624 



THE GAEDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



well two years in succession. Weak inside shoots should 

 be cut out. 



For December and January the best are: — JR. Nobleanum, 

 bright-red, white if forced hard, can be had in flower at 

 Christmas; R. flavum {Azalea pontica), yellow, sweetly 

 scented ; R. preeco.c, rosy-purple ; R. Rosy Bell, dwarf, 

 with drooping, white, rose-tinted flowers. 



For February and March the best are: — R. caucasicum 

 album, white ; R. Everestianum, rosy-lilac ; R. fastuosum 

 flore pleno, lilac ; Grand Arab, red ; John Waterer, red ; 

 Limbatum, white, margined crimson; Lord John Russell, 

 purple; Mrs. John Clutton, white; Prince Camille de 

 Rohan, red ; Sappho, white, black spots ; Vesuvius, red ; 

 Boule de Niege, Cynthia, John Walter, and Felix de 

 Sauvage. 



R. sinense (mollis). — One of the best deciduous shrubs 

 for early forcing, and bears a high temperature well. 

 The flowers show great variety of colour, from yellow 

 to brick-red. 



Ribes. — The most serviceable are R. aureum, with 

 fragrant yellow flowers, and R. sanguineum, var. atro- 

 sanguineum, red; both easily forced. 



Robinia hispida has pretty drooping racemes of 

 rose-coloured flowers, which may be forced earl}' into 

 bloom if established in pots and not put into much heat. 



Roses. — Many of the varieties of Rose may be success- 

 fully forced, but they require some preparation if good 

 specimens and fine flowers are wanted. A Rose should 

 be three years old before it is forced ; after that, if properly 

 treated, it will last for years. They should be on their 

 own roots, plants on the Manetti stock producing suckers 

 freely. Cuttings of half -ripened wood, taken with a heel, 

 and inserted in 5-inch pots fille 1 with turfy loam and leaf- 

 mould, plunged in bottom-heat, soon root. A frame placed 

 on a dung bed, with 6 inches of cocoa fibre-refuse in which 

 to plunge the pots, is a suitable place for them, if plenty 

 of air is given daily, and as soon as they are established, 

 the lights taken off altogether. They may be wintered in 

 a cold frame and protected from frost. Cut them back to 

 two eyes in January, and give no water until they begin 

 to grow, when they should be repotted, and if the weather 

 is favourable, plunged on the open border, giving plenty 

 of water. All flower-buds should be picked off. In the 

 autumn they must be again protected in a cold pit or 

 house, pruned in January, shortening the strong shoots to 

 three or four eyes, and plunging them out again in the 

 open ground. 



About midsummer they should be repotted in good 

 turfy loam and cow-dung, with a little powdered brick 

 rubbish or charcoal to keep the soil open, adding a little 

 leaf-mould for the delicate tea-scented sorts, and again 

 placing them in the open air; they will not require potting 

 again until they have flowered. Some of the Teas may 

 be allowed to flower in autumn. 



The plants should be pruned according to the time at 

 which they are required to be in bloom. For instance, 

 plants required to bloom at Christmas should be pruned 

 not later than the first week in October ; and they must 

 be brought very gradually on, allowing three months for 

 them to make their growth and flower. They require to 

 be frequently fumigated to destroy aphides, and the maggot 

 must be diligently sought for and killed. 



The following are recommended as the best sorts for 

 forcing: — 



Twenty Hybrid Perpetuals. 



Duke of Edinburgh. 

 Fisher Holmes. 

 General Jacqueminot. 

 Gustav Piganeau. 

 Jules Margottin. 

 La France. 

 Madame Lacharme. 



Amazone. 

 Anna Olivier. 

 Catherine Mermet. 

 Cleopatra. 

 Edith Gifford. 

 Ernest Metz. 

 Ethel Brownlow. 

 Etoile de Lyon. 

 Gloire de Dijon. 

 Laurette Messimy. 



Marchioness of Londonderry. 



Marie Baumann. 



Mrs. John Laing. 



Pride of Waltham. 



S. M. Rodocanachi. 



Ulrich Brunner. 



Victor Hugo. 



Tiventy Teas. 



Madame de Watteville. 



Madame Hoste. 



Madame Lambard. 



Marechal Neil. 



Medea. 



Niphetos. 



Rubens. 



S. A. Prince. 



Souvenir d'un Ami. 



The Bride. 



Anna Alexieff. 

 Baroness de Rothschild. 

 Camille Bernardin. 



Captain Christy. 

 Caroline Testout. 

 Duchesse de Valambrossa. 



Spiraea. — Some species force readily in an inter- 

 mediate temperature to flower in February ; by attention 

 to pruning and feeding they may be used two or three 

 successive years. The best are: — S. arguta, small star- 

 shaped flowers in great profusion; S. media, Hawthorn- 

 like bunches of flowers, freely produced; S. prunifolia 

 flore pleno, white, long wand-like shoots; S. Thunbergii, 

 small starry -white flowers in great quantity; S. Van 

 Houttei, white flowers like S. media. 



Staphylea colchica is one of the best shrubs for 

 forcing, as it produces large panicles of pure-white flowers 

 from Christmas onwards ; should be rested on alternate 

 years. 



Syringa (Lilac) (fig. 752). — Large quantities of forced 

 Lilac bloom may be seen in the florists' shops in winter ; 

 it is obtained from plants prepared as follows: — The best 



Fig 752.— Syringa vulgaris (Lilac). 



varieties are grafted on stocks of the common, the scion 

 being inserted 6 inches above the ground. They are 

 allowed to grow for two seasons, strong shoots only being 

 allowed to remain. At the end of the second year they 

 have from eight to twelve strong growths each. At the 

 end of July or beginning of August, before they are re- 



