•25S 



JOURNAL of' HOETICULTtiEE ANI) COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



[ April 6, 1871. 



manager of the herbaceous department in the Eoyal Botanic 

 Garden at Kew. He has a "bias " — a fondness for herbaceous 

 plants, yet he is not prejndieed against other tenants or arrange- 

 ments of our borders. He observes — 



" Any unbiassed mind will, however, admit that ' bedding-oat ' was 

 a step, and a long one, in the way of progress, and that it still con- 

 tinues to advance in that path in the hands of those who understand 

 its value best, and keep its proper aims in view, notwithstanding loud 

 asseverations to the contrary from many quarters. It is undeniable 

 that it is the most artistic style of garden embellishment that we can 

 practise in our climate ; and that, had its adoption been limited in 

 every case by considerations of fitness and harmony with contingent 

 circumstances, we should have had Httle reason to complain of the 

 vulgarity and sameness and deprivations that a too inconsiderate prac- 

 tice of it has entailed. 



" E^sperience has, however, taught many that the exclusive adoption 

 of * bedding-out ' in their case was a mistake ; that it was never 

 adapted to either their rcnnirements, means, or tastes ; and that along 

 with its adoption came a limitation of enjojTQents. Many have come 

 to see that a fashion in flower gardening, unless it is expansive, and 

 adapted to gratify the cra^'inti for flowers at all times which is inherent 

 in every mind, is an error, and ought to be curtailed." 



There is no doubt that herbaceous plants may be employed 

 in the massing of flowers, and Mr. Sutherland annotates wisely 

 on this and on their adaptability to spring flower gardening 

 and in mixed flower borders. He enters fully into the modes 

 of propagation and culture, and concludes with a systematically 

 arranged descriptive list of the species, and a copious alpha- 

 betical index. In one of his sections he says — 



" Harmony of colour and harmony of form, and agreeable contrasts 

 of both, are of equal importance in mixed planting as in massing. 

 An outrage of the one or the other may he more easily discernible in 

 the latter style than in the former, but if often repeated it ^vill have 

 the same bad effect, although the cause may not be always easily 

 defined." 



He offers some good advice upon this point, but a still fuller 

 assistance will be obtained from the next volume we are about 

 to mention, and we recommend our readers to purchase both. 



^lanual of the Science of Colour, tCc, icith Coloured Frontispiece 

 and otlicr Illustrations. By W. Benson, &:g. Chapman and 

 Hall, London, 

 One extract will show the practical use of its contents, but 



it enters fully into the science of the subject, although a small 



volume. 



*'Rule Vin. — Gradati07is, Cunfrasts, ami Single Colours should 

 conxsx)oml. — There should he a correspondence or equivalence be- 

 tween the gradations and contrasts which occur in the different parts 

 of the composition. If there is only one colour which is striking for 

 its depth or clearness, that colour should occupy the middle parts to 

 which the eye is naturally mainly directed, so that it may form ba- 

 lancing gradations and contrasts with all the less striking colours 

 around it ; or else it should surround the less striking colours as a 

 background to them, so as to form the like gradations and contrasts 

 with the less striking colours towards the middle. At any rate it should 

 bo disposed so as to secure in some way or other a certain symmetry 

 of colours iu the different x'arts of the composition. 



" The advantage of this may be easily seen by comparing the effect 

 of a composition in which this rule is attended to with that of another 

 of the same colours with which it is disregarded, 



"Again, if there arc tivo or more striking colours, they should be 

 disposed so as to balance each other across or around the central parts 

 of the composition, either by one or both of the colours being repeated 

 on each side of the middle, or by one being on one side, and the other 

 on the other. 



*' Landscapes, where the clear colours on the sky are reflected from 

 water in the foreground, afford approximate examples on the former 

 variety ; while landscapes, where those clear colours are matched by 

 the deep reds, gieens, or other hues, anddiirk shades of the foreground, 

 do the same for the latter." 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



Testimonial to Mr.. W. Thomson-. — In our advertisement 

 columns to-day will be seen an announcement of a movement 

 to demonstrate how much appreciated is one of the best of 

 gardeners, and of truly worthy men. He fully deserves it. 



Plant Aids Ahai:^st Small-pox. — At a time when the 



small-pox is so prevalent, and vaccination has become, so to 

 speak, fashionable, it is surprising that we do not hear some- 

 thing of the many reputed remedies of foreign countries, either 

 as a cure for this disease or as an eradioator of its effects. The 

 Sarracenia purpurea is well known for its supposed efficacy, 

 and it was even introduced into this country some few years 

 back. Bat a plant not so well known in Europe is the Melia 



Azadiraehta, L., of India, the leaves of which are used by the 

 natives to cover the bodies of patients recovering from small- 

 pox, as they are supposed to prevent the mark becoming per- 

 manent. Dr. Wright says of this tree that " the leaves beaten 

 into a pulp, and externally applied, act like a charm in re- 

 moving the most intractable form of Psora and other pustular 

 eruptions." — [iiatm-e.) 



Uses of Sawdust. — The sawdust of various woods is 



now turned to good purpose. That of box wood is used for 

 cleaning jewellery, whilst mahogany sawdust is employed for 

 smoking lish. Birch and rosewood sawdust is used by furriers 

 in cleansing furs. In Paris, common sawdust is very in- 

 geniously utilised. A method has been discovered of forcing 

 the material into solid moulds by the aid of heat and the hy- 

 draulic press. The sawdust thus pressed is said to present a 

 brilliant surface which possesses great durability. Logwood 

 chips, as is well known, are used by the manufacturers of fine 

 fruity British port wine, 1 lb. of logwood chips going to twenty- 

 six gallons of cider, together with Elderberry juice and other 

 horrors. — (Builder.) 



WORK FOR THE ^^EEK. 



KITCHEN GAEDEN. 



As the time for sowing the principal crops of winter and 

 spring Broccoli and G-reens has arrived, select, if possible, an 

 open piece of ground rather poor than rich, let the seed be 

 sown thinly, and when the plants are large enough to handle, 

 prick them out in similar soil. A crop of Glohc Artichokes 

 should now be planted for producing a late supply. The side 

 shoots should be taken from old stools, and planted in lines 

 i feet apart and 18 inches between the plants, or trenches may 

 be dag 18 inches wide and the same in depth, and some well- 

 decomposed manure should be dug into them, and the plants 

 put out as above. Seedlings of Caulifloicers, Cabbages, etc., 

 raised this spring should be pricked off when large enough, to 

 get stocky for final transplanting. Sowing the main crop of 

 Carrots should no longer be delayed if the ground is in good 

 order. Continue to make periodical sowings of the different 

 culinary vegetables of which a successional supply is required. 

 Spinach should be sown once a-fortnight, and Peas, Beans, and 

 Turnips once in three weeks. Sowings of all Salads should be 

 made with strict regularity, and proper attention should be 

 paid to protecting all kinds of seeds from the ravages of birds 

 and insects. In sowing Peas, it is the most workmanlike 

 method to put the stakes to them at once, as by so doing the 

 barren appearance of the ground is removed, and no more 

 trampling on it is necessary for a long time ; besides, they afford 

 a slight shelter to the young plants on their first appearance 

 above ground. If the crops of Onions, Leeks, Parsnips, Beet, 

 Salsafy, and Scorzonera are not yet sown, doing so should be 

 no longer delayed. A sowing of tall Kidney Beans may now be 

 made in early localities ; the early sowing of this useful vege- 

 table is frequently cut off by late spring frosts, but when this 

 happens the ground should be left undisturbed, as that part of 

 the plant beneath the surface of the soil generally throws up 

 shoots from which a crop will be produced nearly as soon as if 

 the leaders had remained uninjured. 



FLOWEK GAiJ)Ei;. 



Look well to recently-transplanted trees and shrubs. Do not 

 allow anything to sufl'er from want of water at the roots, but 

 one good soaking after planting to settle the soil will be suffi- 

 cient in most cases until we have more sunshine. The soil 

 should be kept moist but not saturated or run together by over- 

 watering them at the root. Patches of some of the more showy 

 of the hardy annuals should now be sown in the vacant places 

 which usually exist in the herbaceous beds, and at the edges of 

 clumps and borders in the shrubbery. Among the many kinds 

 adapted for this purpose, I may mention the following : — 

 Double Poppies of various colours, Lupines, Sunflowers, African 

 and French Marigolds, Godetias, Erysimum, Clarkia, Gilia, 

 Collinsia, Silene, Eschscholtzia, Nemophila, Nolana, Kaul- 

 fussia, &c,, not forgetting the old favourite Mignonette. A 

 sufficient quantity of cuttings and seedlings of half-hardy 

 climbers should now be potted for planting out in May. AVith 

 such plants as Cobieas, Maurandyas, Lophospermums, Calam- 

 pelis, Loasas, and Tropa:olum canariense many bare places on 

 the walls and trellises which otherwise would be blemishes on 

 the general appearance of the place, may be covered and made 

 ornamental. Violets are everybody's flowers, and to have them 

 fine and in abundance they require and will merit some share of 

 attention, particularly where they do not naturally succeed well. 



