Jane 1, 1871. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



381 



fibrous loam and one part leaf soil ; good drainage, and fre- 

 qaent syringing in snmmer so as to keep down red spider. In 

 winter keep the plant rather dry, but not too much so, other- 

 wise the aftergrowth will be enfeebled. 



Hihbertia Dof«6i7is.— Evergreen twiner. Flowers yellow, 

 early in summer, and indeed very continuously produced. It 

 requires no pruning except thinning out the old shoots, and 

 win succeed well in a compost of two parts sandy loam and one 

 part sandy peat. Water freely when growing, and in winter 

 afford only enough to keep the plant from flagging. 



Hibiertia grossularicsfolia. — Yery similar to the preceding, 

 having yellow flowers, and being very free in growth. 



Jasminum graclle. — Evergreen. Flowers white and sweet- 

 scented. Soil two parts fibrous loam, and a part each of leaf 

 soil and sandy peat. It requires free watering in summer, and 

 to be kept rather dry in winter. It flowers early in snmmer, 

 after which the flower-stalks should be out off, and the old 

 wood thinned out or cut back, encouraging growth by frequent 

 sprinklings overhead. 



Jasminum azoriciim, also with white flowers in summer, and 

 J. grandiflorum are the best, the latter being in my opinion the 

 finest of all the Jasmines. It requires to be cut-in rather 

 severely, and is then free both in growth and flowering. It is 

 best to cut it back after flowering, keeping it rather dry in 

 winter. 



Eennedija bimaculata variegata. — Evergreen, with some of 

 the leaves marked with white and pink ; flowers deep purple, 

 produced abundantly in April. 



Keiinedija coccinea major. — Flowers scarlet. May and June. 



Kennedija Marryattcs. — Flowers scarlet, large and fine. Fo- 

 liage large, covered with small white hairs, giving a downy 

 appearance. April. 



Eennedya Comptoniana. — Flowers blue. April. 



Eennedya vwnophylla. — Flowers purple. May and June. 



Ke7inedya rubicunda sxiperba. — Flowers red. May and June. 

 Free in growth. 



The Kennedyas are all very free-flowering evergreen twiners. 

 They succeed in a compost of two parts fibrous loam, two parts 

 sandy peat, and half a part each of charcoal in pieces from the 

 size of a pea to that of a walnut, silver sand, and leaf soil, or 

 old cow dung. Good drainage is necessary, with free watering 

 while growing and flowering, whilst in winter they are best 

 kept rather dry. Cat back the old parts rather freely after 

 flowering, thinning them well out, and encourage free growth by 

 copious waterings and syringings. 



Ehynchospermum jasminoides. — Evergreen. Flowers white 

 and sweet-scented, produced in June and July. It requires a 

 compost of equal parts of sandy loam and peat, and one part 

 of leaf soil. Water the plant freely when it ia growing, but 

 keep it moister in winter than is sufficient to preserve the 

 freshness of the foliage. Pruning should be confined to thin- 

 ning out the shoots when they become too much crowded. The 

 variety with variegated foliage is pretty. Afford good drainage. 



Solanum jasminiflormn. — Evergreen ; flowers white, very 

 pretty, produced throughout the summer. Water it freely when 

 growing, keeping it rather dry in winter. It requires good 

 drainage, with a compost of equal parts of sandy loam and leaf 

 soil, and a fourth part of sand. Cut away the old shoots as 

 they become lank and bare, encouraging fresh from the base. 

 S. jasminoides has pale purple flowers. 



Sollya linearis.— An evergreen, very pretty, blue-flowering 

 climber. 



Sollya heterophylla.— With larger foliage, and fine blue 

 flowers. 



Both of these SoUyas flower in snmmer, when they should 

 be well supplied with water, and free growth encouraged by 

 frequent syringings. In winter keep them rather dry. Thin- 

 ning out the shoots is the only pruning required. For soil use 

 equal parts of fibrous loam and sandy peat with good drainage. 



Tropaolum Triomphe de Gand. — Flowers orange scarlet. Of 

 straggling growth, but desirable as a free continuous bloomer. 

 Soil sandy loam two parts, one part each sandy peat and leaf 

 soil, with a free admixture of sharp sand, and good drainage. 

 Water moderately, especially in winter, and when growing and 

 flowering freely water only when the soil is dry, and then afiord 

 a good supply. The main point is to keep training from the 

 base fresh shoots to replace those which are old, for these when 

 exhausted should be cut away. 



All the above succeed either planted out or grown in pots, 

 but I would prefer planting out in borders, for they are then 

 not so liable to suffer from neglect of watering ; besides, they 

 grow more freely, and are in every way better. 



If grown in pots they will require to be shifted from the 

 small pots in which they are received, and until they require a 

 9-inch pot they may have a shift when they are beginning to 

 grow, and again in July, the object being to bring them into a 

 flowering state as soon as possible. From a 9-inch pot they 

 may be transferred to an 11-inch pot, and this will serve any of 

 the plants named in this section for two years, the surface 

 soil being removed and top-dressings of fresh compost given as 

 required. Subsequently they will need repotting every year, 

 or, with the top-dressings, every alternate year, and in the case 

 of those flowering in summer the potting should take place 

 before the plants begin to grow in spring, whilst those which 

 flower in spring will be left until the flowering ia past. By the 

 spring-flowering climbers I mean those which flower from 

 February to June. In repotting, the ball should be reduced as 

 much as it can be, taking care, however, to preserve as many 

 roots as possible, and very frequently the plants may be re- 

 turned to the same size of pot as that in which they previously 

 were. In the case of the ball being too large to go into the 

 same size of pot without admitting of at least an inch of soil 

 all round, there is no alternative but to use a larger size of pot. 

 In all cases the watering after repotting should be moderate 

 for a time until the roots are growing freely in the fresh soil, 

 and then the supply should be liberal. The drainage must be 

 good. To preserve the foliage in good health frequent syring- 

 ings will be beneficial whilst the plants are growing, and oc- 

 casionally liquid manure when they are in a growing state, or 

 advancing for flowering, always making sure that the pots are 

 full of roots before resorting to waterings with liquid manure. 

 — G. Abbey. 



DAMSONS. 



I AM accused by "Inquieee" of calling the Prune Damson 

 oval, small, and much esteemed in the north ; Cluster Damson 

 good and fertile, &c. I leave the quotation as it is, page 365. 

 The paragraph descriptive of the Prune Damson was written 

 many years since when on a visit to my old friend Mr. John 

 Pearson, with whom I used to argue on the superiority of our 

 Hertfordshire Damsons, which I then thought larger and better 

 than the Prune Damson. Since its cultivation here I have 

 given it a preference on account of its being larger than in the 

 north and of fine flavour, and I think I have more than once 

 owned this to friend Pearson ; but the paragraph haa remained 

 as it was written years ago because it is so true, and there it 

 shall remain. 



As to the merits of the Cluster Damson I have said nothing 

 to disparage it, and so " Inquieee's " friends need not be pro- 

 voked because they have spent, say, £5 or more on trees of 

 Cluster Damsons. They may rest assured that all I have said 

 about it is true, and I have not " written up another." 



I have written about fruits for forty years, and feel great 

 pleasure in having been as changeable as the wind ; for if a 

 variety of any kind of fruit after giving good promise has de- 

 clined in flavour after being acclimatised, I have honestly told 

 the truth. Dr. Hogg is the only authority to " give some ex- 

 planation " of my changes of opinion, for he has all my cata- 

 logues and all my writings. I never stop to consider what I 

 have written, but write my impressions while they are warm. 

 Mr. Eobson gave a challenge as to the productive qualities of 

 the Cluster Damson, which I thought fit to take up. Its fer- 

 tility is remarkable, and it will sell as well in the market as 

 the Prune Damson, at least in London, but it is not so large as 

 our Hertfordshire Damson, which has been on my estate for at 

 least 130 years. — Thos. Bivees. 



EUCHARIS AMAZONICA CULTURE. 



Having this year had better success than usual in flowering 

 the Eucharis amazoniea, I send you a detail of my mode of 

 treatment. 



Early last December I shook out four bulbs, washed their 

 roots, and repotted them in an 11-inch pot, using a compost of 

 one-half turfy loam and one-half well-rotted cow dung. I then 

 put them in a warm stove. They lost some of their leaves, 

 but soon recovered, and grew luxuriantly. At the beginning of 

 March two of the bulbs threw up strong flower spikes, each 

 bearing five or six blooms. The largest flower measured 

 ii inches in diameter, and the leaves were 15 inches long by 

 8 inches wide. After flowering I put the plant back in the 

 stove, and all four bulbs have now thrown up strong flower 

 spikes, and have six flowers fully open and seventeen in various 



