April 17, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
523 
bat deformed foliage and very few flowers will be tlie 
result. Straw or bracken may be used in covering, 
but where Spruce boughs can be obtained, they will 
be found preferable, as they are not blown about by 
the wind. Stakes 3 ft. long should be driven into the 
ground, and bars of wood put across, and the boughs 
laid on, this keeps the pressure off the foliage, is easily 
removed in the day time, and allow of their being 
covered until coming into flower. Plants that are 
wanted for forcing should be covered up, for if allowed 
to be damaged by the frost, and the leaves deformed, 
they will not make the amount of root growth required 
to develop strong and healthy crowns. Spineas thus 
treated and left two years in the ground, will, when 
taken up to force, be quite equal if they do not surpass 
foreign-grown crowns.— George Holmes, Derby. 
Choisya ternata. —What a lovely simple flower ! 
I have heard the exclamation often. A lovely flower 
it certainly is, and one that might be more grown 
than it is at present. The flowers are produced in 
clusters, are pure white, and are beautifully scented ; 
the leaves are ternate, and of a dark shining green 
colour. When pressed with the thumb and finger, they 
give off a strong aromatic smell, which is very pleasant. 
The plant is almost ‘hardy, and requires very simple 
treatment to grow it. The cooler it can be kept the 
better. I have planted it out in beds in the summer¬ 
time, and then lifted it again about the middle of 
September. This treatment seems to suit it well, as it 
keeps much more sturdy. When kept standing about 
in pots in houses all the summer, it is apt to be attacked 
with red spider, which very much injures the foliage ; 
by planting-out the plant does not get attacked with 
this pest. It generally flowers in the month of April, 
and after flowering should be cut back. When the 
young shoots have broken nicely it may be potted into 
fresh soil ; reduce the ball a little, and the same size of 
pot will do again. If it is intended to plant it out, the 
operation of potting need not be gone through, but the 
ball reduced a little when planting. For growing in 
pots, loam and manure, with a good sprinkling of sharp 
sand, suits it well, and let the grower bear in mind 
that no coddling is required to bring this good old 
greenhouse plant to perfection. — IV. G. 
Primula obconica.—I can fully endorse all that 
your correspondent “ J.” has said in favour of Primula 
obconica. Allow me at the same time to say a word or 
two in praise of Primula verticillata, which is a pretty 
yellow-flowered variety, with leaves and flow r er-stems 
covered with a silvery farina. When in bloom it emits 
a very agreeable C»wslip-like perfume, a plant or two 
being enough to scent a large room. The plant does 
not require much attention. We simply plant it out of 
doors in May, giving water when required, and keeping 
down weeds until about the month of October, when 
we dig up the plants and pot them, using nice sandy 
loam. The plants are then put on a shelf in a cold 
house, where they remain until they come into bloom, 
which they generally do about March. The plant may 
be increased by division or seed, which is produced in 
quantity.—/. IV. L. 
Fortune's Yellow Rose.— All lovers of Roses 
may have their particular taste gratified in these days, 
seeing the great variety there is to choose from. In 
hybrid perpetuals we have grand form and colour, and 
tea-scented varieties ot all colours except bright scarlet. 
The subject of this note is a climbing Rose, seldom seen 
in bloom, more especially if grown in a pot ; I have 
seen it occupying a large amount of glass roof in a span- 
roofed house at Hartley Row Grange, where it blooms 
finely every season, and I understand it is quite a sight 
at Westonbirt in Gloucestershire, in much the same 
way ; but it is not every place at which room can be 
found for it under glass in this way. We have had this 
Rose here for the last five years in a pot, and could not 
bloom it, though my employer wished to see it, having 
heard it spoken of as very pretty and novel in colour. 
I had not much faith in blooming it in this way, but 
thought I would try a fresh method of growth. It is 
now in a 9 in. pot, and trained round a few long sticks 
and has upwards of one hundred blooms and buds on it 
at the present time ; it is so beautiful, that we think 
of giving it further extension, and it is worthy of 
being grown where Rose-buds are valued, as much as 
any Rose I know.— Con. 
A Good Set of Peaches. —In the garden of 
T. W. Boord, Esq., M.P., at Ockenden, Uckfield, a 
Stirling Castle Peach has this season set some 8,000 
fruits. The tree which was planted, a maiden, live 
years ago, covers a trellis 30 ft. by 13 ft., and is one of 
ten of various sorts occupying a lean-to house 160 ft. 
long and 12 ft. wide, and all of w’hich are in the finest 
condition. The trees are planted inside, and the 
border at this season is deluged with water, strong 
drenchings of liquid manure being given after the 
fruits have stoned. Mr. E. George, the gardener, who 
may justly be proud of his trees, will of course have to 
thin heavily.— D. 
Good Roses for a Cold House. —Cheshunt 
Hybrid is with us unrivalled for a cool house. I may 
say without exaggeration, that from two plants cover¬ 
ing about six yards of trellis, we have gathered 1,000 
blooms in one year ; we are now gathering great 
quantities of bloom. No other Rose gives us so good a 
return for a little attention. Another good variety is 
Madame Berrard with apricot coloured blooms ; this is 
thought a great deal of by my employer—and deservedly 
so—for it is as free-blooming as Cheshunt Hybrid, very 
sweet-scented, and will soon cover a large piece of trellis. 
The plants are budded on the briar, planted outside the 
house, and brought in through the front wall ; the roots 
have an unlimited run in a good border. Niphetos we 
have planted inside the house ; this also gives us an¬ 
nually a quantity of pure white but rather unweildy 
blooms.— J. IV. L. 
Violet Comte de Brazza. —I do not know if I 
have been less successful with this variety than other 
cultivators, but I do know that I cannot praise it so 
much as some people do. Perhaps the season may have 
had something to do with my non-success. I have had 
a great quantity of bloom, of good quality, having 
gathered twenty dozen at one picking from a single 
light. What I complain of is that, compared with 
Marie Louise and the old Neapolitan, its season is very 
short; our plants did not continue to bloom more than 
a month, whereas we have been picking from Marie 
Louise and Neapolitan all through the winter, and still 
they come, but of course in smaller quantities. Our 
plants of Comte de Brazza were much stronger than 
the other two sorts mentioned, and ought, therefore, to 
have bloomed much better, all being treated alike. We 
have Swanley White growing in the same frame, and 
I have not the slighest hesitation in saying they are 
both alike. In my opinion the old Neapolitan is yet 
unequalled, both for frame and also for outside in open 
winters. — J. W. L. 
Onion Maggot. —If those of your readers and 
correspondents who are troubled with this pest, will 
sow their Onion seed in boxes under glass, and after¬ 
wards transplant them they will experience less trouble 
and have much better crops of Onions. Last year we 
prepared the bed in the usual way, and sowed two- 
thirds of it with seed, and on the same day we sowed 
seed in boxes of the same kinds, namely, Bedfordshire 
Champion and Banbury ; in due time the young plants 
were transplanted in the other portion of the bed which 
was left for them. Early in June our old enemy made 
its appearance amongst those which had been sown, 
and by the end of August there were but very few left, 
whilst the others which were transplanted in the same 
bed, were almost free from their attack and made fine 
bulbs ; those planted out, as I think, have the 
advantage by their roots being deeper in the ground, 
as I find by experience that the maggot commences 
its work of destruction at that portion of the plant 
which is not so easily reached when the roots are deep. 
— J. JValker. 
Being a subscriber to The Gardening World, 
I have carefully read the remarks of my brother 
gardeners and others on this interesting subject. 
I will now relate to you my experience with the 
pest. For three successive years I have applied 
1 ime, soot, and salt, and in the season of 18 8 4 I lost n early 
the whole of my Onions, in spite of all my efforts. Some 
of your correspondents have expressed their opinion 
that the fly lays its eggs on the tops of the green growth, 
and that the rain washed them down to the roots. It 
is my belief that the mischief is done when the ground 
cracks from the drought, and that then the eggs are 
deposited close to the roots, and you will observe that 
the work of destruction commences there. Having 
confidence in my conclusions, I set to work accordingly 
and broke the caked surface of the ground to prevent 
cracking of the soil, and as the weather was dry this 
had to be done as soon as the Onions were thinned, 
which was done very early. I afterwards procured some 
dust from a limestone-repaired road, which contained 
portions of horse excrement, and passed it through a 
J|-in. riddle, and scattered it thickly over the surface 
amongst the Onions. The process was repeated, and 
the third and last time the Onions were the size of a 
blackbird’s egg, and three-parts of them were covered 
with the dust. After each application I watered the 
beds with soap-suds, which, perhaps, was only a minor 
factor. The source of my success was the coat of dust 
preventing the insect depositingthe germs of its progeny 
in any part of the Onion-bed, and I am well pleased 
with the result.— Thos. Came, Gardener to G. B. Dew- 
hurst, Esq., Clayton Green, near Chorley, Lancashire. 
Myosotidium nobile. —This lovely but rarely- 
seen Boragineous plant was shown in rare form at 
South Kensington, on Tuesday last, by Mr. Goldsmith, 
gardener to E. G. Loder, Esq., Floore, Weedon. It 
has the undesirable reputation of being a thoroughly 
“bad one to do,” and Mr. Goldsmith, who has not 
been long at Floore, may take credit to himself for 
being one of the few growers who have been so fortu¬ 
nate as to hit-off its requirements in so satisfactory a 
manner. It has large cordate, succulent, glossy, 
bright green leaves, and small Forget-me-not like 
flowers, rich blue in the centre, but gradually becoming 
paler towards the margin. It is one of the most hand¬ 
some of perennials, introduced some twenty-eight years 
ago from the Chatham Islands, off New Zealand, by 
Mr. Watson, of St. Albans, who sold the stock to the 
late Mr. John Standish, of Ascot. Mr. Goldsmith 
states that it is not quite hardy, but requires a cool 
frame in which it can be protected from frost. In the 
interest of such a lovely plant, we should be pleased if 
he would give us a little more detail. 
--- 
The Gardeners' Calendar, 
_ *_ _ 
~+ - 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
In the conservatory or other structure used for de¬ 
corative purposes it will be necessary to give the plants 
individually more room, because at this season of the year 
they will be fully developed, and by being staged thinly 
are much better preserved in good health, added to which 
the thick massing of plants to produce a glare is always to 
be deprecated. If the plants are staged so as to receive 
plenty of light all round them, and the ventilation is 
properly attended to, they will last in flower double 
the time, and give far greater pleasure to all concerned. 
Where blinds are used for shading purposes see that 
they are not kept down too long, and where it can be 
done, let the whole of the plants receive a dewing from 
the jet of a syringe in the afternoon ; this will be found 
to greatly refresh the flowers and preserve them. 
Herbaceous Calceolarias will now be throwing up 
their spikes, and should be well attended to. Give 
them frequent doses of liquid manure chiefly made 
from cow-manure, and as a change a sprinkling of Clay’s 
Fertiliser. The same remarks apply to the show and 
fancy Pelargoniums. Keep a sharp look-out for green¬ 
fly, and fumigate where necessary. That useful old 
plant Francoa ramosa will now require attention in the 
way of dividing and potting off. After potting place 
the plants into gentle warmth, and when fairly started 
remove them again to the cool frames, taking care that 
as the flower-spikes rise they receive head room. Look 
over the stock of bulbs which may have been stored 
away ; most of them will now be starting, and should 
be well watered, and afterwards receive a surfacing of 
rich compost, or, if necessary, a re-potting. Be careful 
not to use pots of too large a size, it is a great mistake. 
Give the Belladonna Lilies plenty of water, also liquid 
manure occasionally to encourage a healthy growth, 
and when the foliage shows signs of ripening gradually 
withhold the supply. Keep them in cold frames well 
exposed to the sun, and in August they will be found 
most valuable for staging purposes. Sow at once the 
main batch of Asters. 
THE FORCING HOUSES. 
Abundant work will now be found in keeping the 
Vines and Peach-trees in proper order, for what with 
disbudding, stopping, tying, and thinning, constant 
and unceasing attention is necessary, for if neglected 
now no amount of after attention will repair the damage. 
The cold winds, with heavy storms of snow and hail, 
make the ventilation a source of some anxiety. The 
