March 13, 1884, ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
219 
plants are allowed to have a check at this stage of their growth, either by 
•hard pinching, allowing them to become dry, or placing them in cold draughts, 
they will eventually present the grower with a number of deformed flowers, 
fot sides losing a part of their foliage. I pot my plants for the last time from 
8-inch to 11^-inch pots the first week in June, about which time they are 
pinched for the last time. This stopping will give from forty to sixty breaks, 
a number which will be found quite sufficient to form a first-class specimen. 
After being potted into their flowering pots they are taken to their summer 
•quarters; a piece of open ground is provided in the full sun, but sheltered on 
all sides from wind. I place them on the surface of the ground, and surround 
•each pot with ashes up to the rim. I let them grow on after this in their 
own wild way without any training whatever, giving them every day un¬ 
limited supplies of water, adding a little clear soot water two or three times 
a week. I find during hot weather that the plants cannot have too much 
water provided the drainage is clear. The foliage will also be improved by a 
watering overhead late every evening. Staking the plants is a very im¬ 
portant operation, which requires care, taste, and patience. I usually com¬ 
mence tying the first week in October. I will, as briefly as possible, try to 
describe the way I proceed. The most convenient way is to place the plants 
on a handbarrow, being careful to have it level. But before tying I give a 
good dusting of flowers of sulphur underneath the foliage, which can be 
•easily done by turning the plant on its side ; this is to prevent mildew. The 
first stick placed in the centre of the plant must be upright. The sticks I 
use are about 2 feet long. I now take a shoot and tie it as low down this 
stick as I can without breaking—a little twisting is sometimes necessary—so 
that the bud comes directly on the top of the stick. Five sticks are now 
placed around this central stick in a circle, and they will be found to be 
about equal distance from the centre stick and from each other. The after¬ 
part is a mere repetition, except the outside circle, and these shoots are 
brought down to the rim of the pot and then tied straight up the stick. I 
allow my plants to stand outside as long as the weather is at all open, and 
several of the early varieties only have the protection of an open shed on 
wet days and cold nights. The plants will grow considerably after this, and 
the buds will soon be several inches above the sticks ; these must be drawn 
•down, carefully working the ties down at the same time until the bud reaches 
its original position, making a notch above each tie to prevent pushing up 
again. This mode of culture has led to considerable success both at metro¬ 
politan and suburban exhibitions.” You will see by the above that the 
final tying is deferred long after the last potting. Some persons affix sticks 
across the pots, allowing the ends to extend as far as is desired, and to that 
is secured a circle of stout wire, to which the branches are secured. This is 
the method adopted in forming the heads of standard plants, which are not 
topped until they reach the intended height of the stem. The prices to 
which you refer are not the purchasing but the selling prices. 
Names of Plants (C . D.). —1, Eriostemon scabrum ; 2, Hedaroma fuchsi- 
oides ; 3, Boronia pinnata ; 4, Boronia megastigma. (Salto). —1, Polypodium 
aureum; 2, Begonia maculata; 3, Begonia marga. (Reader). —1, Begonia 
nigricans ; 2, B. metallica; 3, Daphne Laureola. (G. A. M.). —1, Withered ; 
2, A small Cypripedium Boxallii; 3, Libonia floribunda; 4, Maxillaria 
porphyrostele. 
COYENT GARDEN MARKET.— March 12th. 
Market keeps quiet, and with Lent prices will suffer. Vegetables in good supply, 
first-class Apples in demand, common sorts heavy. 
FRUIT. 
s. 
d. 
S. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
S. 
d. 
Apples .. 
& sieve 
1 
6 
to 5 
0 
Nectarines .. .. 
dozen 
0 
0 
to 0 
0 
» • • 
.. per barrel 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Oranges. 
.. 100 
6 
0 
10 
0 
Apricots 
box 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Peaches. 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Chestnuts 
bushel 10 
0 
0 
0 
Pears, kitchen 
dozen 
1 
0 
1 
6 
Figs 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
„ dessert 
dozen 
1 
0 
5 
0 
Filberts.. 
.. ft. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Pine Apples English .. ft. 
2 
0 
3 
0 
Cobs 
per ft. 
I 
s 
1 
6 
Plums and Damsons 
, . 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Crapes .. 
5 
0 
10 
0 
Strawberries.. 
0 
0 
1 
0 
Lemon .. 
.. , 
c • case 
15 
0 
21 
0 
St. Michael Pines 
..each 
2 
0 
8 
0 
VEGETABLES 
s. d. 
s. 
d. 
S. 
d. 
8. 
d. 
Artichokes 
• • • • 
dozen 
2 
0 to 4 
0 
Mushrooms .. .. 
punnet 
1 
0 
to 1 
6 
Beans, Kidney 
100 
2 
6 
0 
0 
Mustard and Cress 
punnet 
0 
2 
0 
0 
Beet, Red 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Onions. 
bushel 
2 
6 
3 
8 
Broccoli .. 
bundle 
0 
9 
1 
0 
Parsley .. dozen bunches 
2 
0 
3 
0 
Brussels Sprouts .. 
4 sieve 
1 
6 
2 
6 
Parsnips. 
dozen 
i 
0 
2 
0 
Cabbage .. 
dozen 
0 
6 
1 
0 
Potatoes. 
cwt. 
4 
0 
6 
0 
Capsicums 
• • • • 
100 
1 
6 
2 
0 
,, Kidney .. 
Rhubarb. 
cwt. 
4 
0 
6 
0 
Carrots .. 
bunch 
0 
3 
0 
4 
bundle 
0 
4 
0 
0 
Cauliflowers .. 
dozen 
2 
0 
3 
0 
Salsafy. 
bundle 
1 
0 
0 
0 
Celery 
bundle 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Scorzonera .. .. 
bundle 
1 
6 
0 
0 
Coleworts 
doz. bunches 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Seakale. 
basket 
1 
0 
1 
6 
Cucumbers 
• • 
each 
1 
0 
1 
6 
Shallots. 
.. ft. 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Endive .. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Spinach. 
bushel 
2 
6 
3 
6 
Herbs 
bunch 
0 
2 
0 
0 
Tomatoes .. .. 
.. ft. 
2 
0 
2 
6 
Leeks 
bunch 
0 
3 
0 
4 
Turnips. 
bunch 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Lettuce . 
dozen 
1 
0 
1 
6 
V 
An r 
Mi 
II 
w 
M 
*>' 1 
)] 
SEEDS FOE EENOYATING PASTUEES ON YAEIOUS 
SOILS. 
Large tracts of land during the past seven years have been laid 
into pasture tinder the influence of depression in agriculture, and the 
idea that corn would not pay for growing upon flat-lying strong 
land, which may or may not be true, according to varying circum¬ 
stances over which the farmers have little or no control. One thing, 
however, may be taken as correct, that under the influence of a 
great mistake iu the selection of seeds for the purpose of laying 
down land for permanent pasture, that an area corresponding with 
; the popular idea entertained not only by the farmers, but the 
seedsmen also, has proved more or less a failure on all soils. As 
soon as the seeds of annuals and biennials sown in connection with 
the permanent grass seeds died away and left the land more or less 
bare, it induced the consequent belief that nothing but time and the 
waiting for Clovers and Grass indigenous to the soil to spring up 
could be done to repair the mischief, which has since been proved 
by all practical men to have been done by the mistakes referred to, 
of having seeded the land with Rye Grasses, none of which has 
proved permanent. In the consideration of reseeding we are con¬ 
fronted by the fact that variation in soils must have its effect upon 
the selection, as much as it has influenced us in recommending 
various seeds under the heading of “ Seeds for Permanent Pasture 
on Different Soils." But again, there must, if a judicious selection is 
made, be some notice taken of those Grasses which are left, and 
which may fairly induce us to add more or less of other Grasses 
adapted for the soil. Still, on the other hand, w T e may consider the 
value of those sorts which have survived, and the non-value of those 
which have died out, yet we can hardly go so far as to say that the 
remaining plants are actually the survival of the fittest unless we 
knew the actual combination of seeds sown in the first instance. 
We must now notice other causes of the infertility of portions 
of pastures under various circumstances, such as the growth and 
prevalence of inferior Grasses and weeds. Upon strong land 
we noticed that the Blue Carnation Grass (Carex) is prevalent 
This at once denotes poverty, and that the deficiency is caused by 
the land being too poor to maintain the better Grasses, although 
some of them may have previously existed as indigenous to the soil, 
yet could not be retained without sufficient condition being present 
in the soil. This we have noticed as the frequent result of dairy 
cattle feeding without getting any cake, &c., in their rations of 
fodder, and at the same time the pasture not being cared for by 
manuring sufficiently to sustain the better Grasses. Again, there is 
another serious obstacle to production on park and pasture lands— 
viz., the growth of moss, which, although it seems frequently of a 
very dwarf habit of growth, yet it only shows that this moss is 
neither more nor less thau the last effort of nature to clothe the land 
when it is so wanting in fertility that the superior herbage required 
for profitable production has entirely died out, arising from the cause 
we have before assigned—that of neglect. 
Next we must consider the practical point of preparing the land 
for the reception of those seeds we may deem desirable for 
renovating, or whether we should dive deeper into expenses by 
breaking-up such inferior pasture and cultivating for saleable crop3 
during three or four years, adding sufficient manure and chalk as 
may be required to make it productive when seeded with permanent 
pasture Grass seeds, and after being cultivated we may sometimes 
discover that portions of the field cannot be profitably treated without 
being drained. This is rather enlarging upon our subject, but the 
consideration of these points before seeding the land is only a 
practical and carefully devised matter to prevent future failures in 
the outlay for procuring good pasturage. We have often seen it 
noticed that the fact of moss being found on the land shows that it 
requires draining; but this may or may not be the case, for we can 
only say that except in the case of actual peat bogs it is really, as 
we have stated, caused by the absence of fertility iu the land, 
whether it requires draining or not. We have found it existing on 
the driest soils as well as on the cold flat-lying clay lands, which 
would probably pay beet for being drained before we could expect 
a superior turf for permanent pasture. 
Let us now consider the best time of year for sowing the 
Grass seeds for renovating, preparing the land for reception of 
the seed, and abo the sorts and quantity of manures per acre, and the 
time and manner of their application. Some farmers advocate the 
seeding to renovate defective pastures should be done just after a 
crop of hay has been removed. We, however, prefer to sow the 
seeds in the month of March, in order that the young plants may 
obtain a firm rooting before the winter begins. It is also found that 
in March we are pretty sure to find moisture enough to vegetate all 
the seeds which are sowed. Before sowing, however, the land should 
be first dragged with heavy iron drags two or three times, according 
to the state of the soil on the surface. If hard the more work should 
be done. It is also important as to whether the surface is clean or 
foul with moss or Couch. If by either of them, and there are no old 
Grass plants worth saving, the land may be scarified instead of 
dragged, and the Couch got together and carted away. When 
the land is clean and has been dragged the manure may be sown 
and harrowed in. The quantity of manure may vary, according to 
