THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
37 
i 
April 20. 
sizo and age, turfy fibry loam must be increased, and 
the peat diminished ; this will give strength and com¬ 
pactness to the shoots and bloom. A little charcoal j 
will always be of advantage, and after the second 
season, when growing and blooming, top-dressings of 
rich compost or manure will be thankfully received, if 
not given to repletion. 
4. Pruning and Potting .—The pruning should take 
place when the dowers have lost their beauty, removing 
all the decayed blossoms and any straggling shoots, by 
shortening them, so as to render the plant compact and 
bushy. When the new shoots have got an inch or two 
in length is the best time to repot. An eight or a 
tweive-inch pot will grow a nice plant for years, if it is 
examined yearly, part of the old soil picked out and re¬ 
moved, bad roots pruned back, and fresh compost 
added. If during these operations the plant can stand 
in a close, shady place, it will reap an advantage. 
5. Watering .—When freely growing after pruning, 
and when in full bloom, abundant waterings will be 
necessary, and if weak manure and clear water, alter¬ 
nate, so much the better. When the plant is pruned, 
or immediately after flowering, or when the period of 
blooming is wished to be retarded, water should be given 
at the roots, merely to prevent flagging. A dash over 
the foliage and tops frequently with the syringo will be 
more useful then. 
0. Enemies .—The chief is the red spider, and the fre¬ 
quent use of the syringe is the bost remedy; as with 1 
this plant great care must be taken in using sulphur 
fumes, or the leaves will drop to a certainty. A weak 
mixture of the lime and sulphur decoction, mentioned 
in these pages, will be preferable to fumes. In the sum¬ 
mer time, when the plant is out-of-doors, the head of 
the plant can scarcely be too often forcibly drenchod 
with weak soap-suds, lime-water, and soot-water, clear, 
from the syringe. A spider-covered plant has little 
beauty, and presents no compliments to its attendant. 
7. Position and General Treatment .—From the middle 
of October to the middle of June it will be best under 
glass. When done flowering, it is advisable to let it 
stand, cool, for a week or two before pruning and dress- ! 
ing. If it can be kept close and shady afterwards, so 
much the better. There will be no difficulty in giving 
i it shade when growing after potting or surface dressing. 
The use of the syringe must not only be continued, but 
I first a gradual, and then a full, exposure to sunlight 
i given. It should have no shade in September or Octo¬ 
ber. During that period it will be very advisable to 
plunge or shade the pot. The plant is hardy, and if 
pressed for room may be kept in a sheltered place until 
November; but though it does not show it much at the 1 
time, I have always noticed that plants that bad suffered 
much of a pinch from frost never did so well as those I 
that were put under glass earlier, and were kept from 
frost, though in a cool temperature. 
AOTUS. 
I think the main points of this interesting genus of 
small-leaved pea-blossomed flowers was previously given, 
but I cannot now refer to the place. It has been 
brought to my mind by seeing lately a beautiful plant 
of gracilis filling a large space with its slender branches, 
covered with its bronzy, yellow flowers. Every one of 
these natives of New Holland is beautiful in the spring 
and early summer months. Most of them have small 
yellow flowers, graciUimus and lanigeras have a dash of 
crimson with the yellow; and the most of the rest, as 
incana , villosa, virgata, ericoides, &c., are chiefly distin¬ 
guished by the peculiarities of foliage. All are sleuder 
shrubs that bloom best when regularly pruned back 
after blooming, and kept to a height of from one-aud-a- 
lialf to two-aud-a-half feet; though if allowed they would 
grow much higher, and many would look well when 
grown in standard style, or grafted at a height of four 
feet, and the twiggy branches allowed to dangle at will. 
The general characteristics of this pretty family, as 
respects cultivation, may be shortly summed up. 
Cuttings strike freely in sand, under a bell-glass, from 
March to June. The soil may be rather more sandy, 
fibry loam, than peat. Good drainage must be 
thoroughly secured. Soft-water should be used for 
watering. Manure-water should be seldom used. A 
little leaf-mould in the soil will be safer. The syringe 
may be safely applied, except when the plants are in 
bloom, when it should be used merely as the finest 
dew. In syriuging, it may be necessary to lay the 
plant down, or adopt othor means to prevent the 
soil, especially on the surface, becoming clogged and 
saturated, as a sour, sodden soil will soon ruin them, 
though in other respects they are not over delicate. 
When pruned after blooming, keep them in a close, 
warm part of the greenhouse until the young shoots 
are two or three inches long, when the roots may be 
examined, and re-potting take place if necessary. A 
close place will suit them best for a couple of weeks or 
so afterwards. A cold pit, after June, would be the best 
place, as you could have a close, moistish atmosphere 
at command. As the shoots lengthen give more air, 
and gradually, by removing the glass, expose the top 
of the plant to the sun in the autumn mouths, shading 
the pots, and only putting on the lights to guard against 
heavy rains. They will require to be secured, either in 
pit or house, by the middle of October. If kopt in a 
low temperature in winter, averaging 40° at night, 
unless there is a bright sun during the day, the visits 
from the water-pail will have to be seldom. A dash 
over the foliage, in a sunny day in winter, will be better 
than frequent delugings at the roots. When in bloom 
in March, April, and May, they will require a fair 
amount of water. Let it be proportioned to the drain 
on the plant from its leaves when exposed to heat and 
sunshine. 
DAVIESIA. 
This genus, in many of its species, resembles the 
twiggy, rush-like stems, with few or no leaves, of the 
allied genus of Viminaria. The most of the species 
have yellow pea-blossoms, though those of corymbosa 
are whitish, and such as latifolia have the upper part 
of the flower of a bronzy, copper colour. Like the genus 
Aotus, most of the specific distinctions rest more upon 
the appearance of the foliage thau of the flowers; such 
as alata (winged), cordata (heart-leaved), juniperina 
(juniper-like), juncea (rush-like), longifolia (long-leaved), 
ulicina (furze-leaved), and latifolia (large or broad¬ 
leaved), the leaves approaching from three-quarters to 
an inch in length. 1 lately saw a fine plant of what is 
called latifolia floribunda, and abundant in flower it 
was, being literally so covered, that the leaves, though 
about the largest of the genus, ivere scarcely perceptible. 
In a common greenhouse of hard-wooded plants the j 
whole tribe may be calculated upon as being in bloom I 
from the end of March to the middle of July. They 
can easily be encouraged earlier, or retarded later. 
Plants from two to three feet in height may be consi- i 
dered a very fair size, though time and attention will 
get specimens of almost any sizo, and the more rush¬ 
like kinds would look well grown to a single stem, 
stopped, and the shoots allowed to dangle wild, or 
slightly secured by a ring, as Mr. Gardener practises 
with his standards, as detailed last season,—the simplest 
and best mode that has yet come under my observation. 
Latifolia, and its variety of floribunda, would be best 
grown as a pyramidal bush, and so, by the way, would 
our first subject, the Cytisus latifolius. Were only one 
plant of this genus to be cultivated, I would select this 
latifolia floribunda. The treatment that suits the Aotus 
