520 
[ December 17, 1891. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
SEASONABLE HINTS ON FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
Auriculas. —So far as the winter has gone nothing could be more 
different from last winter, and consequently the thoughts of the grower 
ran in a somewhat different channel at this time last year. The second 
week in December the garden was covered with snow, the ground frozen 
hard, and our frames containing our favourites closely matted down, 
while those growers who had the advantage of fire heat kept their fires 
going. I say the advantage, because although I do not at all agree with 
forcing Auriculas so as to get them in time for exhibition, I think 
that in very severe weather, as well as in damp weather, it is an advan¬ 
tage to have the power of putting on a little fire heat. Last year our 
pots were frozen hard at this time, and although the Auricula is a hardy 
plant, yet the high breeding of the edged varieties makes them unable to 
endure what their Alpine ancestors pass through unscathed ; we cannot 
(at least I cannot) grow them in the open. I have tried it with such 
strong-growing varieties as Colonel Champneys and Traill’s Beauty, but 
it was a failure. Like many other alpines, the alternations of heat and 
cold, moisture and dryness, are too much for them; and besides the first 
hour of rain after the bloom opens completely destroys its beauty. 
Hence we must always grow them under cover, not only protecting the 
plants, but also saving the blooms from the injurious efEects of frost, 
which is apt to distort the flowers. What we have to contend with this 
season, however, is not cold but moisture. 
There is an expressive word used about here by our rustics, “ peart,” 
I suppose a corruption of pert. When the corn looks up straight green, 
they say it looks very “ peart.” This is the best word I can find to 
apply to the appearance of my small collection of Auriculas. I have 
never at this season seen them with so much foliage, the old leaves not 
having yet died off, and consequently instead of at this time having 
simply a black appearance, they are really good looking plants. One 
ought not to prophesy, but as I have all along thought that we should 
have a mild winter, so I think we shall have an early bloom of Auriculas. 
The great enemy to be avoided now is damp. When I went to my 
small pit the other day I found that the pots were just as if they had 
been dipped in water. Air was, therefore, more freely given, although 
unfortunately that air was laden with moisture. It will be necessary 
to carefully examine the plants now, take off all dead leaves, examine 
for the presence of woolly aphis round the collar (it is of little conse¬ 
quence elsewhere), examine the foliage for green fly, which is likely 
to appear during such mild weather, and if present carefully brush it off 
with a small brush. I find at this season of the year this is sufficient, 
and there is no need of fumigation. There must be for the present a 
withholding of water ; it is not well for the plants to get thoroughly 
dry, but in a state just short of that is the best for them. Of course 
drip must be carefully looked after ; there is nothing more fatal to the 
well-being of a plant, and when once the soil has become waterlogged 
and sour there will be no hope for the plant but repotting. Prevention 
is better than cure, and when a drip is discovered the pot should be at 
once removed to some other place in the pit or frame. I find this is 
more readily done in the pit, and have for thi3 and other causes removed 
mine to the pit earlier than I have hitherto done. 
Carnations and Picotees. —The disastrous season of 1891 is not 
likely to be repeated this season, and, a3 in the case of the Auricula, it 
will be necessary to guard against damp. This shows itself on these 
flowers in spots on the leaves, which destroy their tissue, deprives the 
plant of its proper amount of nutriment, and if unchecked ultimately 
kills it. To prevent this it is necessary to give all the air possible, and 
when it does aDpear it is best to dust the plants with sulphur. As yet 
I see no appearance of it in the few plants I have. Those which were 
planted out in beds have so far had a favourable time. The one pre¬ 
caution necessary is to see that the plants are not dragged about by 
worms. 
Gladiolus. —Of course the harvesting of the corms ought now to be 
completed, and they should be safely housed where they are free from 
frost. I do not, as I have often said, advocate the storing of the roots 
in bags, as there is a sufficient amount of moisture in the roots to 
encourage growth where the roots are in contact, for a very little induces 
them to put out roots, and this weakens them, so that I recommend 
that they should be laid on trays, made not solid but in strips. They 
may be fitted into a stand similarly made. By this means there is no 
contact and the corms get plenty of light and air. I grieve to say that 
my harvest is a very poor one, from what cause I know not, but I have lost 
more than one-half of my collection, and of those which I have saved 
many are very small. I had all mine in one part of my garden, and 
have, I suppose, shared the fate of those who put all their eggs into one 
basket. The portion of the garden is damp, and it may be that this moist 
season did not suit them, or it may be that there is now too much 
manure in the beds. I have endeavoured to remedy this defect for a 
year by taking out a good deal of the soil, and putting in a good 
quantity of turfy loam, and I have also prepared a bed in another part 
of my garden so as to have a double chance. Last autumn I lifted my 
fine corms, so that I imagine the season must have a good deal to do 
with it. 
Pansies. —The moist season has suited these very well. My plan is 
after they have bloomed to plant them out and then in autumn to divide 
them and pot them. I find this answers my purpose much better than 
taking cuttings, and I see no difference in the size and quality of the 
flowers produced by these plants. They are now looking remarkably 
healthy, and all that they will require will be to be kept free from damp, 
and should any mildew appear, which is, however, not likely at this 
season of the year, they should be dusted with sulphur. Of course, air 
should be given at all possible times to the frames where they are 
wintered. 
Ranunculus. —The Persian varieties are quietly lying in the autumn 
quarters, where they will remain for a couple of months longer ; but so 
wet has the ground been that I have not yet planted the Turban 
varieties, which, however, I do not or cannot class as florists’ flowers. 
They ought to have been planted in the middle of last month, but it 
has been simply impossible, and I shall have now probably to defer it to 
the spring. 
Roses. —The trees look remarkably well. The Teas are quite green, 
and showing an occasional bloom very different from their appearance 
last year at this time. If it has not been already done. I would advise 
the thinning out of the old flowering wood—in fact, treating them much 
in the way that we treat Raspberries ; this gives free acess of air and 
light, and saves work in the spring, when there is a good deal of all 
kinds of work to be got through. Nailing, if not finished, ought now to 
be completed, first drawing up some earth to the collar of the plant and 
then placing the manure over it. Under the present system of growing 
Roses, i.e., as dwarfs, I do not think there is any need of protection even 
for Teas. It very often doe3 more harm than good, and it is only in such 
very exceptional seasons as the last that losses for want of protection 
occur.—D., Deal. 
PRUNING YINES. 
My experience with Muscat of Alexandria differs from that of Mr. 
Dunkin on page 489. For twelve years Vines under my charge have 
been subjected to close spur-pruning, and I think the bunches this 
season were larger and better than in any previous year. This was 
certainly the case near the base of the rods, and the crop is always 
towards the base than near the points of the canes. I attribute our 
success in this respect to a close method of pruning the leader in its 
early stages of growth. The first year only three buds were left above 
the lower wire for a pair of side shoots and a leader. The next year 
only a few more than that number were left. I think more young Vines 
are ruined by faulty pruning, especially the first and second year, than 
anything else. People seem to be too anxious to cover the root or 
trellis too quickly, particularly if the Vines are expected to give a full 
crop of fruit for twenty or thirty years. I am, however, straying some¬ 
what away from the point. 
I believe securing a full crop of this variety depends more upon how 
the wood is ripened every year than upon any method of pruuing. If 
two and sometimes three shoots are allowed to grow from one spur I do 
not wonder at their requiring pruning on a method which is not close 
spur-pruning, but if one growth only is taken from each spur and the 
laterals reasonably restricted I think an annual crop of fruit will be 
guaranteed, and not very small bunches either. I am a great believer 
in training the summer growth of Vines thinly, but some gardeners do 
not practise this plan. My experience with Lady Downe’s is just the 
same in every respect as that quoted for Muscat of Alexandria. 
I quite agree >vith Mr. Dunkin in his advice about Gros Guillaume. 
For eight years this variety was pruned on the close spur system without 
a failure, the two following seasons were. Last autumn we tried the long 
spur plan, with the result that this year we had larger bunches than at 
any time previous. I suppose it was the extreme vigour the Vine con¬ 
tained which was the means for the first eight years of producing such 
good results, and as this became exhausted the bunches grew less, until 
the Vine failed to give a crop.—E. M. 
RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS AT ROTHAMSTED ON 
THE QUESTION OF THE FIXATION OF FREE NITROGEN. 
From the results of the experiments of Boussingault, and also of 
those made at Rotliamsted under conditions of sterilisa ion and inclosure 
more than thirty years ago, Sir J. B. Lawes and the author had always 
concluded that at any rate our agricultural plants did not assimilate free 
nitrogen. They had also abundant evidence that the Papilionaceae, as 
well as other plants, derived much nitrogen from the combined nitrogen 
in the soil and subsoil. Still, they had long recognised that the source 
of the whole of the nitrogen of the Papilionacem was not explained ; 
that there was, in fact, “ a missing link /” They were, therefore, pre¬ 
pared to recognise the importance of the results first announced by 
Prof. Hellriegel in 1886, and they had hoped to commence experiments 
on the subject in 1887, but they had not been able to do until 1888. 
Those first results showed a considerable formation of nodules on the 
roots, and coincidently great gain of nitrogen, in plants grown in sand 
(with the plant-ash) when it was microbe-seeded by a turbid watery 
extract of a rich soil. 
In 1889, and since, they had made a more extended series. The 
plants were grown in pots in a glass house. There were four pots of 
each description of plant, one with sterilised sand and the plant-ash, 
two with the same sand and ash, but microbe-seeded with watery 
extract, for some plants from a rich garden soil, for Lupins from a sandy 
soil in which Lupins were growing luxuriantly, and for some other 
plants from soil where the particular plant was growing. In all, in 
1889 and subsequently, they had grown in this way four descriptions of 
annual plants—namely, Peas, Beans, Vetches, and Yellow Lupins ; and 
four descriptions of longer life—namely, White Clover, Red Clover, 
SainfoiD, and Lucerne. Enlarged photographs of the tabove ground- 
