October 10, 1S72. ] 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



285 



There are two varieties of the Globe Artichoke in cultiva- 

 tion — one produces a dark head, and the other a very much 

 lighter one, and the latter is the more tender of the two. 

 I have always found that the dark sort is the more sought 

 after. — Thomas Becoed. 



OECHAED HOUSES. 



Notwithstanding the many advantages of orchard houses 

 over walls, it is still thought by many that a Peach ripened 

 out of doors in a favourable season is higher-flavoured than 

 any produced in an orchard house. Mr. Fountaine, thinking 

 that the trees need exposure to the direct sky at night, has in- 

 vented a truck on rails, by means of which the trees can be so 

 exposed. But it seems to me highly probable that what the 

 trees want is exposure to the chemical rays of the sun, which 

 penetrate glass with difficulty, and which are the chief agents 

 in ripening the fruit. I would, therefore, suggest the follow- 

 ing simple experiment, which can be tried next year by any- 

 one who has an orchard house : — Select two trees of the same 

 sort, and after the middle of June expose one to the open 

 air at night, and the other to the open sun during the day, 

 continuing this until the fruit ripens. If there were a third 

 tree, kept entirely in the house, the experiment would be still 

 more interesting, and the results might be communicated to 

 " our Journal." — G. S. 



GBAFTING.— No. 12. 



Cutting-grafting ore a Tall Stock (Jig. 1). — If the length of 

 the scion is not sufficient to allow of its being placed in the 

 ground and grafted on the stock at the required height, a pot 

 filled with earth, or a bottle of water, may be supported at the 

 desired height, in order to receive the base of the scion. As 

 a proper degree of moisture should be constantly maintained 

 at the base of the shoot, the pot is filled with gravelly sand, 

 which is not so apt to dry up as vegetable soil. 



If the operation is performed during the growing season, 

 when the sap is flowing, we should prefer a bottle of water, 



scion e ought to be deprived of a portion of its leaves, which 

 must be cut back to their stalks if the species is deciduous, or 

 if evergreen half the blade should be removed. The scion is 

 put on as in ordinary splice-grafting, and should be clayed, 

 and shaded with paper. 



The heading-down of the stock, which is begun in summer 

 by cutting-in the branches (a) or of the leader, should only be 

 completed (as at e) after the growth of the following year is 

 over. At the same time the heel of the graft should be shaven 

 off close to the junction with the stock, as the necessity for 

 the use of water or sand is at an end. 



Grafting on the Portion of a Root (fig. 2). — The Bignonia, 

 the tree Pa3ony, and the Wistaria are grafted in spring before 

 the sap begins to flow, or in August when growth has ceased. 

 The Chinese, it is said, graft these plants in October. Tubers 

 or pieces of the root are taken before the rise of the sap, and 

 are laid-in in soil. When the buds begin to swell the time for 

 grafting has arrived. The grafts (b) 

 are chosen from branches of the pre- 

 ceding year, and are cut in a rather 

 thin wedge shape, in order to intro- 

 duce them into the stock (a), either 

 by cleft or notch-grafting. They are 

 bound round moderately, or not at 

 all ; waxing is useless. 



The grafted roots are put in pots 

 and kept close under a bell-glass or 

 propagating frame. If there is any 

 danger of drops of condensed water 

 falling into the" cleft of the graft, the 

 pots are inclined to one side when 

 plunged under the bell-glass or frame. 

 After growth has begun, ah' should, 

 be gradually admitted. If the scion is not completely in- 

 serted, and the tuber employed as the stock is planted below 

 the ground level, the former will produce long hair-like fibres, 

 and as a consequence will get upon its own roots. There will 

 then be no danger of the root of the stock producing suckers, 

 which, however, may in other cases be easily avoided by taking ■ 

 off the tops of the roots of the stock, and by picking-out the 

 latent buds. — Baltet, L'Art cle Grcffer. 



Fig. 2. 



c,fig. 1, at the bottom of which a layer of powdered charcoal 

 should be placed, in order to prevent the putrefaction of the 

 water, which, besides, should be frequently renewed. The 



A PLEA FOE GAEDENEES WHO HAVE 

 CHILDEEN. 



" Lord, make these faithless hearts of ours 

 Such lessons leam from birds and flowers : 

 Make them from self to cease." 



Theke are, I am sure, but very few readers of the Journal 

 who do not sympathise with the manly protest which has been 

 placed on record against the system of seeking for gardeners 

 who have no family. There are, of course, occasions and situ- 

 ations in which it is simply impossible to accept the services 

 of a man who brings a family with him, but such cases must 

 be but very rare. Why, then, is it that advertisements of the 

 character to which Mr. Pocock refers appear so often ? For 

 my own part, I believe that it arises from that want of sym- 

 pathy and that hardheartedness which are so often the curse of 

 prosperity and wealth. There is a want of sympathy with the 

 young, a want of sympathy with those who minister to our 

 enjoyment by the sweat of their brow, that forms a very dan- 

 gerous social evil, against which all well-wishers to their 

 country should lift up their voice. Now, only those who are 

 blessed with children, and who endeavour to train them care- 

 fully from their earliest years, can tell the exquisite pleasure 

 which the little ones bring with them. " Every gift of God is 

 good." A good child, a good son or a good daughter, is as great 

 a blessing as God can confer upon man. Why, then, deny 

 this to those who are toiling all day long close to our homes, 

 furnishing our tables with the products of then, - skill, and 

 ministering to our fancies as well as to our wants ? 



Married life is the highest form of life — it is perfect and 

 entire, which single life is not. It calls out all the best feelings 

 of our nature, makes a home and a hearth where solitude was 

 before supreme, forms a safeguard against many a snare, and 

 gives a pledge to society which single life cannot. But married 

 life implies marriage at a comparatively early age, when the 

 feelings are fresh, and the life blood beats high ; and why 

 should not such marriages be allowed ? Our large families are 

 one of the secrets of our greatness. Where the family is large, 

 there must be prudence, and industry, and thrift, and many a 

 virtue which hides its diminished head in smaller households ; 



