July 12, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



41 



In the flower garden the work will oonsist principally in re- 

 moving dead flowers, pegging down and stopping all such plants 

 toat are required to cover the gronnd rapidly, and occasionally 

 mowing and clipping the edges. Rosea, Clematises, Wistarias, 

 and other plants covering walls have grown very rapidly, and 

 require thinning and nailing in their places. Clematis lanu- 

 ginosa and lanuginosa alba are blooming very freely in many 

 places, and C. Jackmanni is promising a fine display of flowers. 

 The small sweet-scented white Clematis flammula is very pretty, 

 and is a fast grower; it ought to be in every collection. 

 Primulas and Cinerarias will now require pricking out of their 

 seed pans, afterwards keeping them close and shaded for a few 

 days. A frame facing the north is a very good position for 

 them, and when well established they will be benefited by the 

 lights being drawn off during mild nights. More seed may yet 

 be sown of Cinerarias, Calceolarias, and Primulas. The seed- 

 lings will in all probability make useful little plants for spring 

 decoration. 



Chrysanthemums not already in their blooming pots must be 

 repotted at once, for if negleoted at this season and the roots 

 become matted together and the tops stunted it will be impos- 

 sible to have healthy specimens. A rich yet porous oompost 

 suits them. We generally pot ours in 9-inch pots if large blooms 

 only are required ; but for specimen plants we use 12-inoh pots. 

 Pegging, Btopping, and tying must be duly attended to, to secure 

 plants of good shape. If the tops of the shoots are made into 

 cuttings and inserted at once and grown-on without allowing 

 them to flag they will make useful little plants, which are often 

 valuable for particular decorative purposes. Four to six cuttings 

 in a 6-iuch pot and there allowing them to remain to bloom is 

 the best way of providing Bhowy little plants. 



Hedges of all kinds, such as Privet, Yew, Laurels, Holly, &c, 

 will require clipping in order to retain their Bhape and make a 

 Close compact growth ; but in cutting Yew and Laurel we prefer 

 a common pruning knife. The Yew hedges are then greener, 

 and Laurels have their leaves left perfect, which in all proba- 

 bility, if the shears were used, would be cut in half. Holly 

 makes one of the finest of hedges, but to induce rapid growth 

 they should not be clipped in their young state, except merely 

 taking off a grosB leader here and there to keep the top some- 

 what level. After they have been established six or seven years 

 they may be cut into shape to form a oomplete hedge. — J. W. 

 Moorman. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST AND WORK FOR 

 THE PRESENT WEEK. 



HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



All the growths not required on the wall trees have been cut- 

 back, and those that are wanted either to furnish the walls or 

 supply fruiting wood have been Becured to the walls. As far as 

 practicable all fruit trees which have ripe fruit have been pro- 

 tected with netB. As UBual the birds find out the weak places 

 and carry away the best fruit, notwithstanding all precautions. 



We have commenced layering the Strawberry runners, begin- 

 ning with Black Prince and Keens' Seedling. Before this ia 

 printed the largest proportion of them will have been layered. 

 Some growers have tried the system pursued at Loxford Hall of 

 destroying the beds after once fruiting and replanting annually, 

 and having failed they doubt whether the statements made in 

 this Journal are correct. What object, we wonder, could be 

 gained by stating what was not the fact in a case of this kind 1 

 The only object most gardeners can have in writing to periodicals 

 specially devoted to their work is to diffuse useful praotioal in- 

 formation ; and our experience, gained by a dozen years of prac- 

 tice, ia that the only sure way of securing a crop of Strawberries 

 on this soil is to plant every year. Our plants are now being 

 layered in GO-sized pots — that is, pota about 3 inches in diameter 

 inside measure. No drainage is placed* in the pots, except a 

 little moss or turfy peat over the apertures. Over this a pinch 

 of soot is Bprinkled to prevent the ingress of worms. The pots 

 are then filled up with a compost of loam and decayed manure 

 in the proportion of three to one. We always select runnera 

 from the plants that bear fruit. All barren plants are rejected. 

 This is important, as many plants are to be found without fruit, 

 and the progeny almost invariably is barren the following year. 

 Such plants, moreover, always throw out the strongest runnera. 

 In our collection of more than a dozen varieties there is not a 

 barren plant to be found. In two or three weeks at most after 

 layering the plants should be cut away from the parent, and 

 never at any time Bhould they suffer by want of water, or in any 

 way receive a check. The ground should be prepared for them 

 as soon as a space can be cleared from other crops. This year 

 we shall plant after Cauliflowers and Peas. It would be better 

 if we could plant on ground that had been allowed to be fallow 

 from a crop the previous autumn, but this we cannot do. 

 Directly the other orops are cleared off the ground is trenched 

 for the Strawberry plants. We generally have all the plants 

 out by the last week in July, and as they are turned carefully 

 out of the pots they do not feel the effects of removal. Red 



spider is a desperate enemy to the young plants, and unless due 

 precautions are taken the plants suffer severely. Another cauBe of 

 failure may be from the plants remaining in the small pots until 

 they are pot-bound. On one occasion we could not plant out 

 uijtil near the end of August owing to the ground being occu- 

 pied by another crop. That season all the plants were potted 

 in rich soil in 5-inch pots, and by the time the ground was ready 

 the plants were large and in vigorous health. With mauy want 

 of time may be urged for all this work. We muBt find time or 

 our crops would be worthless. Runners for plants for fruiting 

 in pots are prepared in the same way. 



PINE HOUSES. 



The suckers are ready for taking off and potting from those 

 plants that are now fruiting. We have not a house ready, and 

 will have to delay the work until we have. Pines in most estab- 

 lishments are now being crowded in a corner, or their cultiva- 

 tion beine discontinued altogether. As a commercial specula- 

 tion it will be difficult to make them pay for their cultivation, 

 although there will always be a demand for a limited quantity 

 of good English-grown fruit, especially cf Queens. Many 

 gentlemen and the nobility generally will prefer to see the fruit 

 growing in their own gardenB, even if it is not any more profit- 

 able to grow Pinea than it is to cultivate dessert Oranges. Our 

 own stock now comprises Queens principally with a very few 

 Smooth-leaved Cayennes and Charlotte Rothschild. We manage 

 with a very limited number of fruiting plants to cultivate them 

 so that a succession may be obtained all the year round. In cold 

 weather we have kept Smooth-leaved Cayenne a month in good 

 oondition. In less than two weeks the suckers will be potted 

 and plunged in a brisk bottom heat. No heat ia applied from 

 the hot-water pipes at present, nor will it be necessary for a 

 month longer. If there is any mealy bug in the establishment 

 a careful look-out must be kept to prevent its getting on the 

 Pines. 



Fig anil Orange Trees in Pots. — The Fig tree when grown in 

 pots requires very different treatment from what is usually given 

 to it when plinted in a border under no restriction. It is not 

 likely to grow too strongly confined to the limits of a 12-inch 

 pot, and iu such a pot a good-sized tree can be grown, and under 

 good management it will produce a fair orop of fruit. Our Fig 

 trees are potted in good turfy loam and decayed manure, and 

 the potting ought to be performed annually. The treeB also 

 must be Burface-dressed when they are making roota freely. 

 This— with abundant supplies of water and thoroughly syring- 

 ing the trees, especially the under sides of the leaves, to prevent 

 red spider from attacking them — will secure good results. 



OraDge trees are very subject to be attacked by Bcale, and this 

 pest clings to the branches and the leaves like limpets cling 

 to the tide-waahed rocks ; it cannot be dislodged by the most 

 furious Byringing, nor is it easily poisoned by the use of washes 

 however strong. Hard waBhing with a sponge and soapy 

 water is the best way to eradicate it. It takes time to do this, 

 but we have not found any other mode effectual. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



In every department at present there is plenty of work to do. 

 Even here, what with tying-out the growths of the plants and re- 

 arranging the stages as plants go rapidly out of bloom, much 

 time is taken up. The secret of success here as in every other 

 department is to have everything done at the right time. If a 

 plant remains pot-bound week after week until the ball of roots 

 is as hard as a cricket ball, it is not possible to pot it as it ought 

 to be done, and the roots cannot be disentangled without causing 

 great injury to the plants. Stopping the young growths just at 

 the right time is a work of some importance : this work if neg- 

 leoted cannot by any after good management be remedied. The 

 plants must alao be freely exposed to light, and the air must 

 play freely amongst the branches, although it is also an evil to 

 allow the plants to be exposed to cutting winds. 



Softwooded plants, such as Cinerarias, Calceolarias, Primulas, 

 &c, do best in this neighbourhood if the pots are placed in a 

 house facing north and sheltered by a wall a few feet higher 

 than the glass at the highest part. The plants are potted-on as 

 they require it, and especially must they be kept quite free from 

 insect pests. An invasion of green fly very Boon destroys the 

 soft brittle leaves of either Calceolarias or Cinerarias ; the latter 

 are also much subject to the attacks of thrips. We generally 

 flower the plants in 8-inch pots, and the potting material used 

 is good turfy loam four parts, one part leaf soil, and one of 

 decayed manure. If the plants are doing well they will soon 

 cover the upper part of the pota with large succulent leaves. It 

 is injurious to expose the plants to heavy rains, and it does 

 harm to syringe them overhead. 



FLORIST FLOWERS. 



We would lift the Tulip roots if we could spare the time ; 

 probably they will be done by the end of this week. Next week 

 will be a busy one with southern florists, as it is their national 

 exhibition of one of the most prized of ail florist flowers by the 

 general public— viz., the Carnation and Picotee. The flowers 

 at Loxford, if the weather should be warm,- will be in about the 

 right time. The Slough collection is not quite so early, but 



