January 31, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



-/ 



"Lord Bute's Vineyards," by Mr. A. Pettigrew ; "How to 

 Popularize Orchid Growing," by Mr. E. H. Woodhall ; 

 "Origin of Common Vegetables and their Value as Food," 

 by Professor G. Henslow, M.A., F. L.S., etc. ; "Chrysanthe- 

 mums," by Mr. C. E. Shea ; " Principles of Judging at 

 Flower Shows," by Mr. James Douglas. 



William Ingram. — English horticulture has sustained a 

 serious loss through the death of Mr. Ingram, the gardener 

 at Belvoir Castle, where he held the reins for forty years, 

 doing first-rate work, especially among fruit and hardy 

 alpine and herbaceous plants. He made Belvoir famous 

 for its spring gardening by his skillful arrangement of all 

 kinds of hardy spring-flowering plants, the whole garden 

 wearing a natural and beautiful aspect at all times. He was 

 an exceptionally well-informed man, ornithology and ge- 

 ology, as well as botany and horticulture, being pursued 

 by him with zeal until just before his death. He was the 

 son of the Queen's gardener at Frogmore, Windsor, where 

 he was born in 1820. D. Lindley recommended him to be 

 head-gardener at Hadfield, from whence he went to take 

 charge of Belvoir Gardens in 1S53. 



London. 



W. Watson. 



Cultural Department. 



Forcing Tomatoes. 



IN New England, under the most favorable conditions, toma- 

 toes can seldom be gathered in the open air before the 

 middle of July, and as the outdoor supply is practically ex- 

 hausted by the end of October we are dependent during 

 nearly three-fourths of the year either upon inferior tomatoes 

 from the southern states, or upon those grown under glass by 

 near-by market-growers. 



To produce good tomatoes in winter it is not necessary to 

 have a specially built house. They can be fruited successfully 

 in any light house where a minimum temperature of fifty-five 

 to sixty degrees can be maintained. We utilize an end or 

 some other portion of a Rose-house where the shade of the 

 Tomato-plants is not likely to injure any plants below them, 

 and we find no difficulty in having a good supply from the 

 time outdoor plants finish bearing until they again come in. 

 The first sowing of seed is made about July loth, in a cold- 

 frame ; when sufficiently large to handle, the plants are pricked 

 off into boxes of rich loam, from which they are successively 

 moved to four-inch, six-inch and eight-inch pots, and from the 

 latter size to their flowering-pots, which are usually twelve 

 inches in diameter. The compost we use consists of two parts 

 loam to one part well-decayed cow-manure, or a less portion 

 of pulverized sheep-manure. The pots should be well drained 

 and the compost pressed moderately firm. It is well to leave 

 a space of at least four inches for successive surface dressings, 

 which are very beneficial and may be given weekly as soon as 

 the pots are well filled with roots, and the fruit begins to 

 swell. For this purpose a small handful of sheep-manure and 

 Barker's hill and drill phosphate, mixed with fine loam, will 

 be found admirable. Liquid-manure may also be applied ; 

 once a week is often enough in the depth of winter, but later 

 in the season it can be given every other day. Tomatoes are 

 gross feeders, and any good liquid will serve the purpose. 



From plants raised from seed sown on the 10th of last July 

 we picked the first tomatoes on November 1st, before our 

 outdoor supply was exhausted. A Tomato-plant will fruit 

 profitably for six months with proper care ; but it is not advis- 

 able to depend on one sowing for the entire season's supply, 

 and we make successive sowings in October, December and 

 January. Half a dozen pots from each sowing is sufficient for 

 all the needs of an ordinary establishment. We grow our 

 plants in pots, so that they can be moved about, if occasion 

 requires. While they need more attention in watering than 

 when planted out, they are less liable to be attacked by club- 

 foot, and, in fact, while plants in beds invariably suffer in this 

 way, I have never had any of the disease on pot-grown plants. 

 Opinions differ as to whether a plant grown with a single stem, 

 or one with lateral branches is the best. We prefer the 

 latter in every case. The leaves are less robust, thefruit comes 

 -of a better shape and there is far more of it than on the single 

 stem specimens. Two laterals are sufficient on a plant. Once 

 a week all extra shoots should be rubbed off, decaying leaves 

 removed and the plants tied up ; it is well also to shorten back 

 the more elongated leaves and thus give all the light possible 

 to the fruit during the dark winter months. Tomatoes natu- 



rally prefer a warm, dry atmosphere and should not be 

 syringed at any time. If mildew shows itself the affected leaves 

 must be cut off, and a mixture of sulphur and lime put on the 

 flow pipe. Artificial fertilization of the blossoms is absolutely 

 necessary from November to March ; after that it is not re- 

 quired. The strings or wires may be tapped to disseminate 

 the pollen, or the flowers can be separately gone over with a 

 camel's-hair brush. The middle of a bright day should be 

 taken for this operation. 



I suppose every Tomato-grower has his pet forcing variety. 

 I have tested a dozen varieties during the past four winters, 

 and the one which stands out pre-eminently at the head of the 

 list is Nicholson's Hybrid. The tomatoes are of small size, 

 averaging six to eight to the pound. It sets from five to eight 

 on a bunch in winter, and occasionally ten to fourteen ; the 

 fruit is solid, smooth and delicious in flavor. It commences 

 to fruit when younger than any other kind and produces 

 smaller foliage than other sorts tested. We purpose retaining 

 Nicholson's Hybrid and growing no other until some better 

 variety asserts itself. 



Taunton, Mass. W. N. Craig. 



Chinese Primroses. 



FEW plants have been taken in hand by old-time cultivators 

 which yielded to improvement so readily as Primula 

 Sinensis. We are forcibly reminded of this by the rediscovery 

 of the wild plant in the mountains of Ichang by Dr. Henry 

 and others, after the lapse of seventy years or more. In the 

 original plant the petals are deeply lobed in the centre and per- 

 fectly smooth at the edges, but through the selective skill of 

 the cultivator these features are eliminated, and in their place 

 we have a perfectly round flower, the petals thick in texture, 

 exquisitely fringed, and of almost every conceivable shade of 

 color except yellow. It must be remembered, also, that all of 

 this is due to training and selection alone, and none of it to hy- 

 bridizing, for P. Sinensis has hitherto refused to cross with any 

 of its relatives; that we have pure white, deep red, crimson, 

 pink and lavender shades of this flower from the original 

 color, and that a poor one is a result which helps us to appre- 

 ciate what can be accomplished by patient striving with a defi- 

 nite aim in view. 



At all events, we have secured a most useful winter-flower- 

 ing plant within the reach of any one who can command the 

 use of the most modest greenhouse. Our summer weather is 

 rather too warm to be exactly adapted to the needs of the Chi- 

 nese Primrose, but in a cold frame, placed in a shady position, 

 the plants grow well during the hottest weather, especially if 

 the sashes are removed at night to give them the benefit of 

 the night dews. These Primulas are most useful from Novem- 

 ber to February, a period when there is always a dearth of 

 good pot-plants in flower, and to have good plants at this time 

 an early start must be made, so we always sow seed the last 

 week in March. The seed germinates slowly, and often un- 

 evenly, so that it is best to take out the largest ones as soon as 

 they are of sufficient size to be moved, and this will give the 

 weaker ones a chance. For potting material, good loam, leaf- 

 mold stacked one year and chopped fine, some material from 

 a spent Mushroom-bed, and plenty of sand added, make a 

 compost that Primulas, Cinerarias and Cyclamens delight in. 

 It rarely pays to pot Primulas in pots larger than a six-inch 

 size unless huge specimen plants are required. For such a 

 purpose the most vigorous plants may be selected during 

 summer and grown on as vigorously as possible. Plants from 

 seed sown earlier than the date recommended often flower 

 prematurely, and the colors are never good until the cool win- 

 ter months, neither are they seasonable. As has been said 

 already, a cool place in summer is desirable for the growth of 

 Primulas, but on the approach of cold damp weather in fall it 

 is best to remove the plants to a cool greenhouse where a 

 temperature of at least fifty degrees can be maintained at 

 night, with a rise of a few degrees by day. Careful attention 

 to watering is essential during the dull months of winter, or 

 the plants decay at the level of the soil. 



The so-called blue Primulas are more delicate than those of 

 other colors ; so much so that to secure good plants it is best 

 to sow the seeds at least a month earlier than the other kinds. 

 More warmth, too, is required in the autumn months to do 

 them justice; but any extra attention is well repaid for the 

 shades of lavender showing up most attractively among the 

 intense crimsons and pure whites. Special varieties are so 

 numerous now that it is impossible to keep account of them, 

 but we have been much pleased this season with Rosy Queen, 

 a beautiful soft pink, the color being uniform and the foliage 

 Fern-leaved. Gipsy Queen is also distinct, having deep purple 



