COMMONPLACK NOTKS. 



209 



COMMONPLACE NOTES. 

 By The Sbcbbtaby and Bupebintbndent. 



Saxifkauas FBOM BBBD. 



A Fellow says he lias had great trouble in raising Saxifragas txom 



seed. Possibly the seed was very old, or possibly lie did not treat them 

 rightly, for we always find them germinate both quickly and well. First 

 of all (as with everything else) the pots must be clean. It is astonishing 

 how many people calling themselves gardeners are content to use; dirty 

 pots. The soil used should be about half leaf-mould and half loam, with 

 a little silver sand, and it should be all well mixed and passed through 

 a fine sieve. Plenty of clean sharp crocks should be used for drainage. 

 The surface of the soil in the pots should be made both firm and level ; then 

 sow the seeds thinly and add a very little fine sand - not enough to cover 

 or for the purpose of covering the seeds, but to keep them from moving 

 about and all floating to one spot when they are watered, which should be 

 done very carefully and gently. The pots should then be placed in a 

 gentle heat with a piece of glass over each pot to prevent undue evapora- 

 tion. Shade should be given whenever the sun is out. As soon as the 

 seeds have come up the pots should be moved at once into a cold frame, 

 continuing to shade lightly, and when large enough to handle they should 

 without delay be potted separately, kept close for a couple of days, and 

 shaded until established, when they may be hardened off for outdoor 

 planting. 



Sulphub on Hot Pipes. 



" Is any harm done to Grapes by putting sulphur on the pipes during 

 and after flowering?" How hard it is to make folk understand that 

 what may be excellent at one time may be execrable at another, and 

 vice versa ! Much harm is often done by putting sulphur on the hot-water 

 pipes while the vines are in blossom ; indeed, it is not safe to use it for 

 some time afterwards whilst the skin of the berries is still tender. If 

 used when the vines are in bloom it causes them to set very sparsely, 

 and if used whilst the skin is tender it will often make the bunches rusty. 

 Sulphur on the pipes is at the proper season a good thing, but it should 

 not be used until the berries are half -grown. 



Hybridisation and Selection. 



In a former issue we urged the desirability of everybody interested in 

 gardening taking up some one plant or other and endeavouring to improve 

 it or get it to vary, and then selecting the best variety over a series of 

 generations until it had become " fixed." Numerous inquiries have been 

 sent to us since as to what plants can be suggested for the purpose. The 

 question is only difficult to answer from the fact that there is hardly a 

 plant in cultivation which might not yield rich fruit if thus treated. We 

 suggested as an example crossing our common white Wood Anemone with 

 the scarlet and blue forms of Anemone coronaria, and with the scarlet 

 Anemone fulgent, making the Wood Anemone the seed parent, so as to 

 endeavour to obtain a plant with all the hardiness and freedom of the 



