May 25. 1871. ) 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



363 









WEEKLY 



CALENDAR, 















Day 

 of 



Month 



Week. 



M.IY 25-31, 1871. 



Average Tempera- 

 tui-e ne.ar London. 



Eainin 

 43 years. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Sun 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Bloon's 

 Age. 



Clock 1 Day 

 after , of 

 Sun. Year. 



25 

 26 

 27 

 28 

 29 

 30 

 31 



Th 



F 



S 



Son 



M 



Tn 



W 



Eoyal Botanic Societj'3 Show opens. 

 Royal Botanic Society's Show closes. 



Whit Sc.n'dat. 



Whit :\Ionday. 



Length of night 7b. 51m. 



Meeting of Society of Arts, 8 p.ir. 



Day. 

 65.4 

 67.4 

 66,5 

 GS-1 

 67 5 

 68.4 

 69.4 



NiEb'- 

 42.9 

 42.S 

 44.7 

 44.4 

 44.1 

 44.7 

 44.8 



Mean. 

 64.2 

 66.1 

 55.6 

 56.2 

 65.8 

 66.6 

 67.1 



Days. 

 16 

 19 

 22 

 15 

 15 

 17 

 16 



m. h. 

 58af3 

 57 8 

 56 3 

 66 3 

 54 3 

 63 3 

 52 3 



m. b. 

 56af 7 



58 7 



59 7 



8 



1 8 



2 8 

 8 8 



m. b. 

 43af8 

 51 9 

 4 11 

 after. 

 36 1 

 57 2 

 20 4 



m. b. 

 l»af 

 51 

 17 1 

 38 1 

 59 1 

 19 2 

 38 2 



Days. 

 - 6 

 7 



^9 

 10 

 11 

 12 



m. s. 

 3 23 

 3 17 

 3 11 

 S 4 

 2 57 

 2 49 

 2 41 



145 

 146 

 147 

 148 

 149 

 150 

 151 



From observations taken near London during 

 perature 44.1^. Tke greatest heat was 91^, on 

 0.97 inch. 



forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 67 5°, and its night tem- 

 the 23th, 1847 ; and the lowest cold 25°, on the 29th, 1865. The greatest fall of rain was 



PERPETUAI. OR TREE CARNATION 

 CULTURE. 



HAN the above I do not linow any more use- 

 ful plants for furnishing cut flowers for but- 

 ton-holes and bouquets late in autumn, in 

 winter, and early in spring ; and as I have 

 been successful in keeping up a succession of 

 flowers from them during the above periods, 

 and having a plentiful supply of them at 

 Christmas, a few remarks on their culture 

 and general management may be useful. 

 They are a class of flowers which are 

 generally grown, but from what I have seen and heard 

 the winter supply in many cases has not been abundant. 

 Some of the varieties are not so well adapted for winter- 

 flowering as others, so that to be successful with them it is 

 necessary to obtain the proper sorts, and it is quite as 

 necessary to propagate a fresh lot of young plants every 

 year. To have them in flower early in the autumn the 

 cuttings must be taken off about the first week in February. 

 The small side shoots make the best cuttings : insert from 

 nine to twelve of them in a 5 inch pot in a compost of loam 

 and leaf mould in equal parts, with a large proportion of 

 silver sand. They will soon strike if a temparature of from 

 Bo" to 60° can be obtained, especially if they are plunged 

 in a gentle bottom heat. 



As soon as the young plants begin to grow pot them 

 off singly in 3-incli pots, plunging them again in the 

 bottom heat, if convenient, until fresh roots are formed, 

 and as soon as the plants are well established they will 

 succeed best in a cold frame. Of course care must be 

 taken with these as well as any other plants not to remove 

 them from a hot to a cool position too suddenly, so as 

 to check their growth. Tree Carnations succeed best in 

 the following potting materials : — Turfy loam three parts, 

 leaf mould one part, and rotted frame manure one part, 

 with the addition of some silver sand, more or less of 

 the latter according as the loam is of a light or heavy 

 nature. 



Small sticks should be placed to the plants at an early 

 stage of their growth, and admit air very freely to 

 them in fine weather, enth-ely removing the lights from 

 the frame so that the plants may be kept short-jointed 

 and robust. Repotting should be attended to before the 

 plants become potbound. I do not advise shifting them 

 into very large pots for flowering them in ; 0, 7, and 

 8-inch pots are the most suitable sizes. Some of the 

 varieties being more robust in their nature will require the 

 largest size. I have at the present moment in 0-inch 

 pots plants with from nine to a dozen fully- expanded 

 flowers on each, and they were shifted into those pots 

 last year in August. The plants that are in flower now, 

 and those which will continue to supply a succession of 

 flowers throughout this and the next month, were from 

 late-struck cuttings. 



If convenient, a few cuttings should be struck about the 

 first week in each month, from February to May inclusive. 

 About the first week of May the earliest-struck cuttings 



No. 530.— Vol. XX., New Semes 



will be far enough advanced to be plunged in a position 

 out of doors, but before turning them out see that no green 

 fly remain on the plants. This pest, and the red spider, 

 are the only enemies which I have seen attack the Carna- 

 tion in pots. Fumigate with tobacco smoke for the green 

 fly, and remove the red spider as soon as it appears with 

 the syringe. In dry weather, whether red spider attacks 

 the plants or not, it will be beneficial to syringe them once 

 or twice a-day. 



When the plants have grown about 9 inches in height 

 pinch- out the point of the leading shoot; this will cause 

 three or four shoots to break out, which should be tied to 

 neat sticks as they advance in growth. ^Yhen the pots are 

 tolerably full of roots abundant supplies of water will be 

 required by the plants. If watering is neglected the oldest 

 leaves will turn yellow prematurely, which will make the 

 plants look naked when they are removed. A span-roofed 

 pit or greenhouse is the best place to remove them to in 

 winter, and to have a succession of flowers during this 

 period the plants should be kept near the glass in a house 

 with a temperature of from 50° to 55°, as well-developed 

 flowers cannot be obtained from plants growing in an 

 ordinary greenhouse. I generally remove three or four 

 plants at a time to the forcing house, and as the flowers 

 are required, fresh supplies are brought in from the green- 

 house. After the 1st of April the flowers expand freely in 

 a greenhouse temperature. 



The following varieties I have found good for winter- 

 flowering- viz , La Grenade, scarlet; Boule de Feu, bright 

 red, slightly flaked with white ; Gloire de Lyon, a very 

 fine crimson flake ; Queen of Whites, an excellent free- 

 flowering variety of good habit ; and Ascot Yellow, the 

 best in this class. Prince of Orange is said to be good, 

 but I have not proved it sufficiently ; it is of more robust 

 growth than Ascot Yellow. If very large flowers are 

 required grow Souvenir de Malmaison, a flesh-coloured 

 flower, and Madame Adele Calmeto. Of this variety a 

 flower before me measures 3 inches across, blush, flaked 

 with rose, but the flowers are somewhat rough in outline. 

 Proserpine, scarlet, in the way of, but a superior flower to, 

 La Grenade ; Gloire de Montpensier, a full rose flake ; 

 and The Bride (Turner), a very fine flower, pure white, 

 and clove-scented ; it should not be confounded with The 

 Bride, a fringed white flower of bad habit and much 

 inferior. 

 : Of recent varieties White Nun and Maiden's Blush are 

 true perpetuals, the first-named is superior to Queen of the 

 Whites, having a smoother edge. Maiden's Blush is also 

 a desirable variety. Another flower which will be very 

 valuable for early spring forcing has been raised by Mr. 

 W. Lee, who also raised White Nun and Maiden's Blush ; 

 it is the new forcing Pink Princess Louise. The flowers 

 are very large, of a bright red colour, and are quite dis- 

 tinct from anything of the kind yet seen. 



There are, doubtless, in the hands of other growers 

 as good flowers as those which I have named above. 

 Some that I have seen named in the gardening papers I 

 have failed to obtain. If any of your correspondents can 

 add anything to the above either as regards culture or 



No. 1182.— Vol. XLV., Old Seetes. 



