3S 



THi; GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



three we« 



the half-ripe wood. The shortest jointed 

 which can he oh mined rii.»uld he selected, 

 in a light sandy, peaty sod, covered with 

 placed in a shady part of a osol house for 

 or so, and then removed to a slight bottom-heat, where 

 they will soon emit roote. It will he found, however, 

 tlmt the cuttings are impatient of too much damp,— 

 hence water should be applied carefully, leaving the 

 glass off until the foliage gets dry, and removing it 

 occasionally, to wipe out damp. As soon as the 

 cuttings are sufficiently rooted to bear handling, pot 

 them singly in 4-inch pots, and place them in a nice 

 moist growing atmosphere till well established in their 

 pots. Supposing the cuttings to be potted off and esta- 

 blished by the end of May, which, if a plant is started 

 early in spring to supply cuttings, may easily he the 

 case, remove them to a cold fraase, which can be kept 

 rather close and moist and shaded from the mid-day sun. 

 Attend to watering as may be required, and sprinkle 

 the plants over-head on the afternoons of bright days, 

 shutting up the frame rather early in the afternoon with 

 a moist atmosphere, but give air before night. When 

 the pots are found to be mod. ritely well tilled with 

 roots, give a liberal shift, say into 7- inch pots, and water 

 cautiously until the roots get hold of the tresh soil. Tie 

 out the shoots, and stop any over-luxuriant ones, so as to 

 keep the plan dwarf and well furnished, for they are 

 of a somewhat straggling habit, and unless stopping and 

 tying out are persevered in, compact specirasBB will not 

 be obtained. Expose the plants freely to sunshine and 

 air after the middle of August, in order to get the wood 

 well ripened before winter, and it this cannot be conve- 

 niently done in the frame, remove the plants to a shel- 

 tered sonny situation out of doors. Durn winter 

 they will reqmre merely protection from frost, and a 

 very spare supply of water, provided the wood has 



een well ripened, and they may be placed in any 

 cold frame where they can be guarded irora frost. As 

 soon as they show signs of growth in spring remove 

 them to a cleee part of the greenhouse, and cut back 

 the shoots rather freely, in order to cause them to break 

 close; and when free growth commences shift into 12- 

 inch pots, and maintain as close and moist an atmosphere 

 n be conveniently done, until the roots lay hold of 

 the fresh soil. When this is the case the plants will 

 grow vigorously and will require attention to train the 

 shoots so as to secure handsome specimens. Persevere 

 in betiding down strong shoots, and tie them so as to 

 equalise the flow of the sap, and preserve compact 

 specimens. Expose the plants freely to light and air, 

 giving a liberal snpply of water at the root, and syringing 

 over-head on the evenings of fine days. By the middle 

 of July the plants should he nice sized specimens, and 

 covered with blossoms, and they may now be removed 

 to any light airy part of the greenhouse or conservatory, 

 where they will he objects of considerable beauty till 

 late in the autumn. After their beauty for the season 

 is over, cut the Bhoots back o the well ripened wood, 

 thinnin r them out pretty severely, and water very 

 sparingly during winter. In spring, when they show 

 indica »ns of growth, turn them out of their pots and 

 reduce the ball, taking care to injure the roots as little 



I possible, and repot in the same sized pots. By annual 

 disrooting, and a free use of the knife to keep them 

 dwarf, the specimens will last many years. Manure 

 water in a weak state, given two or three times a week, 



whSQ the pots are full of roots, will be of service. 



Good sandy, turfy loam, and rich, fibry peat, broken 

 up into small pieces, adding a liberal quantity of sharp 

 clean sand, and some small lumpy charcoal or potsherds, 

 will be found the most suitable compost in which to grow 



Swainsonias. Alpha. 



firmest bus | plenty of pot room, plenty of water, with as much 

 and planteii light as possible, and plenty of room between the plants 



a glass* and in the bed. Any one who carries out these directions 



fully may make certain of being rewarded with plants 



that will do him credit. 



Po tenia pulckerrima.— As this is universally admired 



for its gay crimson or rather scarlet bracts, which may 

 frequently be seen enlivening the windows of the flower 

 shops in Covent Garden market, the following hint on 

 its treatment may be useful. The plants are best raised 

 from single eyes (like Vines) taken from the hard 

 ripened wood of last year, and they should be repotted 

 into sandy loam and" leaf-mould ; keeping them in a 

 Cucumber frame, and then in a low stove, as near the 

 glass as possible. They do pretty well in a greenhouse 

 or pit in July and August, if kept near the glass, and 

 not drawn, and then put into the stove in September, 

 watering them freely when in flower. Old plants which 

 have been cut down never have the floral leaves so 

 large as a young plant raised from eyes or cuttings. 



Home Correspondence. 



The Marie Louise Pear. — The name of * Nouvelle," 

 recently applied to the name of this favourite variety in 

 your columns (see p. 21), is I think calculated to mislead 

 the public. In the catalogues of some of the Belgian 

 nurserymen may be found the following names — Marie 

 Louise (Duquesne), Marie Louise (Delcourt), Marie 

 Louise (Van Mous), Marie Louise Nouvelle, Marie 

 Louise de Jersey. These all resolve themselves into 

 one, the Marie Louise, now universally cultivated in 

 England, which was introduced about 30 years since, 

 and at that time called by Mr. Braddick, from the free 

 growing and hardy nature of the tree, " Braddick's 

 Field Standard." M. de Jonghe in p. 21 alludes to the 

 Eyewood Pear as a slender growing variety, requiring 

 support while in a young state to form a pyramid. He 

 has most probably not received the true sort, for of all 

 the Pears under cultivation the Eyewood is the most 

 robust in its habit, forming most rapidly a strong thorny 

 tree, with a constitution adapted for all soils. We must 

 not rest till we have a race of Pears raised from seed in 

 this country equally hardy and robust. T. R. 



Red t^pider and French Beans. — I have to thank you 



for your advice as to the destruction of red spider (see 



p. 24). In your "Calendar of Operations" of the 



6th inst., under the head of " Hardy Fruit and Kitchen 



Garden, ,J the following passage occurs: — "Also see to 



providing a supply of French Beans. These are 



frequently grown in the early vineries or in plant houses, 



but their liability to the attacks of red spider renders 



them dangerous inmates of such structures." It so 



happens that in the house where my Peaches were 



attacked with this insect last autumn a crop of French 



Beans was grown ; but I am unable to say whether it 



first appeared on the Beans or on the Peach trees. 



Since, however, this is the first instance of my ever 



having been troubled with red spider the circumstance 



is rat Ik r confirmatory of the correctness of your 



Calendar writer's remark. The practice of growing 



French Beans in vineries being very prevalent, if this 



vegetable has so strong a tendency to the production of 



the nuisance alluded to, many of your readers will 



doubtless be able more fully to corroborate the necessity 



of the caution than myself. S.B., January 17* 



Rain at Carlesgill, WesterJcirk, Dumfriesshire, in 

 1854 :— 



COMMON THINGS. 

 Culture of the Cockscomb.— As a few well grown 



Cockscombs, stiff and formal though they be, are found 

 to be very useful for decorating our greenhouses in 

 summer, a word or two on their culture may not be 

 uninteresting. About the beginning of next month 

 make up a strong hot-bed for them, the same in every 

 respect as is made up for Cucumbers. The mould in 

 which Cockscombs have been grown to a large size, i 

 half good strong loam and half good rich rotten dung 

 and leaf-mould, but the greatest proportion dung. As 

 Boon as the plants are about 2 inches above ground, 

 pot them off int< kiosk pots; and when they have nearly 

 filled the pots with roots, shift them into some a size 

 larger. A sharp heat should be kept up in the bed, 

 and when the plants are wanted to be dwarf they 

 should be kept very near the glass. The atmospheric 

 heat should be 60° at night, and in clear sunshiny 

 weather vita plenty of air, 70° in the day time ; but a 

 high temperature, without sun heat or bright light, 

 would cause the plants to " draw/' which would not only 

 detract from their tine appearance, but lik vise prevent 

 the combs from attaining their proper size. Whenever it is 

 found that the bed is too cold at the bottom of the pots, 

 which should be plunged in sawdust or tan,recourse should 

 be had to a new one, as it will be found thatmakinganew 

 bed will, m the end be attended with less trouble than 

 the continually applying linings to an old one. Care 

 should also be taken at the repotting, to have the pots 

 perfectly clean; in fact, the newer the pote are the 

 better The mould m the pots should never be allowed 

 to get very dry Pots 8 inches in diameter will be 

 sufficiently large for the last shifting, To sum ud in a 

 few words, the success of growing Cockscombs well 

 depends principally upon paying attention to givimz 

 them a good mild bottom-heat, plenty of air 



January 



February 



March 



April 



May ... 



June 



July 



• • » 



• • • 



• • • 



• • • 



• . • 



• • • 



• . . 



In.Cts. 

 5.66 

 5.38 

 3.49 

 1.35 

 3.33 

 6.18 

 3.45 



• « • 



"Wet days. 



1 



16 

 13 



7 



25 

 16 



18 



- . . 



• t ■ 



• • i 





• 4 • 



« I • 



• • • 



August 



eptember 

 October 



ovember 

 December 



• *4 



• • ft 



• • • 



• I • 



In. Cts. 

 6.60 

 3.10 

 7.62 

 2.68 

 6.60 



• ■t 



Wet days. 



16 

 10 

 17 



18 

 19 



t « • 



■ • • 



• • ♦ 



• • « 



♦ • t 



• • • 



55.44 



2d January 

 3d January 

 24th April 



Average for 12 years, 57.79 



195 



• t • 



• • • 



Therm. 5° 



4 



22 



• t • 



22d October 

 23th December 



• •» 



• • • 



Therm. 22° 



15 



• •• 



1 lth June, 2.50 of rain fell in 21 hours ; 2d August, 2.25 

 of rain fell in 18 hours. J. Little. 

 \ Reviewers 9 Discw 'ies. — Good news for you, Mr. 

 Editor. I can communicate to you two facts which are 

 probably as new to yourself as they were to me. 

 Pray do not dispute or question their authenticity, for 

 they may both be found recorded in the September 

 number of the "Quarterly." The first is (p. 300) 

 that Mr. Myatt obtained the British Queen Strawberry 

 by « judiciously grafting the old stock." The second is 

 (p. 30 ) that lovers of Mangoes can purchase them in 

 * luscious luxuriance" at the frequent auctions held in 

 Monument Yard. When, Mr. Editor, will your jogtrot 

 publication give us such new, true, and interesting 

 matter as we can thus obtain from the leading literary 

 journal of Great Britain ? /. S. B. [These are curious 

 instances of the little that clever men know of "com- 

 mon things." Our correspondent will, however, we 

 doubt not, agree with us in thinking that the article 

 notwithstanding the blemishes he points out, and others' 

 is very interesting, and worthy the great periodical in 

 which it appeared.] 



Grafted Rhododendrons.— « J. R.V explanations 

 the principles on which he founds his objections 

 grafted Rhododendrons (see p. 821, 1854) do not, in 

 my opinion, strengthen or establish his theory relative 

 to the emphmnentof layering instead of grafting; he 

 has not given sufficient proof that the stocks generally 

 used are inferior in strength or luxuriance to the finer 

 hybrids, which is necessary before it can be considered 

 <pedient to discontinue the practice of giafting. Hy- 

 brids between arboreum and catawbiense or maximum 

 (the seed being saved from either of the two last, other- 



of 

 to 



wise the hybrids are not hardy) have the mosTrojj^ 

 habits of the crimson class, and plants raised fromiS 

 always assume a bushy habit, it being an almost i^ 

 riable rule that hybrids adopt the habit of the fem2 

 parent, and it is found that seedlings from ponticum^ 

 maximum will from the first be far more luxuriant th* 

 any of their hybrids; this fact will be apparent on a car^ta 

 examination of any large or at least varied collects 

 Your correspondent, moreover, does not do justice to 

 the fact stated in my last communication regarding tfe 

 scions of grafted plants emitting roots and becoming nig. 

 mately independent of the stocks by being plan tedder* 

 a circumstance which ought to have removed his doubts 

 even allowing his premises to be correct. In his remark 

 at p. 6, 1855, he himself completely upsets his owe 

 theory, for he there complains of the over luxuriance tf 

 the stocks, which cause annoyance by throwing ^ 

 suckers. This of course could be easily got over byevec 

 common management, and the gardener or amateur who 

 neglects or grudges to pay that attention to this truly 

 splendid family of plants fully deserves to get all his fit* 

 hybrids starved. To prune and remove them is part 

 of his routine of business, and as necessary as li 

 annual rose or fruit tree pruning. This evil is certainlj 

 not of so great magnitude as to warrant a total cessation 

 of the good and very often expedient practice of grafting. 

 The evil, if at all worth speaking of, is seen most in 

 Azaleas, which during the first two or three years 

 after being grafted, are apt to throw up suckers, 

 These are, however, easily kept down, and as the scioa 

 gathers strength they gradually disappear. I could 

 show " J. R." an extensive collection of Ghent varieties 

 in this establishment, many of them grafted 14 yean, 

 which grow and thrive and flower every year to the 

 admiration of all who see them, with none of the " broken 

 off branch" appearance described by your correspondent 

 As regards the striking of Rhododendrons by cuttings, 

 " J. R." will find by experience that though it is 

 possible in some cases, it is as tedious and troublesome 

 as in the case of Firs, if not more so, as it will take a 

 great many years before they are t fit to be planted out 

 Hugh Fraser, Stanwell Nurseries, Leith. 



Spade or Fork Husbandry. — Since the publication of 

 the " Word in Season," this mode of cultivation has 

 been rapidly spreading. Any well ascertained facts 

 as to the cost may be useful. One of your corre- 

 spondents, in a recent number of your Journal, seems to 

 question the accuracy of Mr. Smith's statements as to 

 this matter. I have had from 8 to 14 men at work on 

 my farm for the last four or five weeks in double trench- 

 ing with Parkes's forks, the depth of the soil brought 

 up varying somewhat according to its quality (which 

 also determines the price of the work), being in no case 

 less than 15 inches, and in one full 18 inches. I am 

 just now finishing a field of 5 acres, which from the 

 great dryness of the last year works heavily ; the subsoil 

 or under spit, which is placed uppermost in this enclosure, 

 is principally a compact stony loam, but in one part a 

 chalky marl. Probably the work is as difficult as would 

 be found in most mixed soils. The stirred land as left by 

 the men is 16 inches deep. The average of a day's 

 work is between 5 and 6 rods each man, and the price 

 I give for it is 6d. per rod. Two years ago, when the 

 price of labour was lower, I had the same work done 

 fotf 4|d, but in that case the under soil being mild brick 

 earth it worked easier, and to the depth of 18 inches. For 

 some of the men I purchase the forks, they paying me 

 6d. per week for the use of them. Others purchase 

 their own. I use Parkes's four-tined fork, the 

 tines of which are 13 inches long. I have to-day 

 measured several of these forks, which have been 

 daily in use for five weeks, and the wear of the 

 tines is from 3 to 4| inches. In a less stony soil 

 they would, of course, last much longer ; on an average 

 I think the expense of the tool may be put down at 64 

 per week. The fork thus shortened is probably a better 

 implement for stirring the soil in the summer, as recom- 

 mended by Mr. Smith, than a new one, or for breaking 

 up some 4 or 5 inches of strong clay where it is not 

 desirable to go deeper. Mr. Parkes also engages to 

 renew the worn-out forks if sent to his agents Messrs. 

 Burgess and Key, of Newgate Street, at a cost of 3s. 64 

 each. Occasionally, if carelessly used, a tine will break 

 off at its junction with the cross bar, and I think they 

 should be cast with more strength at that part, and the 

 manufacturer would lose no credit if he was careful 

 not to send out damaged work, which I have sometimes 

 noticed. It is a costly tool for a labourer. None of my 

 men earn less than 1 5s. per week, and some of them 

 considerably more. I shall confine myself in this note 

 to the cost of labour ; hereafter I shall hope to send 

 you the results of this system of cultivation, when tb fi 

 tacts are clearly realised. Henry Dixon, Dorwards ff<$> 

 Witham, Essex, Jan. 13. 





Botanical, Dec. 14. — Prof. Balfour in the chauvp 

 Dr. Balfour exhibited the following donations recently 

 made to the Museum of Economic Botany at the Roy* 

 Botanic Gardens : from Wm. Murray, Esq., sample # 

 sugar obtained from the Sugar Pine (Pinus 1*** 

 bertiana) ; from Chevalier Claussen, specimens ° 

 paper-pulp and papers made from Corchorus °^ tor1 ^ 

 Tilia, Urtica dioica, Juncus, Pinus, Calluna vulg^ 

 and Vaccinium Myrtillus ; and Tan n ate of Soda- * 

 tracted from the last mentioned. Dr. Balfour exhibit* 

 a peculiar concrete substance, called Pietra fungaj* o 

 Mushroom Stone, received^ from Naples by the #° ' 



