44 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTrAGB GAEDENEE. 



[ January 19, 1371. 



season ; they eat their way into the very heart of the expand- 

 ing bloom. Madame Falcot when treated in this way was as 

 fine as Marechal Kiel. 



All my Eoses are now snug beneath a covering of about 

 3 inches of cocoa-nut refuse and long stable manure ; they are 

 SO near the river that I dread frosts ; last year I lost but three 

 out of four hundred. Nest year I mean to be daring enough 

 to try my luck on the exhibition table. — Stiff Soil, 



BEDDING CALCEOLARIAS IN 1870. 



I DO not think that the cause of Calceolarias dying-oH so 

 extensively ss they have done for the last few years has ever 

 been discovered, although numerous opinions have been ex- 

 pressed upon the subject, nearly every gardener having a dif- 

 ferent one. Some of the theories advanced appear reasonable, 

 and those who had the energy and opportunity have set them- 

 selves to prove their truth, and I believe with good results. 

 Although the past summer has been an exoeptionaUy dry one, 

 guite unfavourable to the Calceolaria, especially with so much 

 sunny weather, I think in many places this favourite bedding 

 plant has never grown better ; and in many other places, as 

 far as I have seen, there has been less loss from disease, as it 

 is called, than formerly. This, I conclude, is because the grower 

 pays more attention to the cultivation of the plant, especially 

 from the time of propagation till it is placed in the flower 

 garden, and even in the latter department gardmsrs find it ad- 

 vantageous, when it can be done, to make special provieion for 

 their Calceolarias. 



Some of the growers of the Calceolaria who were most suc- 

 cessful during the past summer, tell me that they propagate as 

 late as the middle of November, it the weather will allow, and 

 make their cuttings as short as possible, most of them without 

 a heel to them, the object being to delay the rooting until the 

 New Tear. They use a fir; ely- sifted heavy rather than light soil, 

 and when the cuttings are well rooted the centre shoot of each 

 is nipped out ; this checks their rapid growth into bulky plants 

 until the days lengthen, and they can have more light and air 

 to encourage a healthy growth. The young plants are kept as 

 cool as possible both night and day, and in a short time every 

 shoot each plant makes is again pinched. 



While the plants are breaking into growth again, a suitable 

 place is being prepared for them either in cold pits or frames, 

 or in trenches in the open ground ; if the latter, the trenches 

 are made 4 feet wide, and a good spit of earth thrown out on 

 each side makes them about 18 inches deep. The bottom is 

 covered with any rough sittings of soil, and the remainder is 

 made up of similar soil to that in which the plants are to be 

 grown in the flower garden. I might remark that if protection 

 can be found the trenches are to be preferred on account of the 

 want of every foot of space under glass at that time of the year, 

 and the trenches afford the plants a similar position to that 

 which they are to occupy in the flower garden. 



The transference of the plants from the cutting-frame to the 

 trenches is eft'eeted in the most careful manner. With a view 

 to facilitate this the cuttings at propagating time are placed as 

 far apart as circumstances will allow, in order that the plants 

 may be taken out without root-breakage, and the same care is 

 taken when planting in the trenches. There is another ad- 

 vantage in using trenches — namely, a convenient space can be 

 allowed to the plants. At all times they are exposed to the sun 

 and air when the weather is not frosty. I am told that to plant 

 cut early is a great point in their favour, for if left until ordinary 

 bedding stock goes out, which, perhaps, is as late as June, the 

 Calceolaria is to a great extent exhausted, and the roots become 

 so entangled, and the process of moving at that time so difficult 

 and dangerous, that the plants scarcely recover until the sum- 

 mer is nearly gone. I think this is a reasonable excuse for early 

 planting ; and again, we all know that if the plants are too large 

 the shock of moving causes the wood to ripen-off, and then 

 there is a great chance of the first fiowering carrying them ofi' 

 entirely, and those which do not die fail to produce blooming 

 wood until too late. 



In the fiower garden the wants of the Calceolaria must not 

 be neglected, and as the plants like a cool moist bottom, it has 

 been found beneficial to place a moisture-retaining soil under 

 them at about 1 foot deep, and quite C inches thick. If the soil 

 above is light, make it heavier by suitable additions. A rather 

 close soil I have always found to be more suitable, provided 

 it is not too poor, but it should be made good to a considerable 

 depth, as Calceolarias, like most bedding plants, root very 

 deeply into the ground. I think trenching should be carried 



en as systematically in the flower garden as it is in the kitchen 

 garden, because it would afford the plants a beneficial change 

 of soil. Where the soil has been worked for a number of years 

 for the same purpose, it would be better to take it out to a 

 good depth and add fresh soil made up with a large proportion 

 of good peaty loam. This experiment has answered perfectly 

 well during the past summer with the Calceolaria ; therefore 

 it is to be recommended for other bedding plants, excepting 

 those which would be liable to grow too coarse at the expense 

 of bloom. 



Vi'atering and mulching during a long period of hot and dry 

 weather are such essential points in the culture of the Calceo- 

 laria, that they ought to claim special attention, for then it is, 

 and when there is an absence of dewy nights, that this plant 

 appears to suffer most. The difficulty lies in keeping the plants 

 growing and the wood from ripening-off under the burning sun, 

 so as to insure a continuous blooming time ; but during the past 

 summer much of this difficulty has been overcome by attend- 

 ing to ihe above details. Although in what I have stated there 

 is nothing new or more than what an anxious cultivator would 

 think of, I am not afraid that this plan will be less success- 

 ful with those who practise it than the rough-and-ready treat- 

 ment which very many growers pursue with this the most 

 useful, and one of the oldest and most popular bedding plants 

 we have. After a dry summer, or if the month of September 

 should be showery, it is surprising how suddenly the Calceo- 

 laria commences a healthy and luxuriant growth, which would, 

 if the season could be prolonged, produce one of the most 

 brilliant masses of bloom ever witnessed, and such as no arti- 

 ficial treatment could, perhaps, ensure. Still I think this dis- 

 position of the plant is a good guide to the cultivator as to the 

 wants of the Calceolaria, and should be imitated as much as 

 possible, for of all the hardier sorts of bedding plants it re- 

 quires the most careful treatment. — T. Eecoed. 



RABBITS AND TREES. 



Having from time to time seen communications on this sub- 

 ject in The Jouenal ofHoeticultuee, especially from persons 

 anxious to get up patches of evergreens in game coverts, I send 

 you a few remarks, the result of several years' experience in 

 planting. 



If it is practicable entirely to exclude rabbits and hares from 

 the parts planted, I would advise that the wire netting used 

 be not less than 3 feet wide, and not of larger mesh than 

 Ij inch. It should be fixed to upright stakes, and be well pegged 

 down. Three inches at the bottom should be turned outwards, 

 and laid flat on the ground, which should be levelled, and made 

 up over the bottom of the wire along the whole length. The 

 rabbits, hurting their claws without result in the buried hori- 

 zontal portion of the wire, soon give up scratching at it ; but 

 some one should occasionally go round and make up the 

 ground to the wire where required. 



I wish, however, to speak more particularly of planting 

 single trees or shrnlDS in bare parts of coverts or plantations. 

 It is provoking to have these devoured year after year, and I 

 think it better to plant fifty with efficient protection, than five 

 hundred to be barked and mutilated, to take their chance of 

 surviving in a deformed and stunted condition. It is known 

 that trees when first planted are especially liable to be attacked 

 by rabbits. We observe loppings of trees in coverts entii-ely 

 cleared of bark, whilst branches and twigs of the same size 

 growing within reach are untouched. In the same way recently- 

 planted trees are sure to be selected amongst others of Ihe same 

 kind and size. I have found the recommended preparations of 

 night soil, gas tar, train oil, quicklime, &e., both bad for the 

 tree and inefficient, unless renewed every month. I have used 

 cradles made of common wire netting 2 feet wide, 2-inch mesh. 

 This I cut or rather break across into lengths of about 2 feet. 

 These I place round the young trees with the rough ends of 

 the wire at the bottom and the top, and bring the level sides 

 together, fastening them with soft wire previously cut into 

 lengths of 3 or 4 inches. About 2 inches at the bottom and 

 top of the cradle should be turned outwards, which gives ad- 

 ditional protection. Each cradle should be pegged down with 

 two pegs. The diameter of these cradles will be about 8 inches, 

 the height about 18 inches, and the cost about 3d. This may 

 seem a large cost to protect a tree worth only a penny, but 

 much vexation is saved, and they require no renewal. The 

 labour of fixing is inconsiderable. I can fix from twenty to 

 thirty in an hour with ease. Such trees as Larch and Spruce, 

 if 3 feet high, which I find the best 6Jze for planting from my 



