MaTch 1 % l‘9i. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
201 
the winter best. I have not for years gone tD the trouble of laying 
down Broccoli for standing the winter, as I found it to be time 
wasted. In the autumn if they are growing in rich soil we go 
round them with a spade and chop olf their roots to arrest 
luxuriant growth, and this produces a hardening of growth before 
severe frosts set in, 
I am credited by many with having a weakness for very large 
heads of Yeitch's Autumn Giant Cauliflower. Well, this is 
probable, from the fact of having served under a head gardener 
who, in 1870 or 1871, was the first to grow such marvellously fine 
heads of this Cauliflower. I well remember the circumstance, and 
my surprise at seeing the beautiful heads which were sent on to 
Messrs. James Veitch & Son, and obtained for them a first-class 
certificate from the Royal Horticultural Society. These were 
grown at Hawkstone by the late Mr. Judd. At the Vegetable 
'Conference of the Royal Horticultural Society, held at Chiswick 
eighteen months since, I was awarded a first-class certificate for 
-specimens of the true variety of this most valuable autumn Cauli- 
•flower grown at Onslow Hall. I once grew a specimen 28 lbs. in 
weight, but by proper treatment you can also have it almost as smalt 
as an Early London, and quite as white and as tender as that good 
Cild sort. 
Carrots are an important crop, and difficult to obtain in some 
gardens. Visitors to Onslow generally know where to look for 
my Carrot and Parsnip beds ; for nine years I have grown 
them on the same plot of ground, and during that time I have 
only once failed to have Carrots fit for exhibition. This failure 
was not caused by the much-dreaded maggot, but from an attack of 
green and black fly, and injury to the Carrots in trying to kill the 
insects. The plot of land selected for my annual crop of Carrots 
and Parsnips I have trenched, mixing in quicklime, gaslime, and 
salt until I think it is quite clear of any wireworm or other pests in 
any stage. 
The very fine prize Carrots and Parsnips seen at exhibitions, 
and often are the cause of remarks such as, “ What a soil they 
must have to grow such roots in,” have a special preparation for 
their culture. They are not grown by me in our ordinary kitchen 
garden soil, but in “ moulds,” if I may so term them, and I will 
explain the process. A rounded dibber is made quite smooth, 
2 feet long and 7 inches wide at the top, 5 inches wide G inches 
lower down, and inches wide half wav down, and tapering to the 
bottom for growing prize Parsnips. For intermediate Carrots a 
dibber is used 13 inches long and 4 inches wide at the top, 2;^ 
inches wide half way down and tapering. For a fine stock of the 
Early Horn section I use a dibber 7 inches long and 4 inches wide 
to near the bottom, where it is rounded off. By forcing these 
dibbers into the ground, holes are made and a compost used of 
sifted soil from underneath the potting bench, with sand and burnt 
earth if at hand, or any good light soil, mixing in a little lime and 
soot, but by no means apply the lime in immediate contact with 
tZie soot ; a careful mixing will remedy this. I have tried trans¬ 
planting Parsnips out of pots, but it is fruitless work. Clean, well 
formed roots of Beet are obtained by the same treatment as that 
for Carrots and Parsnips, but with holes not so deep. 
(To be continued.) 
QUICKSET HEDGES. 
As correlative to your note on this subject in page 196, permit 
me to offer one or two hints to “ Crataegus.” It is decidedly better 
to plant in the autumn, and if the planting is done now not a day 
■eliould be lost, and your advice about firm planting and mulching 
should be followed to the letter. I may go farther than you have 
done, and assure “ Crataegus ” that if due attention has been given 
to trenching, the selection of sturdy plants, and careful planting, 
then strong growth invariably follows the cutting down to about 
f) inches from the surface the second spring. Robust growth is a 
certainty that season, and clipping must then begin. Use Ridg- 
way’s patent hedge-clippers, which are a sort of enlargement of 
Clark’s horse clipper, and one made in sizes of 12,18, and 24 inches, 
the number of inches showing the width of hedge surface covered 
«t each clip. 
I have tried single and double lines repeatedly, and am bound 
to give decided preference to single lines as making the best fence. 
Double lines are wider, but there is very little growth between them. 
Single lines, on the contrary,'under good management make a perfect 
hedge, so thick and bushy from the base upwards that rabbits have 
some difficulty in getting through. But there must be regular 
clipping I’twice a year from the second year, and then plashing is 
very seldom required. It is for hedges that have been neglected, 
smothered, or starved by an overgrowth of timber that plashing 
becomes necessury. A good fence may be made against sheep or 
■cattle by this process, and a tolerably neat appearance imparted to 
it in the course of three or four years ; but it can never equal the 
trim, compact effect of a really healthy well-managed hedge. 
It is only when a ditch is necessary that I would plant upon a 
raised bank, as the hedge is much more liable to suffer from 
drought in its infancy than when planted upon the flat.— 
Forester. 
CCELOGYXE CRISTATA. 
Plants that have flowered may be repotted or top-dressfd 
whichever they need. Those that require the latter only may 
have any sphagnum removed used near the surface, a.nd living 
moss supplied. Any growths that have exceeded the rim of the 
pot or pan in which they are growing may be pegged on to the soil, 
so that they will root into it instead of rooting down the side of 
the pan. By the time that plants need repotting they generally 
become crowded in the centre with pseudo-bulbs. To leave them 
in this condition is a mistake, as they injure one another, and small 
pseudo-bulbs are the result. Thin the centres carefully, cutting 
out portions with the rhizomes attached. These pieces, although 
they may appear to be dormant, will nearly all break into growth, 
and in two seasons make flowering pseudo-bulbs. The pieces taken 
out may be pegged on the surface of the compost that is used for 
potting. The pots or pans should be three parts filled with 
drainage, and if the soil is fairly elevated above the surface it w'ill 
last for two years. 
Established plants that need potting must be carefully turned 
out, and if the soil is wet or much decomposed the whole can bs 
carefully worked from among the roots, even if tepid water has to 
be used for the purpose. The roots should not be much disturbed 
unless it is necessary to break up the plants and replace the pseudo¬ 
bulbs more thinly. This comse is not advisable with the whole 
stock in the same season, because it will prove a severe check. I? 
judiciously managed it will not be necessary even to pot all the 
same season, but if carefully done and watered with care afterwards 
no harm will result from potting. Pans are most suitable, and 
should be nearly three parts full of drainage, which may be slightly 
elevated in the centre. It will be observed that they frequently 
root freely round the sides. 
The compost may consist of fibry peat, one-third living 
sphagnum chopped, charcoal in lumps, and a few broken crock-*. 
Good leaf mould with the fine removed that is full of fibre and 
has been prepared naturally in the wood may be used instead of 
sphagnum. These plants like good leaf mould that has not been 
heated, and it will last in good condition as long as the sphagnum. 
If leaf mould is substituted use sphagnum only for covering the 
drainage, and near the surface. Pre.«s the compost moderately 
firm round the sides as well as amongst the pseudo-bulbs wherever 
space permits. After potting they must enjoy a moist position 
where the night temperature will not fall below 60°, the plants 
on fine days being lightly syringed twice daily to keep them plump. 
Very little water will be needed at their roots, in fact the less the 
better until root growth and root action commence.— Orchid 
Grower. 
Cymbidiums. 
A feav years ago the Cymbidiums were amongst the rarest of 
Orchids, fair sized specimens realising high prices. Even fresh 
imported small plants were expensive to buy, and these when 
purchased were also difficult to establish, as often they were not 
in a good state when received, although according to outward 
appearance they appeared perfect. This has special reference to 
the beautiful 0. eburneum, which formerly was considered _ by 
many the loveliest Orchid in cultivation, and at the preieit time 
it is well able to hold its own. Occasionally we see large speci¬ 
mens, but these are rare, and a well grown plant is something to 
be proud of. The plants are now commencing to unfold their 
flowers, which are deliciously fragrant, and the colour is pearly 
white, lip stained with pale yellow. The flowers will remain in 
beauty throughout the month of March. The stately Cymbidium 
Lowianum is also now commencing to flower, and is remarkable for 
the lengthened time the flowers remain on the plant. Those now 
opening would be still freshi in June, although the colour may be 
somewhat faded. Unless required for any special reason it is 
advisable not to allow the spikes to remain on the plant too long. 
Unlike C. eburneum, which flowers from scapes that on strong 
plants have two or three each, the blooms are borne on long 
