102 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 8, 18S4. 
fire heat. Since the Yine was brought through from the Ham¬ 
burgh house a young rod has been led up from it in the latter, but 
not being anywhere near a flue or given the benefit of much fire 
heat the wood does not ripen so well, and the bunches are looser 
and smaller accordingly. The old rod over the flue, and it is a 
very old one, its exact age not being known, invariably produces 
several larger bunches than I care to reserve, others nearer 2 lbs. 
in weight best answering my purpose.— W. Iggulden. 
WEEDS AND THEIR USES. 
A READER of the Journal of Horticulture remarked to me the 
other day, “ I was greatly pleased to read certain remarks concern¬ 
ing root action—really some talk about tree physiology, because 
anything in that way presents pleasant thoughtful matter in place 
of the eternal talk about common culture, with which everybody 
now is so familiar.” Perhaps my friend had a taste a little above 
the common order, at least he seemed to convey the impression 
that he thought garden writing should deal now a little less with 
mere routine, and go back somewhat to first causes. I read 
Mr. Abbey’s article on “Fertilizers for Small Fruits” 
(page 83) with a good deal of pleasure, just because it afforded 
room for criticism and for thought. It deals with operating causes 
rather than mere effects, and it carries the mind of the reader 
somewhat deeper into garden science than commonly results from 
ordinary matter. 
I have found much room for reflection in the reference Mr. 
Abbey makes to weeds as manure, and he seems almost to approve 
of the method of a small fruit grower who is referred to, which 
consisted in allowing annual weeds to grow freely amongst his 
bushes and then digging them in as manure. Apart from the fact 
that we have always been taught to regard weeds in gardens like 
dirt, as matter out of place, and therefore to be speedily removed, 
we find here a positive suggestion that Nature through weed pro¬ 
duction is quite capable of supplying her own necessities if the 
weed crop be in due course buried in the soil, when it again becomes 
plant food. Assuming this to be so, and it will be difficult to 
doubt it so far as the weed crop itself is concerned, yet can it be 
made instrumental in furnishing the required fertilisers to Goose¬ 
berry and Currant bushes, when there must be in the weeds a 
great deficiency of the essential elements of bush wood and fruit ? 
So far as the weed crop is concerned nothing is taken from it, 
not even the seed, therefore all that it has taken from the soil is 
returned, and with it, no doubt, added nitrogen obtained from the 
atmosphere during the period of growth. In the case of the fruit 
bushes which are grown to produce fruit, all the products of this 
sort are removed, and nothing in exchange is replaced. It is, 
therefore, quite incomprehensible, I may say impossible, that the 
digging in of an annual crop of weeds can fully fertilise or manure 
a breadth of bush fruits. But this mention of weeds as manure, 
and the only manure, is based on the assumption that we always 
have wet seasons, productive of a huge weed growth. That is, of 
•ourse, a false assumption, as more often our summers and autumns 
ire too dry to favour this development, and when that is so how 
goes on the bushes for their annual dressing of weed manure ? 
Mr. Abbey says that the whole thing is a puzzle. All I can say is 
-‘hat our treatment of weeds has hitherto been absolutely wrong if 
all this be true. 
If I venture to think that the grower in question has indulged 
in a little garden fiction for the sake of giving some mystification, 
I do not think I shall be far wrong. What is after all our common 
estimate of weeds ? It is that they are not only intolerable 
nuisances, but great robbers, and to tolerate them is to do so at the 
expense of useful crops. No one, however, will, I presume, advocate 
the growing of a crop of weeds as a manure dressing amidst any 
ordinary garden crop, that would of course be suicidal ; for that 
reason it is not worth while to attempt to controvert what no one 
disputes. A very interesting question in relation to the use of 
weeds arises, however, in connection with uncropped ground. I 
remember having a long time since heard some old gardeners 
arguing the point, and they generally agreed that land was more 
fully aerated in the winter by carrying a green crop even of Chick- 
weed or Groundsel than when remaining entirely uncropped. It is 
a common belief that by freely exposing soils to the air by rough 
digging or ridging this aerating is most fully performed. That 
may be so, but then there is the undoubted fact that green leafage 
of any description operating as plant lungs absorbs nitrogen from 
the air, and not only conveys it into the soil, but also by appro¬ 
priating much of it enables a good proportion to be available for 
plant fool of garden crops if buried in the soil as manure early in 
the spring. But then if it be manurial'y both wiser and economical 
to have all otherwise vacant pieces of ground carrying a temporary 
green crop, it would be far wiser to sow Tares or hard Peas, or 
Mustard, rather than to allow some chance weed crop to grow, 
as weeds always have an untidy, neglectful aspect, and in no case 
do credit to the gardener. 
Here we have opened a subject for discussion which merits 
the closest attention. We may well invite opinions as to the 
special value of green crops during the winter for spring burying 
on both stiff soils and on light soils, and also as to whether 
stiff soils are best pulverised and aerated when thus carrying a 
green crop or when lying fallow. Of course, trenching must leave 
ground fallow if it be done in the winter, but still trenching is by 
no means an annual necessity. I would add that for green crop¬ 
ping for manuring both Rye and winter Oats are excellent, though 
perhaps nothing is better than a good crop of Tares.—A. D. 
MALMAISON CARNATIONS IN WINTER AND 
SPRING. 
As I sat down to write a few remarks on this subject I intended 
to unburden my mind of the melancholy reflection, how unfortunate 
it is that by some inscrutable law of Nature the most beautiful 
flowers and the finest fruits are usually the most difficult to pro¬ 
duce. Upon looking at the matter in a more philosophical manner, 
however, I have come to the conclusion that my earlier reflections 
were altogether misplaced, for what can be more beautiful than the 
Lily of the Valley of our woods, the Dog Rose of our hedges, or 
the easily grown Roses of our gardens, and what more wholesome 
and appetising than some of our hardy fruits ? Does not the true 
solution of the problem lie in the fact that when a beautiful flower 
happens to be difficult to produce, it is only within the reach of 
the few, and must therefore be classed as a choice one ? 
Let it not be understood by the foregoing remarks that I wish 
to write disparagingly of the intrinsic merits of Souvenir de la 
Malmaison Carnations. On the contrary, I think few flowers can 
vie with them in delicateness of colour or deliciousness of perfume. 
Still, I fancy it cannot be denied that the great popularity they 
have so long enjoyed among the affluent is to some extent due to 
the skill required in their culture, which effectually prevents their 
becoming common. When once these Carnations get into an 
unhealthy condition few plants are more difficult to restore to 
perfect health again, but when their peculiarities are understood, 
and due care is exercised in attending to their requirements, it is 
surprising how well they thrive. It is when mistakes are made in 
their culture that they become a prey to eelworms and fungi, 
which are so difficult to eradicate. Over-watering at the roots, and 
growing in too dry an atmosphere, are mistakes which perhaps 
more than all others militate against success in their culture. 
Should the soil become wet and sour, especially in the winter, the 
plants invariably decay at the collar. I am convinced that if the 
syringe were used more, and the waterpot less, we should hear fewer 
complaints about unhealthy Malmaison Carnations. Many gar¬ 
deners seem to have a horror of damping the stages and floors of 
cool houses in the winter, even when a considerable amount of 
fire heat has to be employed to keep out frost. In houses filled 
entirely with Zonal Pelargoniums and other bedding plants which 
delight in a dry atmosphere, the maintenance of these conditions 
is without doubt the right course to pursue, but to apply the same 
treatment indiscriminately to all plants which require only a green¬ 
house temperature is a mistake. 
When Souvenir de la Malmaison Carnations are grown in 
houses having slate or wood stages, with no absorbent materials, 
such as shell or coal ashes, placed upon them, the atmosphere 
surrounding the plants frequently becomes too dry to suit them. 
Even in the winter, whenever the days are clear and open, or when 
fire heat has been employed to keep out frost, I find the plants are 
greatly benefited by damping between the pots with a syringe at 
mid-day, and occasionally while the sun is shining. This course of 
treatment enables the cultivator to be very sparing in the applica¬ 
tion of water at the roots, and does much towards keeping the soil 
in a sweet condition till the roots have permeated it. Over-water¬ 
ing is an error into which young men are frequently drawn in this 
way. After a period of dull or wet days the sun perhaps bursts 
out quite brightly for a few hours ; this rapidly dries the surface 
soil, and dispels atmospheric moisture as well ; under such circum¬ 
stances the plants look distressed, and the temptation to water at 
the roots is felt with great force. Damping the stages and a slight 
syringing given to the plants will, under such conditions, be found 
far more satisfactory than applying water at the roots. A golden 
rule in the management of all plants is, that whenever they show 
signs of distress, if there is a doubt as to whether or not they 
require water at the root, syringe the foliage and damp around the 
