488 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE OiTOKXER. 



[ Deoembar 27, 1877. 



excepting 3 inches at the top each plant will produce from four 

 to six shoots. When pruning these, as soon as the leaves have 

 fallen only out about 1 inch from the point of each shoot. 

 After this, if it is desired to make large bushes quickly, lift 

 every other plant in the row, and plant them in a fresh piece 

 of ground 18 inches between the rows and 10 inches or a foot 

 between the plants. The ground on which these are planted 

 should be well enriched with manure. During the second 

 year's growth hoe between the rows as formerly, and by prun- 

 ing time the second season you will have good-sized bushes. 

 When the shoots are clustered together in the centre they 

 must be thinned out to be at least 2 inches from each other ; 

 but do not cut off any that are spreading outwards, as this is 

 just what is wanted to form a well-shaped bush. All the 

 shoots left on at this time may be cut back to 6 or S inches 

 from whence they started. 



After their third season's growth they may be pruned as 

 before, and then they will be ready for planting in their per- 

 manent fruiting quarters. They may either be planted in a 

 single or double row along the sides of walks or in one of the 

 garden quarters. In either case the ground should ba trenched 

 2 feet deep, incorporating with it plenty of manure. Suppos- 

 ing the ground to have been prepared in November or Decem- 

 ber, the bushes may be planted in January, February, or March 

 when the ground is free from frost. At this time the bushes 

 should be planted at the least 4 feet apart each way. Make 

 the holes large enough to let the roots in easily, press the soil 

 firmly about thern, and place a strong stake to each if the 

 situation is exposed. Nothing but hoeing is required to be 

 done to the soil for twelve or eighteen months after the 

 bushes have been planted, but never let a winter pass without 

 pruning them carefully. Always keep the bush in good shape. 

 Never leave the wood crowded. When the bushes have attained 

 their full size cut the young wood olose in to the old stems 

 annually. When they have grown in the same soil for four or 

 five years, after pruning spread some good manure all round 

 the stem and over the roots, and fork it lightly in. Do this 

 annually. When the bushes become old and the branches 

 begin to moss-up and die root them out and plant young 

 bushes. 



As to varieties, I cannot name better sorts than those given 

 in the list of hardy fruits in last week's Journal. Where 

 many are wanted for preserving grow the red sorts for this 

 purpose. Where dessert is the object grow white, yellow, and 

 green kinds. Apart from the uses to which they may be put 

 •when gathered off the bushes, they may be bottled in a green 

 state and reserved for this season of the year. We are using 

 some now which were bottled in June, and very acceptable 

 they are for tarts. Various kinds of caterpillars are most 

 destructive to the Gooseberry. Nothing proves such an effec- 

 tual cure for them as gathering them with the hand. We 

 always keep our bushes perfectly clean by looking over them 

 frequently from the time the leaves are formed until the fruit 

 is ripe. Birds are troublesome when the fruit is ripe, but old 

 nets are oheap and prove an effectual safeguard. — A Kitchen 

 Gaedeneb. 



HARDY RHODODENDRONS foe CONSERVATORY 

 DECORATION. 



TTarb t Rhododendrons for conservatory decoration during 

 the early months of the year form very fit associates to the 

 hardy Azaleas which were referred to in an excellent article on 

 page 449. The great variety of colour possessed by Bhodo- 

 dendrons — some of them gorgeous, others delicate — render 

 those shrubs most valuable. They are also so easy to force 

 that they become almost indispensable for indoor embellish- 

 ment during early spring. 



Small and moderate-sized plaDts which are well set with 

 buds are the most suitable for this purpose, for when they 

 have grown very large it becomes necessary to reduce their 

 balls to such an extent in order to get them into available- 

 sized pots, that the plants are permanently injured. Suitable 

 eized plants for forcing are always to be obtained at very rea- 

 sonable prices at our leading nurseries, and if the selections 

 are left to these firms plants suitable for the purpose required 

 can be relied upon. I append a select list for those who may 

 prefer to choose for themselves. The sorts named are free 

 bloomers, and are otherwise attractive and useful. 



Having secured the requisite number of plants place them in 

 pots as nearly as possible of the same size as the balls, retain- 

 ing as many of the very fine fibrous roots as can be secured. If 



the weather is at all open they may be placed out of doors, but 

 it is much safer to afford them the protection of a cold house 

 or frame until they are wanted to be forced. An intermediate - 

 temperature of about 50° will be found very suitable for start- 

 ing them, and if required to be pushed faster a stove tempe- 

 rature does not injure them so long as a moist atmosphere is 

 provided and the plants are well syringed, giving the roots at 

 the same time a plentiful supply of tepid water. 



Rhododendron Nobleanum and its varieties are forced with 

 the greatest ease, but those that are later in blooming out of 

 doors in an ordinary way will take a longer time to expand 

 their gorgeous blooms of scarlet, crimson, and allied colours 

 indoors. If when they are fully expanded they are removed 

 to the conservatory they will remain in bloom a long time, 

 producing an effect that cannot be surpassed by any other 

 flowers. Remove the flowers as they decay, and keep the 

 plants under glass until mild weather ensues, when they may 

 ba transferred to the borders or to a piece of ground in the 

 reserve garden to recruit themselves for future occasions. It 

 seldom happens that the plants are suitable for forcing the 

 second year, but the third and subsequent years they will be 

 generally set with sufficient flower buds for that purpose. 



Of the early-flowering sorts the following may be selected: — 

 Altaclarense, dark scarlet, very fine ; Blanche superbe, pure 

 waxy white; Broughtonianum, rosy red, immense trusses and 

 fine foliage ; Cardinale, scarlet ; caucasicum, a very profuse 

 bloomer of a yellowish colour; Coriaceum, white, dwarf habit, 

 and a free bloomer ; Desdemona, very richly blotched with dark 

 on the upper segments, the lower petals being almost white ; 

 Limbatum, white, margined crimson ; Madame Wagner, bright 

 pink, white centre, a very pleasing and effective variety ; Noble- 

 anum in several varieties are all good for early work ; Ochro- 

 leucum, very distinct, of dwarf habit, and pale yellow colour; 

 Regale, scarlet and rose ; Bubescens, bright ruby red and 

 distinct. 



Of the later blooming varieties Alarm, Auguste Van Geert, 

 Baron Osy, Blandyanum, Brayanum, Hendersonii, Jenny 

 Bind, Leviathan, Lord Clyde, Lord Derby, Lord Russell, 

 Madame Titiens, Madame Van de Wsyer, Marian, Mirabilis, 

 Miss Buller, Mrs. John Clntton, Neilsoni, Onelowianum, 

 Prince Camille de Bohan, Princess Amelia, Purity, The Grand 

 Arab, and Verschaffelti are all good Borts, and most of them 

 are generally to be met with in outdoor collections. — J. W. 



MOOEHAH. 



PICEA NOBILIS SEEDLINGS. 



To a question asked by your correspondent Mr. Walton in 

 reference to seed of thiB Conifer having been grown in open 

 air without protection, I can state that when sojourning in 

 South Devon my uBual practice was to sow seed of Abies 

 Douglasi, A. nobilis, etc., in sandy soil properly prepared in 

 spriog, making drills 2A inches deep and a foot apart, the seed 

 being sown in the same way that Peas are sown and in equally 

 exposed places. In due course the seed germinated, and 

 thousands of seedlings appeared. The only after-care for the 

 first year was keeping the ground clear of weeds. In the 

 second spring, if the plants have made satisfactory progress, 

 have them all very carefully lifted and replanted in good sandy 

 soil about 6 inches apart and 15 incheB from row to row. If 

 skilfully managed many of them will be fit for removal to 

 permanent positions in the third year after Bowing. Take 

 precaution that rats or mice do not eat the seed, which they 

 will do if hungry. A sprinkling of powdered rosin or red lead 

 on the seed after it is Blightly moistened will act as a deterrent. 

 A very slight application of paraffin oil will also answer the 

 same purpose. Where seeds of Conifers are not plentiful the 

 better way will be to sow in shallow boxes well drained, and 

 in prepared soil, placing them in a cold frame or pit near the 

 glass, carefully attending to the soil being kept in a proper 

 state of moisture. 



In closing, will any of your correspondents inform me if 

 they have raised Wellingtonia gigantea from home-saved seed? 

 An answer in the affirmative, adding how it has been accom- 

 plished, will be interesting to your numerous subscribers and 

 also to— Robert Begbie. 



Glazing without Perry. — Mr. Laycock has furnished a 

 lucid description of the rafter required for glazing without 

 putty. Will he favour us with a more simple description of 

 how the glass is fixed ? Does he intend that the rubber is 



