February [i, IMS. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
101 
.should be cut out, which will give those that are left more room 
and enable them to get thorouglily matured. A good mulcliing of 
manure should be given annually, the old being removed previous 
to adding the new. The young canes left for fruiting should be 
.shortened according to their strength, and duly tied to their 
supports, or the wind may snap them olf. 
The Currant, Red, White, and Black, have their various uses, and 
■-are not difficult to cultivate, but where they are judiciously attended 
to better results are obtained. Whether grown as bushes or 
trained to walls, the Red and White sorts should be kept to rods 
far enough apart to admit light to the fruit, the young shoots 
should be pinched in summer and spurred back in winter ; the 
Black, which has its fruit chiefly on the young wood, requiring 
only to be kept well tliinned out to prevent the branches getting too 
much crowded together. 
The Gooseberry should be treated in much the same way as the 
Rlack Currant, as I believe more fruit can be had than by spurring 
ihe shoots, and as a portion of the crop is usually taken in a green 
.state the trees are not as a rule overtaxed. The caterpillar plays 
sad havoc with the trees at times, and requires to be looked after or 
much mischief is done. I have known the cuckoo to materially 
■assist in this matter. If trees are planted against walls the rod 
system, kept spurred, answers best, for when the rods are well 
secured to the wall the spurring back is a simple matter. 
The Fig forms a good addition to the dessert where it is suc¬ 
cessfully cultivated, but it does not succeed in all parts of the 
•country out of doors. They require an extra moist soil to grow in, 
vand plenty of sun to ripen both fruit and wood. Short-jointed 
wood should be encouraged all over the tree and allowed plenty of 
■room, keeping all small, useless shoots cut out, and the strong ones 
Heave their fuU length, as it is at the point of these that fruit may 
be expected.—W. Simpson, Knowsley. 
PLANTS AND FLOWERS IN THE HOUSE. 
THE DINING ROOM. 
One feature in decorating dinner and breakfast tables, which 
Is very satisfactory, and a long step forward, is the simplicity 
which is now permitted, and not only permitted, but I may almost 
•say, sought after. Before beginning to write this I had the pleasure 
of arranging a table laid for fourteen persons, yet I carried the 
■whole material, plants and flowers, in a small basket. The arrange¬ 
ment of the table was thus—a tall seven-branched candelabrum in 
the centre, with two smaller candelabra at each end. Between 
the plates, <S:c., and the candelabra were dessert dishes, one dessert 
liish on each side, opposite and between the middle and end cande¬ 
labra, with a dish at each end corner. In the middle of the table, 
just clear of the centre candelabrum, and between the first-noted 
-dishes, a silver vase with a tall Dracaena was placed on each side. 
Round the base of the middle candelabrum a group of plants was 
arranged, comprising two Grasses and two plants of Asparagus. 
■■The open spaces were then filled with fronds of Parsley—so good, 
'however, as to be like a beautiful Todea, then five small Maiden- 
'hair Ferns, in thumb pots, were set amongst these ; a little Sela- 
ginella lightly covered any bare portions. Four or five crimson Tulips 
dotted amongst as many Chrysanthemum blooms, and some sprays 
•of CoroniUa glauca running to the cloth completed this portion. A 
small group at each side was then arranged between the end cande¬ 
labrum and the silver vase with the plant. These were composed of 
■small plants (in thumb pots) of Cyperus alternifolius, the pots 
hidden among Selaginellas and a few crimson Tulips and white 
•Chrysanthemums. On two occasions in December very large blooms 
x)f Chrysanthemums were used. In one instance light coloured 
varieties, and in another dark ones. The light blooms had a ground 
of dark velvet, the dark ones yellow plush. About twenty to 
twenty-four blooms sufficed for a large table, a few good fronds of 
Maidenhair Ferns being the only other material used. The effect 
in both cases was really excellent, the more effective of the dark 
kinds being Cullingfordi, Jeanne Delaux, Triomphe de la Rue des 
•Chalets, a very soft and pleasing shade ; and Janira, which shows 
•crimson by candlelight. Of the light sorts. Snowstorm, Fair Maid 
of Guernsey, Gloriosum, Golden Empress and Bronze Queen were 
finest. The flowers we cut with good stems and foliage, so that 
there was no waste with them. One good feature with large 
Chrysanthemums is that they are altogether free from that coarse¬ 
ness of appearance which some people find in large Dahlias. I am 
■sure that large Chrysanthemums have only to be tried as cut 
■flowers to be appreciated. 
Another pleasing arrangement we had lately was composed of 
small leaves of Rex Begonias laid on the cloth and flowers of 
B. semperflorens and B. s. rosea laid on each leaf, draping these 
with a small piece of Adiantum gracillimum. In autumn we had 
some arrangements with berries, the common Barberry, Snowberry, 
Elderberry, Rose heps. Haws, Hypericum, Winter Cherry, and Sea 
Buckthorn. As an example—some long drooping shoots covered 
with bright Barberries were inserted among the branches of the 
candelabra and drooped over and twisted round the stalk ; a few of 
Snowberry, and a very little Elderberry were added. Round the 
foot of the candelabra largo bunches of Elder were disposed with 
a good quantity of its foliage. Among these sprays of Snowberry, 
and perhaps a few Rose heps. Single berries of Barberry and Elder 
were placed here and there on the cloth, but so as to appear to have 
dropped from the candelabrum. The smaller candelabrum was 
treated in the same manner, but with less material. In other cases 
merely a few haws and foliage, with Rose heps also with foliage, were 
laid on the cloth. The fact is, flower and fruit and foliage are all so 
beautiful that we may arrange them as we please, and we can hardly 
fail to make them acceptable. At the same time it must be con¬ 
ceded that when elaborate arrangements, and only the “ best ” 
flowers are permitted, we are forced to come to the conclusion 
that there is much labour expended, great expense in waste of 
flowers involved, and no better, nor perhaps even such good effects 
secured as the result. Who would not rather attack and rob 
some hoary Beech of his copper leaves, or trim some coloured 
foliage off his Carrots, or even, if need be, select a few claret- 
coloured Vine leaves, and make sure of giving equal satisfaction 
with employing some of his most cherished blossoms ? It only 
remains to add that it is of absolute importance that thorough 
cleanliness is observed in all the work in connection with table 
decorating. Not a speck of dirt should be left on the cloth, nor 
for that part, on the carpet either. And when glasses are in use 
they ought to be liept perfectly clean, and the clearest water only 
used.—B. 
EUCHARIS CULTURE. 
Your correspondent, “ M. D.’s,” estimate of the cultivation of 
the Eucharis in this country is sad, and depressing to reflect upon. 
He writes, “ Few sights are more familiar when visiting gardens than 
to see in some out-of-the-way corner of the stove or forcing pits a 
number of over-potted sickly Eucharises. In most cases a gp-eat 
amount of labour has been bestowed upon them, but all to no 
purpose. The mite has attacked the bulbs, and they will never be 
any good.” A melancholy statement this. But there is good 
cheer in store, as “ M. D.” informs us he “ writes to tell his 
readers of an easy method which he has seen successful in restoring 
plants to vigorous health after years of languishing.” With refer¬ 
ence to the mite, it seems your correspondent is of a doubting cast of 
mind, and has no hesitation in boldly asserting, “ If there is really 
such an insect (as the Eucharis mite) he has never yet made its 
acquaintance,” and asks to be “ pardoned for doubting its exist¬ 
ence.” It is quite possible that “ M. D.” has never seen the 
Eucharis mite, but it would not alter the fact that it does exist if 
he were never to see it. 
It is some four years since I first saw the mite in question, and 
I have no wish to see it again. I ordered a dozen flowering bulbs 
of E. Candida from a well-known nurseryman, and after keeping 
them for a year they seemed to make little progress in growth, 
although they had the same treatment in every respect as the large 
plants of E. amazonica, which are not placed in an out of-the-way 
corner here as described by your correspondent, but grown in the 
centre of a large span-roofed house, where they receive abundance 
of light from all sides. I had the pots taken out of the house and 
the bulbs shaken out of them for examination, and it did not 
require a very keen eye to see that they were infested with mite. 
I was afraid if I kept the bulbs to experiment upon in killing the 
pest it might find its way to the healthy plants of E. amazonica, 
and I gave orders for them all to be taken to the stokehole and 
thrown into the furnace. 
There is something remarkably strange about the culture of the 
Eucharis without taking the mite disease into consideration. I 
know several places where it grows well and flowers freely without 
any very particular attention being paid to its culture. I also know 
other places where it will not thrive and grow satisfactorily under 
any kind of treatment. As an instance of this, I know a friend, 
who is reckoned one of the best gardeners in the country, yet, with 
every appliance for good culture, he could not get his Eucharises to 
grow vigorously, although he tried every method he could possibly 
think of, and it could not be said that his plants were placed in 
out-of-the-way corners, or received bad treatment, as they had a 
house entirely devoted to themselves. My late foreman, who lived 
at die place once, told me that he had seen more flowers at one time 
on a single plant here than he had seen the whole houseful of 
plants produce during the three years he was there. The plants in 
question were potted in different kinds of soil, plunged in bottom 
heat and unplunged, shaded, &c., but still they would not grow 
satisfactorily. 
