72 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[July 21, 1888. 



BOOTING OF LEAF CUTTINGS 

 OF SANSEVIERA GUINEENSIS. 

 The accompanying illustration (fig. 7) was taken 

 from some leaf cuttings which were prepared at Kew 

 with a view to testing them as a means of quickly ob- 

 taining a stock of any of the species, all of which 

 are now attracting attention as valuable fibre- 

 yielding plants. The succulent nature of leaves is 

 by no means an indication of their being capable of 

 rooting and producing plants, as anyone who has any 

 experience in plant-propagation well knows. Theo- 

 retically we know of no reason why all leaves should 

 not do this, but practically only a comparative few can 

 be made to strike root. When the minute anatomy 

 of the leaf is sufficiently studied, these points may 

 be made clear. The leaves of the Sanseviera 

 were cut into lengths of about 2 inches, and planted 

 with the basal end in sandy soil. In about a 

 month they developed roots, and soon afterwards they 

 put forth the long fleshy runner-like stems shown in 

 the picture. Apparently this stem is an elongated 

 bud, with scale-like leaves, which ultimately forms a 

 bud at the apex from which the true leaves are 

 developed. It might have been expected that the 

 leaf-bud would have been formed on the cutting 

 itself. It seems singular that a bit of the leaf of a 

 plant with the habit of a Sanseviera would, when 

 treated in this way, form a true stem before it pro- 

 ceeded to develope leaves. 



Home Correspondence. 



(Esp" Correspondents mill greatly oblige by sending early 

 intelligence of local events likely to be of interest to 

 our readers, or of any matters which it is desirable to 

 bring under the notice of horticulturists. 



Photographs or drawings of gardens, or of remarkable 

 plants, trees, S^c, are also solicited. 



A LARGE LILIUM AURATUM.— The Countess of 

 Dartmouth had presented to her in the spring a 

 large pot of Lilium auratum, which, when received, 

 was about 3 feet high. There were thirty flowering 

 stems in the pot. There are now 200 open blooms 

 on the plant, not a few of them measuring 8 inches 

 across and 1 foot from tip to tip of the petals. A 

 good many of the stems have eight blooms, while 

 the others have seven. There are still a few buds to 

 open. In all there are 220 blooms and buds. How 

 many bulbs there are in the pot we have no means 

 of knowing as yet. B. P. 



BEDDING-OUT COCKSCOMBS.— In a dry warm 

 season the bedding out of the Cockscomb usually 

 proves a success, but in a dull, cold, sunless season 

 such as we are having, with the thermometer down 

 to 37° for a mininum in the middle of July, it is a 

 miserable failure. Last year we tried for the first 

 time the Cockscomb as a bedder, and with excellent 

 results. We only tried one bed, in which there were 

 over 200 plants; the bed was admired by all who 

 saw it. Some of the combs measured 1 foot in 

 Jength, and were correspondingly broad. I had the 

 idea that a bed of Cockscombs would have a very 

 stiff appearance, but after the experience of last 

 year I have altered my opinion, as the fine foliage 

 the plant took away the stiff appearance of the 

 comb, and the comb showed itself well above th» 

 foliage. My employer was so well satisfied with the 

 bed that it was resolved to have a bed in close 

 proximity to the house this year. I had one planted, 

 but the plants do not grow, and they are damping 

 off one after the other as fast as possible, and the 

 few leaves they have made are puny. The plants 

 must be rooted out and the bed replanted with some- 

 thing else. P. J. B. 



CANTERBURY BELLS.— As border flowers these 

 are quite unrivalled for effect, as few plants are so 

 floriferous, and as they grow some 3 feet or more in 

 height and branch freely, producing bells of such a 

 large size and so varied in colour, they make a very 

 fine show. The best and most desirable to grow is 

 the variety known as C. calycanthema, which has a 

 salver-like calyx about twice as big as the flower, 

 and this saucer-shaped base is a fine setting off to 

 the blooms. Not only are these Canterbury Bells 

 highly ornamental for border work, where they grow 

 reely and are quite hardy, but they are valuable for 



pot culture, as by keeping them under glass during 

 the winter and giving them a little heat in early 

 spring, they may be brought into flower early, when 

 they make a grand display in the greenhouse. As 

 these Campanulas are biennials it is necessary 

 to sow seed the year before the plants are required, 

 and the sooner this is done the better so as to get 

 them strong, the way to raise the plants being to 

 sow under the protection of a handlight, or in a pan 

 of finely sifted soil, and then place a piece of glass 

 over the top. In either case the handlight or pan 

 should be shaded and the soil kept damp till the seed 

 germinates, when full light and air must be given in 

 order to induce a dwarf sturdy growth. As soon as 

 the seedlings are large enough to handle, those 

 intended for borders should be pricked out in good 

 ground in some nice open spot, and those for the 

 greenhouse potted in rich soil in small pots to be 

 shifted on after, or they too may be planted out with 

 the others, and treated in the same way and lifted 

 and potted up late in the autumn. J. S. 



PROFITABLE TOMATO CULTURE IN POTS. — 



A few weeks ago I noticed in a small span-roofed 

 house at Common Hill. Ilfracombe, a fine example 

 of Tomato culture in pots, two plants being grown 

 in each 14-inch pot, of which there were about thirty 

 — fifteen stood closely together in a row close to the 

 front hot-water pipes on each side, and the plants 

 were trained each with a single stem up to the rafters, 

 the shoots and leaves being kept pinched back so as 

 to allow the full benefit of air and sunshine to reach 

 the stems and the numerous clusters of fruit. Owing 

 to Strawberries having been grown on suspended 

 shelves until early in June the leading shoots of the 

 Tomato plants had to be kept stopped hard back 

 until the shelves were taken down, with the result 

 that 60 lb. of fruit were gathered off the plants up to 

 that time, and when I saw the plant (June 21) 

 a like quantity of ripe and ripening fruit could 

 have been gathered. The leading shoot of each 

 plant is now being allowed to reach the top of 

 the house, stopping, however, the secondary growths 

 above each cluster of fruit. Meanwhile a young 

 shoot is taken up from the base of each plant, the 

 points being pinched when about 2 feet high, and 

 afterwards above each cluster of fruit showing on 

 the secondary growths, as indicated. The plants are 

 kept well supplied at the roots with weak liquid 

 manure, and an occasional surface-dressing of 

 Beeson's manure is given before applying water at 

 the roots. I need hardly say that when the crop of 

 fruit on the old stems is ripe the latter are cut clean 

 away, to allow more room for the young plants pro- 

 ceeding from their bases. Thus grown, provided 

 there is a good heating apparatus at command, ripe 

 Tomatos may be secured from the same pot plants 

 all the year round. The varieties cultivated so suc- 

 cessfully by Mr. Dadds, the gardener at Common 

 Hill, are Chiswick Bed, Earliest of All, Reading 

 Perfection, and Main Crop. H. W. W. 



HARDINESS OF CLIVIA MINIATA— My experience 

 with Clivia miniata being to my mind somewhat 

 remarkable, I am desirous of mentioning it, as it may 

 induce some would-be cultivators of Clivias to take 

 the plants in hand for window decoration. The 

 plant noticed was Belgian-grown, and came into my 

 hands in the early part of last summer in full bloom, 

 but destitute of all soil at the root. Not having what 

 most gardeners would regard as "suitable" soil.it 

 was put into a carefully-drained pot, the soil employed 

 being that of the back-garden of a house in the 

 suburbs which certainly, a few years ago, formed part 

 of a meadow. The plant after a few days of retire- 

 ment, spent in a shady corner of a room, was 

 brought into full sunshine at a window facing S.S.E. 

 It soon appeared to take root, and not a single flower 

 fell from its really magnificent head, which was the 

 envy of my less fortunate neighbours. The roots 

 were greedy of water all that hot summer, but being 

 fleshy they are enabled to hold a considerable store 

 for the use of the leaves, and it was considered good 

 practice to let the soil get tolerably dry before 

 supplying more water. With a little artificial 

 manure — I forget whose — the plant made excellent 

 leaves, which grew with a decided bow of respect 

 towards the sun, and therefore required a weekly 

 readjustment by making the plant right-about-face. 

 There was abundance of sunlight in 1887, and I 

 looked forward with certainty to a good head of 

 bloom this year, provided the plant did not succumb 

 to frost, the room being unheated, and I had no 

 other with so sunny a window. Water was gradually 

 withheld from September, just enough being afforded 

 from time to time to prevent the appearance of 



shrivelling in the leaves. The thermometer must 

 have fallen on many occasions during the winter to- 

 several degrees below 32°, for Maurandyas, Helio- 

 tropes, Mesembryanthemums, &c, were killed by the 

 frost, but the Clivia bore the low temperature 

 equally well with Orange trees, Cactus Jenkinsoni, 

 and Adiantum Capillus-veneris ; and in May last it 

 bore as fine a head of flowers as that which came on 

 it from the Belgian nursery. After this experience 

 I may fairly claim to place the Clivia amongst the 

 best of our room plants. The foliage is now of a 

 dark green colour, indicating perfect health, and the 

 plant should be rewarded by a shift into a larger pot. 

 The sun-god has been very retiring this season, and 

 by no means brilliant, at least in London ; and the 

 crook in the back of my plant is certainly less decided 

 than in 1887 — he has " bo'ed," in fact, much less, 

 so that the right-about-face movement was not so 

 urgent as last year. M. W. 



BICOLORS IN SCARLET BROMPTON STOCKS. — 



The whitening of the flowers of scarlet Brompton 

 Stocks to which Mr. Scaden refers, is far from being 

 uncommon — indeed it is a frequent occurrence. 

 Sometimes the flowers will show a flaked form of 

 white and scarlet; sometimes portions will be white 

 and other portions scarlet. Of course these features 

 are not largely marked, and are most usually found 

 in either the latest bloomers or in plants which may 

 have become partially checked or injured. The- 

 suggestion conveyed by Mr. Scaden, that Brompton 

 Stocks at Bournemouth are practically perennials, 

 leads to the inference that that locality must be a 

 paradise for Stocks. The most remarkable fact 

 seems to be, that on the same plants some of the 

 flowers are single and some double. Of such varia- 

 tion on the same plant I never heard before. A. J). 



BARREN STRAWBERRIES AND MILDEW.— Much 

 has been said and written about barren Strawberries, 

 but after all there is nothing remarkable in it, as. 

 the barrenness was only brought about by want of 

 strength or development in the crowns, which weak- 

 ness and imperfection was caused by the great heat 

 and drought of last summer and autumn. In soils 

 that are deep and favourable plants have done well, 

 and in such districts there seems to have been no 

 lack of fruit, but in others, where the land is light 

 and quickly dries, it is only spongy ones, fresh from 

 runners, that had sufficient vigour in them to form 

 flower-heads. What has been a great trouble to us 

 is the mildew, and this we have had both on pot 

 plants and on those outdoors, not only on the leaves, 

 but on the fruit likewise, and it stops the swelling and 

 almost spoils it for use. In houses we could manage 

 to mitigate the evil by syringing with water in 

 which sulphur and soft soap had been boiled, but 

 outdoors little good can be done with this, as it is 

 almost impossible to wet the whole of the leaves. 

 Like the barrenness no doubt the season has had much 

 to do in bringing this mildew about ; but I am afraid 

 it is not so easily got rid of, as the spores remain on 

 the foliage or lodge about all the winter. I find 

 that some sorts are more subject to it than others, 

 and Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury and Queens are 

 the worst. The first-named may often be seen with 

 it, on the seeds, when forced, and it gives a peculiar 

 bloom to the fruit of the Queens, which it hardens, 

 and prevents swelling, unless checked at once. Per- 

 haps some one may know of a remedy against this 

 troublesome parasite, and if so they will confer a 

 great benefit by making it public. J. S. 



STRAWBERRIES here are quite a failure this sea- 

 son, whereas last season I gathered upwards of a 

 ton ; this year I shall not be able to gather more 

 than about 1 cwt. Seeing Mr. House's advertisement 

 in the Gardeners' Chronicle, inviting all interested in 

 Strawberry growing to see his " Victory," I paid 

 him a visit, and must confess I was astonished. He 

 has them growing in different situations, and both in 

 and out of pots; and, without exception, the plants 

 are covered with fruit of all sizes, and the quality 

 has proved to be excellent. The " berry " evidently 

 partakes of the good qualities of both its parents, 

 viz., President'and British Queen. The late runners 

 planted last year had from six to eight good fruit on 

 each, and the old plants one hundred or more. I 

 grow Sir Joseph Paxton, President, Eleanor, and 

 other leading varieties, but have nothing to equal 

 Victory in withstanding drought, and for cropping. 

 J. Toogood, The Gardens, Alwalton Hall, Peterborough. 



SMUT ("BUNT 1 ') IN WHEAT.— This latter term 

 is not in common parlance in Ireland. There are 

 two kinds, both the production of a parasitic fungus. 



