£26 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 19, 1872. 



would not like all the honour — may well be satisfied. I have 

 yet something else worth telling. In all this company, ten 

 thousand strong, there was no drunkenness, quarrelling, or 

 disturbance of any kind, but all was orderly, lawful, and re- 

 spectable. Could this be the ease in any week-day pleasure 

 gathering under any other than garden auspices ? This show 

 has now been visited, amongst others, by the following nota- 

 bilities in the horticultural world — the Revs. C. P. Peach and 

 S. R. Hole ; Dr. Hogg, and Mr. Pearson ; and amongst gar- 

 deners by Messrs. Speed, Miller, Tillyard, Gardiner, and — 

 J. W., Lincoln. 



SOWING HERBACEOUS CALCEOLARIA SEED. 



At one time I grew these Calceolarias largely, as I liked 

 them for furnishing a gorgeous display in the spring months — 

 say up to June, for in summer they will not flower much unless 

 you can afford them a cool moist atmosphere, or at least cool- 

 ness and moisture at the roots. I used to subdivide and pro- 

 pagate them early in a cool shady place ; but treat them as 

 you may, they require much trouble, and I only did so to keep 

 what I considered superior varieties. I prefer, on the whole, 

 sowing seed instead of propagating by cuttings, and for ama- 

 teurs there is a never-failing pleasure in watching the opening 

 of every seedling, and if there should only be a few first-rate 

 kinds the others will come in usefully as cut flowers. For such 

 purposes the seed may be sown at any time ; but keeping the 

 ideas of moisture and coolness in view, I think the best time 

 to sow is from the end of July to the second week of Septem- 

 ber. All who have sown the seed know that a pinch like a 

 pinch of snuff will contain great numbers of seeds — hardly 

 any seeds could be smaller ; and the reason the seedlings do 

 not come up more thickly than Mustard and Cress is simply 

 that the small seeds are buried and cannot vegetate before 

 they come in contact with the air. They require more nicety 

 in sowing than even the smallest-seeded Lobelias. 



Another reason why many a half-crown or crown's worth of 

 seed proves a failure is the careless mode of watering the seed 

 pot. With many of these small seeds it is well not to water 

 at all until the little seedlings have attained some size. 



If one is about to sow in 5 or 6-inch pots, the pots should 

 be drained, then filled to within an inch of the top, first with 

 rough soil, then with some a little finer, and lastly with the 

 finest of all. The soil in the pots should be thoroughly soaked 

 and left for a day, so that the surface may be just a little dry ; 

 pat that down with a circular board, and if the surface is not 

 smooth enough scatter a little dry sand over it ; then sow, 

 and just sprinkle a dusting of sand — not more than a dusting 

 — over the seed, press slightly with the circular board again, 

 and place the pot under a frame or hand-light, if plunged 

 all the better, putting a square of glass over the top, and 

 shading. Any moisture the little seedlings may require before 

 they are strong will be better given to the plunging material 

 outside of the pot instead of watering them overhead, however 

 carefully. Such little matters of detail attended to with these 

 and similar small seeds, would be an instructive source of 

 pleasure to many, and would save seed-dealers from blame 

 that ought rightly to be placed on the shoulders of the sower 

 and not the seedsman. 



If, independently of these precautions, a seed pot should 

 want watering, then never apply the water overhead with a 

 rose, but take the pot or jug in your hand, place a bit of 

 broken pot, oyster shell, or a piece of wood or slate against the 

 inside of the pot, pour the water on that until the surface of 

 the pot is flooded all over — that will never injure the smallest 

 seedlings. Water overhead with a rose, and three-fourths of 

 the little seedlings may damp or shank off before night. I am 

 not learned enough to tell you the cause of the difference, but 

 the fact I well know ; and the fact must be acted upon if we 

 wish to achieve the greatest amount of success, and more espe- 

 cially with dust-like seeds. — R. F. 



Lakge Onions. — By the Journal of the 5th inst. I see the 

 weight of twelve Onions which took the prize at Banbury was 

 15 lbs. To-day I have weighed twelve bulbs of the Giant 

 White Tripoli Onion, which turned the scale at 19 lbs. 9 ozs., 

 three of the largest weighing 5 lbs. 12J ozs. All had been 

 dried in the sun, and must have been out of the ground fully 

 a week. The largest when dug-up measured 20 inches in 

 circumference, and the smallest to-day 16f inches. The seed 

 was sown under protection on the 6th of February last. 

 Owing to the season having been so wet, the tops of the Onions 



became affected by mildew. This being my first trial, I look 

 for a still better result in a drier summer. — W. W., Hertford. 



GRAFTING.— No. 11. 

 Fork-grafting the Beech. — In this case the graft (a, fig. 1), 

 is fitted upon the stock at the meeting point of two branches 



by means of a cut, a, formed by the gradual thinning away 

 of the wood on one side, until it assumes the wedge-like shape 

 shown at a'. The graft is then slipped into a cleft in b. 

 which does not extend beyond two-thirds of the diameter of 

 the stock, and where, although held tightly, it must be further 

 secured by binding and waxing. If, instead of a cleft, an 

 opening such as that represented at b is made, the work will 

 become much more complicated without increasing the pro- 

 babilities of success. 



At first the branches c and d may be allowed to remain 

 somewhat long, but should be shortened as the graft in- 

 creases, so that the two snags can be taken off in the following 

 autumn, the grafting having taken place in the spring during 

 the months of March or April. The Oak can also be fork- 

 grafted in this manner. For a long time M. P. de Martillet 

 multiplied the American Oaks upon stocks of the European 

 ones by this means. We have succeeded in doing this with 

 the European and American Walnuts. Perhaps the Chestnut 

 and other hardwooded trees would equally admit of being 

 grafted in this manner. 



Simple Splice-grafting (fig. 2). — Next to budding, the simple 



Tig. 2. 



English splice-grafting is the best for the Apricot. The stock 



