THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
301 
frame or greenhouse, and give a moderate supply of water till the 
flower-buds are showing, when it must be increased. 
To grow the plants from cuttings, to make nice specimens is, I 
know, a work of time ; still very much can be done by good culti- 
vation. A good stout plant can be had for a shilling, and it is of 
such plants as these that I shall now speak. A few years since, I 
received, early in the autumn, a dozen such plants to fill a small bed 
in an herbaceous garden, and I determined to see what could be 
done by the liberal use of good fat dung and copious drenchings of 
manure-water through the season of growth. The plants flowered 
the first and second year in this bed under the cutting-down system, 
and they had done remarkably well ; but as they were not strictly 
herbaceous plants, they were considered unsuitable for the position 
they occupied. But they were suSered to complete the season’s 
growth, which I encouraged by the application of stimulants, for I 
was anxious to see to what length and substance the young wood 
could be grown in one year. At the end of the year some of the 
shoots measured 3 feet 9 inches. The plants were potted, with their 
roots considerably reduced, at the end of November, and placed in a 
cold pit secured from frost ; and as leisure permitted I took them to 
the greenhouse, and there trained some of them into a variety of 
shapes — some on wires and some on sticks. It is a great recom- 
mendation that the young wood may be twisted and turned into any 
shape that may suit the taste of the cultivator. Amongst the number 
of plants which were subjected to the unnatural plan of training 
was one of a globe shape. It flowered naturally in a cool green- 
house, and was in its greatest beauty about the middle of April. It 
was certainly magnificent, for it was literally covered from top to 
bottom with a sheet of white flowers, with just suflicient of its pea- 
green leaves to show its full character. I am, however, no advocate 
for the use of many sticks and ties f to me a plant never looks better 
than when it is allowed to flower in the way that nature has provided, 
but still there are many cases in which some training is desirable. 
To secure such plants as the above, they should be allowed to stand 
through one winter without being moved. This, of course, can’ be 
easily done if enough plants are obtained and planted out, and half 
of them allowed to stand every year. 
The beautiful D. scahra blooms in July, and is, therefore, of but 
little use for pot culture ; indeed, the best place for it is the shrub- 
bery border, where it can grow without being interfered with. It 
may be pruned slightly if the plants are growing out of shape, but, 
unless necessary, it is not desirable to prune them, for they do much 
the best when allowed to grow in a similar manner to the lilac. 
Pomology. — M. L. Van Houtle, of Ghent, announces the separate publication, 
under the title of “ Nos Polres,” of a number of illustrations of first-class pears, 
comprising coloured plates of 50 varieties, and woodcuts of 36 others. For the 
descriptions M. Van Houtte has availed himself, with due acknowledgment, of the 
labours of Deeaisne, Hogg, Leroy, Dumortier, and others, and has added the results 
of his own experience. 
October 
