‘APRIL 1, 1903. 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
i3 
with a knife into three or four jparts (each 
with an eye or place where the shoot ap- 
pears), placing these divisions each in a 
rather large pot, with rich soil, until the 
end of May, when they are planted out. 
The best place for them is a cool frame 
(well protected from the frost at night) 
where they will have plenty of air in the 
daytime, for they must not be coddled, or 
weak, weedy, growth will be the result. 
Cuttings can be taken in early spring by 
placing the Dahlia roots in a tray over the 
hot-water pipes (or on a hotbed) early in 
the spring, lightly covering them with rich 
soil. The shoots should be removed, when 
about 3 in. long, just at the point of their 
jenction with the tuber, and each shoot 
can be potted in a thumb-pot, in light soil, 
sinking the pot to the rim in a hotbed, 
under glass. These cuttings, when rooted, 
should immediately be shifted to larger 
pots (4 in. across), with rather richer soil ; 
and they must not be allowed to become 
cramped for room, as they grow rapidly if 
well supported, and will then flower early. 
If shifted into 10-in. pots in June they will 
be most valuable for decorative purposes, 
being grown in the open air from that 
time, when they stand well in the balcony 
or on a terrace. 
Ample supplies of water and also of 
liquid manure (or soot-water) will be 
needed by them throughout the summer, 
and the soil given for their last shift 
should be very rich, leaving room, more- 
over, for a top-dressing of old hotbed mate- 
rial later on. The more dwarf varieties in 
each class are the best for pot-work, and 
the single Dahhas are scarcely so effective 
in this way as the double Cactus and Pom- 
pons, although the most useful for cutting. 
After blooming (when the frost cuts 
them back) the stem should be cut down, 
and (after affixing a label of the name of 
each variety) the roots can be stored in a 
cellar (or other frost-proof place), covered 
with dry soil or sand, until they are wanted 
for slight forcing about the end of Febru- 
ary. Special care should be taken that 
mice or slugs do not attack the roots when 
dormant; and the labels should be of zinc, 
or china, if possible, as otherwise it is dif- 
ficult to keep the names clear, and itis very 
provoking to find confusion amongst them 
when valuable varieties are needed for pro- 
pagation in spring. Dahlias in pots should 
be lifted under glass before sharp frosts 
arrive, when their flowering season will be 
prolonged for some weeks. 
I. L. Ricumonp, F.R.H.S., in “The Queen.” 
= 83686-0685— 
SHRUBS. 
BERBERIS NEPALENSIS. : 
This is one of the handsomest of the 
evergreen Berberis, and is amongst the 
first to come into bloom, the flowers usually 
opening in August. It is known under 
several names, B. Beali and B. Japonica 
being the two most commonly used, but 
the one that heads this note has the claim 
of priority, and is the correct one to use. 
Under favorable conditions B. nephalensis 
make an upright shrub 4 to 5 ft. high, usu- 
ally consisting of four to eight stout, glau- 
cous stems, clothed with pinnate leaves up- 
wards of a foot in length, which are of a 
dark shining green above and glaucous 
beneath. The leaves are composed of from 
nine to thirteen sessile leaflets, each re- 
scembling the leaf of a Holly in texture and 
shape, though having fewer spines. The 
flowers are borne in terminal upright race- 
mes, from four to twelve of which are pro- 
duced on each stem, the individual flowers 
being about the size of those of the com- 
mon Barberry and of a sulphur-yellow 
color, highly fragrant. It requires to be 
planted in rich soil. 
a 
Portuguese Laurel (Laurus Lusitanicus), — 
from 30 to 50 pendulous flowers, are often 
produced at one time on a plant 5 to 6 ft. 
high. 
HYPERICUM MOSERIANUM. 
During the summer months and well into 
the autumn this Hypericum is amongst the 
gayest of dwarf shrubs. Every small gar- 
den should find it a place, as it does not 
take up much room. It is undoubtedly 
the best of all the “St. John Worts.” It 
very rarely grows higher than 2 ft. The 
foliage is handsome, the stalkless leaves 
being oblong and from 1 to 3 in. long, the 
flowers are compact in shape, rather cup- 
like, the broad, full petals being of good | 
substance and of a rich golden yellow; 
7 
This magnificent tree shown in full bloom, with long racemes of flowers, snowy white, 6 to 8 
inches in length, is probably the oldest and finest of its kind in the country. 
Usually grown as a 
shrub, the subject of this illustration is some. 25 feet in height, planted’ at the residence of the 
ERYTHRINA HUMEANA, 
Of. the many beautiful South . African 
plants this is certainly one of the best, 
being easily managed, free flowering, and 
the flowers are very ornamental. It is 
sometimes confused with E. Caffra, and in 
general appearance somewhat resembles a 
dwarf or stunted form of that species. It 
is much the better plant of the two. The 
one under notice makes a large bush, or 
small tree. The leaves are ternate, large, 
and handdome, deep green, Avith a few 
spines on the mid-rib. The flowers are 
scarlet and borne in upright racemes from 
near the point of each growth. The beauty 
of the plant may be imagined when seven 
or eight racemes 18 in. long, each bearing 
late Judge Gwynne, at Aldgate, South Australia, now the residence of Mr. E. Menzel. 
each flower is about 2 in. in diameter. 
They are produced in terminal clusters. 
ABELIA UNIFLORA. 
In and around the city districts this 
Chinese Abelia is extremely hardy, and 
succeeds well in almost any kind of soils, 
It is a very shapely shrub of about 4 to 6 
ft. in height, furnished to the ground with 
branches, and covered from December to 
February with terminal panicles of pinkish 
white flowers, each consisting of three or 
four pale red branch-like sepals. The 
leaves are a little over 1 in. in length, ser- 
rated, deep glossy green above, paler, and 
with a few scattered hairs on the mid-rib 
beneath. It is very similar to some of the 
Bouvardias, 
