April 30, 1874. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDKNER. 



351 



neighbonrhood of London, Eastbourne, Pevensey, Sandown 

 in the Isle of Wight, and Lynn, and threatens to be exceed- 

 ingly destractive to the Hollyhocks. — (Nature.) 



[At Dartford Mr. Reeves has found every leaf of the Common 

 Mallow infested with this destructive fungus. J 



Theue is now in flower in the grounds at Courtmac- 



eherry, near Bandon in Ireland, a fine plant of Rhouodkndron 

 CINNAMOHF.U.M bearing 130 trusses of flowers, and each truss 

 containing on an average eighteen flowers. 



We are glad to see that Government have at last begun 



to carry out their agreement with the Trustees of the Bethnal 

 Green Museum, by laying-out the vacant space around the 

 Museum in gardens for the recreation of the people. 



Tub botanists of Yorkshire and the North of England 



have commenced a subscription to mark the services of Mr. 

 Abrhham Stansfield, of Vale Gardens, Todmordeu, the father 

 of the Botanical Society of Yorkshire, for his services to 

 science, especially in Alpine and cryptogamic botany. 



The prize list of the Western Hobticoltoral Society's 



Show, to be held at Plymouth, as advertised, is very liberal. 

 In addition to the neual money prizes there are plate and 

 silver cups, valued at twenty, ten, and five guineas. 



On the 15th inst. Mr. J. C. Stevens sold by auction 



286 lots of Orchids for about £500. One Masdevallia Veitchii 

 was knocked down for £10 10s. A new species, it is believed, 

 of Cattleya fetched £6, and Masdevallia ignea £5 15s. 6d. 



NOTES ON VILLA and SUBURBAN GARDENING. 



The propagation of plants by cuttings is an operation more 

 dependant upon art than any other which horticulturists have 

 to contend with, for in addition to the incipient plant being 

 ont-o£E from all communication with its parent, it is also deprived 

 of all support, except the httle matter it contains within itself 

 and which is necessary to the formation of roots ; therefore it 

 is obvious that it is not only requisite to surround it by circum- 

 stances favourable to the production of roots, but also to prevent 

 as far as possible any injury it might sustain by the evaporation 

 of the juices. Hence the indispensability of a humid atmo- 

 sphere in propagating pits, and of covering cuttings with hand 

 or bell-glasses to prevent the escape of moisture when it is 

 inconvenient to keep the whole atmosphere of a pit in a saturated 

 state. 



One of the greatest mistakes we commit in the propagation of 

 hardwooded greenhouse plants is placing the cuttings in heat 

 directly they are inserted in the cutting-pot. This ought never 

 to be done, because the increased temperature and humid atmo- 

 sphere cause the cuttings to grow, and consequently to expend 

 that small quantity of matter which ought to go to the formation 

 of roots ; and hence, though the cuttings may appear fresh and 

 vigorous for a few days or even weeks, it will generally be found 

 that after that time they will turn black at their bases and ulti- 

 mately die-off. These remarks are applicable to the propagation 

 of hardwooded plants ; but softwooded subjects, such as Petunias, 

 Verbenas, Heliotropes, and Pelargoniums, which are more excit- 

 able, will root freely if put at once into strong bottom heat, 

 though it must be remarked that such treatment is not to be 

 recommended for cuttings taken from plants in the open air or 

 a, cool greenhouse. The most certain way is to place the cuttings 

 in a close moist atmosphere, the temperature of which corresponds 

 with that in which they have been produced, until they have 

 formed the callus, after which, if removed to a moderate bottom 

 heat, they will root with great freedom. 



As to the preparation of cuttings great diversity of opinion 

 exists among practical men, some advocating the removal of part 

 if not all the leaves, while others as strenuously exclaim, " Touch 

 not a leaf ! " Under certain circumstances both parties are 

 light, because if cuttings cannot be placed where all loss from 

 evaporation is cut off, the more evaporating surface is decreased 

 the better, since it is better that the leaves should be removed 

 at once than that they should remain upon the cutting until 

 they have exhausted it of its juices, which they would do in a 

 very short time. But if a moist atmosphere can be kept round 

 the cutting, then I say, " Touch not a leaf," except such as 

 would make the 3utting-pot crowded with foliage, because the 

 leaves contain the matter out of which the roots are formed, 

 and are the laboratories for the preparation of other matter to 

 form branches and flowers. I have before remarked that cut- 

 tings cannot be too short if they possess the parts necessary 

 to form a plant, and this fact can hardly be too much insisted 

 upon. 



From the above the amateur will be able to glean that the 

 conditions for success in the propagation of plants are a moist 

 atmosphere, a proper preparation of the cutting, and a moderate 

 degree of bottom heat after the callus is formed. 



After these remarks it is scarcely necessary to offer any on the 



propagation of the Rose ; but I may observe that in the Rose 

 nurseries the plants are kept in a constant state of excitement ia 

 a strong moist atmosphere, to which little or no air is admitted, 

 and the cuttings, when of the proper length and sufficiently 

 firm, are taken off and planted immediately in very small pots, 

 and plunged in a genial bottom heat, in which they generally 

 root in about three weeks ; they are then transferred to 60-sized 

 pots, and in a few weeks are ready for the market. This is the 

 process of Rose manufacture in the trade, and by it it is no 

 uncommon thing to raise from five hundred to a thousand young 

 plants from a single old one in the course of twelve months. 



In the garden Ferns seem only appropriately introduced on 

 what is called rockwork, which means a bank of earth irregu- 

 larly terraced with mis-shapen blocks of stone, or by masses of 

 some other hard porous material, the vitrified conglomerations 

 formed by the burning of bricks being that most commonly 

 used. With taste in the distribution of these and such-like 

 materials, and in the planting of the Ferns, a very pleasing 

 effect may be produced ; and on rockwork of this kind, if it is 

 erected in a shaded and sheltered situation, and liberaily sup- 

 plied with percolating (not stagnant) water, and if the soil is oJ 

 a texture which will admit of being thus constantly moist with- 

 out becoming soddened, nearly all the English Ferns may be 

 grown successfully. The most sunny, most exposed, and least 

 moistened position on the rockwork should be appropriated to 

 those species which grow naturally in situations in which these 

 conditions exist ; while the kinds which naturally prefer tho 

 deepest shade and the dampest soil should be placed in the> 

 positions where these conditions are most nearly imitated. 



The most interesting mode for the amateur Fern-grower con- 

 sists in the cultivation of the plants under glass, either in pots 

 or planted in a Wardian case. AU the species admit of being 

 grown in pots, and when developed under the protection of a 

 covering of glass, acquire more than their natural delicacy of 

 appearance. For the hardy Ferns, the frame or case in which 

 they are grown should have a northern aspect. The plants 

 mnst be kept cool in summer by shading, by sprinkling, and by 

 removing all impediments to a free circulation of air at night, 

 not quite closing the frame even by day. 



Wardian cases for Ferns, in which they may be planted-out 

 on rockwork, may be either of the size and nature of a small 

 detached greenhouse, or of those windows or balcony green- 

 houses made by enclosing within a projecting sash a greater or 

 smaller one external to the window, or they may be of smaller 

 size and more finished workmanship for the interior of a 

 dwelling-house, for staircase landings, or any other sitnation 

 within-doors where they can be moderately lighted. The most 

 proper soil for Ferns grown in pots or cases consists of the 

 native earth called peat or bog earth and a sandy loam, mixed 

 in about equal proportions, with a further admixture, equal to 

 an eighth of the whole mass, for the more delicate sorts, of any 

 pure granulated silicious matter, which is used for the purpose 

 of preventing the too close adhesion and consolidation of the 

 particles ; the clean white sand called Reigate sand is that most 

 generally employed ; they are not benefited by manure. 



The supply of water to Ferns under artificial conditions is a, 

 very essential matter. They must never lack water, or their 

 fragile structure shrinks as before a burning blast, nor, with few 

 exceptions, must the soil about them be kept constantly wet 

 with stagnant water. 



The dwarf herbaceous Ferns are characteristic of the tem- 

 perate and colder zones, but even in temperate regions some of 

 these herbaceous Ferns attain considerable height, as is the 

 case with the common Bracken, which in the hedgerows of 

 sheltered rural lanes in the south of England reaches the height 

 of 8 or 10 feet, and assumes the most graceful habit that can be 

 conceived. 



Propagate double Wallflowers by slips of the young shoots of 

 the head. Sow annuals for a succession, such as Sweet Peas, 

 Mignonette, Nasturtiums, Lupines, Flos Adonis, &c. 



Take-up those Hyacinths, Tulips, &c., which have done flower- 

 ing, and dry them in the shade to put away. Support all flowers 

 with sticks. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST AND PRESENT WEEKS. 



FRUIT QABDEN. 



At present the frnit garden is exceedingly attractive. Cherry 

 trees are clothed in whiteness ; Pears are in full blossom ; and, 

 more interesting and beautiful than either, the Apple blossoma 

 are unfolding their delicate petals to the soft western breeze. 

 Indeed it may be truly said that " all nature wears a face of 

 beauty, and is animated with a spirit of joy." At the same time 

 the trees now claim our attention. The eggs of the Lackey 

 Moth (Bombyx Neustria) are now being hatched, and the larvaa 

 are busily engaged spinning a tent-like covering to shelter them- 

 selves from a possible change in the weather. When they are 

 all safe under this covering it will be the time to crush them, or 

 to gather the webs with the caterpillars, and throw them into 

 a paU with a few inches of dry lime at the bottom. A cluster 



