June 25 , 1887, 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
677 
latter are brought to the stocks, and duly inarched 
there ; some moist clay is placed round it, and some 
moss wrapped over the clay, and the process is complete. 
When skilfully performed there are very few failures. 
Then there is the dark claret-coloured Berberis vulgaris 
atro-purpureus, which makes a charming hardy 
ornamental shrub, and is in all respects like the 
common one, excepting in the colour of its foliage, 
which is also imparted to the flowers and berries, for 
they are of a darker colour also. This is found to come 
true from seed. 
In the light soil of the Sunningdale Nursery, and 
full sunny exposure, this Berberis was finely coloured. 
Spiraea opulifolia aurea is a good golden-leaved shrub ; 
the type bears white flowers succeeded by red bladdery 
fruit, and the golden form is constant and highly orna¬ 
mental. Prunus Pissardii, with its deep purple foliage, 
is another striking ornamental shrub. It will be 
remembered that Messrs. Paul & 
Son exhibited it in flower early in 
the spring, and it has, therefore, 
gained a double First Class Certifi¬ 
cate, one for its foliage, and another 
for its flowers ; and both well de¬ 
served. It is said this Prunus was 
sent to England by the Shah of 
Persia’s gardener. What an ex¬ 
cellent dwarf-flowering shrub the 
Chinese Viburnum plicatum makes, 
with its elegant large plaited leaves, 
and numerous balls of white flowers ! 
In a young state the leaves are 
plaited together in a curious 
manner, and they gradually widen 
out and become flattened as they 
develop. Spiraea or Exochordia 
grandiflora is also a notable shrub, 
of close free growth, the foliage 
elegant, and with large white, 
buttercup-like flowers, which are 
produced in May. It is a shrub 
difficult to propagate, the best 
method appearing to be from layers, 
hut it takes two years for them to 
root. I think I never before saw 
Taxus elegantissima so beautifully 
coloured as here, quite small plants 
growing in the light sandy soil 
here, grandly coloured, and sin¬ 
gularly bright in the full glow of 
the summer sunshine. 
One sees so much to interest 
them in a nursery like this, hut it 
suffices for the present that I make 
a note of these interesting shrubs, 
for they are well worthy the atten¬ 
tion of lovers of pictorial trees.— 
E.D. 
-->x-<—- 
DRACOPHYLLUM 
G-RACILE. 
This is a good plant for exhi¬ 
bition or conservatory work during 
the summer months of the year. 
Another great quality about it is 
that the flowers are pure white 
and finely scented—a fact that may not be known to 
casual observers. However, such is the case ; and 
being a free-flowering subject, it should be grown by 
those who are fond of really good things. The con¬ 
stitution of the plant may be termed delicate, as it is 
very susceptible to any mismanagement in its culture, 
the least neglect as regards watering or potting being 
almost certain to end in disaster. 
Its roots are capillary or hair-like in character, and 
should they at any time suffer from the effects of 
drought, the plant will, in nine cases out of ten, die. 
The same rule applies to giving it too much water ; the 
soil becomes stagnant, the roots rot, and the plant dies 
off quickly— in trade parlance, it goes off at the collar. 
A considerable time must elapse before young plants 
can be made into specimens, the growth being so weak 
in its nature that it requires a great number of shoots 
to make a specimen plant. Good sandy peat is the best 
soil in which to grow it, and at all times it must be 
potted firm ; thebest time to pot the plant being either in 
the autumn or early spring months. It does not re¬ 
quire a great amount of pot room, but young plants 
should not be allowed to become too much pot-bound. 
The plant requires a considerable amount of time in 
staking and tying to make it look well; but when this 
work has been well done, it shows the plant to great 
advantage ; therefore, it behoves growers to be careful 
in their treatment of it after it has attained to a 
good size, for one false error as to watering would 
send the plant and all the valuable time that has been 
spent in training it into oblivion. When the plant has 
matured itself and made a good specimen, it always 
stands well in a collection of stove and greenhouse 
plants, the purity of its white flowers showing well up 
amongst other plants.— W. G. 
-- 
CAMPANULA MEDIUM CALY- 
OANTHEMA. 
In the Canterbury Bells we meet with an old friend 
Campanula medium calycanthemum. 
suitable alike for the adornment of the gardens of rich 
and poor alike. The typical form exists in many 
colours, and shades of blue, purple, rose, and white ; 
but the race illustrated by the accompanying figure 
may probably be acceptable to lovers of these hardy 
plants. 
Properly speaking, this race is not really double : 
but the calyx becomes enlarged and petaloid, and 
numerous coloured varieties may be raised from seed 
with as much certainty as the normal type. A third 
race may he noticed describable as the hose-in-hose 
type, also to be had in a great range of colours, and of 
which some of the flowers are of enormous size. In 
this case the second corolla is produced wdthin the first, 
often giving the flower the appearance of being double. 
The plant is biennial, and seeds sown now will flower 
next summer. Those who have plants coming into 
flower in the open ground may lift and pot them, 
having previously given the soil a thorough watering 
to prevent them from flagging through the operation. 
They are then useful for the conservatory or dwelling- 
room decoration. 
STRAWBERRIES FOR FORCING. 
The Strawberry at all times is a delicious fruit, but 
when forced and well done, it cannot fail to give the 
greatest pleasure, both to grower and consumer. We 
may all have our particular fads and fancies with 
regard to the different methods of cultivation ; but 
there are certain points which are essential in order 
to obtain good and successful results. First, good early 
runners must be secured ; second, they must be put 
into their fruiting-pots as early as possible ; and third, 
great care and attention must be observed in watering 
and keeping the plants clean and free from runners and 
weeds. In order to secure good early runners, we must 
first turn our attention to the outdoor beds, which we 
will assume are in good condition, with strong plants 
of not more than three seasons’ growth, as young beds 
throw the strongest runners. As soon as fit, these 
should be secured, cutting away all the weak ones, and 
our plan of dealing with them is 
as follows :—During the winter 
months a quantity of good turfy 
loam is dug and laid in a heap 
with alternate layers of well- 
decomposed farmyard manure, and 
a good proportion of sweepings from 
the fowl-house. The heap is covered 
with litter, which causes the whole 
to heat gently in order to destroy 
the weeds and insects. This we 
use both for layering and potting. 
At the time of layering we select 
small lumps of turf from the heap, 
about 3 ins. or 4 ins. square, into 
which we peg the runners. I 
consider this plan the best for 
several reasons. Under the scorch¬ 
ing rays of our midsummer sun, 
the plants that are in pots will 
become very hot, while those in 
the turf will be much cooler, 
especially if put well under the 
litter with which the beds are 
mulched. Evaporation is also, con¬ 
sequently, much more rapid when 
pots are used, and the plants suffer 
more or less in consequence. 
During the cool of the evening 
the plants are gone over and 
watered with a rose pot, and as 
soon as they are rooted through the 
turf (which they will do very 
quickly if well attended to in 
watering), we cut them off and pot 
into fruiting pots, using the soil 
from the heap before mentioned ; 
and here we have to consider the 
nature of the loam, whether it 
is deficient in calcareous matter (a 
substance which is much relished 
by the Strawberry), and if so, we 
add a good proportion of lime, 
about one peck to three bushels of 
loam and manure. 
The plants should all be in their 
fruiting pots not later than the 
last week in July, in order to get the 
pots full of roots, and good strong sturdy plants. The 
size of fruiting pots used are 48’s for the first batch to 
force, and 32’s for the later one. As we pot them they 
are removed to a good open sunny position in the 
kitchen garden, and shaded from the hot sun for a few 
days. (I should have mentioned great care must be 
taken that the runners do not root through the pieces 
of turf into the ground beneath, as many of the little 
feeders would be thereby broken off when taking up the 
runners, to the injury of the plants). After this, great 
care should be exercised in watering and keeping the 
plants free from runners and weeds, and keeping them 
clear of side shoots, selecting only one crown. When 
the pots are well filled with roots, liberal supplies of 
manure-water should be given. 
By the end of October the plants will be well 
ripened, and should be shifted to their winter quarters, 
the earliest batch under glass sheltered from the cold 
rains, and the later ones packed into leaves in any 
open space, being previously mulched with a mixture 
of half loam and strong manure. About the middle of 
December the first batch of plants should be well cleaned 
