344 



JOURNAL OP HOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 14, 1876. 



pseudo-bulbs are ripened and the plant is fat rest no more 

 water ought to be given than just sufficient to keep the bulbs 

 from Bhrivelling. 



In " Paxton's Botanical Dictionary " instructions are given 

 to pot Stanhopeas. Small bulbs to be raised but slightly above 

 the rim of the pot, and large plants to be placed on a cone of 

 peat a foot or 15 inches high. Such cultural instructions are 

 at least half a century behind the present age, and ought not 

 to have been retained in an edition of the work published in 

 1868. If the plants are but slightly raised above the rim the 

 result will be such as happened to a gardener in the north. 

 He ordered a collection of Orchids, and among them a Stan- 

 hopea was sent. The gardener potted his Stanhopea as directed 

 in " Paxton," and it grew well but never flowered. A com- 

 plaint was made to the dealer, and he went over to see this 

 healthy Orchid that refused to flower. The acute nursery- 

 man turned the plant out of the pot, and it was found to be 

 beautifully in flower, but its exquisite beauty and powerful 

 fragrance were lost amongst the ample drainage at the bottom 

 of the pot. 



Neat baskets of teak or pottery (not wire), such as the one 

 figured on page 339, are best adapted for Stanhopeas ; and 

 with very little attention the plants will produce a profusion 

 of flowers annually. But three things must be borne in mind : 

 First, cleanliness; second, a season of growth; and third, a 

 season of rest. S. Martiana is a native of Mexico, and pro- 

 duces its white or straw-coloured flowers during the autumn 

 months. By growing plants of this species— S. Bucephalus, 

 S. msignis, S. oculata, and S. tigrina— flowers may be had 

 from June to November.— J. Douglas. 



HARDY FEUITS. 



Mr. Taylob admonishes young gardeners to look themselves 

 up a little in the cultivation of hardy fruits ; many others of 

 us may take the hint, and profit withal. The hardy fruit 

 department is one of the most important points of our pro- 

 fession. Orchard houses under many circumstances are not 

 what fancy painted them, and to many an industrious gardener 

 they have been a source of grief and disappointment. I have 

 known eases where men have felt continual failures so keenly 

 that they were disposed to give up in despair, while to others 

 they have proved a pleasure [and a success as well as a source 

 of profit. 



I wish the time had come when not only gardeners but 

 everyone who has a rod of land as a garden would devote 

 some portion of their time to the cultivation of hardy fruits. 

 There is nothing more beautiful to look upon than fruit trees 

 iu bloom, and in autumn when laden with fruit what can be 

 more useful and profitable? I am inclined to think that 

 pyramids are the most suitable form of trees, for when once 

 put iu form they are easily managed. Fruits of good quality 

 always meet with a ready sale, and ought to be obtainable bv 

 all.— P. P. o J 



A TRIP TO LONDON.— No. 3, 



BATTEESEA PAEK. 



There is no approach to Battersea Park that is so pleasant 

 as by the river, and country visitors who are desirous of seeing 

 something of other London sights as well as the public gardens 

 will do well to go by steamboat to the park pier from any of 

 the numerous piers above London Bridge. The embankments, 

 the bridges, and several fine buildings are all seen to greatest 

 advantage from the bosom of old Father Thames. This route 

 is always preferaljle even in a fog to the noisy streets or the 

 horrid "underground." A quiet stroll at Battersea affords 

 many useful lessons as well as much enjoyment to a gardener, 

 more perhaps than can be had iu any other place so close to 

 the metropolis. The early morning is the best time for a 

 visit, the place being so much crowded during the evening 

 that one's chief pleasure then consists in watching the enjoy- 

 ment of others ; but in the comparative quiet of the morniug 

 there is nothing to call the attention from the plants or to 

 prevent a careful study of their various combinations. 



Now for a few of the lessons. Note first the striking and 

 graceful effect of Ailanthus and Sumach, with a front belt of 

 Caunas. Here beauty is evidently imparted by the contrast of 

 three kinds of foliage, all elegant and yet dissimilar. It was a 

 happy idea to place the Ailanthus behind the Caunas, not 

 only because of its tall growth, but from its spreading habit, 

 60 different to the formal erect growth of the Cannas. The 

 group is all the more valuable because it is hardy, and may 



fairly be expected to become more striking and effective year 

 by year. At another point— a corner — we find a mass of 

 common Laurel in splendid health with very large foliage of 

 a deeper shade of green than I had seen it wear before, form- 

 ing a capital background to some Palms and Musas associated 

 with Yuccas. This was a fine group, and graceful from the 

 absence of crowding, each plant standing sufficiently apart 

 from the others to retain its individuality, and with the foliage 

 of all charmingly iutermingled. Another group totally dif- 

 ferent to this, but exceedingly chaste and elegant in its effect, 

 consisted simply of Pampas Grass and Seaforthia elegaus ; 

 all the more striking from its position — an alcove formed by 

 the shrubs. Then we come upon another fine arrangement of 

 white Abutilon mixed with tall plants of Fuchsia Sunray, 

 Ficus elastica, the yellow variegated Abutilon Thompsoni, and 

 Acacia lophantha — a very beautiful group deserving especial 

 notice, and not difficult to introduce into any garden. 



Other combinations equally ornamental are seen at every 

 turn, and it would require several papers to describe them 

 fully ; these I cannot contribute, but a few other groups shall 

 have a passing notice. The Polymnias and Wigandias were 

 of more than usual excellence, the huge foliage of both being 

 abundant and very large. The plants were iu quincunx order 

 about 4 feet apart in the rows, and 2 feet between the rows; 

 this distance affording ample space for the full beauty of the 

 foliage to be seen, and yet showing no unpleasant looseness 

 about the arrangement. The surface of the bed was carpeted 

 with dwarf ornamental-foliage plants. A number of luxuriant 

 Wigandias springing out of a dense wild growth of Lantana 

 with pretty pink flowers was very good. Some New Zealand 

 Flax mingled with green Ivy and variegated Vinca gave a 

 pleasing relief to a flat expanse beneath a tree. A flourishing 

 little Araucaria excelsa about 2 feet high in a circle of about 

 feet in diameter was so beautiful that I could not but regret 

 finding the bed carpeted with yellow foliage instead of a deli- 

 cate shade of pink, crimson, or blue, either of which would 

 have afforded a lovely contrast to the pale green lint of the 

 spreading branches of the Araucaria. 



Some of the carpet bedding was excellent, with well-coloured 

 Alternauthcras, and highly finished in every respect ; in other 

 examples the Alternantheras were not so bright. A carpet of 

 Cerastium arvense, as dense in growth as G. tomentosum, and 

 with bright green foUage, was most effective, with the orange 

 red Alternanthera paronychyoides. Golden Pyrethrum, and the 

 carmine Alternanthera amccna. This green-leaved Cerastium 

 is a great acquisition, and promises to supersede Tagetes sig- 

 nata pumila for carpet bedding. Sedum acre elegans, a pretty 

 plant with yellow and green variegation, made a capital edging 

 to this bed. 



Two large circles had a novel and very beautiful arrange- 

 ment, consisting of an interior band or chain of twelve small 

 circles, each with a single specimen Agave in the centre upon 

 a carpet of Sedum acre elegans, enclosed with a band of 

 mixed dwarf succulents, with outer rings of green Cerastium, 

 Golden Pyrethrum, and crimson Alternanthera. The centra 

 of each bed inside this chain of circles had a carpet of Alter- 

 nanthera magnifies, and outside the chain there was blue 

 Lobelia with enclosing lines of Leuccphyton Brownii and Sem- 

 pervivums. The best of the specimen Agaves were A. filiftr* 

 nana, a compact dwarf form of a deep green colour, with white 

 longitudinal markings, black-spined tips, and numerous whito 

 thread-like filaments recurving from the edges. A. americana 

 variegata; A. verucosa, with very broad, deep green, spinous 

 leaves ; A. alternata, pale green with yellow stripes ; and 

 A. filitera with broad chocolate spinona leaves mottled with 

 long green blotches. 



A host of other subjects claim notice — alpine plants. Fern 

 glades, shady banks not only clotlied in green, but really as 

 ornamental as a flower bed, with various succulent plants, 

 Ferns, Ivy, Ajuga, Viuoas, and Antennaria ; rocks clothed and 

 fringed with Cotoneaster microphylla, Bramble, and Jasmine, 

 as well as with succulent plants ; water edged with Sedges, 

 Ferns, and Rushes, etc. These passing notes will serve, I hope, 

 to show that Battersea grows in beauty and interest in the 

 hands of Mr. Roger?. I have been there many times, and have 

 always come away with a feeling of time improved and know- 

 ledge gained, and never more so than on the present occasion. 

 — Edwaed Luckhukst. 



Destroying Mealy Bdo.— Carbolic acid judiciously mixed 

 and applied to ripe Grapes will effectually disperse mealy bug, 

 but the Grapes must bo ripe, and then no iijjnry accrues to 



