824 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 24, 1895. 
HINTS FOR AMATEURS. 
Autumn Potting. 
In the spring of the year, when everything is com¬ 
mencing to burst out into life and beauty, and 
nature is giving evidences on all hands that a new 
season of growth is upon us, it seems natural 
enough for the gardener's thoughts to fly to the con¬ 
sideration of his plants, and he says to himself, and 
it may be to friends around him, ah ! my plants want 
potting, the primary reason for his vouchsafing this 
remark beiDg that it is usual to pot in spring. The 
advanced amateur gardener goes a little further 
than this, and agrees that where the roots of various 
plants have been growing in the same soil for a 
twelvemonth or thereabouts, and where possibly 
owing to the vigorous growth on the part of the 
plant the root-room is somewhat restricted, that it is 
essential to give more room and fresh soil. 
But while this is true with regard to potting in 
spring, it may also be applied with equal force to 
potting in autumn. Indeed, for very many plants 
a shift into fresh quarters as the season advances 
is the surest way of keeping them in health. Perhaps, 
from some cause or other, injudicious watering 
very likely, the soil in the pot has become sour 
and sodden, and totally unfit to support plant life. 
We might also add that insufficient drainage is a 
fruitful cause of sour soil, particularly if rather fine 
compost has been used. This, it may be, has been 
washed by repeated waterings into the drainage, 
which is thereby clogged up to a greater or less 
degree. The water given cannot obtain free egress, 
and the mischief commences. Again, as soon as the 
warm weather bursts upon us in the spring, many 
favourite greenhouse plants have been stood out of 
doors, the bottoms of the pots resting upon garden 
soil, or other places where worms are to be found in 
greater or less numbers. These little pests have 
worked their way through the hole in the bottom of 
the pot, and have proceeded to literally turn things 
upside down. 
Here we are reminded of the story of an amateur 
who, on learning from some source or other that 
worms were great fertilisers of the soil, and as such 
very important and necessary agents in the economy 
of nature, proceeded to take advantage, as he doubt¬ 
less thought, of the information thus gained by 
wending his way to the rubbish heap, and making 
diligent researches therein until he had procured a 
stock of large healthy worms. These he proceeded 
to distribute among his pot plants, under the mis¬ 
taken idea that as worms are such good things for 
the soil outside they must be good for that contained 
in the pots in which his plants were growing. A 
substantial illustration this of the old saw that "a 
little knowledge is a dangerous thing." 
It may be taken for granted that wherever worms 
are observed to have taken up their abode in pots 
that the drainage will be in anything but a satisfac¬ 
tory condition, and that remedial measures of some 
sort will be necessary. Other plants that are growing 
all the year round may need a shift into new quarters, 
for no other reason than the boy does who wants a 
new pair of knickerbockers, viz., that he has out¬ 
grown his old ones, or if we carry the simile a little 
farther, either worn them out or split them for want 
of room. As the summer begins to draw to a close, 
and the long days begin to visibly decline, then is 
the best time to make a thorough inspection of 
plants that are in need of it. Of course, in the case 
of Fuchsias, Gloxinias, etc., that are in a state of 
partial or complete inactivity during the winter 
months it is not necessary to interfere with them 
now. Balsams, Celosias, Coleuses, etc., that are 
grown for the season only, and raised from seed or 
cuttings each year as required, will also give no 
trouble, as they may be pitched away as soon as 
their allotted task is fulfilled. It is with the per¬ 
manent subjects, such as Ferns and foliage 
plants, that are growing more or less the whole 
of the year round, that the precaution of seeing 
that all is right within the pot is so abundantly 
necessary. If this plan were adopted instead 
of allowing the plants to remain undisturbed through 
the dull days of winter, with the result that by far 
the greater proportion of the living roots are killed, 
many delicate constitutioned plants that now suc¬ 
cumb might be saved, and others would not look so 
miserable as they often do by the time spring has 
arrived. 
Where it is necessary to pot, no time must be lost 
in seeing about it, for if delayed too long the plants 
will not have time to establish themselves before 
winter. In order to make the check sustained by 
the plants from the potting process as little as 
possible, care must be taken not to disturb the roots 
too much. The shift given should also not be any 
larger than is absolutely necessary, for it is very 
injurious to the roots to have a lot of cold, wet, 
unoccupied soil lying around them during that part 
of the year when plant life with us is at its lowest 
ebb. The soil, moreover, must be carefully worked 
all round the sides of the ball by means of a thin 
lath or potting stick. 
Subsequent Treatment. 
Plants that have been potted at this time of the 
year will need the same kind of treatment for a few 
days following the operation as those that have been 
similarly served in the spring. The house or pit 
must be kept fairly close and shaded from the direct 
rays of the sun, whilst the syringe should be used 
several times a day to give the plants a gentle 
dewing over. 
Palms and Foliage Plants. 
As it is necessary in order that these should be 
of the greatest possible use to keep them in very 
small pots, and as these soon exhaust the soil in 
which they are growing, steps must be taken to make 
up for the deficiency of nourishment contained in the 
soil by occasional supplies of manure water. For 
the purpose cow manure is the very best stimulant 
that can be obtained, although for plants in windows, 
or in cases where the conservatory is a part of or in 
close proximity to the dwelling house, it is obvious 
that its unpleasant smell renders it unsuitable stuff 
to use. A light dusting of nitrate of soda is an ex¬ 
cellent, and in cases like the foregoing a suitable 
stimulant to use as it is perfectly inodorous and at 
the same time most efficacious in its results, yellow 
starved-looking leaves recovering their pristine 
depth of verdure under its agency as if by magic. A 
word of caution as to the way it is used is, however, 
essential, for the smallest pinch is sufficient for a 
thirty-two sized pot, and it is better to err on the side 
of giving too little than of applying too much. 
These remarks will apply to the generality of foliage 
plants with equal force as it does to Palms, for where 
care is takeD to feed well, the plants may be kept in 
very small pots indeed with out spoiling their 
appearance. The drainage should however be ex¬ 
amined and freed from any soil that may be found 
amongst it by means of a pointed stick.— Rex. 
-- 
A RAMBLE FROM MAIDENHEAD TO 
HENLEY-ON-THAMES. 
(Concluded from page 809.) 
Resuming our ramble we now pass Lady Place—a 
place in name only—and give a casual glance at the 
old Norman church, some picturesque old barns, 
which were evidently put up before the modern jerry- 
builder had made his debut ; some good specimen 
Cedars of Lebanon, and some fine, straight, stately 
trees of Pinus sylvesiris. Here also is an old mill, 
which may, or may not, be picturesque, according to 
the social status of the observer ; but it is, at least, 
useful, and will, in consequence, commend itself to 
those admirable persons who can see no good in 
anything that does not contribute to the public 
purse. But, as our object to-day is pleasure and not 
business, we pursue our way regardless of sordid 
motives, and with the intent of extracting as large a 
share of natural enjoyment from our visit as circum¬ 
stances will permit. So then we soon leave the 
pretty village of Hurley in the rear, and becoming 
absorbed in the flora of the river forget, for a time, 
those cankering cares and petty worries which are 
so largely responsible for that dreadfully pessimistic 
query, “ Is life worth living ? " To-day, at any rate, 
no doubt shall exist, for there is the great Purple 
Loosestrife (Lythrum Salicaria) inviting us by its 
richness of colouring to make an inspection. It is a 
stately plant with tall spikes of magenta, rather than 
purple, flowers ; aye, there is also some red in them, 
hence the difficulty of description. But every river- 
man knows it, and every artist adores it. It is not, 
however, a Loosestrife, it belongs to another order. 
Its generic name is derived from lythron, blood, in 
reference to the colour of the flowers. 
Ah ! here is the true Loosestrife (Lysimachia 
vulgaris), which is designated "yellow” to dis¬ 
tinguish it from the spurious one above. Lysimachia 
is an exact counterpart of " Loosestrife," hence this 
plant (or class of plants) is the only one which is 
entitled to have the power of suppressing those evil 
passions which sometimes predominate in men as 
well as animals. 
However, names are not much to go by, for if the 
older botanists were not exact enough, the modem 
ones, perhaps, are too particular. But to our Yellow 
Loosestrife. It is a noble plant, 2 ft. to 4 ft. high, 
and bears bright, deep yellow, rotate flowers in 
cymose clusters. Its ally and well-known and 
much-respected sister, the Creeping Jenny (Lysi¬ 
machia Nummularia), is also here, trailing its pretty 
primulaceous blossoms over the banks of the great 
stream as well as on the sides of those smaller 
rivulets which contribute to its volume. It is a 
sweet and lowly plant, and yet it might well be 
called “ London Pride,” for it is, perhaps, more in 
request in the modern Babylon than any other. It 
is certainly very accommodating, but how many 
Londoners have seen it growing in its native wilds ? 
But we have not exhausted the yellows. Here is 
the lovely Nuphar luteum, or Yellow Water Lily; 
while yonder in a quiet nook its fairer, because more 
beautiful, sister, the White Water Lily (Nymphaea 
alba), floats, placidly awaiting that admiration which, 
it is presupposed, all nymphs demand. So, while 
the latter is indicative of virginity and loveliness, the 
former is suggestive of a spirituous compound, for 
the blooms decidedly emit an odour resembling 
brandy. Later on, as the fruit becomes globose or 
flagon-like, this circumstance, taken in conjunction 
with the other, has earned for the flower the quite 
unmerited sobriquet of " Brandy-bottle.” The com¬ 
mon P'lea Bane (Inula, or Pulicaria dysenterica) has 
large yellow flowers arranged in corymbs, with 
rough, heart-shaped leaves, which embrace the 
stems. It has a peculiar scent, and is asserted by 
Linneus “ to have cured the Russian army, under 
General Keith, of dysentery." If, then, this plant 
■—which takes its specific name from this fact or 
fiction—is capable of performing such a service to 
the human family, it is doubly interesting, and not 
only worth going out to see, but of extensive cultiva¬ 
tion. 
Just above Hurley there is a grand sweep round of 
the river before it reaches Medmenham, while on 
the opposite shore the steep chalk hills and wooded 
slopes combine to present a picture of the most 
beautiful character. It appears to be as suitable to 
the lover of the rod as it certainly is to the rambling 
botanist, for the river may be aptly described as— 
" Though deep, yet clear ; though gentle, yet not 
dull ; 
Strong without rage; without o'erflowing, full.” 
Here we found more plants, and perhaps more 
interest than in any other similar locality along the 
silver stream. 
The great Water Plantain, with panicles of rosy 
flowers ; the elegant Rush, with " crowns ” of purple 
and white; the sweet-scented and feathery plumes 
of Spiraea Ulmaria; the great, white, umbelliferous 
Hemlock; the tall, strong-growing, pubescent 
Willow Herb (Epilobium hirsutum), with rosy- 
purple flowers; the smaller round-stalked one (E. 
palustre), with rosy-lilac flowers; the pale pmk- 
flowered Cat's Valerian ; the Water Horehound, or 
Gipsywort, with Mint-like whitish flowers in dense 
whorls ; the Marsh Woundwort, a member of the 
same family; the lovely little Skull Cap, with 
purplish-blue labiate flowers in leafy spikes; the 
Hemp Agrimony, with dense heads of pale purple ; 
the common Comfrey, with nodding, yellowish-white 
or purple, bell-shaped blossoms ; the true Forget- 
me-Not (Myosotis palustris), " the most elegant of 
plants,” and a host of others. But whv go into 
details ? Why attempt to exhaust the river flora ? 
No amount of detail it is true can possibly convey 
an adequate idea of the lavish loveliness which 
everywhere abounds—the lights, the shades, the 
colours, the rich luxuriance, the prismatic hues— 
but there is still a hope, a philanthropic hope, that 
what appeals so strongly to temperaments like ours 
may perchance find a responsive echo in the thoughts 
of those who, like us, believe that nature is able to 
supply us with an inexhaustible source of pleasure 
and delight. The river just here is full of queer 
bends and eyots, or little islands, and has thus been 
aptly called the "Archipelago." 
But here is Medmenham Abbey. Hi, there! The 
ferry-boat man soon responds ; and we are now on 
the opposite bank of the clear-flowing river. The 
Abbey is now but a ghost of its former self, and 
