THE GARDENING WORLD 
July 9, 1892 
708 
REDLEAF. 
Redleaf is one of those historic old gardens that 
should possess a peculiar interest to the members of 
the National Chrysanthemum Society who may visit 
it on the 22nd, for at a very early date in the annals 
of this popular flower it was grown there with con- 
siderab’e success. Upwards of 70 years ago Read- 
leaf was occupied by a Mr. Wm. Wells, an ardent 
horticulturist, who, it may easily be imagined, was 
not slow to add some plants of the then almost 
newly discovered autumn flower to his collections. 
His gardener's name was Joseph Wells, and it is in 
a great measure to him that we owe the rational 
culture of the Chrysanthemum, because, previous to 
his discoveries as to its wants, the flower was treated 
in a very curious way viewed from our present 
stand-point. 
For years prior to 1821, the orthodox method of 
cultivation was to take cuttings from the side 
branches in August, plant them in shallow pans in a 
warm shaded spot, and cover them with a hand¬ 
glass. In a month or six weeks the cuttings were 
rooted and shifted into 6o-pots, then placed in a 
warm situation until November, when they were 
placed in a frame for the winter. About the end of 
April the young plants were repotted into 32’s and set 
out in a well sheltered border for the summer. When 
the buds began to form, which was usually about the 
beginning of October, the plants were housed and 
rotected from wind, rain, and frost. 
This was entirely altered by the gardener at 
Redleaf, who took cuttings in May or early in June 
and succeeded in getting his plants to bloom the 
same year. Mr. Joseph Wells only allowed three 
shoots to grow on a plant, and when they began to 
show for bloom thinned out the buds the same as we 
should do now. In December 1821 he published a 
full account of his proceedings and said he had 
adopted it for three seasons. His plants were 
occasionally watered with rich liquid manure, a 
practice commenced by him that season at the 
suggestion of a Chinese, who informed him that it 
was constantly employed in the cultivation of that 
plant in China. 
Mr. Wells’ method of cultivation was afterwards 
very generally adopted with the exception that the 
cuttings were taken a little earlier than he recom¬ 
mended, and five years later Mr. Joseph Sabine, the 
secretary of the Horticultural Society of London, 
said that the great improvement that had then taken 
place in the cultivation of the Chrysanthemum was 
due to the information communicated by Mr. Wells. 
Although Redleaf has undergone many a change 
since those old times, yet the lesson that was taught 
there in the second decade of the century has not 
been forgotten but still further improved upon, and 
the members of the N. C. S. at their annual outing 
will no doubt bs interested in knowing the above 
facts.— P. 
■ --* 
HOW TO PRESERVE 
FRUITS. 
An American lady who appears to be well informed 
on this subject, states that it is important when dry¬ 
ing fruit not only that it shall be sound and of good 
quality, but also that it shall be quickly prepared 
and rapidly dried. When all moisture is expelled it 
will keep for years in a dry place. One method of 
drying is to cook the fruit a long time, reducing it 
as nearly as possible to a paste; spreading this in 
thin sheets and drying in the-sun or by evaporation. 
When free from moisture this fruit can be packed in 
boxes and will keep indefinitely. Another process 
of drying is to cook the fruit for a long time with 
sugar and water, and then partially dry it. In this 
case the sugar is largely the preservative agent, and 
the drying goes on only until no syrup drips. Then 
the fruit is packed closely in boxes or jars and will 
keep well in any climate ; hardening, of course, 
when exposed to the air for a considerable period. 
This fruit is ready for use at any time, but is more of 
a confection than a sauce. 
The more modern process, and by far the most 
useful and healthful, is that of canning. The 
destruction of germs and the exclusion of air are the 
principles upon which canning is based. The article 
to be preserved is cooked for a short time and then 
put in jars from which the air has been expelled by 
heating them to the boiling point. They are then 
sealed, and when cold are set in a cool, dark place. 
If all the conditions be right the fruit will keep for an 
unlimited number of years, and when opened will be 
found to have nearly all the freshness and aroma of 
newly-gathered fruit. Now, this is true of the 
majority of fruits, but not of all. The Strawberry 
subjected to this process, will come out a pale, 
spongy, insipid thing, whereas the Raspberry seems 
to have its colour, flavour and odour intensified. If, 
however, a generous amount of sugar be added to 
the Strawberry in cooking, it will retain its shape, 
colour and flavour. It is an error to attempt to can 
this berry without sugar or with only a small 
amount. 
Some fruits can be canned without heat or sugar. 
The jar should be packed full of the fruit and then 
placed under a faucet, having the water run in 
rapidly for a moment, that all the air in the jar be 
displaced ; then sealed and put away in a cool dark 
place. Perhaps not many kinds of fruit would keep 
if put up in this manner. Certainly I should have 
no expectation of success with juicy fruit of any 
kind. I have, however, been successful with 
Rhubarb. Green Gooseberries and some kinds of 
Plums can be preserved in this manner. It is a 
question with me if the acid in these fruits does not 
have a good deal to do with the keeping quality. 
FICUS ELASTICA. 
This is one of the most popular plants for a window 
or hall table that we have. It has a stately and 
majestic appearance, is very easily grown, and re¬ 
tains its healthy character for many years if afforded 
reasonable attention. Now there are India rubber 
plants and India rubber plants ; some have been 
pushed up as quickly as possible in order to get a 
market plant of saleable size in as short a period as 
can be managed. Although these plants have a very 
taking and healthy appearance at first, they very 
soon show signs of the tropical existence they have 
hitherto experienced in the forcing heat of a stove 
temperature. 
What the majority of my readers require are 
plants that have been grown on in an ordinary green¬ 
house or conservatory for some six or twelve months 
before they purchase them. Such are more hardy 
and will consequently thrive much better under 
dwelling house treatment than those removed direct 
from a moist and growing temperature that was fully 
twenty to thirty degrees in excess of that you would 
naturally desire in a dwelling room. As a little guide 
to purchasers, I may point out that the foliage of a 
"hard” grown and consequently hardier plant of 
this popular Ficus is of a much paler green, stiffer, 
and more rigid altogether, and not so large as the 
leaves of a highly-forced subject. Choose a plant 
that is clothed with foliage to the bottom, and with 
the sheath of the unexpanded leaf in a healthy state, 
but not too succulent and sappy. When purchased 
the plant is almost certain to be clean, and if you are 
to succeed with it for any length of time it must be 
kept so. 
Insect pests do not trouble the India rubber plant 
to any great extent ; and the few spongings that will 
be necessary to cleanse the foliage from dust will 
generally speaking be quite enough to keep the plants 
free of all insect enemies. India rubber plants are 
of slow growth, and with very stout and leathery 
leaves. In all such instances it is more than ever 
necessary to keep the pores of the leaves open and 
clean, so that the plants may feed upon the atmos¬ 
phere. Plant life, especially those of slow growth 
and thick foliage, is in many respects very similar to 
animal life, that is, they require a medium treatment 
and great cleanliness, never going to either extreme. 
While advising the above treatment to a friend of 
mine in town a short time back, he replied, “ you 
say treat the plant as naturally as possible, and yet 
they never get washed with soap and water out of 
doors and when in their natural habitat.” Quite so, 
but they do receive a grand equivalent for the same 
in the rains and dews. A weak solution of soapy 
water, say at the rate of two ounces of soft soap to 
a gallon of water, is a grand cleanser for these plants. 
The Ficus elastica does not require a large pot 
compared to the size of the plant, and should there¬ 
fore not be shifted on too freely. Presuming then 
that the plant is in suitable compost when purchased, 
I would not repot it the first season. Older sub¬ 
jects may be repotted at once, great care being taken 
not to injure their fleshy and succulent roots, to use 
clean pots and potsherds, and to keep as nearly as 
possible to the same class of compost as they are 
already thriving in. For the help of any possessing 
a plant that does not thrive, I will name a compost 
that is very suitable for this plant. Spongy peat 
one-fourth, fibry loam one-fourth, leaf soil one 
fourth, the remaining part to be made up of well- 
decayed manure, broken charcoal, and coarse river 
sand. It is particularly essential that they be well 
drained, as the India-rubber plant requires a quan¬ 
tity of water, and must never be allowed to get into 
a stale or sodden state. 
Watering is a difficult subject to treat upon in any 
definite manner, as no hard and fast rule can be 
laid down, a plant often requiring as much during 
one day as would suffice for a week or two under 
other conditions of light, draught, and temperature 
Your aim must be to keep it in a fair state of moisture 
without allowing it to become unduly wet. I have 
seen plenty of plants that have not succeeded, but 
this can generally be traced to one of the three 
following causes : — An indifferent plant to commence 
with, one grown in stove heat and moved direct from 
thence to the purchaser ; inattention to watering ; 
too much pressure when cleaning the foliage, and 
consequent injury to the cuticle of the leaf, etc. 
Cold and cold draughts have a very injurious effect 
upon these plants. They should never have a 
temperature of less than 40° Fahrenheit, or more 
than go° during the heat of the summer season, if 
you are to keep them in health and in a suitable 
condition for room culture. 
Probably there is no plant more easily grown, or 
one that will give more general satisfaction as a 
room or window subject, than Ficus elastica. All it 
needs is a little care at the proper time, and to start 
with a plant of fairly robust and hardy constitution. 
— Experience. 
ON PACKING ROSES. 
Mr. John N. May, one of the most experienced of 
American Rose growers, considers that the proper 
packing of Roses is a matter of more importance 
than many suppose, particularly when the plants 
have to travel long distances, and in th e American 
Florist states that there are two main considerations 
to bear always in mind ; first, that the plants shall 
arrive at their destination in the best possible condi¬ 
tion, and second, that the package be as light as pos¬ 
sible, for the express companies now charge full 
first-class rates on all shipments of plants, and double 
first-class rates on any packed without a firm cover 
over them, as they claim such cases take much more 
room, as nothing can be placed on top of them. 
The style of packing most generally in use for this 
class of plants, is what is known in the trade as close, 
tight packing, and for all seasons excepting during 
very warm weather it is very much the best. Take 
boxes about the size required to hold the number of 
plants ordered ; but these should not as a rule be 
more than eight inches deep. If the weather should 
be very cold, carefully line it with two thicknesses of 
good stout paper, then a thickness of cotton wadding, 
covering this again with another stout course of 
paper, taking care that all joints are well overlapped. 
It is best to fold the sheets of paper so that each is 
slightly longer than the sides or ends, press them in 
close to the corners, then cover the bottom in the 
same way : this done, the box is ready to receive the 
plants ; these should first be wrapped singly in a 
piece of brown straw paper of suitable size, to go 
twice around the ball of earth and covering at least 
a part of the foliage. Commence placing a row of 
plants across the end of the box, with the tops facing 
toward the centre of the box ; place each ball as 
close to the next as possible without pressing the 
soil out of shape ; this done, commence another row 
across the box, laying them as closely to the first 
row as possible ; the paper which partly covers the 
foliage will protect it from injury. After placing two, 
three or four rows across, according to the size of 
the plants, commence the next row by reversing the 
plants, laying the tops over the balls of the last row 
and continue doing so until the whole layer is com¬ 
pleted, and should there be any small space at the 
finish not quite filled up, pack this light with a little 
moss, excelsior, or like material. Cover this bottom 
layer over thinly with the same class of material, 
then com m ence with the next layer at the same end 
the bottom layer was finished at, and pack exactly 
as the first was done, finishing off in the same way, 
and continue doing so until the box is quite full, 
which for two-inch stock will be about four layers of 
