462 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDE NEB. 



[ Deasmbc-r 13, 1S77. 



plant, and they can generally be attached with a small particle 

 of root, which is an advantage. If theEe cuttings when inserted 

 are placed in a cold framo they will keep quite healthy and very 

 few will damp off. We prefer at this season of the year placing 

 them in a cold frame rather than inciting them by fire heat, 

 nnless it be for the purpose of growing very large specimens. 

 After the cuttings are inserted they should be kept tolerably 

 close, but afterwards air must be given on all favourable oppor- 

 tunities, and on very fine days removing the lights altogether. 

 Protection is required during frosty nights, otherwise the soil 

 would become frozen and would injure the tender rootlets. 

 The after-treatment cf this flower will be referred to in future 

 calendars. The following forty varieties are the best both for 

 exhibition purposes and home decoration. Incurved — Antonelli, 

 Alfred Salter, Aurea Multiflora, fBarbara, Beethoven, Bronze 

 Jardin des Plantes, Beauty of Stoke Newington, Cherub, fEve, 

 fEmpress of India, fGeneral Bainbrigge, Guernsey Nugget, 

 Gloria Mundi, tGolden Beverley, jGolden Empress of India, 

 fGolden Eagle, Golden John Salter, Doctor Brock, -flsabella 

 Bott, fjardin des PJantes, f.John Salter, tLady Hardinge, Lady 

 Talfourd, Lady Slade, Miss Mary Morgan, Mr. Brunlees, Mr. 

 Gladstone, fGeorge Glenny, fMrs. G. Bundle, fMrs. Dixon, 

 fMrs. Heale, fMrs. Haliburton, fPrince Alfred, fPrince of 

 Wales, tPrincess of Wales, f Princess of Teck, fQueen of England, 

 Venus, fWhite Venus, fWhite Globe, and iWhite Beverley. 

 The best twenty-four are those marked by a dagger (f ). Of the 

 reflexed varieties Tri^mpbe de Nord, Progne, Alma, Hereward, 

 Dr. Sharp, Cloth of Gold, ChristiDe, Crimson Velvet, and Julie 

 Lagraviere are all worth growing, and the following will be found 

 the best of the large-flowering Anemone varieties : — Acquisition, 

 Bijou, Empress, Fleur de Marie, Prince of Anemones, Lady 

 Margaret, Gluck, Mrs. Pothers, George Sand, and Louis BoDamy. 



The Japanese section is increasing in favour, and for house 

 decoration and cutting purposes they surpass the incurved 

 varieties. A very good and useful selection is as follows : — 

 fElaine, fjame3 Salter, fFair Maid of Guernsey, fGloire de 

 Toulouse, fRed Dragon, fBronze Dragon, fYellow Dragon, The 

 Sultan, f The Mikado, Garnet, Chang, Baronne de Prailly, Mag- 

 num Bonum, fFulton, fFulgore, La Nymph, Nuit a'Htver, 

 Laciniatam, Cry Kung, Bismarck, Oracle, f Meg Merrilees, Peter 

 the Great, f Grandiflora, and The Wizard. The best twelve va- 

 rieties are denoted by a dagger (f). 



Of Pompons Antonius, Cedo Nulli, Golden Cedo Nulli, Bob, 

 Madame Eugene Domage, Marabout, Mdlle. Martte, Madame 

 Montels, Model of Perfection, Miss Nightingale, Mr. Astie, 

 Marie Stuart, Firefly, Dick Turpin, Miss Julia, St. Michael, 

 Calliope, and White Trevenna are varieties of proved excellence. 

 — J. W. Moobman. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST AND WORK FOR 

 THE PRESENT WEEK. 



HAEDT FBCTT GAEDEN. 



We are still working amongst standards and dwarf-tr^ined 

 trees and bushes, pruning them and digging amongst Rasp- 

 berry bushes after dressing the ground with good manure. 

 Digging among the roots of fruit trees requires to be done with 

 care ; a careless workman will probably do more harm than 

 good, and one not acquainted with the nature and requirements 

 of the trees or bushes should not be trusted amongst them. 

 Take Raspberry bushes, for instance. A good dressing of ma- 

 nure has been spread over the surface. The rows are 4 feet 

 apart, but round each plant there is a mass of fibrous roots 

 quite cloBe to the surface. Our plan is to take an opening out 

 at one end of the row, and the centre 2 feet is dug out one spit 

 deep, merely stirring up the soil round the plants and mixing it 

 witn a little good manure, the largest portion of the manure 

 being buried in the centre. Gooseberry and Currant bushes 

 also require a good supply of manure, and it ought to be dog-in 

 much in the same way. If the Gooseberry bushes were infested 

 with the caterpillar during the growing season it will be neces- 

 sary to pare off about 3 inches of the surface of the soil under 

 the bushes, and bury it about a foot deep in the centre of the 

 rows. The soil from the bottom ought to be spread under the 

 bushes, and this, of course, will be free from eggs of the cater- 

 pillars. 



When the weather is favourable the work ought to be pro- 

 ceeded with on walls. A man may be able to prune with a pair 

 of gloves when the weather is cold, but nailing should not be 

 proceeded with when the thermometer falls below the freezing 

 point. Plum, Pear, and Cherry trees are done first. It is best 

 to attend to such work as soon as possible ; indeed all sorts of 

 work require to be brought forward, whether it is nailing, 

 pruning, or digging ; severe weather may set in and put a atop 

 to the whole until February or March. 



PEACH HOUSES. 



The late houses may be prepared for starting by taking the 

 trees down from the trelli6work and tying the growths up in 

 bundles. This is done purposely to prevent the flower buds 

 from being rubbed off when the glass and woodwork are being 



cleaned with weak soapy water. We have seen gardeners doing 

 such work with old shading or other rags that come first to 

 hand; this is not economy even, and the work cannot be well 

 done. The best material to use is washleather, and the wood 

 or glass can be rubbed clean and dry with this as the work 

 proceeds. The walls should first be well scrubbed with clean 

 water and then be done over with limewash. We have used for 

 this two parts of lime fresh from the kiln and one part of flowers 

 cf sulphur ; it should be laid on while hot, as in this state it is 

 sure to effectually destroy eggs of insects or the insects them- 

 selves, which find a lurking place in the crevices. After the 

 house has been made clean the trees must be dressed, and it 

 may even be necessary to wash them carefully first, especially if 

 there has been any scale upon the young wood. This pest can 

 easily be removed by washing it off with a sponge. The mixture 

 that we use to dress the trees is composed of sulphur dissolved 

 in soapy water, and to it is added a little tobacco water; a large 

 wineglassful to a quart is sufficient, as the stuff is strong. In 

 applying it to the main branches it should be scrubbed well 

 into the interstices of the bark; the small brae eb.es containing 

 buds should be done carefully, as the buds are easily rubbed off. 

 The border next claims attention, and our experience goes to 

 prove that a hard surface is better for the trees than a loose one, 

 but it depends something on the character of the soil whether it 

 becomes firm or not. In a loose soil no roots will be found close 

 to the surface, while a firm surface composed of good clayey loam 

 will be found interlaced with healthy roots. If there are plenty 

 of healthy roots near the surface we remove as much of the soil 

 as possible without doing them any injury, then place a layer of 

 rich decayed manure about 2 inches over the surface, and over 

 this Eome good turfy loam. We have previously alluded to 

 the danger of allowing the borders to become too dry, as the 

 blossoms will probably drop. Another cause of the flowers fall- 

 ing off instead of setting is the mixture with which the trees are 

 dressed being too strong. What would not cause the lea6t injury 

 to Vines would utterly ruin the prospects of a crop of Peaches. 



GEEENHOUSE AND CONSEEVATOBY. 



The Chrysaithemums are still beautifully in flower, and they 

 will probably keep the house gay until the new year. They were 

 later to flower, and the blooms are lasting longer in beauty this 

 year than usual. The usual time to take cuttings is in the 

 spring, when they are growing freely; the succulent tops are 

 cut off and the cuttings inserted in small pots ; they will be 

 rooted plants in a few days if the pots are placed in a frame 

 with a brisk bottom heat. Another plan is to place the cuttings 

 in cold frames, merely plunging the pots in cocoa-nut fibre 

 refuse. We have seen many good flowers in the neighbourhood 

 of London during the last dozen years, but we are not sure that 

 they have been superior if equal to these grown in Scotland 

 twenty years ago by Mr. Laing of Dysart, Fifeshire, now of 

 Stanstead Park, Forest Hill. Mr. Laing's plan was to insert 

 the cuttings in December and Etrike them in cold frames; he 

 placed one cutting in the centre of a 60-sized pot, and when they 

 were well rooted, say in April, he potted three plants in a 15-inch 

 pot and took about three flowers from each plant. His compost 

 was good turfy loam and decayed stable manure with pounded 

 oyster shells, which kept the compost open; it is alBO a good 

 plan to drain the pots with oyster shells. 



Hardwooded plants that flower at this season are very valu- 

 able. Camellias, of course, are in all collections of greenhouse 

 plants, and if they have been treated as recommended in summer 

 there will now be plenty of flowers. The Double White and 

 Fimbriata are the finest and most useful of all, but many of the 

 coloured sorts are used where the white would not answer. It 

 may be necessary to look over the plants to wash the leaves if 

 they are black on the upper sides with a gummy substance, 

 caused by scale ; this is easily removed by a sponge and Boapy 

 water. 



Epaorises of sorts are extremely useful from now till March, 

 and even to midsummer, but by that time other flowers are 

 plentiful, and they are not held in so much esteem. We have 

 E. miniata splendens and E. Eclipse in flower now, and they 

 have produced occasional sprays since midsummer. The rose 

 and white-flowered varieties of E. hyacinthiflora are our most 

 valued flowers in winter; but there are many others, each dis- 

 tinct and good in their several varieties. The winter-flowering 

 Heaths comprise the section E. hyemalis and the very pretty 

 E. melanthera, its graceful Bprays of small white flowers are 

 very pretty in small glasses. When time can be spared we are 

 training hardwooded specimens of Cape Heaths and New Hol- 

 land plants, and no one can attain to success in this who does 

 not study the natural habit of the plants themselves. Oar large 

 exhibitions ought to be one place where this could be done, but 

 it is not so ; even the first-prize collections have contained plants 

 far too severely trained to show anything like the natural habit 

 of the plants. A good rule to go by is to use as few sticks and 

 ties as possible, and if the plants can be trained into Bhape with- 

 out them it will be much more satisfactory. 



Stage Pelargoniums are growing freely 6ince they were potted 

 into the blooming pots. We have fastened a string under the 



