November 15, 1883. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
415 
the hot door the air drawn in would be heated before passing through 
the fire. 
. It is surely a mistake to have so little brickwork and so much cool 
boiler surface in a furnace. To retard the thorough combustion of the coal 
and to send it up the chimney in volumes of thick black smoke, so much 
heat is worse than wasted. There are few structures where the smoke 
after leaving the boiler could not be taken in a flue round a plant stove 
beneath the stage or some similar place, and the heat be thus all utilised. 
With the very best boiler if the water is, say, 180°, the air must pass up 
the chimney at that temperature ; and if the tire gets very low with a 
full draught on, the better the boiler is constructed to extract the heat 
the sooner the cold draught will cool it.— Dugald, 
SEAKALE AND RHUBARB. 
SEAKALE is such a distinct and good vegetable that it is worth some 
trouble trying to command an unbroken supply throughout the six 
months or so it is in season. Gardeners who have this to compass as 
part of their duties are sometimes obliged to make efforts to do so, which 
are perhaps suitable for their own individual wants but not to be 
generally recommended. Thus I found it necessary before a sufficient 
number of plants were raised for our consumption to take a double 
cutting from the strongest crowns. As a matter of course the second 
crop thus forced was not nearly so fine as the first cutting from the 
central crown, but for a few seasons I was glad of it, and mention it now 
that those in a like position may try a double cutting. 
Though it is an impossibility to cut large produce if the summer 
growth has not been carefully provided for, this is not the time to enter 
into the preparation of the plants. At the same time it must be under¬ 
stood that much may be done by treatment whilst the plants are being 
forced to improve the produce, and I will shortly state the system we 
pursue to produce a continued supply of Seakale. 
The first season I entered on my present charge the old system of 
covering and forcing with leaves was pursued, but the labour of carting 
the leaves on to the beds in winter, and in spring carting them back to 
the rubbish quarter, with the continued labour of uncovering the pots 
and boxes to get at the produce, once and for all set me against ever 
forcing Seakale in that way again. Accordingly when spring arrived a 
good breadth of seed was sown, and with plants from this, supplemented 
with those from the old beds, I made the best of it by contriving places 
in the hothouses. Afterwards a forcing pit was erected and provision 
was made for bringing on a supply of early Seakale and Rhubarb in this 
structure ; a Mushroom house was also set going, and a portion of that 
building has been devoted to Seakale, while a shed erected to prepare 
the manure for the Mushrooms came in useful for the later batches of 
Seakale. Thus the two earliest batches are started in the pit. Then 
from January to April the Mushroom house is depended on, and in April 
and May we cut from the shed-grown plants. The entire crop, it will be 
seen, is lifted and forced. In our circumstances this is the cheapest and 
best mode, and the Seakale is grown year after year by rotation like 
other crops. 
In one of the late winters which frost-bound the earth for so many 
weeks it was impossible to have a supply lifted. Since then I have had 
the whole crop lifted when growth was fully finished, and the roots put 
away for use as required in a cool shed. The crowns are selected at this 
time, any weakly growths being thrown aside to be planted out. These 
make the strongest crowns for the following season. The best material 
I have yet tried for planting the roots to be forced in is one of leaf soil 
and Mushroom-bed refuse in equal proportions. The latter used alone 
does very well. It is not well to give much water; in fact, as a rule 
water is not much required, as there is so little evaporation, owing 
to the plants being kept isolated from the rest of the house ; nevertheless, 
the soil is dry a moderate application of lukewarm water is very 
necessary. A batch is put in to force every three weeks. However, the 
latest may be a large one, and as they will come on slowly and irregularly 
the supply from it is kept up for a long time. A higher temperature 
than 55° should not be given. The crowns should be cut when the 
growth is about 7 inches in length. When the supply is at any time 
greater than the demand, all that is ready should be cut and kept till 
wanted in a cool room. As one batch is cut the rcots are removed to a 
cool shed and covered with sand until wanted to plant out, and another 
batch is introduced, not using the same soil. For the produce brought 
on in the shed a few loads of sweetened horse droppings are placed 
round it, and the whole covered up with bundles of straw. The very 
latest lot requires merely to be protected from light, and comes on 
naturally. 
Rhubarb is grown in a pit. The same material for rooting in is used as 
stated for Seakale. Rhubarb intended to be forced should not be gathered 
from in summer. Both light and air are required in order to give 
firmness and flavour. A temperature of 55° should not be exceeded, and 
plenty of water at the root is very necessary for Rhubarb.—B. 
Michaelmas Daisies. —These have bloomed well this autumn, the 
fine open weather we have had being very suitable for the expansion of 
the flowers. There are two or three kinds very suitable for a rock 
garden—Aster alpinum, A. ericoides, and A. discolor minor. The last 
named came under my notice on a recent visit to Kew, and was one of 
the prettiest and most attractive flowering plants then in bloom on the 
rockery. It is about 6 inches in height, and deserves a place in every 
collection. Aster Amellus and A. hyssopifolius are two good flowering 
plants for the herbaceous border in August and September. A. Amellus 
in particular should be planted freely, as it gives very little trouble in 
staking, and does not encroach too much on other plants. Its height 
varies from 18 inches to 2 feet. The flowers are large, dark lilac shaded 
with purple, and with a yellow disc ; and of several kinds that I cultivate 
in my opinion it is the best. A. Novae-Angliae and some others are now 
blooming, ranging from 5 to 7 feet in height.—A. Harding. 
DIPLADENIA BREARLEYANA. 
There are few plants so beautiful, and few that are more useful in 
the stove than this. Whether trained on a balloon trellis for a drawing¬ 
room or warm conservatory decoration, or on a trellis close to the roof 
for the purpose of cut flowers, its soft pink trumpet-shaped flowers 
changing to the deepest crimson are invaluable. If in the latter position 
it is associated with either Allamanda or Stephanotis the contrast is 
very striking. When cut the blooms will last some time, and if placed 
in flat glasses either alone or mixed with those mentioned, with a few 
sprays of Fern as a thin veil over them, they are exceedingly effective. 
Being evergreen they must not be allowed to get too dry in the resting 
season, otherwise they suffer considerably and start into growth in 
spring very weakly. In February they should be potted in a mixture of 
three parts peat, one part loam, one part leaf soil, and one of sand. They 
should be grown freely in a good stove temperature, with an occasional 
supply of mild liquid manure when in full growth. They must be 
kept clean by frequent syringing. By this treatment they bloom freely 
and continuously.—C. W. 
THE PHYLLOXERA. 
It may throw some light on the case of phylloxera referred to by 
your correspondent (Mr. Gray, page 401), if I state that several years 
since I had some correspondence with a gardener in the north of Scotland, 
who sent me a sample of his Vine roots covered with this destructive 
pest. He was at a loss to conceive how it could possibly be introduced 
to his vinery, not having received Vines from anywhere. After urging 
him to think of everything that occurred in connection with these Vines, 
he recollected that his employer bought some Roses in France, and that 
when they were received the ground was so hard frozen that they could 
not be “ heeled in ” outdoors ; and having a bench full of soil prepared 
for potting the Vines, the Roses were laid in this soil, and so remained 
for a time, after which the young Vines were potted in the said 
soil. No doubt the eggs of the phylloxera had been imported with the 
Roses, and though the insect lives only on Vines it is quite likely that its 
eggs might be imported in the soil attached to Lilacs imported from 
France.— D. Thomson, Drumlanrig . 
I beg to send you a few more particulars about the phylloxera- 
infested Vines at Chevening. In the first place the Vines were temporary, 
and therefore there was no need for hesitation to destroy them. They 
had been planted in what was an old Pine pit, deep and narrow ; 
drainage to the depth of 18 inches had been put in, and the 
remaining space filled with soil, in which the Vines were doing well. 
We were in the act of giving more accommodation to the roots of the 
younger and permanent Vines, which led to the discovery of the pest. I 
had no doubt what it was, but was glad to have your confirmation of the 
fact. When digging out the soil I was enabled to make a more minute 
examination, and found phylloxera on all the main roots, down even to 
the drainage, a depth of nearly 5 feet; there were none on the rootlets 
nor small roots. Doubtless this circumstance accounts for the health and 
vigour of the Vines. Two of the Vines had not many insects on them, 
which puzzles me. The Black Hamburgh and the three next were very 
bad. 
The question of its introduction to the different places is a very 
important one indeed, as, if that could be ascertained with any degree 
of certainty, gardeners would then be able to avoid it or stamp it out. 
At present 1 do not believe in the “ mysterious theory ” of introduction. 
Little doubt exists in my mind that if no Vines had been bought in there 
would have been no phylloxera here. 
I quite agree with you that keeping its presence secret will do no 
good ; on the contrary, much harm. My employer, as soon as it was 
made known to him, at once suggested the destruction of the Vines, and 
is agreeable to let his neighbours know and see the pest if they wish, with 
a view to its extirpation. Everyone who has the misfortune to have it 
ought to do the same.—R. Gray. 
BURNING REFUSE. 
What with autumn cleanings and winter prunings refuse will now 
be plentiful in all gardens, and it is to be hoped that the advantage of 
the crops and the benefit of cultivators that every particle of such material 
will be collected, saved, and converted into manure. Leaves and anything 
which will decompose readily may be partially decayed and be used as 
manure ; but prunings and anything in the form of wood cannot be 
treated in this way, and it is not safe to make manure of weeds until 
they are burned, as this is the only way of killing the seeds, but it is a 
simple way of destroying them and should be generally adopted. 
Prunings from evergreens, fruit trees, hedge-clippings, and everything 
of this kind should be placed in a large heap and burned. When they 
are very dry they will soon be consumed, but this destroys them, as little 
