576 



JOUBNAL OF HOKTICULTDEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Docembor 30, 1376. 



in a moist state, which is essential to the mataration of the 

 buds and the maintenence of the foliage in a healthy state. 

 Excess of moisture after the fruit is gathered only tends to 

 growth, whilst dryness causes the leaves to fall prematurely 

 whilst the huds are imperfectly developed and the wood not 

 fully ripened. Considerably less moisture is, cf course, re- 

 qnirtd after the fruit is gathered, but it is nevertheless an 

 error to dry Peaches into ripening of the wood as speedily as 

 postible after the fruit is ripe; then, as at other times, they 

 rf quire a moist soil. As to the amount of water to be applied, 

 ihttt is to some extent influenced by the condition of the 

 trees and their occupation of the border by roots. Young 

 trees will require greater watering near the stem and less at a 

 distance than older trees, gross-growing trees requiring careful 

 watering, for to water such very freely is only to make them 

 more gross, and weakly trees will need less but more stimulat- 

 ing nutriment than those trees having that happy medium 

 between grossnese and weakness. 



The quantity to be applied at a time is expressed in terms 

 indefiDite, as " moderate, copious, liberal, free, and thorough 

 soaking." I have often wondered how amateurs interpret 

 these terms — I do not intend to include in that category those 

 amateurs as well skilled in watering as most professionals, but 

 the novices, to whom I may just give a hint. A plant in a pot 

 with the soil half an inch below the rim will receive every 

 time it is watered the equivalent of half an inch of rainfall, 

 or about as much as usually is given by the clouds to the earth 

 in a week ; an inch below the rim will represent an inch of 

 rainfall, and 2 inches below the rim 2 inches of rainfall. Now 

 it follows that half an inch of rainfall will only penetrate or 

 moisten soil to its retentive power to half the depth of that 

 haying an inch, and the inch to only half the depth of 

 2 inches, and if we put it this way we are not far wrong. 

 Half au inch of water space will moisten soil 4 inches deep, 

 it not Veing other than so dry aa to maintain a plant fresh, 

 but if flagging from dryness two or more such waterings may 

 be required to thoroughly moisten the soil. An inch wiil 

 penetrate 8 inches deep, and 2 inches IC inches or more deep. 

 No one knowing anything of plant life would water a plant it 

 the soil was already wet, and it is not presumed that anyone 

 will ignore such a condition in the application of water to 

 fruit borders. It may be that water is advised to be given 

 every fortnight, but it is not considered that anyone will not 

 exercise his own judgment as to whether the soil is not already 

 moist and does not require it, deferring the watering in such 

 case until such time as it is needed, or giving the watering 

 sooner if required. A hght open soil requires twice the quantity 

 of water needed by a close heavy one. An inch of rainfall is 

 equal to half a gallon of water per square foot, or four gallons 

 and a half per square yard. Granted we have a house to 

 water 60 feet by 12 feet, we shall require 3G0 gallons of water 

 — the equivalent of 1 inch rainfall, and for this purpose we 

 shall need a tank or cistern containing :!60 gallons of water, 

 or of these dimensions G feet long, 3 feet wide, and Si feet deep, 

 internal measurement, containing 63 cubic feet, which at six 

 gallons per cubic foot would give 378 gallons ; but as there is 

 always some waste in artificial watering, and as some parts of 

 the border will require more than the quoted inch to bring it 

 into a moist state, or equal to other parts, we should not have 

 a cistern of less size than one-half greater in water-holding 

 capacity than the quantity required to give the equivalent of 

 an inch of rainfall, as we must bear in mind that natural 

 waterings are gradual, whilst artificial are " downpours," 

 much of it passing away by parts of the border more porous 

 than others without passing gradually down equally as in the 

 fall of rain. — G. Abbey. 



ISLE OF JERSEY. 



The following is an extract from a letter dated the 22nd inst., 

 from a resident in the island. Even the name of the locality — 

 Val Plaisant — is genial. "All the time of that severe frosty 

 weather in London we had no frost, and but a very slight fall 

 of snow, which melted as soon aa it fell. We have some Car- 

 nations in full bloom in our garden, and the Geraniums are 

 still quite flourishing." 



Wo have often expressed our surprise that invalids needing 

 a mild climate do not steam over to .Tersey, which is about one 

 hundred miles from our southern coast, and is reached in a 

 few hours. 



Evidence of the greater mildness of the climate, even than 

 that of our south-weatern counties, is proved by the fact that 



plants in the island require no protection which have to be 

 sheltered in Devon and Cornwall. In no place does the Apple 

 tree flourish better or bear more unfailingly ; its orchards are 

 BO numerous as to be a feature of the island, and its Chau- 

 moutel Pears, both for size, excellence, and abundance, are 

 justly celebrated. One weighing 30,J ozs., was exhibited 

 some years ago. Nowhere is the Parsnip grown finer or to 

 greater extent; its culture is a peculiarity of the island, and ia 

 called " la grandc charrtw." The soil has to be stirred very 

 deep, and a plough requiring many oxen or horses is employed, 

 and aa these cannot be supplied from one farm neighbours 

 unite their teams; and this ploughing is a holiday, for not only 

 are cakes and cider provided during the day to the owners of 

 the cattle, but the day concludes with a supper. The Guernsey 

 Lily (Nerine sarniensis) ia common, but does not flourish so 

 markedly as in Guernsey. Some of our readers may not know 

 the narrative of its introduction. Dr. Morison says a ship 

 coming from Japan with bulbs of this flower on board was 

 wrecked on some of Guernsey's many rocks ; the bulba were 

 thrown by the waves on to the sandy shore, and were soon 

 buried there. They produced flowers in due time ; and the 

 second son of the Governor, Lord Hatton, being fond of 

 flower-gardening, cultivated them, and sent bulba to many 

 persons in England. This was in the reign of Charles II. 



OUR BORDER FLOWERS— HELENIUMS. 



Sometimes we meet with some of our neglected border 

 flowers quite unexpectedly, and on the question being asked, 

 "What have you here?" a common reply is, "Oh, it is an 

 old plant we take no notice of. We don't care about such 

 plants here ;" but these plants ought to be cared for, for 

 nearly all our border flowers possess attractions rendering 

 them worthy of cultivation. Seldom do we meet with any of 

 this family of plants iu our fashionable gardens ; a few of 

 them may be seen in choice private collections, and can only 

 be looked on aa rarities. They are a race of plants that will 

 thrive in any ordinary garden soil, but are all the better for 

 being liberally treated. Loam and well-decomposed vegetable 

 matter, and coarse sand mixed with the soil where they are 

 intended to grow (and the ground should be broken up to the 

 depth of 18 or 20 mches),will afford them the sustenance they 

 need. They should have thorough drainage, and be supplied with 

 water when required. Some of them, growing from 2 to 3 feet 

 high, require staking to keep them from being broken by the 

 wind. They may be increased by division in springer autumn, 

 and they flower towards the latter end of summer and in 

 autumn. 



Helenium pumilum is the dwarfest of the tribe, and is a 

 good border plant, having bright yellow flowers, which make a 

 fine display when well established. H. Hooperii ia decidedly 

 the best of the family. This plant is so seldom seen that it 

 cannot be much known to cultivators of herbaceous plants, or 

 I am inclined to think it would be more frequently met with. 

 When planted in open spaces in the shrubbery in good soil it 

 is extremely effective. To see it in all its beauty the weakest 

 growth should be thinned out, and the plants be supplied with 

 liquid manure water occasionally. It ia excellent for exhi- 

 bition purposes, and continues long in bloom. H. autumnale 

 is a fine autumn-blooming plant of taller growth than the 

 preceding, and is well adapted for border or shrubbery decora- 

 tion, producing large flower heads, which continue until they 

 are destroyed by frost. — Veritas. 



ROSE OF JERICHO. 



This is Anastatica hierochuntica of botanists, which the 

 monks of old invested with such miraculous powers, and 

 which tb 6 people regarded with such superstitious veneration. 

 The plant is small, bushy, and not above 6 inches high; after 

 it has flowered the leaves fall off, the branches and branchlets 

 dry and shrivel up, incurving towards the centre, and, in fact, 

 forming the plant into a sort of ball. They are easily up- 

 rooted from the sand by the winds, and are carried, blown and 

 tossed, across the desert into the sea. When they come in 

 contact with the water tbe plant unfolds itself, the branches 

 are expanded, the seed-vessels open and reUeve the seeds, 

 which are conveyed by the tide and deposited again on the 

 shore. They are carried hence by the winds away into the 

 desert again, and there they take root, producing plants 

 which in their turn perform the s.ime strange part in the 

 economy of creation. It was to this property of expanding 



