284 
THE GARDENERS’ 
CHRONICLE. 
| [Aprit 29, 
invariable answer is, as in the Chronicle of Saturday last, 
that they require or will succeed best in a stove. 
would be satisfactory if the person who gives that advice 
would say how many bulbs he possesses—how many years 
he has cultivated the plants, and how often during those 
years his several bulbs have flowered. I have made many 
inquiries among gardeners, and have seen many dozens of 
bulbs, but I never yet met with any one who had been able 
to flower them in the manner recommended ; and I have 
known bulbs of both species cultivated in that manner for 
upwards of 20 years without producing flower. 
Five or six years ago I received from the Capea large box, 
containing, among others, six large bulbs of each of these 
species. I grew them for the first year in stove heat, and 
having more than I wanted, afterwards gave away three of 
each species. Anxious to see the flowers of those I 
retained, I requested the advice of the Rev. W. Herbert, 
now Dean of Manchester, as to their treatment, and fol- 
lowing that advice, I had the satisfaction, within 18 
months, of seeing flowers on one bulb of A. Josephine and 
one of B. multiflora; and one or other of my bulbs has 
since flowered every year, though two out of the six, one 
of each species, have been accidentally injured, and there- 
fore do not flower. I reckon, therefore, upon being able 
to flower A. Josephine and B. multiflora every alternate 
year. If your correspondent who ds the stove 
can do better, I shall be glad to have the precise details of 
his treat: uy have pursued under 
the instruction of Mr. Herbert is as follows :— 
The bulbs are planted in sandy loam, in pots called 
16s, well drained. In September, when they begin to 
grow, they are placed in a light situation in a light green- 
house. Here they remain till April or May, the ther- 
mometer during that period frequently being as low as 
35%, and the greenhouse being habitually kept as cool as 
is consistent with the health of the hardiest greenhouse 
plants; during this period they receive a moderate supply 
of water; about the beginning of May they are removed 
toa span-roofed pit, made for Cape bulbs, and a pan of 
sand is placed under each; this sand is kept constantly 
wet, and as the lights are never removed in summer, the 
thermometer ranges up to 130° in hot and bright weather. 
About the end of August or the beginning of September, 
the flower-buds appear and rise rapidly. I have had 
Amaryllis Josephinz with a head of flowers 3 feet 3 inches 
in diameter, that is to say, nearly 10 feet in circumference. 
Under the like treatment a Cape imported variety of 
Amaryllis Belladonna, very high coloured and very fra- 
grant, sent by Villet under the name of A. longiflora, 
flowers annually ; and the affinity in constitution between 
A. Josephinze and this species is very obvious. 
Brunsvigia (Ammocharis) falcata is a plant of very dif- 
ferent habits, and I have never succeeded in inducing it 
to flower. It rests in winter, not in summer, and appears 
to flower, from the figure in the Botanical Cabinet, No. 
745, during its season of growth. I have never met with 
any one who cultivated it successfully, and I believe the 
Dean of Manchester and the Messrs. Loddiges are the only 
persons in England who have induced it to flower. The 
latter expressly state that the individual which flowered 
with them was cultivated in the greenhouse. 
I ought to add that Amaryllis Josephine is planted at 
least half out of the ground; but Brunsvigia multiflora is 
covered up to the throat, and will not flourish if planted 
above ground.—J. Rogers. 
ON THE CULTURE OF PERSIAN MELONS. 
Tr can scarcely be denied that Persian Melons, when 
grown in full perfection, are far superior in flavour to the 
other kinds usually cultivated ; yet it is seldom that we 
meet with the former, and still less frequently do we find 
them partaking of that rich and delicious flavour which is 
their peculiar characteristic. This arises in a great mea- 
sure from their being treated in every respect like the 
more common kinds, whereas their very failure under 
such treatment is sufficient to show that they require a 
different system of management. The principal causes of 
want of success undoubtedly arise from a desire to obtain 
too great a quantity of fruit from a given space, and from 
an insufficiency of foliage being left upon the plants to 
elaborate the juices necessary to nourish and perfect fruit 
of so large a size as the generality of Persian Melons 
usually attain. 
The late Mr. Knight, who is well known to have been a 
successful cultivator of this delicious fruit, has in the 
Horticultural Society’s Transactions thus described his 
elon-house and mode of treatment :-— 
“ Having during several years observed that fine Persian 
Melons were preferred at my table to almost every other 
fruit, I was led to erect a small forcing-house for the 
almost exclusive culture of them by means of heat ob- 
tained from fire only, under an impression that in some 
a n 
oe 
o 
seasons the power of di dry i 
high temperature would prove highly beneficial to the 
quality of the fruit. This forcing-house consists of a back 
wall nearly 9 feet high, and a front wall nearly 6 feet 
high, inclosing a horizontal space 9 feet wide by 30 feet 
long. The fire-place is at the east end, very near the front 
wall, and the flue runs to the other end of the house 
within 4 inches of the front wall, and returns back again, 
leaving a space of 8 inches only between the advancing 
and returning course of it. he front flue is composed of 
bricks laid flat, as I wished to have a temperate per- 
manent heat, and the returning flue of bricks standing on 
their edges; the intervening space between the flues being 
filled with fragments of broken bricks, which absorb much 
water, and gradually give out moisture to the air of the 
house. Air is admitted through apertures in the front 
wall, 4 inches wide and 3 inches in height, situated level 
with the top of the flues, and 18 inches distant from each 
other. The air escapes through similar apertures near 
the top of the back wall, which are opened or closed as 
circumstances may require. Thirty-two pots, each 16 
inches wide and 14 inches deep, are placed upon the flues 
described above ; but they are raised by an intervening 
piece of stone and brick out of actual contact with the 
flues. Into each of these pots one Melon plant is put, 
which in its subsequent growth is trained upon a trellis 
14 inches distant from the glass: and each plant is per- 
mitted to bear one Melon only. Each might be made to 
bear more, but if the fruit should be as large as Ispahan 
Melons are when perfect, they would certzinly be o 
inferior quality. The height from the ground at which 
the trellis is placed is such that I can with convenience 
walk under it, and discover the first appearance of red 
spiders or other noxious insects.” 
In the destruction of the red spider, Mr. Knight found 
sulphur applied to the wnder surface of the leaves, in the 
manner recommended at p. 164, 1841, more efficacious 
and less injurious to the plants than syringing them with 
water, which produced the most disastrous effects—upon 
one occasion destroying his crop of fruit. When spread 
or painted upon the flues, sulphur is more liable to be 
prejudicial to the plants, and to deteriorate the quality of 
he fruit. Care must, however, be taken for several days 
afier the application of sulphur to the leaves, that the 
plants are partially shaded, and that the temperature of 
the house is not allowed to rise too high in bright sun- 
shine. For this reason it is best, whenever practicable, to 
apply it in dull weather. 
Many persons will no doubt say that itis not in their 
power to erect or devote a house exclusively to the cul- 
ture of Persian Melons; and that consequently they must 
be debarred from making the attempt. { doubt not, how- 
ever, that equal success would attend their cultivation in 
ordinary pits, if the principal points adverted to in Mr, 
Knight’s account, as well as of their condition in their 
native country were attended to. In Persia the plants 
luxuriate in a high temperature, a dry atmosphere, and a 
humid soil ; their aim should therefore be to obtain for 
them these three essential requisites. These would pro- 
bably be attained by growing the plants in a hot-water pit, 
having a wire trellis about 9 inches distant from the glass, 
the interior being filled with tree-leaves, into which the 
pots, each containing one plant, should be plunged up to 
the rims. The roots would thus be kept in a more equable 
state with regard to heat and moisture ; and by enlarging 
the apertures at the bottoms of the pots, they would, after 
filling the interior, be allowed free liberty to range in 
search of that humidity which is so essential in their na- 
tive climate. 
As it is only during one portion of the year that we can, 
in this country, ensure a sufficiency of light—one of the 
most essential points in the culture of Melons,—it is highly 
important that the plants should be brought forward early 
in the season, in order that they may be ready for planting 
out finally in pots towards the end of April. he plants 
and fruit will then be in a’condition to receive the greatest 
pessible amount of light, at a time when it will be most 
beneficial to them. 
The soil in which they should be potted should consist 
of two-thirds of mellow hazel-loam, and one-third well- 
d posed f Id. The pots 
should be well drained, first with broken potsherds and 
afterwards with rough pieces of turf; and the soil should 
on no account be sifted, but be prepared roughly by hand. 
Each plant should be trained up with a single stem 
until it reaches the trellis, before it is stopped; it should 
then be allowed to branch out in the same manner as 
Cucumber plants grown upon the same system. It should 
be borne in mind that the larger the extent of foliage 
exposed to light, provided that the foliage is in a healthy 
condition, the greater probability there will be of obtaining 
fine and well-flavoured fruit. The plants, while in a young 
state, should be frequently looked over and divested of 
blossoms ; and not before they have acquired strength and 
nearly covered the allotted surface of trellis, should any 
fruit-be allowed to set upon them. Then, however, three 
of the finest should be selected, and by the time that they 
become as large as pigeons’ eggs it will be seen which of 
the three is likely to prove the largest ; that should accord- 
ingly be chosen and the two others cut away, as one good 
fruit will be quite sufficient for each plant to bring to 
perfection. 
A plentiful supply of moisture should be given to 
the roots, but none over the foliage, except ‘in the 
form of vapour. When the weather has been dull for 
several successive days, the plants should not 
exposed too suddenly to the direct influence of the sun’s 
rays; at all other periods it is better to give a greater 
supply of air than to shade the plants. The interior of 
the pit should be kept as nearly as possible of uniform 
humidity ; for if allowed to become too damp the stems 
will be liable to canker, and if too dry it will favour the 
increase of the red spider.—R. A. 
ON VEGETABLE MANURES. 
By Prornssor Cuarius Sprencer. (‘Translated from 
the German 
(Continued from page 263.) 
4, The Leaves of Coniferous and other Trees.—Dry 
leaves are, in many parts of Germany, the only litter 
used. In order to judge properly of the value of leaf- 
dung, it is desirable to know the constituent parts as cor- 
rectly as those of the different sorts of straw. 
Leaves are valuable to the agriculturist chiefly because 
they are much more rich in mineral substances than the 
different sorts of straw. The quantity, however, of mineral 
matter differs much in different sorts of foliage, on which 
account, they, like straw, are of a variable degree of value. 
o 
@ 
"Whenever foliage is used as litter, it should always be 
collected immediately after it has fallen from the tree, and 
placed in some dry place ; otherwise rain will wash out the 
saline parts, and so destroy much of their manuring 
properties. : 
Beech-Leaves.—100,000 parts of full-grown and air- 
dried leaves of the Beech contain of mineral substances :— 
-812 parts of silica 
lime 
Broee s 
0.407 ,, magnesia 
0.048 ,, potash and soda (100,000 parts of 
young and dry foliage contain on the 
contrary only 2.570 (?) parts of 
potash and soda) 
0.075 = ,, alumina 
0056 = ,, oxide of iron 
0°270 4, — oxide of manganese 
0.129 ,,. sulphuric acid 
0.440  ,, phosphoric acid and traces of chlorine 
(young foliage, however, contains in 
100,000 parts only 0.440 parts of 
-—— chlorine) 
6.695 parts of mineral substances. 
Whether Beech-leaves contain much nitrogen has not 
yet been ascertained, but is probable ; it will at any rate 
contain more than Rye-straw. 1,000lbs. of the green 
dried leaves will certainly contain 20 lbs. of nitrogen ; for 
the green leaves of the Oak (according to Boussingault) 
contain nearly 22 lbs. 
Beech-leaves are, as we have seen, very rich in lime 
and phosphoric acid; on which account Beech-leaf ma- 
nure will be especially adapted for soils which are defi- 
cient in those substances. If 3,000 lbs. of Beech-leayes 
(in the state of manure) are brought on one Magdebur; 
acre of land, the soil will obtain thereby 104 lbs. of lime 
and 13 to 14 lbs. of phosphoric acid, which must influence 
considerably all such plants as require such substances 
for their food. We know that 23 Ibs. of sulphuric acid 
and 17 lbs. of lime (in the state of gypsum) will produce 
an extraordinary effect on that area, 
As Beech-leaves do not easily decompose, it is neces- 
sary to mix them with decaying animal matter before they 
are brought on the land, in order to bring on fermenta- 
tion, which will make them more tender and assist their 
decomposition. In order, indeed, to hasten their decay, 
it is expedient to heap them up wet before they are used 
as litter, because they will then heat and become soft. 
This will also destroy the tannin which may be in them. 
Oak-Leaves.—100,000 parts of full-grown air-dried Oak 
leaves contain of mineral substances :— 
-515 parts of silica 
2.307. - 4, .. lime’ 
0.183 sh magnesia 
0.001  ,, potash and soda (100,000 parts of green 
leaves contain, however, 0.710 potash 
and soda 
0.085 ,, alumina 
0.024 ,, oxide of iron 
0.100  ,, oxide of manganese 
0.091 ,, sulphuric acid 
0.190 ,, phosphoric acid and traces of chlorine. 
4.496 parts of mineral substances. 
Oak-leaves are less valuable than Ash-leaves for manure, 
because they contain, as we see, less mineral substances. 
With them, too, it is still more necessary they should be 
thoroughly rotted before being brought on the land; for 
they always contain tannin, which is detrimental to vege- 
tation, and must be first destroyed. 
(Zo be continued.) 
AMATEUR’S GARDEN.—No. XVII. 
Peruars the greatest error which we commit in the 
management of our Flower-gardens, is that of turning 
half-hardy plants out into the borders before the middle 
of May. In no case that I am aware of, can any advan- 
tage accrue from this practice ; but it is well known that 
plants frequently sustain injuries which they are half the 
summer in recovering from. I may be told they are 
sooner in bloom, and this I grant, because the check 
they receive from the cold nights and dry parching winds, 
is favourable to the production of flowers ;—but what is the 
bloom %—a few miserable spikes on a more miserable 
plant ; and a bed not more than half furnished with foliage} 
in which deplorable state the plants remain, until the 
Senial showers of June or July excite them into new 
growth, 
Tf, instead of planting out thus early, we took more 
pains to prepare our plants and the ground properly, and 
if we deferred planting until the last week in May, or first 
week in June, at which time we might take advantage of 
a few dull days for the operation, we should find the plants 
materially benefited, and the appearance of our gardenS 
on the whole, signally improved. At that season we have 
the concurrent advantages of terrestrial heat and warm 
dewy evenings, which are of the greatest advantage to the 
development of vegetation. The preparation of plants 
for turning out has been adverted to in former articless 
and, as a general rule, it may be stated, that no plant 
ought to be turned into the border, until it has been Oe 
dually prepared and inured to the open air for at leas 
six weeks from the time it was taken from the cutting, 
seed-pot, 
_, Where beds are not stocked with spring-flowering pl 
it will be of material benefit if they are digged or forked? 
over in the evening of warm days; by which means @ CP: 
siderable portion of heat will be worked into them, 8?) 
the soil be brought into a state of more intimate comm 
nution. In heavy soils, on a wet or retentive bottom, ee 
kind of preparation is indispensable for such plants 
et 
cS cal 
