March 17, 1887. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
209 
or inverted flower pots with the drainage holes covered. Plants 
thu s obtained produce fewer tubers than those resulting from sets, 
but they are usually larger and of good form. — W. Iggueden. 
BIGNONIA "VENUSTA. 
Mr. H. Coster, Froyle Park Gardens, Alton, Hants, sends us some 
exceedingly handsome examples of the Bignonia venusta, which, as he 
remarks, “ is not grown so much as it ought to be.” One of the shoots 
sent was 2 feet long, bearing eleven trusses of flowers, the terminal one 
with four flowers and buds, and the others with from ten to twenty-four 
each. Other separate trusses were equally fine, and the colour—a rich 
the native country of any particular plant does not always suffice. From 
Brazil (where this species is said to be found) we have stove, greenhouse- 
and even hardier plants than this.” 
As Mr. Coster remarks, the great beauty of the plant is seen in the 
long wreath-like branches having the trusses of flowers at every node 
We should be glad to have particulars of the mode of culture adopted by 
our correspondent. 
TRAINING OF YOUNG PEACH TREES. 
In training young trees make it a point the first spring after 
planting, when the sap begins to rise, to bend the shoots which arc 
Fig. 37.—Bignonia venusta. 
orange—is most striking. The corollas arc tubular, 2J inches long, with 
three lower lobes enrving downwards, the two upper more erect and re¬ 
curved at the apex. As a free flowering climbing plant this Bignonia 
is scarcely surpassed, and it will be remembered that the late Mr. C. 
Green, when gardener at Pendell Court, was very successful with it, and 
on one occasion he exhibited some grand trusses at South Kensington 
one of which wc had engraved (reproduced in fig. 37). Mr. Green’s 
system of culture was as follows :—“ The chief requirements of Bignonia 
venusta seem to be a good well-drained border, consisting of turfy loam 
3 feet deep, liberal supplies of water during the season of growth, liquid 
manure occasionally, and frequent syringing to maintain a healthy 
growth. It is never shaded here, or cut-in till after the flowering is 
over. The house in which it is grown falls to 45° sometimes during 
winter, though not iu an airy greenhouse. Some grow this species with 
success under stove treatment, and this will serve to show that to name 
left their full length towards the ground, and securing them to the 
wall in that position, the bend starting from the point whence the 
first of the young shoots is desired to proceed. The check thus 
given to the flow of sap causes a sufficient number of wood buds to 
push from each shoot to form a good sized tree the first year after 
planting—extension training pure and simple. Of course, as soon 
as the buds nearest the base of the individual shoots so treated have 
pushed into growth the nails should be drawn, the main shoots 
spread out on the wall after the manner of a hand and distended 
fingers and secured thereto, leaving sufficient room in the 
shreds for the development of the branches ; the young shoots' 
indicated above being trained at proper distances over the 
intervening space. By the foregoing remarks it will bo seen 
that the pruning knife is judiciously withheld from young trees the 
first year after planting, as perhaps it may bo the second year also, 
the object being to cover the space prescribed to each tree on the 
wall with bearing wood in as short a time as possible. 
