442 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May SO, 1889. 
and growth has commenced, then brought out and treated practically 
the same as the bulbs named. Under this simple management they 
succeed the latter, and prove of great service in many ways. No 
small point in favour of these Gladioli is their great adaptability to 
furnishing vases and other articles for room decoration. Lightly and 
loosely arranged, with the colours blended, they are very pleasing, and 
the unopened buds expand in turn after the spike has been cut and 
placed in water. The type ramosus has rose and white flowers, but the 
hybrids are exceedingly numerous, and embrace many shades of colour. 
Some of the flowers are almost seifs, others striped or blotched in a 
very attractive manner. 
It may be well to note that these Gladioli are hardier than the 
beautiful varieties of gandavensis, and a bed of them yields abundance 
of spikes for cutting if the corms are planted in late autumn or early 
spring. 
ARTIFICIAL MANURE FOR ROSES. 
I APPLIED to my Roses in April the artificial manure recommended 
by Mr. Tonks in the “ Rosarian’s Year-Book ”—viz., twelve parts super¬ 
phosphate of lime, ten parts nitrate of potash, two parts sulphate of 
magnesia, one part sulphate of iron, eight parts sulphate of lime ; total, 
thirty-three parts, £ lb. to square yard. I put on double the quantity, the 
vendors telling me they thought so much might be used safely. The 
Roses do not seem to be growing strong, and what I want to know is, 
Would such a quantity do harm ? Could you explain in a few sentences 
how the harm is done ? Is it (the idea comes from Mr. Abbey’s paper 
the week before last) the superphosphate which would do injury if used 
in excess ? They have had immense quantities of liquid since in the 
shape of rain and liquid manure—cowshed drainings, which I continue 
to give. I have never succeeded in giving too much of the latter yet. 
Do you think some more of the artificial would do harm ? for I had in¬ 
tended to give more when the buds were fairly formed, but am now 
rather afraid. The plants do not look unhealthy at all, simply they do 
not seem to grow stronger than usual, and I fancy not quite so strong. 
I should say the plants look quite healthy, but the stems are small and 
weak ; the general appearance is that of healthy plants in very poor 
soil, where there is little nourishment. Of course they have been 
loaded with nourishment of every description, and if it disagrees with 
them you would expect a stomachache and general unhealthiness of 
appearance ; but it is not so, and I take it, therefore, that there is some¬ 
thing which prevents the proper assimilation of the food offered. The 
H.P.’s show it more than the Teas.—W. R. R. 
This letter was forwarded to Mr. Tonks for his consideration, and he 
replies as follows :— 
Your correspondent appears to me to be an original. If I were a 
doctor I should fear for my reputation if he were my patient. Fancy 
the physician being addressed thus, “ I thought your prescription 
would benefit me, therefore I asked the apothecary if I might take a 
double dose, and on receiving his permission I took the double dose, 
together with an immense quantity of another medicine which I 
happened to have by me. I think your prescription cannot be right, 
for I do not feel as well as I expected to be ; shall I repeat the dose ?” 
I doubt the prudence of advising a patient of this character. However, 
at your request, I will do the best I can. 
The quantity of artificial manure prescribed in the formula for 
Roses (which was furnished by me at the request of the Editor for the 
“ Rosarian’s Year Book”), which is at the rate of more than 10 cwt. to 
the acre, is that which from multiplied experience may be considered 
a very full dose, and more likely to produce the best results than a 
larger quantity. It would have been much better if “ W. R. R.,” 
instead of doubling the dose, had divided it and applied it at two 
dressings. It appears that the ordinary gardener cannot realise that a 
slight sprinkling of artificial manure effectually replaces a heavy 
dressing of stable manure, and consequently when he uses it frequently 
does irreparable mischief by overdoses, and then blames the “new 
fangled system ” for the unsatisfactory results. The application of 
more than a ton to the acre of artificial manure in its most concentrated 
form is very wasteful, and may be very injurious. It is difficult from 
his description to realise the actual condition of “ W. R. R.’s ” Roses, 
but I imagine that the “immense quantities” of liquid manure re¬ 
peatedly applied during the wet and cold season of last year resulted in 
ill-ripened wood ; if so, no amount nor kind of manure applied this 
season would at this early stage of growth counteract the consequences 
of the want of maturity of the growth of last year. Then the “ im¬ 
mense quantities of rain and liquid manure” may have produced a 
sodden condition of the soil, which prevented the air from penetrating 
its interstices and performing its necessary part in the cycle of growth. 
Something must be wrong in your correspondent’s treatment; the 
application of the liquid manure alone ought to have prevented the 
appearance of the plants having been grown in a very poor soil. 1 
believe the best treatment which can now be adopted by him is to give 
no more manure, liquid or otherwise, this season ; the doctor will then 
have a chance of recovering his reputation, and the plants their condi¬ 
tion.—E dmund Tonks. 
HOW TO MAINTAIN A GAY CONSERVATORY. 
[First prize es9ay by Mr. J. Reid, Possingworth Gardens, Sussex. Chiswick Gardeners*; 
Association.] 
Owing to the diversity of the structures themselves, some conserva¬ 
tories are much more difficult than others to furnish with a constant 
supply of bloom. In some, plants keep fresh and well for several weeks ; 
in others, the same plants would not be presentable after a week or ten 
days. This is mainly due to the fact that other things than the require¬ 
ments of plants have the first consideration in the building of a con¬ 
servatory. In this essay my remarks will be directed to the average 
conservatory, in which a minimum night temperature of 40° Fahr. may 
easily be obtained during the winter months. 
To make a neat and tidy display perfect cleanliness is indispensable. 
When the stages are clean and the plants have no dying leaves, dust, or 
insects upon them, a much better effect is obtained than when these impor¬ 
tant matters are neglected. The rafters and pillars of the building may 
be clothed with vegetation in the form of climbing or trailing plants, 
and a selection from the following can always be relied upon to give a 
pleasing appearance Lapageria rosea, L. alba, Passiflora Imperatrice 
Eugenie, Tacsonia mollissima, Tacsonia Van Volxemi, Cobcea scandens 
variegata, Clematis indivisa lobata, Rhynchospermum jasminoides. 
Plumbago capensis, and Acacia lophantha. 
According to the extent of the house, tree Ferns, Palms, Cordylines, 
&c., may be arranged ; they tend to make the dressing less formal anc! 
monotonous. A selection can be made from the following, all of which 
will stand the required temperature :—Palms : Areca sapida, Chamse- 
rops excelsa, C. humilis, Kentia Forsteriana, Rhapis humilis, and Sea- 
forthia elegans. Tree Ferns : Dicksonia antarctica, D. squarrosa, Also- 
phila australis, Cyathea Cunninghami, C. dealbata, and C. medularis; 
Grevillea robusta, Aralia Sieboldi, Cordyline australis, C. indivisa 
Bhopala corcovadensis, and the Orange, Citrus aurantium. 
Flowering Plants.— In treating of this most important class of 
plants for conservatory decoration, I will give a few cultural details of 
the most popular and useful individually, and of the less important ones 
in classes. 
Pelargoniums. —I place these first on the list, because they are 
amongst the most showy flowering plants grown, and members of some 
of its classes can be had in bloom at every season of the year. They are 
best propagated by cuttings, which should be inserted in the autumn, 
singly, in small pots, and placed bn a shelf near the glass in a cool 
house. Very little water should be given—only enough to prevent the 
soil getting dust-dry. When well rooted they should be potted into 48’s, 
using a compost of good friable loam with a little leaf mould and sharp 
sand added. 
Zonals for winter flowering should be grown without check, all 
blooms being removed as soon as they make their appearance until late 
in the season. They may be stood out of doors in the sun on a border 
of clean coal ashes during the summer, as it helps to make the growths 
short-jointed and hard. The Show, Fancy, and Ivy-leaved varieties 
flower during the summer, and as soon as the flowering season is over 
they should be placed in an exposed position out of doors to ripen the 
wood, care being taken that the plants do not get too wet at the root. 
During heavy showers lay the pots on their sides. When well ripened 
the plants may be pruned and taken into a pit or frame (in which a 
little heat is at command) to be started into growth again. The good 
varieties of all the classes of Pelargoniums are so numerous that it is 
unnecessary to make a selection. 
Chrysanthemums. —From the time the summer varieties com¬ 
mence flowering until the later are finished a space of six months in¬ 
tervenes, so I think the Chrysanthemum is indispensable and deserves its 
prominent place in public favour. Propagation is effected by cuttings 
taken in November or December, and inserted either singly in small 
pots or three or four round the rim of a 48. These should 
be placed in a cold frame, where they will strike readily. When rooted 
they should be potted in a mixture of turfy loam broken fine by hand, 
leaf mould, and sand. They must not be allowed to become much 
root-bound until they are in their largest pots, for which 8 or 10-inch 
size are very suitable. For the final shift the soil employed should be 
rather richer than before, a little manure and bone meal being added- 
Moreover, when these last pots are very full of roots weak liquid manure 
