November 29, 1864. ] JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



431 



the Upton Nurseries. They are grown to a large extent, 

 the variety of the sorts being- in keeping with the area of 

 their cultivation. Of standard-trained trees there are strong 

 and handsome specimens of Apples, Pears, Cherries, Peaches, 

 Nectarines, and Apricots. Of dwarf trained trees the quan- 

 tity is very considerable, including Peaches, Apricots, Nec- 

 tarines, Plums, Cherries, and Pears. The Peaches and 

 Nectarines are as fine and handsome specimens as could be 

 wished for. The growing taste in favour of fruit trees in 

 the pyramidal form is apparent here by the extent to 

 which they are cultivated. They are more ornamental than 

 standard trees for kitchen gardens. The fruit is screened 

 to a great extent from the force of the wind, and the trees 

 occupy less room in the garden. There were here capital 

 specimen trees of this shape of the best varieties of Apples, 

 Pears, Plums, and Cherries. The fruit tree department also 

 comprises Gooseberries, including all the best Lancashire 

 show varieties, as well as sorts for kitchen purposes and 

 preserving-; Currants in extensive variety, Strawberries in 

 all the leading kinds, Raspberries, &c." 



Such are my informant's words ; and I am sure, if this 

 department equals in completeness the ornamental portion 

 -which I visited, it must be exceedingly well worth a visit. — 

 D., Deal. 



LILIUM LANCIFOLIUM CULTURE. 



In your Journal of November loth, in an article on the 

 cultivation of the Japan Lily, Lilium lancifolium. Mr. 

 Earley recommends January and February as the best 

 times for potting it for successional flowering ; but I think 

 either of the above months much too late, as the roots are 

 always active, consequently these should be potted as soon 

 as the foliage is ripe. 



I potted half a dozen large pots the first week in October, 

 and I hope by the time at which Mr. Earley recommends 

 potting, to have the pots full of roots, and very strong stems 

 coming through the soil. 



By this treatment I frequently have twelve or fifteen 

 flowers on a stem, and should I want the plants in bloom by 

 the first week in July, I can easily do so by placing them in 

 a cool, airy place in the conservatory all the summer, whereas 

 if I want them in August or September I have only to place 

 them in a sheltered spot out of doors as soon as the weather 

 will permit — say early in June. 



They will require shading or to be placed under the shade 

 of trees for a few days which amounts to the same thing. I 

 mention my diifermg from Mr. Earley, because I do so from 

 long experience in the cultivation of the above beautiful 

 flower, and I am thoroughly convinced that half the miser- 

 able specimens often met with, are the results of late potting, 

 and neglecting to soil up the roots thrown off the stems in 

 the early stages of their growth: 



I have this season ripened a quantity of seed of a fine 

 variety of Lilium lancifolium rubrum, impregnated with the 

 pollen of punctatum, and should be obliged by a few hints on 

 the management of seedlings from any of your correspond- 

 ents. I thought of sowing the seeds in a frame on a south 

 border, in some well prepared ground. If I do so, with 

 liberal treatment how long will it take me to flower them ? 

 — W. Bkown, The Gardens, Elmdon Hall, near Birmingliam. 



I have read with pleasure the letter from your corre- 

 spondent, Mr. W. Earley, on the cultivation of that most 

 interesting bulb, Lilium lancifolium ; and although I may 

 agree with him, so far as concerns the production of speci- 

 men pots full of bulbs and their management, I totally dis- 

 agree with him if he means to convey, that by his mode of 

 treatment the plant and flower can be developed so as to 

 show their beauties to advantage. To do this every bulb 

 must be planted in a separate pot and flowered singly, 

 carefully avoiding that most objectionable practice of staking, 

 which I consider quite unnecessary. To my fancy it quite 

 destroys the natural appearance of a stem, which has a most 

 imposing effect when grown straight and free from support. 

 I will now state the results of some years' experience which 

 may be read with pleasure by some of your correspondents. 



I have grown small Lilium bulbs to the weight of 1 lb. 

 each, and which in three years produced flower-stems 



5i feet high, perfectly straight without the assistance of a 

 single stake or support, and each bearing sixteen or eighteen 

 blooms of such size that each petal measured in many cases 

 1| inch across. 



I have never tried to keep up a succession of flowers, but, 

 as in any large collection some will flower earlier than 

 others, I was quite satisfied to plant all my bulbs at the 

 same time, and take the chance of their lasting quite long 

 enough, at least until such time as the room in my small 

 greenhouse was required for some other favourite. I com- 

 menced to plant at Christmas after having carefully ex- 

 amined the roots which I had always shaken out of their 

 pots a month before. I removed all decayed roots and scales, 

 of which latter very few ought to appear if the bulbs are 

 healthy. 



The soil which I have found most suitable for my purpose 

 is an equal portion of fibrous peat, leaf mould, and maiden 

 loam or well-decayed turf, with a good admixture of silver 

 sand. Each bulb, according to its size, is planted in a pot 

 5 or 6 inches in diameter, well drained with some broken 

 flower-pots, over which I place a layer of moss. I plant, not 

 as Mr. Earley recommends, with the top of the bulb over 

 the top of the soil, but well below the surface, bedding the 

 bulb and covering it with silver sand, as a fancier would a 

 valuable Tulip or Gladiolus. I give them, when planted, a 

 good soaking of water, and then allow them to remain almost 

 without any on the floor of the greenhouse until they fairly 

 start into growth — say about 2 or 3 inches. The very fact 

 that the natural habit of the bulb is to throw out a regular 

 wig of roots at the point from which the stem starts, ought 

 to be sufficient to illustrate the necessity of keeping it well 

 under the surface, for I believe it is not from the roots of 

 the under portion of the bulb that the flowers are nourished, 

 but from those over the bulb at the base of the flower-stem. 



When they reach this second stage, I shift each bulb 

 into a nine-inch pot drained as before, taking care to plunge 

 the plant still deeper; but being sure to leave at least 

 2 inches at the top of the pot for top-dressing in June. This 

 top-dressing consists of good fresh soil mixed with well- 

 decayed cow manure. These Lilies will bear good rich top- 

 dressing. Manure mixed with the soil will do more or less 

 injury to the bulb, and every particle of what is used until 

 June should be as fresh and free from any decomposed 

 matter (except the leaf mould), as possible. 



After the final potting I place the pots on a sheltered 

 gravel-walk in a southern aspect, guarding as far as possible 

 against worms and slugs getting under the pots. I syringe 

 every morning and evening, and never let the soil become 

 quite dry. By turning the pots carefully towards the light 

 when the plants show any inclination not to grow quite 

 upright, I have never had occasion to stake them. By 

 this treatment they will grow with beautifully polished 

 leaves down to the edge of the pot, and will repay the 

 trouble they may occasion up to the time of placing them 

 in the greenhouse for flowering. This time I estimate by 

 the size and condition of the buds, which ought to be well 

 and fully formed before housing.— John Cotter Beale, 

 Cork. 



BACK WALL v. RAFTERS OF AN ORCHARD 

 HOUSE FOR VINES. 



Will a Black Hamburgh Vine do equally well, bear as 

 large Grapes, and come as early to perfection planted against 

 the back wall of an orchard-house, which wall is slated, as 

 under the rafters of the same house, the Vine being planted 

 in this case in the front border ? The first plan I prefer, as 

 the Vines under the rafters shade the fruit trees so much. 

 If planted against the wall, I suppose there is no better plan 

 than to let them grow perpendicularly, and train the laterals 

 at right angles. — A. B. 



[If the trees in the front part of the orchard-house do not 

 keep the light of the sun from the back wall, the Vine will 

 not only do as well against that wall as if trained up the 

 rafters, and but for the slate-facing of the wall the Vine ought 

 to ripen its wood and its fruit earlier. If there is any risk 

 of the wall becoming too hot, you could keep the stem half 

 an inch or an inch from it. The bunches will be shaded 

 sufficiently from the foliage. You might cover the whole of 



