183 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
November 23, 1889. 
these Vines had been stopped at a certain distance by- 
means of a brick wall, and it was thought proper to 
lift them, it is evident at once that if carefully done, 
they could have been lifted and a good portion of the 
most useful feeding parts saved, and the results would 
have been more satisfactory. 
Of course, there are instances where the roots of 
Vines have been allowed to ramble at will, and good 
and permanent results have been secured ; but this can 
easily be accounted for. If the soil in the immediate 
locality be naturally rich, and well drained, either 
artificially or with a good porous sub-soil, Vines will 
perhaps do well ; but even in such cases as these it is 
better to have the roots under restriction, as we then 
know where they are, and can feed, mulch, water, and 
protect at will. How often do we see Vines under the 
non-restrictive root system where the borders are heavily 
mulched during the winter months, but the young roots 
and feeding portions are far beyond the border, and 
with no protection. It has been recommended to make 
a plantation of Asparagus in front of the Vine border 
where the Vine roots would no doubt receive their 
winter mulching ; but it is not always convenient to do 
this, and although this seems at first sight to be a good 
idea, especially if the beds are well made and heavily 
manured, yet it is evident that once the roots have 
got away to long distances all control is lost over them, 
and should the Grapes deteriorate in quantity or 
quality it is not so easy to treat with them. It is 
universally admitted that under most conditions heavy 
soaking with water during the summer months greatly 
benefits the Vine, and here again, it is quite evident 
that if we know where the roots of the Vine are we 
can more readily give them the water they require. 
When the soil in the immediate locality of the Vine 
border is poor, cold or wet, Grapes will not do well, 
unless the borders are properly made and the roots con¬ 
fined within them, as, should they penetrate through 
into such soils, the effect would soon be seen in the 
produce—shanking, shrivelling, bad colour and flavour 
would be the result. Growing the Vine with inside 
borders alone has its advocates, and is sometimes well 
done, but when this practice is carried out, it is 
necessary to frequently renew the soil, as it is not so 
much exposed to the sweetening influences of the sun and 
air as the outside border. I had occasion lately to root 
out some Vines which were planted inside the house, 
with fair borders both inside and out, but I found very 
few roots inside ; they seemed to prefer the outside, 
as no doubt the conditions were much sweeter, and 
they were attracted thither in consequence. This 
practice would probably find more favour with those 
who prefer to work with young Vines. If a choice were 
given me between an outside and an inside border, and 
longevity and permanence the conditions, I should prefer 
the outside border. Sometimes we have no choice, and 
under certain conditions there is only the outside to 
make use of. I hope some other of your readers will 
give us the results of their practice and observations, as 
it cannot fail to be interesting.— Alfred Gaut, The 
Gardens, BeruicJc, Shrewsbury. 
--— 
FLORAL DECORATIONS. 
( Continued from p. 166.,) 
The Value of Foliage. 
In floral arrangements with plants, we have alluded to 
the use of more foliage material. This is a point that 
should be well considered, and a stock suitable to each 
case be worked up. Before coming to Gunnersbury 
House, it was my good fortune to have as part of my 
charge as fine a conservatory as any gardener could 
desire. It was laid out in beds, with a fountain in the 
centre ; these beds were planted with fine-foliaged 
plants, Palms of noble proportions, Dracaenas, Yuccas, 
Agaves, and Aralias, with tree Ferns as permanent 
plants. Here and there among these we employed 
small plants in flower, planted in every possible case 
so as to correspond with the other plants. This did 
not take many flowering plants, but every one stood 
out distinctly. On one side, where the side of the 
house was of glass, we had a narrow staging over the 
pipes ; this used to be filled with smaller plants in 
flower, with Ferns at intervals, but not overcrowded. 
Every plant in the house could be seen to the best 
advantage, with a consequent saving of material to keep 
up the supply. The gardener who has a conservatory 
under his charge, with nothing but pot plants in it, 
and those chiefly of a floral character, deserves to be 
pitied, if he has to keep it as bright and effective 
as possible. The foliage plants themselves, if in pots, 
rarely look so well when kept in the conservatory for a 
long time, often the year round. They do not grow to 
such noble proportions, with a corresponding healthy 
appearance. In decorations with plants, those of fine 
foliage should consist of such as are known to be of 
a permanent and enduring character. Many of the 
best suited are well-known plants to most of us. Among 
Palms we have the various species of Kentias, Cham- 
serops, Phcenix, and Seaforthias ; the green-leaved 
Dractenas, both with broad and narrow foliage, the 
hardier of the Aralias, the Agaves, the Yuccas, and 
Dasylirions, all being plants of distinct character, and 
suited for specimens. But more is needed ; we want a 
good stock of Aspidistra lurida variegata, Asplenium 
bulbiferum, Ficus, and other good kinds of the same 
family; the hardier kinds of Pteris, chiefly P. serrulata, 
P. tromula, and P. cretica ; and Eurya latifolia varie¬ 
gata, a most accommodating subject. These are all 
useful in a small state, and often save flowering plants 
from rapidly going wrong, by reason of the bad position 
in which they have to be placed. Especially is this the 
case with plants in small pots where far removed from 
the light. 
Plants Used in|Rooms. 
A word is necessary here respecting plants that are 
used in the rooms of the house itself. All conceivable 
positions are in some cases selected ; the fire-place, for 
instance, is not overlooked, where the plants must be 
far removed from the light. The other extreme has 
sometimes to be avoided to save the plants from harm, 
for where a plant stands near the window it will often 
get more fresh air than is good for it during the cold 
season of the year, especially in the early morning, 
when sweeping operations, &e., are being carried on, 
with the window thrown up or wide open. No wonder 
plants under such conditions do not thrive—the wonder 
would be if they did. In all available instances I prefer 
to change plants in the house every day, dinner-table 
plants in particular, to give vaiiety and to keep up the 
interest we like our employers to take in the products 
of the garden. If the plants cannot be changed every 
day, at least three times in the week is necessary to 
preserve their health fairly well ; some few kinds are 
of a more enduring character, and may, if needful, 
remain a little longer. No plant should be used for 
the foregoing purposes that is not well established, and 
its pot full of roots ; especially does this refer to small 
stove plants, which are often employed with great 
advantage. Where the roots have not taken well hold 
of the soil there is a great danger of injury to them ; 
the moisture in the soil cannot be so readily assimilated, 
and consequently the plant suffers more than it would 
otherwise do, for the greater the amount of moisture 
surrounding the roots the colder will it become. 
Small Foliage Plants. 
I am of opinion that more may be made of small foliage 
plants than has hitherto been done from amongst the 
many kinds in cultivation at the present time. The 
Crotons now afford a great variety, both in form of 
leafage and in colour ; so also do the Dracaenas and 
several other genera. Of dwarf-growing plants we have 
the Fittonias, Sonerilas, and Cydoneura fulgens. 
These and many other plants can be turned to good 
account in a small state, especially the smaller kinds 
of the exotic Ferns, even when in thumb pots. The 
chief point to be aimed at in plants of this kind and 
for using in the house is to get them as good as 
possible in small pots, well developed in their charac¬ 
ters. Plants as shown in competition for prizes 
offered for table plants are generally staged of a uniform 
size, and those that come nearest to this standard often 
win. But why should they ? 
(To be continued.) 
-- 
THE RACEMOSE-FLOWERED 
ST. PETER'S WORT. 
The Common St. Peter’s Wort is Symphoriearpos 
vulgaris, but the subject under notice—namely, S. 
racemosus—is by far the most common in this country, 
and the Common St. Peter’s Wort would be a more 
fitting appellation for it on that account. No doubt 
the plant is best known in gardens under the name of 
the Snowberry, a title which is appropriate enough on 
account of the white colour of the fruit. The bushes 
are now laden, and apparently more so than they have 
been for the past year or two. The shrub has the 
additional recommendation that birds do not seem to 
attack the berries unless hard pressed for food, so that 
they hang on the bushes during greater part of the 
winter. They are, moreover, not very tempting beyond 
their colour, being rather soft and spongy in texture, 
and comparatively without juice. 
When allowed to grow naturally it forms a bushy 
much-branched shrub from 4 ft. to 6 ft. in height, 
flowering during the summer months—say in July and 
August—or in a somewhat desultory manner till 
September. The flowers are of a pale rosy white, 
curiously bearded in the throat, anl are produced in 
shortly racemose clusters near the apex of the branches, 
but are so small as to be comparatively insignificant. 
The plant is therefore chiefly ornamental on account of 
its berries. The habit is so close and bushy, and the 
leaves small, resembling those of some species of Privet, 
that it might well be employed as a substitute in many 
cases where the former is admissible. As a screen it 
is highly suitable when allowed to grow freely, but 
where a close and regularly pruned hedge is wanted 
something else should be selected, because its natural 
habit is rather lax, and if trimmed with the shears 
would lose half its charm in the absence of fruit. 
In game coverts it might more often be planted, on 
account of its rambling habit and the large amount of 
suckers which it throws up. These suckers, when 
growing vigorously, often exhibit a curious dimorphism, 
similar to what occurs in Lonicera flexuesa, another 
member of the same order. The leaves are normally 
entire throughout the order, but in the two instances 
mentioned some are more or less sinuately lobed, 
resembling those of au Oak. On account of this pecu¬ 
liarity in Symphoriearpos racemosus, two other specific 
names have been given to specimens presenting it. 
The plant is often excluded from small gardens 
because of its habit of throwing up suckers that mono¬ 
polise a large amount of space. Nurserymen who grow 
it for sale might improve it by grafting on some of the 
erect-growing species of Lonicera, such as L. xylosteum, 
for then it would assume the form of a miniature 
standard tree, without the attendant suckers produced 
when on its own roots. It would then be suitable for 
planting in villa and other gardens of limited extent, 
much in the same way as a standard Rose is grown, or 
as they grow Lantanas and Plumbago capensis in the 
gardens and parks of Paris during the summer months. 
"When grown in this wa 3 r , either in groups or isolated 
on the grass, they are indeed handsome.— Taxus. 
-- 
Gardening Notes from Ireland. 
A Few Special Features at the Waterford 
Winter Show. 
The fruit, vegetable and farm produce were strong 
features of this show, which, were the mind of the 
country less fixedly set on more exciting subjects, should 
be an annual event of still more importance. The 
buzz of excitement during the day was, however, chiefly 
around the Chrysanthemums, especially the cut-flower 
stands, where two of our most successful Irish growers 
were pitted against each other in the incurved and 
Japanese classes—Mr. John Crehan, Minella, Clonmel, 
for Mrs. Malcolmson, and Mr. Hugh Crawford, for 
Captain Raymond de la Poer, Kilcronagh, Waterford. 
Ultimately the first and second prizes went in the order 
named, after careful “pointing,” by two points only, 
in the stands for twelve blooms of Japanese. Captain 
de la Poer laboured under the disadvantage of having 
exhibited in Dublin on the previous day, where he 
won in every class he competed in. 
Amy Furze. —Captain de la Poer’s blooms in the 
reflexed class would easily have been first had the 
judges not have noticed that in his stand were two 
splendid blooms of this beautiful variety, which—the 
National Chrysanthemum Society having placed it in 
the retlexed Japanese class—they considered inadmissi¬ 
ble and ruled accordingly ; Captain de la Poer pro¬ 
tested, and pointed out that they had not been objected 
to in Dublin. I see the judges acted similarly at the 
National Show at the Aquarium on the 12th and 13th 
inst.; would the Editor kindly Isay if the decision was 
accurate ? Manifestly an exhibitor of ordinary reflexed 
blooms would have no chance if reflexed Japanese could 
be shown against him. [The judges were perfectly 
justified in disqualifying Captain de la Poer’s stand. 
Amy Furze belongs to the Japanese reflexed class, and 
is therefore not admissible in a competition for ordinary 
reflexed varieties. If the flowers were passed in Dublin 
the judging was at fault.— Ed.] 
A Supposed Hybrid. —In the Japanese class two 
blooms, said to have been grown in a pot labelled Mrs. 
Beale, and shown by the Hon. Dudley Fortescue 
(gardener, Mr. J. A. Calthorpe), were exhibited, and 
excited the admiration of all who saw them. They 
were very large, a violet-rose shading to white and 
beautifully reflexed, in no way resembling the above- 
named variety. They were obtained from Mr. Henry 
Cannell, of Swanley, and one was sent to him for his 
opinion. 
