May i, 1889. 
561 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
spread open, and borne in large axillary trusses or 
umbels. All parts of the plant are thickly beset with 
glands containing an essential oil such as prevails 
throughout the Ruewort family, of which the Orange 
is a member. The leathery deep green leaves are cut 
up into three leaflets, and should not be bruised, as they 
smell somewhat strongly, just as does those of the 
Orange. Whether used as a greenhouse plant or grown 
in the open air, it is valuable for the quantity of 
blossom it produces. Plants should not be subjected 
to forcing in the ordinary acceptation of the term, but 
merely stood in an intermediate house, or a greenhouse 
where a temperature is maintained sufficiently high to 
enable the ordinary occupants to flower. It is 
sufficiently hardy against a wall in the south of 
England to outlive our winters and flower freely. We 
received a magnificent truss the other day from Mr. P. 
Davidson, The Gardens, Iwerne Minster, Blandford. 
Thunbergia laurifolia.—At Boston House, Brent¬ 
ford, the seat of Colonel Clitheroe, a specimen 
of this plant may be seen, which has been flowering 
since September last. It is grown in a pot of 
very moderate dimensions, so that the root room 
must be very much restricted. Mr. Jeffries com¬ 
plains that he cannot induce it to make fresh growth 
until late in the season, owing to its determined 
tendency to produce flowers. The latter are produced 
in axillary clusters or panicles towards the upper end 
of the shoots, are of large size, and of a soft or light 
blue with a white throat. The slender or weak and 
useless wood had all been removed some time ago, to 
favour the development of young growth, but we failed 
to see any signs of the buds moving. The pot con¬ 
taining it is stood on a bench, and the shoots trained 
to wires under the roof of a house with an intermediate 
temperature. Close by were some specimens of an 
altogether different species, with twining stems, orange 
flowers, and a black eye. This was T. alata, which is 
annually enjoying a more extended cultivation. 
Two Useful Clerodendrons.—One of these is C. 
Thomson*, now so widely cultivated that hardly 
anything need be said in its praise. It is a regular 
exhibition plant, and on that account is more grown 
than any other of the seventy known species of 
the genus. The contrast produced between the large 
white inflated calyx and the scarlet or crimson corolla 
is very striking ; and the calyx continues a long time 
in perfection after the somewhat ephemeral corolla has 
dropped. In gardens it generally passes under the 
name of C. Balfouri, while some believe this to be 
merely a fine variety of C. Thomson*. It is a native 
of Old Calabar. Both this species and C. speciosum we 
noticed recently in full bloom on the roof of a stove at 
Boston House, Brentford. The latter is a garden 
hybrid with a pink calyx (which is smaller than that 
of C. Thomson*) and a scarlet corolla. The latter 
obtains more prominence than in the species flowering 
alongside of it. Both are good-sized plants, and have 
been flowering for the past seven weeks, giving the 
house a gay appearance. 
- »X<- - 
THE FLOWERS OF SPRING. 
Possibly no better evidence of the lateness of the season 
is to be found than is afforded by the tardy flowering 
of the hardy border plants of our gardens. On taking 
a stroll round our vicar’s garden, we found many of the 
Narcissi much more backward than we expected. Some 
of the leading varieties had a few fully-expanded 
flowers—notably Emperor, Sir Watkin, and N. cernuus, 
while the common double Daffodil was in all its glory, 
and just right for the Easter decorations. Primroses 
and Polyanthuses abound, and are most charming. 
The varied coloured Primroses are invaluable among 
spring-flowering subjects ; and Scilla siberica, with its 
rich deep blue, contrasts admirably with the yellow 
of the Narcissi. These, when once planted, will take 
care of themselves, and only gross carelessness will 
Tender the planting of fresh bulbs necessary. 
The white Arabis and blue Aubrietias are now in 
full bloom. These, with a few Primroses, -would make 
many a garden which at the present season is destitute 
of flowers, gay for a long time. We know a wall where 
the Aubrietia has established itself, and is hanging in 
clusters, one of which we recently found to measure 
about 18 ins. down and 9 ins. across. When the sun 
is shining on these, the effect is unique. It seems 
marvellous how they could have got into the position 
they have on the face of the wall. Another gem 
among early-flowering plants is Triteleia uniflora, but it 
is not quite so accommodating as the foregoing subjects, 
which will grow in almost any soil, although there are 
few places in which it will not thrive with ordinary 
care. It will well repay all true lovers of things 
beautiful for any extra attention bestowed upon it, for 
it is, without exception, one of the most beautiful 
flowering hardy bulbs we have. 
Turning for a moment to hardy flowering shrubs, 
among which are some of the most lovely things we 
have blooming in the spring months, we may note, as 
one of the most common and beautiful, the Mahonia 
aquifolia, which, taking it all round, is the best of the 
family, although some will claim for M. Fortunei the 
first place on account of having the more handsome 
foliage. We think that as its flowering season is of 
much shorter duration, and its foliage sometimes has a 
sickly hue, it must stand second to its plebeian relative, 
which will thrive almost anywhere, and has a pro¬ 
longed flowering period. It is much benefited by 
an occasional pruning. Another real gem is Andro¬ 
meda floribunda, of which many practical gardeners 
seem ignorant, but when seen at its best it is second in 
beauty to no other dwarf hardy shrub we are acquainted 
with. Another dwarf flowering shrub of great merit is 
Erica mediterranea, which lasts a remarkably long 
time in bloom. Prunus triloba is very useful for 
forcing, and being very beautiful, deserves to be more 
widely cultivated than it is. Of Magnolia conspicua 
we have some very lively recollections, dating back a 
longer period than we sometimes care to think about. 
It is appropriately named, for the specimens we have 
in mind might well be called conspicuous. It was then 
some 20 ft. in height and wide in proportion, and when 
laden, as it frequently was in early spring, with its 
massive white blooms, they looked like so many birds’ 
eggs attached by some means to the points of the shoots. 
This is one of those grand old shrubs we seldom see in 
good condition. — IV. B. G. 
-*>£<—-- 
SYDENHAM'S IMPROVED LAY- 
ERING-PIN. 
We have much pleasure in introducing to the notice of 
our readers an improved layering-pin, which has been 
put into commerce by Mr. Robert Syden¬ 
ham, of Tenby Street, Birmingham, and 
which promises to become an indispens¬ 
able garden requisite, on account of its 
utility and cheapness. As shown in the 
accompanying illustration, the pin is 
made in two patterns ; the double-looped 
one being intended for the strongest 
layers. They are made of galvanised 
wire, and the ring-handle at the top 
makes the pin much easier to use, while 
not being so liable to cut or poison the 
fiDger, as in the ordinary home-made 
wire pins. The handle also shows where 
the pin is when in use, so that it can 
easily be taken out when the rooted 
layers have to be removed, and thus 
obviate much of the damage done by 
cutting or breaking the roots while 
searching for the ordinary hair-pin. 
The double-looped pin has a great 
advantage over the single one inasmuch as it has a 
stronger grip of the layer, and is not so liable to break 
the shoots when layering. Of course, the new pin is 
not intended solely for use when layering Carnations 
and Picotees ; it is equally useful for pegging down 
Pansies, Verbenas, and other things. The price of the 
pins per hundred is, we understand, 9d. for the single, 
and Is. for the double-loop. 
- -- 
GRAPE THINNING. 
The most tedious and delicate operation in connection 
with fruit growing is, unquestionably, Grape thinning, 
and it would be difficult to mention one of greater 
importance, for where the production of fine, well- 
finished bunches is aimed at, the paramount importance 
of carrying out the thinning skilfully and carefully is 
undeniable. It takes a long time, which must be 
afforded, so as to have it well done. A novice may do 
much to mar the beauty of the crop by roughly 
handling the bunches, bruising the tender skin of 
the berries, and so producing rust. We mention this 
as one cause of rust, though it is by no means the only 
one. Thinning is just one of those operations which 
requires a considerable amount of practice to perform it 
skilfully and expeditiously. A novice who is anxious 
as to the number of berries to retain on a bunch will 
take them singly, and for beginners this is advisable ; 
but an old hand will often take from a bunch of 
Hamburghs two and three at a time, though to do this a 
steady hand and a quick eye are requisite. 
We have sometimes seen suggestions as to what can 
be done with the Grapes taken out in the thinning, 
some suggesting wine, and others Grape jelly, which, if 
well made, is excellent, and a third recommended their 
use in tarts, but we think few will give them a second 
trial. Our own contention is that they ought never to 
be available for either purpose, because to allow the 
berries to become large enough for use is a great waste 
of the energies of the Vine, which should all be utilised 
in the perfecting of the crop, and maturing of the wood 
for the coming season. Thinning should be begun 
when the Vines are out of flower, and sometimes 
before, so that all their fruit-producing energies can 
be thrown into the crop retained. Black Hamburghs 
being the most extensively grown, it may be of service 
to amateurs and others to observe that in thinning 
these, two-thirds of the berries can be safely removed at 
the first going over, and in some instances rather more. 
In thinning out, keep an eye on the symmetry of the 
bunch, and if there are any growths that would make 
it unshapely remove them at once. This severe 
thinning is often commented upon by those who are 
strangers to it, but if it be remembered that when ripe 
the berries should be at least 1 in. in diameter, it will 
readily be seen that unless the thinning is well done 
there will not be room to allow the berries to expand 
to their full size. 
Black Alicante and other close-setting varieties may 
be partially thinned before the flowers open ; this will 
lead to greater economy of labour, and those which have 
smaller berries (such as the Royal Muscadine) must 
be left closer than others. There are two great 
mistakes frequently made in Grape thinning, and 
sometimes a third. The first is leaving the berries too 
thickly set in the bunches, and the second, leaving too 
many bunches on the Vines. Instances of the latter, 
perhaps, are not so frequently seen, for many who reduce 
the number of bunches to something near an adequate 
proportion to the strength of the Vine, lack either the 
nerve or patience to reduce the number of berries to the 
required extent to ensure fine fruit. Some few will 
overstep the bounds of prudence and remove too 
many berries, the result of which is loose, straggly 
bunches, which cannot properly be dished up when cut 
for dessert, but fall open and roll about on the dish, 
suggesting the idea that an attempt had been made to 
cut off all the berries, a few being left by chance ; 
happily, instances of this kind are comparatively 
rare. 
Overcropping is a serious evil, detrimental to the fruit 
the Vines are carrying, and exhaustive of the energies 
of the canes, so that they can neither mature fruit nor 
produce firm, well-ripened wood with fruitful plump 
eyes for the next season’s crop. The reduction of the 
number of bunches should be set about at the earliest 
possible period after the fruit is set, if not done before, 
seldom leaving more than one to a spur. If this is 
much exceeded, the results are detrimental both to the 
crop and the health and longevity of the Vines.— 
W. B. G. 
-- 
USEFUL TOWN SHRUBS. 
The Flow t ering Currant (Ribes sanguineum). Too 
much praise can hardly be bestowed on this handsome, 
free-flowering shrub, for the planting of town gardens 
and shrubberies. There it succeeds in a most com¬ 
mendable way, flowering with the greatest freedom 
even after a dry, hot, and otherwise tryiDg season to 
plant life generally. In early spring it breaks out 
fresh and strong, seeming as if stimulated by the 
noxious fumes of the impure town atmosphere. Well 
planted at first it rarely fails, striking out its roots far 
and wide, and soon becoming a dense, pleasantly- 
habited shrub of medium proportions. Then what can 
surpass it for quantity, colour, and lasting quality of 
its showy flowers, for ease of culture, or rapidity with 
which it can be propagated? 
Skimmia Japonica is another low-growing shrub 
that I have seen doing well, even in the heart of our 
great metropolis. Smoke or other impurities of the 
town atmosphere do not seem to affect it in the least, 
for it grows quite as quickly, and produces just as 
healthy-looking foliage when subjected to such as I 
have found it to do in the nursery on the hillside. For 
beauty of flowers it is not remarkable, but as a 
handsome berry-bearing shrub it can well hold its own 
with any other of my acquaintance. A north aspect 
and half-peaty soil would seem to suit its requirements 
to perfection. Even the colour of foliage—a dark, 
almost black-green—seems suited for smoky localities. 
The Snowy Mespilus (Amelanchier botryapium), 
with its racemes of pure white flowers and desirable 
outline, is another shrub of which too much can hardly 
