November 8, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



365 



colour, and globalar in form. The largest bloom of all is 

 Prince Alfred, rosy crimson ; but only a shade smaller is White 

 Globe. Refulgence, crimson maroon, is extremely rich, but 

 its yellow eye is objectionable, and it is a question if it can be 

 " grown out," as was at one time supposed. King of Den- 

 mark, rosy lilac and golden tips, is distinct and attractive ; 

 and Mr. Gladstone and Comte de Ranzeau are very rich. 

 Phidias — the old Phidias — pale rose, is still a favourite ; and 

 constant as ever is Aurea Maltiflora. Toe Beverleys, Lord 

 Derby, and Golden Eagle sustain their position as " good old 

 standards." Having smaller reflexed flowers — free, bright, and 

 useful — are Sparkler, Mount Etna, and Bernard Pallisy ; they 

 are of the Julie Lagravere type, and are worthy of culture for 

 conservatory decoration and for yielding cut flowers for vases. 

 Amongst the large Anemone-flowered varieties the finest are 

 Lady Margaret (white), which is fine indeed, and Prince of 

 Anemones, lilac blush. 



The Pompons in the exposed border are not yet in beauty, 

 but there is plenty to admire without them ; it is encouraging 

 to Mr. Newton to have such a large number of appreciative 

 visitors, and the liberality of the honourable Sooiety of the 

 Inner Temple in providing such an enjoyable display cannot be 

 too warmly commended. 



THREE YEARS' EXPERIENCE IN A 



GREENHOUSE.— No. 3. 



Having settled down to my work in earnest, I began to con- 

 aider not only how many distinct varieties of plants I could 

 grow in the one house (I do not mean simply with regard to 

 space), but in what plants I could most excel, the conditions of 

 temperature and ventilation being equal to all, except that I 

 should keep some plants near the stove and others as far from 

 it as possible; indeed, it is astonishing to note the results 

 attendant on the arrangement of a house, whether you place 

 a plant at the back of the door or at the point where the door 

 opens to meet perhaps a temperature of 10° below freezing. 

 For instance, say the door opens on the left, a Stephanotis is 

 close at hand to meet the cutting draught ; a Rose is opposite 

 at the back of the door. The Rose will not suffer from the 

 extra warmth, but the Stephanotis will assuredly from the cold. 

 Reverse the positions and both will do well. To obtain success- 

 ful results these apparently minor points must be studied. 



There are many who love flowers superficially, yet amongst 

 the lovers are some whose interest would grow deeper were 

 they only to study a few simple conditions necessary for suc- 

 cessful cultivation. It is to the latter section, hoping to in- 

 crease their number, that my remarks are principally addressed, 

 though I trust to meet with still more congenial spirits — those 

 who love earnestly, not alone the contemplation or possession 

 of a gorgeous flower, but derive pleasure from the germination 

 of a seed, transplant, watch its growth day by day as leaf after 

 leaf appears, and at length the flowers — aye ! and what flowers 

 they will be if only tended even with a moderate amount of 

 care and discrimination! 



Returning, however, to the praotical, I will begin with the 

 arrangement of the house. Say the door facing west opens 

 inwards, on the left are Roses in pots, Acacias, a Plumbago, 

 Azaleas, French Garaniums, Cinerarias, and Ericas ; then close 

 to the stove a Gardenia. I had the latter quite a small plant 

 two and a half years ago, and only last month cut from it fifty 

 large flower buds ; it having flowered almost incessantly I 

 thought I would give the poor thing a rest. On the right-hand 

 side I place a selection of the same plants aforementioned to 

 bring them on more quickly, also Pleroma elegans, Aloe fru- 

 tescens, and the stove plants introduced in the third year of 

 my experience. The two shelves near the glass are valuable 

 for seedlings or cuttings which have been thoroughly started 

 in the bottom heat mentioned in the Journal of Horticulture, 

 September 27th. At the east end and back of the stove I arrange 

 a row of Cactuses on a shelf right across, resting on the side 

 lights, and they thrive admirably ; but, being placed in such a 

 warm corner I give them a little water in their saucers once a- week 

 or perhaps a fortnight. Were they kept in a cool greenhouBe 

 this would mean killing them ; though after all, depending so 

 ■entirely as it does on conditions, it is impossible to tell anyone 

 when to water a plant or where to place it, though the latter 

 question is an all-important one, especially in a small house 

 like mine ; also whether its requirements are heat, moisture, 

 dryness, sun, shade, &a. ; but all these difficulties are soon 

 overcome, and think of the pleasure and satisfaction in sur- 

 mounting them. 



To digress. When leading a bush life in Australia I put my 

 hand to many things, but always found the greatest pleasure 

 was overcoming a dimoulty in some occupation of which I had 

 least knowledge. Let no one be discouraged because he has 

 not gained a prize or done well even up to the present ; look 

 to the future, and if, you only have the subject at heart you 

 must do well. 



Now to work. About the 10th of February is the commence- 

 ment of my year ; the birds are beginning to mate, and the 

 hedges are showing their tiny green-tipped buds, and many 

 are the proofs of Nature's returning activity. It is too cold 

 outside to do much, but inside our little house great pre- 

 parations may be made. Roses, by-the-by, were taken-in in 

 January to flower at the end of March and April. Camellias 

 finished flowering are now repotted in partly peat, but as peats 

 differ so greatly I use decayed grass turves with a small hand- 

 ful of charcoal broken roughly about the size of peas, and 

 larger pieces for drainage. Indeed I use charcoal for nearly 

 everything and find it invaluable. See page 139, " Science 

 and Practice of Gardening" (Johnson). This book I have 

 found a treasure. Speaking of drainage, it is an item that 

 must be especially insisted on in pot plants. A plant clogged 

 in the drainage, having extracted its natural food from liquid 

 supplied, the residue of the supply constitutes a poison. This 

 is one point that must never be forgotten. 



At the end of February and on into March we begin to 

 strike Verbenas, Lobelia compacta, Cupheas, Lantanas, <fec, 

 sow seeds in pans or boxes of Golden Feather, Coreopsis, and 

 Intermediate Stocks, the latter to bloom in autumn, and many 

 other things required for summer planting and greenhouse 

 decoration. All will grow rapidly on the tray of hot sawdust. 

 Then in April, if you wish to propagate Dahlias, pack your 

 tubers close together in a box with cocoa-nut fibre, place them 

 near the stove, quickly will the shoots spring forth, out them off 

 close to the tuber, plant in large 60's, they will need nothing 

 more than plenty of water till planting-out time — end of May. 



As all things are now growing so quiokly, it is of the utmost 

 importance to utilise and economise space. A shelf running 

 full length under a north stage I find answers capitally for 

 all cuttings and seedlings. Place also a couple of rows of 

 these small fry on the ground under this shelf. Everything 

 is now arranged pro tem., and that is all, for allowing plants 

 to remain in one position month after month, or even week 

 after week, is a great error. I arrange my houBe once a-week 

 — it's like taking your children out for a constitutional — for 

 singular as it may appear to those who have not studied the 

 subject, a plant, like a child, requires exerciBe. Just consider 

 for a moment : the natural atmospheric conditions of all plant 

 life are either heat, cold, moisture, comparative drought, and 

 always more or less wind, or in other words exercise and 

 movement. 



Now in a house like mine, where it is necessary to retain 

 heat for Gardenia, Stephanotis, &c, it is impossible to give the 

 same ventilation you would to an ordinary greenhouse (except- 

 ing, of course, in the hottest months in the year). It must not 

 be forgotten that my remarks refer to a mixed house wherein 

 many things are grown, from an Acacia dealbata, which will 

 almost stand frost, to a Gardenia requiring both top and 

 bottom heat. In this my second year I introduced six Ericas, 

 small plants in 60's. I always buy small plants, the pleasure 

 i) so much enhanced by growing them on into specimens ; you 

 lose all the pride and satisfaction if you obtain them full 

 grown. Then I bought a few Achimenes ; Gloxinia tubiflora, 

 little known, but valuable for cut blooms and general effect; 

 and a Gardenia — too much cannot be said of this lovely flower 

 if only generous treatment be given. I introduced also a few 

 Ferns. In selecting Ferns one should choose those widely 

 differing in appearance though still amenable to the same con- 

 ditions of temperature, &c. In my next paper I will give the 

 names of those I have grown most successfully. — Respice Finem. 



KEEPING GRAPES IN BOTTLES OF WATER. 



Being compelled to fill the vineries under my charge with 

 plants, I am cutting the Grapes and placing them in bottles of 

 water. The plan I adopt is that of Mr. Nisbet of Aswarby. 

 It answers admirably, and I wish to recommend it to other 

 gardeners who are situated as I am.— A. N. G. 



[Mr. Nisbet's plan and his remarks thereon are appended. 

 —Eds] 



The Grape-room at Aswarby Park is on the second floor 

 from the ground, with an aspect to the north unvisited by the 



