February 22, 1883. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
155 
stiffish loam. Manures and Application.—Stable manure, pig ma¬ 
nure, and slaughter-house manure, including blood, to which I add 
about half a hundredweight of salt and 1 bushel of soot, and mix 
all together. The quantity of salt and soot is for about a ton. 
I use about 8 tons per acre. Cultural Remarks.—I dig the land a 
spit deep early in the autumn, and leave it as rough as possible ; 
and as soon as the frost sets in I place the manure on the land in 
heaps, and as soon as it breaks up I spread the manure as evenly as 
possible, and then fork the land over, well mixing the manure with 
the soil and breaking all lumps, and as soon as the land is fairly dry 
I draw drills for the early sorts 2 feet apart, for the late 2 feet 
C inches apart, and cover as lightly a3 I can. They are hoed until 
they are fit for earthing, which I do as soon as they are about 6 inches 
high, and then again in about three weeks I draw some more soil to 
them, and have all weeds removed.— Joseph Butt, 17, Ruby Street, 
Wisbech. 
1. February. Myatt’s Prolific Ashleaf, Rivers’ Royal Ashleaf, 
Beauty of Hebron. Soil.—Heavy, and is similar for the two other 
sections also. 2. End of February. Early Oxford, Snowflake, 
Excelsior, Dalmahoy. 3. Second week in March. Schoolmaster, 
Magnum Bonum, Scotch Champion, York Regent. Manures and 
Application.—Apply plenty of garden refuse, burnt, mixed with well- 
decayed leaf soil. At the time of planting give a good dressing of 
soot, also on a rainy day before earthing up. Cultural Remarks.— 
I always like to dig and plant at the same time, in fine weather if 
possible. If not fine I have a board to run the barrow on with the 
mixture, as before stated. I have lines 2 or 3 feet apart accord¬ 
ing to the sorts I am planting. Cut down straight with the spade 
about 5 or 6 inches deep, put about 3 inches of the prepared soil in, 
and then put the set on it and fill up with the mixture, continuing 
till finished. That is the way I have to do with my heavy soil.— 
William Humphreys, Wimpole Gardens, Royston. 
GRAFTING. 
CROWN GRAFTING. 
This is a very simple and useful method, and is adapted to 
stocks of different sizes, and to all kinds of fruit trees. It is done 
in spring as soon as the bark rises freely from the alburnum, but 
care must be taken to prepare the scions as has been previously de¬ 
scribed. The upper half of the scion should have two or three eyes, 
corresponding with the cut on the scion, and apply it. The larger 
a 9tock is the more scions will be put on the top of it. To render 
the union more complete, a space of 2 inches should intervene 
between them. A ligature, not too close nor too tight, is necessary 
after the insertion of the scions. Wax or clay is applied, and the 
adherence of the wax is facilitated by wiping off the sap issuing 
from the amputated parts. 
Fig. 45 represents a crown graft tied and waxed. The wax i3 
spread on the amputated part (a) of the stock, on the wound (e) 
at the junction of the scion with the stock, and on the top of the cut 
scion (o). The terminal bud (u) is not covered, nor the embedded 
bud (y) in the incision. Crown grafting is, therefore, indis¬ 
pensable when operating on large trees, and a great number of 
branches can be produced to correspond to the nourishment 
supplied by the roots. 
Ordinary Crown Grafting. — Given a stock (fig. 46, b) 
headed down, three scions (c c c") are inserted upon it in pro¬ 
portion to its diameter. It would be difficult to place many 
scions without splitting the bark at least in only one part. The 
tension produced by the inoculation of many shoots will end in 
rending the cortical layers. That accident can be prevented by 
a longitudinal incision (d), which not only facilitates the sliding 
of the scion d , but permits the others (c and c") to be at ease, and 
not to threaten the splitting of the bark of the stock. When tied, 
then wax the crown of the stem, the top of the scions, and front 
and back on the bark of the stock. 
iSafc 
Fig. 45. 
and its lower should have a long slanting cut, beginning opposite 
a bud and terminating in a thin point. A small notch or shoulder 
at the upper part of the cut is useful, as it keeps the scion as if 
seated on the stock. The insertion of the scion is in the head of 
the stock on the cut between the bark and the wood, and both 
sides of the point of the scion should be cut thin to facilitate its 
sliding in, and that point is often moistened between the lips. 
A small instrument of wood or ivory, wedge-shaped at the point, 
is used to raise the bark and to facilitate the introduction of the 
scion, which is slipped in between the bark and the wood. The 
introduction of the scion is simplified in most cases by the cir¬ 
culation of the sap, which separates the bark from the alburnum. 
H jwever, it happens that scions of a large size threaten to tear 
the tissues ; to avoid this take off a slice of bark from the stock 
GROWING DWARF LOCULI AS. 
In last week’s Journal “ J. J.” asks for any information bearing 
on the cultivation of dwarf plants of Luculia gratissima. That 
such can be grown successfully I have proved, and plants rooted 
at this season will, if liberally treated, give good heads of flower 
in November. The chief difficulty is in propagating the plants. 
If “ J. J.” has a propagating case with a good bottom heat, and 
can procure good cuttings—that should not be too hard—he need 
not fear the result. The shoots produced behind last year’s flower 
heads are the best for the purpose. These should be taken off 
with a good heel and inserted singly in thumb pots of very sandy 
soil, water them, and plunge them in the case. Keep the case 
close till the cuttings are rooted, and only give sufficient moisture 
to prevent flagging. When the cuttings are rooted they should be 
carefully removed from the propagating case, taking care that 
they do not flag after removal. When the thumb pots are filled 
with roots the plants should have a shift into 5-inch pots, employ¬ 
ing rich compost, and when established they must be placed in a 
light position in a cool stove or intermediate house. The plants 
must be kept free from red spider, and on no account be allowed 
to flag, as they soon lose their leaves if at any time the soil be¬ 
comes dry. Treated in this way few of the plants will fail to 
produce good heads of flowers.—E. B. 
MAKING AND RENOVATING LAWNS. 
(Continued from Rage 68.) 
It has been already advised to have the lawn gently sloping 
from the building or principal point of view, and it should slope 
from the line of vision about 1 foot in 25, so as to give the effect 
of a plane surface to the eye of the spectator. When the ground 
undulates naturally it will be desirable to preserve as much of 
this surface as possible. Even in the immediate proximity of the 
mansion much may be done to give the appearance of a plane 
surface by planting the acclivities, which will show the trees or 
shrubs to best advantage ; and this, whilst continuing to extend the 
plane surface of the lawn, will be more economical than levelling 
the hills to fill up the hollows, which is often done to the perma¬ 
nent injury of the natural features of the place. If the situation 
be flat it should be relieved by planting rather than attempting to 
form mounds of earth to represent hills in miniature, which are 
never more out of place than on a flat surface. We not unfre- 
quently see lawns disfigured by raised beds with sharply inclined 
turf down to a level lawn planted with shrubs which have an 
incongruous appearance. For mounds trees or shrubs of depen¬ 
dent habit only should be chosen. 
The foregoing remarks apply to the individual bed, clump, or 
specimen isolated or detached from the clumps or screens forming 
the margin of the lawn, with its specimens in the immediate fore¬ 
ground, for there is no objection if the ground be naturally so 
disposed ; or if there be any refuse soil at command it may be 
deposited there to form a mound, first removing the good soil and 
laying it on one side so to cover any accumulated matter not 
favourable to the growth of trees or shrubs. The rough portion 
