ON THE UTILITY OF RESERVE GARDENS. 
211 
operation the plants should be shifted, as we suppose them to have well filled their pots 
with roots before wintering, and are therefore ready for shifting as soon as they begin 
growing in spring. Syringing should now be performed morning and evening, on sunny 
days, and the atmosphere of the house kept in a humid state by throwing water down, in 
the foot-paths and round the sides of the stage or pit, as before directed. Shading, too, 
must be again brought into use as the season advances. By this method a nice compact 
specimen may be formed in two years, and if they are not stopped later than the beginning 
of August, and the young wood well ripened off, a tolerable good show of bloom might be 
insured, for flowering late the following spring. If large specimens are required, they 
should be grown a third year, pursuing the same method of treatment as before, and 
stopping them not later than the beginning of July. After they have made their growth, 
the house should be kept dry and well ventilated, to thoroughly mature the wood, which 
will insure a good bloom the following season. 
I have attached a list of good sorts, and although there are many ^varieties of more 
recent introduction, these have all been proved to be fine ones. 
N.B. Those marked with an asterisk should be grafted on some strong growing kinds, 
such as before mentioned : — 
WJiite. 
Fielder's White 
Phoenicea alba 
Gledstanesii 
Elata 
Exquisita 
Yariesrata 
Light Hose. 
* Rosea Punctata 
Holdenii 
Murray ana 
Bed. 
Duke of Devonshire 
Prince Albert 
* Lateritia 
■formosa 
Coronata 
Stamfordiana 
Rubra plena 
Perrj^ana 
Prsestantissima 
Optima 
ON THE UTILITY OF KESERVE GARDENS. 
By a T. 
Few indeed are the instances I could enumerate where anything approximating an efficacious 
reserve department, for the purpose of preparing all kinds of suitable plants for winter 
forcing, and the decoration of the flower-garden, at different seasons of the year, is to be 
met with ; and yet, a little reflection will aflbrd convincing evidence that the majority of 
establishments are sufficiently extensive to require such a useful adjunct to the main 
garden, which indeed is obviously indispensable to the predominance of order and 
systematic management in every other department. 
If we but glance at present circumstances, how frequently shall we find the gardener 
encumbered by the narrowness or the incongruity of the means at his disposal, and often, 
from the extent of his charge, perplexed exceedingly as to what must be done under such 
circumstances, or as to how his course must be shaped to successfully combat any unforeseen 
emergency that might arise. 
It is no uncommon occurrence, now that gardening is carried out to the luxurious extent 
and in the varied manner it is in the present day, to meet with instances where from 
twenty to thirty thousand half-hardy plants, in pots, are annually in requisition for the 
establishment of parterres, and general flower-garden scenery, from which almost every 
herbaceous perennial, hardy annual, and biennial have long since been banished — 
indeed, were it necessary, I could particularise cases where thirty thousand pot-plants is 
not the maximum, and instance others where twenty thousand is the minimum quantity, 
that yearly must be re-propagated for flov/er-garden display alone ; and if, in addition to this, 
we take into consideration the great variety and still greater store of pot-plants, essential 
for keeping up the summer and winter display in our greenhouses and conservatories, and the 
extent of pit or frame-room requisite to their successful propagation and culture ; and 
lastly, if we reflect that all this (and, be it observed, oftentimes much besides, in con- 
nexion with the kitchen garden and forcing departments) has, in the majority of instances, 
