March 12, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
213 
out of their pots, and all the old roots cut off to within H inch of the 
pseudo-bulb. This we leave merely to steady them until the young 
growth has roots in the new soil. Instead of potting them at once, as 
is often practised, we insert the pseudo-bulbs in shallow boxes or pans in 
a compost of equal parts peat, leaf mould, and chopped sphagnum, 
placing them in a warm corner of the Melon house until they have 
started an inch or more. By this time we can readily see where the 
young growth starts, and consequently can have them in the exact place 
desired. The size of pot and number of pseudo-bulb3 to have in each 
is a matter of opinion, and we have more frequently to be guided 
by the requirements of the establishment we are in than by any fixed 
rules. 
The compost we employ for potting is equal parts of good fibry peat 
and loam pulled to pieces with the hands, rejecting all that passes through 
a quarter-inch sieve. To the above is added about a quarter of cowdung 
and sufficient pounded charcoal to keep the compost sweet and open. 
The pots ought to be thoroughly clean and well drained, with from 2 to 
2§ inches of drainage for an 8 or 10-inch pot, will be found ample, with a 
little sphagnum or rough peat over it. In potting we insert the pseudo- 
bulbs about level with the top of the pot, then press the soil as firmly as 
possible with the fingers, raising it slightly above the rim. The pseudo¬ 
bulbs should only be inserted deeply enough to keep them firm, and the 
old roots that were left on them will now be found of great 
service. Our object for keeping the bulbs so high is to leave room for 
top-dressing at least twice during the growing season, with the same 
compost as described above, only adding a little more cowdung and a 
sprinkling of Standen’s manure. We prefer top-dressing to repotting, 
and water must be supplied very sparingly until they have filled their 
pots with roots, after which they can hardly be over-watered, and are 
greatly benefited by weak liquid manure at every alternate watering. 
Guano water answers the purpose well. 
During the season of growth the plants must be kept as near the glass 
as possible, and are all the better for a slight shade in bright weather. 
They are subject to scale, and should it make its appearance the best plan 
is to sponge the leaves with tepid water and a little black soap. When 
the leaves are showing signs of dying at the points water should be 
gradually withheld, but not to the extent of allowing the plants to suffer. 
By the time the flowers are expanding the plants have generally lrst 
most of their foliage, so that they need little water, the pseudo-bulbs 
acting as a reservoir.— A. Smith. 
STARVING v. GAS LIME AND WIREWORMS. 
In the Journal of February 19th “ J. R. R.” refers to the correction 
of a common error, that gas lime will kill wireworm. I can fully cor¬ 
roborate his remarks. Many years ago I broke up a field of pasture land 
for gardening purposes, where the brown hard-coated wireworm were 
abundant in the soil, and crops disappeared before their ravages. I buried 
some in fresh gas lime for twelve hours, and they came out as fresh as 
when they were put in. I was advised and tried many remedies to clear the 
ground of the«e pests, and I found my own the best. I starved them out, 
for I kept the ground free from even a weed for a few months, and I won 
the battle.—D. W. D. 
FORCING HYBRID PERPETUAL ROSES. 
Your correspondent “ Thinker ” need not have stumbled over the 
sentence in my arti le on page 168. I have never said that plants lifted 
in October would not produce good blooms in April and May grown under 
cool conditions. “ Thinker” can scarcely call this forcing when the 
plants under cold-frame treatment will come naturally into flower at that 
period of the year ; therefore I must still cling to the sentence that 
formed the stumblingbloek. When “ Thinker ” has lime to think about 
my past article on H.P.'s he will there discover that instead of differing 
we are of the same opinion. On page 561 I wrote—“ On several occasions 
we have potted plants before the end of October, and before they have 
been removed from the outside to be protected in frames large quantities 
of roots have been formed round the sides of the pots.” Again, on page 37 
he will find—“ The question next presents itself whether the plants are to 
be allowed to bloom, or must another sacrifice be made ? Those intended 
for forcing the following s ason may be flowered without much detriment, 
bnt if the buds are removed directly they are visible the superior growth 
of the plants will more than compensate for the loss of the flowers.”— 
Wm. Bardney. 
PLUMBAGO CAPENSIS OUT OF DOORS. 
For the last twenty years I have filled two large beds with this old 
favourite greenhouse plant, and can fully corroborate all that has been 
said about its beauty and gracefulness. The two beds are situated on the 
south side of the mansion, from which they are separated by a walk about 
10 feet wide. In this warm position they have always bloomed very 
freely in the late autumn months, and have been much admired. In the 
centre of each bed is a large vase, which is usually planted with Humea 
elegans ; close around the vase3 are planted a few plants of Gloire de 
Dijon Rose, which are trained somewhat thinly so as to grow outwards 
and from natural arches over the beds. 
The Plumbago is planted thinly over the beds, and grows freely 
amongst the Roses ; between them are also planted the white-sepaled 
Fuchsia Annie, with an edging of Mignonette. These beds from August 
onwards have a very novel and attractive appearance. To prevent 
the Plumbago growing too freely I have for the last two years plunged 
the pots instead of turning the plants out, and they have bloomed earlier 
and more freely in consequence. When taken up in the autumn the 
surface roots are taken off, the plants are then pruned hard back and 
kept in a cold house through the winter until February, when they are 
placed in an early vinery and started into growth, and, as before recom¬ 
mended, are hardened before planting out. Young plants from cuttings last 
year will bloom well if treated in the manner described above, but they 
must be planted rather close to produce any effect.— Vitisator, 
NOTES FROM MY GARDEN IN 1884. 
GLADIOLUS. 
I SHOULD not venture to harp upon a well-worn string but for two 
reasons—that I have received so many letters to say that the notes were 
acceptable to many owners of small gardens, and also because every year 
has its own tale to tell. It is one of the delights (!) of gardening that our 
varying climate gives us such varying experiences, for the failures of 
one year become the successes of another, and vice versa. One can never 
calculate upon our climate, and perhaps when we have done well in one 
department and are looking forward to another year of success in the 
same thing, some climatic influence comes in and alters it all, while 
things which have done badly before now seem to prosper. We were ready 
to lay the blame on bad cultivation or bad soil, but the cause was after all 
climatic. 
The season of 1884 will long be remembered by all lovers of a garden 
as being one of the most trying that we have experienced for many years. 
Iis effects we have not yet been able to estimate. Many herbaceous and 
alpine plants have, I fear, succumbed to the excessive drought that pre¬ 
vailed during so large a period of the year. When the rainfall is less 
by 6 inches than the average it must be trying enough ; but when in the 
months of May and June the rainfall was hardly worth mentioning, it 
must of necessity have been that many things would succumb. All 
newly planted crops and annuals fared badly ; constant watering 
became a labour, and after all it never takes the place of rain, while in 
many places water was almost as precious as in the Khartoum expedition. 
Happpily this was not the ca*e with us here, for there is an unfailing 
supply ; but, withal, we suffered severely from the great drought. 
Gladiolus, however, seemed to rejoice in it; in no year for the past 
twenty haye I had so little disease, and never did the corms lift so well. 
Many of them had that nice silky look which characterises the French 
roots, thus, I think, showing what I have always maintained—that where 
they “have the pull ” upon us is in their finer autumns, which conduce so 
much to the ripening of the corms and the consequent storing up of 
strength for another year, it can hardly be but that, when you are 
obliged to take them np while still green there must be considerable 
waste of strength ; while if left too long the roots will begin to start, and 
the corrn cannot then be taken up without injury. 
In planting in the spring I did not make any alteration in my usual 
practice, save that I drew drills instead of making separate holes for each 
corm. I planted them in a part of my garden where I have grown them 
for years, although it was three years since they had occupied these same 
beds. They were planted in March and April, and under favourable 
circumstances as regards the condition of the soil. This portion of my 
garden is light, but I ventured this present year to try them in a portion 
of it which is stiffer, although well drained. Mr. Burrell of How House 
Nurseries, Cambridge, who is coming to the front as a grower, and I hope 
ere long as an exhibitor, has found them to do best in the soil that suits 
Strawberries and Roses. Mr. Dobree of Wellington, Somerset, our most 
successful amateur, grows his on stiff loamy soil. I know a portion of 
Mr. Kelway’s, at any rate, is of this character, and so I am hopeful that 
this part of my garden may suit them. 
The question of top-dressing has come before me as to whether it is 
advisable or not. I quite think that if you wish to have show spikes this 
must be adopted ; but after seeing Mr. Dobree’s fine exhibits at Taunton, 
and seeing that he did not mulch his teds, my opinion is somewhat shaken, 
and if in a dry season like this he could produce spikes which were equal 
to any that I have seen exhibited it would be less necessary to do so in 
seasons when moisture is more abundant. It is just possible that the 
manure may encourage the disease, which I think is now generally ad¬ 
mitted to be the cause of so much loss to Gladiolus growers. As I 
mentioned in my notes on Gladiolus at Fontainbleau, I saw very little of 
this disease amongst the large quantity I saw there, but when a corm 
goes wrong it is immediately taken up and thrown away. The last season 
also demonstrated more clearly than ever how good a practice it is to cut 
the corms when they are large enough. Some of the finest spikes I had, 
and some of the best corms that I took up, were from those which had 
been thus treated, and in the case of dear ones it is of much importance 
thus to increase the stock. Anolher point that I would press upon 
growers is the necessity of saving all the spawn and sowing it in order to 
keep up the stock. Those of this year will in a couple of years form good 
flowering corms when, perhaps, the old ones have perished, They occasion 
but little trouble, as it is only necessary to make shallow drills and sow 
them in it, much as Onion seed is sown, and they are generally fit to 
harvest before the older corms are ready for lifting. When I was at 
Fontainbleau there was a large number of trays containing these cormlets 
in the store room, although it was only the early part of September, 
while some of the corms themselves were anywhere nearly ready for 
lifting. I placed this year an awning over my beds on account of the 
(xcessive heat, hoping thus to prolong the bloom, and so it did ; but one 
