166 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
The rags, it may he observed, are chopped into pieces not larger than half the 
palm of the hand, and the shoddy is separated by tearing it open. Other 
manures are also occasionally employed. 
Suckers from the collar are most effectually prevented by scooping away the 
earth all round the collar in October, forming a sort of basin about a yard or 
more in diameter, and exposing the main roots. The action of the frost on 
these roots is said to prevent the tree exhausting itself with suckers, and cer¬ 
tainly none are produced when this treatment is adopted. The ground is again 
made level at the time of digging in March, the trimmings being all previously 
conveyed away ; and if all go on well a good crop of nuts is looked for. As 
with all other crops, this is, however, not a certainty, as many extensive plan¬ 
tations in some years do not produce more than a bunch of nuts per tree—not 
sufficient to be worth looking for, while in favourable seasons from 10 to 
20 cwt. of fruit per acre has not been uncommon. So much depends on the 
season, that with all the advantages of situation, skilful management cannot 
always command success ; but well-directed skill, aided by other favourable 
conditions, certainly renders success more likely. 
N. R. 
TRACHELIUM C^RULEUM. 
I have just now a good plant of the somewhat-neglected Trachelium 
cseruieum. When a year or two ago I saw it growing in a window of a friend’s 
house in London, I was so much struck with it that I begged some seed, and 
have grown a plant or two every season since, as it has now become not only 
with myself but with my employers an established favourite. 
The seed should be sown in June. This will admit of having good strong 
plants in 48-pots to stand the winter. In spring give them a good shift into 
24 or 16-sized pots, keep them as cool and as near the glass as possible, and 
pinch back constantly till the end of May, by which time the plants will have 
two or three dozen blooming stems. As it is properly an autumn-fiow r ering 
plant, the plants w r ould be better plunged in ashes out of doors till the bloom 
is about to expand, when they may be carefully tied out and removed to the 
conservatory, verandah, or any sheltered nook w r here they are not exposed to 
the rain. The large masses of cerulean blue, often 6 inches across, which 
each stem will produce, will make each plant a handsome specimen, and will 
well repay the small amount of labour they have cost. 
Of all the gardens in this locality which I have visited I have never yet 
seen this Trachelium in any but my ow 7 n. I have no doubt that with a little 
extra pains it might be made a good specimen plant for exhibition, and would 
possibly somewhat astonish those who have not seen it well grown and flowered. 
Maybush. ' A. D. 
SPRING-FLOWERING BULBS. 
One great merit in spring-flowering bulbs is the ease with which they are 
made to produce their flowers. This, added to their cheapness, is the reason 
for which they are eagerly sought after, and certainly they are well calculated 
to produce a lively appearance in the garden at a time when it would be other¬ 
wise comparatively bare of flowers. Those who grow them on a large scale 
will by this time have given their orders, and those who fully understand 
their proper treatment, procure them as soon as possible after they arrive in 
this country, knowing full well that in such matters delays are dangerous, and 
