Jane 18, 1874 ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDE NEK. 



48!) 



Ixia-liie flowers, about 1] inch in diameter, with six spreading 

 segments, of an orange colour, streaked with orange-red. 

 They are somewhat fuKaeious, but this defect is compensated 

 for by their number. The Pardanthus is not absolutely hardy, 

 but will only need a covering in severe weather ; it requires a 

 warm and rather dry situation and soil. Increase may be 

 effected by division in spring ; or by seeds, which are generally 

 ripened. Seedlings generally bloom the second year, occasion- 

 ally the first if sown very early. 



To these we may add the Bobartia aurantiaca, a half-hardy 

 bulb, growing about 1^ foot high, with linear foliage and nu- 

 merous star-shaped flowers of a vermilion tint. It does best 

 in a mixture of sandy peat and loam, and may either be 

 planted in autumn — in which case the bulbs should be at least 

 -1 inches from the surface, and have a pot turned over them in 

 severe weather — or planting may be deferred until Slarch. As 

 the bulbs are small and cheap, several should be planted 

 together in a clump. 



The Sisyrinchium californicum is another useful plant de- 

 serving mention, and has the advantage of being hardy in 

 most localities. It is an herbaceous plant growing about 1 foot 

 high, the leaves flat and almost linear ; throughout the summer 

 it produces numerous bright yellow flowers, lasting only a 

 single day, about 1 inch across, with six spreading segments. 

 In a friable moist soil it increases with great rapidity. — 

 (TF. Thompson's English Flower Garden, Revised by the 

 Author.) 



TREATMENT OF FARMYARD MANURE FOR 

 GARDENS. 



Few subjects are of more importance to the gardener, or 

 have led to the expression of more opposing views from dif- 

 ferent writers, both practical and scientific. One class recom- 

 mend vehemently that manure should be thoroughly rotted in 

 the yard before putting it out on the land, and support their 

 position by arguing that manure is not food for the plant 

 imtil it is decomposed ; also, that when manure is rotted, it 

 requires less labour to haul and spread it, iu consequence of 

 the great diminution in its bulk. This latter argument can 

 only count on the supposition that although the bulk be so 

 greatly diminished, the virtue of the manure all remains, which 

 is most certainly a mistake. Another party advocates putting 

 out the manure whUe quite fresh or " green," and immediately 

 spreading it on the land. Advocates of both measures point 

 triumphantly to results as conclusive evidence that they are 

 right. 



It is not to be denied, of course, that a marked effect 

 will follow either course alluded to, especially if sufficient 

 manure be applied ; and yet both of these plans are greatly 

 wrong, though partly right. It is quite true that manure is 

 not food for the plant until it is decomposed or " rotted." But 

 the fatal objection to rotting in the yard is that by so doing 

 we lose, say, one-half of a valuable commodity. On the other 

 hand, it is true that putting out green manure puts all the 

 constituent elements on the land ; yet the foUowing grave ob- 

 jections exist against the plan: — 1, It does not increase the 

 manure; 2, It does not improve the quality; 3, It seeds the 

 land with weeds ; 4, It does not save labour or time, and may 

 cat the ground up objectionably. But can a process be sug- 

 gested which possesses all these advantages without the draw- 

 backs? Yes, I am confident that the following process will 

 meet all objections, and will also increase the bulk of manure ; 

 will improve the quality, will kill the weed seeds without in- 

 creasing the labour, and will throw much of that work into 

 seasons of the year which are not so precious as that in which 

 yards are usually emptied. The process is as follows : — On 

 the ground where it is desired to have the manure, select an 

 elevated position, and with the aid of a pickaxe and shovel 

 make a long shallow trench, say 6 or 7 inches deep, and 2 or 

 S feet wide ; throw the earth out on the upper side of the 

 trench. This trench may be made at any time, but one must 

 always be prepared just before winter, say in the early part of 

 November. Next, in cleaning the stables, always shovel im- 

 mediately into the cart or waggon, and haul at once to the 

 trench, where it may be dropped in a manner most convenient 

 for covering. Then cover the manure as soon as possible with 

 earth taken from either side of the trench, until the manure is 

 covered with twice its bulk of earth. The drier the earth and the 

 more pulverised the better. Let the earth cover all the manure 

 as effectually as possible, to arrest the gases arising from the 

 decomposing manure. In this state it may stand as long as 



desired without loss, if the weeds are not allowed to grow on 

 top of it. A month before using it should be examined, and 

 if not thoroughly rotted, the heap should be lightened up and 

 stirred, to admit air and moisture. When ready for use, the 

 manure has almost disappeared, and the earth having absorbed 

 all the gases evolved in the act of decomposition, has become 

 manure. But, inasmuch as we doubled the bulk of earth to 

 the manure, we have twice as much manure as we had, and 

 moreover we have two loads on the high part of the ground 

 for the hauling of one, thus lessening greatly the labour of 

 drawing to the garden. Hence it follows that this process pays 

 best where you have to haul farthest and highest ; the spread- 

 ing, being downhill, is easier. 



The main principle of this process is the well-known quality 

 which earth possesses of "fixing" gases. The earth retains 

 these gases, which are the vital fertilising properties, until the 

 plant root comes iu contact with it. This fertilising earth is 

 very durable, as "nothing is lost;" indeed, its effects have been 

 plainly visible on the spot where it had been spread years and 

 years before. By this process I conceive that every possible 

 objection in the treatment of manure is obviated, every leak 

 stopped, and every advantage gained. When the compost is 

 thoroughly "cooked" or rotted, the weed seeds must be killed, 

 and the manure is fit food for the plant. It is a manure fit 

 lor any or all crops. For digging-under and top-dressing, we 

 have the high authority of the late Professor Johnston for say- 

 ing, that when a compost is made of more than one constituent, 

 the mass is eijual or superior to its best part. From this it 

 would follow that the whole of the compost heap is at least as 

 good as the best ingredient which came out of the stable, and 

 that the quality of the whole is improved. — (Cultivator.) 



MIMOSA PODICA. 



The family of Mimosa, like many otLtrs of the same order — 

 LeguminosiB, are attractive by the elegance of their pinnated 

 foliage alone. Their inflorescence, too, if not belonging to the 

 grand in size or gorgeous in colour, is deserving apprecia- 

 tion by its softness in texture and tint. The family, moreover, 

 affords boundless scope for study, not only to the merely 

 curious, to the innate novelty-lovers, but to the astute philo- 

 sopher who would dive into the secret recesses of Nature by 

 the light of science, and appropriate, if possible, the hidden 

 mysteries, and evolve the motive power of many wonderful 

 works. That all plants have periods of rest — i.e., "go to 

 sleep" at longer or shorter intervals, is a necessity of their 

 being. It is only, however, noticeable with many by summer 

 and winter, but the Mimosas give palpable evidence of a noc- 

 turnal rest and a diurnal awakening, as clearly as the rising and 

 setting of the sun, or as the various representatives of the 

 animal world. These striking characteristics give to the family 

 an interest above and beyond any mere beauty of leaf or flower, 

 and in no species are they so clearly portrayed as in the well- 

 known annual form Mimosa pudica or sensitiva. The sleeping 

 and waking of this plant, its extreme irritability, and its 

 sudden shrinking from the sense of touch, have only a counter- 

 part in the sensibility of the animal world, which invests 

 it with an interest and pleasure-giving property which only 

 increases with increasing years. It is no small testimony to 

 the merits of any plant that it can preserve all its pristine 

 powers of attraction over a period of upwards of two hundred 

 years, for at least this period has elapsed since its introduction 

 from Brazil, and its power to yield gratification is as fresh as 

 ever. The octogenarian still looks over it with quiet contem- 

 plative pleasure, and the first glance of it fills the child with 

 ecstacy. If it can and does give repose to age, and awakens a 

 latent faculty in the spring time of youth, there is no wonder 

 that it is popular, no wonder that it is coveted in conservatory 

 and window. 



To all the merits of this old and long-established favourite is 

 added an advantage which should certainly be appreciated by 

 the great mass of garden lovers, and that is the ease of having 

 it in any desired quantity, and its simple mode of culture. It 

 neither demands the outlay of any great cost nor skill. A packet 

 of seed, structural convenience, and attentive care are the three 

 main requisites. 



First with regard to seed. It is soon disposed of, as it 

 can be had for tjd. or Is. from any respectable vendor. The 

 second point is of more moment, for being a stove plant it 

 must have heat. With a temperature of not less than (JO^ by 

 night in the spring, all the rest is plain sailing. With a plant 

 stove having bottom heat all is provided, but as most places 



