70 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND C011AGE GARDENER. 
[ July 23,1886. 
of roots in the first instance and their rapid development afterwards. 
Regularity as regards both heat and moisture is thus obtained, and all 
■who try this system of plunging will be surprised how rapidly the plants 
fill their pots with roots. 
Plunging plants indoors has probably fallen into bad repute more 
through the careless manner in which they have been watered than from 
any other cause. But when this has taken place the pots have been 
plunged to their rim, only the surface of the soil being exposed to the 
sun and atmosphere of the house. In plunging plants the rim of the 
pot should be covered at least 1 inch below the surface, and then no 
mistakes need be made in the supply oE water, for it is reduced to a very 
few applications. Soil for potting should always be in an intermediate 
state of moisture, and when used in this condition and the plants plunged 
after potting no water will be needed for at least a month even during 
hot bright weather. On several occasions Eucharises have been shaken 
out, repotted, and plunged, and they have filled their pots with roots before 
it proved necessary to give them water. Gardenias and other plants have 
been treated in the same way, and in each instance the most successful 
results have followed. 
Phaius and Calanthes are often ruined in their early stages by too 
much water. In this case it can be remedied by plunging and covering 
with fibre directly they are potted. This can be done without the 
slightest injury to the young growths that are springing from the base of 
the pseudo-bulbs. When potted singly this is simple, for the pseudo¬ 
bulbs can be slightly elevated in the centre of the pots that are used. 
Under this system the plants will be rooting freely before it is necessary 
to give them water, when liberal supplies do them no harm. 
For plants that have to occupy outside positions during the summer 
months a judicious system of plunging should commend itself to all who 
care for the health of the various plants under their charge and wish to 
economise the labour at their disposal as much as possible. Hardy 
flowering shrubs that are prepared for forcing and kept in pots from year 
to year can be grown to very great perfection with comparatively little 
labour in watering if the pots are plunged instead of being stood upon 
walks and beds of ashes and watered daily, and often more frequently 
during hot dry weather. Last year Lilacs, Guelder Roses, and similar 
plants were cut back, top-dressed, and plunged in the ground, covering 
the pots, and we found it unnecessary to water them during the whole 
summer. They were not even syringed, and they made strong sturdy 
growth with abundance of large bold flower buds. Roses in pots may be 
plunged in the same way, and one or two soakings of water during the 
remainder of the season will prove ample, no fear being entertained that 
they are suffering by the want of water. Whenever plants stood on the 
surface of walks with their pots exposed we found the soil dried 
too quickly, and they soon became a prey to mildew. Last year 
we partially reduced the balls of our Hybrid Perpetual varieties in 
in July, and replunged then in ashes without giving water, and none 
was applied until after the plants were housed, pruned, and ready for 
starting. The pots were full of roots, but a number of plants that 
were not plunged had to be watered many times during the season, and 
did not make more than one-third the quantity of roots by autumn. The 
advantage of plunging is very marked in the case of Roses, for plants 
lifted towards the end of October, repotted, and then plunged, will fill 
their pots with roots if the foliage is kept healthy by syringing, but plants 
potted at the same time and stood upon walks, even if the same care is 
taken to maintain the foliage, will not make more than half the quantity 
of roots. Solanums and other similar plants that are grown in pots will 
not give half the labour in watering if the pots and surface of the soil are 
covered in ashes or soil, as will be the case if plunged only to the rim of 
their pots or stood upon the surface of beds of ashes. Plants of this 
description often root over the sides of their pots, but when lifted in 
autumn the removal of these roots will not prove injurious to the 
plants if they are kept moist and shaded for a few days. 
That this system is a safe and a reliable one as regards the majority 
of plants is proved by the fact that in large nurseries hundreds of 
thousands of plants are plunged in the manner described. The enormous 
quantity of plants grown in pots in large nurseries for removal with 
safety at any season of the year could not be supplied with water without 
a very large increase in the labour staff. Not only is plunging as de¬ 
scribed a labour-saving practice, but it insures safety against a common 
evil arising from a too frequent use of the water pot. This is probably 
the chief cause why many plants are unsatisfactory. When plants are 
potted and stood upon walks with their pots exposed, judgment and the 
greatest care is essential, or else too much water will be poured into the 
soil before the roots have taken full possession of it. The roots of plants, 
whether stove, greenhouse, or hardy, will not enter soil freely that has 
been saturated. It is a well-known fact that the longer plants can be 
kept without water after they are potted the sooner the roots recover 
from the injury they have [received. 
When plants are grown indoors and plunged exposed to the sun, they 
should be freely syringed at least twice daily during bright weather, and 
the plunging material should also be kept moist or it will draw the 
moisture out of the soil. If the material is moist when the plants are 
plunged the daily syringings will keep it so.—Wil. Bardney. 
HALES’ EARLY PEACH. 
Some time ago I sent you a note in favour of this grand Peach, and 
another season’s experience of it fully confirms all my former good im¬ 
pressions. Growing at the coolest end of a cool unheated house it set a 
capital crop of fruit in the fore part of April, and in three months a fter 
wards— i.e., the 1st of July—we were gathering fine ripe fruits of it, 
They swelled to a good size, were of a high and beautiful colour, and ex¬ 
cellent in flavour. Prince of Wales and Royal George Peaches growing 
in the same bouse are three and four weeks bohind it in ripening, and 
they have the advantage of being nearer a heated vinery. For market 
work or an early crop anywhere this variety could not, in my opinion, be 
surpassed. It grows so freely, fruits so profusely, and ripens the crop so 
fast and well, that I can recommend it as a most desirable early Peach. 
That skilled fruit-grower, Mr. Coleman of Eastnor Castle, when here the 
other day, told me he knew of its good qualities, and speaks of it in much 
the same terms as I have done.—J. Muir. 
LONDON’S LESSER OPEN SPACES—THEIR TREES AND 
PLANTS.—No. 2. 
Which churchyard was it “ between Gracechurch Streetandthe Tower,” 
where Dickens came one Saturday evening upon an “ old, old man and 
an old, old woman ” engaged in the work of tossing hay ? “ Gravely 
among the graves,” says he, “ they made hay all by themselves ; there 
was but one rake between them, and they held it in a pastorally loving 
manner ; there wa3 hay on her bonnet, as if the old man had recently 
been playful.” Possibly the small product of hay was destined for some 
old, old horse lodged not far off, and a favourite with the worthy couple. 
If the spring has been showery we may see grass long enough to make 
hay in several of the City churchyards, but some show only a poor, 
sickly growth, arising from confined air or the impoverished character of 
the soil. Passers along the great thoroughfares of London City know 
little about these relics of the past, Bhut in very often by tall buildings, 
each having a history of its own, and many of them looking cheerful 
some part of the year with their trees, shrubs, and even flowers. It is a 
pity that, under suitable regulations, they cannot be thrown open to those 
clerks or warehousemen who toil close to them in rooms close and 
oppressive during the summer ssason, and w'ho might thus take a rest at 
their meal times instead of munching sandwiches in the streets or getting 
a glimpse of these green spaces through the outside railings. 
Surveying these gardens of the dead, which have ceased to be repulsive, 
one notices the absence of some trees that it would be natural for us to 
expect to see in their precincts. Funereal trees of any age are not to be 
met with ; it is strangest to miss the Yew, because it was so commonly 
planted in churchyards by our ancestors. Did the zealous Puritans of the 
seventeenth century cut down the City Yews as associated with Popery, 
or did they perish through the demand for bow-wood ? Then certainly 
London formeily had many Elms in its gardens and roads about the 
City ; they are now merely represented by a few stumps, brought low, 
probably by that troublesome beetle, Scolytus destructor ; yet it is 
possible that internal decay precedes the attack of the insect. It may not 
be out of place to remark in passing that modern obst rvation of the Elm 
suggests that it is not a tree suitable for planting in much-frequented 
thoroughfares, because it has a habit of throwing off branches suddenly. 
Willows would not be likely to flourish in London at this present day, but 
these trees did once grow freely in several City churchyards, when there 
were springs occurring on the sides of its little hills to refresh the arid 
soil. Seldom do we come across a Hawthorn larger than a bush, and 
though I doubt not the Ash, Maple, and Horse Chestnut would do well 
even in the air of central London, these do not appear to have been 
planted in former times. 
St. Paul’s Cathedral churchyard, we are glad to say, is now open to 
the public, having been laid out at the expense of the Corporation of 
London, and large as is the number of its daily visitors, and varied their 
social position, the conduct of all is reported as “ excellent.” There are 
seats, fountains, beds of flowers, and shrubs, and it was satisfactory to 
notice that some of the visitors at least occupied themselves in observing 
what was growing, while to others the animal life in the garden, exhibited 
by pigeons and spairows, furnished amusement. As we read, this church¬ 
yard was, centuries ago, very shady with trees; some large ones were 
blown down in a great gale of the year 1611. The few trees now 
of size are Sycamores, standing irregularly on the north side of the 
ground; but some saplings have been planted recently, judiciously 
distributed, so that they will not be likely to check the growth of flowers 
beneath them. A preference seems to have been given to Birches and 
Poplars, trees suitable for the garden, because they do not throw much 
shadow from their f< liage. In a spot that has been a churchyard we 
cannot object to the presence of one or two Yews amongst other ever¬ 
greens ; but I always think this species is best either as a hedge, or placed 
solitary. Some evergreens do exceedingly well in the London atmo¬ 
sphere ; Conifers, however, are seldom successful, so far as I have seen. 
The Aucubas and Laurels eJ St. Paul’s compare favourably with those 
growing in other London chviebyards. Unless carefully tended the ever¬ 
greens of town gardens are liable to pass into a peculiar condition of 
existence ; they still put forth leaves, but make no growth, remaining 
stunted year after year. Yarieties of the Box were, to my surprise, freer 
from scale than in the open suburbs. This species needs to be well 
syringed during mild weather in spring, a matter often neglected both in 
gardens and shrubberies. Positively, the old Cathedral in leafy June 
could look down upon flowering Camellias and Rhododendrons, with a 
fair display of Liliaceous flowers of later spring, and gardeners were busy 
bedding-out. I cannot say I admire the plan of giving some beds a large 
centre of evergreens, and then edging them with a small circltt of Pelar¬ 
goniums, Calceolarias, and so forth. Nor do I think it advantageous to 
fill occasional beds entirely with Ivy, which may be agreeable to the 
eye throughout the year, but is apt to form a place of hiding for snails 
