July 20, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



45 



in a stand of flowers belonging to Mr. Cypher at the last 

 Aquarium Show. There it was in all its quaintneaa, so singular 

 and conspicuous as to arrest the attention of many visitors, 

 not one in ten, even amongat the gardeners, knowing what 

 it was. I was amused at overhearing some whispered dis- 

 cussions amongst groups of young men, some of whom con- 

 sidered it to be an Orohid, others deciding it to be a " Lily of 

 some sort." It waa, however, my long-lost flower the Gloriosa 

 superba. 



I am surprised that a flower so striking is not in more 

 general cultivation, and I am sure it would be useful if any 

 who happen to be familiar with its mode of culture and in- 

 crease would communicate their experience. For myself I am 

 not able to say more than that it is a distinct, singular, and 

 beautiful flower, green at first, afterwards assuming yellow and 

 brown tints. It is totally unlike any other flower that I am 

 acquainted with, and I think must be worthy of extended cul- 

 ture. Can any of your readers throw any light on this re- 

 markable plant and the best mode of growing and flowering 

 it?— W. T. S.,Balham. 



SIB JOSEPH PAXTON STEAWBEBEY. 



Complaints have arisen of thia valuable Strawberry proving 

 barren during the first season after planting. I have experi- 

 enced the same result on more than one occasion, but have 

 Dever failed being rewarded with splendid crops in succeeding 

 years. I cannot conceive a greater mistake being made than 

 destroying healthy plants of thia Strawberry because they pro- 

 duce " nothing but leaves " the first season — that is, aasuming 

 that the runners are known to have been produced by fruitful 

 parentage. 



Sir J. Paxton is particularly prone to unfruitfulness when in 

 a young state if growing in light soil. Plants growing robustly 

 in soil of this nature should not be watered or manured, but 

 the soil should be trodden very firmly round the roots. The 

 plants must not be crowded by their own foliage, by runners, 

 or by weeds. If the plants are too thick thin them out, re- 

 moving if necessary every alternate row, so that light and air 

 can have free access to the crowns. When this ia done it is 

 not necessary to cut off the foliage. Cutting off the foliage of 

 plants growing closely together may induce fruitfulness, but 

 the fruit will not be large ; whereas by growing the plants 

 thinly and allowing the foliage to remain will almost certainly 

 result in superior fruit. 



Sir Joseph Paxton is one of the most useful of Strawberries, 

 producing heavy crops of handsomely shaped highly coloured 

 fruit of good flavour, suitable alike for exhibition purposes and 

 dessert ; it is also good for preserving. 



I have " assisted " at most of the principal horticultural 

 exhibitions of this year, and I have observed that more than 

 half of the prizes offered for Strawberries have been won with 

 Sir Joseph Paxton. My advice to " J. T." and others similarly 

 circumstanced is not to consider their plants as cumberers of 

 the ground — not to dig about them and dung them, but to 

 firm the soil in which they are growing, to keep them free 

 from weeds or anything impeding the free action of sun and 

 air to the crowns, to give the plants another year's trial and 

 tell us of the results. As has been the case in my experience, 

 the verdict will be, I think, that this is one of the most useful 

 Strawberries in the garden. — An Exhibitor. 



PEOMOTING THE GBOWTH OP EVEEGEEENS. 

 We have operated on twenty-seven sorts of Conifers, also 

 Portugal Laurela, Evergreen Oak, Box, and Rhododendron, in 

 all about sixty plants. The Conifers have been planted round 

 the house for from fifteen to twenty-three years, and they 

 average from 15 to 30 feet in height, but some of them are 

 40 feet high. We had observed that for the three or four 

 years before the operation the trees had become stunted ; and 

 Mr. Thornton of the Heatherside Nurseries gave it as his 

 opinion that they were root-bound, and recommended the 

 following treatment — viz., to take out the soil all round each 

 tree for about 6 feet from the Btem and fill-in with fresh soil. 

 This was done to the depth of 18 inches by about 2 feet in 

 width ; the earth below the 18 inches having been broken up 

 and left rough. The soil consisted of stiff loam to the depth 

 of a foot and afterwards 3 feet of blue clay. About 8 incheB of 

 elay was removed, and the loam was mixed with sand and 

 gravel. All large roots extending across the trench were left. 

 The effects did not appear last summer — i.e., the Bummer 



after the operation, but this year the growth has been extra- 

 ordinary, especially in the Cedars, Wellingtonias, Deodars, 

 &o. The Evergreen Oaka, which showed daylight through, 

 are now dense with thick foliage — in fact the renovation ia 

 complete. Why would not thia answer in every sort of stunted 

 tree in orchards and elsewhere ? — Observer. 



STOCKS FOE EOSES. 



Happening to come in contact with a great grower of [Roses 

 — one of the working bees who has produced some of the finest 

 blooms that have ever been exhibited, winning high honours 

 for their owner — I asked his opinion as to the best stocks for 

 Roses. This man told me willingly all he knew, concluding in 

 his own plain vernacular in the following worda— "I'll tell 

 you what it is sir, there's a lot o' rot about Rose stocks." 



He recounted that he had been growing prize Rosea lor many 

 years, and assured me that if he had been limited to the use 

 of one kind of stock — whether Manetti, hedgerow Briar, or 

 seedling Briar — that he should not have gained half the prizes 

 for his employer that he has done. He assured me as a large 

 grower and regular exhibitor that in some seasons one stock 

 is the best, and in other seasons another produces the best 

 blooms, and that the only way to ensure the best Rosea over 

 the greatest length of time and in different years is to grow 

 Roses on all sorts of stocks. By all sorts he means Manettis, 

 hedgerow Briars, seedling Briars, and Briars from cuttings, 

 having also some Roses on their own roots. 



For garden decoration he considers Roses from cuttings 

 highly suitable, but they give but a small proportion of ex- 

 hibition blooms. 



The seedling Briar he considers a good stock, but not better 

 than cutting Briars, and invited me to see hundreds of plants 

 growing side by side, some of the stocks having been raised 

 from seed and some from cuttings, and of which it was not 

 easy, to say which were the best. He considers stocks from 

 cuttings fully as good as stocks from seed, and in fact is in- 

 clined to give them the preference, but only on the ground, I 

 think, that they are more quickly raised. His opinion is, that if 

 people have a fancy to have stout plants on the seedling Briar 

 they must be prepared to pay for their fancy on account of the 

 time required to raise the stocks to a size ready for working. 



Manettis he considers are not adapted for cold heavy soils ; 

 but for rather light soils, and where plenty of water can be 

 given, or the ground can be heavily mulched with manure, no 

 stocks can produce finer blooms. He has also a great respect 

 for the old hedgerow Briar, provided the stocks are good and are 

 planted in good time. Especially early in the season he states 

 that he cuts more prize blooms from the Briar than from any 

 other Btocks, and that if he was ordered to cease growing the 

 old Briars he Bhould have to cease exhibiting, or at least would 

 be absent from many shows at which he now stages flrst-claBS 

 collections. 



No one, he asserts, can win large prizes year by year who 

 grows only one kind of stock. Such may during some seasons 

 sweep the boards, but a blank is sure to come, simply because 

 no one stock is the best stock for all seasons and under all 

 oircumstances. " If you want to win, sir," said my informant, 

 " take my advice and grow on all the stocks, and the proba- 

 bility is that well-selected and well-managed Briars, much as 

 has been said against them, will give you more first-class blooms 

 than any other stocks ;" concluding with the above remark, 

 that there is " a lot o' rot about Rose stocks." 



I was much impressed with the remarks of this experienced 

 and actual worker amongst Roses, thinking they contained 

 much truth, and I am inclined to think alao that they are 

 worthy of a place in the Journal. — M. D. 



POETEE'S EXCELSIOE POTATO. 



Observing that one of our leading firma have submitted 

 tubers of thia Potato in proof of its earliness, I may note that 

 it is not only an early Potato, but is also of excellent quality. 

 It is not, however, contemporary with our earlieat sorts, but 

 ripens about the same time as Myatt's Prolific, which may be 

 called early for a round Potato. Excelsior is also fairly pro- 

 ductive, and the quality is good. But it is as an exhibition 

 Potato that this variety will be most esteemed, nearly every 

 root, in proper soil, producing tubers of the correct size and 

 remarkably handsome, equalling, if not surpassing, the best 

 samples of Paterson's Victoria in October. For summer exhi- 

 bitions of vegetables where round Potatoes are seldom attrae- 



