sa 



JOUKNAL OF HOKXICIJLTTJEE AND COIIAGE GAEDENEK. 



[ March 14, 186S. 



purpurea, in which the marking was very reg^ilar and clear; 

 aJso a very pretty Sedum of the same character. The 

 variegation even descends to Ferns, for there was a dis- 

 tinctly variegfated form of Acrophorus hispidus, and a new 

 Tariegated Pteris, sometiiing between P. cretica albo-lineata 

 and P. serrulata. 



AmoHgst the rarer stove and greenhouse plants, of which 

 3ttr. Bull has a large selection, I may mention the fine An- 

 thurium to which I have already alluded in Mr. Veitch's 

 collection as introduced by Mr. Weir from South A merioa ; 

 also the pretty Peperomia arifolia, with beautiful wax-like 

 leaves and beautifWly variegated. I have already alluded 

 to the fine varieties both of Dracaena and Pandanus, so very 

 useful for in-door decoration. Ouvirandra fenestralis, the 

 liBce-plant of Madagascar, will now be generally gro\vn, and 

 ■was to be seen here in small plants ready for distribution. 

 Then there is the curious Cephalotus folliculaiis, sufliciently 

 hardy for ordinary greenhouse culture. 



Amongst Ferns I noticed a crested variety of Nephrodium 

 molle, Adiantum Feei, the crested variety of Polystiehum 

 angulare, and the new forms of Athyrium Filix-fcemina, 

 Vemonie and Yictorise. Lastrea Standishii can hardly be 

 called a new Fern now, but it will certainly for a long time 

 be valued as a handsome and free-growing one. 



Of the numerous softwooded plants — the Petunias, Pelar- 

 goniums, Pentstemons, it would be premature to speak. 

 We can only look forward to seeing them by-and-by, and re- 

 porting in due time ; and that we may have to report favour- 

 ably of many is, I think, most likely, for unquestionably in 

 Editor, Clipper, Miriam, Lorenzo, &c., we have had flowers 

 of decided merit. Nor must I forget that Mr. Bull has a 

 large quantity of the fine LLlium auratum, of which he has 

 a consignment of upwards of 2000 ; while he has also been 

 successful in obtaining a very clear and distinct variety in 

 Lilium auratum rubro-vittatum, in which the golden band 

 gives place to one of deep red, and it is quite possible that 

 amongst the more recent arrivals may be found other 

 varieties. From these two establishments, Mr. Veitch's and 

 Mr. Bull's, different indeed in character, one may gain an 

 idea of the great amount of enterprise which the present 

 taete for horticulture has called forth. — D., Deal. 



TURVES FOE STEAWBEERIES EST POTS. 



Isr your So. 204, page 156, Mr. Abbey says, " Never use 

 saucers, they rot the roots by keeping the soil sour ; use 

 sods in preference, the turves being placed on the shelves 

 grass side downwards." Last year I placed about one hun- 

 dred Strawberry plants in pots on shelves in my orchard 

 and cool Vine-house (seldom heated), in this manner; the 

 rest of the pots in saucers. Two days after I was told by 

 a very experienced gardener that those on sods would be 

 totally destroyed by wireworra, and I at once removed them 

 into saucers. I had four kinds of Strawberries — the British 

 Queen, Keens' Seedling, Black Prince, and Empress Eugenie, 

 all of which produced good crops. My gai'dener is now 

 bringing my Strawberry plants in pots into the cool Vine 

 orchard-house, and I shall have a portion of them placed 

 on turves in consequence of Mr. Abbey's recommendation, 

 some also in saucers, and a few as an experiment in a 

 shallow trough of zinc filled with sand, to compare these 

 different modes of culture. — E. S. 



[I object to saucers on the ground of their being kept full 

 of water mainly during dull weather and the early stages of 

 the plants' growth. 1 have found saucers more prejudicial 

 than beneficial, unless you water the plants yourself, or 

 hare aasiatantH equally careful. The saucers are of no use 

 nntU the fruit is set, all that is needed is a cool and moist 

 bottom to counteract the drying influence of artificial heat 

 on the pots, and, consequently, on the roots. After the fi-uit 

 is act a good supply of water is necessary to make the fruit 

 (well well, and there is less probability of the plants sufl'er- 

 ing for want of water when standing in saucers than when 

 standing on the bare shelf, and they, by holding water, 

 assist in keeping the air about them cool and moist, and are 

 more desirable after the sun gains power than early in the 

 season. I never found Strawberries do well in a wet un- 

 drained soil, but find them do best in strong soil deeply 

 •tiired which will let the water through it and out at the 



bottom. I never saw or found the Strawberry, wild or in a 

 cultivated state, growing in a marsh or bog, and for these 

 reasons I t-ake it for granted that saucers may lessen the 

 necessity of watering the plants, but they give a soddened 

 and sour soU not congenial to the growth of the roots. With 

 sods the case is entirely reversed. They furnish a cool 

 bottom; the atmosphere is kept moist around the pots 

 through the evaporation from the turves; the roots make 

 their way into them ; any one can water the plants with- 

 out fear of making the soil in the pots sour ; and the plants 

 derive nourishment from the turves. On sods the plants 

 can never be watered too much, for the soil will hold no 

 more than its retentive power permits, and that is all that 

 is necessary for the plants at the time. When the saucers 

 are not used, or the water not allowed to remain in them 

 for any length of time, then none of the evils of keeping 

 them constantly filled present themselves ; and there is 

 less likelihood of harm when the saucers are used at a later 

 period, for the sun having more power a more constant sup- 

 ply of water is needed. With careful watering Strawberries 

 do well in saucers, but these are of no use until the flowers 

 open, and ought to be emptied an hour after watering. 

 Troughs to retain water are just as bad as saucers, though 

 I know both do well for swelling fruit; but the danger is 

 the same in both — viz., with careless watering at the early 

 stages the plants are apt to become too wet, and the roots 

 rot instead of multiplying. I have used turves for many 

 years, and how long they were used before my time I can- 

 not tell, but I never heard of any complaints of wu'eworms 

 doing injury to the plants. Perhaps I make the soil ob- 

 noxious to them, by strewing a little soot over the rough 

 soil placed over the drainage at the bottom of the pots when 

 potting the plants into their blooming pots, or drive them 

 out of the sods by saturating them with soot and manure 

 water. I use the sods on which the plants are placed for 

 potting the plants intended for forcing another year, and 

 what is to spare forms, with the addition of one-third leaf 

 mould, an excellent compost for Pelargoniums, Cinerarias, 

 Calceolaiias, and the like. — G. Abbey.] 



VAEIEGATED BOEECOLES AS WINTEE 

 BEDDING-OUT PLANTS. 



Will you tell " K. D. T." what time the Brassica oleracea 

 prolifera should be planted for winter bedding, as it is 

 described as being so pretty at Miss Hope's, of Wardie 

 Lodge, in your Journal of February 21st ? Should it be 

 transi^lanted according to the colours the leaves become, 

 or sown at once where it is to remain ? 



[Were we to make beds of the variegated Borecoles, we 

 would sow in AprO, and prick out the plants on a border 

 or quarter about 15 inches apart, and lift and arrange 

 them according to colour as soon as the summer bedding 

 plants were removed. Some of the whites, purples, and 

 nearly reds, ai-e very pretty ; but there is no question that 

 however beautiful they may be, they suggest ideas of the 

 kitchen, just as a row of dark-coloured Beet does.] 



PLANTING- EAISED BEDS— SOWING 

 PEEILLA. 



I INTEND having two match oblong-beds, which to suit 

 the situation, require to be raised as much as possible. I 

 thought of planting one of them with Calceolaria for centre, 

 a band ofPerilla next, another of Scarlet Geranium, with a 

 slight edging of some white plant. Could each different 

 colour be raised a little above its neighbour, to produce as 

 good an effect as if planted in the common way ? If the bed 

 is much raised to the middle in the shape of a mound, the 

 water runs off. Can you say how a bed would look ''yit'i 

 Perilla for the centre, with four lines of Cineraria maritima 

 running through it at equal angles from the middle ? Would 

 this style be elfcotive, applied generally, not to the plants 

 I have quoted in particular ? I should like to know also, 

 the proper time to sow Perilla seed, in order to have good 

 early plants. — F. T. C. 



[It would be advisable to plant your match oblong-beda 

 in the same manner — that is, if they must pair, auoh, for 



