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JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 23, 1876. 



Smiih'B fondfBt regards is Green's abhorrence; and therefore 

 it would be as unwise as unprofitable to attempt to dictate. 

 Rather would I try so to teach bo aa to induce independent 

 thought — to set forth individual traits and characteristics — to 

 fchow clearly which of the varieties have proved the most useful, 

 and why — to induce others to judge for themselves ; in a word, 

 to cfier the results of practice and experience. 



In looking over these notes I find that no mention has been 

 made of upwards of a dozen kinds of Plums, good and bad, 

 which I have in cultivation; enough good kinds have, how- 

 ever, been noted to Eelect from, and I need not, therefore, add 

 to the length of this paper. — Edward Lcckuuest. 



NEGLECTED FLORISTS' FLOWERS. 



THE BAIJUNCDLUS. 



In the round of favourite flowers grown by florists of a 

 generation Eince, there often used to come in due succession 

 between the Pink and the Picotee, and in most refreshing 

 contrast to all before and after it — the Ranunculus. Now its 

 jjlace in fuch a garden circle is often vacant. Not many Tulip 

 cabinets have now their few drawers at the bottom for Ranun- 

 culuses. It is a great pity, because the flower is full of capa- 

 bilities and pioperties attractive to the florist. It possesses 

 great ccmmand of colour. In the self varieties there are crim- 

 Eon and purple blacks ; scarlet, red, rose, pink, and white. In 

 jellowp, orange, lemon, cream ; aho white. There are classes 

 of white and yellow grounds with tips and edges, mottles and 

 stripes of various colours, usually some shade of purple, brown, 

 rose, and red, and in addition to these are some curious roans, 

 grey, and red, that are a fancy dress peculiar to the Ranun- 

 culup. 



One of the chief charms of this flower, particularly to a 

 florist, is that it is very sportive and vigorous from seed, so 

 much Eo that a Eeedling-bed is, perhaps, the great surprise 

 find charm of Ranunculus-growing. Even the most double 

 exhibition flower will frequently afford a feed head when fully 

 expanded, but vtry seldom any stamens. Pollen must, there- 

 fore, be obtained from well-shaped and coloured semi-doubles 

 that sflord it freely. Good seed somewhat resembles scales or 

 flakes of bran with a slight brown germ set in the middle. It 

 is veiy delicate, and like seed of the Auricula is better left un- 

 covered by any Eoil, and the soil kept generally moist by a 

 sheet of glaES over it. Sowing may be done at the time the 

 old tubers are planted — about the end of February. 



The Ranunculus has, no doubt, an ill name for being a 

 crotchety, ill-tempered old flower, a punctilious tuber reriuiring 

 everything to its own good liking, or else declining to bloom. 

 The plant is, indeed, particular in some of its requirements, 

 but troublesome in none. It is exact but not exacting. It 

 requires precisely its inch and a half underground, otherwise 

 the new tuber which is naturally formed over the very neck or 

 woolly crest of the old one will endeavour to rectify matters by 

 diving down or coming up by means of a sort of underground 

 stem, dropping several of its claws in the course of it, and 

 making an awkward if not weakened root. 



At planting time I always wet the tubers twenty-four hours 

 beforehand ; they then swell marvellously, and do not lite- 

 rally get up and walk out of bed, as they often do when planted 

 diy. Moistening them also enables one to detect any diseased 

 or rotten claw, which ought to be removed, but cannot be easily 

 detected in a dry state. The claws when thus swelled are not 

 brittle or liablo to be snapped off so easily at planting. Knock- 

 ing c if a healthy claw is so much loss of stored-up strength, 

 and it is worth while to be careful. Another emphatic demand 

 of the Ranunculus is a firm bed for growing in. If I were 

 doomed to take those forced and dismal walks called "con- 

 stitutionals," I would never forget to take some over my next 

 year's Ranunculus bed. It would be a walk " with an object." 



There are matters which the Ranunculus is more particular 

 about than soil, though it likes that good and hearty. Mr. 

 Tyso, the present representative of this Dower, most wisely 

 because most naturally, says that a bed made up of turfy sods 

 from a strong pasture where the Buttercup grows will suit our 

 member of that family, the Ranunculus. This is the best 

 advice that can be given where the native soil of the garden is 

 not a deep retentive, yet well drained loam, or one that will 

 grow a hearty Cabbige. Enrichment of cow or hotbed manure 

 may be used, but it must be tiuly well decayed, and the bed is 

 far the best when made up in Octoler. 



Again, another vital point in Ranunculus culture is a well- 

 airtd bed for sleeping in — that is, a scrupulously dry storage 



when out of the ground. This tuber has literally to be shelv.d 

 for more than six mouths out of twelve, owing to its foliage, 

 which would naturally spiing afresh in autumn, not being hardy 

 enough to certainly bear our winters. It is therefore forced 

 to rest from about the third week in .July to the third week iu 

 February. Where there is the slightest dampness the naked 

 tubers are peculiarly liable to contract blue mould at the neck. 

 It is generally fatal, disorganising the claws and eating into 

 the heart, and when in the ground the whole structure rote. 

 The only thing I kuow of fcr affected tubers is to dust them 

 thoroughly with dry brimstone, and keep them from further 

 damp. Rotten claws may be detected by their soft and brown 

 consistency by the moistening process. I have spoken of. 

 Healthy claws are white inside. Prevention is better than cure. 



I reserve for my last note a deeply important crisis in the 

 culture of the Ranunculus ; this is, taking up. No amount 

 of attention to soil or anything else will atone for negligence 

 here. The new tubers strike directly the vigour of the bloom 

 and foliage is past, and every new fibre struck out and after- 

 wards unnaturally checked is weakness to the tuber. It must 

 not only be replaced at some expense, but easily affords a 

 starting point for mildew to lay hold of. The bloom ought to 

 be shaded, for the first heavy rain upon expanded flowers will 

 beat all down, and break many. The cover should be left on 

 till all are taken up, and it will thus keep the ground both 

 cool and dry, and free from the warm stimulants of July raius 

 and sun upon the excitable tubers. I never water my beds 

 artificially, preferring to shade them against very hot sun. 

 But a dry May is always against the Ranunculus, and watering 

 seems to weigh little in their favour when the air is dry and 

 weather rainless. 



In Rome I saw a few years since a bed of Ranunculuses 

 that were just opening their buds about the beginning of Feb- 

 ruary. They were double, and some edged flowers among 

 them, but the full quality I could not discern. I thought how 

 grandly this neglected flower might be grown where it could 

 remain to form clumps, only to be moved a moment for re- 

 arrangement. Were it in my power this is how I would grow 

 my Ranunculus : I would yearly top-dress the beds, and re- 

 plant immediately, affording the foliage a glass protection as 

 of a house, freely allowing light and ventilation, and possess- 

 ing frost-proof powers. 



But this is not the place to build glass castles in the air. I 

 have known the florist Ranunculus since my boyhood, and I 

 go on with it in the old way. I have had failures and successes, 

 success surviving the partial shock of failures. Perhaps a 

 chequered experience like this, being natural, is a useful sort 

 of a one to recall. 



I am glad to say a word for one of my dear old favourites, 

 and if it will be of help or interest to any fellow cultivator, or 

 if it will lead any young florist or older hand to say " I will 

 make love to the Ranunculus," it would than repay me for a 

 congenial scribble. — F. D. Houner, Kirkhij Mahcard, Bipoii. 



POTATO HUMBUG. 



I AM an ill-used member of society. I once bore a respect- 

 able name, was well thought of, used to present an open coun- 

 tenance to all comers ; but I now begin almost to doubt my 

 identity. Such things are perpetrated either in my name or 

 by members of my family, that were it not for the regard still 

 entertained for me by some of the best members of society, 

 and the ready manner in which I am welcomed at the tables 

 of most of the hotels and restaurants of our great city, I should 

 give myself up entirely to the tender mercies of " W. G. S.," 

 and becontented to be macerated and fungolieed until thero 

 was none of me left ; and the worst of it is that nil this whi'e 

 I— (or at least my family are) — am bespattered and bepraised. 

 I am called the "noble tuber," the "indispensable adjunct" 

 to the table of the rich and the cottage of the poor. My 

 rotundity and smoothness of skin form the subjects of enco- 

 miums loud and long. My eyes even come in for their share 

 of praise, and were I to believe all that is said of me I should 

 probably " get cheeky " and grow up into a Potato tree. But 

 alas ! I recollect that something of the same kind holds good 

 of the horse. He is a "noble animal," .people never tire of 

 eonnding his praises; and yet it is a well known fact that 

 horse-dealers, jockeys, ostler?, and racing men in general are 

 not supposed to have the strict sense of honour, or be remark- 

 able for the purity of their language or the innoceney of their 

 lives. 



When, sir, placed amongst a few others of my fellows at 



