880 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August .18. : 
Pruning. —This is a matter of considerable moment, j 
as the flowers are produced in little bunches on the end ’ 
of a long flower-stalk that comes from the axil of the 
leaf-stalk, that supports the pinnated leaflets on young | 
shoots of the current seasons growth. The better that 
the shoots of this season are matured, the better, will the 
young shoots that come from their buds the following J 
season bloom. The plants, therefore, when established, j 
and when wanted for a particular season, will stand 1 
j hard pruning; that is, being cut back, so as only to 
; leave two or three buds at the base of the shoots. I 
have had nice flowering plants in summer and autumn 
in the greenhouse, from cuttings struck in the mode 
| mentioned above in the spring, but, of course, these 
| received no pruning that season. I have had plants in 
1 a stove-house flowering nearly all 1 lie year round, 
j because, as the shoots grow, the flower-buds will be pro- 
; duced; and this is more especially the case when a 
strong, lanky shoot is now and then cut clean out, to 
make way lor, and give strength to, the smaller shoots j 
I have mentioned as generally clustering near the base, 
and so suitable for cuttings when young stubby shoots 
in the spring are not to be had. But to have nice 
balanced plants flowering equally all over, it will be 
necessary to prune and grow for the purpose aimed at. 
For instance, here is a large plant that I wish to go 
out-of-doors, or to ornament a greenhouse in summer 
and autumn—that I would prune back in the end of 
March, keep it in the warmest end of the greenhouse, 
if I had nothing else; but in a slight hotbed, or 
moderate hothouse, if I had them, until it was growing, 
shifting it into fresh soil when the young shoots were 
several inches in length, hardening the plant off by , 
exposing to more and more air by degrees; and then 
I taking the plant to the greenhouse in May, or planting 
! it out-of-doors in June. But here is another plant 
j I wish to yield its golden blossoms in winter and 
early spring in a plant stove. By April, I would 
give it all the air and sun there that I could. I 
would give it a more exposed place in a cold pit or 
greenhouse, and lessen the quantity of watering. In 
June, place it out-of-doors, under similar treatment, and 
towards the end of that month, or beginning of July, | 
the wood having lost all its sponginess, 1 would prune 1 
j it back ; allow it to remain for two or three weeks in a j 
I shady place; and then place it in a close pit and frame, 1 
| where growth could be encouraged by atmospheric 
! moisture and a little shade. As soon as growth was 
freely progressing, I would either shift or liberally top- 
dress the plant; keep close, as before ; give more air by 
' degrees, until, by September, it had the full play of the 
j sun during the day, and the glasses closed at night, 
! and then, by October, the plant would be moved to the 
I coolest part of a stove, or the warmest end of a green- ! 
j house. The same rule as to pruning will apply whether 
the plant be grown as a standard, a squat, dense bush, 
or a conical, one-stemmed plant, such as is a favourite 
: mode with Fuchsias. In the latter case, to have the 
I plant all alike, the shoots must be pretty freely spurred- 
| in, and care taken, as in the case of an old Fuchsia, 
i that the spurs break freely, by adopting modes such as 
those suggested last week. 
2. Particular treatment to suit different purposes .— j 
j I have noted the most of these under the above parti- 
| culars. It will be seen, that to have a plant continuously 
: in bloom, or to have the same plant much finer, for a 
| certain period only, a different course must be pursued. 
! It will also be seen, that for flowering in a plant-stove 
| in winter, the ripening and resting must take place in 
! spring and summer, and then is the time that water 
| should be given, in quantity so as merely to keep the 
I plant from flagging. In growing for the greenhouse in 
| summer, whatever position the plant may have when in 
| bloom, it will bo advisable to give it a very open, airy 
position by September; and if the plant was placed out- 
of-doors, against a sonth-aspected fence, until the middle 
of October, the wood would be all the firmer. Compa¬ 
rative dryness, at this time, will assist the hardening of 
the wood. In housing either upon, or beneath, the 
stage of a house of the specified temperature, the softer 
parts of the shoots may be removed, but the final prun¬ 
ing and thinning should be left until the buds are 
swelling in spring. In winter, the roots should neither 
be wet nor dry. A sprinkle over the stems in a sunny 
day, with tepid water, will do them more good. 
For Beds out-of-doors .—This I have not tried, and 
would only recommend it to those in warm, sheltered 
places, merely on the strength of the fact of seeing 
plants in pots blooming freely out-of-doors when used 
in a very rough manner. I throw out this caution, 
because, in an exposed place, I have had but little 
success with plants from a similar latitude, that do very- 
well with several of my friends considerably north of 
London. In these matters, position often goes farther 
than latitude. But, as many may like to try, I would 
offer the following suggestions:—Let the plants be at 
least rising two years old from the cutting. Try a few 
plants for a season before you trust a bed. Re-read 
what was said of Erythrina cristcigalli, treated in 
similar circumstances. Choose an open, and yet a shel¬ 
tered, position for the bed ; let it be deep dug, and 
drained, and consist of sandy loam, with a little peat 
added round the ball of the plant. Keep the plants as 
backward in the spring as possible; let them be pruned, 
started, and potted, before the middle of May—that is, 
if potting be necessary. See they have no check when 
planted out in June; a slight protection may then be 
necessary for a short time Thin out the shoots if too 
numerous, as they should stand upright separately, and 
have air and light playing round them. A few leaves 
may be removed, if found too dense, taking those away 
that have no flowers in their axils, or from which 
the flower-stalks have dropped. This thinning will 
be more requisite for ripening the bottom of the shoots 
by the middle of September. In October, cover the 
base of the shoots with moss, to prevent injury from 
a sudden frost. Take the plants up, and pot them 
when they get shabby. Place them in a cool, shady 
place, that the remaining vital energies in the stems 
may go to cause fresh roots to be produced. Part of 
these stems may bo cut away, as they fade in winter, 
until they are stumped-in like a willow stool in spring. 
During the winter, the roots should be moistish, but 
rather dry than otherwise—and thus treated, the stools 
will become stronger and stronger every year. It will 
be seen, that preserving the vital powers in a rather 
torpid state during winter, and yet safe, will constitute 
no little part of the success. 
Insects .—The Green Fly sometimes appears, when 
tobacco smoke must be used. The Red Spider is a 
worse enemy. The chief preventive is a liberal use of 
the syringe over the foliage, for which syringing the 
plant is always grateful. 
Peculiar Characteristics .—Like others of the allied 
groups, the plant furnishes a pretty example of the vital 
phenomena of the sleep of plants. In the evening, the 
opposite leaflets not only collapse, and meet each other, 
but the surface of the leaflets is changed, the under 
sides becoming the uppermost. Before many of our 
readers have left their couch in the morning the leaves 
have regained their usual position. R. Fish. 
JOTTINGS BY THE WAY. 
( Continued from page 305. ) 
Oui.ton Park, near Leeds, in Yorkshire (the seat of 
John Calverley, Esq.)—The mansion, at this place, was 
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