December 19, 1878. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
469 
ashes, or laid into the ground with their top ends exposed 
until March, when they should be planted in ground that has 
been deeply trenched and well manured in rows 18 inches 
apart each way. They are best planted with a dibble, and 
the holes filled up with light soil, covering the crown about 
2 inches, Treated in this way they will be again ready for 
lifting by the end of November. The small pieces planted in 
March will by that time be clean straight sticks, 6 or 7 inches 
in circumference,” 
WRITING to us on the WEATHER IN DURHAM Mr. 
Witherspoon states that “On Thursday evening the 12th inst. 
the thermometer was down to 6°, or 26° of frost. Friday even- 
ing the same. Saturday at 7 A.M. the thermometer stood at 6° 
below zero ; at twelve at noon in the sun we still had 22° of 
frost. There is about 15 inches of snow, and the hoar frost on 
the trees is remarkable, and in fact beautiful. The thermo- 
meter had risen up to 12° above zero at 10 P.M. on Friday 
evening. On Thursday evening the thermometer in Mr. Gold- 
smith’s garden near here fell to 5° below zero, and on the snow 
it was 83° below that point. On the morning of the 13th, Mr. 
Swan, of Newcastle, states that the thormometer was 3° below 
zero in that town. I had 14° of frost in my vinery, but the 
bulk of the Grapes were cut.” 
—— THE “Journal of Forestry” observes that, “ Whatever 
the immediate cause may have been, there appears to be a 
general scarcity this winter of the BRILLIANT BERRIES which 
usually adorn our copses and hedgerows at this dull period of 
the year. Holly, Hawthorn, Yew, and wild Roses are all 
equally void of their crimson berries, and we hear from the 
western counties that even the Mistletoe is affected with the 
prevailing deficiency, and not one ‘bush’ in ten possesses its 
usual quantity of delicate white clusters of berries. This is 
not a cheering prospect for enthusiastic decorators of homes 
and churches at the approaching festive season. Without a 
profusion of berried Mistletoe and Holly half the enjoyment 
and hilarity of the occasion is lost, and heavy evergreen decora- 
tions with nothing brilliant to relieve them only add dullness 
and monotony to the scene.” 
—— Mk. JAmes VICK of Rochester, N.Y., refers as follows 
in his “ Illustrated Magazine” to AMARANTHUS SUNRISE :— 
“Ttis one of the most beautiful foliage plants we have ever 
seen. We have been cultivating it for several years in the hope 
that we might see its good qualities established. We have shown 
it at several State fairs, and no one plant we ever exhibited 
attracted so much attention as this.” The coloured plate 
represents a dwarf plant of remarkably massive appearance, 
and having dark foliage, the growths terminating in brilliant 
heads resembling Poinsettias. 
PROTECTING TREES AND PLANTS. 
On of the soundest of many sound hints that are from time to 
time given in “ Work for the Week,” I regard as that stating 
that if the roots of plants are well protected it is surprising how 
much frost the plants will endure.” These words contain much 
truth, and no one can err by turning the suggestion to account. 
Next to the importance of protecting the roots of plants and 
trees against frost is that of protecting their stems. In many 
districts the frost is now severe and may. increase in intensity. 
The safe plan will be to assume that it will do so, and then 
measures that are certainly prudent will be promptly taken to 
dimit as far as possible its injurious influence. It cannot be safe 
policy to act, or rather sit still, on the assumption that the 
winter will pass rapidly away and that no special precautions 
are needed to counteract its effects. If the frost should only be 
temporary no possible harm can be done by any protection that 
ean be given; but, on the other hand, if the winter should prove 
hyperborean in character, the wisdom of having taken the best 
steps tomeet it will be apparent for a long time after the frost 
has passed away. 
Haybands and straw wraps are cheap and easily applied. Let 
the former be placed round the stems of standard Roses, especi- 
ally of any that are budded with new or choice varieties; also 
round the stems of Peach trees and standard ornamental ever- 
greens, such as Rhododendrons, Bays, Laurels, and Hollies. 
It is the stems and not the heads of trees that are most amenable 
to injury—injury which by prompt preservative measures of the 
nature suggested may be easily averted. It is not many years 
since a severe winter almost wholly cleared wide districts of 
standard Roses. This was the case both in private gardens and 
aurseries, and the year following other Roses of the same kind 
el, 
could only be obtained at high prices from the south of England 
or from France. Hundreds of Roses were then destroyed be- 
cause their stems were killed, many of the heads haying the 
shoots fresh and green, and only succumbed in thespring because 
the food supply was cut off by the destruction of the stocks. 
Many must have noticed numerous instances where the roots 
were alive and the tops also alive, but the stems black and dead. 
A few haybands would have preserved them, especially if the 
wrapping of the stems had been supplemented by tucking a 
wisp of hay lightly in the lower part of the heads where the 
wood had become brown and hard. It is the hard exposed 
wood of Roses that, for some cause or other, appears much 
more liable to injury by frost than the younger and greener 
shoots. 
Many nurserymen appear to have taken a lesson from the 
severe losses that they experienced among their standard Roses 
during the winter of 1860, for since then it has not been un- 
usual for them to take up their whole stock in late autumn and 
lay the Rose trees in,by “the heels,’ so that the heads, being 
close tegether, can be easily protected. ‘Thousands of standard 
Roses are probably at this moment thus sheltered from the 
severity of the weather in various nurseries, and no one can 
question the wisdom of the practice. 
Nurserymen also are not deterred by a little extra labour 
from wrapping the stems of valuable ornamental trees with hay 
or straw bands, and owners of cherished specimens, and gar- 
deners, may well follow their example. The cost of such a 
practice is trifling, and may be repaid fortyfold by the pre- 
servation of trees or shrubs that cannot easily be replaced. any 
tree, &c., of doubtful hardiness should be protected in some 
way or another. It does not so much matter what the pro- 
tecting material may be, the point of real importance is to apply 
it promptly, The stems of Vines should not be forgotten where 
any are exposed between the ground and their point of entrance 
into the house, but all such should be encased in haybands. A 
few stakes, and rough—the rougher the better—straw bands may 
be easily arranged so as to save the life of any somewhat 
tender Conifer or other lawn ornament, and more lowly plants and 
crops may be protected by dry fern, evergreen boughs, or litter. 
Snow for such crops that it can cover is the best of all pro- 
tectors, and when it is present men with shovels may be usefully 
employed in placing it where it may be needed, only moying it, 
however, when it is in a dry powdery state. I have often sayed 
Lettuces, Cauliflowers, beds of autumn-sown annuals, and other 
flowers by protecting them with the covering that Nature has 
provided. Frames, too, covered with mats or straw may with 
advantage to their inmates have a further covering of snow. 
Hundreds of such plants as Calceolarias, Intermediate Stocks, 
Pentstemons, and plants of a kindred nature may be saved with 
the aid of snow, and I cannot too strongly urge those who have 
the opportunity to adopt that practice. 
During the past few years the winters have been unusually 
mild, but on that account we must not be lulled into a sense of 
security that may prove false. The mild winters may only 
prove a prelude to weather of corresponding severity, just as 
violent storms and inundations often succeed periods of pro- 
longed drought. According to the compensatory law of Nature 
severe winters are now due; let us, therefore, prepare for 
them, and then if they do not come so much the better.—A 
NortuErRNn GARDENER. 
OUR BORDER FLOWERS—SYMPHAIANDRA 
PENDULA. 
THIs charming Bellflower is from the Caucasus, and is too 
rarely met with in collections of border flowers. It is closely 
allied to Campanula. It is a very attractive plant, its creamy- 
white flowers being very handsome, to say nothing of their 
peculiar form. The plant grows little more than a foot in 
height, the flower stems terminating in drooping spikes. It is 
a superior plant for the front row in the herbaceous border, 
It is all the better for having partial shade afforded it. Under 
some circumstances there may be some difficulty in succeeding 
with it, but when its requirements are supplied it affords a 
grand display on a moderately moist partially shaded rockery 
during midsummer, and continues in bloom for a length of 
time. It is a fine plant for exhibition; easily increased by 
division, which is best done after its flowering. A surplus 
stock should be kept, as the plants will sometimes disappear 
unexpectedly. They thrive in a compost of good sandy loam, 
peat, and well-decayed vegetable matter in equal quantities, 
