116 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. t February 9, less. 
requiring humus or minerally rich soils prosper in those regions. The 
Oak seems really the only tree that can be successfully grown. Trees 
that have been injured by smoke are not exempt from injury by 
beetles. All smelting authorities should unite in effort to prevent 
this injury to vegetation. By instituting sulphuric acid manu¬ 
factories, effecting condensation of the smelting vapours, the evil 
may be greatly reduced and brought to a minimum. Places cleared 
of vegetation by the smoke may be brought under cultivation again 
after removal of the injurious cause .—(Journal of Forestry.) 
FLOWER GARDENING ON CLAY SOILS. 
The successful production of flowers in the open border requires 
more perseverance and patience when the natural soil of the 
garden is clay than when it is of a lighter nature. The more is 
done to improve the soil the more convinced we become that 
plants depend for their welfare upon atmospheric conditions a3 
upon soil, and these conditions seem to be imfavourably influenced 
by a surface of clay. It stands to reason that if plants are kept 
constantly growing through summer and autumn by the moisture 
of any soil they are in a worse condition to resist the cold of 
winter than where they are allowed to complete their growth and 
rest earlier in the year ; but, apart from this, even if a plant is in 
a pot, it seems far more susceptible of cold on clay than on chalk 
or gravel. The difficulty is greatest in the case of choice and 
delicate plants, and many things are quite hardy in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Edinburgh which seldom survive a winter in this 
garden on the red clay of Cheshire. 
If I had to choose a residence with a view to the capabilities it 
offered for outdoor gardening, this is one of the last places I 
should select; but as I live here I have studied how to counteract 
the disadvantages of soil, and as many who are fond of gardening 
are similarly situated I will tell them how far I have succeeded. 
In the first place all surface water must at once be carried off into 
the nearest watercourse by drainage. Agricultural pipes are of 
little use when the roots of trees can get into them, but the clay 
itself makes a very good channel if the drain is filled nearly to the 
surface with broken stone. By going round the garden after rain, 
and observing in what places water stands or the soil is very wet, 
it will be seen where drains are wanted, and they must be put in 
accordingly. Then we must consider the soil of the flower beds. 
The more this is lightened by sand, leaf soil, and other mixtures 
the greater the necessity for special drainage to each bed, or the 
water sinks into the light soil and cannot escape, making a stag¬ 
nant basin or pond, in which even bog plants will not do well. 
The best plan is to dig each bed out to a depth of 3 or 4 feet, and 
to lay drains from the bottom, sloping the surface of the clay 
towards the outlet, and covering it with broken stone. 
For long borders I find it best to have a deep narrow drain 
filled nearly to the surface with stone or other hard substance 
along each side of the border, giving it sufficient fall to carry off 
the water at once to the nearest main drain. The labour of all 
this is small compared with the advantage gained, but there may 
be some difficulty about material. Brick ends and similar rub¬ 
bish are readily suggested ; but in this part of Cheshire sandstone 
rock, locally called “ roche,” and pronounced, like the name of the 
fish, roach, is nowhere very distant. It is so easily worked that 
our forefathers seem to have thought it the readiest way of em¬ 
ploying superfluous labour, and walls built of large stones, weigh¬ 
ing from 1 to 2 cwt., squared and put loosely together, are often 
seen in places where we wonder what use they were intended 
for. Besides filling drains with broken pieces, there are two ways 
in which these stones may be turned to gardening purposes. Well- 
drained level beds filled with good soil are satisfactory enough, 
especially if lumps of stone reaching nearly to the surface are 
mixed in for the whole depth of the new soil ; but in other ways 
we may obtain still better results. 
I have lately spoken in this Journal of rockeries ; but besides 
the rockery proper, for which soft sandstone is not the best ma¬ 
terial, these large stones laid on the surface at different angles in 
any part of the garden where there is a steep slope, and filled with 
soil between so as to stand out 2 or 3 inches, make a flower bed 
which, for the well-being of plants and for displaying their flowers 
to advantage, cannot easily be surpassed. I have just used 10 yards 
of old wall in converting a length of old moat 15 yards long and 
15 feet wide, sloping at an angle of 30°, into 75 square yards of 
flower bed, and the entire work occupied three men and a horse 
and cart two days, my work being thrown into the bargain. 
Another plan which I find very successful on this cold damp soil 
is to make raised beds with these same blocks of sandstone. I 
place a row of stones round the area of the bed, about a foot 
apart or less, if I intend to have only one row of stones, and raise 
the soil from 1 to 2 feet, according to the size of the bed. I have 
such beds of many sizes, some against walls for growing choice 
plants or for raising seedlings. They are excellent for Pinks and 
Carnations, for Hellebores and Hepaticas, and for everything 
which is especially particular about good drainage, and I am try¬ 
ing them this year for Gladioli, with which I have never yet been 
successful. 
These are a few of the means I employ to fight against natural 
disadvantages. This work involves much cartage of materials, 
and I believe I have for several years added about three hundred 
cartloads annually to the soil of my garden, a work which will, 
perhaps, in future ages be set down to the credit of the worms.— 
C. W. Dod. 
ESCALLONIAS. 
The beauty of Escallonias is not half known in our northern 
counties, and this is due in a large measure to these plants failing 
to stand the severity of our winters. This accounts, too, for their 
not being more largely planted, as cultivators have an impression 
that they are not hardy. To a certain extent they are not, and 
the same applies to many other shrubs which are planted largely 
in gardens. I have seen plants that have lived through winters 
when the temperature fell below zero. The portion above ground 
was killed, but the plants grew again from the base the following 
season. Those portions above ground are liable annually to be 
cut back, and solely on this account many have refrained from 
planting them. They can, however, be kept alive through all our 
ordinary winters if planted against a wall in a sheltered position 
and protection afforded during a severe winter. The roots should 
be well protected with litter, while the tops must be loosened 
from the wall, packing a little dry straw and a mat round them, 
and secure them to the wall. By this means I have seen plants 
protected do well and flourish abundantly afterwards. I have 
no doubt these plants would stand well in the southern parts of 
the country, where the winters, as a rule, are not so severe. In¬ 
land they do not appear so hardy as by the seacoast. In Wales 
they grow, bloom, and flourish luxuriantly. Those who may only 
have seen small plants or others growing against a wall can form 
only an inadequate idea of the effect Escallonias produce when 
grown as bushes and literally covered with flowers. This was the 
case with plants I saw some five years ago at Colwyn Bay, and 
close to the sea, which first impressed me with their real beauty. 
I should not like to speculate in recommending them to be grown 
bush fashion in the northern counties, but in the more genial 
parts of England they might be planted for that purpose, and 
prove ornamental and effective. Whether they succeed in smoky 
neighbourhoods I have had no opportunity of ascertaining, and I 
should be glad of any information on that point. 
Escallonias are readily propagated by means of cuttings, which 
root freely any time during the season. Cuttings taken now from 
plants stored in frames for protection during winter would be 
very suitable, or the younger shoots produced during the summer 
also root freely. The cuttings should be about 2 inches long, and 
cut below a joint, removing one or two pairs of leaves as may be 
necessary. The tops or strong side shoots should be selected for 
the cuttings, and are best inserted in 8-inch pots, well drained and 
filled with sandy soil, with a good layer of silver sand on the sur¬ 
face. After the cuttings are inserted a good watering should be 
given, and the pots placed in the close frame in the Conifer house 
or under bellglasses. The soil must not be allowed to become 
dry, and the cuttings should occasionally be damped with a fine- 
rose watering can or the syringe. Escallonias root readily and 
quickly, and are soon ready for potting-off singly in 2 or 4-inch 
pots. They must be gradually hardened before they are trans¬ 
ferred into pots singly. For a short time they should occupy a 
frame, and if favourable weather follows they can be placed out¬ 
side and plunged. Whether the plants are transferred into larger 
pots depends much upon the time they are rooted. If early they 
can be placed in 5-inch pots if in the first-named size ; but if in 
the latter, are often allowed to remain in them until they attain 
a saleable size. If not disposed of they are placed in G-inch pots 
the following season. As a rule, in nurseries Escallonias are kept 
in pots, and can be transferred for planting at any season of the 
year with safety. They grow quickly and freely in sandy soil 
with a seventh of manure added, and require good supplies of 
water while growing in pots. 
Escallonia sanguinea is very attractive with its small foliage 
and flowers against a wall, even more so in that position than 
E. macrantha, while the last-named is the better of the two to 
form a bush. The white-flowered varieties I have never seen in 
good condition.— W. Bardney. 
Historic Trees in America. —There is a grove of nearly 1700 
trees in California, no one of which measures less than 6 feet in 
