March 25, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
229 
moss constantly moist, disturbing it as little as possible, until the 
diminutive plants have made some progress and are forming their 
leaves. They may be then very cautiously removed and placed in 
thimble-pots of moss plunged in a larger size, the space between the 
two being tilled with moss kept regularly moist. The utmost care 
will be needed in this respect, and the seedlings must not be exposed 
to the direct rays of the sun or draughts of cold air. After some 
years of trouble the cultivator may possioly be rewarded by seeing a 
novelty of great merit flower. Amateurs must not be discouraged 
by these difficulties, but all who have the time should try some 
experiments, for though wonderful progress has been made in 
hybridising by Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, there is still an ample 
field for investigators, and many gentlemen have turned their 
attention to the matter in recent years. In any attempt of the kind 
care must be exercised to prevent the intended seed-bearer being 
fertilised from any other source, both before and after the desired 
cross has been made. This may be effected by tying a piece of gauze 
round.the flower when it is expanded, also removing its own pollinia.— 
—An' Amateur. 
(To be continued.) 
SHRUB PLANTING IN SPRING. 
Nursery plants received at this time require very great care 
in order to assure the plants taking to their new quarters. In 
remarking on this question, it must be understood that the soil 
here is a very poor one, much of it gravelly and sandy, while dry 
east winds prevail during the spring months. If the plants 
arrive from a nursery, perhaps after a few days removal it will 
be found that wetting the roots and top with water and keeping 
them covered with mats or straw until required for planting 
will refresh them very much. It is better to do this than to lay 
the plants in soil. Planting must be taken in hand as quickly as 
possible. In our poor soil it is found of much advantage to plant 
in some light material. Leaf soil is very good for this pur¬ 
pose, and so is any compost formed from decayed vegetables 
and other refuse from the garden. It is in all cases better to 
plant deeper, and the more sandy the soil may be the deeper 
should the roots be placed. Especially is this necessary with 
members of the Pine tribe, Cypresses, Ac. All the plants have 
basins left for necessary water as required, and in the case of 
shrubs of extra value a mulching of dung repays the outlay. 
Then with regard to watering. Enough should be poured into 
each basin to soak through and through the contents of each 
pit; and this ought to be done as soon as the shrub is planted 
and secured to a stake. In an hour or two thereafter a little dry 
soil scattered over the surface acts as a good conservator of 
moisture. Both deep planting and watering of newly planted 
shrubs are condemned as being injurious to the plants, and I 
have no doubt that is so under certain conditions, but in our cir¬ 
cumstances, and which are not peculiar, I have found that both 
are points that are necessary in open soil. In heavy soil deep 
planting would of course have a very different effect. During 
any period of drying weather a weekly application of water is 
an absolute necessity, and care must be taken that the plants do 
not suffer before water is given. I have transplanted shrubs and 
Conifers in autumn which had been received the spring of the 
same year in very poor condition, and under treatment as 
described they can be removed with good roots and require no 
further attention after. On the other hand, shrubs left to them¬ 
selves, though they may and do struggle through, are often so 
severely damaged that it takes years before they are established. 
Reverting to the question of laying in shrubs which come 
from a distance, my opinion is that the practice is not beneficial 
to the plant. The exact reason why shrubs should resent being 
planted in soil for a few days or weeks, and then lifted and 
planted out permanently, is not quite clear to me ; but I have no 
doubt that they do resent it, as the effect has often been forced 
upon me. Anyone who has work of this kind in hand may 
easily prove to his own satisfaction the difference resulting from, 
on the one hand, covering shrubs completely with straw after 
moistening them, and, on the other hand, covering the roots with 
soii until they cm be planted. 
Shrubs which give way during the early summer may in many 
cases be saved from death by cutting over the plant a few inches 
above the surface of the soil. If any of the roots are fresh and 
the planting been sufficiently deep, shoots will be formed 
before the end of summer, and the foundation of what may be a 
good specimen in a few years will be. laid. It may be noted that 
the present is a very good time to get large .shrubs prepared for 
removal at some future time. This is done by marking off the 
size of ball that it is wanted to remove with the plant in the 
form of a square; then cut down a trench on each side of the 
square, leaving the corners untouched. If the roots are few and 
large, it maybe necessary to complete the work by cutting across 
the angles at each corner the next year, but generally the one 
root-pruning will do. If the plant be of value the trenches 
should be filled with light material pi-essed firmly down, and more 
young roots will be formed, and that more rapidly than in cases 
where the soil taken out is merely returned. It may be pointed 
out that square balls are most easily removed, as boarding can 
be fitted down each side, and the ball, as it were, enclosed in a 
box. 
To those who have not tried summer planting, it will be of 
interest to know that blanks in conspicuous positions arising 
from deaths in spring-planted shrubs may be made up at any 
time in the summer months, provided the work is undertaken 
in dull weather and the plants removed with a ball of soil mois¬ 
tened and kept moist for awhile after replanting. For this 
purpose a few reserve plants put into a bed of light material in 
which they can make a ba ! l of roots quickly is of much service. 
Failures of all kinds ai’e best mastered and got rid o: as quickly 
as possible, and the matter under review is certainly no exception 
to that rule.—B. 
SALVIA BICOLOR. 
The genus Salvia is best represented in our gardens by the tender 
and half-hardy species, of which patens, splendens, involuorata, and 
gesnerse flora may be taken as illustrations. The hardy section includes, 
however, m my desirable species, of which the S. bicolor here figured is 
an example. 
Its blosioms taken individually are, perhaps, le3S attractive than those 
of the no v c tmmoa S. patens ; but, on the other hand, they are far more 
abundantly produced, and are much less fugacious, remaining expanded 
everal days after their full development. In any moderately good soil 
the plant attains the height of 3 or I feet; and clothed as it is with very 
handsome foliage, an established specimen forms, when in flower, an 
exceedingly interesting object Its blooming per.od extends over a 
period of two or three m >nths if prevented from ripening seed. 
It is, moreover, perfectly hardy, and requires, therefore, none of the 
attention) necessary to preserve its more tender congeners frjm the 
r igours of our winters. So numerous, in fact, are the claims of the Salvia 
bicolor to attention, that it seems surprising that this species should be 
comparatively so little known. It was first introduced into this country 
as early as 1793, but appears to have been almo3t entirely lost un il its 
re-introduction about 1815 from the north of India by Messrs. Standish 
and Noble, Bagshot. 
