10 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
October 2, 
afterwards in the same way as is mentioned above for 
S. manetticefolius. The Siphocampylus bicolor and 8. 
microstoma, are rather rambling growers, and will require 
training to a circle of sticks, tied together at the top to 
form a pyramidal trellis, or they may be trained to a 
j globular trellis, leaving as many points of shoots outside 
! as possible, to produce the flowers upon. 
Water .—This must be supplied in sufficient quan¬ 
tity to keep the plants healthy and growing, but be 
careful, too much will cause the young roots to perish, 
and then good-by to the plants. They will become 
sickly, turn yellow, and be a prey and a nest for the 
red spider. Whenever a plant becomes diseased in 
such a way, the best remedy is to take off one or two 
most healthy cuttings, and then throw the plant or 
plants to the dunghill. As soon as the bloom is over, 
the plants should be cut in severely, be kept rather dry 
till fresh shoots are produced, and then turn them out of 
the pots, reduce the ball and roots considerably, pot 
them into pots half the size, and keep them close in a 
frame or shady part of the stove till they re-establish 
: themselves. The second year they will make much 
stronger and finer blooming plants, and will, of course, 
be more attractive in consequence. After the second 
year they should be thrown away, and younger ones 
brought on to succeed them. T. Appleby. 
(To be continued.) 
FLORISTS’ FLOWERS CULTURE. 
the tulip —(continued from page 372, of the last volume). 
In our last paper on the culture of this noble flower, 
we described pretty fully the formation, draining, and 
compost for the bed. The next point to consider, is the 
shelter necessary for the flower before and when in 
bloom. This may be divided into two heads:— -first, 
where the collection is small, and the means small 
too; second, where the collection is large, and the means 
ample. The first is, perhaps, the one that a new be¬ 
ginner would adopt, and consists merely of hoops, 
either of wood or iron, with canvas covers or mats to be 
thrown over the hoops, which should be high enough to 
keep the covering clear of the flowers. This covering 
should be applied not only when the plants are in bloom, 
but also to shelter them from the late frosts that some¬ 
times come after the plants make their appearance; as 
well as the cutting winds that often visit us in this 
country during the early months of the year. This 
shelter, however, must not be used except when abso¬ 
lutely necessary. Too much shelter only coddles the 
plants, and makes them so tender that a too sudden ex¬ 
posure, or the least neglect in applying the covering, 
would be equally as injurious as no shelter at all; there¬ 
fore, on all favourable occasions remove the coverings 
entirely, and let them have the benefit of fine weather and 
gentle rains. Do not, however, imagine for a moment 
that because shelter may be carried to excess, and thence 
become injurious, that it is unnecessary. Far from it— 
a top-coat is useful and necessary to the traveller in 
severe wet and cold weather, but who would be so foolish 
as to wear it in warm congenial sunshine ? Apply the 
covering when needful, and then only, and your plants 
will be grateful for it. We do not forget our good friend 
Mr. Errington’s principle of retardation applied to the 
tender buds of the peach, and we claim a little credit for 
the same idea applied to florists’ flowers, which we re¬ 
commended last season to be used to the tulip. If the 
spring is unusually forward and warm, so as to bring 
their flowers on too early, and thereby endanger the 
perfect production of fine ones, by all means retard 
them, by putting on the covers only on the side exposed 
to the premature heat of the sun. The sheltering 
then amounts to this : not only to protect from severe 
frost, but also from too much premature heat. 
2nd. A shelter, where the collection is large, and the 
means ample.—This kind of protection is a more for¬ 
midable affair, and, at first, implies a considerable out¬ 
lay. To see it on a grand scale, and in perfection, visit 
the establishment of Mr. Henry Groom, at Clapham 
Rise, near London; but as every one of our readers may 
not have the opportunity of doing so, especially now 
that the grand inducement to visit the metropolis, to 
see that and all the other great sights, as well as 
the Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace, is over, 
we shall endeavour to describe the u r ay in which a 
complete shelter on a grand scale can be given to 
a flower really worthy of such an outlay, when the 
passion to cultivate it is strong, and the expense no 
object to grow it to perfection, so as really to see and 
enjoy its splendour. First, then, fix upon a situation ! 
for the site of the beds ; let it be opeu, but shel¬ 
tered from the points of the compass from which the j 
cold blasts come; drain it effectually, and prepare the 
beds as described on a former occasion, first staking out 
the size supposed to be necessary. The most conve¬ 
nient width of each bed would be five feet. This will j 
hold five rows, nine inches apart. A walk between ' 
them maybe either three or four feet; the latter will 
allow more room for tho operator and the spectator. 
Three feet beyond each bed, on the outer sides, place a 
row of pillars, four-aud-a-half inches square, to support 
the shelter; each pillar may either be let into the 
ground, and well rammed, or be inserted into an iron or 
stone socket. These pillars should stand above the 
surface at least five feet, and at a distance of five feet 
from each other. On the top of each pillar a rafter 
should be placed, to meet a corresponding rafter in the 
centre of the space just over the centre of the walk. 
Each rafter, at the junction, must be firmly fastened to 
a longitudinal piece of wood running the whole length 
of the beds; the length of the beds depending, of course, 
upon the number of roots, or size of the collection. 
There will then be required two rollers of wood, of the 
length of the structure. On each of these nail a sheet 
of canvass of sufficient width to drop down on each side 
nearly to the ground. On the top, at the centre, fix a 
pair of weather boards, projecting high enough to allow 
the roller and canvass to go under them, one on eacli 
side. This will preserve the canvass from rotting, and 
so enable it to be used for several years. Such is our 
brief description of a shelter for this prince of flowers, 
and when once put up, it will last, with occasional fresh 
coverings of canvass, for half a man’s life-time, and 
might be used for other purposes (carnation pots, when 
in bloom, for instance), after the tulips are taken up in 
June. We hope our readers will understand the de¬ 
scription, and be able to put up, with the aid of a 
country carpenter, such a structure. In one of the 
early numbers of The Cottage Gardener we described 
a carnation stage and shelter; if any persons are desirous, 
and intend to put up a tulip shade, we would recom¬ 
mend them, in addition to what we have stated here, to 
turn to and consult that article. This shade for the 
tulip is not only comfortable, and protecting, and pro¬ 
longing to the tulip, but is a great comfort to the visitors 
also. Often in May we have bright sunshine, and it is 
a positive and agreeable luxury to step into a space 
sheltered from the burning rays, and there enjoy the 1 
refreshing coolness, as well as being pleased with the 
beauties of Flora displayed before us, and seeming as 
happy as ourselves in their sheltered position. The 
season and mode of planting must form another essay. 
T. Appleby. 
THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 
Celery. —The long continued dry weather in August 
and September, has, in many cases, retarded the growth 
