400 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTICOLTUBB AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



t May 21, 1874. 



in the graftinc; of young stocks that may not be a great deal 

 larger than tha scion, the work is rai'ely done before the 

 20th of April with Apples, which are usually left till last, and 

 often much later than that. I find in our own practice about 

 ISO young stocks were so worked on April 2fith last year 

 with only three or four failures, and these mostly through 

 accidents, and this year upwards of a hundred were done on 

 the 23rd of the same month with, I trust, a like success. This, 

 of course, is only given as a small example. Those having a 

 large extent of fruit orchard keep their men at the work for 

 some weeks, perhaps beginning with Plums and Cherries, and 

 ending with Apples. 



In addition to the above features of lateness there is one 

 other in which the Kentish mode of grafting differs from that 

 generally adopted elsewhere, and that is in the shortness of 

 the scion, for when completed there are seldom more than two 

 buds seen above the clay, and oftentimes only one, thus leav- 

 ing the portion liable to wither and dry-up by the cold winds 

 common at the time as small as possible, and no doubt expe- 

 rience has taught the advantage of this. The mode of tying 

 on the scion, as weU as the application of clay covering, is the 

 same as is common elsewhere, save, perhaps, that the clay is 

 not always of so plastic a kind as many use, but rather a sort 

 of very adhesive loam, it having been found that the latter is 

 less likely to crack — from not shrinking so much, perhaps. In 

 preparing it, cow dung instead of horse droppings is used in 

 the proportion of about one-third, and it is seldom that a 

 crack is met with, even on grafts elevated several feet high, as 

 is necessarily done where old trees are headed down. 



It will be understood by all experienced in grafting that 

 when it is performed so late the scions must be taken off 

 beforehand, which is done, and being labelled and tied-up in 

 bundles they are laid with their butt ends in the ground, and 

 often remain there for weeks till wanted ; and with Apples, 

 Bhoots of scarce kinds often make two or more grafts, but 

 generally only one is made, as there is greater uncertainty of 

 the second one succeeding ; of course, with a new or scarce sort 

 the second one is often tried. Plums are also usually worked 

 earlier than Apples, the old-fashioned time for both being 

 when they are coming into bloom. How far this differs from 

 the custom elsewhere will be best understood by the practi- 

 tioners of other counties, but I would advise those not having 

 adopted it to try it and state the result. Of course, the scion 

 must be taken off some time beforehand, and laid-by as described 

 above. As experience on a large scale has taught the advan- 

 tages of late grafting, no apology is here wanted in advising its 

 being done in other places as well as in Kent. — J. Eobson. 



AUEICULA SEEDLINGS. 



As these take several years before they flower, keeping a 

 largo number in pots under glass in the distant hope of getting 

 something good involves serious labour, allow me to ask 

 "D., Dial" whose contributions I always hail with pleasure, 

 whether they might not more conveniently pass the first two 

 years of their existence in a carefully-prepared border, well 

 guarded against slugs? Even if allowed to bloom there, it is 

 possible that with a little light protection one might be able 

 to determine which should be condemned and which taken 

 up and potted for future trial. 



Last year I sowed in the same pan home-saved seed as soon 

 as it was ripe, and purchased seed ripened the year before. 

 Neither came up till last March, and they are stUl coming up. 

 — G. S. 



[It would be impossible to preserve the seedlings of show 

 Auriculas in the open border, their great enemy being damp, 

 and in winter probably all would perish ; but Alpines will with 

 care so live in a dry and favoured spot. I saw some very fine 

 plamts the other day taken up from the open border, but I have 

 no personal experience of them, save that some old plants 

 which I have planted out have perished. — D., Deal.] 



EirENiNG OF Peaches in Makch. — 'Without wishing to detract 

 from the merit due to Capt. Ashby's gardener, allow me to 

 state that on the 0th of April, 18G1, 1 was awarded a certificate 

 of commendation for a dish of Elruge Nectarines by the 

 Horticultural Society of London, and that they were ripe in 

 the last week of March, but had been retarded in a cool house 

 to keep them for the meeting. I may add that at the same 

 time I also had some Peaches ripe, but as they were reijuired 



for another purpose they were not exhibited at the meeting. — 

 Wm. Gardiner, Lower Eatington Park, Stratford-on-Avon. 



FLOWERS FOB OUE BOEDEES.— No. 32. 



asNOTHEEA KIPARIA.— RrvER-BiNK Evening Peimeose. 

 Under the incorrect name of ffi. prostrata this pretty dwarf 

 Evening Primrose is now somewhat generally known ; and 

 though its flowers are smaller and less showy than those of 

 some other species, we have no doubt that its hardiness, free- 

 flowering habit, and especially the extreme neatness of its 

 foliage, will cause it to rank among the most useful of the tribe. 

 It seems to succeed in any good garden soil. 



Q^notliera riparia. 



It is a near ally of the polymorphous species OE. fruticosa, 

 some form of which is to be met with in most gardens, and 

 resembles that species in its inflorescence, but is of weaker 

 habit of growth, and differs in its narrower and more elongated 

 foliage, as well as in the distinctly stalked flowers and seed 

 vessels. Though popularly known as an Evening Primrose, 

 its flowers are diurnal, as in the case of many other species 

 of this genus, and remain expanded several days. It is worthy 

 of note that this species is described as biennial by American 

 botanists, though so far as our observation has gone the plant 

 cultivated under this name in England is certainly perennial. 



When first introduced it was much recommended by the 

 late Mr. D. Beaton as a yellow bedding plant, its prostrate 

 growth rendering it very suitable for an edging to beds of 

 taller plants ; but the duration of its bloom is by no means 

 co-equal with that of the plants usually employed as bedders, 

 and of late years this species has been mostly confined to the 

 mixed border. Though naturally more or less procumbent, 

 it may, if thought desirable, be tied-up, and wiU then form a 

 bush li to 2 feet high. It is easily propagated by cuttings, 

 division, or by seeds, and when pegged down the shoots root 

 freely. — (W. Thompson's English Flower Garden, Revised by 

 the AtUlior.) 



Eed-leading Seeds. — Will you allow me to add my testi- 

 mony to that of Mr. Burgess in favour of red-leading seeds 

 before sowing '.' I have for the last two seasons adopted the 

 plan precisely as described by Mr. Burgess in your .Journal of 

 April 30th, and with the most complete success, for whereas 



