37 6 



GA RDENERS' MA GAZINE. 



at once, by placing them in a cool house or shed, but in this case the water 

 supp?y shoulfbe entirely cut off. Continue potting-up young s ock as he pots 

 become full of roots, as it is only so much lost time and vigour to wait till a big 

 ba ch is ready before potting, and nothing is gained by allowing plants to become 

 pot-bound unUl they occupy their fruiting pots. A portion of the larger plants 

 intended for fruiting early in the autumn may be kept dry for a week or two, 

 as this is generally safe practice to induce them to throw up fruits quickly. 

 Bananas wil! now benefit greatly by being treated to a top-dressing of bonemeal 

 and eood loam, first removing or stirring up the surface soil, which will probably 

 have turned somewhat sour, and then applying from two inches to three inches of 

 the mixture, and over all an inch or two of half-decayed horse droppings. Bones 

 when properly treated, area perfectly safe manure, and their use can hardly be over- 

 done The summer weather we may now expect will cause the bananas to grow 

 freely and sun heat should be husbanded for them, for, unlike many other fruits, 

 the stronger and quicker they grow the better will be the results. Plenty of 

 atmospheric moisture should be kept up in the house. Pot plums and other 

 orchard-house fruits should have the points nipped out of the new growth, as this 

 will develop spurs and prevent the trees from growing wild and straggly. There 

 is no doubt that the finger and thumb form the best pruning instrument for all 

 stone fruits, and especially for those which are liable to gumming, and this fact 

 should not be forgotten while summer growth is going on.— J. C. Tallack, 

 Liver mere Park Gardens. 



Gardening Charities and Gardeners' 



Wages. 



Rfxently there has been a revival of a discussion that has often been mooted 

 and never satisfactorily settled, viz., how far the low wages of gardeners prevent 

 them as a class from supporting the Royal Gardeners' Orphan Fund and the 

 Gardeners* Royal Benevolent Institution. A correspondent recently stated in a 

 contemporary that he could noUdo so on an income of 2 is. 3d. a week. A sub- 

 scriber writing in reply doubts whether he would miss this money, or feel the 

 poorer if he subscribed a penny farthing a week to the Royal Gardeners' Orphan 

 Fund, or fivepence to the Gardeners' Benevolent Institution. ^ Perhaps not ; but 

 only the wearer can fairly judge of how and where the shoe pinches. And there 

 can be no doubt that poverty is the plea most generally urged by gardeners for not 

 cordially and generously supporting their own charities. We know that others, 

 such as the election of non-subscribers for pensions over the heads of those who 

 have subscribed for years, and other objections are often urged. But as all these 

 matters and the working of our charities from first to last are in the hands of the 

 subscribers, and the funds are administered with great care and exemplary economy, 

 there is little force or foundation for complaints. 



And yet there must be something seriously wanting or rotten in the state of 

 Denmark, that is, the state of feeling and action in regard to these charities, 

 w hen it can he said that out of the thousands of names of gardeners that appear in 

 the 44 Horticultural Directory " there are only three hundred practical gardeners who 

 contribute to the Royal Gardeners' Orphan Fund, and of these only thirteen hailed 

 from Scotland, the land of gardeners as of cakes, and still fewer from Ireland ; 

 and yet at the same time there are eight — children of gardeners — orphans re- 

 ceiving the benefits of this most excellent charity, at the amount of ^104 per 

 annum. After such an apt illustration we must forgive the sting of the reproof 

 given by M Subscriber for its broad and genial humour, which describes Sandy 

 as a decent man who keeps the Sabbath and everything else he can lay his hands 

 on. But it is really not so. The partial, almost complete, neglect of our chari- 

 ties in many ijuarters arises from want of thought, and neither from hard hearts 

 or indifference or callousness to the sufferings or wants of others. Gardeners 

 have also left their charities to others too often and too much, leaning too heavily 

 on the guineas of employers, nurserymen and the Press, instead of on their own 

 pence and shillings. 



The littles of the many may amount to much more than the muckles of the 

 rich, while they would deepen and (widen the areas of feeling and of effort. Were 

 every gardener determined to share the burden and the honour of having a finger 

 in the pie of contributing to or helping to administer our charities, the difficult 

 problem of the suffering and the sorrows of our brothers and sisters in distress and 

 their fatherless children would be as good as solved. If, exclaims " Subscriber," 

 nine out of every ten gardeners in employment subscribed five shillings a year 

 there would be no need of elections to the fund, but ample means would be 

 available for the decent maintenance of every gardener's widow or child. 



D. T. F. 



Phlebodum glaucum var. Mayi.— This very beautiful form of Phlebo- 

 dum (Polypodum) glaucum, exhibited by Mr. H. B. May, at the Temple Show, 

 is an extremely interesting one to the British fernist, as representing precisely the 

 same sport in that exotic species as we have in the cambricum form of Polypodum 

 vulgare, viz., the plumose type. It is further remarkable as constituting one of 

 those rare instances of a direct sport from the normal, for which we are usually 



indeUcd to nature under wild conditions of growth. If we follow the history of 

 fern spr—- v - / 



find in 



ftmilar origin elsewhere. These being introduced and raised from spores other 

 sports or variations follow, but the first or initial step, as we have said, does not 

 as a rule make its appearance under culture. There are, of course, exceptions, as 

 m this case, and it would be strange indeed were it otherwise, considering that very 



TZL aT? r ° f fems are raised ever y season > Md ^ is therefore only to be 

 «™ ?• n ' onem a million of normal plants sport in a wild state, the 



raked under culture*: Phlebodium Mayi in 



^SS^ Slm l lar 5 that assumed b y our native the 



YNcisn roiypody, emphasises the affinity hetw^ " 



leri 1 pnmnA»J e ~7 — v «««« them already shown by P. 



n (a of our P - vu, g are ( p - v - elegantissumum) and 



t ?$L *L ^ ^itr? ° f P - g^cum),but the character of the sports does 



variably barren 



exan. 



that case, establish it as ^result of hybridization, since P. v. cAmbricum 



stion 

 made 



species to the shape of well-crossed 



nderstand 



contained other oririml T * which this form made its appearance 



# 1 ■ "m ovii 



umose were closely 

 * cellular devtlnn 



on, and this fact goes far to establish _ 

 the faculties of cresting and becoming 



^r#ugfc» the fc 



in the crested lyp 



lopment. 



. . V 1C pmmose types 

 paneling the tissue into frills. 



PWg these apices, and 



HORTICULTURE IN CANADA. 



( Concluded fiom page 302. ) 



Ottawa Experiment Station. 



Passing now at one bound over a distance of seven hunH a 

 miles west of Nappan, we find ourselves at Ottawa, the Sal ^rV 0rt ^ 



from the centre of 



ornt- 



the city lies the central experimental station • • e **» 

 hundred and sixty-five acres Ten years ago this land was liberkllv ^ -"ft ? *■ 

 stumps and stones, and encumbered with one hundred and fortv 1 pm ^ ,cd *"* 

 growth timber and forty acres of swamp. This has all been clearer! T^a J*?** 

 and brought into a fair condition of cultivation. About three huncW ^^P* 

 acres are devoted to agricultural work, thirty-five acres to the testiW f 

 vegetables, twenty-one acres to experiments with forest trees, nine acrit 

 mental planting along the margins of the roads and about the builHinl ° , 

 sixty-five acres to an arboretum and botanic garden. There is an offi k^-lP 

 with chemical laboratory below, and overhead a museum of farm iSiS^ 

 which the fruits grown at the several farms make a striking display Nark? * 

 the houses of the chemist, botanist, and horticulturist, about which therelx* 

 pretty -roups of trees and shrubs. The conservatory consists of two glass strSt!^ 

 each seventy-five feet long, m one of which there is a fair collection of econonSS 

 ornamental plants. In the list of the former will be found tea, coffee cumuML 

 camphor, pepper, cinchona, cocoa, and other plants serviceable to man TW 

 are also collections of orchids and cacti, with palms and ferns, and many of t£ 

 commoner house plants. Another house is used, during the early months of tk 

 year, for testing the vitality of seed grain for farmers and for general prop*mj» 

 purposes. The barn, with adjacent planting, shows that the surroundings iOleftt 

 a barn may be made attractive by a judicious use of trees and shrubs. 



Orchards have been planted and are used for testing fruits, and the number of 

 varieties of large fruits under trial here is about eight hundred, and of small fraki 

 about as many more. Many new varieties have been produced on the station, by 

 growing large numbers of seedlings of choice sorts and selecting the best, tad by 

 cross-fertilisation. Comparative tests have also been made of a large number of 

 vegetables. A useful adjunct to the horticultural department is the apiary, where 

 the busy bees work all the summer day, gathering stores of honey from the flow 

 of various plants and trees, and in carrying on their regular work render valued 

 assistance in fertilising the blossoms of fruits. Some people object to plantar 

 trees, fearing they may not live long enough to realise much enjoyment fromtbaa 

 To produce the best results comparatively small specimens should be selected. A 

 young and thrifty tree accommodates itself to change of location much more 

 readily than an older one, and the young tree usually develops its normal im 

 more perfectly. 



During the early years of our work collections of bulbs— including ISo, 

 hyacinths, narcissus, and many other sorts — were planted in the autumn ; but the 

 ground being open and without shelter, the snow at times was so blown off the 

 ground as to leave it nearly bare and most of the bulbs were killed during the 

 winter. To provide shelter, and collect and retain snow over them, an enclave 

 hedged with arbor vitro and Norway spruce was planned and the bulbs ptaMi 

 within it ; since then nearly all have wintered well. During the winter the 

 enclosure and its surroundings are protected by snow, which gathers within tti 

 about it to a considerable depth. The evergreen margin is now about three and 

 a half feet high, and portions of it are almost covered with snow during thccolfa 

 part of the season. The beds outside this enclosure afford different Mpa*» 

 which make them very suitable for certain classes of plants. Within, a 3*** 

 succession of bloom during the summer is maintained ; hyacinths, tulips, m 

 other bulbs in the spring, and later fine masses of lilies, herbaceous peonies, a» 



The lilacs, when in bloom in the spring, are among the 



irises are grown. * u « uww, nn^u ^ — - - r -— », • 



beautiful of shrubs, and what delightful improvements have of late been ronflMl 

 this old-fashioned favourite ! More than sixty varieties are under test at uum 

 and nearly all are doing well. Charles the Tenth is one of the best ; it umj 

 rich in colour, a wonderfully free bloomer, and the clusters of flowers are m 

 Alba grandiflora is also a good variety ; its large white flower clusters coowb* 

 with the rich deep green foliage make it very attractive. 



Trees and Shrubs at Ottawa. 



onefnr 



of the grounds ; this was planted eight years ago. me uccs wv# " ^ 

 inches high ; now they measure from thirteen to fourteen feet. 1 ne ^ \ 7. 

 colour of this species, which is well preserved throughout the * int. e, 

 tree an attractive object at all seasons of the year. The Koocy 

 Spruce [Picea pungens) is one of the most valuable intr^uctions 01 J 1 ^^ 

 ranks among the most beautiful of hardy evergreens. The Kj»P» 

 mens assumes a rich shade of steely blue, most striking in tne » n . ... 

 summer. Many of these trees have been planted in ditterem e^ ^ 

 central farm, during the past seven years, and all have provea 1 — ^ ^ 

 The European Mountain Ash, or Rowan Tree (Pyrus <T n?lr the e«*i " 

 on the lawn when well-grown and clothed with branches tc > near 1 * 

 beautiful foliage and abundant clusters of white blossoms ;in tne ! P™*^ , 

 by bunches of scarlet berries in the autumn, make it attraa | 

 season. The Katsura Tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) from^no rf % 



sting tree, which is quite hardy at Ottawa. I tew 

 is well as its handsome form, render it mwt 



foliage , 



nut (CaUanea sativa var. americana) is a native °l.l u \ ""\fter sevcnl 

 and is grown with some difficulty in the climate -of Uttaw a. . ^ qx*** 

 two or three trees have now become established and are ao 8 f> t«*f*! 

 blossomed last spring. The variegated Dogwood (Cornu, m ^ . 

 one of the most beautiful shrubs at all seasons ot wj Tyrf-* iPT 

 rw»Ki« — white and th e variegation bjg ««• ^ - * 



speaking of ^Jf^joSU ~* 

 aurooses to which the sever jr , 



out the season, 

 central 



£ aside for *» 



. When _ r . 



farm and the purposes 

 I stated that sixty-five acres had been set £ ^ pltfB 



botanic garden devoted to the testing of trees, shru , ^ 

 parts of the world. Work was begun in this branch si ^ ^ 

 nearly two thousand species and varieties ot trees _ h &m 



thousand of herbaceous perennials, have been J broug^ ^ ^^^0 

 northern sections of the globe, and are being testea ^ " n P*T\J * * 

 climate of Ottawa. Canada was for a long " m * ^ reniovej JT^* 

 colony without a botanic garden. This stigma has no ^ of «d«»— 

 hoped that this institution at the farm will soon reacn 



which will make it a credit to the country. ^ ^ tQ a fc# <*J* (0tfa , 



Laich, ^ W 



European i^-> tt a 



habit 



Arbor 



