January 81, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER . 
79 
and while we decidedly prefer means to meet our requirements, 
we do not despise the “ days of small things” of last season — 
M. T., Stirlingshire. 
TRANSPLANTING LARGE SHRUBS—MAKING A 
HA-HA. 
How should a shrubbery be planted ? With large costly specimens 
put far enough apart for full development, or with smaller plants set 
thickly to clothe the bare earth for a certain immediate effect ? 
Both for economy and expediency I prefer the latter method, the 
only attendant or rather resultant disadvantage being the necessary 
repeated thinning of fast-growing shrubs, till at length it becomes 
difficult to find space for all of them. If this very natural result of 
free healthy shrub growth were taken into account at first, and 
economy kept well in view, the whole of the shrubbery would not be 
made at once, but gradually, so as to afford space for every growing 
shrub ; and what is of even more account, keep some fresh feature 
to be added to the garden yearly. Without expecting everyone to 
agree to this protracted method of laying out a garden, I am sure 
that many will appreciate the pleasure and advantage to be derived 
from it. Of this I am able to speak positively, as I have for several 
years been engaged in this interesting work of the gradual develop¬ 
ment both of dressed grounds and wild-like woodlands. It is to 
some of the work done this winter that I now wish to call attention. 
Some large masses of Rhododendrons had become so much 
crowded that thinning and re-arrangement was desirable ; but the 
work was not to be undertaken lightly, for most of the shrubs were 
from 6 to 8 feet high, many of them as much in diameter, and there 
were several hundreds of them. After the re-arrangement the surplus 
<--—8 FT.--> 
Kg. 12. 
stock was certain to be large ; what was to be done with it ? It was 
resolved to add two acres to a conspicuous lawn where the outlook 
was somewhat tame, and to make there six large raised beds for the 
surplus shrubs, with soil obtained close at hand by making a ha-ha 
or sunken fence along the new enclosure. The obvious advantages 
of this plan were a picturesque effect, economy of labour, and a com¬ 
paratively inexpensive enclosure, the only part of the ha-ha that could 
be regarded as a separate expense being the building of a turf wall 
against the back of it. The turves were a foot square, 2 inches 
thick, and they were laid flat upon each other. The cost of such a 
wall is trifling in comparison to one of brick or stone. The turves 
soon grow together, the front becomes clothed with verdure, and its 
soft green hue is infinitely preferable to the harsh uncompromising 
effect of masonry. Careful building is, however, important, for, 
however skilful the turf-cutters are, some of the turves are certain to 
prove uneven, and if they are not laid truly and well the wall may 
fall. To avoid risk I have had stays and pieces of rough board put 
at intervals along the wall (a, fig. 12), and 2-inch pipes, as at B, put at 
intervals through the turf near the bottom to prevent any accumula¬ 
tion of water behind the turf. The stays will remain till the turf has 
grown together and is quite safe. 
The soil was excavated and wheeled to the raised beds a distance 
of 30 to 40 yards for Is. O^rf. per cubic yard. This price may 
appear high, but in reality it was not so, for there was a foot or more 
of gravel at the bottom, for which picks had to be used, and the 
dressing of the slope was included in it. The men—many of them 
skilled navvies—earned 2s. 10<L a day ; in summer they would 
probably have earned 3s. 6d. If the subsoil had been easily worked 
the cost would have been from 2d. to 4 d. less per cubic yard. I 
mention this to show how impossible it is to arrange a common rate 
of pay for such work. The only fair way is to have one or more 
sections opened, and then to prepare an estimate of costs beforehand. 
If set about in the right way the lifting of large shrubs is an 
easy and expeditious operation, without risk or damage ; but in 
careless ignorant hands there is not only much loss of time, but a 
very considerable risk of a subsequent loss of many valuable shrubs. 
I happen to live near a large nursery, where most of the labourers 
cf the neighbourhood have been employed, yet anything like intelli- 
£ ence in doing similar work to what they must have done there is 
certainly the exception rather than the rule. The crowded masses 
of Rhododendrons were each begun at one end, a trench opened half 
way round each plant, the soil worked well away from beneath the 
ball of soil and roots, and then a spade passed down through the soil 
round the back of the ball, care being taken not to cut into the ball, 
but to keep the spade upright. A long 2-inch plank was then thrust 
under the wall as a lever, a short plank being laid on the edge of 
the hole for a fulcrum, and with one heave a couple of men could 
lift the plant level with surface, and then moving round with the 
end of the plank the shrub was dropped upon a sleigh consisting of 
a piece of broad plank with a couple of runners beneath and ropes 
fastened to one end, and at once pulled aside out of the way. With¬ 
out the lever and sleigh how difficult and tedious the work is. To 
lift a large shrub in any other way with 5 or 6 cubic feet of soil 
and roots is not easy, and too frequently the ball is reduced so much 
that the shrub suffers severely. For removal to a distance a low 
hand-truck was used. In this truck the principle of leverage is again 
used, the handle being at an obtuse angle to the body of the truck, 
so that by tilting up the handle and thrusting the truck under the 
ball of a shrub tilted over for this purpose, the handle has only then 
to be depressed and the shrub is lifted and wheeled away. 
In replanting due care was taken to insure the free growth of 
root and branch next season. The old beds had a surface dressing 
of several inches of fresh soil, and they were trenched, but all the 
good soil was kept on the surface. In this a portion of the shrubs 
were carefully settled, and x the recent unpleasant damp foggy 
weather has certainly been good for them. —Edward Luckhurst. 
EAST LOTHIAN STOCKS. 
Stocks must be familiar flowers to all readers, as every seedsman’s 
catalogue contains their names in great'variety, and the German, 
Brompton, Cape, and the Emperor etrains have been long and widely 
known, but the East Lothian Stocks are seldom classed with these in 
books or gardens, as they are generally treated as specialities, and they 
deserve this distinction, for of all Stocks they are undoubtedly the 
finest. It may not be known to all that these were originally brought 
nto notice by Mr. David Thomson, who wrote interestingly of them 
in these pages, and astonished everybody with the gorgeous d ^splays 
in the flower garden at Archerfield. In this way a guarantee cf their 
excellent characters was given, which they have retained eve r since ; 
and as several nurserymen, especially north of the Tweed, make it 
their business to preserve the strain in its original purity, we may 
confidently expect to find their valuable characteristics maintained 
for a long time to come. There is scarcely room for improvement, as 
their habit of growth and colour of bloom are all that could be desired. 
They grow very dwarf so far as the leafy wood is concerned, but they 
produce wonderful spikes of flowers. The colours are distinct and 
striking, and as a trio are unequalled. The white pure, the purple 
deep, and the scarlet intense. 
Their decorative qualities are not confined to one particular, but 
they may be used in many ways with effect. In the flower garden 
proper they form charming beds or rows, and in mixed borders they 
may be pleasingly grouped. Being so much inclined to bloom and 
little disposed to make superfluous leaves and wood, their whole 
habits render them most suitable for growing in pots for greenhouse 
and conservatory decoration, and for this object alone they merit 
attention, as they are exceedingly showy and fragrant in the con¬ 
servatory. 
In cultural requirements they do not differ from the most common 
or poorest of Stocks. They are easily reared, hardy in their matured 
growth, and reliable in all localities. From the middle of January 
until the end of March is the time to sow seed to produce plants for 
blooming in summer and autumn. From the earliest sowing they will 
commence flowering in June and July, and continue until December. 
Seed sown in April or May will give plants which will be ready to 
shift into 6-inch pots in July, and if grown in these the plants will 
bloom profusely’ in November and onwards. Now and in spring the 
seed should be sown in pots or boxes in a little heat, and the plants 
may be transferred to other pots or boxes, or the whole may be 
dibbled into a frame, and in any case they should be grown so as to 
be quite hardened by the beginning of May, when they may be planted 
out. Plants for autumn and winter blooming do not require to be 
reared under glass, but will do quite well out of doors.—J. Muir. 
PEAR JOSEPHINE DE MALINES. 
This is the best Pear of its season—clear-skinned, smooth as ivory, 
pleasant to the eye—no doubt what Josephine herself was fifty years 
since, when Major Esperen, with the true instinct of a military eye and 
the heart of a husband, dedicated this, his best bantling, to his partner. 
Delicious to the taste, luscious and piquant, Madame could have received 
no greater compliment from the Major than this dedication. The Pear 
is not coarse but agreeably modulated in size, with a tender tinted flesh 
from the rind to the core. 
