488 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND vOTTAGE GARDENER, 
[ June 18, 1887 
used for decoration singly or in groups for the beauty of their foliage 
or the production of their flowers. A dozen shapely, well-developed 
plants are of more value for the purpose for which they may be required 
than a hundred injured by overcrowding. Not only are well-developed 
plants more beautiful in appearance, hut they bear hardships in trying 
positions much better than those drawn up soft and weakly. The same 
is the case with flowering plants ; one plant allowed room to grow and 
develope itself properly is capable of giving greater satisfaction and 
producing more flowers than a large quantity that has been produced 
under an injudicious system of culture. The excellent examples of 
plant culture that are produced by growei s for the market are not the 
outcome of crowding. They have discovered the advantages to be 
attained by giving each individual plenty of room. Equally satisfactory 
examples could be produced—and are in some instances—in private 
■gardens if houses were not overfilled with plants. All that is required 
at the outset is a knowledge of the room the plants will require when 
they have fully developed, and then grow no more than ample accommo¬ 
dation can be provided for. 
In flower beds and borders the object seems to be to crowd as many 
plants as possible into them. Many borders that would be gay for a 
long time, and the plants flower without any break successionally, are 
rendered unsightly, or fail to present that neat and effective appearance 
that might be anticipated. Crowding too many plants into such 
positions entails considerable unnecessary labour and unsatisfactory 
results. An example of this crowding occurred only a day or two ago. 
In a bed in which Roses were planted, none too far apart, Scabious and 
■similar plants were being placed between them at distances not more 
than 6 inches apart. If the Roses had not had possession of the bed 
the plants were much too close to give them a fair chance. The result 
of such planting would smother the Roses, and partially if not wholly 
ruin them by autumn, while the Scabious and other plants between them 
would not produce one-twentieth the flowers that would be the case if 
they had been disposed 1 foot apai’t each way, in fact 15 inches is near 
enough for Scabious. Pentstemons should not be nearer, and Stocks and 
Asters should be 1 foot and 9 inches apart respectively. It is better to 
allow 2 or 3 inches in each case. These evils do not so generally occur 
when whole beds are planted with one kind as when the dotting system 
•of bedding is practised. Therefore, every care should be exercised when 
placing out such as are usually planted amongst the permanent occu¬ 
pants in mixed herbaceous borders. When the size to which they grow 
is not taken fully into consideration, and planting done at random, the 
beds and borders become a mass of weedy material long before autumn. 
While on the subject of mixed herbaceous borders, planting too 
thickly is not the only system of crowding which is allowed to prevail. 
The permanent plants, such as Phloxes, Delphiniums, Asters, Helianthe- 
mums, and others, are generally left to themselves, and bundled in large 
clumps to a single stake. To do such plants well, and give them every 
■chance of developing their full beauty, the shoots should be thinned out 
at this season of the year, all the small weakly ones be removed, and 
■only the strongest and best retained. The labour for this operation can 
scarcely be taken into account, for it is surprising what a large number 
of plants can be done in one day by a handy man. The neat healthy 
plants and finer flowers more than compensate for the trouble. An 
example of close planting versus giving plenty of room, may be cited in 
the case of Nicotiana aftinis planted out last year. One plant was 
placed out between two shrubs where it had abundance of room. It 
branched wonderfully, and had open during the evening over 200 blooms 
■on several different occasions during the season. It grew into a beautiful 
■specimen, while a dozen of others placed out thickly together did noc 
produce the same effect. The central plants scarcely branched, and but 
for the outside ones that took advantage of the vacant space about 
them, would have proved a total failure in comparison with the single 
specimen. 
If amongst plants one class more than another is ruined by over¬ 
crowding, it is annuals sown in the open borders outside. Too fre¬ 
quently they are sown and left to take care of themselves afterwards. 
This means short life and tailure. As regards a display in comparison 
with those that are treated to timely and judicious thinning, it is sur¬ 
prising what effect annuals will produce, and what a length of time they 
last in beauty if they are only given plenty of room to branch naturally, 
as many of them will do. Neglect in thinning has been the cause of 
annuals being looked upon as weedy and worthless. Grow them well by 
attending to their small wants, and such opinions will be changed 
respecting a large number of varieties.—R. M. 
THE MOON FLOWER (IPOM^EA NOCTIFLORA). 
Referring to a note in the Florida Despatch upon this plant, 
which we quoted recently, a writer in a subsequent number ob¬ 
serves :— 
“ One of your correspondents waxes eloquent over the beauty, fra¬ 
grance, and rapid growth of the Moon Flower, all of which is very fine, 
and calls it a native of Mexico. Perhaps it is, and perhaps it is also a 
native of Florida. I remember twenty years ago gazing with wonder 
and admiration upon it, running riot in the hammocks and swamps 
along the St. John’s River. A succession of winters nearly free from 
frost had permitted a continuous growth of several years, and vines 
co d be seen, with stems like cables, clambering over the undergrowth 
and into the tops of the tallest Cypress trees, which were hidden under 
a smother of the large, pointed, dark green leaves of this giant Ipomcea. 
That s ranger who was startled by coming suddenly upon twelve or 
fifteen of the blooms around the corner of the house undoubtedly would 
have been paralysed, or, as they say out West, ‘ completely chawed up,’ 
had he emerged from the woods and seen, as I have seen, untold thou¬ 
sands of snowy chalices lighting up the deepening shades of the river 
forest after sunset, or wet with dew and sparkling in the beams of the 
morning sun, like gems set in emerald. The eye rested upon the scene 
before it as upon the decorated curtain of a theatre ; but the puny effort 
of man was as nothing to the mighty screen, acres in extent, dropped 
from the vault above and obscuring the horizon with a maze of richest 
colour. The effect was only paralleled by that of the Yellow Jessamine 
(Gelseminum), which, early in the season, spreads before us more than 
acres, even miles of golden glory. 
“ Romantic and aesthetic natures, with nothing else to do, may 
ecstasise over the magnificent prodigalities of Nature ; but when the 
stern old granger comes, whose absorbing idea is the utile without the 
dulcc, they fade before his axe, plough, and hoe like the boy's ecstatic 
dream before the morning call of the relentless taskmaster. The same 
old man looks with dismay upon the myriads of Ox-eyed Daisies, the 
Marguerites that poets rave about, taking possession of hisjields, and 
he straightway turns in a flock of sheep, before whose persistent nibbling 
of the buds they quickly vanish. I cleared up a patch of swamp along¬ 
side the aforesaid natural plantation of Ipomaeas, and as the Rice grew 
was kept busy pulling volunteer Moon Flowers out of it till he wished 
the whole tribe as far away as the midnight luminary herself. Never 
till now did I realise how foolish I was. Those Moon Flowers, like 
Whittington’s cat, might have laid the foundation of an ample fortune. 
Look into all the papers and you will see these identical pestilent 
weeds, for they are nothing less, puffed throughout the length and 
breadth of the land by the redoubtable Peter Henderson. He actually 
charges forty cents each for these weeds, and boasts of having last year 
sold 50,000 of them. This only shows the difference between people. 
What you and I, dear reader, pull up and throw away, the mighty Peter 
turns into the snug sum of 20,000 dollars a year. No wonder he can sit 
down and talk about “ Gardening for Profit." We raise Tanyahs 
(Caladium esculentum) to feed our pigs and chickens, and he sells the 
same tubers at a quarter each, realising about 150 dollars per barrel. If 
the stern old theory of the survival of the fittest holds, what wonder 
that stout old Peter flourishes like a green old Bay tree, while thousands 
of his calling fail, go hence, and are seen no more. 
“ Why should not we imitate Peter and make a fortune out of some 
of our native weeds ? There are ‘ as good fish in the sea as ever were 
caught.’ Why does not someone lay hold on that other beautiful native 
Ipomrea (sinuata or quercifolia), almost as rambling in habit as the 
noctiflora, and bearingin profusion a pure white bloom with scarlet throat, 
and make his jack before Peter the Great gets ahead of him ? Nothing 
can surpass it for screens, and its palmate deeply cleft leaves with 
pinnatifid segments are exquisite as lace.” 
POINSETTIAS IN SPRING. 
It would be difficult for anyone to name a plant that is more 
attractive in November, December, and January than the Poinsettia. 
Their brilliantly coloured heads at that dull period are most con¬ 
spicuous, and all who have a warm pit or greenhouse should grow 
them. I believe many small cultivators are deterred from doing so 
by the impression that they cannot be grown successfully in any 
other place but a stove. They certainly do remarkably well in a 
stove, but they are very little inferior in a temperate house or pit, 
and the want of excessive heat need never prevent anyone grow¬ 
ing them extensively and well. They have one great advantage, 
and that is they do not require to be started very early in the 
season. While the majority of plants are demanding attention in 
February, March, and April the Poinsettias may be kept quite 
dormant during that time, and they do not even require to be kept 
standing up on end or in a growing position, as they do equally 
as well lying on their sides under a stage and quite dry. This is 
the treatment we give our old plants until we have the houses 
cleared of the bulk of the spring plants, and then we have plenty 
of space to devote to the Poinsettias. 
We rarely retain any of the old plants, but propagate some 
every spring. Our reason for doing so is that the young plants are 
more compact and invariably produce the most showy heads ; but 
the old ones are not dispensed with until the cuttings have been 
taken from them. When they are brought out for this purpose 
they are watered repeatedly, as being dust dry during the time 
they are at rest one watering will not penetrate the dry soil ; 
and when thoroughly saturated they are placed in a gentle heat to 
induce them to grow. The result is that every bud on the stem 
shoots out and becomes a little branch. It is these which form the 
best of all cuttings, and they should be detached when about 
4 inches long. The Poinsettia is full of a milk-like juice, and when 
any part is cut this runs out, and although the cuttings will bleed 
freely no injurious results will follow. It is a bad plan to cut 
them with a knife, as the wood is so soft and pithy that cutting can 
hardly be done without injuring the tender wood ; and the best of 
all ways of taking the cuttings is to draw each little shoot off by 
the part where they join the old wood. They are easily severed, 
