260 



JOURNAL OB" HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 7, 1863. 



pitch. Now, those who understand the mixture of composts 

 pursu9 an opposite course, and, after selecting their soil, and 

 divesting it of all superfluous and inert matter, they break it 

 into small pieces, so that the whole will pas3 through the meshes 

 of a half-inch sieve, and secure porosity by the intimate ad- 

 mixture of sand, potsherds, charcoal, or soft porous sandstone 

 broken small. In this way the compost is of the same quality 

 throughout, and hence the roots receive neither check nor 

 change of food ; hut when large pieces are interspersed through 

 the mass, the roots of the plants either avoid entering them al- 

 together, or by entering them, are subject to constant changes. 

 This is the rock upon which the advocates of " the accumu- 

 lative," "the one shift," and " the large shift " potting system 

 foundered ; they got plants to grow rapidly for a time, but that 

 time was limited, and at the end of it death was the finale. 



Let us not be misunderstood. In repudiating the rough 

 compost, and the one-shift, we do not disapprove of a large shift, 

 but we would enter our protest at once and for ever against the 

 use of rough compost. Look to Nature : The primaeval clod, do 

 we find it like a honeycomb, loose and open like a basket for 

 Orchids P No. But do we not on the contrary, while it is 

 sufficiently permeable for the free ingress of air and water, find 

 that it is firm and compact, and sufficiently solid to prevent the 

 changes of every breeze that blows ? In this way progress is 

 comparatively slow, but certain ; and the plants, instead of 

 progressing with great ra- 

 pidity for a time, produce 

 strong, healthy, thoroughly 

 matured wood, and dwarf 

 compact growth, yielding 

 abundance of bloom ; and 

 which abide with you for 

 years. But to return to our 

 young plants: — Having pre- 

 pared your compost examine 

 the roots of the plants, and 

 if they are strong and healthy, 

 prepare a pot two sizes larger, 

 and after draining it properly 

 proceed to pot your plants, 

 placing some of the roughest 

 part of the compost over the 

 drainage, and proceeding to fill 

 up firmly with the finer soil. 



The best place for the plants 

 after potting is a close frame 

 or pit, taking care to ventilate 

 freely, but to keep a moist at- 

 mosphere, and to shut the 

 frame up for an hour or two 

 every evening, but open it 

 again either partly or wholly 

 before retiring for the night. In this way the plants will 

 make rapid progress, and, therefore, due attention must be 

 paid to stopping the rude shoots bo as to induce close, com- 

 pact, and healthy growth. If the plants progress as they 

 ought to do, they will probably require a second shift during the 

 season, and, indeed, if you wish to make the most of your time, 

 the plants may be kept growing slowly until the winter' fairly sets 

 in, at which time they should be brought to a state of rest. 

 In the second year some of the plants will produce a nice head 

 of bloom ; but, in order to secure rapid growth, remove 

 the bloom-buds when quite young, and keep the plants vigor- 

 ously growing through the second season. For potting, no 

 general rule or time can be specified ; if a plant is in good health, 

 and the pot full of roots, a shift any time between Christmas 

 andOctober will not injure it ; but never shift a plant until the 

 pot is full of vigorous roots, and take special take that the roots 



•M- ' become mat 'ecl before you shift the plants. 



Manure water in a weak state may be used with advantage to 

 hardwooded plants of all kinds, but use it with caution, and 

 not more than twice a- week. That prepared from sheep's dung 

 and soot is the best, but it must be used in a perfectly clear state. 



Chorozemas are subject to the attacks of red spider, and also 

 to thrips and mildew ; the best remedy for the whole of these 

 pests is sulphur and water, vigorously and plentifully supplied. 

 Take a plant and lay it upon its Bide in the open air, then with 

 a syringe wash it thoroughly, and after watering dust it with 

 sulphur, and repeat the dressing until the pest is destroyed. 

 C. Henchmanni and angustifolia are the most subject to mildew, 



Chorozema triangularis 



but it may be destroyed by the timely application of sulphur 

 and water. 



The following are some of the most distinct and beautiful of 

 the species which are met with in cultivation : — 



C. angustifolia. — A remarkably graceful shrub, with long, 

 slender, somewhat scrambling stems, having linear, acute leaves, 

 with recurved margins, and racemes oi pretty Sowers, of which 

 the standard is orange yellow, and the wings crimson purple. 

 Flowers in March and April. New Holland. Introduced 1830. 

 Formerly called Dillwynia glyoinifolia. 



C. eordata. — An elegant dwarf shrub, with many slender 

 branches, clothed with sessile cordate obtuse, spiny-toothed 

 leaves, and bearing the flowers in more or le3S drooping racemes. 

 They are orange in the standard, with scarlet or crimson wings, 

 sometimes scarlet with purple. Flowers in March and April. 

 New Holland. Introduced in 1836. There are numerous va- 

 rieties as regards the colour of the flowers. A fine variety of 

 this species, with a more vigorous habit, and larger and deeper- 

 coloured flowers, is called C. eordata Lawrenceana. 



C. Dicksoni. — A handsome, dwarf, bushy-growing Bhrub, 

 furnished with narrow leaves, and bearing a profusion of beau- 

 tiful dull scarlet and yellow flowers, something in the way of 

 C. Henchmanni. Flowers from March to May. New Holland. 

 Introduced in 1836. 



C.fiava. — A very pretty and distinct form for the cultivator, 

 though regarded by some 

 botanists as a variety of eor- 

 data. It is of erect, slender 

 habit, with elongate ovate 

 leaves sinuately toothed on 

 the margin, the teeth spiny ; 

 the flowers are in racemes, 

 the standard deep clear 

 yellow, the wings much paler, 

 or lemon-coloured. Flowers 

 in March and April. New 

 Holland. Introduced about 

 1848. 



C. Henchmanni. — A hairy 

 shrub, with short twiggy 

 branches, covered with needle- 

 shaped leaves, and bearing nu- 

 merous axillary racemes of 

 flowers, which are very orna- 

 mental, light scarlet, with a 

 yellow mark at the base of the 

 standard. Flowers from April 

 to June, and sometimes on- 

 wards till September. New 

 Holland. Introduced 1825. 



C. ilicifolia. — A diffuse- 

 spreading shrub, wilh oblong 

 lanceolate pinnatifidly spinous leaves, and bearing scarlet flowers, 

 the standard marked with yellow at the base. Flowers from 

 March to August. New Holland. Introduced 1803. 



C. ovata. — A handsome shrub, with weak, ascending, winged 

 stems, furnished with ovate-acute leaves, and bearing short 

 racemes of showy flowers, usually scarlet, with the wings crimson. 

 Flowers from March to May. New Holland. Introduced 1830. 

 C. speetavilis, — A very beautiful, small shrub, with slender, 

 twining, or scrambling stems, the leaves of which are elliptic- 

 lanceolate, obovate, or cuneate, and the flowers pale orange in 

 the standard, tinged with crimson, the twigs being crimson ; 

 they grow in long, drooping racemes. Flowers from April to 

 July. New Holland. Introduced 1839. 



C. triangularis. — A beautiful, dwarf, spreading shrub, of 

 branching habit, with sub-hastate leaves, pinnatifidly spinous on 

 the margin, and the flowers in short racemes, the standard 

 scarlet, the wings purple. Flowers in March and April. New 

 Holland. Introduced 1830. 



C. varia. — A dwarf, compact-growing species, with variable 

 leaves ; in some forms broadly ovate, toothed, and spiny on the 

 margins, in others almost entire, and sometimes nearly round in 

 outline. The flowers are very numerous, in short racemes, 

 large and showy, usually orange, with crimson wings. Flowers 

 from April to July. New Holland. Introduced in 1837. The 

 variety called C. varia nana, of remarkably dwarf habit, is the 

 best for a limited collection, though there are two or three other 

 very distinct and beautiful forms. — (Gardeners' Magazine of 

 Botany.) 



