198 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENES. 



[ September 14, 1871. 



partially shaded by climbers. In most cases it is advisable to 

 keep them rather dry in winter, especinlly if they are subjected 

 to a low temperature. Throughout the summer liquid manure 

 may be afforded every week, giving a good soaking of one peck 

 of sheeps' droppings and a peck of soot to thirty gallons of water. 



To keep down the black fungus, which forms so plentifully 

 on the leaves, wash with a sponge and a solution of 2 ozs. of 

 soft soap to a gallon of water ; but it should be borne in mind 

 that this fungus is only a result of the scale (Coccus), and if 

 the trees are kept clear of that there will be no fungus on the 

 foliage. The scale may be destroyed by a solution of 4 ozs. of 

 soft soap to the gallon of water, applied as hot as the hand can 

 bear with a sponge or brush. About twenty drops of spirits of 

 turpentine may be added to every gallon. 



The moat suitable of this family are the Orange (Citrus 

 Anrantium), and of it there are several varieties, and of them 

 the Mandarin (Citrus nobilis) is good, and of free growth. The 

 Lemon (Citrus Limonum acida) is also free in growth, and 

 very suitable, and so is the Shaddock (Citrus deeumana), or 

 Forbidden Fruit, the fruit being very large and having a noble 

 appearance. Although sometimes called Forbidden Fruit, the 

 one bearing that name properly is Citrus paradisi, or Paradise 

 Orange. 



Luculia gratissima. — This plant has magnificenf; foliage when 

 in good condition, which it rarely is, and the flowers are rosy 

 lilac, prodaoed in the autumn, winter, and spring months. In 

 a pot it is probably the most miserable of all subjects cultivated 

 in a greenhouse, but planted out in a conservatory border, and 

 trained against a back wall, it is one of the finest and sweetest 

 of the flowers afforded by the greenhouse in the dull period of 

 the year. 



The border should be prepared as described for Camellias, 

 and the soil most suitable is turfy loam, with no more than 

 about an inch of soil taken off where the ground is sandy, 

 chopped up roughly. To two parts of this loam add one part 

 of sandy peat chopped up roughly, and half a part of old cow 

 dung, lump charcoal, and pieces of grit not larger than an egg 

 nor less than a walnut. If the loam and peat are deflcient in 

 sand, add silver sand in the proportion of one-sixth of the 

 whole. The compost should be well mixed and put together 

 rather flrmly. Plant out at any time, but March I think is the 

 best. The sides of the ball should be loosened with a stick, 

 otherwise the ball should be entire. Water gently, so as to 

 settle the soil about the ball, and do not water again until the 

 soil become dry, and then give a thorough supply. When 

 growing it requires very copious supplies of water, but if the 

 watering be regular — given whether it be required or not, the 

 soil becomes so sodden that the leaves assume a dingy appear- 

 ance and fall, the growth coming to a standstill. On the other 

 hand, if no water be given until the soil becomes dry the plant 

 grows luxuriantly. It is well to let the leaves slightly flag 

 rather than water too soon. This treatment, as regards water- 

 ing, is required throughout the year. The Luculia also prefers 

 partial shade, and does well with syiinging twice a-day ; it is 

 liable to attacks of thiips and green fly, which the syringing 

 tends to keep down. 



The pruning for some time will need to be confined to 

 stopping the shoots, but, as the plant fiowers at the points of 

 the shoots, stopping should be resorted to as little as possible, 

 and if the shoots have been started low enough it will hardly 

 be necessary, as, after flowering, two or more shoots start from 

 the end of each shoot of last year. When the plant has covered 

 the trellis the pruning should be done in March, or before 

 growth commences, and the plant may be cut-in rather closely, 

 removing the old wood, and encouraging young wood, especially 

 from the base of the plant. 



Hahrothamnus elegans, H. aurantiacus, and H. fasciculatus 

 are also fine plants for a back wall, but require a position less 

 shaded than either Camellias or the Luculia. The treatment 

 of the Httbrothamnuses has already been given at page 65 of 

 the present volume. 



Heliotropiums are so useful for cutting, and succeed so well 

 against a greenhouse back wall not very much shaded, that 

 they merit a place. The best kinds are Monsieur Hamaitre, a 

 large purple variety, one of the best for winter flowering ; Vol- 

 taireanum, a fine dark purple ; and Miss Nightingale. It is 

 well to plant them out, for I confess that with me in pots they 

 do no good. The border should be well drained, and be com- 

 posed of light turfy loam two parts, one part sandy peat, and 

 one part leaf soil, with a free admixture of sharp sand. It 

 the loam be poor, one-fourth of cow dung or well-rotted manure 

 may be added advantageously, and, to keep the compost open, a 



sixth part of lump charcoal. The compost should be used 

 rather rough, and be put in rather firmly. 



Plant in March, and water as often as the soil becomes dry, 

 but not till then, giving good supplies. In winter, or from 

 November to March, keep dry, but not so as to cause the wood to 

 dry. In March cut in the plant hard, each shoot being short- 

 ened to within half an inch of its base, for it is presumed that 

 the shoots are trained at 9 inches apart, so as to cover the trellis 

 in every part with shoots. After pruning keep the plants dry 

 for about a fortnight, then water moderately, and when growing 

 freely water copiously. The shoots should be regulated as they 

 grow, thinning out where they are too crowded, and encouraging 

 them where they are too few in number by training-in young 

 shoots. From July to late in autumn there will be an abund- 

 ance of bloom. In the early stages of growth the shoots should 

 bo trained-in at 9 inches apart, and they must be stopped as 

 required, so as to furnish the shoots where desired. 



If the plants are intended to flower in winter shorten the 

 shoots in July to about half their length, or to 3 or 4 inches, 

 and the plant will put out fresh shoots and flower in autumn 

 and winter, the watering being liberal. 



At the time of pruning the surface soil should be removed 

 down to the roots, and a top-dressing given of loam and well- 

 rotted manure in equal parts, and it may be repeated in July. 



The plants noticed are all that I have found succeed on the 

 back wall of a greenhouse, and if the wall be very much shaded 

 by plants in front, or climbers closely trained on the rafters, 

 none of the plants named will thrive, though the position may 

 answer for Ferns, none of these being finer than Lygodium 

 Bcandens. It answers admirably for trellises in the most 

 shaded part of the greenhouse, and walls and other positions 

 not receiving any sun, making growths from the roots 20 feet 

 long in a season, at least it has done so with me this season. 

 It requires two parts peat and one part loam. For a shaded 

 wall or north aspect Ficus repens is, perhaps, the best plant. 

 It clings to the wall with the tenacity of Ivy, and covers it 

 closely with bright green leaves, having a fine effect. With 

 good light loam and free drainage it will grow well. The Ivies 

 are also good for a wall of this description. The most desir- 

 able are the new silver, Hedera Helix rhomboidea variegata, 

 H. Helix minor marmorata, marginata elegans, marginata 

 Callisii, marginata argentea, digitata, minor Donerailensis, 

 lobata, and pulchella. They should have moderately rich soil, 

 good drainage, and one-third of pieces of brick, sandstone, or 

 old lime rubbish mixed with the soil. — G. Abbey. 



BEDDING GERANIUMS. 



The gorgeous brilliancy of colouring obtained in the flowers 

 of the Pelargonium, combined with their remontant property, 

 may justly be considered one of the greatest triumphs of 

 modern floriculture. Like many other really good things, the 

 triumph itself has brought in its train an excess of aspirants 

 to share in the fame, not unaccompanied with unmixed good, 

 nor without some abuse. The Pelargonium must and will 

 retain its proper place in the estimation of florists, but more 

 than that it ought not to have, especially when it leads to the 

 exclusion or thrusting aside of many other beautiful pro- 

 ductions, which has unhappily been too often the case. Un- 

 mistakable signs of a return to a better state of things become 

 more manifest every year. We shall all rejoice when this shall 

 have been effected. 



Last year about this time, or a little earlier, I propagated 

 about two hundred plants of a few varieties of bedding Pelar- 

 goniums in 6-inch pots, the most convenient form at hand. 

 Being uncertain of giving them sufficient attention throughout 

 the winter so as to keep them alive, a neighbouring gardener 

 very kindly allowed them to be placed for a few months in a 

 vacant corner of his vinery. The plants being well rooted, 

 strong, and healthy when removed there about the end of 

 October, my friend at my special request bestowed scarcely a 

 moment of time over them, but only allowed them to live till I 

 could remove them in the spring. They were brought home 

 about the second week in April, and without being repotted or 

 any other trouble taken with them, they were at once planted 

 out in a few small beds which have been for some years past 

 devoted to a similar purpose. They made but little progress at 

 that early period, and after that little soon retrograded. By the 

 first week in June they were apparently about the size of the 

 cuttings when first inserted in the propagating-pots. Taking 

 up two or three I found, however, that they had made fibrous 

 roots, and I did not despair. With a change of weather for 



