Feb ruary 4 , 1892. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
81 
never, except in Tthe Jubilee year, had a flower on the Californian 
plant. I have tried it in various places, and now mean to get rid 
of it altogether. Where space is of no consequence it may be 
grown, but in a small garden I should not advise its being tried. 
Another plant about which great care is needed is Dianthus deltoides. 
It has creeping underground stems, and comes up everywhere near 
where the original plant has been placed. It is, however, easily 
dealt with and got rid of except in those places where it may be 
allowed to display its pretty flowers. So, again. Anemone sylvestris 
is a great sinner in this respect, and as its foliage is strong and per¬ 
sistent, it becomes a nuisance, and I have had great difficulty in 
getting rid of it, except at the back part of my rockery. Anemone 
apennina also spreads itself everywhere, but then it is small 
in foliage, and the foliage dies away so completely, and the 
flowers are so lovely, that it may well be allowed to increase 
itself as it likes best, and other plants grow up well amongst it, 
and thus when it has died down bare spaces are not left, and 
its advent in spring forms one of the charms of the rockery. 
—D., Deal. 
(To be continued.) 
GLOXINIAS AND THEIR CULTURE. 
At the present season of the year all lovers of these beautiful 
flowering plants will be directing tbeir thoughts to their cultivation 
during the season, whilst, on the other hand, many may be making 
the first start, and it is to the latter more especially that I offer the 
following remarks. The claims of these charming flowers have 
been prominently urged in the columns of the Journal, and it seems 
as if nothing new can be said in addition to what has already been 
recorded ; but we must not lose sight of the numberless changes 
which are ever taking place in the horticultural world, of young 
hands who are taking the place of older ones. Some are perhaps 
taking the Journal for the first time, and have missed the previous 
articles treating on Gloxinias, and of the great number of enthu¬ 
siastic amateurs some may have tried to cultivate the Gloxinia, but 
have failed. 
The three best known types of the Gloxinia are the drooping, 
the erect flowering, and the spotted varieties. They are all beau¬ 
tiful, but the two latter seem to find most favour with the majority 
of cultivators. I have never found the spotted varieties possess 
the robust constitution of the others, but if carefully treated, the 
delightful hues and wealth of colouring fully compensate for any 
defect in the matter of habit. For ordinary purposes a mixed 
packet of seed will prove ample, and many colours may be antici¬ 
pated ; but for those whose tastes are more fastidious, varieties are 
offered in separate shades, and many firms offer excellent named 
varieties, but these may be relegated more to those possessing 
ample wealth, and smaller growers may rest assured that a packet 
of seed from a good firm will give entire satisfaction. 
Gloxinias may be raised from seeds or by cuttings of the 
stems or leaves. If from seed, the present is a good time to 
make a first sowing. Clean pots or pans, also clean drainage, 
are indispensable factors to successful cultivation. Half fill ihe 
pot or pan with crocks, over which place a thin layer of sweet 
sphagnum moss, which prevents any of the compost working its 
way into the drainage. On this place the rougher portipns of 
the compost, which should consist of some good sandy soil, leaf 
mould, and sharp sand, with some charcoal broken up small. Fill 
the pot nearly level, the surface being made smooth. Care must 
be taken in sowing the seeds, which are very small, and after 
sowing, cover very slightly, and water through a very fine rose. 
A temperature of from 60° to 75° will be suitable, and the pots 
should be shaded. As the seedlings appear they may be gradually 
inured to the light, and watered with the utmost care, or damp 
will play sad havoc amongst them. Seed can also be sown in 
August, and the seedlings should then be kept growing through 
the winter. 
When large enough they can be placed in thumb pots, or if 
pots are not available they may be pricked into pans or boxes, the 
same compost answering well for this shift. Shade the young 
plants from strong sunshine, and grow them in the same tem¬ 
perature as recommended for the seed, keeping them well supplied 
with water when fairly established. When the pots become filled 
with roots remove into larger ones, using a compost of equal parts 
peat and loam, with sand, charcoal, and a little crushed bone meal. 
As the plants gain strength an occasional watering with weak soot 
water or liquid manure will be found of great benefit. They 
should be kept slightly shaded and air must be cautiously admitted 
if the plants are to be subjected to a rather lower temperature when 
in flower. Seedlings (from seed sown now) if carefully treated, 
will make a good display during August, September, and October. 
If there are any particularly striking varieties warranting more 
extensive cultivation, matured leaf cuttings, with a small portion 
of the stem attached, may be inserted in pots or pans of sandy 
soil, and if kept rather close, serviceable little roots will be formed, 
which will be useful for the following season. They may also be 
propagated from cuttings, but the two former are sufficient for 
most purposes. As the flowers begin to fade water should be 
gradually withheld until the leaves die down, when the pots may 
be stored under the stages, an intermediate temperature suiting 
very well. The following season the plants should be shaken out 
as soon as there are signs of growth, and a similar treatment given 
them as before recommended, only larger pots will be required. 
For the first season pots from 4 to 5 inches will be sufficient, and 
for the second from 5 to 8 inches. Insects are not troublesome if 
the plants are grown without a check.—R. P. R. 
LAURELS. 
Of all shrubs under cultivation at present none are so popular 
as the common and the Portugal Laurels. For various reasons 
the common Laurel (Cerasus laurocerasus) has been often con¬ 
demned as unworthy of the attention it receives at the hands of 
planters. It is subject to periodical destruction to the ground line 
on the recurrence of hard frosts, such as those of 1879, 1860, and 
others. It is of a coarse-growing semi procumbent habit, which 
detracts very much from its general usefulness. But even with 
these peculiaiities the common Laurel fills a position for which 
it is impossible to find another shrub as a substitute. The 
qualities which make it so popular comprise rapidity of growth 
and adaptability for almost any soils. The fact is, though I have 
no decided preference for it, and indeed consider it to be often 
planted in positions it is unfitted for, it remains one of the few 
plants which holds its own despite the neglect to which it is too 
often subjected. 
The great merit of this Laurel consists in its adaptability as a 
screen where taller-growing plants would be out of place, and for 
covering banks under the shade of trees, which no other shrub will 
cover so quickly or perhaps so well. As our own experience is as 
helpful as any general statement would be, I may shortly state 
what I have done with it. When I entered on charge here the 
shrubberies were rather wild ; pruning, in fact, was di-couraged. 
However, I obtained permission to proceed somewhat tentatively, 
and in due time the bad summers and hard winters, culminating 
in that of 1880, were a great help. The plants had originally 
been planted much too dosely ; the branches were in conse¬ 
quence entwined in confusion, bare of leaves for many feet from 
the ground upwards, and the foliage confined to a few feet in 
length on the higher portions of the bushes. They fell a ready 
prey to frost. Some were cut over to the ground, others being 
left with a few feet of old stem ; but in every case the best growth 
proceeded from the neck of the plants, some indeed from beneath 
the soil. Some plants which were not cut-in have been a source of 
trouble ever since, requiring annual cutting out of dead wood ; but 
we are now getting pretty well rid of all the material which 
produces the latter, and have plenty of root i;rowth8 to fill up. 
After the stems were cut in I determined they should not again 
get into the like tangle, and ever since the stronger growths have 
been cut back once in two years, branches facing walks or lawns 
being trimmed with a knife once a year. But the branches as 
they increased in length began to assume their natural habit, and 
the alternative of either removing a certain number of plants, or 
of cutting them out altogether, had to be faced. Having use for 
any number the former was chosen, and every season for some 
years a certain number are removed and planted in other parts of 
the grounds. Those that remain are now large spreading bushes, 
and I believe will stand with less damage as hard a frost as that 
which crippled them so much a dozen years ago. The removal of 
the supernumeraries was at first undertaken with some hesitation, 
but by cutting round each plant in spring a crop of young roots 
with a ball of soil was secured, and they have been transplanted, 
even in midsummer, not only with perfect safety, but in a short 
time it was impossible to see that they had been removed at all. 
This season I hope to cut back the main central shoots of some of 
the larger plints, and so secure a crop of young growths from the 
middle of each bush ; they are so well furnished all round that the 
entire middle portion of the bush might be removed without being 
noticed afterwards. I made a hedge of some of the plants, and as 
they were of a large size it was an efficient screen as soon as planted. 
These are of course kept cut in closely. 
Of the Colchic Laurel I have had no experience as to whether 
it is frost-proof. It is said to be the hardiest form. As a plant I 
do not think it is so handsome. About ten years ago I planted 
some of the rotundifolia variety. It is not of nearly so rapid a 
growth as the common one, but it is of a sturdy, compact, and 
