March 3, 1863. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



169 



in the late house, which might hare pleased Mr. Kelly better 

 with a shade of darker colour could he have dispensed with 

 cropping the border in front with flowers, to bring it into 

 character with the parterres referred to, from which it is also 

 separated by a walk of 9 feet in width. It is not the robbery 

 of the border in such circumstances by the flowering plants 

 that does so much damage as the shading of the ground from 

 the sun's rays ; and then from a low temperature and frequent 

 dryness the roots are inclined to go too deep; though we do not 

 think Mr. Kelly's good Grapes were showing signs of that. 

 Immediately behind such parterres, and in front of houses, bare 

 earth-borders would hardly be in character ; but as these borders 

 are not very wide, a compromise might be effected by making the 

 whole into a sort of terrace walk by covering thinly with gravel. 

 Manure water could be given at any time, other manures in 

 winter ; and as then the gardens would not be so attractive, a 

 covering of dung and leaves might be applied to entice the roots 

 to the surface. A lioe of small baskets or vases would break 

 the monotony, and yet do little to prevent the sun beating on 

 tile border, or, what would be the same thing, the gravel or 

 sand on its surface. A slight dressing of fine gravel every spring 

 would make it all look in good order. 



One of the most useful helps that Mr. Kelly has, and which 

 he devotes to many purposes, is a house for Melons and Cu- 

 cumbers, 50 feet in length, 13 feet in width, and 8 feet from 

 floor to ridge. The house is not quite a span, the sash on one 

 side being about 9 feet and on the other side about 6 feet. The 

 door, therefore, of 2 feet 10 inches is not in the centre, but 

 6-J- feet from one side, and 3 feet 10 inches from the other. The 

 path goes down opposite the door, leaving a bed on one side of 

 5 feet in width, and on the other of 2-4- feet ; the first intended 

 for Melons, and the second for Cucumbers. These beds or pits 

 on each side of the pathway are rather more than 3 feet from 

 the floor. Under the vi.de pit are two four-iach pipes for bottom 

 heat and the same for top heat, and under and above the narrow 

 pit the same quantity of two-inch piping. Like many more, 

 Mr. Kelly found it was difficult to give the Melons and Cucum- 

 bers in the same division the exacb treatment they required in 

 different circumstances, and intended in future to grow them 

 separately back and front in the different compartments. 



On our visit about the middle of September were five Excelsior 

 Melons in one division, and a fine crop of Lynch's Star of the 

 West Cucumber in another, which Cucumber seemed to have a 

 good deal of the breed of the Syon House. During winter and 

 spring one or more of these compartments is used for forcing 

 and forwarding what is wanted for use and ornament ; and what 

 is not so used is stored with cuttings and bedding plants from 

 floor to ceiling or ridge. R. Fish. 



(To be continued.') 



THE MILD WINTER. 



That the present winter has been exceedingly mild will be 

 generally admitted, but instances like it have occurred before. 



The autumn of 1843, if I remember rightly, was very mild, so 

 much so that Mushrooms were reported to be growing in many 

 places up to Christmas, and yet after that we had a winter of 

 more than average severity. The autumn of 1853 was also mild, 

 as I remember gathering some variegated Geranium cuttings in 

 the first week of February, that had stood out of doors unpro- 

 tected and they grew, and yet we had a tolerably sharp frost 

 immediately after that. 



The present winter, therefore, is not without a precedent so 

 far. The frosts we had in November destroyed most tender 

 plants, or, at least, it so far injured them that they were removed ; 

 but I find a rustic vase in front of my cottage, containing 

 variegated Geraniums, has escaped, the plants being yet alive 

 and shooting-out fresh leaves, although in no way protected 

 excepting from the west and north winds. Other Geraniums 

 that were left partly with the shelter of shrubs are still green ; 

 and Calceolaria cuttings put into a cold pit have grown and 

 many of them are knotted for flower, while the old ones in 

 the open border are quite green and as fresh as in September. 

 That they and other plants will receive a check there is every 

 probability, but the sooner the better, as the buds of fruit trees 

 and other plants are advancing too fast ; and in the kitchen 

 garden line a mild winter invariably forwards Cabbage plants to 

 the point of running to seed, which would not be the case in a 

 hard one. Peas, too, advance too far to withstand the cold of 

 the late spring, and become what is termed " black in the leg," 



and die. Everything, however, in the greens or Colewort way 

 is in more abundance in mild winters, as, likewise, is Broccoli, 

 Spinach, and other winter crops. 



I wonder if the West-Cornwall gardeners, whoso doings were 

 so ably reported to us some time ago, are not apprehensive of a 

 late spring frost proving fatal to their Potatoes, since there has 

 been little or none during the winter ? However, let us hope 

 for the best, and ere this reach the reader there may be an 

 important change, and our next complaint may be of cold. 



My register, as recorded in this Journal for January 6th, 

 shows a greater proportion of west and south-west winds 

 than in former years, and whether this be the cause or effect of 

 the continued mildness is for others to determine. I find, how- 

 ever, that the subject has attracted notice elsewhere. That the 

 present season has been a moist one is admitted, and yet the 

 rainfall of the autumn and up to the present time has not ex- 

 ceeded an average ; only falling, as it has, in almost daily dribblets 

 it has kept the roads and every other place dirty. Of the 

 kind of weather in store for us there is no lack of predictions ; 

 but, whether after all, any of these prophesies are based on any- 

 thing better than a mere guess is more than I can tell, and 

 judging from the number of times they are wrong, it would 

 seem that they are nothing more than that. — J. Robson. 



TRITOMA EOOPEEI. 



Tkitomas are allowed by all to be amongst the most showy of 

 all our hardy border plants. Tritoma uvaria makes a most tell- 

 ing display, either as single specimens, or in back rows to ribbon 

 and other borders. It is grand throughout August and Sep- 

 tember. I had a row of this, this autumn, 40 yards in length, 

 with 700 heads of bloom at one time. T. Rooperi is also a 

 magnificent plant, coming into bloom in September, and throwing 

 up a succession of spikes all through the winter if the weather be 

 at all mild. Notwithstanding our sharp weather in November, 

 it has been in flower here all winter, and continues in flower at 

 this date (January 16). In October it throws up its flower-stems 

 to the height of 5 and 6 feet, and the individual heads of bloom 

 last in flower tw ice as long as does any other of the Tritomas that 

 I know of. Like uvaria, 1 believe there are inferior varieties of 

 Rooperi. 



It has been said that these Tritomas come true from seed, but 

 I have proved that the best variety of uvaria does not ; and that 

 from one packet of seed you may get a great many varieties — 

 few, if any, that I have raised being at all equal to the original. 

 A cross between Rooperi and uvaria would be likely to throw" 

 some fine varieties. — D. Thomson. — {Scottish Gardener.) 



CRASSULA COCCTNEA AND IPOM^A LEARII 

 NOT BLOOMING. 



You will oblige me much by advice how 1 am to manage six 

 plants of Crassula coccinea, which did not flower last summer. 

 I have kept them in a cool greenhouse all winter close to the 

 glass, and I have given them very little water. I wish to keep 

 them in pots, and I snould like to bloom them this next summer 

 if I can. 



I have a plant of Ipomssa Learii in a pot, that did not flower 

 last year. Had I better shake it out and repot it in some good 

 soil ? I am obliged to grow it in a pot. — L. C. 



[Keep your Crassulas as they are, and give a little water as 

 soon as you see signs of flagging, or the tops knotting for bloom. 

 You must not think of cutting now, as you will cut all the 

 flower-buds. 



Shake out the Ipoma^a, and give it some rich, rather stiff loam 

 firmly packed. Then cut the head considerably of all the 

 smaller shoots ; from every well-ripened bud you may expect a 

 shoot bearing flowers. If you kept the plant in a shady place 

 in summer and autumn, there will be few flowers, if otherwise, 

 in the sun, you will have plenty of bloom on young shoots.] 



Planting Wellingtonia gigantea. — A gentleman whose 

 information is of a very sound and practical nature, respecting 

 the many new and ornamental Conifers, informs me of a case 

 where a Wellingtonia has been planted upon an artificial mound 

 made V feet high, and which the Wellingtonia has now covered 

 with its branches, growing in a sweeping, drooping manner. 

 Seven feet in height thus obtained is a desideratum in many 

 cases when this handsome tree is planted. — W. 



