154 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ October, 
tlie frost cuts them down in November. Some 
Gloire de Dijon and Vicomtesse de Cazes Tea- 
Roses are mixed with them, and they give out 
a delicious scent in the evening. These hedges 
were planted to give shelter to the vegetables, 
and to separate different portions of the garden 
into divisions. On purpose to get a good stock 
of plants for these hedges, I put cuttings in 
in September and October, on a warm south 
border, with plenty of sand in the rows 
when the cuttings were planted. In the 
spring they began to make roots, and a 
great per-centage of the plants grew strong 
enough to plant in the hedges the next year. 
In planting the cuttings, it is safest to leave a 
bit of old wood at the base, as they then callus 
over sooner ready to emit roots. The Hybrid 
Perpetual Roses can likewise be raised in quan¬ 
tities, if the cuttings are planted in the autumn, 
and hedges can be formed of them the same as 
with Noisettes ; they will furnish a great sup¬ 
ply of leaves for drying or distilling. This 
year I had some of the finest blooms from a 
hedge of Hybrid Perpetuals on their own roots. 
Another great advantage is, that when a killing- 
frost occurs, and the budded or grafted Roses 
are destroyed, the Roses on their own roots, if 
cut down by it, spring up again, to be as strong 
as ever. —-William Tillery, Welbeck. 
MARKET PLANTS.—VII. 
The Laurustinus and Ghent Azaleas. 
f OME of our English plant-growers are 
\ found imitating the French and Belgian 
' cultivators in the production of certain 
plants, the growth of which was considered for 
some time to be the reversion of Continental 
horticulturists. But that is no longer the case. 
English plant-growers mingle with their breth¬ 
ren of the craft in France and Belgium, who 
in their turn come to Old England in friendly 
intercourse, and thus they learn of each other, 
for so diffusive is the liking for plants, and the 
desire to improve the modes of and to excel in 
their culture, that a monopoly of the higher 
arts of gardening is no longer the exclusive 
possession of any one nationality. And though 
the acquirements of the gardening profession 
in one country might be lauded as far ahead of 
that of another country, depend upon it some 
other possession can be found to balance it, and 
equalise the weight of achievement. 
The Laurustinus, specimen plants of which 
were once mainly sought abroad, is now being 
grown by some of our London market growers, 
so as to have the plants in flower from Christ¬ 
mas till February; and the plants I recently 
saw at the nurseries of Messrs. J. and J. Hayes, 
Nurserymen, Edmonton, decidedly proved that 
if the Continental growers are far ahead of the 
London men, their plants must be good indeed. 
The history of a specimen Laurustinus may 
be stated in a few words. Cuttings are taken 
at the end of August or early in September, 
and they are put into a free sandy soil to root, 
either in a cold frame or under hand-glasses; 
there they remain till spring, by which time 
they have become nicely rooted, and are then 
planted out in beds in the open air, where they 
stand for two years. It will be here that 
the culture of the Laurustinus is a somewhat 
slow process, requiring considerable patience, 
and the exercise of much forethought. After 
the two years’ probation in the beds have 
passed, they are potted into large or small 32- 
pots (for the market-growers appear to have 
two sizes), the largest plants, of course, going 
into the biggest pots, and the smallest into the 
smaller pots. As soon as the plants are potted, 
the pots are plunged in fine cinder-ashes up to 
their rims in large, broad, airy frames, over 
which coverings can be put if required—and 
these coverings are formed of “ hurdles,” over¬ 
laid with felt. 
These potted plants of Laurustinus are mainly 
grown for the cut flowers they supply. As soon 
as they have well established themsejves in 
32-pots, they are shifted into large 24-sized pots, 
and in these the plants make fine heads, from 
15 in. to 20 in. across. If the stems are 
cleared of shoots, the plants make good stand¬ 
ards, and also come in useful for table purposes. 
The plants put into 24-pots in spring are 
again plunged in ashes for the summer, and 
here the buds are formed, and in the beginning of 
December they are taken into the forcing-house. 
The flowers are what the market-growers term 
“kind” to open—that is, they open readily; 
and in consequence of being forced into bloom 
under glass at the dead season of the year, are 
of a pure white colour, showing little or nothing 
of the fleshy tint peculiar to flowers that expand 
in the open air. 
It is simply a process of cold treatment up 
to the time of placing the plants in the forcing- 
house, and this is the only extra expense 
incurred. Messrs. J. and J. Hayes grow every 
year from 1,500 to 2,000 plants of Laurus¬ 
tinus, and there is always a succession of 
plants being brought on to come in during 
successive winters. Only water is given, liquid 
manure not being required. It is an error to 
suppose that the latter is so necessary as is gene¬ 
rally thought to market-plants. Some of them 
are sent to market, where they command a 
ready sale, at good remunerative prices. 
