December 8,1881. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 519 
Croydon. The following numerous gardening appointments have 
also been recently made through Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, 
Chelsea :—Mr. P. Hickman, late gardener to C. M. Kennedy, Escp, 
Newport Tower, Berkeley, has been appointed gardener to C. 
Willock Dawes, Esq., Burton Hill, Petworth. Mr. G. Butt, late 
gardener to Sir W. Salt, Maplewell, Loughborough, succeeds Mr. 
Hovell as gardener to Jas. Thorpe, Esq., Coddington Hall, Newark. 
Mr. Geo. Parker, late foreman at Cobham Hall, Gravesend, suc¬ 
ceeds Mr. Melville as gardener to M. P. W. Boulton, Esq., Great 
Tew Park, Enstone. Mr. Thos. Dell, recently gardener to the late 
E. Hermon, Esq., Wyfold Court, Henley-on-Thames, succeeds Mr. 
Cordery as gardener to Sir John Kelk, Bart., Tedwortb, Marl¬ 
borough ; and Mr. Fredk. Moore, late gardener'to Prince Lichten¬ 
stein, Eisgrub, Austria, succeeds Mr. Pritchard as^gardener to 
H. Woods, Esq., Warnford Tark, Bishop’s Waltham. Mr. B. S. 
Williams informs us that Mr. David Long, late gardener to A. 
Southard, Esq., Bracknell, succeeds Mr. Mitchell as gardener to 
G. Williams, Esq., Scorrier House, Scorrier, Cornwall. Mr. J. 
Hughes, late gardener to G. Wilkes, Esq., Chadwick Hall, Temple 
Balsall, has been appointed gardener to H. F. Osier, Esq., South 
Bank, Edgbaston, Birmingham. Mr. James Spong, gardener to 
John Clerk, Esq., Rolleston Hall, Leicester, desires us to announce 
his address in these pages and in the Horticultural Directory; 
but, with many other addresses from gardeners and nurserymen, 
it arrived too late for insertion in the Directory, which is now 
printed. These shall, however, receive attention in the next 
edition. 
- Vick’s “ Monthly Magazine ” for November, in recount¬ 
ing a visit to Europe, gives clear illustrations of Hyacinth Pro¬ 
pagation in Holland, with the following remarks upon the 
methods adopted :—“ All who have had experience with Hyacinths 
know that little pointed bulbs form at the base of the large ones, 
which, after becoming large enough to form roots, may be removed 
from the parent bulb and put out to grow to flowering size, which 
they will do in two or three years. These, however, do not 
furnish young bulbs as fast as the growers require, and recourse 
is had to other methods to hasten their production. One plan is 
to make cuts across the base of the bulb. This is done in June 
after flowering, and the cut bulbs are replaced in the ground. 
They throw out around the cuts a great many young bulbs. These 
are planted in a mass without separation the first season, the 
second divided, and in three years make strong flowering bulbs. 
Another plan is to cut about one-third of the base of the bulb 
entirely away, leaving it somewhat hollow. This is not done 
until July or August. By this process an immense number of 
young bulbs are formed from the cut scales, but not as large in 
6 ize as by the previous process. New sorts are, of course, grown 
from seed, and seedlings bloom the fourth year.” 
-At the second lecture on Horticultural Buildings 
delivered by Mr. F. A. Fawkes at the Crystal Palace on the 23rd 
ult., the various qualities of glass and different methods of glazing 
received attention. The construction of stages for plant houses, 
ventilation, and painting were also fully considered, and where 
necessary illustrated by diagrams. The following remarks upon 
glazing will interest some readers :— 
“ Tutty-glazing is by no means perfect; the putty is apt to peel 
off, crack, form crevices for the retention of moisture, and cause the 
woodwork to rot. Then it is troublesome to renew glass when 
necessary, as well to put it in in the first instance. No doubt putty¬ 
glazing is crude and unmechanical, and horticulturists would wel¬ 
come any advantageous method of superseding putty-glazing, but for 
purely horticultural purposes no system hitherto invented has proved 
a successful rival of putty-glazing, and I cannot conscientiously 
recommend any of them for glazing purposes. In some cases the 
glass is held in its place by metallic slips, in others by compressible 
metallic bars, in others between slips of vulcanite or other elastic 
substance, the glass and vulcanite being held together by wood or 
metallic capping and screws ; in others the glass drops into grooves 
prepared to receive it. In all these cases the glass comes in contact 
with either a metallic or elastic substance. In the former case there 
must be a sufficient amount of ‘ play,’ or the glass will break ; in the 
latter case atmospheric influences will rapidly decompose the elastic 
substance, when there is far more trouble and expense to replace 
such substance than to reputty a house. If there be ‘play’ between 
the glass and its supports hot air has opportunity for escape; the 
house cannot be properly fumigated; crevices for the retention of 
water by capillary attraction abound, and the glass is liable to sub¬ 
sequent breaking by the freezing of this water. For other than 
strictly growing horticultural buildings mechanical glazing may fre¬ 
quently be employed with benefit, but for these structures a puttied 
roof is safest. If putty cracks it is because it gets too hard, and 
that may be avoided by putting a little tallow in when made—say 
nine parts good boiled linseed oil, and one part tallow mixed with 
whiting to required consistency. It is frequently recommended to 
employ bottom putty only— i.e., imbed the glass in putty, sprigging 
it at the top with copper tacks. This will prevent trouble from 
putty peeling at the top, but is not so sightly as the old plan. If 
top putty be used it should not cover a large area of glass, and the 
surface of putty next the glass should slope well, so as not to retain 
moisture.” 
The concluding lecture, was given on the 30th ult., when the 
method of heating houses chiefly occupied attention, particulars 
being given of the quantity of pipes required to produce the 
requisite heat in different structures, the capacities of boilers, 
and many other important matters. 
A ROCKERY FOR ALPINE PLANTS. 
(Continued from page 490.) 
Ip the object of a rockery were only the decoration of our gar¬ 
den far more showy plants than those described might be grown 
upon it; but we have assumed that it is intended to grow plants 
for which this kind of cultivation is especially suited. If, how¬ 
ever, the soil of a garden is stiff, cold, and unsuitable to delicate 
or capricious plants, there may be many, which will prove hardy 
and will thrive on the rockery, which will fail in the mixed borders. 
I have known this to be the case with Hepaticas, which delight 
in a level w T ell-drained nest amongst stones, in which their roots 
can penetrate to a great depth without finding water-logged soil. 
The same may be said of the double forms of the common Prim¬ 
rose. The white Primula cortusoides amcena, too, is quite hardy 
and produces trusses of flowers on my rockery of a size I never 
saw elsewhere, even in a greenhouse. I have not mentioned the 
varieties of Phlox setacea, which on favoured soils may do well 
enough on level ground; but even the old white P. Nelsoni, the 
best of all, not excepting the many new varieties, is hardy here 
only on rockeries. The yellow-leaved form of Lamium macu- 
laturn may take too much room to be allowed to occupy places 
for which alpines could be found; but till they are ready try it, 
and you will hardly banish it after you have once seen how 
handsome it is. 
I regularly grow on my rockery several half-hardy shrubs, 
raised from cuttings inserted in store pots in autumn and potted 
in spring ready for planting out. Many of these flower late into 
autumn. Abelia rupestris, with Myrtle-like foliage and waxy 
white flowers freely produced all summer, is one of the best of 
these. Two Hypericums sold as H. patulum and H. uralum are 
treated in the same way and succeed very well. Cistus crispus, 
with flowers of the most vivid rose colour, is another ; and the 
most free-flowering of all the shrubby evergreen Veronicas, which 
I call V. parviflora, is now at the end of October covered with 
lovely sprays of flower. It strikes very readily and grows very 
fast. All these shrubs are hardy in some parts of the kingdom, 
but they never survive a winter here if left out, or they might be 
rather troublesome. 
Next there are several biennials or quasi-biennials for which 
the rockery is the best, if not the only place. Calandrinia um- 
bellata is classed as a perennial, but I treat it as a tender biennial, 
and a good plant of it in bright sunshine in June is a very beau¬ 
tiful object. Saponaria ocymoides does best treated in the same 
way, except that it never wants winter protection ; a fine mass of 
flower is presented by a two-year-old plant in May. Delphinium 
nudicaule, also biennial in most cases, flowers late the year it 
is sown, and for a long period in its second year. Convolvulus 
mauritanicus is a most easily managed plant. Cuttings inserted 
at the end of summer may be planted out in May straight from 
the store pot. They grow fast and flower all the summer, but they 
should be allowed to extend their growth to the bottom of the 
rockery. 
Several dwarf annuals may be added, especially the many 
coloured forms of Leptosiphon roseus, and a neat little dwarf 
cruciferous plant, Ionopsidium acaule. Of this several sowings 
