310 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Jan. 17th, 1885. 
that were kept on the wet side. A kind of intermediate 
state of moisture suits them best. After the plants 
have fairly well filled their flowering-pots with roots, 
they are greatly benefited by some kind of weak liquid 
manure. It adds greatly to both the size and 
substance of the flowers, and also assists the spikes to 
rise well up above the foliage, which is a very 
important matter, as the higher the flower-spike rises 
up the better it shows itself off. I consider this is the 
true indication of good culture, and the object which 
every grower should keep in view. 
Where it is desirable to save one’s own seed some of 
the best plants should be set aside for that purpose. 
The plan we usually follow is to pick out the best and 
healthiest plants, taking both size and colour of 
the flower into consideration, and place them upon a 
shelf or stage where they can get plenty of light and 
air, and be attended to with water the same as if the 
plants were in the conservatory, and -not dried and 
roasted, as is sometimes done. The pods of seeds are 
picked off as they ripen. The best and greatest 
quantity of seeds I ever saw obtained from an equal 
number of plants was collected by Mr. Pratt, of 
Longleat, when gardener at Hawkstone. After the 
plants had served their purpose for decoration, they 
were turned into a cold frame upon a bed of ashes, 
and well attended to with water. In the month of 
June the lights were totally removed, and they well 
repaid our trouble, which was only the watering, and 
airing for a month previous to the removal of the 
lights. 
For cutting purposes, the double varieties supersede 
the single ones, as they are well adapted for button¬ 
hole and bouquet making, for which purpose they are 
largely in demand in the market at the present tune. 
Where the family resides some time in London and 
cut flowers have to be sent from the country seat, 
Double Primulas should be extensively grown, as they 
travel better than most flowers. Like the single 
varieties, of late years a great many fine new sorts 
have come into circulation, but I must confess that I 
am only] acquainted with the older ones. The old 
Double White when well grown is as goodjas anything 
I know, but although very common, it seldom receives 
that amount of attention and good cultivation which its 
intrinsic worth merits. When properly treated, how¬ 
ever, it not only forms an attractive plant, but is also 
equally as serviceable for decorative purposes as the 
single. 
The double Primulas are not like the single 
varieties, raised annually from seeds, but are propa¬ 
gated by cuttings or division of the shoots after they 
have done flowering. The shoots are cut off with a 
heel, and placed singly in thumb-pots and tied loosely 
to a small stake. They are then plunged in a 
moderately brisk bottom heat of about 80 degs. or so, 
but not in too moist an atmosphere, or they will 
probably damp off. The compost that should be used 
is composed of one half loam and one half leaf-mould, 
with plenty of fine sharp sand. As soon as the 
cuttings are well rooted, they should be potted into 
3-in. and 4-in. pots, according to the size and 
condition of the plants, using a compost of two parts 
of loam and one of leaf-mould, with plenty of sand and 
a little charcoal dust. They should be placed in 
a gentle heat of about 60 degs.—but not plunged— 
where a little air can be given, and the plants be well 
shaded from the sun’s rays. As the plants get 
established more air can be given, and when ready to 
shift they should be potted into 6-in. pots, which is 
the largest size I would recommend, using the same 
compost as previously recommended. Some culti¬ 
vators recommend that a little rotten cow-dung be 
mixed with the soil, but as there is always the possi¬ 
bility of a little white maggot being in the cow-dung, 
which is very fond of the Primula, and which eats its 
way up the centre of the stem, causing the plant to 
flag, until it gradually loses its hold of the soil, I 
cannot recommend its use. I remember once having a 
batch of nine dozen plants under my charge which all 
at once started to flag, from what cause we could not 
understand until we came to examine the roots, when 
we found as many as three and four of these maggots 
inside the stem. Out of the nine dozen we only 
managed to keep two and a half dozen through the 
winter. Since that time I have been very careful 
about using cow-dung. 
The Double Primula requires an intermediate 
temperature for the proper development of the 
blossoms, and they are also greatly benefited by weak 
soot-water applied once or twice a week. The 
watering should be carefully attended to, the plants at 
no time being allowed to get too dry, nor yet be kept 
too wet. 
- :T— ;! _ ■ ; -<> ?_U- — 
THE CULTURE OF MELONS. 
In order to be able to cut ripe Melons the first week 
in May, the seeds of such excellent varieties as Cox’s 
Golden Gem, High Cross Hybrid, and Blenheim 
Orange should be sown at once singly in 3-in. pots 
half filled with fine loam and leaf soil, covered lightly 
with some of the same compost, and then plunged to 
the rim in sawdust in a box, about 3 ft. long, 10 ins. 
wide, and 6 ins. deep, placed over the front hot-water 
pipes in a forcing-house, or any other suitable place, 
and covered with glass until the seedlings appear, 
when they should be removed to a shelf near the 
glass, to prevent them from becoming drawn. Top- 
dress them with soil about the same temperature as 
that in which the little plants are growing when they 
have made a couple of inches of growth, taking care 
in doing so not to injure the stems, which, at this 
stage of growth, are liable to sustain injury from the 
slightest pressure of the hand. In the meantime, the 
bed in which the plants are intended to be fruited 
should be got in readiness. 
A suitable house for the production of early Melons, 
is a low, span-roofed structure, running east and west, 
and having narrow borders, about 2 ft. wide, and the 
same in depth, with hot-water pipes underneath for 
supplying bottom-heat, and screw valves for regulating 
it, on either side the pathway. If such a house is 
available, the 3 ins. or 4 ins. thick of brick-rubble 
forming the drainage over the pipes should be seen 
to, and, if necessary, re-arranged. This done, place 
over it about 16 ins. thick of long manure, just 
as it is received from the stables, treading it firmly 
together, and over it put a couple of inches thick of 
rotten manure, after which the mounds, consisting of a 
light, rich fibry loam, should be made one foot deep in 
the centre and at 3 ft. apart along the centre of the 
beds. At the same time cover the intervening and 
surrounding space with a couple of inches thick of the 
same soil, which will absorb and retain the ammonia 
emanating from the fermenting manure underneath. 
But should the loam at hand be of a stiff, adhesive, 
and poor nature, one-fourth of old lime rubble and 
horse-droppings should be added and well incorporated 
with it before forming the hillocks. 
After the mounds have been made a day or two, to 
allow of the soil becoming slightly warmed, the plants, 
while moist at the roots, and before the latter have 
become pot-bound, should be turned carefully out of 
the pots, so as to disturb the roots as little as possible 
in planting them on the mounds. The soil should be 
pressed moderately firm about the roots, and afterwards 
be watered with tepid water to settle it. A stick 
sufficiently long to allow of the bed subsiding 9 ins. 
or 10 ins. within three weeks or a month from that 
date should next be put to each plant for support, 
and, for the present, tied loosely to the first wire of 
the trellis, which should not be nearer to the glass 
than 15 ins., so that soil, plants, and supports may 
all subside together. Shade the plants from bright 
sunshine until the roots have taken well to the fresh 
soil, after which it should be discontinued. 
Damp the plants overhead, and the walls and path 
generally morning and afternoon on bright days, to 
promote a genial atmosphere in the house, and at the 
same time to prevent red-spider from attacking the 
plants; and ventilate freely during favourable weather 
to secure a short-jointed consolidated growth in the 
plants. As the roots protrude through the sides of 
the hillocks, add a couple of inches of the same 
compost as that in which the plants are growing, 
and continue to make such additions until the 
intervening space is filled with soil, lea-sung, however, 
the base of the plants and the soil some 6 ins. 
higher than that between the plants to prevent the 
stems and the soil immediately surrounding them 
from getting too damp by the lodgment of water. 
Training the Plants. —Do not stop the leading 
shoots until they have nearly reached the top wire 
of the trellis, the object being to secure an equal set 
of fruit, and distribution of the same over the plants. 
This can be easily accomplished by pinching out 
the first flowers that show on the laterals proceeding 
from the base of the individual plants, and afterwards 
trained to the first set of wires. Thus treated, the 
plants will produce side shoots from the base of each 
leaf-stalk the entire length of the stem, and in the 
production of which the latter will thicken consider¬ 
ably, and so form a large rapid channel of communi¬ 
cation between root and leaf, a fact the value of 
which cannot well be over-estimated. Train the 
shoots thinly over the trellis, and stop them when 
they have made two or three joints of growth. 
When five or six flowers are open on a plant, 
impregnate them when the pollen is dry with a 
small camel’s hair brush in the ordinary way. 
Stop the fruit-bearing shoots at one joint beyond 
the fruit, and when it can be seen which fruits are 
going to swell, remove all superfluous fruit from the 
plants, leaving from four to six—according to the 
variety and the strength of the plants—of the most even¬ 
sized and best placed fruits on each plant for a crop, 
after which all superfluous growths should be removed, 
and be afterwards kept persistently pinched out 
so as to prevent anything like over-crowding of the 
shoots. 
The syringe should be withheld from the plants 
when they are in flower as well as when the fruit 
are approaching maturity, and during both these 
stages of growth the atmosphere must be kept rather 
dry and airy. Give copious supplies of tepid diluted 
liquid manure to the plants when swelling their fruit, 
and should green or black-fly get the mastery of the 
syringe, fumigate lightly with tobacco paper a couple 
of evenings in succession, and ventilate somewhat 
freely the following day, weather permitting. A 
night temperature of 70 degs. should be aimed at, 
and 5 degs. higher by day, with fire, running up 
10 degs. or 15 degs. higher, with sun-heat and plenty 
of atmospheric moisture at closing time, which, like 
that of putting on air, should be determined by the 
season and condition of the weather at the time. 
Air, however, should be put on when the temperature 
has reached 80 degs. in the morning, and taken ofl in 
the afternoon when it has declined to 85 degs.—say 
at from two to half-past three.— H. IF. Ward. 
NATIONAL ROSE SOCIETY. 
At the late annual meeting of this Society, the new 
bye-laws which had been prepared by the executive 
committee were, after some discussion, carried 
unanimously. The first rule recites that the Society 
shall be known as the National Rose Society, and the 
second that it shall consist of members paying an 
annual subscription of 10s. or £1, at their discretion. 
The third, fourth, and fifth rules deal with the election 
of officers, the alteration of bye-laws, and the time of 
holding the annual meeting. By the sixth rule the 
general committee is limited to forty members, 
exclusive of the officers and the local secretaries, who 
are to be ex officio members of the committee. The 
members are to be elected by ballot at the annual 
meeting, and one-half of them are to retire according 
to seniority each year, but to be eligible for re-election. 
By the seventh rule the general committee is to meet 
twice annually, in November for making arrangements 
for holding the annual meeting, and in January for 
the election of the executive committee, which, by the 
eighth rule, is limited to eighteen members, of which 
not less than five will be required to form a quorum. 
The ninth rule states that all members are to receive 
a copy of any publications issued by the Society, as 
soon as published, and to be allowed to exhibit at the 
Society’s Shows. Members paying £1 are to be 
entitled to six tickets, and those paying 10s. to half 
that number. The tenth and three following rules 
govern the affiliation of local societies. Local Rose or 
Horticultural Societies may become affiliated on 
payment of a fee of 10s. 6 d., provided a sum of no; 
less than £15. is offered in prizes for Roses, and the 
sanction of the executive committee is obtained to the 
affiliation. Societies that have become affiliated are 
to be allowed to offer for competition the medals of 
the National Rose Society, which medals may be 
obtained for the following charges, namely—Gold 
medal, £2 ; silver gilt medal, 12s.; silver medal, 10s.; 
and bronze medal, 3s. 6d. No medal is to be awarded 
by an affiliated society for any seedling Rose, or for 
any decoration or vase of flowers. 
i 
