Aprii 9, 1887. 
THE HARDENING WORLD. 
501 
HYDRANGEAS. 
This is a very serviceable and useful class of plants, 
the white varieties being useful at all times whenever 
such are wanted for wreath - making. Under good 
cultivation they will produce enormous heads of flowers, 
which continue in great beauty for many weeks. Many 
market growers will have large quantities of them 
now forming grand heads of flowers. To obtain these 
good heads thus early, strong terminal cuttings should 
be struck about July, and as soon as rooted, should be 
potted off singly into a good rich compost. They will 
make two or three leaves before the end of autumn, 
and should be kept as close to the glass as possible, to 
keep the plants from drawing or becoming weak. 
During the winter season they may be kept in a green¬ 
house or pit from which the frost is just excluded, and 
be careful that damp does not settle on the crown or 
point of the shoot, otherwise this will cause it to damp. 
It is by preserving this leading shoot that the flower is 
obtained so early. No more water 
than what is just necessary to keep 
the wood from shrivelling will be 
required during the winter months, 
so long as they remain dormant. 
About the middle of January a 
portion of these may be potted on 
into 6-in. pots in good strong loam 
and manure, mixed with a dash of 
sand. They want potting very 
firm, and as soon as potted, must 
be placed in a growing temperature 
of 55°, to be increased as the 
season advances, with an occasional 
syringing to cause them to start 
away into growth. Still keep them 
as near to the glass as possible, to 
keep them sturdy and short-jointed. 
Almost as soon as they show signs 
of growth, the head of flower will 
appear with the unfolding leaves, 
and gradually spread out as the 
stem rises. If kept close to the 
glass, these plants will not exceed 
12 ins. to 15 ins. in height when 
full grown, and the head of flowers 
on the top will be as broad as a 
dinner-plate. 
As soon as the plants have fairly 
established themselves in the 6-in. 
pots, weak guano-water must be 
applied to them, which causes the 
foliage to keep a good dark green, 
and also adds materially to the 
lasting properties of the flowers. 
They should never be allowed to get 
dry, or they will very soon lose 
their bottom leaves, and this spoils 
their beauty. Some adopt a system 
of plunging these young plants 
when first introduced into the 
growing-heat; it assists them to 
come up a little quicker, but this 
operation is not absolutely necessary. 
Cuttings struck now, and grown 
on all the summer under ordinary 
greenhouse treatment, will, to a 
great extent, flower at the end of 
the summer ; but at this time they are not nearly so 
valuable as those earlier grown. If a good batch be 
struck in July, and kept as advised, a few, or a few 
dozens, according to the quantity grown, may be in¬ 
troduced into a growing-heat every month till the end 
of April, when there will be sufficient heat in almost 
any structure to bring them on. By this system of 
starting a few at a time, the display may be kept up 
far into summer. 
The varieties H. Thomas Hogg and H. paniculatum 
grandiflorum are really serviceable where white flowers 
are in demand. H. Otaksa makes very large heads of 
a bright pink colour, and is very effective as a deco¬ 
rative plant. H. cyanoclada is a rather sportive form, 
sometimes sky-blue, green or white ; but the peculiar 
dark foliage and stems of this variety make it a novelty 
amongst others. — W. G. 
SOME GOOD AND USEFUL 
RHODODENDRONS. 
Some half-a-century ago, J. C. Loudon wrote of 
Rhododendrons as the pride of European gardens, as 
they are of their native wilds, and yet, at that time, 
but few species or varieties were either known or culti¬ 
vated in Europe ; but since then many great things 
have happened. Mr. Hugh Fraser has shown us that 
the wonderful improvement has been effected chiefly 
through the crossing of the hardy, late-flowering species 
with the early Indian sorts, particularly R. arboreum. 
This species itself is too tender for open-air culture in 
this country ; but it is to that variety we are indebted 
for all the shades of scarlet, crimson and pink, which 
are so much admired in our present list of hardy 
varieties. Among the first results of hybridisation in 
this direction were the still well-known R. Russellianum 
and R. altaclarense, fine varieties ; R. Catawbiense 
Smithii from R. ponticum ; and R. Nobbianum from R. 
The Scottish Pp-imula and Auricula Society 
will hold its first exhibition in the Carlton Convening 
Rooms, Edinburgh, May 4th. Mr. W. Stratton, 
Annfield, Droughty Ferry, is the honorary secretary. 
Cantu a buxifolia. 
Caucasicum, all possessing in a greater or lesser degree 
the fine crimson flowers of their male parent. 
It was soon found, however, that though sufficiently 
hardy to stand the winter outside in favourable situa¬ 
tions, these hybrids inherited much of the tree habit 
and early-blooming peculiarity of R. arboreum. They 
were shy in forming buds, or rather they required many 
years before they attained sufficient size for blooming ; 
while, in nine cases out of ten, the flowers were blighted 
by late spring frosts before they were fully expanded, 
detracting immensely from their value for out-door 
cultivation, and rendering it necessary for their safety 
that they should be potted in autumn, and placed in 
the conservatory until after they had done flowering. 
While they were, as they still are, extremely useful for 
this purpose—seeing that they can be had in all their 
glory dui'ing the winter and early spring months—it 
was obvious that much was still required to be done 
before bright-coloured Rhododendrons could be got to 
flower in May and June. 
“ Hybridisers naturally turned to the late species and 
their varieties, which were again crossed with the 
crimson hybrids ; and these, carried on with every 
possible combination through series of generations, has 
gradually developed that infinite variety of habit, form 
and shade of colour with which our collections are now 
so much enriched. It would almost seem that per¬ 
fection itself had been obtained. A hybridist may 
consider himself fortunate if, after having raised 
thousands of seedlings, he finds even one sufficiently 
distinct from, or even up to, the high standard of those 
already grown. The work, however, is still enthu¬ 
siastically prosecuted, and from year to year novelties 
and improvements make their appearance.” But it 
must be said that novelties are not nearly so numerous 
as they were a quarter of a century ago. 
Transplanting of Rhododendrons may be done at any 
time during the autumn and winter, beginning, say, in 
October, by which time the buds are developed and the 
young wood ripe enough to bear removal without 
injury. In planting, they should never be placed too 
deeply in the soil ; the latter 
should cover the balls about 2 ins. 
and then be trodden firmly about 
the roots after they are planted. 
Here is a list of good sorts that 
do well in the midland districts, 
and which may, therefore, be taken 
as suiting any locality in the United 
Kingdom :— White — Catawbiense 
alba and The Queen; crimson— 
Brayanum, Blandyanum and 
Michael Waterer ; blush—Everesti- 
anum ; rosy crimson—Lady Cler¬ 
mont ; purple—Schiller and Lord 
John Russell ; white, with buff 
spots—Minnie ; rose—Concessum, 
one of the latest-blooming varieties ; 
purple-crimson—Caractacus. 
That the Rhododendron succeeds 
best in good peat is well known ; 
but the peat is not found in every 
garden, nor in its immediate 
vicinity. In many places the ex¬ 
pense of procuring it in sufficient 
quantity is a bar to the cultivation 
of Rhododendrons. Where this 
is the case, it is necessary to pre¬ 
pare an artificial soil that will to 
some extent answer the purpose of 
peat. I may here appropriately 
quote from Mr. Fraser, who states:— 
“ On examining the root of a Rho¬ 
dodendron while in active growth, 
we find that it consists of what is 
commonly termed a ball or a mass 
of roots, netting in a quantity of the 
soil in which it has been growing. 
Round the outside will be seen an 
innumerable quantity of stout hair¬ 
like fibres, white and transparent, 
so extremely soft and brittle that 
it is difficult to handle them with¬ 
out breaking some off. These are 
the young roots, and the only 
feeders by which the plant imbibes 
its food. If growing in peat they 
are found pretty equally diffused 
over the ball; but if in mixed soil, 
they are invariably in the greatest abundance on that 
side which is most in contact with any fragments of 
peat or other decomposed vegetable matter. Incapable 
from their extreme delicacy of penetrating stiff, hard 
soil, and peculiarly susceptible of injury from dryness, 
particularly while in a state of activity, these fragile 
rootlets soon wither and die when so exposed, entailing 
a serious loss upon the plant, and that at a time 
when it requires all the assistance it can get to enable 
it to perfect its growth, and form flower buds for the 
succeeding season. From these facts, as well as from 
experience of results, it seems obvious that a soil to be 
suitable to Rhododendrons must be soft and spongy 
in its texture, capable of retaining moisture, and pos¬ 
sessed of a large percentage of vegetable matter.” 
And now comes the question, “In what way can an 
artificial compost for Rhododendrons be made ? Sup¬ 
posing no peat can be had, what is the best substitute 
for it ”? Turfy loam from old pastures, cut just deep 
enough to include the fibre, of which it cannot have 
too much. Mix this with about one-half its bulk of 
rotten leaves and old cow-dung, and more or less sand, 
