138 



JOUENAIi OF HOKTICULTUKB AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB, 



[ Angust 24, 1871. 



passed in review, and one general price decided upon for tlie 

 side cuttings, cuttings, and embankments, including the correct 

 dressing of all slopes (batters) at a given angle ; the outline 

 of every curve being distinctly marked with stakes, and the 

 depth and contents of every cutting given so clearly that no 

 mistake can occur. The angle of the slopes must depend 

 entirely upon the nature of the soil, which is sometimes bo 

 compact, or contains so much rock, that an angle of only a few 

 degrees out of the perpendicular may be safely adopted ; but 

 where the soil is not very firm it is best to make all slopes of 

 an angle of 30' — that is to say, at a gradient of 1 in 2, sharper 

 angles being unsafe, as the soil is very subject to detrition from 

 heavy rains or shattering frosts. When these slopes are made, 

 as in this case, by cutting the solid earth away, they are done 

 with the greatest ease and accuracy by first of all removing the 

 SOU only in a perpendicular line to the foot of the slope, and 

 afterwards the face of the slope can be dressed to the required 

 angle ; but if this is attempted to be done as the bulk of earth 

 is removed, a faulty batter is almost certain to be the result. 

 This is important, because handsome slopes contribute ma- 

 terially to the appearance of a new road. — Edwabb Luokhuest. 



NEGLECTED VARIETIES OP THE ROSE. 



I Ail glad " D." has again called attention to the subject 

 of neglected garden Eoses. With nearly all that he says I 

 can agree, but I think, with some few exceptions, the best ex- 

 hibition Eoses are also the best garden Eoses. Of course it 

 would not do for an amateur, book in hand, to note down every 

 fi.ne flower he saw exhibited, as there are many Eoses that oc- 

 casionally throw up a very good bloom, which, with shading 

 and attention, form a great addition to a stand of Eoses, and 

 yet in an ordinary way will do no good at all. Alpaide de 

 Eotalier has with me been one of these. I saw it exhibited 

 several times very finely the year it came out, but I have never 

 cut a bloom of it in my own garden that gave me the least 

 pleasure, and nine blooms out of ten have been worth nothing 

 at aU. i3ut I believe, as a general rule, the Eose that is shown 

 oftenest and in best condition at exhibitions is also the best 

 for garden purposes. Take, for instance, Charles Lefebvre, 

 John Hopper, La France, Baroness Eothschild, Alfred Colomb, 

 &e. ; these will give infinitely more pleasure to a Eo=e-grower 

 than any number of Baronne Prerost or Duchess of Norfolk. 

 I cannot, either, quite agree with my friend "D." in think- 

 ing Cecile de Chabrillant the model as to shape. It is, un- 

 doubtedly, of a beautiful shape, but I prefer both Marie Bau- 

 mannand Alfred Colomb. Ccmtesse C. de Chabrillant does not 

 show enough of the inner colour of the petals, which in nine 

 Eoses out of ten is the finest colour. It is in this point that 

 such Eoses as Alfred Colomb, Mirie Baumann, Madame Caillat, 

 and Charles Lefebvre have to my mind the advantage, that 

 in unfolding the outer petals, while there are still a high centre 

 and circular outline left, they show the fall depth of colour of 

 the inner petals. I remember, when at Manchester, a great 

 Eose-grower admiring a three-parts-opeu Centifolia rosea, on 

 account of its circular and shell-shaped petals, more than a 

 grand bloom of Baroness Eothschild in the same box, which 

 showed the full satiny depths of its petals, and yet was still a 

 model of form. Opinions, consequently, will always difier as 

 to the best models of form, and I have ventured to question 

 " D.'s " opinion in order to eUcit the opinions of others. 

 la not Madame Vidot quite as fine in its way as Cecile de 

 ChabriUant ? 



EugSue Appert is decidedly a fine-coloured Eose, with very 

 healthy foliage, but with me Duke of Wellington is even finer in 

 that shade of colour. Colonel de Eougemont is a better flower 

 than Baronne Pievost, but a bad grower, and in this respect 

 the Baroime has much the advantage. I quite agree in all he 

 says in praise of Fisher Holmes ; it is very fine in point of 

 colour, and a healthy grower, and, if disbudded, an exhibition 

 Eose. Prince Leon is certainly an exquisite-shaped Eose, but 

 so seldom caught, and bo weak a grower that it is hardly worih 

 retaining in an amateur's garden ; it is, in fact, only a Eose 

 for exhibitors to bud for the sake of getting an occasional 

 bloom to help out a stand. Comte de Nanteuil and M. de 

 Montigny are two Eoses as fine as any grown, and ought never 

 to be discarded from the garden. Jean Cherpin is fine in 

 colour, but with me burns with the least approach to sun, so 

 that, as in the case of Monsieur Boncenne, I hardly get a bloom 

 fit to gather. " D." has omitted a few I should like to add, as 

 La Brillante, good habit, free-blooming, a very smooth-petalled 

 Eose ; Madame Enorr, also a very free-blooming Eose, deep 



rose in the centre, blush outside petals; Duchess of Suther- 

 land ; and a few others. 



I am rather amused at what " D." saya with regard to 

 General Jacqueminot and the Eev. W. P. Eadclyffe, as it ac- 

 counts for his recommending the General a few weeks ago, 

 which I was otherwise rather at a loss to understand, as I never 

 knew a Eose (at all events in these parts) that was such a uni- 

 versal favourite, so that it could not in my mind be considered 

 a neglected Eose. I suppose Mr. Eadclyiie was making up 

 now, by his present recommendation, for his having given him 

 away before as a loose fellow. It has been, as " D." says, a 

 remarkably good year for the General, and almost the best 

 bloom I ever saw of it was exhibited by Messrs. Paul at York, 

 and worthy of any stand of Eoses. — C. P. P. 



ERYTHRINA CRISTA-GALLI CULTURE. 



I WISH to call attention to the above-named plant as being 

 very worthy of cultivation by gardeners generally. It is very 

 probable that, as the plant has been in this country nearly a 

 hundred years, it was at one time thought much of, and culti- 

 vated to a much greater extent than it now is. It is net the 

 beauty of the plant alone that entitles it to more extensive 

 cultivation, but its hardiness and ease of culture are qualifica- 

 tions sufficient, I should think, to induce all who have not 

 grown it to give it a trial. I am particularly partial to it for 

 conservatory decoration; it is a noble-looking object for either 

 in-doors or out of doors in any part of the garden — just the 

 plant, too, that amateurs can grow successfully, because it 

 thrives with little attention. It is a species of Coral Tree, has 

 very handsome foliage, and scarlet flowers, and with ordinary 

 cultivation it blooms in August. It is a very good and suitable 

 associate for Liliums at that time. 



In some parts of England the Erythrina is to be met with as 

 a border plant growing in common garden soil, and after flower- 

 ing, and when the wood is ripened cif, which is in autumn, the 

 shoots are cut down to the ground, and the old stool or roots 

 slightly protected during winter. This, however, is not the 

 wisest treatment to adopt, for if the winter prove very wet, or 

 severe frost occur, the roots are considerably injured, and the 

 plant throws np weak and unhealthy shoots in consequence. 

 My plan is to grow the plants in pots, and give them the pro- 

 tection of a pit from which the winter's frost is excluded, and 

 after they start into growth, and fine spring weather sets in, the 

 pots may be plunged along the south side of a wall. Afterwards, 

 when suitable weather arrives, the plants may stand in the 

 open ground, at all times to be well supplied with water. They 

 require a considerable amount of room ; a moderate-sized stool 

 will throw up shoots sufficient to produce a plant 5 feet high 

 and as much in diameter. Staking must not be neglected. 



I have tried several mixtures of soils in which to grow the 

 plant, but find none so suitable as rich turfy loam and very 

 rotten farmyard manure in equal proportions. I usually pull 

 the loam to pieces with the hand, and mix sand with it if it is 

 a heavy loam. I then take the manure and rub it to pieces,, 

 sifting a little quicklime and soot over it, and well mix that 

 with the hand. I finally well incorporate the two. Such a 

 mixture will produce a vigorous growth, handsome and healthy 

 foliage, and highly-coloured flowers. 



Plants are raised from cuttings of the young shoots when 

 about 2 inches long, or the fiowering shoots may be made into 

 cuttings. In either case bottom heat will assist them, with a 

 bell-glass or hand-light over them. I once saw a grand display 

 of this Erythrina, about four dozen large plants being arranged 

 along the front of a range of vineries. The pots were plunged 

 in the border by the side of the walk. The plants were uni- 

 form in height and size, and reaUy looked very fine. These 

 gave me a lasting remembrance of this really handsome and 

 beautiful plant. — Thomas Eecorh. 



CUCUMBER DISEASE. 

 I HATE grown Cucumbers for the last six years, but not till 

 this year have I had what I call full success. I have always 

 grown them in peat, turf, and other light soils, and have been 

 troubled with disease in the fruit, but this year I determined 

 to try another soil, and composed it as follows : — Part of an old 

 Cucumber bed, pig manure, fresh horse dung, and manure 

 from a sewage weU, the latter being the principal part. The 

 variety which I grew was Telegraph. The plants began to 

 bear at the beginning of March, I have cut an abundance of 



