February 16, 18S8. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
129 
food for a few weeks previous to their being used for embellishing 
rooms, so that the plants will not experience the check they 
certainly would do were it suddenly withheld. 
Any plants that have become sickly looking can often, by the 
aid of a few doses of nitrate of soda, be quickly brought to a per¬ 
fect state of health again ; but being very powerful in its action 
this must be used in small quantities, a piece about the size of a 
marble is large enough for a 12-inch pot. This fertiliser has also 
the effect of forcing plants on much more quickly than other 
manures, and is therefore valuable for assisting those that are 
naturally of slow growth. I have not yet traced its effect on many 
kinds of Heaths, but with Erica hyemalis and the numerous 
varieties of Epacris, a few doses of nitrate of soda given when the 
plants are making their growth produce good results, the growth 
being made very quickly and possessing a fine healthy appearance. 
I also find that during the summer months, when soft water cannot 
be obtained for them, a little dissolved in the water used at the rate 
of a teaspoonful to 2 gallons of water will keep the plants in 
capital health ; whereas if hard water is used without the addition 
of soda or some other substitute the young growths assume a 
brownish tint which is not in the least desirable. There can be no 
doubt that all kinds of plants are greatly benefited by having 
frequent changes in the food supplied to them. A little close 
observation will soon convince anyone on that point. I have often 
noticed that when the use of one kind of manure is continued for 
several weeks the plants receiving it do not respond to its stimulat¬ 
ing influences so readily as when it was first given. When such is 
the case give a few waterings with clear water and then apply some 
other kind of manure, and health and vigour will be continued. 
Perhaps no plants pay better for judicious feeding than Roses in 
pots, as it is not often convenient to have them in very large pots ; 
but with liberal top-dressings and feeding they can be kept healthy 
and strong in the same sized pots for years. When the shoots have 
grown a couple of inches they should have liquid manure at each 
alternate watering for a week, then a sprinkling of guano and 
Clay’s fertiliser mixed as above mentioned, to be followed by two or 
three supplies of clear water. Soot water is made by placing 
some soot in a bag and soaking it for a few hours in a tub, always 
taking care not to use it strong enough to leave a sediment on the 
surface soil of the pots. If this course of feeding is carried out 
regularly in accordance with the above instructions, and other con¬ 
ditions are favourable, successful results will assuredly follow, and 
will also be the means of producing plants of the sizes most useful 
in much smaller pots than they are generally met with,—H. 
Dunkin, 
HOLLYHOCKS. 
Observing an article by “ F. M.” in the Journal recently respecting 
our Hollyhocks, and in response to the editorial request I beg to 
submit a short account of my experience with the disease. Late 
in the autumn of 1885 I observed a few spots of the fungus on the 
leaves of some of our Hollyhock plants. This was the first time of 
attack. I removed the foliage thus affected and took little further 
notice of it, as it seemed to make no progress of any moment during 
that season, but to my great consternation the whole collection was 
attacked early the following spring. I tried various insecticides, 
but without effect. We propagated our usual quantity of spring- 
grafted plants, which went on fairly well, considering the circum¬ 
stances, for a short time ; in fact they were fine young plants (with 
the exception of a few spots of disease) hardened to the temperature 
of a cold greenhouse. This was about the last week in March or 
the first week in April. The fungus then began to spread with 
great rapidity over every leaf, and appeared to successfully frustrate 
every effort to grow that the plants could make, and my exhibition 
prospects for that season were spoiled. I kept them in a cold frame 
by themselves (they were established in small pots) and planted all 
the old stools out in the garden, as they, too, were diseased. 
About the middle of May I commenced operations with the 
young plants by cutting them all down to the surface of the soil in 
the pots, leaving two eyes on each plant, and stood them altogether 
outside in a corner, covering them 2 or 3 inches deep with light 
soil, and there they remained till they grew through the soil, the 
shoots coming quite clean and healthy in about three weeks. Those 
plants have never again been affected with disease, but during that 
period the old plants in the garden were being destroyed by the 
fungus, and towards the middle of August the disease was rampant, 
killing many leaves and a few of the plants. The blooms were very 
poor that season compared with what they had generally been, as 
they were.checked when about half-developed through the loss of the 
foliage. I set to work in the autumn, about the first week in 
September, and cut every plant in the garden down to within a 
few inches of the ground, burnt every stem and vestige of leaf, 
thoroughly washed the stake* and stored them away, and buried 
every stool in fine soil. In a few weeks the plants began to show 
themselves, and were clean and healthy. As they appeared we 
lifted the plants late in October, stored them in a cold frame, and 
have never seen any disease since. I now possess healthy plants 
that would gratify the most enthusiastic admirer of this noble 
autumn flower. 
This system is not altogether new, for my valued friend, Mr. 
Jos. Oliver of Eslington Park, recommended the same practice 
some years ago. He is a great lover of Hollyhocks, and a great 
hater of Hollyhock disease. I may here state that Mr. Oliver is a 
grower, also a raiser of Hollyhocks of no mean calibre. He has 
two seedlings of the highest merit—viz., Robert Ryle and Agnes 
Ryle, the former a light red of large size and very full and well¬ 
shaped ; the latter a large deep golden yellow quite distinct. Mr. 
Oliver was good enough to let me have these a few years ago to 
grow privately, and I think very highly of them. 
Having often been asked if the Hollyhock is in as good a form 
now as it was twenty or thirty years ago, I most emphatically say 
“ Yes,” if you look for them in the right direction. During the 
above-named period, my uncle, Mr. Thomas Fenwick, and my 
brother, Mr. T. Finlay, were growers and exhibitors of the fore - 
most rank, and they will tell anyone that Hercules was always one 
of the very best Hollyhocks grown, if you get the true variety. 
The late Lord Hawke was a formidable antagonist, but he never had 
his flowers nearly so large as those of the north country growers, 
but always clean and neatly finished. I have one of Lord Hawke’s 
varieties now—viz.. Ruby Queen, a splendid flower, always finishing 
well. Moreover, I possess the true Hercules, Bullion, Majestic, and 
Conquest, all of which were grown twenty years ago, and were even 
amongst the very best, but some of my seedlings from those 
varieties are quite equal to, and, in some instances, better than 
their parents. The variety, Mrs. Maynard, which is a cross between 
Hercules and Bullion, is quite equal to the parents in quality, and 
quite distinct. Then, again, we have Grace Darling, which is, in 
my opinion, the best Hollyhock in cultivation, also Favourite, a 
clear silvery lilac, almost unapproached in size, and certainly so in 
colour, and Queen of the Yellows. A clergyman of no mean floral 
interest, whilst looking through our collection before we cut for 
the Newcastle Show last year, minutely inspected and admired all 
the varieties. Queen of the Yellows, in the best form I ever saw 
her, was one of the last the rev. gentleman came to. He stood 
silently for a few moments, and then exclaimed, “ Ah ! I must lift 
my hat to this gem, for this is the Queen of the Yellows, and truly 
the queen of aU the Hollyhocks.”— George Finlay, East Layton 
Hall, Darlington, 
CROPS THAT PAY. 
South and north borders were formed, not by building costly 
walls, but by erecting boards 6 feet high. Posts were inserted 
12 feet apart, and well tarred before they were placed into the 
ground. To these were nailed 2 by 3-inch deals, one a foot from 
the base, and the other the same distance from the top. Boards, 
a foot wide and 6 feet high, were nailed to these, the base resting 
on a single row of bricks to keep them off the soil, and the whole 
was weU tarred. This is a cheap method certainly of providing 
warm borders and invaluable positions for Tomatoes and many other 
fruits. Whatever may be urged in favour of walls, plants in general 
would not grow better near them, or with greater rapidity attached 
to them, than they will near black boards. These absorb a greater 
quantity of heat than brick walls, and the heat radiated warms the 
air to such an extent that it is favourable to the growth of early 
crops and the rapid maturation of fruit. The borders, back and 
front, are 10 and 12 feet wide, between them are squares or flats of 
ground 25 to 30 yards in width. The boards are sufficiently high 
to protect Potatoes from early frosts when they come with a north 
wind. The first one or two in the row may be sometimes caught, 
but they are not certain of escaping when frost comes with the 
wind in any other quarter. 
What are grown on these borders that pay ? and to what purpose 
are the boards employed other than to provide shelter ? are only 
natural questions to ask. At intervals of a few years the borders 
back and front are double dug, and when subjected to this process, 
which is done directly the autumn crop is removed, the lowest spit 
only is enriched with manure. The surface is manured when the 
crop is planted, or directly before. When the gi’ound is frequently 
trenched the lower spit can be turned on the surface without the 
slightest fear of evil consequences. The surface spit that is turned 
to the base is naturally fertile, and on the top of this is placed the 
remains of Mushroom beds. Material from which we do not fear 
much will be washed away. The surface is dressed with nearly 
fresh manure. When the borders are planted with Potatoes the 
manure is not placed into the drills, as frequently practised, but 
