228 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND C011AGE GARDENER. 
[ March 19,1835. 
very severe frost, when, and only then, they are closed by move- 
able triangular-shaped boards, and the whole is covered by 
matting or a piece of old carpet. During the winter which has 
just passed this has rarely been required. 
The tree at this season of the year, when so few flowers of 
any kind are to be seen, is very ornamental, the bright golden 
fruit being in striking contrast to the dark green foliage, and 
even on this account, if on no other, it is well worth cultivation. 
With regard to treatment, I have borne in mind what I have 
seen in Spain and Malta, where Orange orchards are sometimes 
irrigated by the introduction of streams of water at the time of 
flowering.— Thomas Bond, Tyneham, Isle of Purbeck, Dorset. 
NOTES ON PLANTS. 
Hibiscus syri.vcus. —Gardeners who require flowering shrubs 
for a display in autumn out of doors will be making the most of 
the few weeks that remain before the planting season is closed. 
The beautiful varieties of the above hardy Hibiscus ought not to 
be overlooked; the white flowers of the type are not so frequently 
seen as they deserve to be, and in addition to it there are some 
distinct and gay-coloured varieties now to be obtained from the 
nurserymen. Purplish, rose-coloured, striped, and pink will be 
found amongst them, all as free and as hardy as the white one, 
and quite as ornamental Groups of such, if now planted in the 
shrubbery—or if a large bed can be afforded a selection of these 
Hibiscuses might be planted in it—will make a pretty picture in 
the autumn. Messrs. Noble exhibited a set of these new varieties 
from their nurseries last autumn, and they were much admired 
and inquired after by those who saw them. When once obtained 
such plants can be readily and abundantly increased from cut¬ 
tings inserted immediately after the plants have flowered. There 
is no reason why these plants should not be turned to account 
for forcing, as a high temperature does not materially injure 
them, whilst it forces them into flower in a short time after it is 
applied. 
Forsythia suspensa.— Following close after the winter¬ 
flowering Jasmine, which has been exceptionally beautiful with 
us this year owing to a little extra feeding at the root, which our 
plants were allowed during the summer, and no doubt as much 
to the excellent season last summer and autumn proved for the 
proper maturation of newly-made wood. The Forsythia has been 
benefited, for it is a perfect curtain of thousands of interlacing 
shoots, every one of which is a long wand of bright yellow buds, 
for the expansion of which a day or two more of sunshine is all 
that is needed. This beautiful wall plant must not be confounded 
with the comparatively poor F. viridissima, though it sometimes 
is, and of course always to the disparagement of the former. It 
would be difficult to find a more useful, beautiful, hardy wall- 
plant than F. suspensa, as it grows quickly in almost any soil 
if the wall against which it is trained is warm and sunny. For 
the front of a dwelling house there is but one plant to equal this, 
and that is the yellow Jasmine. Both might be grown together, 
the one to succeed the other, in making the garden gay at a time 
when vegetation in general is only beginning to wake up out of 
winter’s sleep 
Hardwooded Plants. —The present is the most favourable 
time for inserting cuttings of the best of these plants, of which 
the Tetrathecas, Diliwynias, Darwinias, Leschenaultias, Acacias, 
and Boronias are some of the best known and most useful. By 
placing an old plant or so of each in a warm sunny house, tem¬ 
perature 55° to GO’, and syringing them now and again, a crop of 
young shoots will be deve'oped, which if taken off with a small 
portion of the old wood or a heel, and dibbled into pots of very 
sandy peat, covering them with a bellglass, and keeping them in 
a shaded part of the same house, will strike root in a com¬ 
paratively short time. Fat shoots—that is, those growths which 
are made during the most vigorous growing period, are very 
unsatisfactory as cuttings when compared with shoots obtained 
as above. Autumn and winter are the chosen seasons for in¬ 
serting cuttings of Heaths and Epacris, whilst early spring 
gives the best results in the case of tbe majority of other hard- 
wooded plants. For Correas, Eriostemons, and Oroweas, graft¬ 
ing is the preferred means for their propagation, Correa alba 
being the stock used for the two first, and Eriostemon inter¬ 
medium for the Croweas. "Where stocks are obtainable these 
plants may be grafted now, a close case with a temperature of 
55° being the nursing place for them till a union is effected. 
Even Boronias, such as B. Drummondi, B. pinnata, and B. ser- 
rulata, are best when grafted on B. elatior, a free-growing species, 
and well adapted to form a stock for the above delicate kinds. 
B elatior is perhaps the handsomest and freest of all cultivated 
Boronias, and B. megastigma is equally charming for itsfragrance. 
There is some danger of these beautiful hardwooded plants being 
allowed to go out of cultivation, the easier managed softwooded 
things being preferred because they are less difficult to grow than 
the Australian plants, though they are not a whit prettier, if they 
are even as pretty as some of those above enumerated. A large 
healthy specimen of Phoenocoma, of Aphelexis, of Pimelea, or of 
Darwinia (Genethyllis), is a rarity in gardens nowadays, and as 
a natural consequence a man able to grow such is equally rare. 
We shall come back to these favourites of bygone years when 
the softwooded favourites have had their day, and we shall most 
likely wonder why we ever neglected them.—W. N. 
MUSHROOM-GROWING. 
“ Y. B. A. Z.” is responsible for my having spent Is. in the purchase 
of “ Mushrooms for the Million.” I could not resist his article on p. 146 ; 
but let me at once say, I do not so far regret the expenditure. I, however, 
already want some advice. 
Having read the first fifty pages (not overlooking the concluding lines 
of the preface) I obtained the necessary manure, which for some days I 
have been carefully turning and purifying with a view to forming a bed 
in the open air. Let me here say that although I have had plenty of 
experience in preparing hotbeds I have never before attempted to grow 
Mushrooms. 
I have now reached pp. 95 and 96, and am somewhat staggered at 
finding out for the first time that it is almost hopeless expecting a crop 
from beds made up at this time of year. 
Now, having gone so far in the attempt, do you advise me to continue 
it ? I can make the bed under a very high wall facing east on a piece of 
ground where the sun loses all effect after midday at the latest, or on a 
piece of ground facing south, parallel to and shaded by the same wall, 
and having a hedge on the north side. These are the coolest parts of the 
garden except one, where, owing to buildings, is quite shaded.—N. S. It. 
[If we had procured a considerable bulk of suitable manure in 
preparation for Mushroom-growing, and also had a cool shaded place, 
we should certainly continue the work of preparation and make 
the beds. By using good spawn and good soil, also maintaining 
a regular gentle heat in the beds by thick or thin moist coverings, as 
might be needed, we should expect plenty of Mushrooms in June and 
July. We saw exceedingly productive beds last summer in a similarly 
cool place in the open air. We should not regard our procedure as an 
experiment, but any persons adopting such a practice for the first time 
must necessarily proceed experimentally, and failure or success would 
depend on their own aptitude in the management of the bed. “ N. S. R.” 
must now decide the question for himself.] 
SWEET PEAS. 
These are amongst the very best of all annuals ; they are admirably 
suited for the garden of the cottage and the mansion ; they are very free- 
growing, and they never fail to flower profusely. The blossoms are 
bright, pretty, and sweet; in fact, in these respects it is a difficult matter 
to match them with any class of flowers. Of varieties we have plenty, 
the best being Scarlet Invincible, rich scarlet ; Butterfly, blue and white ; 
Painted Lady, rose and white ; Purple Invincible, red striped; Princess 
of Prussia, lilac; and Fairy Queen, rosy white. Masses or short rows of 
each of these are very pretty, and the mixture of the whole has a 
charming effect. We rarely grow them separately, a mixture being our 
favourite mode of having them. 
The seed and plants are very hardy, and it is quite a mistake to delay 
sowing them until the warm weather. Those who do this will only have 
a short season of bloom, but those who sow twice or more in the year 
may have blooms in abundance from May until November. The first 
seed should be sown at once, and another in May. Those sown now will 
be in flower in about ten weeks, and they will continue until September. 
The plants from the May sowing will not begin flowering until August, and 
they will continue until the end of the season. We have sometimes 
had them very early by sowing and growing them in pots, hut we have 
not taken this trouble with them since we found that they succeeded 
so well. 
Moderately rich soil is the most suitable for them. When too rich 
they make too much growth ; when the soil is very poor they soon fail in 
dry warm weather, but they delight in a sunny position, and should never 
be sown in the shade. We frequently put a row in where there is a 
screen required either to hide some offensive background or afford shelter. 
In other cases only little round patches of seeds is sown in tbe mixed 
borders, and as the plants grow a few ordinary Pea stakes are placed 
around them and lorm a very pretty pillar. The seed should be placed 
about 3 inches below the surface in sowing, and care must be taken that 
the mice do not destroy them, for they are as fond of these as they are of 
the culinary varieties.—M. M. 
CROPPING. 
(Continued from page 1S6 .) 
Cropping, a3 practised in gardens and by growers for market, is of 
two kinds—viz., separate cropping, the ground being only occupied by 
one crop at a time ; and simultaneous cropping, when it has several at 
the same time. Each system has its merits, respecting which there is 
considerable divergence of opinion, hut the separate system is the most 
