478 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
r J^aae 12' 1990, 
Plums. The Plum trees were full of fruit buds, but in spite of 
lime-washing the sparrows began on them at the end of January 
and swept them completely away. Even the Bullace trees were 
denuded of buds. I have eleven standards about twelve years old 
that were washed three or four times with soot and lime before 
the end of January, and yet the whole eleven cannot muster one 
Plum. The sparrows attacked the early Pears about the same 
time, though protected in the same way, and only by daubing each 
bud thickly with the mixture were any buds saved for blossoming. 
The sparrows also played havoc with the bright red Apple 
blossoms as late as the middle of May, tearing them in pieces out 
of mischief when they were the size of marbles. The sparrow pest 
is the greatest trouble fruit growers have to contend with in East 
Anglia.” 
The bird men who cry aloud to protect sparrows will probably 
take refuge in the assumption that the pets were searching for 
insects, but that is small consolation to the fruit grower who has 
all the blossom buds pecked from his trees. Where sparrows are 
so numerous as to become a plague, as is the case in some localities^ 
it is easier to destroy insects than prevent the birds turning a 
bright promise of fruit into a scene of desolation, even if the 
weather were favourable to the setting and swelling of the fruit. 
Moreover, we suspect there are many gardeners and fruit 
growers who are quite aware that where sparrows abound insects 
abound also. 
There is truth in the observation, “ Where growers have washed 
their trees they will no doubt save the hulk of their crop of 
Apples, but where they have not washed them the crop must be a 
very poor one.” Is there any wash that can be applied effectively 
against a horde of voracious sparrows ? 
The planting of young trees in good soil, growing them as 
bushes rather than tall standards so that they can be better kept 
free from insects, appears the best system to adopt for, as far as 
weather allows, providing a good supply of fruit in the future. 
PROFITABLE FLOWER CULTURE. 
The Bouvardia. 
As far as my experience goes Bouvardias are not particularly 
profitable, but they rank as being decidedly serviceable in most 
private gardens, and may well, therefore, be extensively grown. 
Where many buttonhole flowers are in demand, whether for home 
use or for florists’ shops in provincial towns, Bouvardias are almost 
indispensable, and they are also fully appreciated in mixed boxes 
of cut flowers. Private gardeners as a rule do not succeed very 
well with them, one frequent cause of failure being the attempt 
to grow them amonpt a great variety of other plants. They are 
not adapted for ordinary stovs culture, and they are almost certain 
to fail in a greenhouse temperature. Where they are most at home 
are light well heated forcing houses, and serve well to fill up the 
time between the clearance of Melons, Cucumbers and Tomatoes 
in the autumn and the renewal of these in the following spring. 
If a whole house cannot well be devoted to Bouvardias then ought 
at least a good light position on either a bed or staging not far 
from the glass be given up to them. At the outset the greatest 
difficulty is felt in procuring a sufficiency of either cuttings or 
young plants. Capital spring struck stuff can, however, be bought 
at a comparatively cheap rate, but the exact locality of the 
growers of those for sale I cannot give without encroaching on the 
advertisement department of this Journal. One thing is certain, 
young plants are the most profitable, and when once the stock 
has been formed their perpetuation or increase is quite an easy 
matter. That old plants can be remarkably well grown and 
flowered I well know, but I am equally as well aware that strong 
young or one-year-old plants produce both the finest trusses and 
a much longer succession of them—a very important point in their 
favour, seeing that only a limited supply is needed at one time. 
Moreover, young plants can be set very thickly together on a bed 
or staging, and^./arely, if ever, collapse from some unexplainable 
cause. 
Clean, healthy young shoots will strike nearly as readily as 
Verbenas if given the benefit of a brisk bottom heat and a glass 
covering, but more often than not they are too “ wiry ” to root 
satisfactorily, and in any case root cuttings are the best. The 
earlier the latter are taken off the old plants in March the better. 
If it is desirable that the old plants be saved, they ought to be 
rested or dried off somewhat after flowering, and then well pruned 
back, or treated similarly to Fuchsias. Being duly placed in a 
brisk heat and watered, they soon break afresh, and it is then when 
they ought to be shook out, and a portion of the roots taken off 
prior to repotting them in sizes considerably smaller than those 
they previously were in. When the old plants are not valued they 
may be kept flowering later, ours being still serviceable, and the 
root cuttings can be taken from them at any time. The longest 
of the latter may be shortened somewhat or cut into halves, but 
the majority will require no preparation. Place them ratlier 
thickly in pans, boxes, or pots of fine sandy soil, the thick end frorrs 
which the young shoots spring being kept slightly above the rest. 
Set on or plunged in a brisk hotbed, most of the cuttings will 
quickly push up shoots, and these when about 3 inches long 
should be pinched back, potting taking place soon after. Place 
all singly into 2-inch pots, and keep them growing in a brisk 
heat. Pinch back once more, and when they are breaking afresh, 
and before they are much root-bound, shift into 4-inch pot?, 
and finally into either G-inch or 7-inch pots, according to their 
vigour. 
By the time the final shift is needed the summer will be well 
advanced, and the Bouvardias will thrive best in shallow pits or 
warm frames. Each will be furnished with four or more fairly 
strong shoots, but these will not give much flower, and what are 
needed as strong suckers from the base of each plant. There is no- 
certainty about these being produced naturally, and it ia necessary 
to carefully peg down the shoots soon after the final shift has 
been given. Then if they are kept fairly warm and well syringed 
when the lights are closed fine strong suckers will he plentifully 
produced. Do not stop these, but merely set the plants on a bed 
of ashes in a sunny position, this both retarding flowering and 
hardening these sappy growths. All ought to be housed again 
before the weather becomes wet and cold, or say by the middle of 
September, and they will commence flowering at once. These 
young plants are capable of p ashing up suckers 2 feet or more in 
length, and which gives a large central truss and numerous strong 
side trusses. If the older plants that have been shaken out and 
repotted are kept growing in brisk heat, a shift being given when 
the pots are well filled with roots, and the principal growths stopped 
about twice, fine bushy plants may be obtained, these also requiring 
to he kept cooler during the summer and ripened somewhat. In 
favoured localities, notably where the soil is warm and light, 
Bouvardias may safely and with advantage be planted out in a 
sheltered position some time in June, these being carefully potted 
before frosts touch them. This plan proved quite a failure 
here, hut a modification of it in the shape of planting out in a deep 
pit answers well. In either case the plants ought to be prunecf, 
started, shaken out, and repotted as previously advised by way 
of a preliminary, the planting out taking the place of a shift 
into larger pots. If not too old and they take well to their 
quarters Bouvardias when planted out push up several strong 
flowering suckers, and very few are injured by lifting, slightly 
reducing the balls of soil and roots, and repotting. Clean well- 
drained pots are indispensable, and a suitable compost consists of 
three parts of light fibrous loam to one of good leaf soil, sand and 
a little charred soil and rubbish not being thrown away on them. 
"When the latter especially is used, both in the planting and potting 
composts, liquid manure may be more safely and advantageously 
applied. 
It is not advisable to introduce all the plants into heat at one 
time, in fact we sometimes keep all in a cool pit till the middle of 
October in order to retard them. Where ours all eventually find 
their way—and we grow 200 plants—is a fairly light airy structure, 
the night temperature of which ranges from 50° to 60° during the 
winter, and somewhat higher in the daytime. Green fly has to be 
kept down by fumigation, mealy bug ia hunted up and crashed ; 
and if what I believe to be minute red spider affects the young 
shoots, causing them to assume a diseased stunted appearance, the 
best remedy is occasional applications of sulphur, this being mixed 
with the syringing water. 
I have never obtained good prices for Bouvardias at either 
London shops or markets, Cd. per dozen trusses being the highest, 
and 3d. per dozen the lowest returns. At fairly large country 
towns much nearer I sometimes get as much as 3s. per dozen for 
the finest trusses, the prices for the rest gradually falling to about 
9d. per dozen. At these prices Bouvardias pay fairly well, averag¬ 
ing say Is. 3d. per strong young plant. We cut with fairly long 
stems where this can be done without injury to other later trusses, 
and pack in double layers flatly and closely together. I hav® 
frequently sent four dozen trusses in strong cardboard postal 
boxes for 44d. The two most profitable varieties are Alfred 
Neuner, double white ; and President Garfield, double pink ; and 
we grow these principally. Thomas Meehan and Victor Lemoine, 
double scarlets, are fairly good, while of single varieties the best 
