JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



[ January 6, 1363. 



to-day for Azaleas affected with thrips, and in a day afterwards 

 syringe with clean water, the pot being laid on its broadside ; 

 and when the plant as respects the foliage is dry, remove a 

 little of the surface soil, top-dress with fresh, and set the plants 

 standing on damp moss, at the part of the house farthest from 

 the iron store. Here let us remark, that in using fire in these 

 stoveB, it is important that the fire should be longer continued, 

 in preference to ever letting the iron approach red hot, as that 

 makes sad havoc with the air enclosed. The fireplace in all iron 

 stoves should be at least 3 or 4 inches from the surrounding 

 case, and it is best that the fireplace be of brick. 



We do not like to give an opinion about disputod points 

 between gardeners and their employers. As respects watering, 

 we incline to think that the gardener was right, and stopping is 

 also a matter of taste and convenience. Where there is plenty 

 of room, herbaceous Calceolarias and Cinerarias may be grown 

 without stopping at all; as, if repotted as soon as the roots 

 touch the sides of the pot, and plenty of air is given, the plants 

 will become bushy without any stopping at all. Our border 

 Calceolarias last season were never stopped, and no plants could 

 have been more bushy, or flowered better ; but before planting- 

 out they were kept cool.] 



CALLICAEPA AMEEICANA. 



This is a native shrub found from Virginia southward but 

 hardy in Ohio. It is very beautiful, bearing crowded small 

 violet-coloured berries called French Mulberries by some, though 

 not a Mulberry at all. 



This, though a southern plant, is sufficiently hardy. As it 

 blooms and fruits on the young new wood, a little winter-killing 

 of the extreme twigs is no injury, and may be followed in the 

 spring by the knife or shears to the manifest improvement of the 

 appearance of this ornamental shrub. — (Prairie Farmer.) 



[This plant is usually found in nurserymen's catalogues as a 

 greenhouse plant under the name of Callicarpa purpurea. Have 

 any of our readers tried it ont of doors as a hardy plant, and, if 

 so, will they obligo us by stating the result ? It is recorded that 

 when the plant was first introduced it was treated as a hardy 

 plant and was destroyed by the Bevere frost of 1740. — Eds. 



J. OF H.] 



LESSONS LEAENED LAST TEAE. 



Ik reply to Edward Ollis in No. 91, 1 beg to say with respect 

 to Little Dot that the Btock is very small ; but owing to cir- 

 cumstances over which I have no control, it will be parted with. 

 And there are a few dozens of two-year-old plants ; and he may 

 venture to include them in his next spring's arrangement so 

 far as the cost may be concerned, which will be low ; but the 

 particulars will very shortly be made known through the adver- 

 tising columns of the Journal. 



There has been a very remarkable omisBion by your corre- 

 spondents — an account of their success in the floral department 

 during the past summer. No one seems to have hit upon any 

 good move worth recording. That the season was unfavourable 

 for producing a grand display is generally admitted, so that most 

 people have had just cause for being dissatisfied and keeping 

 silent ; still there have been local circumstances favourable to 

 some plants, and even the success of one or two good and 

 useful kinds for the summer decoration will be worth making 

 a note of. 



Some year or two ago much discussion took place respecting 

 Calceolarias in general, and the yellow in particular. It failed 

 very often, and spoiled the best-made arrangement. Either in 

 the mass or in the ribbon a gap here and there was to be Been ; 

 and unless there was a good reserve kept on hand that gap 

 would be seen to the end of the season. It was found that th e 

 yellow Calceolaria was too useful a flower to be dispensed with : 

 hence the anxiety about the sudden failures, and the many sug- 

 gestions as remedies. But who ever saw the Calceolaria do 

 better than during the summer of 1862 ? I use it largely, as 

 it is easily struck and as easily kept through the winter ; and 

 with the experience of the past summer I think it as easy to 

 manage through the flowering season, because to do so we have 

 only to look back to tli9 state of the weather during the six 

 months the Calceolaria is supposed to be planted out. Erom 

 the 1st of May to the last of October there was more than an 

 average of 3 inches of rain for each month, and pretty evenly 



distributed, so that the soil could never have bean thoroughly 

 dry ; at no time during the summer did the thermometer rise 

 to 70" in the shade, and I have one of Negretti's patent maxi- 

 mum ones ; and I have only had occasion to replace one plant, 

 and that from an accident. Notwithstanding much rain and so 

 low a temperature I frequently gave them liquid manure when 

 it was raining, and nothing conld have been more successful : 

 therefore it may be presumed that the Calceolaria requires a 

 large supply of moisture and a cool atmosphere, which, if not 

 naturally afforded, must be artificially made. 



On the other hand, I had not a solitary Balsam that I would 

 take the trouble to plant out. Petunias all went to green. 

 Verbenas made no progress till the latter part of the summer. 

 Asters and Marigolds (French), were very good ; Dahlias but 

 middling. 



My most telling bed was in an out-of-the-way piece of ground 

 near a part of the dwelling-house. The back row was Dahlias; 

 then a row of Delphiniums a foot apart. As soon as these had 

 done blooming they were cut down, and a French ABter in bloom 

 planted between each two ; then two rows of Calceolaria Gem > 

 then one row of yellow Calceolaria ; then a row of variegated 

 Mint, which kept up the Calceolarias nicely ; then a row of Prince 

 of Orange Calceolaria ; next, Scarlet Geranium, and, although 

 they were two-year-old plants, they became bo coarse I was 

 obliged to take them away and substitute the only plants I had 

 — Ageratum mexicanum. The next row was a row of two-year- 

 old plants of Little Dot. The next and outside row was Lobelia 

 speciosa. That, too, grew so strong that it almost smothered 

 Little Dot, and I was obliged to remove it also and substitute 

 Portulacas in three-inch pots ; but I am fully convinced that 

 the original plan or arrangement would have been better if 

 I had had a Scarlet Geranium with the same properties as Little 

 Dot, and, if there must be an edging at all to Little Dot, it 

 must be very dwarf indeed, and I think a variegated one. 



Now, looking at the above bed from a distance, there were 

 only the yellow, the variegated, and the rose to be seen distinctly 

 in lines. And although at a distance and at a closer view it 

 was decidedly the best display we had, I do not mean to pre- 

 sent it as a guide to any one else ; but it has proved that Little 

 Dot is highly adapted, and can be depended upon even in 

 ground too strong for any Scarlet Geranium, for ribbons, or 

 for an edging, and it can be planted out at once almost to touch 

 each other. I have proved it under a CheBtnut tree, where no 

 sun at all touched it, and no rain but what came through the 

 tree ; it is easily propagated, and it will stand more frost and 

 other hard treatment than any other Geranium I have. For 

 vases no plant could be more suitable. — The Doctor's Boy. 



CELEEY CULTUEE. 



I bind from The Journal oe Hobticulttjbb that some of its 

 readers have been disappointed in raising Celery this season ; and 

 as I have been very successful, I will detail the way in which 

 mine was raised. 



The seed was sown thinly, using potting soil for the purpose. 

 Either a pot or box may be used. An eight-inch pot will raise 

 several dozen plants, and there is no use in raising more of them 

 than are required. Place the pot or pots upon a very slight 

 hotbed, and after the plants are up give plenty of air until they 

 are strong enough to be pricked-off. When doing so be sure to 

 take the very best plants and none with fewer than four leaf- 

 stalks, as those with fewer will not make good plants. Be very 

 careful to avoid those which have any rust upon the roots, as I 

 have frequently found that upon seedlings of Celery when 

 pricking-out, and if kept they will get worse. After pricking-out, 

 the plants should be carefully shaded in sunny days and not 

 allowed to stop growing freely, as I believe any check to their 

 growth is very injurious to them. Eree-growing healthy plants 

 are never attacked by disease in my experience. After the plants 

 are growing freely, give plenty of water. 



I do not make the trench deep, but rather allow additional 

 room betwixt the trenches to afford earth to supply the necesBary 

 earthing-up, and am careful to take away all decayed leaves 

 before that is done, which should be upon a dry day and when 

 the plants are growing freely — at least once a~week. This I 

 believe to be one of the main preventives of the stalks decaying. 

 I also tie the plants together with strings of old matting, which 

 prevents the wind from breaking the tops. If the soil is coarse, 

 a little leaf mould may be placed next the [neck of the plant,. 



