September 22, 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



327 



Cultural Memoranda. 



WALLFLOWERS. 

 Op the plants raised from seed — sown in boxes 

 placed in beat, and the seedlings subsequently 

 pricked out, 6 inches apart, on a few inches of good 

 soil, placed above a thin layer of short dung, resting 

 on a bard soil or cinder bottom, in a sunny aspect — 

 some of the bushiest should now be lifted with nice 

 balls of soil, and be potted into 6-inch pots. After 

 watering them, stand on a bed of coal-ashes, cover 

 with a frame, and shade from sunshine until the 

 roots have pushed into the fresh soil, when free 

 ventilation must be afforded them, watering when 

 necessary, and giving weak liquid manure two or 

 three times a week after the plants are well rooted. 

 A portion of the Wallflower plants thus grown 

 should be put into a greenhouse, or, better still, a 

 pit, about the end of November, where a temperature 

 of from 40° to SO is maintained, and where the 

 plants can have a position near to the glass. The 

 presence of this familiar and deliciously-scented 

 harbinger of spring in the dwelling or conservatory 

 in mid-winter is always appreciated. Belvoir Castle, 

 of a soft yellow colour, and Harbinger, a dark brown 

 one, are desirable varieties. 



Violets. 

 No time should be lost in lifting Violet plants 

 which were planted out in the spring, and planting 

 them with suitable balls at 12 inches apart, in 

 frames from which frost can be kept out. The 

 leaves should be but a few inches from the glass, 

 and the roots before planting shortened back a little 

 — those protruding through the balls of earth — before 

 planting, and the soil should be made firm in plant- 

 ing. The runners must also be pinched back to 

 the crowns, and afterwards be kept persistently 

 pinched off during the next six months to favour the 

 production of blooms. After planting, water the 

 bed to settle the soil, and shade from sunshine for a 

 few days. 



• RlCHABDIA -ETHIOPICA. 



These should now be lifted with a mass of soil 

 and roots in proportion to the size of the pot into 

 which it is intended to pot them, using a mixture of 

 four parts of good loam and one of leaf-mould and 

 short dung. The pots should be well crocked, and 

 the soil worked in amongst the roots. A large pro- 

 portion of my plants are potted into 12- inch and 

 9-inch pots, the remainder being put in 7-inch and 

 6-inch pots, for arranging on the side stages of con- 

 servatory and various other puposes. After potting 

 stand the plants under a south wall, or where they 

 will not sustain injury from a few degrees of frost 

 and where they can be shaded from sunshine until 

 the roots have pushed into the fresh soil, when full 

 exposure is best for them. The plants, when placed 

 in position, should be watered to settle the soil about 

 the roots, and in due time they should receive copious 

 supplies of tepid liquid manure, to enable them to 

 develope large flower-spathes. The plants should 

 be housed before they are likely to get injured by 

 frost ; it will not be safe to subject them to more 

 than 3°. 



EUPATORIUMS, BoCYABDIAS, AND SALVIAS. 



Where these are grown in the open ground they 

 should be taken up now and potted, employing a 

 compost of three parts of fibry loam and one of 

 leaf-soil, with a sprinkling of sharp sand added, 

 afterwards putting the plants in a pit, where 

 they can be kept close and shaded for a few days, 

 until re-established, when full exposure is best. 

 After the Bouvardias have got well established they 

 should have a minimum temperature of from 55° to 

 60°, according as the weather is cold or mild, with a 

 proportionately high day temperature — say, from 70 c 

 to 75°. Should aphis put in an appearance on the 

 plants, fumigate a couple of evenings in succession 

 with tobacco-paper, following this with a liberal use 

 of soft-water and the syringe, and free ventilation 



for a few days, weather permitting. The Eupatoriums 

 and Salvias should be put into the greenhouse, or 

 anywhere out of the reach of frost, where they can 

 have abundance of light and air for the time being. 

 H. W. Ward. 



Crocosma ausea. 



This is a useful plant to grow either for the green- 

 house or for cutting purposes, as it affords a shade of 

 colour seldom met with in anything else, and the 

 lightness of its tall spikes and flowers makes it an 

 admirable flower for vases. When required for the 

 last-named purpose, it is best to grow it outdoors, 

 for though not quite hardy, it is sufficiently so to 

 stand in certain situations, the most suitable being in 

 a border under a sunny wall, where, with only slight 

 protection during winter the bulbs will escape injury, 

 and come up very strong in the spring. To help to 

 ensure this, it is a good plan to drain before planting, 

 and to prepare the soil, as the Tritonia, as it is 

 generally called, will not bear excessive wet when at 

 rest, and likes a free sandy loam, in which it sends 

 out its creeping roots, and it then spreads with great 

 freedom. 



When grown in pots the bulbs should be potted 

 in 6 or 8-inch pots, and placed from six to nine in a 

 pot, covering them to a depth of 2 inches. The 

 pots may be stood in a cold frame and left till the 

 leaves show, when water should be afforded in 

 gradually increasing quantity, and at the end of May, 

 or before, they may be plunged in the open ground 

 and there left till they began to show bloom. 

 Treated in this way they are not subject to red- 

 spider, as is the case when grown under glass, and 

 which soon spoils the foliage. J. S. 



Rudbeckias. 

 There are several varieties of these, but there is 

 only one of high merit, and that is R. Newmanni, 

 which deserves a place in any collection of herbaceous 

 plants, as not only is it exceedingly showy when it 

 blooms, but it comes into flower late, and will stand 

 any amount of rain or bad weather without look- 

 ing any the worse. The habit of R. Newmanni 

 is dwart and spreading, and the plant has large 

 rough leaves, the flower-stems being branching, and 

 rising to a height of from 1 to 2 feet, and these are 

 terminated by large bright yellow blooms, with a 

 conspicuous black cone or disc in the centre. The 

 readiest way to propagate this Rudbeckia is by 

 division, and this may be effected late in the 

 autumn or spring, at either of which seasons the 

 plant may be cut through with a sharp spade, and 

 the side portions taken away and replanted at once. 

 Like most herbaceous subjects it is fond of good soil 

 and plenty of depth, but plants of it will be found 

 to do very well under adverse conditions, as it is 

 tenacious of life, and only suffers where it cannot get 

 the requisite moisture. J. S. 



Trees and Shrubs. 



CONIFERS. 



From the plantations at Ochtertyre, near Crieff, 

 Mr. Croucher sends us a hamper of branches of 

 Conifers, showing their vigorous growth and suit- 

 ability for the climate of Perthshire. Among them 

 are unusually fine specimens of Abies (Picea of 

 gardens) cephalonica with foliage of great size and 

 substance and of pale green color. The young cones 

 are of an exquisite light-brown colour shot with pink. 

 In the South this tree is often spring-tender ; perhaps 

 in the North it does not start into growth so soon, 

 and hence escapes injury ; at any rate, the specimens 

 from Ochtertyre seem to indicate that the tree would 

 not only be ornamental but valuable for timber. 



Abies grandis is remarkable for the very rich deep 

 black-green of its foliage, and for its greenish-brown 

 cones. 



The Douglas Fir is represented by two forms, the 

 one known as Stairii and another of similar character, 

 but which is even more remarkable in the pale 

 yellowish tinge of the foliage than Stairii. 



Abies Lowii, alias Parsonsiana, &c, is sent to show 

 the great difference between it and the true A. con- 

 color, which latter has long leaves, equal in length, 

 alike in colour on both surfaces, stouter branches, 

 larger buds, and other characteristics pointed out to 

 us and recorded in these columns by Mr. Barron. 

 These differences in extreme cases are sufficient to 

 warrant a distinct name, but in looking through 

 seed-beds or nursery rows we have always found so 

 many intermediate forms as to be puzzled to give a 

 name to any particular specimen. 



Picea Engelmanni is represented by some finely- 

 grown shoots of a pale fawn colour, the sleuder 

 blueish leaves all appressed, and (when stroked the 

 right way) soft to the touch. The light-brown buds 

 are ovoid-conic, and not resinous. In the South this 

 tree grows slowly, and seems tender, while its near 

 ally, P. pungens, (often called Parryana or commu- 

 tata) is much more robust. The green form is very- 

 handsome, but the blue form, pungens glauca (alia* 

 Parryana glauca) is decidedly the most beautiful of 

 its race, and keeps its colour throughout the year. 



Picea excelsa aurea, like the form called fine- 

 donensis, is remarkable for the very deep orange 

 colour of the two or three-year-old shoots, the shoots 

 of the year being of a pale fawn colour- deepening in 

 time into the rich colour just mentioned. 



P. ajanensis is sent under the name Alcockiana. 

 seeds of the two having been originally inadvertently 

 gathered or mixed under the same name. What is 

 now recognised as ajanensis, is a flat-leaved Spruce 

 with the young shoots fawn coloured, those of the two 

 and three years pale orange; the leaves are appressed. 

 and more or less parallel with the branches on the 

 upper surface speading beneath. In this species the 

 upper leaf-surface is silvery white, the lower deep 

 green. The female cones in spring are erect, of a 

 lovely tint of carmine. As they ripen they lose their 

 brilliant colour, and occupy the ends of the branches, 

 either standing out horizontally, or being more or 

 less deflected. This is one of the most beautiful 

 Conifers in cultivation, and the rapidity and vigour 

 of its growth, as shown in the specimen before us, 

 seem to indicate it as of great value for timber also. 



P. Menziesii is a better known tree of similar 

 character, but with more spreading, 4-sided sharply- 

 pointed leaves, the cones more slender, and its scales 

 more gradually pointed and concave at the back. 



Tsuga Mertensiana, alias Albertiana, is remark- 

 able for its very graceful pendulous branches, with 

 silvery leaves and small cones like Hops. 



THE SEED TBA.DE. 



The Foreign Grass and Clover Crops. — 

 Advices from Darmstadt, the head-quarters of 

 German Grass and Clover seed growing, state that 

 the crops are later this year than for many years 

 past, the retarding season having been felt as much 

 there as in our own country. Heavy and uninter- 

 rupted rains have caused the delay ; in the early 

 part of the season and up to the middle of June 

 there was a great lack of moisture, and the drought 

 prevented development. The season has proved 

 quite the reverse of last year, when the spring was 

 very wet, followed by a summer of distressing 

 drought. 



The earlier crops are somewhat inferior in quan- 

 tity and quality to those of last year, the grain 

 lighter in weight and lacking colour. Careful 

 cleaning has improved the samples, and they are 

 scarcely less inferior to the best produce of former 

 seasons. 



The crop of Dactylis glomerata (Rough Cocksfoot- 

 grass) is a short one; the quality of American seed 

 bad, that of New Zealand in every respect superior 

 to last season's, as well as larger. The earliest ship- 

 ments are decidedly good ; later ones are said to be 

 certain to be lighter and inferior in quality. The 

 crop of Alopecurus pratensis (Meadow I'oxtail- 

 grass) amounts to about the same quantity as last 

 year; the seeds will be heavier, and show good 

 growing qualities. From some districts poor samples 

 have come, and it is advised that the lighter seeds 



