S T 



556 



S T 



M. odoratissima. Green-house ever- 

 green. Crimson. June. 



M. oxyr.eras. Hardy annual. Crim- 

 son. July. 



M. parvijlora. Hardy annual. Pur- 

 ple. July. 



M. purpurea. Half-hardy evergreen. 

 Purple. August. 



M. sicula. Hardy biennial. Lilac. 

 July. 



M. simplicicauUs. Hardy biennial. 

 Purple or white. July. 



M. sinuata. Hardy biennial. Red. 

 July. 



M. tartarica. Hardy biennial. Red. 

 or yellow. July. 



M. tenella. (Five-leaved Stock.) 

 Hardy annual. Brown. July. 



M. tortuosa. Green-house evergreen. 

 Purple. July. 



M. tricuspidata. Hardy annual. Pur- 

 ple. July. 



M. tristis, M. varia. (Night-smell- 

 ing or Dark-flowered Stock.) Green- 

 house evergreen. Crimson. June. 



Souring Annuals. — Best time, end of 

 August, in pans filled with a soil of 

 equal parts peat and loam, and placed 

 in a cold frame; water frequently; 

 when they have got six leaves prick 

 singly into pots three inches and a half 

 diameter, in same kind of soil. Keep 

 in frames through the winter, and shel- 

 ter from frost. Remove without dis- 

 turbing the roots into beds and borders, 

 at the end of May. 



Spring sowings in May, June, and 

 July, will succeed the autumn sown ; 

 if sown in a hot-bed during April, they 

 will be nearly as forward as the autumn 

 sown, but not bloom so strong. 



Sou-ing Biennials. — This may be 

 done in any moderately rich border in 

 June; to be transplanted where they 

 are to remain, when of a moderate 

 size. j 



Cuttings may be planted in May, of 

 any very good double variety, cutting ' 

 them off with a portion of the stern's 

 bark, in a shady border, watering, and 

 covering with a hand-glass until esta- 

 blished. Select robust shoots of the 

 same year's growth ; strip off the leaves 

 from the bottom half of their length. 

 Water frequently, and by September ' 

 they will form dwarf bushy plants. I 

 know of no means of promoting the , 

 production of double flowers, except' 

 applying abundance of liquid manure 

 so soon as the flower buds appear. The 



weakest seedlings are most likely to 

 produce double flowers. 



STOCK-GILLIFLOVVER. SeeWall- 

 ' flower. 



I STOCKS are young trees or shrubs 

 raised from seed, suckers, layers, and 

 cuttings, for the reception of buds or 

 grafts from other trees or shrubs of a 

 kindred species. 



Although the sap increases in specific 

 gravity, and, consequently, obtains most 

 accession of solid matter during its pro- 

 gress up the stem, yet the matter thus 

 obtained is not of paramount import- 

 ance, nor absolutely controlling the 

 subsequent changes to be effected ; for, 

 in such case, the green-gage would be 

 altered by its plum stock, and the non- 

 pareil by its crab stem. So far from 

 this being the case, the old gardener's 

 maxim, ' the graft overruleth the stock 

 quite,' is consonant with truth, though 

 it is to be taken with some reservation. 

 The graft prevails, and retains its quali- 

 ties, yet the stock has the power of in- 

 fluencing its productiveness, as well as 

 the quality of the fruit. Thus, a tree 

 having an expansive foliage, and robust 

 growth, indicative of large sap vessels, 

 and vigorous circulation, should never 

 be grafted upon a stock oppositely cha- 

 racterized, for the supply of sap will 

 not be sufficient. Illustrations are af- 

 forded by the codlin never succeeding 

 so well on a crab, nor a bigoureau on a 

 wild cherry, as they do on freer grow- 

 ing stocks. Indeed I have no doubt 

 that every tree and shrub succeeds 

 best, is most productive, and freest 

 from disease, if it be supplied with sap 

 from roots, and through a stem, of its 

 own particular kind. This is evident 

 to common sense ; nor would any fruit 

 scion be grafted upon a stock of another 

 species or variety, if it were not that 

 such stocks are most easily obtainable. 

 For example, our choicest cherries are, 

 for the reason assigned, grafted or bud- 

 ded upon the wild cherry; and every 

 one must have noticed the frequently- 

 occurring consequence, an enlarge- 

 ment, appearing like a wen, encircling 

 the tree just above where the graft and 

 the stock joined, the growth of the 

 former having far outstripped that of the 

 latter. If a tree could be nourished 

 from its own roots, from organs as- 

 signed by its Creator, as those best 

 suited to supply the most appropriate 

 quantity and quality of sap, there can 



