September 14, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



243 



is so oomrnon, ao remunerative, and, for its peculiarity as a 

 deciduous Conifer, with the brightest of green leaves in early 

 spring-tide, so memorable, that its merits will not brook 

 epitomising. There are one or two of these, however, for 

 which we must claim a word. Mr. Mongredien gives its height 

 80 to 100 feet ; Grigor quotes Larch at Paradise, in Aberdeen- 

 shire, at 102 to 106 feet high ; and we have seen Larch felled 

 in the south of England 96 and 104 feet. A disposition to be 

 sceptical, too, has in some periodicals lately cast a doubt on 

 the fertilising effects of the Larch foliage annually shed. And 

 yet what is more natural than that for a tree, whose native 

 habitat is a rocky mountain slope, with a soil composed of 

 debris, this sort of deposit should be a provision of nature, 

 along with the percolation of moisture, supplying nourishment 

 and forfending drought? The experience of Mr. Grigor on 

 this subject carries great weight : — 



" No tree," he writes, "is so valuable as the Larch in its fer- 

 tilising effects, arising from the riohness of its foliage, which 

 it sheds annually. In a healthy wood the yearly deposit is very 

 great. The leaves remain and oonsnme on the spot where they 

 drop, and when the influence of the air is admitted the space 

 becomes clothed in a vivid green with many of the finest kindB 

 of natural grasses, the pasture of which is highly reputed in 

 dairy management. And in cases where woodland has been 

 brought under grain crops, the roots have been found less diffi- 

 cult to remove than those of other trees, and the soil has been 

 rendered more fertile than that which follows any other descrip- 

 tion of timber." — (Grigor, p. 233 ) 



Again, it has been urged against the Larch, with some show 

 of reason, that when leafless its contour and character in a 

 plantation is the reverse of ornamental. In a plantation, 

 granted; but in the open ground, where care and culture may 

 coax it to show its capabilities, few trees are so strikingly 

 pioturesque in point of stem and lateral branches. Whether, 

 as we have seen it proposed, it is safe to dock the top of a 

 young Larch in the open ground, by way of making it throw 

 its growth into side shoots, we dare not give an opinion ; but 

 certainly where accident has anticipated the experiment, the 

 result is & remarkable. stem clothed from bottom to top with 

 graceful and pendulous branches. 



A glance at their leading representatives must suffice for 

 such other tribes of the natural order of Coniferas as the 

 Cedars, Cypresses, and Junipers; as also for the new family, 

 of which the Araucaria is chief, and that very old and indige- 

 nous kindred, though not Btrictly coniferous family, the Yews 

 or Taxacess. All these make valuable contributions to modern 

 parks or gardens. There is little need to dilate upon the Yew, 

 whether in its familiar English form or in its fastigiate Irish 

 variety. Both are in their place in ancient churchyards, and 

 the former doubtless adds a prestige to those spots of old 

 England with which it has been connected since the Conquest ; 

 but except for the sake of sentiment, individual specimens 

 add little to the greensward, though they are a thing of beauty 

 and trimness when consolidated into a hedge, and have a weird 

 solemn attraction where they arch their drooping branches so 

 as to form a " ghost-walk." Although it were superfluous to 

 allude to their importance to archers of the past and present, 

 it may not be generally known that " a paling-post of Yew will 

 outlast a post of iron." From the millenarian Yew to the 

 comparatively reeent Arauoaria is a. bold transition, but one 

 suggested by the same inward sense that too many of these 

 Chilian strangers about a place impart a formality and solemn 

 aspect to be deprecated. None who have seen can easily forget 

 the magnificent specimen at Dropmore, its height some 53 feet, 

 its girth at 3 feet from the ground 6 feet 4 inches, and its 

 spread of branches 28 feet in diameter. There are others 

 doing well, if not so well, by the waterside in the same para- 

 dise ; but the good taste of Mr. Frost, the veteran gardener 

 whose judgment has satisfied so many successive masters, 

 evidently recoils from undue multiplication of trees of so 

 eccentric a character. Their raison d'etre must be by way of 

 contrast, here and there one in a mixed company ; but least of 

 all are they a success in an avenue, the fine Cedar of Lebanon 

 avenue at Dropmore being no precedent for a similar use of 

 Araucarias. Cedars, whether of Lebanon or of India, have an 

 impresBiveness ; in the one case from the habit of growth and 

 the horizontal display of branches, in the other from a weep- 

 ing grace and a refreshing evergreen brightness. But all ever- 

 greens, except perhaps the Scots Pino (which is commonly 

 bare of stem, and which deserves a connection, with avenues 

 by reason of the tradition that the oldest of them now in exist 

 noe were originally planted in secret sympathy with the cause ' 



of the exiled Stuarts), must fail to possess the charm of deci- 

 duous trees — Elms, Beeches, or Oaks, for the composition of 

 an avenue, to wit, the different guise of the trees in winter and 

 summer in and out of leaf. 



As timber in this country, neither of the later introductions 

 promises to attain a higher rank than the Cedar of Lebanon — 

 a tolerable second-class ; though were it not of a soft fibre 

 this last, from the girth of its best samples at Strathfieldsaye, 

 Sion House, and Shobdon, ought to take a higher place. The 

 Cedar at Shobdon has a circumference of 29 feet 4 inches. — ■ 

 (Quarterly Review.) 



NOTES on VILLA and SUBURBAN GARDENING. 



The Greenhouse. — At this advanced season of the year it 

 must be borne in mind that all the necessary means for ripening 

 the growths of hardwooded plaats as quickly as possible must 

 be adopted, for if deferred much later not so good a chance of 

 bloom can be sf cured; and as winter approaches those plants 

 that are growing ought to have more air and exposure to harden 

 and prepare them for the hardships of winter, which sometimes 

 prove very destructive to them. 



There is very little potting required after this time, excepting 

 such plants as Cinerarias, and even these but once more, for too 

 late potting often proves a failure. Calceolarias and Primulas, 

 i too, must now have special attention, as their roots ought to be 

 in full action. Shift into larger pots the earliest plants of these 

 as they become ready. All plants mentioned will be better 

 for being fumigated at different periods ; but this operation is 

 better done as soon as an insect ia discovered, ior if fumigation 

 is delayed after that there will not only be twicB the trouble in 

 destroying the insects, but there is great risk of the plants being 

 thrown into a bad state of health. All fresh plants when intro- 

 duced to the bouse should be examined at once and fumigated 

 before they affeot others. This is the way to keep up a healthy 

 and clean lot of plants, for several smokings after the plants are 

 inJHred by insects is so much labour thrown away. 



Chrysanthemums may still be Bhifted into larger pots if not 

 already done, and apply liquid manure to such as have their 

 pots full of roots, and which it is intended not to Bhift again. 

 They must all be staked and tied-out neatly, and if necessary 

 many of them may have a top-dressing of rich Boil. This is 

 one very effectual means of keeping the foliage well on at the 

 bottom of the plants, which is so desirable and ornamental. 



Mignonette for pots should be sown immediately and placed 

 in a oold frame near the glass, and when the plants appear give 

 them plenty of air and light, and have them thinned out as soon 

 as large enough and kept growing as fast as possible. Tree Mig- 

 nonette, which is a moat ornamental plant, should have its last 

 shift before the month iB out. This always requires to be sown 

 early in May to produce good plants by autumn. Some sow 

 the seed as early as March, and of course get larger plants and 

 earlier feloom than the others ; they will produce flowers through 

 the winter ; they are amongst the most ornamental, as well as 

 being sweet-scented, plants in cultivation. 



Pot the tuberous-rooted Tropasolums in pots acoordingto their 

 size. They seldom require large pots, but the soil must be good; 

 yet not particularly rich. Loam and peat in equal proportions, 

 and sand of the best quality added, with charcoal broken very 

 fine and mixed well with the whole, will be found suitable. 

 Good drainage must be secured. These plants do not like being 

 repotted; therefore all thiogs must be considered beforehand 

 in Buch a way as to carry them through their flowering period 

 most successfully. 



Aa the stock of Japan Lilies go out of flower, ripen them off 

 by laying the pots on their sides for a time before putting them 

 away for the winter. The soil must not be allowed to become 

 too dry, as the roots are very fleshy and should be ripened t ff 

 gradually. 



The plants of Amaryllis, ' which are now becoming dormant, 

 must have attention. It is not a bad plan to shake them out of 

 the soil and repot at once — that is, if they are in need of it. 

 Potting once in two years is sufficient provided every precaution 

 iB taken at potting time to have the pots well drained. If the 

 plants do not require potting a top-dressing must be given them. 

 Some people do not pot them so often as I state if the plants are 

 doing well ; but the rule ia, if potting is not done, to look to the 

 drainage and renew it yearly, and surface-dress with rich com- 

 post, and to be careful that the bulbs ripen-off very gradually 

 and well. — Thomas Recokd. 



DOINGS OP THE LAST AND WORK FOR 

 THE PRESENT WEEK. 



KITCHEN GABDEN. 



"We have sown Cauliflowers for planting-out in hand-lights 

 and in boxes for spring use. Sowing earlier than the first or 

 second week in September causes the plants to button in March 

 or April. We sow the seeds in rows with the winter Onions ; a 



