470 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ November 23, 1882. 
press will show by their writings that it is the general good 
and not petty personal motives that prompt them to lift the 
pen.—II on i Soit Qui Mal y Pensk. 
ECONOMY IN CUT FLOWERS. 
Stern necessity compels economy in cut flowers at this season 
of the year, when the open air supply has come to an end and we 
have to rely almost entirely upon plants under glass. The supply 
from this source ought, of course, to be fully in proportion to our 
requirements, but too often it is not so, and many a man is at his 
wit’s end to find enough. Well is it, therefore, to acquire the 
habit of always using as few flowers as possible for any given 
purpose. Upon the face of it this would seem to be a very 
simple matter, so simple as to fall readily within the scope of 
everyone ; but in reality it is not so. The most common fault in 
the arrangement of cut flowers is crowding, the result a confused 
unmeaning mass of colour. Ask anyone who is constantly guilty 
of such faulty practice to use fewer flowers, to strive for graceful 
lightness, and there will probably be a falling into the equally 
unsatisfactory extreme of ragged unfinished looseness. 
Apart from the question of economy, good taste invariably 
suggests, or rather compels, moderation at all seasons of the year. 
By way of illustration let us suppose a rich, yet chaste, floral 
decoration is required for a dinner-table for twelve or fourteen 
persons. Six or eight bracts of Poinsettia with a few Fern fronds 
will furnish a rich central bowl or stand, while a dozen slender 
glass vases, each containing a couple of white Chrysanthemums, 
two shoots of Selaginella coesia, one frond of Maidenhair Fern, 
and two or three pieces of dried Briza flowers, will make a chaste 
chain around it, and the table is complete so far as the flowers 
are concerned. Quite recently I had to arrange a more elaborate 
central stand. It was a transparent glass fish bowl of the largest 
size, and the materials required were nine fronds of Filix-mas 
Fern, seven fronds of Maidenhair, six trusses of scarlet Geranium, 
four clusters white Marguerites, three shoots with leaves only of 
Begonia metallica, three long shoots of Fuchsia, one spike of 
Erica hyemalis, two fronds of Adiantum macrophyllum, two shoots 
Tradescantia multicolor, and two shoots of Panicum variegatum. 
The Filix-mas fronds were bent down over the edge so as to just 
touch the tablecloth, then came the Marguerites alternating with 
the Geraniums, above them the Begonias and Fuchsias, with the 
Erica and Adiantum macrophyllum at top. The effect was so 
satisfactory, and the flowers so few and common‘‘that a note was 
made of it, as I submit should always be done for one’s guidance 
in subsequent work, especially as regards the quantity of flowers 
used for each kind of vase or stand. 
What a boon are Chrysanthemums to the floral decorator at 
this season of the year ! The white kinds are most in request 
for cutting, such as Mrs. G. Bundle, GeorgeGlenny, Elaine, and 
Fair Maid of Guernsey. La Nymphe, of a delicate flesh colour, 
also proves very useful for table work, and a selection of the best 
kinds are useful to cut for mixed stands for all sorts of pm-poses. 
The flpwers keep fresh so long after they are cut that a few 
plants suffice for ordinary wants. An ample supply of Paris 
Daisies may also be had from a very few plants. Insert a few 
cuttings now, turn out the plants into an open border in spring, 
and next autumn you will hare them each as large as a Goose¬ 
berry bush, so that you will not require many plants to be taken 
up and potted for winter flowers.— Edward Luckhurst. 
Simplicity in the arrangement of cut flowers is very important. 
Ill-managed arrangements as to colour and crowding too many 
together are common evils. The floW.ers are grown at great 
cost of thought and labour, and the final result is rendered 
sometimes unsatisfactory through want of thought at the la'st 
stage. It is quite time we were learning better. 
What I am about to recommend can be fairly brought before the 
notice of your readers, because it saves flowers, an item of import¬ 
ance to many, and because in the majority of cases it will please 
.better than when a great Variety of floWers is employed. In all 
cases I recommend that flowers be arranged loosely, small branches 
of Ivy beiug very suitable to place in large vases at this season for 
keeping the flowers thinly secured. In small glasses this is not 
required. As a rule, I like to employ the foliage with the flower, 
and if it can be so managed most of the flower stands should 
be filled with only one kind of flower. Just now a large vase 
may be made .with five to seven Richardias with their own foliage. 
Of’white Chrysanthemums with the leaves, Peter the Great are 
the most suitable. Pink and white Primulas are always best 
by themselves. Cypripedium insigne is anothqr flower which 
should always be alone. Maidenhair Ferns should be employed 
with this flower, as also for other Orchids, Pelargoniums and 
Camellias we like to employ singly in small glasses with one or 
two of their own leaves. Schizostylis coccinea makes a glowing 
mass by itself. Of late years I have always employed Lily of the 
Valley in glasses amongst its own leaves. Deep pink and 
crimson Tulips are very fine without mixture of other flowers, the 
common Due Yan Thol being especially pretty for use about 
Christmas time. Orchids are generally best arranged as single 
spikes. Phalacnopsis Schilleriana, Odontoglossum Alexandras, 
0. cirrhosum, 0. grande, Cymbidium eburneum, Vandas, and 
others are much more effective when arranged singly in spikes 
than when with other flowers. 
Of late years the fashion of furnishing dining tables with only 
one kind of flower at a time has come into favour. It might be 
thought that this would cause sameness, but it is just the opposite, 
for in mixing flowers it is certain that at a time of much demand 
the same kind of flowers must occasionally be used repeatedly, 
whereas in the single-flower plan we can have Roses one night, 
with changes of Pelargoniums, which may again be employed as 
changes with white, pink, and crimson flowers, Chrysanthemums, 
various Orchids, Primulas, Eucharis, Carnations, Bouvardias, and 
other suitable flowers. There is thus continual freshness, and no 
other mode of dressing tables, especially in the winter season, is 
at once so chaste and so effective.—B. 
BUCKLAND SWEETWATER GRAPE. 
If the correspondents “ H. A. M.” and “ G. R. A.” will refer 
to my first note on this Grape they will find that my objection 
to it as an exhibition Grape is founded on the ground of its 
inferior quality when the colour is considered most perfect, as it is 
one of the very few kinds of Grapes that is best in flavour before 
it is well coloured—whilst it is green, in fact : hence I wrote, 
“When it is most perfect in flavour the fruit is then only ju9t 
beginning to colour, and that on this ground alone (want of colour) 
would at an exhibition be discarded by all good judges.” 
If the exception ever becomes the rule in regard to judging 
Grapes by flavour rather than by bloom and colour, Buckland 
Sweetwater will find a place very nearly, if not quite, at the bottom 
of the list.—W. L. H. 
THE CUCUMBER DISEASE. 
I HAVE read with much interest Mr. Taylor’s article on the 
Cucumber disease, as I have had some unpleasant experience in 
the matter ; but whether Mr. Taylor’s plants were infested with 
the same disease as mine it is impossible to say. In the autumn 
of 1881 my employer expressed a desire to have Cucumbers earlier 
than he had been in the habit of having them, and asked when I 
could furnish a regular supply. I replied, “At Christmas if l then 
had plants to start with.” He acquiesced in my plans to procure 
plants at once. The house, a small lean-to with benches on each 
side, heated with four rows of 4-inch pipes, was prepared at 
once. Six plants were procured from a local market grower. In 
their transit one of them was broken close to the soil; the 
remaining five were placed out. The tip of the broken one was 
struck, and as soon as rooted was planted in the house. We cut 
fruit on the 31st of December from the purchased plants, which 
continued to bear well till some time in March. I then observed a 
falling-off in health, the fruit not swelling to my satisfaction. I 
applied stimulants in various forms, also a top-dressing of sheep 
manure and half-decomposed turf ; but not observing any im¬ 
provement for the better, we one day scraped away the surfacing 
to see if new roots were forming, when to my dismay I observed 
some pea-like excrescence on the roots, exactly as represented in 
the Journal in the autumn of 1881. I showed some of the roots 
to my employer, and he agreed with me that it was advisable 
to stamp it out at once. The plant struck from the cutting 
showing no want of vigour, we examined it3 roots and saw no 
symptoms of the disease on that; I therefore determined to leave 
that and destroy the rest. I removed the five purchased plants 
with the soil, burnt the plant left, and had the soil cleared away 
as closely as possible. Atempbrary wall was built across the bed, 
on each side of it some fresh soil was applied, the plant being 
allowed unlimited run. Where the diseased plants were removed 
from the benches were syringed with a solution of carbolic acid, 
fresh soil applied, and as soon as young plants could be raised these 
wqj'e placed ,out. They soon commenced bearing, but the variety 
not proving so good as the original one they were taken out, as the 
back bench had been filled with plants raised from cuttings of 
the infected plants, and with the original plant struck from a 
cutting were giving an ample supply. The space occupied by 
them was in July planted with Melons, from which I have had 
