March 17, 1863. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



205 



Having thus proved that 8 ozs. might be so applied as in 

 some eases to injure buds, I then proceeded to ascertain what 

 strength or mode of application would not injure ; and having 

 some trees purposely left unwashed, I operated on these at the 

 end of January, when in my early situation the buds had come 

 forward considerably. Some trees I washed with 8 ozs. to the 

 gallon, and a few minutes afterwards washed with plain water ; 

 others I washed with a four-ounce solution without any after- 

 water- washing. 



In the more susceptible of the Pear trees some of the buds, 

 ■washed with the eight-ounce solution were injured, notwithstand- 

 ing the after-water-washing. Those to which the four-ounce was 

 applied had, notwithstanding their forwardness, no buds touched. 

 Under these circumstances, though except in a few exceptional 

 cases, I shall continue on my own trees the strength I have 

 always used — 8 ozs. to the gallon, believing that the increased 

 health of the trees, making more blossoms set, more than com- 

 pensates for any buds that may fall off. I shall be disposed to 

 recommend 4 ozs. in future to amateur gardeners, especially when 

 their trees are washed when not entirely at rest. — Geobse 

 Wilson. 



COCOA-NUT FIBRE DUST. 



I/A3T year, in March, I received a supply of refuse from Kings- 

 ton-on-Thames, and thought I would ascertain its properties 

 and communicate the result to The Journal of Hobticul- 

 T0EE. I hope, therefore, that the remarks I am about to make 

 will be taken in the light in which they are given ; that being 

 simply to state what I did with it, and what results attended the 

 application. 



Under my care is a fernery 42 feet by 23, which is formed 

 nto a grotesque-looking place by some sixty cartloads of sand- 

 stone containing a considerable amount of quartz. The inter- 

 stices between the stones are filled with peat, loam, and silver 

 sand, forming a good compost for Ferns in general. The plants 

 did moderately well in this compost ; but I must confess they 

 cut a poor figure in comparison to their allies in an adjoining 

 house, which were grown in pots crammed with the cocoa-nut 

 fibre dust. It was this contrast that induced me to treat the 

 Ferns in the house mentioned to a top-dressing of the dust. 

 The house is exclusively devoted to greenhouse Ferns, and I 

 may mention that several so-called stove varieties thrive well 

 in it. The whole of the plants were mulched 3 inches deep with 

 the dust in its rough state ; but some strong growers received a 

 double mulching. 



When completed the appearance was neat, and gave quite a 

 new feature to the place. So well did it look that a traveller in 

 the trade noted down the place whence the material Came ; he 

 obtained some, and he declares it is a bargain. Visitors also 

 liked the stuff, for it looked so neat, no guano wearing a more 

 golden aspect, nor being liked so well by vegetation, and in 

 handling it does not soil the fingers. 



After one season's growth the plants in the fernery had grown 

 more in the refuse than they had done in two years before the 

 refuse was applied. For instance: A "set on" plant (a term 

 very familiar to gardeners, and which means a plant that refuses 

 to become vigorous under proper treatment), of Dicksonia ant- 

 arctica, with six fronds 2 feet long, put forth two fronds in 

 spring, which I presume were the concentrated growth of the 

 previous summer ; but at midsummer, three months after the 

 refuse was applied, six fronds began to show, and ultimately air- 

 roots were put out from the short Btem ; the proper roots 

 matted the refuse like turf, and the fronds attained 6 feet in 

 length. Other six fronds appeared late in autumn, and they 

 placed the " set on " plant in a position to grace, whereas it 

 previously shamed, the skill of the cultivator. In its heart is 

 the promise of another season's growth far exceeding the last, 

 and it has gained 1 foot in circumference of stem during the last 

 year. Would it have recruited itself so as to be vigorous with- 

 out the refuse ? It had the chance to do so for two summers, 

 but it became weaker instead of stronger. 



Take another example. Woodwardia radicans, fronds 3 feet 

 long and proportionately strong, became so luxuriant that it 

 strives hard to lift Hartley's rough plate glass off the roof, but 

 being foiled in the attempt, its fronds, 9 feet in length, droop 

 gracefully, the plant nearly eclipsing all its brethren from tem- 

 perate regions for beauty, and, in fact, for its engaging pecu- 

 liarities ; but in general cultivation it is presented in browned 

 fronds, stunted habit, and starved as often for heat as for 



nourishment. Though said to be hardy, it is not so here. True, 

 we have seen it just miserably existing in seme places out of 

 doors, but let those who wish to see Woodwardia radicans in 

 character, prepare a vaBe full of refuse dust from the cocoa-nut 

 fibre, put in the plant and place it on a pedestal in a cool green- 

 house fernery, where, under ordinary cultivation, it will form a 

 grotesque, picturesque, and gardenesque object, disputing the 

 palm with all the drooping Ferns from every zone of our globe. 

 In fact, I challenge the world to find a Bubject amongst all the 

 varieties better adapted for an elevated position than the com- 

 mon and ill-used Woodwardia radicans. 



In short, this dust is the best of all composts for Ferns ; but 

 the "old" is better than the "new" for pot Ferns, whilst the 

 new is better for mulching purposes. Small-growing Ferns do 

 very well in the pure refuse (old), but I cannot forbear adding 

 a little silver sand. In fact, some of the delioate sorts, as Ohei- 

 lanthes Bp., and Nothochlsenas become too weak in the stems 

 (stipes), without it, so as not to be able to support the frond in 

 its proper position. 



I also consider it wise to give the usual quota of sand to all 

 plants, for I cannot see how silica can be present, in a vegetable 

 substance, in sufficient quantity to meet the requirements of 

 plants. Chemists say it is so, but I have seen the farmer 

 obtain only half a crop from an over-luxuriant field of corn, 

 whilst his next-door neighbour had a splendid crop from half 

 the manure. With due deference, therefore, I dissent from the 

 opinion that there is ample silica in all soils and manures to 

 meet the wants of all crops. When there is an excess of manure 

 applied the soil fails to yield silica in proportion to the growth 

 of plants : consequently, the wood, ligneous or herbaceous, is 

 gross, lacking those very constituents which give the wheat- 

 stalk its strength. 



I find this refuse dust is a compost for all plants requiring 

 peat soil, or decaying vegetable matter ; but it acts not only as 

 a compost, but as a manure on plants requiring loam : therefore, 

 as there is little silica in proportion to the other constituents 

 in vegetable soil imperfectly decomposed, it is essential that a 

 supply of the deficient ingredient should he applied by the cul- 

 tivator ; but in loamy soil, deficient for the most part in vege- 

 table earth, an addition of the inorganic elements, particularly 

 silica, would be superfluous. 



Some Ferns like lime — as Asplenium rnta-muraria and Poly- 

 podium calcareum. Others require silica in considerable quantity 

 — as Blechnum spicant and its varieties, and, indeed, nearly all 

 Ferns from alpine regions, but the strong growers are not par- 

 ticular about the matter ; yet loam will afford something of the 

 inorganic but not inactive ingredient — sand. In spite of chemists 

 and philosophers, I say that no vegetable substance or animal 

 excrement contains enough of the inorganic elements to meet 

 the wants of vegetation ; and he who raises his plants with an 

 excess of organic matter will lose by the lank growths, the feeble 

 structure, the flimBy petal, and the altogether-badly-grown and 

 ill-shaped specimen. I have tried plants without the usual 

 quantity of sand, but I must say no plant liked the experiment, 

 neither did I ; and I should no more think of planting a Cucum- 

 ber in pure manure without, expeoting to see it gorged into disease, 

 than I should to live luxuriously and escape the first pestilence 

 that occurred. 



The refuse, then, has proved with me the best of all composts 

 for Ferns, in its pure state, and old for the small growers, with 

 a sprinkliog of silver sand or pieces of sandstone not larger than 

 a walnut added. 



Half fibry hazel or yellow loam, half refuse, old or new, does 

 for large-growing kinds, and that with a little sand, will grow 

 well Geraniums, Cinerarias, Fuchsias, Aehimenes, Gloxinias, Be- 

 gonias, and Gesneras, in fact better than the usual composts. 

 Primulas like it, especially Primula farinOBa, scotiea, nivalis, 

 cortusoides, and marginata ; and I recommend it as a good sub- 

 stitute for sugar-scum or bullock's blood to Auricula-growers, as 

 it emits no effluvia, and is so much nicer to handle. 



Terrestrial Orchids — as Cypripediums, thrive well in the refuse 

 dust. Billbergias, iBschynanthus, and Tillandsias, also Maran- 

 tas, Caladiums, and in fact any deciduous or evergreen herbaceous 

 plant that I tried did well in it ; but the names of these are too 

 numerous to recapitulate. 



Now, then, for woody plants. For Oranges it is a specific ; 

 but although I reported favourably of it last year for Camellias 

 and Azaleas, I have to record something not very corroborative. 

 Last year I took the precaution to mix a little loam and sand 

 with the refuse; but, anxious to mend well, I imprudently 



