April, 1914 



487 



ar« liable to ravage the rows. I 

 make out no claim whatever lor 

 them in cooler climates, such as 

 Tasmauia or New I'.ealand. I do 

 say, however, that in a few 

 months, we shall have ten or a 

 do7.en varieties blooming in the 

 months of April or May, which will 

 riviU the typical blooms of the 

 spring flowering race in size,, form, 

 colour, and luunber of flowers, aiul 

 length of stem ; while at the same 

 time this new race — for it will be 

 a new race — will remain in bloonv 

 for as many months as the present 

 darling of fashion in the floral 

 world does weeks. 



♦ 



Some Peculiarities of 

 Mistletoe. 



As everyone knows, the Mietletoo 

 is a parasite living upon various 

 trees. It is most often seen grow- 

 ing upon the Apple, but it is also 

 met with on the Hawthorn, Wil- 

 low, Poplar, Ivime, Maple, Moun- 

 tain Ash, and even on Cedar of 

 Lebanon and Larch. There is a 

 popular impression, writes " The 

 Garden," that the Mistletoe has a 

 great liking for the Oak, while, as 

 a matter of fact, the two are sel- 

 dom found together. The rare oc- 

 currence of Mistletoe growing upon 

 Oak was held sacred by the Druids 

 and regarded as a Divine gift. Dr. 

 BuU, in a paper in the " Journal 

 of Botany," only mentions seven 

 authentic instances of the growth 

 of Mistlefoe on the Oak in this 

 country. Since then, however, 

 other instances have been recorded. 



The very slow growth made by 

 the Mistletoe plant in the first few 

 years of its existence has been a 

 cause of anxiety to those who have 

 fondly hoped to grow large bunch- 

 es of Mistletoe in their gardens in 

 a short space of time. 



Unquestionably, the most fre- 

 quent host plant of the Mistletoe 

 is the Apple, and it is notorious 

 that soane old orchards, notatly in 

 Herefordshire, carry hea\4er crops 

 of Mistletoe than of Apples. 

 A most singular thing concerning 

 Mistletoe is that although it occurs 

 on a wide range of trees and is 

 so very common on the Apple, 

 yet it is never found on the Pear. 

 Some attempts to grow Mistletoe 

 on Pear trees were made last year, 

 and the results were so remark- 

 able that the sub ject has since been 

 brought before the scientific com- 

 mittee of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society. Mistletoe seed was sown 

 on a number of Pear trees, and in 



in«ny instances germination took 

 place. In no case, however, did 

 the Mistletoe get beyond the stage 

 of germinatii>n, and no leaves 

 were develoiied. The effect upon 

 the Pear was very noticeable, for 

 the IVIistletoe, in its attempt to 

 establish itself, killed all the tissue 

 of the tree stem just within the 

 bark, completely encircling the 

 stem. .Ml growth was killed above 

 the point where the Mistletoe had 

 germinated. 



♦ 



Planting Shrubberries. 



Whether the proposed new shrub- 

 beries are to be large or small, 

 e\ ery effort should be made to 

 prepare the soil well, to put in the 

 most suitable kinds of shrubs, and 

 to arrange them in the most at- 

 trtictive way. Even a very small 

 shrubbery makes a dwelling-house 

 look more substantial, inviting and 

 comfortable. Furthermore, shrubs 

 afford the cultivator a great 

 amount of interest. He derives 

 pleasure from watching their 

 growth, and in association with 

 them' he can, all the more effectiyjs- 

 ly, arrange other subjects in the 

 garden. Some shrubs look best 

 \when grown in beds on the lawn, 

 others are more suitable for grow- 

 ing in side borders near paths and 

 walls, whilei many are most 

 effective when treated as speci- 

 mens. Very fine shrubs can be 

 grown in quite poor soil if it is 

 well treated. So many cultiva- 

 tors are under the impression that 

 it is useless for them to attempt 

 to form a shrubbery because the 

 rooting medium is indifferent as 

 regards quality. Of course, really 

 rich soils helps matters wonderful- 

 ly ; but there is a great deal that 

 is of poor quality, and those per- 

 sons who have to grow shrubs in 

 such should make it as suitable as 

 possible before putting in the 

 ]5lants. Trenching is the first con- 

 sideration. Whether the soil be 

 rich, gravely, sandy, peaty, or 

 clayey, it must l>e trenched to a 

 depth of at least 20 inches. Thirty 

 inches would be better, especially 

 in cases where the larger kinds of 

 shrubs are to be grown. In carry- 

 ing out the work, the cultivator 

 must keep the surface soil on the 

 top, simply turning it over and 

 breai^ing it up. The subsoil must 

 be kept below and well loosened 

 with the aid of the garden fork. 

 If there is a grass turf to deal 

 with, the latter mnst be buried 

 about nine inches below the sur- 

 face and chopped into squares. In 

 a short time it will commence to 



decay and supply nourishing food 

 for the shrubs for a considerable 

 time. In every case the Ijest soil 

 must be kept near tlie surface, but 

 where poor soils obtain, the most 

 nourisliiug foods should be placed 

 on the surface or just l>elow it, 

 as, owing to the porosity of the 

 soil, the rains will soon wash down 

 all the best portion below the reach 

 of the roots. — " The Oarden." 







Sweet Peas as Bedding 

 Plants. 



During recent years the cultiva- 

 tion of vSweet Peas for garden de- 

 coration has been carried out in 

 many ways, and in some a great 

 deal of ingenuity has been display- 

 ed. With such a free-flowering and 

 easily-grown annual it is not diffi- 

 cult to understand the desire of 

 the amateur to put it to as many 

 uses as pos.sible ; but we do not 

 ever remember seeing it used as a 

 beddin r plant. We refer, of course, 

 to the Sweet Pea proper, says The 

 Garden, and not the Cupid forms 

 of it. When visiting a market- 

 garden establishment in a country 

 district last summer, we were sur- 

 prised to come across a large bed 

 of Sweet Peas that were grown, pri- 

 marilv for Droviding cut flowers, 

 but which had, by some means or 

 other escaped being staked. The 

 result was that the plants had be- 

 come procumbent and the growths 

 had intertwined, so that the whole 

 made one glorious bed of fragrant, 

 delicately-poised blossoms. No 

 doubt Sweet Pea enthusiasts 

 would term this bad cultivation, 

 but with this we should not agree. 

 It is uncon\entional, but the el- 

 fect was most pleasing. The flow- 

 ers were of good size and quality. 

 The owner informed us that im- 

 mense quantities of good blooms 

 had been cut from the bed, and 

 that the plants had been in good 

 and florifierous condition for many 

 weeks. 



Those who have large lawn beds 

 to fill, and who are looking out for 

 a cheap and unique method of do- 

 ing so, might well sow or plant 

 them with Sweet Peas on the lines 

 suggested. If desired, a good pil- 

 lar could be formed as a centre- 

 piece bv pro\iding supports in the 

 form of sticks or wire or bird net- 

 ting for the plant there to scram'blei 

 over. The only drawback to grow- 

 ing Sweet Peas in beds in this way 

 is the difficultv of keeping the 

 plant well picked and free from all 

 spent bloom. 



