and stronger 

 shoots. While growing they should be often syringed and 

 occasionally watered with liquid manure after being diluted. 

 The second winter from seed they will flower and produce seed. 

 The flowers are greenish white, and very fragrant though small. 

 The berry grows to the size of an English Pea, and when ripe 

 — in August — is a light red colour, containing three or four 

 seeds which are hard and black." 



APPLICATION OF MANURE. 



I AM glad the above subject has received the notice it 

 deserves. "J. B. K." a^ks if the manure was used fresh from 

 the stables, or in a half or wholly decayed state. In nearly 

 every instance the manure I used was about half decayed, and 

 I find it better to have it dug into the ground iu dry weather. 



I intend manuring a plot this spring ; one half with old hot- 

 bed manure, and the other with fresh manure from the stable, 

 the whole of which is to be exposed to the atmosphere until a 

 convenient time to dig it in. The result of which experiment 

 I hops to give at a future time. 



I have noticed several times where meadows have been top- 

 dressed immediately after the hay was carried off, that it could 

 be seen to a foot where the manure was applied even when 

 there had not been a drop of rain fall on it for weeks after it 

 was spread. 



It would be very interesting if we could learn the practice of 

 some of the London market gardeners, or of other large towns, 

 where they cart home fresh manure, whether they prefer using 

 it in a fresh state or in a more decomposed state. — W. Graves. 



NOTES o.v VILLA and SUBURBAN GARDENING. 



Potting Plants. — No doubt villa gardeners are often, through 

 being pressed for time, compelled to do their work in a hurry; 

 and in some cases, as in sowing seeds in the open ground, it is 

 not so serious a matter, because if in the morning the soil can 

 be canght iu a fit state the seeds may be sown and just roughly 

 covered in, while the finishing part may be left for a day or two 

 longer, and very little, if any, difference will be seen in the crop 

 from those differently treated. In the case above mentioned, 

 and which I know often happens with amateurs, the soil must 

 be raked over before the seeds germinate, or probably some 

 damage would be done to the crop. 



In the case of potting plants more or less of this work has to 

 be done at all times in the year, and it is all-important that 

 dryish soil should be used, and the stock of this should be under 

 cover. I do not agree with soil, such as loam and peat for in- 

 stance, being kept in a warm place until it becomes quite 

 dried up, but moderately dry is what I mean ; even dry sand 

 does not work up with a very dry loam so well as one moderately 

 moist. It has been said by experienced gardeners that if when 

 a soil is mixed and some of it pressed tight in the hand, and if 

 when left to itself it suddenly falls to pieces, that it is in a fit 

 state for potting. I think so too, for it will not be too binding 

 when pressed into the pot, and vet it will go close enough to- 

 gether for the roots to become affixed in it. 



Now in order to keep the soil as long as possible in that state, 

 the pots must be quite clean at the time of using ; if any par- 

 ticles of earth cling to the sides they must be washed out or 

 they will turn the fresh soil sour, and the plants will not thrive. 

 A pot should not bo used when wet or damp, because this will 

 cause precisely what we want to avoid — the soil will adhere to 

 the pot and soon become unfit for the roots to grow iu ; and if 

 at any time it is necessary to turn that plant out of the pot for 

 examination, it will be impossible to do so without tearing most 



