THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Maech 2, 1858. 
344 
right, we would not disturb them, until the plant is pushing 
freely. Prune back as soon as the flowering is over. If you 
could put the pot on a bed of warm leaves, and cover the 
head with a frame, or handlight, you might graft it all over 
at once, shading from the sun until the grafts took. Then, 
if you thought necessary, you might reduce the roots ; but 
keeping shaded from sunshine again, until the reciprocal action 
was restored. There is no better Camellia than the double 
white; and, if you did not graft, all that would be needed 
would be to place the plant in a vinery, &c., until it broke ; 
and, if no such place, keep it as close and warm as possible 
in the greenhouse.] 
CAMPANULA EDGINGS— PHLOXES WITH ROSES. 
“ I wish to plant Campanula alba , and Carpatica , as per- 
i manent edgings to beds intended to be filled with bedding 
plants, scarlet and white. Should I put in plants of the 
Campanula 1 s, or sow the seeds in pots ? M ill they, in the 
latter case, bloom this summer? Phloxes to plant among 
Roses, in beds, occasion the same difficulty to me. Mull 
sowing the seeds now be right, to bloom this summer?”— 
Anna. 
[It is much better to buy old plants of these Campanulas , 
at once, but keep them in the pots, or in the lumps, till the 
middle of April; then divide the balls, or lumps, into little 
pieces, holding half a dozen green heads or shoots, and plant 
these bits four inches apart, and four niches from the Box or 
Grass. After that, you must take them up every year at that 
time in April, and plant them in larger bits—it is the dividing 
of them just at that particular period which causes them to 
bloom on all the season, and you will soon have ten thousand 
of them to spare, they so increase in good soil. Phloxes, as 
you want them, do not come true from seed. You might 
expend ten pounds on the experiment, and not get one Phlox 
I worth a farthing. When perennial Phloxes get strong enough, 
they will kill, or starve, your Roses. They suck the goodness 
out of the soil, so much as “ to kill their own selves,” in a 
| short time; hence the reason for dividing and changing them 
1 so often.] 
THE STORY OF AN UNFORTUNATE. 
I am a pot Mine, two years old, and I belong to the Muscat 
branch of the rich and ancient family of the Vitis Vinifera ; 
but (and that is the reason why I now write) I do not think 
that I have had proper treatment at the hands of my owners ; 
and I now appeal to you, as a person well acquainted with our 
j family, and an impartial judge amongst us, to decide whether 
1 it is so or not. 
I was bought, when one year old, from a neighbouring 
nurseryman. My treatment, during my infancy and youth, 
is a blank hi my memory; but, when I exchanged hands, I 
am compelled to say, I do not think it was for the better. 
I did not commence my second year’s growth till late in the 
: season—April was the time; and it was decreed (if possible) 
that I should grow, and be ripened off by November. In 
order to compass that, I was about October so deprived of 
water, that I ripened from sheer exhaustion. The first week hi 
November I was taken out, pruned, and plunged in tan, under 
a north wall, to have a good rest; but, about eight weeks 
since, they wanted some scions from me, and, therefore, cut 
my end buds off; brought me into heat six weeks after (the 
first week in February), and the sequel will show how I am. 
I do not wish to speak in disparagement of my owner, and 
his John’s experience; the truth, however, must be told ; 
they possess more zeal and enthusiasm than skill—more 
anxiety to do me good, than a knowledge of what is proper 
for me : as an instance, incontrovertible, I must quote my 
present position. I am top-dressed with a rich surfacing, 
composed of burnt turf and farm-yard manure—three parts of 
the latter to one of the former. I am plunged in a bottom 
heat of 60° or 70°. I am syringed two or tliree times a day; 
but, by some unaccountable means, I am troubled with an 
■ issue of sap ; I am bleeding most profusely; insomuch, that 
| my owner looks at me with a blank face, and says, “ It's all 
over ; no fruit this year! ” 
Now they endeavoured, as well as they knew, to do justice 
to me; and I would not be ungrateful, but I certainly feel 
much weaker from loss of sap. They have tried to stop my 
bleeding, by every means that books and friends could suggest; 
as yet, they are all futile. First of all came Roman cement, 
but I kept it so moist, that it was impossible it could set. 
Then they tried burning the end quite through, for an inch 
or two down my stem, with a candle; thinking that, by com¬ 
pletely charring every pore, they would succeed. A r ain hope ; 
no barrier could stop the force of my sap. I could see my 
owner’s face lengthen every day : some one suggested sealing- 
wax—not the slightest use. Then whilst reading “ The Book 
of the Garden,” my owner met with the suggestion of sticking 
a raw potato, with the skin entire, upon the end ol me, that 
same evening. My owner and John came down to the vinery, 
to cure me entirely by this admirable dodge: so many disap¬ 
pointments had well nigh quenched their hope; however, 
with a most fervently-expressed wish that it might prove 
effectual, they left me till morning. Next morning my owner 
says to John, “ Well, how’s the Vine ?” “ No better, Sir 
and John adds, “ I don’t think any thing ever will stop it.” 
Driven to their wits’ end, a neighbour is called in, who speaks 
encouragingly of a crop, and a good one too ; makes light of 
my bleeding; suggests, tying over my ends with parchment 
and chalk ; and “ if that does not cure it , ivhy nothing unllP 
Accordingly my owner and John come into the vinery, the 
following morning, with powdered chalk, pieces ot wet 
bladder in lieu of parchment, plenty of good stout string, and 
a glue-pot, to fasten the string more surely; so, cutting a piece 
of bladder, large enough to tie over the end, and up my stem 
an inch or so, they fill the bag-like receptacle with chalk, tied 
me very, very tight, and said, as they nodded at me most 
oracularly, “ if that does not cure you, you are hard to cure.” 
All in vain ; no coercion is powerful enough to check my out¬ 
flow of sap, for it is actually oozing through the bladder; 
and the little bag is so full, that it is quite hard to the touch. 
And here I remain. Now, what can be done tor me—Can 
you suggest any thing to them ? Can you speak peace, and 
hope of a crop to them ? for they are terribly down-hearted: 
if so, do. 
And now, may I ask, will no one write how I ought to be 
treated! I do not say, but there have been most elaborate 
essays upon my culture; but let the ideas be put in a simple 
form—like Mr. Errington did for my neighbour, the Camellia. 
Let some of my admirers and friends do me justice, and they 
will confer everlasting obligation upon—A Pot Vine. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Lobei.ia Disease ( Albatros).—Lobelia ramosoides has been much 
diseased for the last two years, but we have heard very little against 
Lobelia speciosa. Are you sure yours is the true speciosa ? At all 
events, this Lobelia disease is just on a par with the Potato disease. 
Lobelia speciosa comes true from seeds, and seedlings of it may resist 
the affection. Last summer was too hot for these Lobelias, and we 
would not hesitate to plant speciosa again. The large Petunia, you 
mention, made its public appearance last season for the first time. It 
was one of the best Petunia beds at the Crystal Palace, and is also one 
of the best pot plants in-doors. 
Cocoa-nut Defuse [F. IT. B.).— The dust, or sawdust-like refuse, 
the real shell of the nut, crushed or ground down like coffee, is the 
real thing, and the best thing we know of, for encouraging roots; there 
is a good deal of the short fibre which cannot be separated from the 
dust without sifting. It looks better on the surface of beds, when 
sifted, but we prefer it just as it comes from the mill. 
Mr. Kidd’s System for Cuttings ( Jane —You will have seen your 
questions answered last week, by the “ charmer ” himself, and let us 
add—1st. This is the season for striking cuttings by Mr. Kidd’s plan, 
and it is in “season” from February to September. 2nd. The very 
points of autumnal cuttings will do, but the younger the growth the 
sooner they root. 3rd. Any sand will do, and no glasses to cover the 
cuttings. The cuttings are like a nosegay put in water, only that 
before they fade they root most charmingly. 4tli. Plants well kept in 
your greenhouse may be used for cuttings. 5th. “ Prick the cuttings 
out,” just like seedlings. Never was a better idea in few words. There 
need be no hurry, let them root well, and consult your convenience, to 
prick them off. 
Sanders on the Vine [Bristolian) .—You can obtain it through any 
bookseller in Bristol. 
List of Fuchsias and Pelargoniums ( Gladiolus). — White Fuchsias. 
— Venus de Medeci, Pearl of England, Duchess of Lancaster, Clio, 
Fairy Queen, and Prince Arthur. Bed Fuchsias.— Wonder, Vol- 
tigeur. Diadem, Prince Albert, Kossuth, and Coralina. Pelargo¬ 
niums, Common. — Sanspareil, Basilisk, Pearl (white), Optimum, 
Carlos, and Governor General. Fancies, Common. — Lady Hume 
Campbell, Madame Sontay, Cassandra, Delicatum, Lady Alice Peel, 
and Miss Sheppard. 
