August 11, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



109 



by neglecting to study the natural heights of the plants. Some 

 time ago we saw a large bed of Ageratum mexicannm laid 

 down and pegged so as to present a low flat surface. There 

 were rests and planks laid across the bed, so that the men 

 should properly do the work. The bed was solitary, or at least 

 not in direct combination with others, and therefore there was 

 no necessity obvious to the passer-by why the heads of the 

 flowers of the Ageratum should be on a level with the grass, 

 instead of 18 or 24 inches above it. As the bed would be some 

 18 feet in diameter, a bed showing from half to two-thirds of a 

 globe in outline would have been much- more telling, looked 

 far more natural, and would have cost but a tithe of the 

 labour. When such plants must be used in regular groups, 

 there would be more excuse for pegging and tying down, but 

 the desired end would in every way be better secured by at once 

 using plants of the necessary height that would require no 

 such torturing. Stopping and pegging must often be resorted 

 to in the case of coloured plants used as edgings ; for instance, 

 Perilla, Amaranthus, Iresine, and Cineraria maritima, but even 

 they always look best when there is little necessity for pruning 

 or cutting them. Some massive lines of Iresine with us have 

 never been touched, and they only want a little moist weather 

 to make them look beautiful. We like to see Iresine best when 

 bathed with dew. 



We have commenced cuttings for the beds next season ; will 

 take a few Verbenas, Heliotropes, &c, first, and then will 

 follow with variegated Pelargoniums. If we can manage we 

 will place all, or as many as possible, in small shallow wooden 

 boxes, so as to be easily moved, and they pack closer than pots. 

 On an average, our cuttings will have from 1 to l£ inch each, 

 and will be small, to take up little room in winter. 



We have had a busy week potting and overhauling Ferns ; 

 for drainage and mixing we used a good deal of charcoal, and 

 as we were scarce of it we made a few barrowloads by the 

 quick and handy process we lately detailed. We were rather 

 anxious that our readers would guess what the Coleus bed at 

 Woburn was edged with, as we might have gained some new 

 idea; but we find that to prevent many inquiries we may as 

 well state at once that the edging consists of a double row, 

 from 16 to 18 inches wide, of the Polemonium cieruleum varie- 

 gatum. There was hardly a leaf of the Polemonium, except 

 a few central ones, that would not average fully 9 inches in 

 length, and beautifully coloured and marked. We have seen 

 and tried a great many plants in combination with the Coleus, 

 but such fine-leaved plants of this Polemonium seemed to 

 leave everything else we have seen far behind. — R. F. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*** We request that no one will write privately to any of the 

 correspondents of the " Journal of Horticulture, Cottage 

 Gardener, and Country Gentleman." By so doing they 

 are subjected to unjustifiable trouble and expense. All 

 communications should therefore be addressed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, dec, 171, Fleet 

 Street, London, E.C. 



Books (Mr. P., Salisbury).— Yon will find a treatise on Vines in pots in 

 the " Vine Manual," which can be had from our office by post for thirty- 

 two stamps. (Prudence). — " Greenhouses for the Many" will give you the 

 instruction you require for erecting a greenhouse, and " Flower Garden 

 Plana " will furnish the other information you ask for. The former can 

 be had from our office, free by post, for seven postage stamps, the latter 

 for 5s. 5d. 



Renanthera Lowii — In page 85 the quotation is from the " Botanical 

 Magazine " for 1864, not 1854. 



Gardeners' Examinations {Jos. Bowker). — Apply to Mr. Richards, 

 Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensington, W., and he will supply 

 you with the information. 



Carnations (Old Subscriber). — We cannot recommend tradesmen. Any 

 of the leading florists who advertise in our columns will be able to supply 

 you. 



Vinegar Plant (J. G., Chester).— This is the mycelium of a mould, 

 Penicillium glaucum, found on liquids undergoing acetous fermentation. 

 We do not know where it can be obtained. The Fern is Scolopendrium 

 vulgare ramo-proliferum. 



Abaucaria imbricata (W. JR.)-— It has frequently produced cones and 

 seeds at Bicton, and in other gardens, but such an occurrence cannot be 

 said to be common. 



Select Hardy Roses for Standards (J. W. Boyd).— Gloire de Dijon, 

 orange yellow ; Celine Forestier, bright yellow ; Pierre Notting, rich dark 

 crimson purple ; Jules Margottin, cerise pink ; Baronne Prevost, rose ; 

 Baronne de Maynard, lovely white ; Maurice Bernardin, rich vermilion ; 

 Marguerite de St. Amand, pink flesh ; William Griffiths, salmon pink ; 

 and Charles Lefebvre, rich crimson. I should buy new plants. The 

 only really fit land for Briar Roses is rich land with 20 per cent, of rich 

 clay in it. For inferior soils the Manetti stock is the best.— W. F. 

 Radolyffe. 



Robes not Succeeding (C.).— It has been a very trying season for 

 Roses. I should stir the surface of the ground and water the plants well. 

 September is a good month for rooting. You ought not to have cut down 

 your plants so late as September. The wood made after that time could 

 not have been sufficiently matured to stand well so severe a winter, 

 followed by a late cold spring. If you cut down your Manetti plants or 

 Roses on their own roots, it should be done in the spring. If you wish to 

 remove them, it must be done cautiously, as you will disturb and perhaps 

 injure the new rootlets. If your land is wet and needs draining, you had 

 better take up the plants and trench the ground.— W. F« Radcltffe. 



Exhibiting Roses (Inquirer). — A single bloom of a Rose is certainly 

 not a truss, and the committee of the show must clearly have understood 

 so, otherwise why did they specify one class to be shown as " one bloom 

 each," and the other " one truss of each ?" The only wonder is that any 

 doubt should have arisen on the subject. 



Roses Ladt Suffield and Felix Genero (Q.). — I cannot tell the 

 weight of the Strawberry which measured 11^ inches in circumference. 

 Lady Suffield is a beautiful and successful Rose, raised by Mr. William 

 Paul, of Waltham Cross. I am glad you agree in admiring Felix Genero. 

 Mr. Taylor, of Fencote, Yorkshire, wrote on June 3Qth :'— " Felix Genero 

 is quite extra, but it was raised by Damaizin, and not by Lacharme, as 

 you said." Since " D.," of Deal, "left here on July 16th, he visited Mr. 

 Keynes's nursery, and wrote — " I eaw many specimens of Felix Genero, 

 and they were very good." I epoke of the Rose on the Manetti Btock.— 

 W. F. Radclyffe. 



Long Shoots on Roses (Frank Wilson). — We cut back all our Hybrid 

 Perpetual Roses after flowering, shortening the flowering shoots to within 

 five or six joints of their bases, and the long shoots we cut back about 

 half their length, or shoots of 4 feet we reduce to 2 feet, and in this 

 way we keep the plants compact, and have flowei'3 in autumn, with the 

 wood well ripened at its base. We should cut the shoots back about half 

 their length at once. There is no good in a shoot 4 feet long reduced 

 three-fourths at the winter pruning, all the best buds are cut away, the 

 worst retained. Dwarf Roses should be planted 3 feet apart everyway. 

 Bones are first-rate manure for Roses, whether applied in the form of 

 half-inch bones, or as dust. Of hair we have no experience, but do not 

 see why it should not be a valuable fertiliser. 



Making Vine Borders and Planting them (C. P.). — The beginning 

 of July is the best time for planting Vines, as they have then time to 

 become established before winter. After August is too late, we would 

 then prefer planting in spring. We should likewise prefer leaving the 

 making of the border until then. aB if it is made now the soil will become 

 considerably solidified, if not soddened, before spring, and the Vine roots 

 will, consequently, not take so readily with it. 



Goniophlebium appendiculatum ( T. H. V.) .— We should not consider 

 this a variegated Fern. Though it has distinct reddish veins and minute 

 spots on the pinna), yet it is no more variegated than some others, as 

 Blechnum corcovadense. To be variegated, the plant should not only 

 have more than one shade of colouring, hut the markings mast be dis- 

 tinct, as in Pteris argyrrea, P. tricolor, &c. 



Gardenia Propagation (C. A. G.).— Take cuttings now from the shoots 

 of the current year, or those that have growing points, and with the base 

 rather firm, or what is termed half ripe ; insert them in a pot well 

 drained and filled to within an inch of the rim with silver sand and sandy 

 peat in equal parts, and to the rim with silver sand. Place tbem in a 

 bottom heat of from 70 s to 75 ; , and in a corresponding top heat, and 

 keep them moist and shaded from bright sun. They will be well rooted 

 in about six weeks, when they should be potted off singly, and again 

 placed in bottom beat until established. 



Canna Seeds not Germinating (Caroline).— The seeds sent to ns of 

 Canna indica coccinea we believe are sound and will yet vegetate. Soak 

 the seeds for twelve hours in water at a temperature of 125°, and then 

 sow them in light soil, placing the pots in a bottom heat of not less than 

 70°, and not more than 9i) Q . The seedB are best sown in spring, and 

 then the young plants can be forwarded so as to become good plants 

 before autumn. If you sow now it will be necessary to winter the plants 

 in a house where there is a good heat, a light airy position in a stove 

 being most suitable. We remember the time when they were grown as 

 stove plants. 



Produce op Forced Strawberries— Stephanotis floribunda Cul- 

 ture (Inquirer). — We have seldom weighed the general produce, but 

 from 3 to 6 ozs. would be a fair average crop for good plants of Straw- 

 berries in 6-inch (82-sized) pots, from March to April. Frequently we 

 must be satisfied with less, sometimes we obtain more. Cut flowers of 

 Stephanotis floribunda are generally in demand, but as we have seen the 

 roofs of houses covered with it, we are not so sure of their being the most 

 profitable flowers. It is best trained about 15 inches from the glass, and 

 grown in a large tub or planted out. If a little heat can be given to the 

 roots all the better. We do not think you will do much good with it in 

 any way in a house intended for Vines or Peaches, as these must have a 

 cooler resting period than will suit it. A medium stove heat suits it best. 



Border of Spring-flowering Plants (L. H. M.). — You do not tell us 

 how your border is surrounded, a matter of some importance. One of 

 the simplest arrangements with seeds for early work would be to sowthe 

 diamonds with blue Nemophila insignis, and the triangles opposite each 

 other with pink and white Virginian Stocks. These would not last long, 

 but they would make a fine display early. If your position is damp, the 

 common, also the alpine Forget-me-not, especially the latter, would make 

 a fine display early. We do not undertake to plant beds and borders, we 

 only advise and criticise. Such a border would look well filled with three 

 colours of Daisies, also with three colours of Pansies or Heartsease. 



Wintering Caladiums (W. L.). — After the foliage is withered shake 

 out the tubers, and pack them in sand in a box, being careful not to 

 injure the outer skin. They ought not to be packed so closely together as 

 to touch. Keep them in the warmest part of the stove; indeed, they 

 require a winter temperature of from 60 3 to 65°. They should not be 

 kept dust dry, but are the better of slight moisture, though the soil is 

 to every appearance dry. If you had room we should prefer keeping 

 tbem in the pots. 



Aphis on Cabbages (James Levesque). — We have found dusting the 

 plants with quicklime very beneficial, and that we are now practising 

 with ours very successfully. Dusting with tobacco powder is more effi- 

 cacious, and so is sprinkling overhead with tobacco water, that of the 



