Octodee 20, 1888,] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



447 



they are sheltered from the north and east winds, 

 but where exposed to the full force of the winds 

 we lose a great many each year. The small plants, 

 in pots, propagated from cuttings or single eyes 

 during the summer, ought to be placed in cold 

 frames. It is as well to plunge them to the rims in 

 some loose material. They require at all times 

 ample ventilation, but ought to be shut up close at 

 night, as one cannot tell what the weather may be 

 before morning, J. Douglas, Great Grearies, I/ford. 



Home Correspondence. 



BORDER CARNATIONS.— A new interest has of 

 late been created in these Carnations, and now 

 everybody wants to grow them in gardens, not 

 frjr exhibition purposes, hut as ordinary border 

 flowers. We have also recently begun to discover 

 that there are far more good kinds, especially 

 of self-colours, in the country thau we had im- 

 agined ; and now in all directions good varieties 

 are being presented, so that there is abundance to 

 choose from. Last year being dry and hot proved 

 peculiarly fecund of seed in good sorts, and 

 myriads of seedlings have been raised this year in 

 consequence. This year seed will be scarce, but a 

 good seed season every few years suffices to keep seed- 

 lings abundant. Happily, too, kinds which are 

 robust — and none others are for ordinary border 

 culture worth saving — soon give plenty of layers, and 

 in a few seasons any one variety may be largely 

 multiplied. It has occurred to me that a good trial 

 of these border Carnations out in the open ground 

 at the Royal Horticultural Gardens, Chiswick, might 

 be made next summer a matter of peculiar interest, 

 assuming that the Council of the Society approved, 

 and Mr. Barron could provide a few rods of ground 

 for the purpose. The great advantage of having 

 trials conducted at Chiswick is that they are open 

 to anyone to see ; and there can be hardly a doubt but 

 that a trial of several hundreds of plants would 

 induce very many persons to go to Chiswick to see 

 them. Now I should like to see some clearly 

 defined lines laid down upon which the trial might 

 be conducted, and in the first place particular 

 colours should be asked for, consisting chiefly 

 of selfs. These can be better judged as 

 border flowers thau can ;the ordinary florists' flakes 

 and bizarres; but still classes may be made for 

 flaked and speckled flowers other than florists' varie- 

 ties. The chief colours found in self flowers are 

 white, yellow, salmon, rose, scarlet, crimson, and 

 purple. There are some colours, perhaps, hard to 

 class, but most of them would be found closely allied 

 to one or other of the colours above named. All 

 parti-coloured flowers might be termed fancies, and 

 be divided into dark and light sections — as thus : — 

 rose, yellow, flesh, or scarlet- markings being placed 

 in the light fancy section, and crimson and purple 

 markings into the dark fancy section. All plants 

 sent should be from layers, no pure seedlings being 

 admitted. Whether named or not, each plant should 

 have the description of the colour of flowers marked 

 on the label, and if also numbered, so much the 

 better. Then, further, some limit should be placed 

 on the number of plants each person should be per- 

 mitted to send, which should not exceed two in each 

 class, although some may be able to send not 

 more than one, perhaps. The plants should be 

 planted jn colours for the purpose of comparison 

 and of giving marks; and if the Council could afford 

 so much, a couple of medals might also be given in 

 each class. The awards should be made by a select 

 body of the Floral Committee, not less than five in 

 number, who should visit the trial weekly until 

 the awards were completed. The plants in due 

 course to be layered, and the senders to have the 

 option of purchasing the respective stocks of his 

 own sending at moderate charges, or leaving them, 

 as he may think tit. Whilst general good quality 

 in the flowers should not be overlooked, the plants 

 generally should be 'udged as for border decoration. 

 A. D. 



LATE STRAWBERRIES.— I have to-day (October 

 11) gathered from the open ground a dish of 

 good President Strawberries from plants which 

 fruited early in the season. We have had several 

 frosts, one of which registered 8°, and during 

 the night of the 1st inst., there fell 3 inches 

 of snow. A few Fern leaves were thrown loosely over 

 the plants as shelter, from the cold winds, but not 



enough to exclude the light, and no other protection 

 was afforded them. I have also a bed of Hautbois, 

 some of them runners of last year, which bore fruit in 

 summer, and now is full of flower; and many of the 

 runners of the present season have thrown up fine 

 bold trusses of flowers. A fortnight ago I lifted 

 several of the last years' plants, and placed them in 

 boxes in a vinery, the flowers of many of them have 

 set, and are swelling off their fruit. In such a 

 chequered and unusual season we cannot speak fairly 

 as regards the merits or demerits of any of these 

 varieties, either new or old. D. Davis, Ki/ne Park 

 Gardens, Tenhury. 



LONG-LIVED CUCUMBERS.— In a recent number 

 your correspondent, C. Collins, expressed surprise at 

 a line house of Cucumbers, which was planted in 

 August, 1887. I suppose him to mean that it is by- 

 no means a common occurrence : if so, I quite agree 

 witli him, and will give him my experience of grow- 

 ing Cucumbers for two years without renewal. In 

 the year 1872 I was foreman in the gardens at Chil- 

 worth Manor, Hampshire, Mr. J. Batters being head 

 gardener. Cucumber and Melon growing was then a 

 hobby with me, and I was allowed free scope to grow 

 them according to my own ideas and ability. 

 I entered the gardens in February and found a 

 Cucumber-house that had been planted the previous 

 February with plants struck from cuttings of Tele- 

 graph. The stock bad been in Mr. Batters' posses- 

 sion 5 years. The plants had borne good crops all 

 through the previous summer and winter, the vine 

 being gradually renewed by cutting out old shoots 

 and laving in new ones ; and now it was determined 

 to see if the plant would continue to bear still longer. 

 To make sure the young stock of plants from 

 cuttings was planted by the side of the old; but the 

 latter by frequent top dressings of old Mush- 

 room-dung and liquid-manure carried a fine crop of 

 Cucumbers the whole of the next summer and fol- 

 lowing winter, and had not the supports of the bed 

 given way, I think it would have done good service 

 another season. From this it will be seen, that by a 

 careful cuttiug-out of old branches and laying-in of 

 new, keeping the foliage clean and free from aphis, 

 with oft-repeated manurings, Cucumber plants can 

 be made to produce good fruits for two or more years. 

 The plants may not be quite as vigorous as seedlings, 

 but they are by far more productive. Ourplantswere 

 always struck from cuttings, the original plant being 

 raised from seed soon after the variety was sent out. 

 Where Cucumbers are required all the year round I 

 should prefer cuttings to seedlings, as I have found 

 them to be the more prolific of the two. The 

 Cucumber-house was about the same size as the one 

 spoken of by Mr. C. Collins, and the border of the 

 same width and depth. Hot-water pipes ran the 

 length under the bed, midway between the floor and 

 the bed, a hole being made in the wall to admit by 

 means of a shutter the escape of too abundant heat 

 into the house, and which we found very useful in 

 raising the temperature of the latter, especially 

 during very cold weather. The plants were kept 

 clean by frequent use of the syringe. The branches 

 were kept thin, so that a good deal of light was 

 admitted— a very necessary point. F. H. Fraud, Tin' 

 Bank, St. Albans. 



PLANTING SANDHILLS.— On p. 389 of your last 

 issue "J. E. E." offers suggestions as to the best 

 trees, shrubs, and other subjects to plant on sand- 

 hills situated on the north-west coast of England. 

 Living myself on the coast about eight miles from 

 Liverpool to the north, I have experienced the pre- 

 vailing winds spoken of by " Doubtful," also the 

 shifting sands. I have also been on the east coast 

 from Hunstanton to Yarmouth, having lived near 

 the first-named place for a considerable time, so that 

 I can speak of both shores. In the first place, I 

 would remind " J. E. E." that to one gale on the 

 east coast we get at least ten on the north-west, and, 

 I may say, these are twice as severe. To secure the 

 sand is by no means an easy matter, and the best 

 things are the grasses recommended by " J. E. E. " ; 

 but then, again, it is useless to plant them without 

 some kind of protection. The best thing I can 

 recommend " Doubtful " before he'begins to plant is 

 to get enough wattled hurdles to extend the whole 

 seaward side of his sandhills, but he must not take 

 in too great a width of sand at one time ; 10 yards 

 would be enough, and then he can plant his grasses 

 and intermix them with the common Willow, but if 

 he can get the latter to grow any taller than the 

 grass he will be much more fortunate than I was. I 

 have planted at one time or another nearly all the 

 plants which " J. E. E," recommends, but it has 



ended in failure, so I have given it up for a bad job, 

 it being nothing less than waste of time and money 

 to go on with this kind of work. I have got my 

 sandhills well covered with grass, but as for getting 

 further I could not. If " Doubtful " wishes to grow 

 ornamental trees, &c, he will have to build a wall 

 10 feet high, and then he can try, but I do not know 

 what success he will have even then. We have 

 a wall about half-way between the house and high- 

 water-mark, which is G feet high, and topped with 

 ■1 feet of good strong trellis, which is crossed, so 

 that only half an inch of daylight is seen between 

 the laths. There is a border inside about 10 or 12 

 yards wide, planted with ornamental trees in 2 feet 

 of good garden soil ; but at the present time these 

 look poor miserable objects, and as for getting them 

 to grow above the trellis, that is out of the question. 

 It is impossible to get a bit of Ivy or any creeper 

 to grow on the west or north side of the house, but 

 on the east things do fairly well — the Ivy especially, 

 which is up to the top of the house. It is a very 

 common occurrence to find chimney-pots, slates, 

 tiles, and squares of glass smashed up in all direc- 

 tions. This year, about the beginning of June, we 

 had a terrific gale ; the trees were just out in their 

 first young leaf, and looking well, but, alas ! the next 

 day after they were like a Scarlet Runner Bean 

 that has had 10° of frost ; even the grass on the lawn 

 was as black as your hat, so violent is the wind 

 experienced on the west and north-west coast of the 

 country. If "Doubtful" is situated in the same 

 part anything he may do will be a failure, unless he 

 gets a strong wall built first, and even then I do not 

 think he will find it to pay, let alone be of profit, to 

 cultivate sand, for I know by experience that what I 

 grow costs five or six times its value, if. C. Townseiid, 

 SanUeh. 



THE ONION CROP. — Not only will there be a 

 very poor crop of Onion seed this year, but we are 

 wondering from whence will come good sound bulbs 

 which will keep long enough to produce seed next 

 year. Only under exceptional circumstances has it 

 been possible to secure well-ripened bulbs, and only 

 such will keep for six months after lifting. The best 

 results have been found where varieties of the Spanish 

 type were sown last autumn, as those mostly stood the 

 winter well, and were fairly well matured sound bulbs. 

 Those bulbs would, however, hardly keep until April 

 next for field planting. In most cases spring-sown 

 Onions have never ceased growing, and natural 

 ripening has been out of the question. Of course, 

 it has been possible to pull the bulbs, and force 

 ripening of a kind, but not solil maturation. 

 The shortness of the crop should make Onion bulbs 

 dear this winter, and therefore there will be greater 

 temptation to sell than to save for seed production. 

 I found white-skinned Onions, such as Tennis-ball, 

 to be so tender that they failed absolutely, whilst 

 bulbs of the type of Danver's Yellow proved far 

 more hardy, and have seeded fairly well, but of 

 course late. Bulbs of large size, such as Rousham 

 Park Hero, have done badly, the stems decaying 

 because of the excessive moisture. I tried a well- 

 matured Portugal bulb for seed production, and found 

 that it utterly failed to produce seed, although it 

 flowered. We are finding out now that we have a 

 disastrous Onion season, that this feverish anxiety 

 to get large bulbing sorts is a mistake, and that 

 smaller bulbing, hardier kinds, are by far more 

 serviceable. As Onion seed next spring may not be 

 too good, it will be as well to sow some in a frame 

 for transplanting, and thus avoid what outdoors may 

 be absolute failure. A. D. 



ROOTS AND BUDS OF FRUIT TREES, AND 

 MOISTURE. — At this season, when trees of all kinds 

 on walls and in the open are ripening their wood of 

 the current year, that which tends to impede the 

 process is dryness at the root, and this evil is very 

 apt to occur during dry months like the present 

 October, when rain has been infrequent over large 

 areas of the country. It is surprising how soon the 

 effects of the heavy rainfalls have vanished from 

 some soils, and roots begin to suffer from the les- 

 sened amount of moisture about them, and more 

 particularly is this so where they are not mulched. 

 In such cases it may yet be necessary to water, and 

 though this may by some be considered against 

 ripening, it is of the utmost importance that the 

 foliage be maintained fresh as long as possible, and 

 prevented from flagging. In houses it will be a great 

 help to the trees during bright weather if they are 

 heavily syringed in the afternoon, but the more air 

 they get the better, and lights can be taken off. 

 Should we get a change, and go back to dull cloudy 



