894 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ November 8, 1883. 
because it was so clean and easily attended to, have been terribly dis¬ 
appointed to find one morning that frost has nipped some of their tender 
plants near the glass, though the gas was burning full and the pipes hot 
at 9 A M. ; the fact being that they had not lighted the gas till 8 P.M., and 
before the water could become hot the frost had done its mischief ; but 
afterwards, say at 6 a m., the pipes got comfortably warm, and increased 
as morning advanced. Had the gas been lighted three or four hours 
earlier and the water raised to boiling point, or nearly so, a less con¬ 
sumption of gas would have kept it hot during the remainder of the 
night. On the management of oil or gas stoves very much might be 
written to account for the many failures and few successes therewith. 
—B. W. Warhurst. 
AUTUMN PROPAGATION OF ROSES. 
Many methods of striking Rose cuttings are mentioned in the Journal 
of Horticulture from time to time, and of course failures in doing so axe 
also recorded. I find the following plan to answer well. 
Take well-ripened cuttings 8 to 10 inches long, and place them in 
boxes -(leaving two or three eyes above the soil) any time from the end 
of October to the end of November, and place them until March where 
they will be protected from east winds and bard frosts. Then put the 
boxes into a frame with a little bottom heat. Most of the cuttings that 
are callused will grow, and can be transferred into G-inch pots in 
another month, pruned as soon as established, afterwards hardened off 
and planted out in May, or even in June, taking care that the roots are 
as little disturbed as p- ssible. Mulch the ground with decayed manure 
after planting out, and supply water if necessary. 
The boxes should be about a foot deep, and the bottom should have a 
few holes bored through for drainage and covered with about half an inch 
of sand, the cuttings to be inserted very firmly. When the cuttings are 
ready for potting knock the bottom of the box out or take it in pieces, as 
the roots would be too much broken if any attempt was made to dig 
them up. J make the cuttings without a heel and plant them rather 
thickly, as many will not callus, and some that do will die. I know some 
of your readers will say, “ What a lot of trouble 1 ” but if Roses are 
worth growing on their own roots surely they are worth a little trouble, 
especially as you get good strong plants that bloom the first season. The 
above only refers to Hybrid Perpetuals, as I find that Teas will root 
almost at any time with the assistance of a frame. 
I do not wish anyone to think that Roses on their own roots bloom 
as freely as when budded on the Manetti, Briar cuttings, or seedling 
Briars, as they do not, and the free-blooming varieties only should be 
used. The best, I find, is Marie Baumann. John Hopper and some few 
varieties bloom fairly well, whilst others make large plants, plenty of 
wood, but no blooms worth mentioning.—W. Boyes, Milford , Derby. 
DEEP SOIL BEST FOR POTATOES. 
Last spring we began to trench a large quarter in the kitchen garden 
here, but the weather and other work prevented us finishing it, and only 
part of it was turned up to the depth of 2 feet, the remainder being 
dug over in the ordinary way. In trenching a large quantity of all kinds 
of rough garden refuse was turned into the bottom, and finally a quantity 
of manure was forked into the surface. This was used to both the 
trenched and dug portion, deep drills being opened 3 feet apart and 
Potatoes planted all over the piece. B\ -and-by a row of Broccoli 
plants was placed between the drills of Potatoes, and all the stems of the 
latter appeared to be of the same bulk and strength, but on lifting tho 
roots the other da> the crops were widely different on the trenched and 
untrenched ground. The variety was the Scotch Champion, and on the 
ground which was only dug over the crop might be termed light, but on the 
trenched part it was very good indeed, and according to measure we had 
as many from two rows on the trenched soil as in three on the shallow- 
tilled part. The size, too, was more uniform on the trenched piece, and 
the results altogether are decidedly in favour of trenching or deep digging. 
—J. Moir. 
SEASONABLE FLORAL DECORATIONS. 
We have had an exceptionally busy fortnight of floral 
decoration, beginning early every morning with the arrange¬ 
ment of cut flowers and foliage for sitting-rooms, and ending 
each evening with a brisk three hours of dinner-table decoration, 
the greater part of tie last day being given to the decoration of 
a church for a harvest festival. This has recently occui'red, and 
has left behind it a keen sense of knowledge gained, of views 
enlarged, altered, or strengthened; and what is even more 
import; nt, has afforded much insight into the difficulties which 
beset t e efforts of beginners in a branch of gardening that 
not unfre uently puts the skill, taste, and originality of old 
practitioners to the severest test. It is hoped, therefore, that 
a few h nts may again be usefully jotted down for the assist¬ 
ance of many of your readers whose efforts in this work are 
beset with doubts and difficulties ; and first let us give some 
attention to the 
< Inn e of Materials .—Tameness and monotonous renetition 
are o be avoided. Let us therefore strive to impart a season¬ 
able air to our designs by the free use of as many hardy 
flowers and leaves as prove suitable for tasteful combinations, 
for all such are undoubtedly admissible, and the true ai’tist 
never objects to foliage or flowers because it is familiar or 
common, and has no sympathy with that ultra-refinement which 
rejects all but rare exotics or costly forced flowers for house 
or table decoration. Rather does he cherish a fondness for 
beauty of form and colour under whatever guise it presents 
itself, not in obedience to arbitrary rules or canons of taste, 
but involuntarily, and from a habit and sense of pleasure that 
grows in keenness and intensity as he learns with Kingsley to 
“ Drink in all the forms of beauty which lie in leaves and 
pebbles, and mossy nooks of damp tree roots, and all the lowly 
intricacies of Nature.” Autumn is especially rich in the lovely 
tints of decaying foliage that brighten the woods and hedgerows 
with a wealth of colour on which the eye lingers all the more 
fondly for its brief duration. The garden, too, has its own 
special autumnal brightness, affording us ample materials for 
our work. 
A Virginian Creeper on a southern gable "was first this 
autumn to change from sober green to gorgeous crimson, and 
very useful were its bold handsome pinnate leaves, especially 
for large flower stands. Ampelopsis Veitchii soon followed it, 
and has now on the last Saturday in October been in full 
beauty for several -weeks. Many of its leaves have fallen, but 
some lovely patches of them, each covering many square yards, 
remain, and are all aglow with scarlet, crimson, carmine, purple, 
yellow, and green, all blent and shaded in most gorgeous 
brilliancy. How beautiful it is ! and how exceedingly useful 
are the full-sized leaves, or rather leaves of all sizes, as well 
as the long slender growth of the current year. The huge 
specimen of it here continues spreading on all sides so fast 
that there really appears to be no limit to its growth. I have 
made no actual measurement, but from my knowledge of the 
height of the building against which it grows I may safely say 
that it already covers an area of some 4000 square feet, and 
from its habit of taking hold of everything it touches it may 
become twice as large in course of time, for there is ample 
space for it to do so. 
Polygonum Sieboldi has also been very useful. Its handsome 
foliage changed to a rich orange, occasionally blotched with 
crimson, and while at its best the long slender shoots made 
charming wi-eaths and sprays. -<Esculus laciniatum also afforded 
an abundant supply of bright yellow leaves, doubly useful from 
the elegant fan-shaped form, lighter in colour, and with narrower 
lobes than the common Horse Chestnut, w'liich, however, pos¬ 
sesses a beauty of its own that, however familiar, calls for special 
mention. The foliage of one particular tree of it here, with 
branches pendent almost to the ground, changed to a deep rich 
yellow, and formed a golden bower of w r onderful beauty, especi¬ 
ally on a bright and sunny day. 
Acer polj r morphum atro-purpureum still retains its lovely 
foliage now of a bright crimson-scarlet hue. The cut spi'ays 
of it are most useful to mix both with blossom and frliage. It 
is so beautiful that several have been planted here. One of the 
best specimens is growing near an AEsculus laciniatum, and the 
effect of the masses of crimson and yellow' foliage has been very 
striking. Hardy Azaleas have changed to many shades of 
crimson, some to a deep purple, and others of various shades of 
yellow, so that one hardly knows whether they are not more 
beautiful now than when they afford us the full glory of their 
gay flowers. The scarlet Dogwood, the soft green slender sprays 
of Spiraea Thunbergiana, the bright yellow leaves and scarlet 
berries of the Japanese Rose, the deep crimson leaves and glossy 
berries of Viburnum Opulus, crimson and yellow leaves of the 
Dutch Medlar, bright crimson leaves of common Blackberry, 
the silvery-awned seed clusters of Clematis Vitalba, with green 
Fern fronds and silvery plumes of dried Grasses, have all been 
used in pleasing combinations, and are all mentioned to show 
what is really useful at this season of the year. All are hardy, 
and so easily established as permanent trees and plants that 
there should be no difficulty in obtaining a supply from every 
garden. A lady of undoubted taste having recently to arrange 
some cut flowers and foliage at a house where she was staying, 
complained to me that although the garden contained numerous 
glass houses filled with choice plants as w'ell as beds and borders 
of flowers in the open air, yet it was sadly deficient in suitable 
materials for what she had to do. 
Of flowers single Dahlias and tuberous-rooted Begonias 
have borne with impunity one sharp frost. Both are delightful 
modern innovations in our flower borders, and both are remark¬ 
able’for what may be termed an affinity of usefulness. 1 asily 
raised from seed in spring, they grow so quickly that they come 
early into bloom in summer, and continue in full beauty late in 
