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THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[July 28, 1888. 



top gardens; he discourses of soils, walks, lawns, 

 beds, and borders. He tells us what to grow and 

 how to do it, and all in a style very different from 

 that of the mere inexperienced scribe who writes 

 with a view to his own pocket rather than the benefit 

 of his readers. With a view of testing the work we 

 turned with interest to the chapters on town gar- 

 dening and on the management of a small green- 

 house, and found those subjects sufficiently and 

 practically treated. The remarks on watering are 

 excellent. The number of serviceable evergreens 

 for town gardens might have been largely increased. 

 Skimmia, Osmanthus, and the comparatively new 

 Phillyrea Vilmoriana do admirably in the open air 

 in the smokiest situations. 



The Rothamsted Experiments, &c. By 

 William Fream, B.Sc, and Horace Cox. 

 Mr. Freani has done excellent service by sum- 

 marising and condensing some of the principal 

 results obtained from the unparalleled series of 

 observations, experiments, and analyses, carried on 

 at Rothamsted by Sir John Lawes and his aide-de- 

 camp Professor Gilbert. The original records are 

 hardly adapted for use by cultivators ; moreover, they 

 are voluminous, bulky, and scattered through various 

 publications during a period of forty years. Mr. 

 Fream has selected for summary those reports re- 

 lating to the culture of Wheat, Barley, and meadow 

 herbage, and he has done his task so well, that we 

 hope he may be induced to continue his labours and 

 give us similar summaries with respect to Potato 

 and root crops, to the feeding of animals, to the 

 relations between vegetation and climate, and other 

 of the many subjects to which attention has been 

 paid at Rothamsted. 



FREESIAS FEOM SEEDS. 



Pekhaps it is not generally known amongst ad- 

 mirers of these charming bulbous plants that they 

 can easily be grown from seeds, and be had in bloom 

 about four months from the time of sowing. At the 

 present time we have, standing in a cold frame, 

 thirteen 6-inch pots, each containing eight to ten 

 plants, raised from a packet of seeds sown about the 

 middle of February last. All the plants have flower- 

 stems, and a good many of the stems have one or 

 two flowering branches springing from their sides. 

 The first flowers began to open early last month 

 (June), and from that time to the present there has 

 been quite a profusion of bloom, filling the air with 

 fragrance, particularly at night, to a considerable 

 distance round the spot where the plants stand, and 

 there is apparently much gaiety and sweetness still 

 forthcoming. 



Our packet, from the seedsman, was labelled 

 Freesia refracta alba ; but, besides white flowers, we 

 have some with one to three petals marked with 

 bright orange ; other flowers are of a pale citron 

 hue ; these are larger than the rest. 



The culture of Freesias from seeds is most simple, 

 and appears to be devoid of the disappointment 

 which sometimes attends their growth from bulbs. 

 By sowing seed at intervals — say in February, April, 

 and again in June — it would be easy to have a good 

 supply of these flowers throughout the summer and 

 autumn months. Besides, if properly treated after 

 flowering, the bulbs of seedling plants would come in 

 useful for forcing and growing the following season. 



In sowing the seeds, the cultural directions printed 

 on the packet were not followed. In our case an 

 8-inch pot was crocked, and filled with a mixture of 

 loam, peat, and sand ; after watering the surface, the 

 seeds were sown and covered lightly over. The pot 

 was then placed in a pit prepared for growing 

 Cucumbers. In about ten days the seeds germi- 

 nated, and as soon as the seedlings were fit to 

 handle they were carefully taken from the seed-pot 

 and pricked over the surfaces of some prepared 

 3-inch pots, eight to ten of the seedlings being 

 dibbled into a pot. When filled, the pots were put 

 back into the Cucumber pit, standing them on a 



shelf at the back, near the glass. Here they soon 

 became established, and grew very sturdy, eventually 

 looking much stronger and healthier than plants we 

 had grown from old bulbs. About the beginning of 

 May, the small pots being full of healthy roots, a 

 shift into a 6-inch pot was given them, using a com- 

 post of loam, peat, some fresh horse-droppings passed 

 through a half-inch sieve, and some sand. In pot- 

 ting the plants the roots were disturbed as little as 

 possible. They were now put into a cold frame, a 

 mat being thrown over the glass at night. Water 

 was given carefully at first, and the frame was kept 

 rather close for a time. Soon after this shift some 

 of the plants began to throw up flower-stems ; when 

 these had advanced in growth a little weak manure- 

 water, prepared from stable-dung, was given, and the 

 forwardest of the stems in a little time began to 

 expand flowers, others followed in their wake, until 

 we have had quite a mass of bloom for some weeks 

 pa3t. J. W. [The flowers sent with this note had 

 stalks of 1 foot in height, were fully developed, and 

 perfumed like Violets. Ed.] 



DISEASE OF OKNITHOGALUM. 



PUCCINIA LlLIACEAItUM, Duly. 



A few weeks ago Mr. William Cross, of Lytham, 

 Lancashire, was good enough to send to the office of 

 the Gardeners' Chronicle numerous specimens of 

 leaves of Ornithogalum umbellatum, L., infested 

 with a fungus new to Britain, named Puccinia 

 Liliaeearum. He wrote : — " The disease is of a most 

 virulent nature, and has completely killed thousands 

 of plants in a few days." Mr. Cross was led to send 

 this communication by seeing the account of Orni- 

 thogalum nutans, L., destroyed by Heterosporium 

 Ornithogali, as published in the number of the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle for May 26, 1888, p. 658. The 

 accompanying illustration (fig. 11) will explain 

 the appearances presented by the new fungus. On 

 the right are the tips of two leaves of Ornithoga- 

 lum umbellatum, L., thickly infested with the 

 Puccinia, which grows on both sides of the leaves. 

 It will be observed that the leaf-tips have been 

 narrowed or contracted and dried up by the growth 

 of the fungus within the leaves. Each leaf is 

 covered with innumerable at first orange and then 

 black pustules, which, on being magnified twenty 

 diameters, are seen as in the centre of the illustra- 

 tion. The entire substance of each infected leaf-tip 

 is filled with the mycelium of the fungus. The 

 growth of the spores within the pustules at length 

 bursts the epidermis of the leaf, as illustrated, and 

 when ripe the spores are scattered out. The spores, 

 which are larger in size than is usual with 

 Puccinia, are shown enlarged 400 diameters at the 

 bottom of the illustration ; they are variable in 

 both size and form, smooth, and bright yellowish or 

 orange-brown in colour. An interesting account is 

 given of this fungus, drawn up from examples for- 

 warded by Mr. Cross, in the Wesley Naturalist for 

 .Tune, and written by the Rev. Hilderic Friend, of 

 Carlisle. Mr. Cross' examples have been sent to 

 the Natural History Museum, South Kensington. 

 Worthington G. Smith, Dunstable. 



Cultural Memorandum. 



SILENE PENDULA RUBERRIMA. 

 Where this annual is wanted for masses in the 

 flower garden next spring, no time should be lost in 

 sowing seed. Having placed a crock over each of 

 the holes in the bottom of shallow boxes, strew a 

 few handfuls of half-rotten leaves over them, filling 

 to within an inch of the top with ordinary garden 

 soil, or, better still, sifted waste soil from under the 

 potting-bench. Make this firm and level with a 

 piece of board, then sow the seeds thinly, and cover 

 lightly ; water through a fine rose, put into a frame 

 and keep close until the young plants appear, when 

 sufficient air should be admitted to prevent the 



plants from making a weakly growth, and as soon as 

 large enough, prick out in boxes or on a warm border, 

 at from 4 to 6 inches apart, giving water through a 

 rose, as before, to settle the soil about the roots. 

 Thus treated, nice sturdy little plants will be secured 

 for transplanting in the beds as soon as autumn 

 frosts render the removal of their summer occupants 

 necessary. Plants of the rose and white varieties of 

 this showy and very useful spring-flowering subject 

 may be raised in the same way as indicated above. 



Rosa eugosa. 

 This Japanese Rose has a fine, distinct ornamental 

 foliage, and the pure white flowers are very useful for 

 cutting before they become fully open. Seeds may be 

 sown in a box filled with sandy soil and covered 

 lightly. When large enough, prick them out in a 

 nursery bed, 6 inches apart, preparatory to being 

 finally transplanted where they are intended to 

 flower. 



Mignonette fok Winter and Spuing Fioweeing. 

 This is a good time to sow Mignonette seed — 

 Golden Queen and Garaway's White are two excel- 

 lent varieties — to raise plants for cutting from during 

 the winter and spring months. If for pot work, sow 

 thinly in 4i-inch pots filled with sandy loam, cover- 

 ing lightly with some of the same, water through a 

 fine rose, and stand the pots in a cool frame, shading 

 from sunshine until the plants appear, when they 

 should have plenty of light and air, and be thinned 

 out to three in each pot ; the object being to secure 

 sturdy plants. If large supplies are required, a hot- 

 water pit, having a south aspect, should be devoted 

 to them, sowing the seed thinly over the bed, and 

 afterwards admitting sufficient air to prevent the 

 plants from making a spindly growth. 



Celosia p ajiidalis plumosa. 

 In order to raise a stock of plants of this showy 

 decorative annual for he spring embellishment of 

 stove and. warm greenhouse, a pinch of seed should 

 be sown forthwith in a shallow pan, covering it 

 lightly with fine soil ; water, and place in heat near 

 the glass. When the young plants are large enough, 

 prick them out 2 inches apart in a box filled with light 

 rich soil ; iter, put back in heat, and shade for a few 

 days from s: n until the roots have taken to the soil ; 

 afterwards pot singly into 3-inch pots, and again 

 into 48's before the roots become matted. H. W. W. 



Anchusas italica and sempekvieens. 

 These beautiful Alkanets belong to the order of 

 Borageworts, and the first named is a most desirable 

 plant to have in the herbaceous border, where it 

 grows from 3 to 4 feet high, and is strikingly effective 

 on account of its exceedingly free floriferous habit, 

 and the very rich deep blue of its blooms. These are 

 about the size of a shilling, and for depth of colour 

 rival those of the well-known Gentiana acaulis ; and 

 as there are so few plants that have flowers of that 

 hue that attain much size, the Anchusa italica ought 

 to be better known than it is. To have it do well 

 the soil where it is to be planted should be broken 

 up deeply, and have some rotten manure worked in 

 below, to which the roots will go down and be inde- 

 pendent of water when dry weather sets in. The 

 way to propagate Anchusa italica is by seeds or 

 off sets ; the last named may be removed early 

 in spring as soon as the leaves show, and the latter 

 sown, when ripe, either in the open or under a haud- 

 liglit, to be planted therefrom when strong enough, 

 where they are to remain. A. sempervirens is a 

 British species, and well adapted for growing in the 

 wild garden or by the sides of woodland walks or 

 drives, where it is very attractive and strong enough* 

 to take care of itself. J. S. 



Foxgloves. 

 For the wild garden, or for forming clumps in the 

 back of shrubbery borders, these plants are unrivalled. 

 Although there are several foreign kinds, there are 

 none to equal our native species, or at least the 

 improved forms of these, Haown as Digitalis gloxini- 



