April 13, 1865. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTIJRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



303 



The Lnoulia is rather subject to attacts of red spider, 

 and slioiild therefore be syringed overhead during the grow- 

 ing season up to September, directing the force of the water 

 against the under sides of the leaves. Owing to this pest 

 being allowed to remain undisturbed for a Igngth of time, 

 we fi-equently see the plant with a few leaves at the ends of 

 the shoots only, and, conser^uently, presenting a very un- 

 sightly appearance. Any house kept at greenhouse tem- 

 perature will grow this plant well, it having been found to 

 succeed in houses from which frost was only excluded, the 

 thermometer occasionally falling as low as 36°. 



When grown in pots the same compost is employed as for 

 planting out, and the greatest care must bo taken to render 

 the di-ainage eiEcicut. Potting should be done in spring just 

 before growth commences, and carefully so as not to injure 

 the young fibres, the plant being impatient of Laving its 

 roots frequently disturbed. After potting, in March or April, 

 or if this is not required the drainage having been looked to, 

 the plant may be out in if out of shape, and placed in a tem- 

 perature of from 50* to 55° by night, preserving a moist at- 

 mosphere, frequently syringing overhead, and giving slight 

 shade. After the growths are made the plant should be 

 gradually hardened, have more light and air, which will 

 usually be the case in July, and be placed out of doors in a 

 warm situation, but screened from the midday sun. By the 

 middle of September it should be returned to a vinery, or 

 any light, airy house with a temperature of 50°. It will then 

 grow and form its beautifal flower-heads. Whilst out of 

 doors the pot should be protected, and the soil kept moist, 

 otherwise the fibres will perish, and though the flower-heads 

 may form they will fall off without expanding. If a cool 

 house is at command, it would be better to place the plants 

 there, an airy greenhouse being a good situation, aud the 

 supply of water should not be more than sufficient to keep 

 the soil moist, syringing, however, if there is the slightest 

 indication of red spider. 



_ Those who have not the means of giving the plants a 

 little extra heat whilst making new growths, may continue 

 them in the greenhouse until the middle of June, when they 

 may be placed out of doors in a warm situation, plun-^'ino' 

 the pots in ashes, or surrounding them with moss to pre- 

 vent the destruction of the fibres, at the same time giving 

 plenty of water and protection from hot sun. In September 

 they should be returned to the greenhouse, though a vinery 

 or cool stove is better, and they will grow freely, and form 

 their flower-heads, which will expand and difi'use their fra- 

 grance during the winter. Under this treatment, and making 

 the wood in autumn, the Luculia usually flowers more cer- 

 tainly than when forced into growth in the spring and early 

 summer, though the flowers are not so fine, but not so liable 

 to fall before expansion. This is usually caused by the de- 

 struction of the fibres, in consequence of the soil beino' 

 sodden after the growth has been made. Another cause is 

 red spider exhausting the leaves of their juices, and pre- 

 venting the ripening of the wood. 



The Luculia, in whatever structure it is grown, requires 

 a certain amount of shade, and a plentiful supply of water at 

 the root, and moisture in the atmosphere, and when growth 

 is made exposure to more light, a well-veutilated, drier at- 

 mosphere, and a gradual diminution of water at the root, yet 

 never allowing the soil to become so dry as to affect the foliage. 

 Though usually treated as a stove plant it will do ranch 

 better in an intermediate house, and still better planted out 

 in a conservatory border. It is frequently attacked by green 

 fly, especially the flower-heads, the remedy for which is 

 fumigation with tobacco. 



It is propagated from cuttings of the half-ripened slioots, 

 taking off the points of the shoots with two or three joints, 

 removing the lowest leaves, and cutting transversely' below 

 the lowest joint. Insert the cuttings down to the' lowest 

 leaves in sandy peat and loam, with a large proportion of 

 silver sand, and plunge the pot in a brisk 'bottom heat of 

 75 to 85°, covering with a beU-glass if the air is dry. When 

 rooted gradually harden off, and repot, keeping the young 

 plants under rather than over-potted. See that the drainao-e 

 is efficient. Stop at the third joint, or the fifth at the most, 

 but do not stop the shoots that are expected tD bloom in the 

 ensuing winter, except prior to the growing season. Youno- 

 plants will generally flower at one year old, and a small 

 plant in an eight-inch pot forms a very ornamental object for 



a sitting-room. The Luculia is one of the finest of winter 

 flowering plants, and deserves a place wherever there is a 

 conservatory, greenhouse, or cool stove. — G. Abbey. 



SOIL AND SITUATION fok RHODODENDEONS. 



Mk. Eoeson, in an article on the Rhododendron, justly 

 remarks that they will accommodate themselves to a variety 

 of soils. Many years ago, when on a visit to my brother in 

 the west of Cornwall, I found him planting some of the 

 best sorts of Rhododendrons in yellow loam taken from a 

 coppice wood, which lay high and dry. I remarked to him 

 that he could not expect much growth in that kind of soil. 

 His reply was, " I certainly do. All you see around are 

 planted in soil of the same sort ;" and I was obliged to 

 acknowledge that I had never seen plants more healthy. 



About ten years afterwards I again saw them in full 

 bloom, and a more lovely sight could not bo seen — the 

 shrubs, from 6 to 8 feet high, one mass of flowers in endless 

 variety. The soU these fine healthy plants were planted in. 

 was a heavy yellow loam, with not a particle of peat in it. 



H:s method of planting was to have a plentiful supply of 

 leaves and dung well mixed up with the yellow loam, and as 

 soon as the plants were planted to soak them well with 

 water — not a dribblet, as we often see, but a regular flood. 

 A few daj's afterwards, when settled, the soil was closely 

 pressed around them. 



The first season after planting aU were kept mulched with 

 dung. Sandy peat, or any other variety of peat, would not 

 answer for Rhododendrons in that locality. This may be 

 accounted for, as it is in a mining district, where nearly all 

 the peat soil is impregnated with minerals injurious to 

 vegetation. 



Previously to seeing the above I had been to much trouble 

 and expense in obtaining from a distance peat to plant some 

 of the best sorts of Rhododendrons in. In the locality in 

 which I now reside (the west of Devonshire), may be seen 

 Rhododendrons upwards of 20 feet high, and nearly as many 

 feet through, growing in the natural soil, which varies from 

 light hazel to heavy yellow loam, resting on rotten slate and 

 some on freestone. Here they seed and produce their seed- 

 lings, not by twos or threes, but by tens of thousands, in 

 crevices of rocks, by the sides of walks, and even on old Oak 

 trees — in short, in any place where seeds can find a resting- 

 place to vegetate on. Here they grow and flower in all the 

 varieties that Rhododendron pontieum has produced ; miles 

 of them grow in great luxuriance by the sides of drives and 

 walks, and interspersed amongst trees, woods, and shrubs, 

 where they assume the appearance of indigenous plants. 



I think the situation has as much to do with the growth 

 of Rhododendrons as the soil. Here we have abrupt hills 

 and dales, and sheltered from the northern and eastern 

 blasts ; where the Tamer meanders through the valley, and 

 rivulets join it in its onward course, moisture ascends, and 

 woods, trees, and hills give shelter and shade. In such 

 situations the Rhododendron for the last fifty years has 

 found a genial home. Previous to that time a Rhododen- 

 dron had not been seen within ten miles of this locality. 

 Here, as Mr. Robson remarks, the Foxglove is at home ; 

 Ferns abound ; lichen and moss cover the hard- wood trees ; 

 and trees of the Fir tribe become prematurely old. Here 

 .also the Primrose, wild Hyacinth, Wood Anemone, Colum- 

 bine, and a host of other indigenous plants cover the ground. 

 In such localities, where Nature has been so bountiful, the- 

 Rhododendron will always find a suitable home. — E. C. E. 



PiCEA piNSAPO. — I am glad to hear reports made of this 

 gem of the pinetijm, and in reply to Mr. Gardiner, who at 

 page 266 mentions one 24 feet higli, I beg to state that a 

 very fine one at Linton Park is 29 feet high, and so densely 

 clothed with branches thickly set with foliage, that a person 

 in walking round it can only catch a very slight glimpse of 

 the bole in one or two places; for about 20 feet the whole 

 is a perfect cone. The extreme branches give a diameter 

 of about 19 feet, and in appearance nothing can be really 

 more handsome. I may add that the growth of the last 

 few years has averaged 2 feet each year ; the soil is mode- 

 rately deep, but dry, and the situation somewhat sheltered 



