394 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Feb. 21st, 18S5. 
Fruit Culture under Glass.—' Ves-erees contain¬ 
ing such varieties as Lady Downes, Black Alicante, 
Gros Moroc, Gros Guillaume, and Mrs. Pince’s Black 
Muscat, should now be started at a night temperature of 
50 degs., raising it 5 degs. to 10 degs. by day with fire- 
heat, and 10 degs. to 15 degs. higher with sun-heat, 
and plenty of atmospheric moisture at closing-time. 
Syringe the rods three times a day with tepid water 
until they burst their buds, when it should be discon¬ 
tinued, and the moisture necessary for the production 
of a growing atmosphere obtained by damping the 
paths and surface of the beds morning and afternoon 
at closing-time. Continue to give plenty of air to the 
late Hamburgh-house, so as to keep the vines as long 
as possible from pushing into growth. 
Strawberries. —The wet and cloudy weather which 
has prevailed during the last month has been most 
unfavourable to the setting, swelling, and ripening of 
Strawberries. In some cases the ripening fruits, 
though no moisture was distributed in the house other 
than that arising from the watering of the plants, and 
which the heat radiating from the hot-water pipes soon 
dried up, suffered from damp, which, arising from the 
wet soil in the pots, settled on the fruit during the 
night. But with an increase of light and a prospect of 
sunshine, better results should soon be forthcoming, 
Give plants swelling their fruit liberal supplies of 
weak, tepid liquid manure, and if there is any 
difficulty experienced in obtaining an adequate supply 
of the latter, Beeson’s Manure, at the rate of 3 lbs. to 
10 gallons of water will be productive of good results, 
but, as observed in a previous paper, this must not be 
poured indiscriminately over the leaves and fruit, as 
it would, like liquid manure, be liable to scar them, 
but should be poured in at the side of the pots, so as 
not to wet the fruits or crowns of the plants. MTien 
the fruits are set, reduce the number on each plant to 
ten or twelve of the best and most even-sized berries, 
and pinch out forthwith all flower-spikes that show on 
the plants afterwards, so as to concentrate the energies 
of each plant to the swelling and ripening of large 
fruits. Syringe the plants thoroughly overhead 
morning and afternoon, except when in flower and 
when the fruits are approaching, maturity, when a 
somewhat dry and airy atmosphere should be main¬ 
tained. There will be no difficulty in securing a good 
set of fruit now, if the hand is passed gently over the 
expanded flowers instead of a camel's-hair brush, as 
the flowers are larger and stronger as well as more 
plentiful than they have been hitherto this season.— 
H. TF. Ward. Longford Castle. 
Gascoyne's Seedling Apple.—“ A most beau¬ 
tiful red-cheeked Apple from East Eent, extremely 
handsome, and a great but not an early bearer.” 
Such is the brief description given by Messrs. G. 
Bunyard & Co., of an Apple that came prominently 
under our notice lately while looking over a collection 
of selected specimens of some hundred or more 
varieties in the fruit-room of Austin T. Killick, Esq., 
at Weavering, near Maidstone. Mr. Killick could 
give us no information as to its origin, but from Mr. 
George Bunyard we subsequently learnt that it was 
raised and grown largely by the gentleman whose 
name it bears, at Bapchild, near Sittingboume, and 
that it was also known as Glory of England, but we 
may say at once that it is not the sort described 
under the latter name in the last edition of The Fruit 
Manual. Its appearance is not unduly lauded by the 
words “ most beautiful,” and we can affirm that it is 
as good as it looks, so that it seems highly desirable 
to us that its merits should be made known beyond 
the bounds of “ The Garden of England.”' It is of the 
same size as Dumelow’s Seedling, has a skin of the 
same pale yellow colour, but with a beautiful flush of 
crimson on the side exposed to the sun. Like Dume¬ 
low’s Seedling, it is a good keeper, in excellent con¬ 
dition now, but unlike that variety which is valuable 
for culinary purposes only, Gascoyne’s Seedling is an 
excellently flavoured dessert fruit. Except in colour 
and flavour, it may be said to be the counterpart of 
Dumelow’s Seedling, and we advise those who have 
the one to grow the ther too. It is a fine free 
grower, never cankers, and a splendid bearer, pro¬ 
ducing all down its fruits at the tips of the shoots. 
An Apple with such credentials as this deserves to 
be widely known in the gardening world. 
Seasonable "Work in the Plant-houses.— 
Ferns will now require attention, they should all be 
gone through and re-potted or divided as they may 
require it. It is also a good time to sow spores of 
any kinds that are to be propagated in that way. Any 
old plants of Adiantum cuneatum that have been 
used for cutting from, and are too large for potting 
on, may be divided; that is, if the plants are 
healthy and throwing up good strong fronds, but 
where the old plants have become weakly, it will be 
better to discard them and grow on young plants. As 
A. Farleyense can only be propagated by division, 
care must be taken that it is done at the best time. 
We like to divide them just as they begin to start 
into fresh growth, but it is necessary to be very careful 
to avoid the young fronds getting withered during the 
operation, and they will require to be kept quite close, 
and well shaded until they have taken root in the 
fresh soil. At all times this fern requires great care 
in watering, if allowed to become too dry the under 
fronds will shrivel up, and then as soon as any 
moisture settles on them they will damp off, and 
affect the young fronds that are throwing up. We 
believe that allowing the plants to become too dry is 
the primary cause of much evil to this most beautiful 
fern, although an over dose of water is equally 
damaging, especially if the roots are in a bad state or 
the plants are over potted. The soil that we find 
most suitable is good rough fibrous loam, leaf-mould, 
and peat, in equal portions, with the addition of a 
little well rotted manure and some sand. The pots 
must be well drained, and should have a little sphagnum 
or other moss over the drainage. 
Davallias. —In potting these they should be kept 
well above the rim of the pots; good rough porous 
soil should be used, with which may be mixed some 
broken crocks, and sphagnum moss. Where it is 
desirable to increase the stock of such kinds as 
D. dissecta, D. bullata, D. elegans, Ac. it is a good plan 
to plunge the old plants in cocoa-nut fibre refuse, or 
any suitable soil for the young rhizomes to root in, 
and take them off and pot them as soon as they have 
made a few fresh roots. The elegant D. Mooreana, 
although usually grown on into large specimens, is" 
also very pretty in a smaller state, and for this pur¬ 
pose young plants that have not made a too vigorous 
growth should be divided from time to time. 
D. tenuifolia stricta is another very pretty species. 
D. Tyermanni, and the beautiful Japanese species, 
D. Mariesi, should also find a place in every collection. 
Xephrolepis.— This is another genus which is 
most readily propagated by division, and is perhaps 
one of the most useful of all classes of ferns 
especially for basket-work; for which purpose such 
sorts as X. pectinata, X. tuberosa, X. exaltata, X. 
davallioides, and X. davallioides furcans are the most 
useful. X. Duffi is another very pretty species. 
Xearly all ferns will be found to thrive better if treated 
more liberally than is usually the case; we like to use 
some well-rotted manure in the compost for potting, 
and as soon as the pots are well filled with roots, they 
should have liquid-manure occasionally during the 
growing season, or a little sprinkling of Clay’s Fertilizer 
will be found to be very beneficial. 
Propagating'. —Mesembryanthemum cordifolium 
is a most useful plant for flower-gardening, either for 
forming lines in carpet bedding, edgings to flower¬ 
beds, or what is perhaps still better, as a groundwork 
to beds of tuberous-rooted Begonias, which are fast 
becoming general favourites. Unlike the generality 
of cuttings, these must not be placed in a close, shaded, 
and damp atmosphere, but in a position where the 
conditions are quite the reverse. The best place is a 
shelf over some pipes and as near the glass as possible, 
where they can be exposed to bright sunshine. They 
should never be shaded, and the more arid the 
atmosphere the better. In such a situation little fear 
need be apprehended of damp, which is most to be 
feared with these plants, and as to the sun injuring 
them, if ordinary care is taken in the watering, that 
is well nigh impossible. Epiphyllum truncatum is 
another plant amenable to similar treatment when 
propagated from cuttings, although this is most 
generally increased by grafting on some foster stock, 
as was so ably described by Mr. Dun k i n in your pages 
a few weeks ago; nevertheless, it makes very useful 
plantson its own roots. Good-sized cuttings should be 
taken oft now and inserted in sandy soil, placing a stick 
to each to support the growths and keep the cutting 
firm in the pot. Place the pot on a shelf near the 
glass and syringe overhead each day, but do not keep 
them too wet at the roots. When they commence to 
grow they may be treated to more humidity, both in 
the air and at the roots. Treated in this way they 
make valuable plants for the decoration of dinner- 
tables, Ac., where dwarf plants are generally-preferred. 
Hoyas must also be placed in a very light position 
when being propagated by either leaf or stem cuttings ; 
the former method takes a long time, but good-sized 
plants may be had by it in two seasons, especially of 
the fleshy-leaved Hoya camosa. H. bella is a very 
beautiful plant, especially when seen covered with its 
drooping clusters of wax-like pink and white flowers. 
It should be found in every stove, but like most fleshy- 
leaved plants, they are very impatient of over-potting 
and of too much water at the root.— W. C. C. 
Campanula Tenorei.—Although the Campanulas 
cultivated in gardens are already numerous, the 
present very distinct species cannot fail to bewelcomed 
as an important addition to their ranks. It is allied 
to the well-known and popular C. pyramidalis, having 
foliage and flowers similar to those of that species, 
but differs notably from it in being very much dwarfer 
in habit. The stems do not exceed 6 in. to 9 in. in 
height, many being produced from the same root, and 
are furnished with smooth glossy foliage. The flowers 
are produced from July to September, and terminate 
the stem in a close raceme of from twelve to fifteen 
blossoms, which are nearly an inch across and broadly 
bell-shaped, of a delicate pale violet-blue, the centre 
being often deeper in tint. It is a hardy border 
species, but will also probably be found a useful rock 
plant. Xative of Southern Italy. It has been 
described by botanists under the synonyms of 
C. Rosani, C. Thomasi, and C. versicolor. — W. 
Thompson, Ipsicich. 
Acacia Hiceana.—This is one of the most pleasing 
of greenhouse shrubs. It is altogether more graceful 
in habit than any of the other Acacias more commonly 
cultivated in gardens, producing long drooping racemes 
of yellow flowers during the spring months in such 
abundance that quite an important addition to the 
supply of cut flowers may be gathered from a thriving 
plant without in any way interfering with its appear¬ 
ance as a conservatory specimen. Indeed the plant 
possesses so many points of real merit that it should 
fin d a place in every conservatory in which there is 
space to plant one out. In small conservatories it 
will grow fast enough in a good-sized pot, but it is 
when it is planted out in a good bed of peat and 
sandy loam that it is seen in its best dress.— Jaton. 
Senecio Ghiesbreghtii. —This handsome ground¬ 
sel—and it seems almost a libel to call it one—is very 
effective just now in the greenhouse or conservatory. 
It grows 3 ft. to 4 ft. high, hence it must be placed in 
the back rows. The leaves are large, elliptical, coarsely 
toothed, and some lobed, and the large terminal 
corymbs of flowers are of a rich orange-yellow. The 
plant has a bold and striking appearance, and may be 
used with excellent effect in subtropical gardening. It 
is a native of Mexico, and of the simplest possible 
culture. 
Colchicum luteum.—This pretty species is quite 
an exception to the general run of Colchicums. They 
are usually autumn flowerers, with purple or some¬ 
times white flowers. But this species is neither the 
one nor the other. The colour is a beautiful clear 
yellow, reminding one of Sternbergia lutea; and it is 
a spring or perhaps winter flowerer, for it is flowering 
at the present time. 
