November 7, 1889. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
393 
<the fruit is set as soon as safe up to say the middle of June, or even 
until the fruit is so far advanced that netting it becomes undesirable. 
Water syringings alone have no deterrent effect, but rather contri¬ 
bute to the increased severity of the attack, as also does a confined 
atmosphere, which, however, may be due to the weakening tendency 
of heavy and continued syringing, similarly to a confined atmosphere 
.preventing evaporation and the consequent softening of the tissues. 
Will some of our scientific friends kindly tell us if I am on the right 
track ? Mineral matter, such as lime, with phosphor and sulphur 
and gas lime, is to be tried at the roots.—G. Abbey. 
BOUVARDIA CULTURE. * 
Having the privilege of serving a gentleman who prefers the 
Bouvardia to any other greenhouse plant, and having in former 
•years grown them for Covent Garden, we have managed to attain a 
•considerable amount of success with these plants here, and I am 
•tempted to offer a few remarks on the subject of their culture to 
those who hitherto have not been so successful as they desire. 
I do not propose giving any historical information, such being 
probably known to all, neither shall I mention any variety but 
■those 1 have grown ; for that reason some of the older forms and 
those introduced during the past year will not be alluded to. 
Supposing the reader to be already in possession of plants, or about 
.to purchase them, they will now be in flower, and should be placed 
in a house where a night temperature of from 45° to 50° is main- 
'tained, with a rise of 10° or 15° by day. In cold Wiather a rise of 
10° is ample, allowing, however, an additional 5“ in bright weather. 
In this house they should remain until they have done flowering. 
Water should be given as required, using weak liquid manure at 
each alternate supply. When flowering is completed they may 
be stood under the stage in the same house, sufficient water being 
given to keep the wood plump and no more. It is customary in 
some gardens to dry them off, similar to Fuchsias. I did it once, 
■and lost several plants—in fact, two or three varieties were lost 
altogether, and as I had to make the latter good at my own expense 
I received a lesson to be remembered. About the second week in 
March our plants are cleaned and pruned. Plants from last 
year’s cuttings are shortened back to 4 inches from the pot; those 
a year older are cut back to within a couple of inches of where 
pruned the previous year. Older plants are treated in the same 
way—that is to say, all growths are left 2 inches longer every year. 
The plants are then placed in a vinery that is always started at that 
date, and kept regularly supplied with clear water, syringing them 
•in the mornings and when closing the house. When the plants are 
breaking well into growth they are repotted. The soil used con¬ 
sists of loam two parts to one each of peat and leaf mould, with 
sufficient sand to show plainly through the soil ; with the exception 
of the leaf mould, which should be passed through an inch sieve to 
free it from sticks, the compost should be broken up by hand, and all 
wireworms looked after sharply. I am no advocate of starting them 
ip small pots and subsequently placing them into larger pots. We 
have no time in this part of Ireland now-a-days for such proceed¬ 
ings, and the planting out method not proving satisfactory with me 
it has been abandoned, and one potting a year is all the plants have. 
About half of the old soil is carefully picked out, perfectly clean 
•pots one size larger than those previously occupied are carefully 
crocked, covering the crocks with moss, then a small quantity of 
the roughest of the compost over the moss, followed by a handful 
of half-inch bones, and the plants firmly potted with the aid of 
a rammer for the largest pots at the same level as they were 
before. They are then returned to the vinery, and syringed three 
or four times daily until about the fourth day, when they are all 
watered through a fine-rosed pot. After this syringing is only done 
twice a day in the morning and at closing time. 
If desirous of increasing the stock, as soon as the growths are 
long enough cuttings are inserted thickly in 4-inch pots, and 
plunged in a propagating case until rooted, when they are potted 
singly in thumbs, and returned to the case until established. They 
are placed in the vinery with the older plants ; when the roots are 
•well through they are shifted into 4-inch pots to flower in. As 
soon as rooted the point should be pinched out, stopping them 
•afterwards at every second joint until the end of June, when 
stopping is discontinued. When no cuttings are required the old 
plants are pinched as soon as possible after two joints are made, 
•continuing in this way until the end of June. The plants are 
removed from the vinery early in May to cold pits and frames, 
•covering with mats at night ; the covering is reduced gradually 
until by the end of the month none is used. From the commence¬ 
ment of June more air is gradually admitted both night and day, 
while during July and August the lights are taken off entirely ; 
•should, however, a long spell of wet weather set in they are placed 
on until fine weather returns once more. During September the 
quantity of air by day is daily reduced, and the frames closed at 
night ; at the end of the month they are taken into the green¬ 
house, when they commence flowering, and continue to do so until 
well into the new year. The syringing is done twice daily in fine 
weather until the plants are housed, when it is discontinued. 
Before taking the plants to the greenhouse they are staked and 
tied ; one stake only is used, to this the central growth is tied, and 
all remaining growths are slung to the stake with slender stranls 
of raffia. 
Good varieties are Alfred Neuner, double white; Bridal 
Wreath, blush ; Yreelandi (Davisoni), white ; Dazzler, bright 
scarlet ; elegans, scarlet ; flava, yellow ; Humboldti corymbi- 
flora, beautiful snow white, scented ; Maiden’s Blush, rosy blush ; 
President Cleveland, intense scarlet ; President Garfield, double 
pink ; Priory Beauty, pale rose ; Reine des Roses, rose pink ; The 
Bride, pure white ; and Victor Lemoine, double reddish purple. 
—Handy Andy. 
FRUIT JOTTINGS. 
On page 352 a few notes were given as the result of a visit 
to Sawbridgeworth, and to those the following may be added as 
the result of the same journey. 
ORANGES FOR USE AND PRO 71”. 
Of the many interesting features in Messrs. Rivers & Son’s 
establishment the house devoted to Oranges and allied plants is 
certainly not the least attractive. Early in the present century 
orangeries were much more frequently seen in gardens than at the 
present time, though in some old establishments the buildings still 
remain generally employed as conservatories or stoves. Unfor¬ 
tunately they are in too many cases heavy dark structures quite 
unfitted for plants of any kind, and particularly so for Oranges, 
which may in a great measure have led to the discontinuance of 
their culture. The enormous increase in the importation of 
Oranges, however, has been the chief factor in this matter, as 
when the fruit could be purchased three or four a penny on the 
hawkers’ barrows it seemed ridiculous to give the plants valuable 
space under glass. Another point, too, is that the large old trees 
formerly grown in immense tubs occupied a considerable amount 
of space, and when they became weakly with age and not too 
liberal treatment, rarely flowering, still more rarely perfecting 
eatable fruits, and infested with insects of divers kinds, they were 
neither ornamental nor profitable. In some continental gardens 
the old fashioned orangeries have been retained and are still 
employed for their original purpose, notably at the King of the 
Belgians’ Palace at Laeken, where, under the charge of Mr. 
Knight, are some of the largest healthy specimens we have ever seen. 
They are only, however, maintained in good health by very liberal 
treatment, frequent top-dressing of manure, and constant attention 
to keep them free from insects; they necessitate a great amount 
of labour, especially in removing them every summer to the open 
air and back again in autumn to the orangery. 
A large proportion of the varieties formerly grown are com¬ 
paratively worthless, and this combined with imperfect ripening 
rendered them a very unsatisfactory substitute for the better 
selected imported fruits. No doubt they were frequently chance 
seedlings raised here that had never been duly proved by com¬ 
parison with others, and after they had been grown for several 
years there was a natural reluctance to destroy them. It has, 
however, gradually become known to a few cultivators in this 
country that some of the varieties now grown so extensively in the 
West for importation to this country are greatly superior to 
others, and further that when taken in a properly ripened condi¬ 
tion from the tree their flavour is much richer and the quality 
better in all respects than the imported fruits that are necessarily 
gathered before they are ripe. Such home grown fruits have 
occasionally been placed before the Fruit Committee of the Royal 
Horticultural Society, and invariably with the result that the 
members have been surprised at their quality. 
Messrs. Rivers & Son have given their attention to these plants 
for many years, and the result is that they have a light span-roofed 
house filled with moderate sized trees in small pots, representing a 
series of carefully selected varieties. Apart from the ornamental 
value of well grown Orange trees, as their fragrant flowers, golden 
fruits, and rich green foliage are unsurpassed, they are exceedingly 
useful as affording an addition to the dessert that all can appreciate 
who have once tasted thoroughly ripened fruit from under glass. 
Some of the best of the St. Michaels varieties are Sustain, having a 
peculiarly delicate flavour and abundant juice ; St. Michaels, with 
a very thin fine rind and of excellent flavour ; Exquisite, one of 
the same type, differing slightly in habit, foliage, and the form of 
the fruit; and Silver, one of the best of the group. In the Malta 
