December 13, 1890. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
231 
ALLOTMENTS. 
If the allotment question does not make any more 
progress in the country generally than is the case in 
my own district, I should say that there was, indeed, 
little hope that the aspirations of the labourer for garden 
ground would ever be satisfied. Here and throughout 
many Middlesex parishes, each of which had thirty 
acres of good garden ground allotted to them under the 
Hounslow Heath Enclosure Act of some ninety 
years ago, so far as I can learn, not one acre out of 
these areas is utilised for allotment gardening, the 
trustees being in all cases persons opposed to the grant¬ 
ing of any privileges to the poor, which would be for 
their pecuniary benefit. 
That there is here a great craving for the land I have 
had ample evidence, and it is sad to learn that so much 
as from £6 to £12 per acre has been paid for small 
plots of land purchased in the first place for building 
purposes, and temporarily let out for garden uses. The 
County Council, so far, have done nothing for the 
labourer; the sanitary authorities have done little ; 
the Charity Lands Trustees in the various parishes have 
done less. Our chief hope lies in the formation of 
district and parish councils, armed with full powers, 
not only to take over the administration of all charities, 
but also to be compelled to furnish allotments in suit¬ 
able positions, having power to take land for the 
purpose at a fair valuation. 
It is not at all needful that in every case local 
authorities should purchase land for allotments, 
especially where selling is exceptionally difficult. If 
allowed to rent land on long leases for the purpose, at 
fair agricultural rents, the land might be allotted, and 
the expenses incidental in the allotment and collection 
of rent, met by a small increase in the rental, which, 
after all, need hardly exceed sixpence per rod. In such 
case the wants of working-class communities might 
easily be met, where the will and power were furnished 
to meet them.— A. 1). 
-- 
IPQMiEA RUBRQ-CCERULEA. 
A Beautiful Blue Stove Plant. 
At a country Chrysanthemum show, held during the 
third week in November, I saw a pan of blooms of the 
beautiful blue Ipomiea rubro-ccerulea, which I had not 
jseen for years. It is known as the reddish blue 
Ipomsea, because the rich pale blue flowers of this 
species are tinted with red. The Ipomiea is closely 
allied to the Convolvulus, but forms a distinct genus, 
and the species that follow the character of the 
Convolvulus may be regarded as the aristocrats of the 
Convolvuli. The Ipomreas are chiefly inhabitants of 
the tropics, and remarkable for the beauty of their 
flowers, which, though they are individually short 
lived, are succeeded so rapidly by others that there are 
few more showy ornaments of the forests in warm 
countries, or the stoves of our own. 
The species under notice, Ipomrea rubro-cocrulea, was 
first flowered at Stratford Green, in Essex, from seeds 
received from Mexico ; it can be increased by means 
of cuttings and by seeds ; and a rich sandy loam 
suits it well. The flowers that I recently saw were 
shown by Mr. B. Smith, gardener to E. Cox, Esq., 
Presdales, Ware, and it was pleasant to witness the 
reappearance of a plant that is so seldom seen as to 
lead to the impression it had become lost to cultivation ; 
and the method the cultivator adopts to get it in such 
fine form appears so simple that I think many could 
grow it without much trouble. 
It belongs, as I have already stated, to a class of 
plants whose blooms are of a fleeting character ; and 
perhaps this is the reason why it has so largely fallen 
out of cultivation. But then the intense and striking 
beauty of the flowers compensates to a considerable 
extent for their fleeting character. 
Now this beautiful subject is an annual, and is 
propagated by means of seeds, and it is not difficult to 
procure them from a seedsman ; they should be had in 
early spring—say in March—and sown, several of them 
in a large 60-sized or 48-sized pot, using a fine, light 
sandy soil, and plunging the pots in a bottom heat. 
The seeds are thinned out to three in a pot, and are 
grown on in heat for some time, and hardened off in a 
greenhouse temperature as the season advances. When 
the plants are pretty well rooted in the seed pots, they 
are then shifted into 16-sized pots, and placed in a 
cold house, or out of doors if the weather is warm 
enough and all danger from frost has passed away. 
About June the plants are ready for their final shift, 
and for their preparatory summer treatment. Now, 
this Ipomrea roots freely ; it is a gross feeder, and likes 
—if a plant can be said to have preferences—plenty of 
pot-room, and so the plants are finally shifted into what 
are known as 8-sized pots. The gardener who showed 
these beautiful flowers tells me that, not having a pot 
large enough for his strongest specimen, he used a Sea- 
kale pot for the purpose, as it held more soil than a 
No. 8. pot. When shifted, the pots were placed out of 
doors in a warm, sunny position ; each pot stood upon 
a slate to prevent the ingress of worms, and the pots 
were covered round the outsides with long litter to 
keep the roots cool. Stakes' were driven into the 
ground, and strings trained from these to the top of 
the garden wall, near to which the pots stood, but 
about six yards distant. To these strings the leading 
shoots are trained ; one fine and well-grown specimen 
requires ten or a dozen strings. Here the plants 
remain until the weather becomes colder—about the 
middle of October—when the strings are cut away and 
the plants carried into the stove, and each shoot tied 
up to the wires overhead. The most suitable soil for 
this creeper is one made up of rough loam and rotted 
manure in equal parts ; when the plants are flowering, 
they are treated to occasional doses of liquid manure. 
The colour of the flowers is most intense when they 
first open, and especially in early morning. The 
stronger a plant grows during the summer, the longer 
will it remain in flower through the winter.— R. D. 
-- 
TREE PLANTING IN TOWNS. 
At the meeting of the Manchester Horticultural 
Improvement Society, held on the 4th inst., the 
president, Mr. Bruce Findlay, delivered an address on 
tree planting in towns, with special reference to the recent 
experiments in street decoration made in Manchester. 
After alluding to the unsatisfactory character of the 
trees in tubs placed in Albert Square and other parts 
of the city, and which he considered altogether out of 
place, Mr. Findlay said the transformation which 
London had undergone during the last thirty years 
was not less conspicuous in her public gardens and 
parks than in her streets and buildings. He had 
watched very closely the progress made in the capital, 
and had no hesitation in saying that one of the 
greatest triumphs accomplished, and one of the greatest 
benefits conferred was the planting with trees of the 
Thames Embankment, converting that which was 
formerly an offensive sight into a scene of beauty and 
loveliness. The development of young trees wherever 
planted afforded very great gratification, but when 
they were made to rise over scenes like Albert Square, 
the Manchester Infirmary, and others in the city that 
might be named, the planter would have raised a more 
beautiful monument than artist could paint or sculptor 
engrave. As mere forms of beauty they were by far 
the most important adjuncts to the face of nature. 
Of the several trees which were to be found growing 
in and around towns subject to the same conditions as 
Manchester might be mentioned the Ash. A gentleman 
wrote him from Wigan that on October 15th the Ash 
trees were fresh and green, whilst the majority of other 
trees were either leafless or looked seedy. He had 
received similar testimony from Liverpool, Sheffield, 
and Birmingham. The Ash was late coming into leaf, 
but its smoke-enduring properties rendered it a most 
desirable tree to plant. The Canadian Poplar was 
another most valuable tree for the kind of planting now 
under consideration. The Sycamore retained its foliage 
to a late period in the season, and in shape was well 
suited for avenues. Thorns -were also good town trees, 
but were not, perhaps, sufficiently arborescent for an 
avenue. Tne Horse Chestnut would, he thought, be 
also found a suitable tree for town planting, and several 
kinds of Willows would succeed well in smoky districts. 
These were all deciduous trees. He did not think it 
desirable to plant many Evergreens, and the only ones 
he should recommend would be the Privet and Box. 
The mode of planting was an important matter. 
Cheap processes of planting in auy situation would 
prove of no use, and especially was this the case with 
trees in towns. It could not be done effectively 
without due preparation. The first thing to be done 
was to have the soil well trenched, and at least four 
cart-loads of suitable soil placed round the roots, the 
larger the hole filled with the soil the better. Provision 
should be made for a succession, otherwise the trees 
would grow until the roots found their way through 
the prepared ground, and touched the uncongenial 
soil, when they would begin to decline. Many 
young trees were killed through too deep planting, 
and it required an experienced hand to properly 
do the work. When the trees or shrubs were being 
planted their branches should always be pretty well 
thinned, and this gave the roots a better chance of 
stimulating into free growth the portions left. The 
time of planting must depend upon the fall of the 
leaf. Those who would derive the greatest amount of 
pleasure, if it should be found possible to make trees 
grow in our open spaces, were the dwellers immured 
within the prison walls of their houses, and either 
doomed to perpetual imprisonment there, or compelled 
by circumstances to renounce for a considerable portion 
of the year the enjoyments of a country life. 
The first thing which appeared to be desirable was to 
give the roots a few thorough waterings in the spring, 
before, in fact, there had been time for any impression 
to be made upon the system of plants by the parching 
summer heat, and before the trees had lost entirely 
the strength they had accumulated during their winter’s 
rest. The ground towards the circumference of the 
area occupied by the roots should be pierced so as to 
facilitate the absorption of the water. With a hose 
attached to a supply pipe from the mains, these 
waterings would be readily effected. Another point of 
equal importance was the cleansing of the foliage, 
whilst yet in a healthy state, by frequent washings, 
which, while doing battle with the soot, would, by 
enabling the trees to absorb moisture by the surface, 
instead of continually parting with it to some extent, 
help to supply the deficiency alluded to. Such 
washings would only be necessary in dry weather, and 
as a help to the cleansing and moistening influence of 
natural showers. If done weekly during the earlier 
part of the summer it would go far to preserve a healthy 
condition of the foliage, which, again, would react 
upon and invigorate the entire system of the plant. 
Such artificial waterings need not be continued to a 
late period of the summer, as they would interfere 
with the ripening of the wood, so necessary to its 
passing the winter month?. The next important 
matter was to consider the kind of trees to be used. 
They should, to begin with, harmonise with the sur¬ 
roundings. If there were to be trees in Albert Square, 
they must to some extent fall in with the surroundings, 
and that was one reason why he objected to the ugly 
tubs at present to be seen. The square would be far 
more ornamental without them. The best trees were 
the healthy individuals of the species best suited to 
resist the deleterious effects of a vitiated atmosphere, 
and the injuries to which they were exposed by a 
crowded population. 
Referring to the planting of trees in towns he pointed 
out that the fumes emitted from the large chemical 
works in and around Manchester had a much more 
damaging effect than the smoke in London. Hence 
the folly of asking for advice from people resident in 
the south as to the kind of trees most suitable for 
the Lancashire climate. Minute sooty particles were 
deposited over the surface of the tree, so that respira¬ 
tion was impeded, and debility followed as a thing of 
course. If any proof were wanted they had simply to 
handle one of the Hollies in the tubs, which had for 
some time past disfigured Albert Square, and in the 
mark of funereal hue which it left upon the hand its 
lingering doom might be surely read. It was true that 
rains and storms might wash away, in part at least, 
the accumulated pollution, and the plants gain some 
little respite, but even this was a mere palliative, and, 
on the whole, vegetation in towns and cities had but a 
sorry existence. But though smoke and soot were 
enemies of no mean power, they were by no means the 
only enemies to whose attacks plants located within the 
circuits of cities and large towns were exposed. The 
excessive amount of drainage, which was a necessity in 
regard to the health of the population, became a severe 
trial to plants having their roots, and consequently the 
source of their nourishment, deep in the earth. The 
wonder was that under such circumstances the trees 
survived at all. Then again the poisonous leakage 
from gas pipes was often a cause of death and decay 
amongst trees in towns. Speaking of the way in which 
the evils referred to might be in some degree mitigated, 
he remarked that the smoke emitted from the various 
works in and around Manchester was much larger than 
it should be. If the law on the subject were enforced 
and obeyed, the evil would be very much lessened, but 
unfortunately in this instance the law breakers were 
the law makers. The other evil to which he referred, 
being caused by the abstraction of water, the remedy 
consisted in the judicious artificial application of that 
element in such a way as to supply the deficiency. If 
that were done systematically there seemed no reason 
why some kinds of deciduous trees should not grow in 
Manchester. They should have in early summer six or 
eight periodic soakings of water, whether it rained or 
not. The exact means of carrying out these irrigations 
would vary with particular cases. 
