482 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ December 7, 1876. 



■white ; Poinsettia with scarlet and white bracts ; also the 

 scarlet Euphorbia jacquiniasrlora, Pentas kermesina, deep rosy 

 pink ; with the fiery rose or scarlet of Plumbago coccinea 

 superba, and the deep violet of Lasiandra maerantha flori- 

 bunda ; Ipomasa Horsfallije with its glossy-lustred rosy crimson 

 flowers, and the orange red and yellow of Manettia bicolor. 



Eogiera gratissima, with its fine white heads of bloom, with 

 Lucnlia gratissima, are perhaps the finest of early winter 

 greenhouse plants for cutting ; they are best planted out, and 

 succeed well in an intermediate house, as also do Epiphyllums, 

 Libonia floribunda, Monochstum ensiferum, and the fine 

 evergreen bulbous plant Imantophyllum miniatum, which 

 usually flowers at this season. 



Cool greenhouses are now gay with Chrysanthemums. I 

 hope to refer to them again. Our friend's remarks on coloured 

 foliage certainly do not apply to greenhouse plants. If any- 

 thing there is a paucity of high-coloured foliage in greenhouse 

 plants, except in the Zonal section of variegated Pelargoniums. 

 Zonal Pelargoniums cut-back in June and grown specially for 

 early winter decoration are exceedingly valuable. In a tempe- 

 rature of 50° they continue flowering most of the winter. 

 Carnations and Bouvardias, if the flowers are meant to be had 

 with certainty, must have an intermediate temperature midway 

 between that of a greenhouse and stove ; yet I have Carnations 

 more or less through the winter without extra heat. 



Camellias commence flowering early in November and con- 

 tinue up to April ; they never leave the house. Lady Hume's 

 Blush is generally the first to open, and for ladies' hair there 

 is no finer variety excepting buds half expanded of C. fim- 

 briata. Primula sinensis vars. are never finer than in early 

 winter, flowers of the double kinds being grand for bouquets, 

 and the plants for table and general decorative purposes. Cy- 

 clamens I find superior when raised from seed and not keeping 

 the plants after the third year. Cinerarias sown early now 

 flower well, but are not nearly so good as they will be in March 

 and April. Yellow flowers are given at this season by Acacia 

 platyptera, A. aloeifolia elegans, and A. armata. Abutilon 

 Boule de Neige has white bells after the style of A. venosum. 

 Polygala oppositifolia is one of those few plants that keep on 

 growing and flowering from the end of every shoot, and the 

 very pretty Lesehenaultia formosa must not be omitted. 

 Statice profusa is always forthcoming in lavender, and Schi- 

 zostilis coccinea in blood colour ; and we have the fiery scarlet 

 of Tropajolum Triomphe de Gand and others that bloom the 

 winter through in a greenhouse. The long, white, waxy tubes 

 of Ehododendron jasminiflorum attract by their loveliness, 

 and Correas Brilliant, magnifica, cardinalis, and Harrisi always 

 flower in November and December. Eoman Hyacinths as 

 greenhouse plants are very desirable, and the beBt blue flowers 

 to associate with the white Hyacinths are Myosotis dissitiflora 

 and Ageratum Imperial Dwarf or Countess of Stair, the latter 

 being deeply tinged with purple. 



Heaths— everybody likes Heaths — are represented by Ericas 

 Lambertiana and L. rosea, hyemalis, gracilis autumnalis, 

 caffra, colorans, arbuscula, canaliculata, pyramidalis, melan- 

 thera, Willrnoreana, and Willmoreana rosea ; and of Epacrises 

 we have ardentissima, delicata, The Bride, Eclipse, carminata, 

 Devoniensis, hyacinthiflora, Lady Panmure, impressa coccinea, 

 Viscountess Hill, and hyacinthiflora candiBsima. 



There are many plants that I have omitted, especially in 

 Orchids, as Calant'he vestita vars., Qdontoglossums, Dendrobes, 

 Zygopetalnm Mackayi var., and many others, few being easier 

 grown and certain than Limatodes rosea. — G. Abbey. 



WATERING IN WINTER. 



I saw the other day an answer to a correspondent stating 

 that " Peach trees do not require as much water in winter as 

 they do in summer." I do not dispute this advice for a mo- 

 ment ; but still I maintain that to allow Peaches or any other 

 trees to become dry during winter does them an immense deal 

 of harm. They do not absolutely require as much water be- 

 cause there are no leaves to evaporate it, but they do require 

 the soil to be as moist in winter as at any other time, and I 

 may say that in my own practice the foil is often wetteBt 

 during winter indoors as well as out, for which I will give my 

 reasons. 



My manure-yard, like most others, is not covered, and when 

 heavy rain comes a great deal of the strength of the manure 

 is washed out, and would be lost if I c'id not take the precau- 

 tion to catch it in a hole for the purpoEe. In summer there is 

 not so much as I ihould like to apply to plants which aro 



growing vigorously, but in winter there is more than is required. 

 My fruit borders are not rich, as I hold it to be a mistake 

 to make them so for young trees, which generally grow too 

 vigorously anywhere. The borders are well drained, and the 

 soil is of the simplest nature possible, consequently they will 

 last a long time, and when once the trees attain a fruiting 

 state they will bear any amount of feeding. Well, then, as 

 Nature in her wisdom applies as much water in winter as she 

 does in summer, it is plain that, provided the roots are in 

 a suitable medium, it will do no harm to copy her in this 

 respect. And in practice I find it is not essential to have the 

 water perfectly pure. The manure water is not confined to 

 the houses, but is applied to fruit trees of all sorts as soon as 

 they reach the bearing state, and ib commenced with as soon 

 as the wood is fairly ripe in autumn. It should not be applied 

 late in summer while the trees are growing, or it will retard 

 their ripening. 



What a change has taken place in the horticultural world 

 within a few yearB as regards border-making, watering, drying- 

 off, ripening, notions about periods of growth, periods of reet, 

 &c. ! It is not many years since Dr. Lindley judged of the 

 quality of a fruit border by the looseness of its material, and 

 thought he had found perfection when he thrust his walking- 

 stick up to the handle into the soil of a Vine border ; and he no 

 doubt tempted many to imitate such a border. Now-a-days 

 any practical gardener would ridicule such a notion, and work 

 in almoBt an opposite direction. A little further on, when the 

 great man saw that the Vine roots darted as straight as an arrow 

 through such a border and ramified in all directions in the 

 gravel walk beyond, he came to the conclusion that the gravel 

 walk was the best medium for them. Here was another in- 

 stance of theory without practice leading astray one of the 

 best men of our day. 



The drying-off process received a severe shock a few years 

 ago when Cyclamens were first shown so splendidly from 

 Twickenham, Isleworth, &c, and it was proved that instead of 

 growing and starving alternately for four or five years to get 

 them into a presentable condition, that the work could be 

 better done and more satisfactory results obtained by growing 

 them vigorously for twelve or fourteen months. . Drying-off is 

 getting more and more into disrepute every year, and we now 

 see it recommended that even Dutch bulbs should not be kept 

 dry a day longer than is necessary for their journey. It is 

 still recommended by some to dry-off Amaryllis and other 

 similar plante; but this will be exploded before many years, for 

 in my practice I find that Amaryllises grown in a greenhouse 

 temperature and ripened by placing them outdoors in summer, 

 without ever stinting them of water, flower two or three times 

 a-year, and always have foliage when they do flower. I have 

 many bulbs so treated which are from 18 to 20 inches in cir- 

 cumference. 



There is no such thing as a total rest for a plant unless it is 

 receiving injury at the same time. Deciduous plants are grow- 

 ing all through the winter, except when they are frozen or 

 their roots are not in a suitable medium. The nearest approach 

 to a state of reBt is when the leaves are falling, and even the 

 leaves are often pushed off by the expanding buds. Deciduous 

 plants used to be treated as if they were as dead as deal boards 

 for two or three months ; happily they are not treated quite so 

 badly now, but there is Btill much room for improvement. — 

 William Tayloe. 



ROSES FROM AN AMERICAN POINT OP VIEW. 



THE LAST ELECTION. 



Beadeks of the Journal, American as well as English, cannot 

 but feel grateful to Mr. Hinton for bringing about the Bose 

 election lately held. The table, into which is condensed the 

 results of the election, is extremely interesting and instructive. 



In looking it over I do not find as many of the Teas included 

 as I expected. We are also surprised to note the high position 

 occupied by Devoniensis and Souvenir d'un Ami, lovely vari- 

 eties of the class, but not at all exhibition varieties. Bnbtns, 

 a large and very beautiful sort, is not once named ; the charms 

 of Marie Ducher, Madame Trifle, and others are also ignored. 



Among the Hybrid Perpetuals Comtesse Cfieile de Chabril- 

 lant occupies a very low position. We cannot understand the 

 reason of this. True, the flowers are not large, but the perfect 

 form, robust habit, and delightful fragrance are a combination 

 of excellencies equalled by few Boses. In selecting a perfect 

 Bose we must have regard to colour, form, fragrance, hardi- 

 ness, vigour, and free-blocming properties. Excellency in the 



