4-C2 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB, 



( June 15, 1876. 



corating gardens large or tmall, princely or humble, and espe- 

 cially by thoir easy growth and ready mode of increase, let me 

 recommend Aubrietias aa worthy of extended cnltnre, and as 

 the best of these, Aabrietia grareoa and A. Campbelli.— 

 A Spring Gaeuenek. 



VINE CULTUEE— YOUNG WOOD. 



Undek the above heading " Cbseeveb " has, on page 427, 

 placed on record a mode of practice which I have proved by 

 many years' experience to be sound practice. I allude to the 

 mode of training-up laterals by the side of the main rods, and 

 pruning them at such intervals as the canes themselves suggest 

 to be the best point for shortening. 



The Tines under my charge twelve years ago had ceased to 

 bear satisfactorily on their twenty-years-old spurs, the growths 

 pushed too weakly to perfect good bunches and fine berries. 

 I was not permitted to remove these Vines, neither to cut 

 them down, for they were very old favourites with their owner, 

 and he desired that the rods which had served him so long 

 and so well should serve him until the end. 



Observing that the eyes on the laterals were much finer at a 

 loot distant from the main rod than close to it, I decided to try 

 on experiment with one Vine by training the laterals by the side 

 of the main rod, shortening these laterals at the best eye at 

 the winter's pruning, and removing the eyes below it except 

 the lowermost one, which I left to form a suecessional shoot 

 for the following year's bearing — working, indeed, on precisely 

 the same principle that Mr. Seymour adopted in his mode of 

 training the Peach. I was well rewarded, for the bunches on 

 that Vine were twice the size of the bunches on the other 

 Vines produced from short spurs. The lower eyes, however, 

 did not in all cases break strongly ; but that was no great in- 

 convenience, for it was easy to form new and stronger spurs, 

 were it desirable to do so, at the extremities of the one-year- 

 old shoots trained by the sides of the main rods. 



By following out this simple plan the Vines which were 

 ceasing to produce large foliage and good Grapes immediately 

 recovered their strength, and without any further aid produced 

 such crops of Grapes as they had, perhaps, never produced 

 before, and at this time they are as fine if not finer than ever 

 — the pride of the owner, and the admiration of visitors. They 

 have for some years been managed on the spur system or the 

 laying-in plan, according as the eyes suggested where the 

 shoots should be cut. 



I need hardly say that overcrowding has always been pre- 

 ■vented, which by a careful plan of disbudding is as easy as by 

 the orthodox spur or any other mode of pruning. By the 

 mode of laying-in young canes by the side of the main rods, 

 bunches of Grapes may be produced on any given portion of 

 the roof as certainly as if it was a matter of having the 

 bunches ready produced for placing there. 



Like "Obsekter" I believe "much nutriment is stored in 

 the old rods," but favourable channels must be provided for 

 the Vine to expand, and, these aiJorded, the Vine will renew 

 its strength. I am aware that Vines will continue to produce 

 good fruit freely on short spurs for more than twenty years, 

 and especially if their roots are kept near the surface of the 

 border by annual dressings of soil or manure; but with Vines 

 •the roots of which have rambled far away the case is different, 

 and the wood in that time frequently becomes puny and un- 

 productive. One remedy for this, I am assured by experience, 

 is to lay-in young wood thinly — very thinly, by the sides of 

 the old rods, and an improvement wUl shortly be manifest. 

 By adopting this plan the Vines under my charge shortly 

 ■became so invigorated as to push eyes where eyes were invisible 

 — that is, from the internodes of the rods between the spurs. 

 ■Some young canfs I pruned at 2-feet lengths, some at 3 feet, 

 and some at 4 feet, according to circumstances, and as I thought 

 would best fill the houses with superior Grapes. 



I conclude by advising that so long as Vines produce well 

 by pruning on the short-spur system, adhere to that plan ; but 

 if thfy fail, do not hesitate to lay-in young wood thinly and 

 j udicionsly. Now is the time to do it. — A Nohtheen Gaedekee. 



EDELWEISS. 

 These was some correspondence lost year respectirg the 

 probability of the Alpine flower Edelweiss (Leontopodium 

 alpinum, syn. Gnaphalium Leontopodium) flourishing when 

 transplanted to a low-lying situation. In August, 1874, not 

 far above the baths of Bormio, on the Stelvio Pass, I met with 



some roots of the plant, which I conveyed to this place, and 

 it is now in fuU bloom, fourteen flowers in one pot. It has 

 been exposed all the winter, the severity and long continuance 

 of which seem to have suited it. We are not 50 feet abovo 

 the sea, and its former home was about COOO above sea level. 

 — W. C. W., Sallford, Bath. 



DBACiENAS. 



Amongst decorative plants Dracaenas are held in great esti- 

 mation. In habit they are bold (even in young plants), and 

 in specimens their appearance is stately and imposing. Where 

 permanent effect is required I know few equals of such kinds as 

 D. australis, D. indivisc, D. nutans, and D. Veitcbii in the 

 greenhouse varieties, their linear green leaves and graceful 

 habit having a particularly fine effect ; but the coloured-leaved 

 stove kinds are not nearly so fine in aged plants as when the 

 plants are in a young state. 



Propagation is effected by cuttings, suckers, and seeds. The 

 plants usually flower in the early part of the year, and require 

 to be kept rather dry and impregnated, and they then set pretty 

 well, the berries lipening during summer. The seed should be 

 sown when ripe and placed in brisk moist heat, and the seed- 

 lings will scon appear and speedily make plants. Suckers 

 come freely on some kinds, aa D. ruVra, but are sparsely thrown 

 up by others ; in fact, a majority do not give suckers only so 

 distantly as to render this a very uncertain mode of increate. 

 I always strive in potting to prevent the plants from throwing 

 up suckers by removing the rhizomes v.Lieh proceed from the 

 root-stem in finger-like fashion. These I break oS close to 

 whence they proceed, and these parts are cut into lengths of 

 about 2 inches, and are potted in 3 or 4ineh pots, and buried 

 an inch deep, laying the cuttings horizontally; if placed in 

 bottom heat of 75° to 85° and kept moist and close they soon 

 throw up shoots, and when 3 or 4 inches high they are re- 

 moved to the stove and grown-on, making good plants by 

 autumn, they being put-in in March. 



Another mode of propagation is by striking the crown, 

 either by severing it or leaving it upon the stem. The last- 

 mentioned mode of propagation is by far the most desirable, 

 as by it we obtain plants available for decoration in their full 

 character in a short time, and in moderate-sized pots. My 

 practice is to make an incision transversely about halfway 

 through the stem, and take out the part by a cut upwards 

 slantingly, not making it long — perhaps half an inch, taking 

 care that the upper cut be transverse, and repeating the same 

 on the other side of the stem, but a little lower, so that the 

 cuts are not quite opposite each other. This operation must 

 be performed with care or the head will fall over. With a 

 weak stem I do not cut near'y so far through it, contenting 

 myself with a lesser notch. All we want, however, is sufficient 

 sap to rise to maintain the head fresh, and by the incisions to 

 arrest the descending current and secure roots above the 

 notches. The notched part for about 2 inches above and the 

 same below the notches is covered with moss, and secured in 

 the first instance with a ligature of matting and then with 

 copper wire, a little sufficing. The incisions are made only a 

 few inches below the lowest leaves, and if there are any old 

 leaves these are removed, the object being to have the plants 

 with as short stems as possible. The moss is kept wet, and 

 in the course of a few weeks roots protrude through it. The 

 crown is then severed just below the notches, and the plant is 

 potted, moss and all, up to the base of the leaves in a 5 or 

 6-inch pot, according to the size of the stem and plant. We 

 have only to shade from bright sun for a few days and afford 

 light sprinklings overhead, and we have shortly an established 

 plant available for decorative purposes. 



We have a long stem left, which if left in the pot will pro- 

 duce side shoota, and these when 2 or 3 inches long may be 

 cut off close to whence they proceed, be potted singly, placed 

 in bottom heat and shaded, and they soon emit roots. Bat 

 this is only acting so as to secure a few plants, whereas by 

 cutting-off the stem level with the surface the whole of the 

 stem removed is available for propagation. It may be cut 

 into such lengths as will fit into a pan, laying the pieces hori- 

 zontally and covering them an inch deep with soil, and placing 

 in a brisk heat and moist atmosphere, when young plants will 

 soon be emitted, which when a few inches high may be taken 

 oft close to the old stem and potted. The stems left iu the 

 pans will give more than a first batch of rooted cuttings. It 

 answers just as well to bury the stems in soil or tan in the 

 stove, covering them about an inch deep. Plants raised in 



