294 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 14, 1881. 
pre-eminent, and are certainly deserving of more attention than is 
at present accorded them.--A n Englishman. 
HOLLY HEDGES. 
As this is the time of the year when many are thinking of 
forming hedges it may be of advantage to submit a few practical 
notes to the readers of our Journal. The best hedge plant is 
certainly the common green Holly, as it forms an impenetrable 
and ornamental fence, and when well established acts as a capital 
break to cold winds. The results of my experience here given 
have been bought at a great cost, for I have had hundreds of 
Hollies killed by injudicious or careless planting. The most im¬ 
portant matter to be attended to is the purchasing of the Hollies. 
It is a wise plan to purchase the plants near home, and to see 
and examine them before buying. The plants which are most 
suitable for moving have an abundance of fibrous roots; to 
such the soil adheres well. If the plants have long straggling 
roots from w'hich the soil easily falls they will very likely be 
killed by removal. Nurserymen who grow Hollies extensively 
are careful to transplant them very often, so as to encourage the 
formation of fibres at the root. On stiff land Hollies cannot be 
grown satisfactorily for removal unless manure and peat are 
worked well into the soil. From the above remarks it will be 
seen that a judicious buyer will have several plants taken up so 
that he may examine the roots. Before the plants are lifted 
everything should be prepared so that they can be planted in the 
required positions without any delay, as it is most injurious to 
keep Hollies long out of the ground. One of the strongest points 
in my mode of procedure is to transplant quickly. I have had 
Hollies lifted in the morning, conveyed ninety miles by rail, and 
planted before night. There is the great danger of the roots 
becoming dry, which must be carefully avoided. If by accident 
the roots do become dry it is a wise plan to dip them into a 
bucket of water. In planting the soil should be trodden only 
moderately firm. The best compost to work round the roots to 
assist the formation of fibres is a mixture of well-decayed stable 
manure and bog or peat; this worked in liberal quantities into 
the soil as the work of planting proceeds will keep the roots moist, 
which is important, especially for young plants. I prefer the 
months of April or May for planting, but I am guided generally by 
the weather. We are unable to plant in this locality (Cheshire) 
at present, as the cutting easterly winds are very severe. 1 prefer 
moist weather for transplanting Hollies, no matter what time of 
the year it be. There are now in this neighbourhood splendid 
Holly hedges which I planted in a moist July. 
In suburban districts many Holly hedges are planted in the 
front of villa gardens. I have seen hundreds of plants killed by 
injudicious planting in such positions. Villa gardens of the class 
I refer to have usually at the front a small stone wall about 3 feet 
high. The border is made to slope from the level ground to within 
a few inches of the top of the wall, and the Holly hedge is planted 
so that it shows well above the wall; it is thus exposed to the 
wind, and is in danger of becoming dry at the roots. In such a 
position the wonder is that the plants live at all. Any danger 
from this cause is easily avoided by allowing the soil to come 
only within a foot of the top of the wall. The appearance at the 
outset is not so striking, but in a few seasons the gardener so 
planting will be gratified by seeing a well-established hedge. 
Immediately the hedge is planted the soil should be mulched with 
manure or tan to keep the roots moist. If very dry weather 
follow the planting the hedge will be benefited by a thorough 
watering. Gentlemen who have established Holly hedges which 
are doing badly will find it a good plan to dig well to the roots 
and work in a liberal quantity of good manure. If care be taken 
that the roots are not injured the hedge will be found to make a 
great improvement in a very short time. During the late severe 
weather Hollies have suffered in many neighbourhoods ; it may, 
therefore, be of use to some to say that when a Holly loses its 
leaves through frost it is regarded as a good sign, for the plant 
will in all probability break out into growth when genial weather 
comes. The mode of procedure mentioned above I have found to 
be most successful, and the experience which I have pleasure in 
presenting to the readers of the Journal has been gained over a 
long period and by many failures and many successes.— Vindex. 
Potting Chrysanthemums. —Mr. Brotherston remarked some 
time since that he gives preference for large pots for the sake of 
economising labour in watering. Those who wish to grow Chrys¬ 
anthemums well must not be afraid of such labour, or they had 
better not attempt the culture. It is not advisable to use larger 
pots than really are required for the well-being of the plants. 
Large pots are not required to grow good Chrysanthemums in, 
and are rather a disadvantage than otherwise. I may remind 
Mr. Brotherston that the best blooms I have ever seen produced 
are not grown from plants in large pots. I do not agree with 
the advice given in relation to potting. If plants are placed in 
5-inch pots at the beginning of April they will grow freely, soon 
fill their pots with roots, and become root-bound before the 
beginning or middle of June, then if finally potted into 13-inch 
pots, they have a shift of 8 inches, which I contend is too large 
even for a free-growing plant like the Chrysanthemum, especially 
if the roots have become seriously matted in 5-inch pots.—W m. 
Bardney. 
At a General Meeting of the Boyal Horticultural Society 
held on Tuesday last, Major F. Mason in the chair, the following 
candidates were elected Fellows—viz., Edward H. Allen, Mr. 
G. C. Armstrong, Mrs. Hope Barton, Lady Cardross, Miss Emma 
T. D’Eyncourt, the Hon. Hubert Dormer, The Hon. Mrs. Hubert 
Dormer, John Henderson, Mr. Francis Hornby, Mrs. Little, Miss 
Lock, Miss Mallard, Henry H. Moore, Frederick A. Mullett, Wil¬ 
fred Nicholson, the Hon. Mrs. T. Preston, George Russell, Joseph 
Seel, Mrs. Louisa P. Stevenson, Frank C. Stileman, Mrs. Frederick 
Streatfield, Frank Whitlock, Major-Gen. F. L. Whitmore, Samuel 
J. Wilde, Major Woodhouse, and Mr. W. Parkinson Wright. 
- After a term of unusually cold weather — keen 
easterly winds blowing almost a hurricane night and day for 
weeks, arresting the growth of vegetation and jeopardising newly 
planted shrubs—a favourable change occurred in the metropolitan 
district on Tuesday last, accompanied by a gentle and refreshing 
shower. From the beginning of March to the 12th inst. only 
about three-quarters of an inch of rain fell in London ; during the 
corresponding period of last year the amount exceeded 1^ inch. 
The weather has at least been favourable for drying the land, 
hundreds of acres of which were not long ago submerged, and 
for expediting the working of the ground in fields and gardens. 
In the north of England and Scotland the weather obstacles 
have been more serious, for during much of the time the ground 
was dry and in good condition in the south it was deeply covered 
with snow in the north, which lingers yet in shaded places. 
Fruit blossoms are late, and on the whole, in the south at least, 
the late term of cold may possibly in the end prove more beneficial 
than injurious. 
- We may remind our readers that the Southern Show of 
the National Auricula Society will be held in the Royal 
Horticultural Society’s Gardens, South Kensington, on Tuesday 
next April the 19th, when prizes will be offered in the customary 
classes, and a satisfactory display is expected. Mr. George 
Smith of Edmonton will offer three special prizes for the best 
plant of Polyanthus Smith’s Duke of Wellington. An interesting 
feature of the meeting will be the delivery of a lecture on the 
Auricula by the Rev. F. D. Horner of Kirkby Malzeard, who has 
so often enriched our columns with notes on the flower of which 
he is such a skilled cultivator and ardent patron. We also learn 
that the Northern Show will be held on April the 26th in the 
New Town Hall, Manchester, when Auriculas and Polyanthuses 
will be similarly well provided for. 
- “ D., Deal ,'' writes to us as follows on the Cardiff Rose 
Society —“The interest that the Rose excites amongst us does 
not seem to be on the wane, if one may judge amongst other 
things from the number of new societies which are starting up. 
The last of these is Cardiff, and one can easily imagine that from 
its position, its contiguity to Hereford, and the patronage which 
