306 



jotjKnal of horticulture and cottage gaedener. 



[ April 13, 1363. 



CULTUEE OF THE GOLDEN' ARABIS. 



(aUABIS I.VCIDA Y.VUIKGATA.) 



I THTN'K it will be roadily admitted that all the Avabises 

 are pretty, and have long held the foremost rank for their 

 hardiness and extreme elegance, but this one in particuhu- 

 from its invincible hardiness, alike in the most severe winter 

 and hottest summer. If thei'e is a time at which it looks 

 better than at any other it is in the coldest weather. One 

 great merit it possesses is the extreme facility with which it 

 can be propagated. All you have to do is to prepare a bit 

 of ground, cut down a little old turf, fork this in near the 

 surface, then make your plants into single slips or pipings, 

 place them 3 or 4 inches apart, and in doing this you will 

 scarcely have a bit without a root. If there ai'e any low 

 glass frames at hand to put over the tops of the plants for 

 the first fortnight or three weeks they will grow all the more 

 rapidly. 



AVTien planting-out time arrives, which may be any time 

 in the year (of course I do not approve of planting it in the 

 dead of winter), in making ready for jilanting fork in a little 

 fresh loam and rotten dung, then make your lines as level 

 and straight as for a Box-edging. Xever plant it low. After 

 careful trial and experiment the best distance to plant is 

 10 inches apart and in single lines. Xever allow the plants 

 to touch each other by an inch, thus they maintain their 

 natural habit of growth, which is perfectly round, and in 

 height a good two-thirds of a ball. Eephant once in two 

 years, or as ofteu as convenient ; remove all the (lowers as 

 they make their appearance, and any bit that runs to 

 green. By following these simple directions it will be in 

 its full beauty the second year from the slip. Amongst all 

 the bedding or ribbon-border plants i(. is one of the pretties!-, 

 the hardiest, requires the least care, and remains in full 

 beauty all the year round. — T. S., Mayfield, Falldrk. 



than those found at the same elevations under opposite 



circumstances. 



In conclusion, 1 would just observe to those who are about 

 to risk the lives of valuable Orchids in greenhouses. Be 

 careful. No Orcliids whatever will bear the draughty and 

 dam)) temperature your miscellaneous greenhouse plants 

 are subjected to. If you wish to cultivate to perfection 

 what some people call greenhouse Orchids, you must have 

 a house devoted to them, so that you can command a large 

 amount of moisture when the plants require it, which most 

 of them do in their growing season. I may add that the 

 plants of all the most choice and newly imported Odonto- 

 glossums under my charge here are constantly standing in 

 water, except perhaps when the temperature of the house is 

 under the average, and the night is likely to prove cold. — 

 EoBEKT BuLLEN, Gardener, Bow Bridge House, Leicester. 



DEUTZIA CHEN AT A. FLOEE PLEICO. 

 This beautiful, flowering, deciduous shrub from Japan pro- 

 mises to be as hardy as a Lilac, and seems likely to become 

 more robust in habit than either D. scabra or D. gracilis, 

 while the flowers are produced in great abundance on smaU 

 plants. The habit of the plant, however, is more straggling 

 than that of D. gracilis, and it is, therefore, not so well 

 adapted for producing a nice compact object for pot culture, 

 bnt this possibly may be overcome. As a plant to cover a 

 wall it has, I should think, few equals, as the shoots ripen 

 to the points, and mostly flower there. As a new plant it is 

 one of the prettiest in its way we have had for some years, 

 and I trust that it is the forerunner of others equaUy 

 useful. — J. RoBSON. 



COOL CCLTUEE OP OECHTDS. 



I WAS pleased to read the very sensible remarks of Mr. 

 Findlay in the last week's Journal on the subject of cool 

 Orchids. That growing Oichids on the cool system, as it is 

 called, is a dangerous experiment there can be no doubt ; 

 as there are very many Orohids recommended for greenhouse 

 cultivation wljieh certainly do inhabit vei-y higli altitudes, 

 but wLicii, from the different cii-cumstances by which they 

 are surrounded, will, I am sure, refuse to grow well in thi^ 

 country in a greenhouse temperature. 1 can assure iXr. 

 Findlay the very jilants which he selected to experiment on 

 should all be grown in a temperature of from GO" to SO" ; 

 but after the growth is fully matured he may gradually 

 subject them to cool treatment until they begin to show 

 flower, after which the temperature must be very gradually 

 increased. 



T'heru are many of the choice Odontoglossums and other 

 Orchids, which may be grown to advantage in a cooler tem- 

 |ieratare. There are innunier/.bU Orchids found growing 

 m different parts of the world in about the same mean tera- 

 I>erature, but under such widely different circumstances 

 that we might as well try to bring a Jlelon and a Cabbage 

 to perfection under the same management. As a mlo, I 

 have found the Orchids which grow at high elevations in 

 damp and shady situations require much cooler treatment 



:mak'agement of gaeden implements. 



I WILL anticipate the conclusion our much-respected 

 friend, Mr. P. Cliitty, intended, when he commenced his 

 able article on the above subject, by describing the system 

 adopted by me for keeping the implements for garden use, 

 clean and in their proper place ; for it is, to quote the late 

 Mr. Chitty's words, " of the utmost importance where neat- 

 ness and expedition in performing the work of the garden is 

 desired, that the workmen should be supplied with proper 

 tools, and these in good condition ; for however true it is 

 that a good workman never finds fault with his tools, it is 

 equaUy true that any workman whether good, bad, or indif- 

 ferent, will perform his work bettor with a good tool than 

 with a bad one." 



These words, almost the last written by a thoroughly prac- 

 tical man, should be deeply engraven on the mind of every 

 gardener, for what is there more disgraceful in a gentleman's 

 garden than a disorderly and slovenly tool-shed Y It is not 

 only offensive to the ej-e, but is also a constant and never- 

 ending source of expense to the employer, for tools care- 

 lessly thrown about and put away dirty soon become unfit 

 for use, whereas if thsy are taken proper care of they 

 will last double or treble the time. One of the first things 

 a gardener should do on taking a new situation, should be 

 to see what state the tool-shed is in, and if not in a proper 

 state to have it put in thoroughly efficient order as speedily 

 as possible. The next thing necessary to be done is to pro- 

 cure for each workman a set of tools, wliich should consist 

 of a spade, rake, Dutch and draw hoes, and one of Parkes's 

 patent digging forks. 



But when these are procured for each workman, unless 

 there is some plan adopted to secure the proper manage- 

 ment of the tool.';, they will be of little use ; for where there 

 is a set of slovenly workmen, as soon as the clock strikes the 

 hour of (i P.M., whether the job be finished or not, down goes 

 the tool. It is too much trouble to clean it, and take it to 

 its proper place. Perhaps on the following morning the 

 workman may be sent to a different job, whore he will not 

 require the same tool he was using yesterday, so that he 

 takes another tool out with him. i'erhaps on the following 

 day lie may want the tool or tools he had left out in the 

 wet two days ago ; but he has, of course, forgotten where he 

 left them. lie knew there was such and such a tool. In 

 vain he makes inquiry first of one man then of another, 

 but all to no purpose, no one knows anytbiug about the 

 missing implement; meanwhile the master is impatiently 

 waiting to show the man wliat he wants done. Half an 

 hour or more is thus lost ; the temper of the master is thereby 

 impaired; sundry locks of hair ou the head of the forgetful 

 workman are displaced by the incessant trying to scratch 

 back to his memory where ho has loft the missing tool, but 

 all to no purpose. At the end of a week or so afterwards he 

 may, perhaps, stumldo over it on his way to some fresh job ; 

 the tool after lying in the wet and dirt all this time be- 

 comes rusty, there is no pleasure then in working with it; 

 but when it is bright and cle.an the work is performed with 

 greater speed, and done iu a workman-like manner, and the 

 cry often heard of, "Master, I want a fresh tool," becomes 

 less frequent. 



All this has often come under my notice, and to prevent 

 the recurrence of such disagreeable scenes, and to check 



