Angast 16, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GA.RDENER. 



135 



than Potatoes. It would be diffioult to imagine anything more 

 charming than the appearance of those Rose fields, and any 

 painter who should attempt to reproduce this picture would 

 assuredly be charged with exaggeration ; but it would be im- 

 possible to catch the infinite alternations of colour both among 

 the Roses themselves and the green leaves of the shrubs. 

 Hundred of millions of Rose leaves strew the ground, and are 

 useless for the chief object in view. It is calculated that about 

 •one-fourth of the leaves are lost in this way ; perhaps as much 

 more either fail to come to the requisite perfection or are 

 unavoidably wasted. The entire produce of the Tekne or 

 region, of which Easanlik is the centre, is estimated at between 

 300 and 900 kilogrammes (from 195 to 220 imperial gallons) 

 of Rose oil. The wealth of water in the valley is prodigious ; 

 springs are not only numerous but most abundant in yield. 

 There is a general system of irrigation which, remembering 

 that the country is Bulgaria and not Lombardy, is admirable. 

 The whole valley was a picture of prosperity, the result of 

 natural fertility carefully tended by human industry. Where 

 Roses are not cultivated heavy crops of Maize are gathered, 

 and along the slopes and down by the waterside are numerous 

 herds and flocks. Kasanlik itself is a town of 10,000 inhabi- 

 tants, and is surrounded by magnificent Walnut woods, which 

 also are a source of commercial industry. 



Messrs. Dick Radclyffe & Co. have received a silver 



medal from the Cape Exhibition for seeds, and one also from 

 Oporto for ferneries and aquariums. 



■ ■ The American "Gardener's Monthly" contains the 



following on wintering Camellias in cold frames : — " We have 

 here a few single-flowered Camellias, which on account of our 

 crowd of tropical plants are denied greenhouse space ; hence 

 we winter them in a deeply-sunk cold frame, which has no 

 covering in winter beyond single sashes and single wooden 

 shutters. These plants are not in pots or tubs, but each one 

 has amassed a ball of roots. Late in April, or early in May, 

 they are planted out, and on the approaoh of winter are lifted 

 and heeled in the frame. As might be expected, they live un- 

 soathed, but this year each Camellia was as full of blooms as 

 any specimen in Hovey's conservatory, and too, these blooms 

 expanded fully, and were large and bright, and at their best in 

 early May. Not a bud dropped." 



Fine surface cultivation is the secret to success in 



gardening. All good farmers know that it is the best means 

 of successful cultivation in all of what are called the hoed 

 orops of the farm. That it is so in garden culture must be 

 plain to every intelligent man, since the seed of most garden 

 crops are minute, and the plants themselves are, for a con- 

 siderable time after germinating, delicate. The first requisite 

 to success in gardening is, of course, a thoroughly rich soii ; 

 the next is drainage ; the third is such surface culture as shall 

 keep the plants growing as fast as possible. These are, in 

 fact, three great points for successful cultivation with any 

 crop, but especially so with those of the garden. — (Prairie 

 Farmer.) 



In many parts of India, says the American Garden, 



the flowers of a tree called Bassia latifolia form a really 

 important article of food. These blossoms, which are succu- 

 lent and very numerous, fall at night in large quantities and 

 are gathered early in the morning and eaten raw. They have 

 a sweet but sickly taste and smell. They are also dried 

 and stored as a staple article of food. A single tree will 

 afford from 200 to 400'lbs. of flowers. These treeB are of so 

 much importance to the natives that when an invading force 

 threatens to cut them down the threat generally insures the 

 submission of the tribes. The blossoms of another species, 

 Bassia longifolia, are used in a similar manner in Malabar and 

 Coromandel. These are eaten either dried and roasted, or 

 bruised to a jelly and boiled. The la^t are made into small 

 balls, which are sold or exchanged for fish, rice, and various 

 sorts of small grain. The seeds of all varieties of Bassia 

 are no less useful than the flowers. Oil and soap are made 

 from some, and from others a fatty substance called butter 

 is extracted. This is of white colour, has an agreeable taste, 

 and keeps well. It is an important article of commerce in 

 Sierra Leone. 



Mr. W. Falconer writing in the American " Gardener's 



Monthly" on Bougainvill^a spectabilis, states, that "Al- 

 though a native of tropical South America, this gorgeous 

 climbing shrub feels quite at home with us in our Acacia 

 house, which is an airy house with a winter night temperature 

 of 38° to 42°. It is growing in a shallow tub, in a compost of 



turfy loam with a little peat and leaf soil, and is trained up a 

 pillar, thence along the top of the house. In summer we give 

 it lots of water, but in winter keep it as dry as a Cactus. 

 About the 10th of April its paniculate inflorescence and wealth 

 of showy rose-coloured bracts become conspicuous and last all 

 through May." We recently observed B. glabra in splendid 

 condition in the greenhouse at Kew. It was planted-out and 

 trained near the glass at the end of the house. 



A professor of the Cornell University, N.Y., lately stated 



that Professor Buckman late of the Royal Agricultural College, 

 CirenceBter, in a prize essay on " Agricultural Weeds " enume- 

 rated 156 kinds in the cultivated lands of Great Britain, whence 

 came most of the weeds that trouble the farmers in the 

 United States and Canada. The number of seeds, says the 

 American professor, produced by a perfeot plant of the Dan- 

 delion is 2000 ; by the Ox-eye Daisy, 13,000 ; Dock, 13,000 ; 

 Burdock, 24,000; May Weed, 40,000; Red Poppy, 50,000; 

 Charlock, 4000; Wild Carrot and Wild Parsnip, 1200 each, 

 showing an increase from 1200 to 50,000 fold, while the cereals 

 are set down from 20 to 300 fold. 



Referring to a note in our columns relative to the 



Phylloxera, the American " Gardeners' Monthly " dispels the 

 idea that American Vines are Phyllexera-proof, but on the 

 contrary states that " there is little doubt but the Phylloxera 

 first appeared in the vicinity of Bordeaux, and was introduced 

 by American Vines." Oar contemporary further records that 

 " Professor Planchon discovered that some American Grapes 

 had a sort of contempt for the Phylloxera, while some— and 

 all European Grapes— had their fibres injured by the insect. 

 They gave up at once, as if asking, What's the use of resistance ? 

 But the Concord, Clinton, Norton's Virginia, and one or two 

 others set to work and made more young roots at once, beat- 

 ing the Phylloxera by sheer perseverance." We do not dispute 

 the correctness of that statement, but at the same time we can- 

 not quite reconcile it with that portion of the report of the 

 President of the Vine-growing Society of Pyrenees Orientales, 

 which asserts that " each plantation of American Vines is the 

 signal for a fresh invasion of the Phylloxera." It is just 

 possible, however, that the American Vines are less vigorous 

 in Europe than in their " own oountry," and which may 

 account in a measure for the discrepancy alluded to. 



THE KOSE YEAE. 



Well done, " Parson's Gardener ;" you had me there — you 

 scored one in your last letter. I do not wish to stop jour 

 chuckling at all, but feel obliged just to moderate it by telling 

 you that since the Rose season commenced our drawing-room 

 and our church have never been without Roses. 



It is true that the Roses in my front garden were soon over, 

 indeed my remarks in the Journal were not beyond the mark. 

 But I am far too wise to carry all my eggs in one basket. _ I 

 grow my Roses in all sorts of places, eo when one part is quite 

 done I have others to fall back upon. My front is one of the 

 most sheltered and best situations you can possibly imagine, 

 and there the Roses come and go very rapidly, but in other 

 parts of my place I can keep-up a succession and shall not be 

 without Roses of some kind till November. I have no glass 

 wherein to prolong the blooming like my critic has, but with- 

 out that aid I will back my Roses to last as long as even the 

 older garden sorts of " A Parson's Gardener." 



But still my own idea so far agrees with his that I intend to 

 make an alteration in my front, and not to devote the whole to 

 exhibition Roses. I intend, however, to make an herbaceous 

 border, and I do wish some of your staff or readers would give 

 me, through the Journal, a list of herbaceous plants which 

 must not be left out from it. The border is about 70 feet long 

 and 5 broad, and the only plants I have at present are a few 

 varieties of Aquilegia, Iris, and Phlox. — Wild Savage. 



Rose Shows in Scotland— I read with attention "D., 

 Deal's," report of the* Galloway Rose Show, and was glad to 

 hear that so much was thought of the Rose in Galloway as to 

 induce them to have a special show for Roses. If the Gallo- 

 wegians fancy they are at the top of the tree in regard to Rose- 

 growing in Scotland, I hope they will now throw their compe- 

 titions open at least to all Scotland, so that those who have 

 not the privilege of residing in their little corner may have 

 an opportunity of trying their mettle. I sincerely hope that 

 next year we in Scotland may have an earlier and better season 



