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JOTJKNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 12, 1872. 



well as the picturesque and undulating surface of the park. 

 I then reached the newly-laid- out flower garden, very pretty 

 in design, but the severe frost before spoken of had told its 

 tale upon the occupants of the beds in such a manner that it 

 is impossible to describe the planting. The lawn enclosed in 

 this direction has lately been very much altered and improved. 

 Old shrubs and trees have been cleared away, and views opened- 

 out to some distant object in the park ; likewise the choicest 

 of the Conifers on the lawn have been greatly benefited by 

 this alteration. Each occupies a place befitting its grandeur. 

 This alteration has added to and materially improved the 

 appearance of the mansion. To the north stand handsome 

 specimens of Araucaria imbricata and Cedar of Lebanon, a 

 magnificent specimen of Pinus macrocarpa 50 feet high, and 

 about 30 feet in diameter 6 or 8 feet from the bottom ; also 

 many other species of excellent promise. Near this was a 

 plant of the Pampas Grass, with from sixty to seventy flower 

 spikes upon it. These and many other things connected with 

 the pleasure grounds which I have not space to mention, and 

 the improvements that have lately been made in this part, as 

 well as others in contemplation, will make Hothfield Place 

 more and more interesting year by year. 



Leaving the pleasure grounds, Mr. Durey took me to his 

 office, where he had in excellent keeping half a dozen Smooth 

 Cayenne Pines ; two or three of them weighed 7 lbs. each, 

 perfect in shape, with the pips well filled-out. In one of the pits 

 in the garden there were also a number of fruit of the Ripley 

 Queen Pine in various stages of ripening. After this, my long 

 journey home compelled me to make an early start, otherwise 

 I should have gone to inspect the improvements that have 

 lately been made for supplying the gardens with water. I 

 found Mr. Durey courteous and obliging in anything I wanted 

 to know, and I was very pleased to find the place everywhere 

 maintained the reputation it has for cleanliness and order. 

 Mr. Durey has long been known as a skilful and intelligent 

 gardener, which has not only been proved by the inspection of 

 his place, but his name is very familiar as a successful ex- 

 hibitor. — Thomas Recoed. 



AUTUMN-PLANTING POTATOES. 

 I always plant my main crop either the last week in Octo- 

 ber or the first week in November, according to the weather, 

 and the result is, I am not troubled with any diseased tubers, 

 and they are of a better flavour than those planted in the 

 spring. I plant them 6 inches deep, and 18 inches apart each 

 way. I always have the ground in readiness as soon as con- 

 venient. When planting time arrives I stretch the line across 

 the ground ; at the proper distance for the sets I have a good 

 spit of earth taken out with the spade, half fill the hole with 

 leaf mould, and then put in the sets. I next cover them with 

 the soil I took out. In this way I have splendid crops of Po- 

 tatoes. I generally put a slight covering of Utter over the 

 ground to prevent any severe frost reaching the sets. — H. H. 



WINTER-BLOOMING ACANTHADS. 



That so few grow these plants is much to be regretted, and 

 I am perfectly at a loss to understand why they have to such 

 a great extent slipped out of cultivation. True, they are not 

 very fitting subjects for the exhibition table, but then every 

 grower of plants is not a public exhibitor. To what, then, 

 can we attribute the absence of these free-flowering and beau- 

 tiful plants from our stoves ? Not to want of grace or variety 

 of colour, not to any difficulty attending then' cultivation, nor 

 to their paucity of flower, for their true character is the 

 reverse in all these respects. In the absence, then, of any 

 just grounds of complaint, and believing the order has been 

 very badly treated both at the hands of amateurs and pro- 

 fessional gardeners, I shall endeavour to win back the allegi- 

 ance of some of the deserters, and enlist some new lovers to 

 these highly ornamental plants. The first I shall notice is — ■ 



Diptekacanthus Heebstii. — This is a very beautiful plant, 

 well deserving the attention of everyone possessing a stove or 

 intermediate house. It is a plant of free growth, and with a 

 little pains may be grown into handsome little specimens in a 

 season. Longer than one year I should not advise this plant 

 to be grown, because cuttings are easily struck, and the one- 

 year-old plants are much the handsomest, and produce the 

 finest and most numerous blooms. The leaves are opposite, 

 oblong-lanceolate in shape ; the upper surface is dark green, 

 having a white stripe on each side of the midrib, whilst the 



lower side is of a uniform purplish red. The flowers are pro- 

 duced in the greatest profusion during the whole of the winter ; 

 they are tubular, some i inches long, the tube being delicate 

 rosy purple, and the limb white. The plants should be potted 

 in a mixture of about two parts peat and leaf mould, one part 

 good loam, and one part sand. Let the whole be thoroughly 

 incorporated; but neither for these Acanthads, nor, indeed, 

 any other plants, should potting be attempted when very wet. 

 After potting place them in a moist atmosphere. The tempe- 

 rature of a cool stove or intermediate house will suit theni 

 admirably. A liberal supply of water, and occasionally stopping 

 the shoots, in order to encourage the growth of laterals, are 

 all that is necessary for the formation of busby little plants 

 for blooming in winter, at which season they will produce for 

 some time a charming effect in the drawing-room or boudoir — 

 that is, if not subjected to the baneful influence of gas light. 

 It is a native of Brazil. 



Eeanthemuiis. — These plants need treatment nearly similar 

 to that necessary for the plant above-mentioned, but will, 

 perhaps, require more attention in the way of stopping to 

 produce good plants. 'When in bloom they are very elegant, 

 and they continue to produce then' chaste and beautiful flowers 

 through the whole of the winter months. 



E. asf-ekuh. — A slender-growing plant, whose branches are 

 clothed with narrowly-ovate dark green leaves, which are some 

 2 inches in length. The flowers are produced in clusters from 

 the axils of the leaves ; the upper lobes are pure white, 

 freckled and spotted with purple, whilst the lower portion is 

 wholly deep purple of a rich velvety appearance. It is a most 

 elegant plant for winter, and should be extensively grown. 

 Native of the South Pacific Islands. 



E. Coopekii. — This is a much stronger and larger-growing 

 plant than the last, but equally beautiful and effective; in- 

 deed, with a little care only, a handsome shrub may be formed, 

 which, when covered with its delicate flowers, presents a 

 charming appearance. The leaves are about 3 inches long, 

 lanceolate, with toothed margins, and deep green in colour. 

 Like the other species, the flowers are produced from the axils, 

 and are pure white, beautifully freckled with continuous lines 

 and dots of velvety purple. It remains in flower for several 

 months during the dullest season of the year. Native of New 

 Caledonia. 



E. Andebsonii. — As a species, this plant is probably very 

 nearly allied to E. asperum, but for winter decoration it is 

 both very distinct and beautiful. The flowers are produced 

 on good-sized spikes, and a well-grown plant is a very attrac- 

 tive object. The upper portion of the blooms is pure snow 

 white, as also is the ground colour of the lower lobes, over 

 which are diffused crimson dots ; but as the margin is not 

 dotted or spotted, it leaves a marginal line of white, which is 

 very effective. — Expeeto Ceede. 



IS GALVANISED WIRE INJURIOUS TO FRUIT 

 TREES? 

 Having received some inquiries respecting the use of gal- 

 vanised wire for the training of fruit trees and plants, I 

 think it best to give my experience and opinion publicly in 

 this Journal, as I believe there are many, besides those who 

 inquired of me, who entertain a strong objection to its use. 

 From what I can learn, the prevailing opinion with those who 

 object to its use is, that the bare metal has at certain times a 

 sort of galvanic effect upon the branches of such tender sub- 

 jects as Peach and Apricot trees, so as to cause the disease 

 called gumming in the wood. It may be so, but in aU my ex- 

 perience of the use of galvanised wire of different sizes, both 

 under glass and in the open air, I have failed to discover, when a 

 case of gumming has occurred , that its origin could be attributed 

 to the galvanic action of the wire. It may accelerate the evil 

 after the wound is created, but I am not so certain about that, 

 and believe that in most cases, I will not say all, gumming'is 

 brought on in the tying and training of the trees. Mind, I am 

 alluding to wire-trained trees only. It is weU known that 

 Peach, and especially Apricot trees, are very susceptible of the 

 gum disease, and in some rich retentive soils, where luxuriant 

 growth occurs, more particularly so. It is as well known that 

 the bark of the young shoots is as tender, and perhaps more 

 easily injured than that of any other hardy fruit tree grown m 

 this country ; therefore the process of tying and training the 

 branches to wires is one of the delicate operations in then- 

 treatment. If the shoot when tied press too tightly against 



