THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION.— July 20, 1850. 
019 
in the subject, having a tree of Picea nobilis, at present, { will be a good stock of store plants of it to flower next year, 
carrying nearly fifty cones, and vvliich was very largely covered * It is, certainly, a most elegant little plant, and deserves all 
with the bunches of male bloom. In fact, the main I the bother we have had about it. See wlint Mr. Beaton 
question is—Is artificial impregnation necessary, or, at ! says about it to-day in another page.] 
least, prudent, in the case of the very evident presence of , _ 
male blossom ?—Conifer.” 
[In reply to your inquiry, the male bloom was not at all 
distinctly apparent on the plant of Picea nobilis ; indeed, so 
little so, that I was advised, by a very respectable nursery- ! 
man, to impregnate artificially with some other species ; 
but this I declined, preferring rather the seeds being barren 
than having hybrids, and I have no reason to Ruppose that 
it could have occurred accidentally ; therefore, there must 
have been sufficient on the plant (male bloom), to a certain 
extent, for only about one-fourth of the seeds, or scarcely 
so many as that, appeared good. The cone contained more 
seeds than I ever observed in any other kind; although 
but five inches long, there were more than 300 seeds. I 
destroyed several of the best seeds by examining them 
before sowing, being doubtful of their fertility, from the fact 
of the fertilising matter being so scarce. 
My cone ripened early in October. The cones require 
careful watching at that time, for the cone, when ripe, will 
scarcely'bear handling; it separates easier than any other 
I am acquainted with. 
After cleaning the seeds, I kept them a month in a very 
dry, cool room, sowed them in November in very fine, 
sandy, peaty soil, well drained, in boxes three inches deep 
(at half an inch apart), gave a little water to settle the soil 
about the seeds, placed the boxes in a warm, airy place, to 
drain and evaporate nearly all the moisture from the soil, 
kept them in the coldest house I had till February, then 
put them into an early Peach-house, the Peach-trees being 
in bloom ; night heat, 55° ; day, 00° to 65°, with sun. 
This will explain how I lost a few by damp. 
In April they were removed to a north house; early in 
June again into a south house. This explains the s.econd 
growth. I may remark, the seedlings are still in the seed- 
boxes, and will never (by me) be put into very small pots. 
I do not like root corkscrews.—W. B.] 
HARDY RHODODENDRONS. 
“ Being about to plant two or three good clumps of Rho¬ 
dodendrons in front of my house, please give me your 
advice as to the kinds or varieties you would plant in the 
autumn. 
“ I bought the other day a fine plant of the Araucaria Bra- 
siliana, about eleven feet high, and have it now plunged in 
my garden, but am at a loss how to protect it in the winter, 
being too high for my greenhouse; and I see in the Dic¬ 
tionary it requires protection. Can you advise me how to 
protect it in winter ? I have an office; by taking down a 
couple of stairs, I could place it in so as to stand up the 
staircase ; it would be in the dark, and how would that suit it ? 
“ Being disposed to give my gardener ‘ an out ’ to Sy¬ 
denham, in September, for a week, please say what places 
(gardens, &e.), there are in and near London that he could 
see.— Shropshire.” 
[Plant the Rhododendrons in the autumn, by all means, 
and see the beds are thoroughly good for them. As to 
choice of kinds, that depends entirely on your purse. We 
would plant one-third of the best hybrids of Ponticum, one- 
third ditto of Catawbicnsc, and one-third of mixed hybrids 
from Arbor Him and Oampanvlatum. The firm you mention 
is quite safe to deal with; and your best way is to think 
over how many plants you want, and state to that firm the 
price you would not like to exceed per dozen ; or ask them 
how many plants of the above they would furnish for so 
much money. At all events, it is best to let them be respon¬ 
sible for the selection. 
You can do no good with the Brazilian Araucaria. What 
made you buy such a troublesome customer? Barter it away 
for Rhododendrons as soon as you can. Your gardener 
should see the principal nurseries round London ; there is 
nothing very particular about Sydenham, after seeing the 
Palace and Garden.] 
| 
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE BULBS. 
“Having received some bulbs from the Cape of Good 
Hope, I shall be glad to learn the best mode of growing 
them ; in what soil and depth I ought to plant them; and 
the most suitable temperature to be kept up in a small 
conservatory for South African plants.— Erica.” 
[This is a bad time to receive Cape bulbs, but pot the 
large ones in sandy loam, merely covering the top of each, 
and the small kinds must have sandy peat to begin with, 
and to be planted half an inch deep, that is, the top of the 
little bulbs to be that depth below the surface of the pots. 
Use 48’s for them, and put five of them in a pot; place the 
whole in a close, cold frame for the next two months, and 
the common temperature of a conservatory is warm enough 
for all the South African bulbs all the year round. Most of 
these bulbs begin to grow naturally in September, or a little 
later; therefore, give them no more water for two months 
than will keep the soil from being quite dry ; but as soon 
as any of them show' leaves increase the watering.] 
LINUM GRANDIFLORUM CUTTINGS. 
“I saw a patch of Limm grandiflorum rubrum in flower 
beautifully at Messrs. Henderson’s nursery, Pine-Apple 
Place, about ten days since. Perhaps Mr. Henderson wuuld 
be kind enough to tell us his treatment of it if you asked 
him through The Cottage Gardener. The propagator 
there told me he should try some cuttings of it; perhaps 
we might be informed of the result of his trial. It is an 
elegant little plant, and very beautiful in the mid-day 
sun.— John Sumners.’’ 
[There is no such plant as Linum grandijlorum rubrum 
known to science. The Linum grandiflonim is about as easy 
to manage from spring-sown seeds as the Mignonette ; and we 
need not go begging to know its cultivation. It will doubt¬ 
less come from cuttings readily enough, and “the result” 
MOSSING POT-PLANTS.—EDWARDS AND CO.’S 
TALLIES. 
“ Be so good as to tell me whether, by keeping my pot- 
plants mossed over the surface soil, they would be likely to 
be at all injured, as I am desirous to adopt this plan to save 
the great evaporization this hot weather. 
■I some little time since wrote to you respecting a person 
from whom Iliad ordered and paid for a plant not sending it. 
Injustice tothat person,Inow am glad to say, the plant arrived 
lastweek. I have now another case, not quite similar, but still 
one which, for the safety of the public, I think should be 
noticed. Mr. Edwards, of St. Paul’s Square, Birmingham, 
advertised in your periodical, ‘ Tallies,’ Is. 8d. per 1000. I 
sent for a sample, which was satisfactory; and I forwarded with 
Post-Office order an order for 2000 at Is. 8d., and 2000 at 
3s. After having to write twice the ‘ tallies ’ came ; but, in¬ 
stead of being as sample—running 12 to the inch, and 9 to 
the inch—they w'ere all 1C to the inch. Of course, I and 
my friend were much disappointed at the difference in size ; 
and I wrote to Messrs. Edwards what I considered a very 
i civil letter, stating our feelings, and asking what we were to 
do, of course expecting they would have written, ex¬ 
pressing their regret at their men’s errors, and their willing¬ 
ness to make reparation, either by reducing the price, or 
sending some others of a fair substance; but I received no 
reply; and after waiting some fortnight, I again wrote, say¬ 
ing that I considered such treatment was unbusiness-like, 
and that the only w r ay to make people safe in answering ad¬ 
vertisements would be to expose all such cases as this was. 
“ I then received an answer, of which I send you a copy:— 
“ ‘ Sir,—You are a difficult man to please ; we are quite 
sure that the tallies we sent are not to be matched for double 
the money. However, we would prefer having nothing to 
do with so captious a person, and if you will return the 
tallies you can have your money.—Yours, &c., (Signed)— 
E. Edwards k Co.’ 
