June  7,  1900 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
487 
CARDE^^,  CJ/EANINCS 
'iiyt-f 
Flcarla  grandlflora. — The  Picarias  are  Ranunculus-like  flowers, 
attractive  in  blossom,  and  useful  from  their  early  period  of  blooming. 
Grandiflora  is  one  of  the  best.  It  produces  bright  yellow  flowers  in 
spring,  and  although  easily  grown  and  succeeding  in  ordinary  garden 
soil,  in  deep  rich  ground  it  is  much  more  vigorous  and  free-flowering. 
It  is  a  plant  that  might  well  be  added  to  many  mixed  borders  of  hardy 
plants,  meriting  a  place  there  both  by  reason  of  its  pleasing  appearance 
and  period  of  blooming,  for  flowers  are  not  then  too  abundant.  The 
opportunity  may  be  taken  of  referring  to  another  Picaria — namely, 
ranunculoides  fl.-pl.  This  is  also  well  worthy  of  attention,  the  bright 
j’ellow  double  flowers  being  extremely  attractive. — B, 
Dlervllla  preecox. — The  genus  Diervilla  (or  Weigela)  provides  us 
with  some  of  our  most  beautiful  flowering  shrubs,  and  of  these 
D.  praecox  is  the  first  to  bloom,  opening  its  purplish  red  flowers  in 
April,  and  continuing  well  into  May.  The  origin  of  this  plant  is  not 
exactly  known,  but  most  probably  it  is  an  introduction  from  Janan, 
and  either  a  geographical  or  garden  form  of  the  better-known  Weigela 
rosea.  It  is  not  so  hardy  as  the  majority  of  this  genus,  and  requires 
the  shelter  of  a  wall  in  the  northern  and  midland' counties,  but  it  is 
well  adapted  for  training,  as  it  makes  rather  long,  slender  grojvths, 
which  will  produce  a  good  truss  of  flowers  from  nearly  every  joint. 
The  leaves  are  ovate,  serrated,  nearly  or  quite  sessile,  and  very  woolly 
on  both  sides.  The  whole  plant,  in  fact,  is  distinctly  hairy,  even  to  the 
calices  of  the  flowers. — C. 
Wayside  Flowers. — Among  the  list  of  wild  flowers  that  now 
crowd  and  jostle  each  other  by  the  wayside  and  margin  of  fields  in 
Buckinghamshire,  these  two  are  most  conspicuous — Starwort  and  Speed¬ 
well.  They  come  in  the  very  prime  of  year,  when  all  young  things  are 
jubilant.  All  along  the  dusty  highway,  by  the  hedgerow  bank,  there 
are  patches  of  delicious  blue  and  snow-white.  It  is  only  in  April,  May, 
and  early  June  that  we  have  such  a  wealth  of  blue  colours — Violet, 
Hyacinths,  and  Speedwell.  As  the  noon  of  the  year  comes,  with  higher 
temperature  and  keener  light,  blue  makes  way  for  the  golden  and  richer 
hues,  the  yellows,  scarlets,  and  crimsons — the  glaring  Zonals,  the 
Marigolds,  Asters,  and  lumpish  Dahlias — the  adjective  was  Dr.  Lindley’s. 
And  oh  for  the  rain  !  It  is  so  badly  needed,  to  wash  the  dust  from  the 
wayside  flowers  and  refresh  the  springing  corn.  How  eagerly  the 
little  things  are  waiting  for  it,  stretching  out  their  dimpled  leaves,  to 
feel  the  cool  sweet  rain.  It  is  falling  now,  in  thick  gentle  showers,  for 
it  is  these  that  do  most  good ;  not  the  thunder  rain,  that  dashes  and 
splashes  and.  runs  away,  without  refreshing  the  root  of  a  Daisy. 
— (“  The  Echo.”)  n 
Potato  Sets. — I  think  Mr.  Strugnell  is  the  only  grower  of  Potatoes 
of  whom  I  have  read,  who  adopts  the  practice  of  planting  his  small 
tubers  each  year,  of  early  varieties  only,  to  produce  finer  sets  specially 
for  planting  the  following  year.  If  he  has  adopted  that  practice  long 
then  he  should  be  in  a  good  position  to  tell  readers  of  the  Journal  of 
Horticulture  how  far  that  practice  tends  to  deterioration  of  stock  or 
how  little.  It  is  a  favourite  doctrine  of  some  writers  on  Potatoes,  and 
I  have  often  wondered  how  much  authority  they  may  have  had  for 
it,  that  by  planting  small  Potato  sets  instead  of  those  of  good  size  the 
stock  soon  deteriorated,  and  became  much  less  productive.  According 
to  their  theory  Mr.  Strugnell’s  stocks,  if  he  grows  the  same  ones  for 
several  years,  should  now  be  very  inferior.  But  is  it  really  so  ?  I  wish 
someone  would,  by  way  of  experiment,  test  the  matter  with  say  half 
a  dozen  of  varieties,  early,  midseason,  and  late,  planting  say  of 
each  variety  a  dozen  tubers  of  1  oz.,  3  ozs.,  and  6  ozs.  in  weight,  on 
precisely  similar  lines,  saving  the  stocks,  again  selecting  from  them 
tubers  for  planting  of  the  same  sizes  as  before,  testing  the  produce  in  the 
same  way,  and  doing  it  a  third  year  at  least,  just  to  see  what  was  the 
general  effect  on  the  stocks.  But  to  equalise  matters,  the  fourth  year 
tubers  all  of  equal  size,  say  from  3  to  4  ozs.,  should  be  selected  from 
each  stock  or  variety,  and  be  planted  again  under  similar  conditions. 
The  product  that  year  should  fully  determine  how  far  the  successional 
planting  of  small  tubers  as  against  larger  ones  tended  to  deterioration. 
The  matter  is  worthy  of  being  put  to  a  very  practical  test.— Observer. 
Noteworttay  .Asparagus. — Mr.  Hurlstone  writes  : — “  I  have  read 
your  paragraph  in  last  week’s  Journal  about  Asparagus,  and  as  you  ask 
the  question  of  weight  I  have  enclosed  a  cutting  from  the  “Worcester 
Times,”  setting  out  the  weights  of  some  shown  at  the  Evesham  show 
this  week — ‘  Some  Asparagus  of  remarkable  size  and  excellent  quality 
was  shown,  and  the  following  prizes  were  awarded  :  Best  hundred  :  1st, 
Mr.  George  (Pershore),  weight  22  lbs. ;  2nd,  Mr.  Bedenham  (Benge- 
worth),  19^  lbs.;  3rd,  Mr.  R.  Mason  (Haselor),  17  lbs.  1  oz.  The  prize 
for  the  heaviest  hundred  went  to  Mr.  G.  Bolton,  whose  bundle  weighed 
no  less  than  28^  lbs.’  ” 
Campanula  Ralnerl. — This  is  a  sturdy  little  mountaineer  from 
northern  Italy,  having  large,  erect,  somewhat  funnel-shaped  blossoms 
of  a  dark  blue,  and  is  a  most  pleasing  and  distinct  member  of  its  genus. 
It  is  comparatively  rare  in  cultivation,  though  by  no  means  ditfioult  to 
grow  or  to  increase,  and  it  is  somewhat  surprising  that  it  is  not  more 
generally  met  with.  It  is  more  vigorous  in  habit  than  any  other  of  the 
dwarf  Harebells,  and  is  adapted  for  the  border  or  the  rockery.  It  is 
readily  increased  by  division  and  also  by  seed.  It  grows  best  in  moist 
situations  in  very  sandy  loam,  and  is  usually  from  3  to  6  inches  high, 
the  latter  height,  however,  being  a  rarity. — H. 
TTotlce  to  Thieves. — The  following  weird  notice  to  thieves,  states 
the  “Western  Mail,”  appears  on  a  notice  board  erected  at  the  foot  of 
a  grave  at  Merthyr  Dovan  Cemetery,  Barry  : — “  Beware  of  the  eye 
of  God  when  no  other  see  you.  Off  the  eviel  done  to  these 'that  is  at 
rest  hear  by  willfully  stilling  plants  from  this  grave  been  plased  hear 
by  the  parents  of  those  near  and  dear  to  thim,  which  as  been  done 
5  different  times.  Seven  choise  plants  as  been  taken  within  this  past 
five  wicks,  2  choice  cornations  and  other  roots  from  the  15  to  the  18  of 
this  presant  muntli.  Shureley  the  hand  of  God  sooner  or  later  will 
punish  the  gilty  of  such  ungrateful  act.” 
Arbutus  bybrlda. — This  is  a  natural  hybrid  between  A.  Audraohn  e 
and  A.  Unedo,  and  in  its  characters  is  intermediate  between  its  two 
parents.  It  forms  a  small,  well-furnished  tree  about  20  feet  high  under 
favourable  conditions,  and  is  rather  hardier  than  the  Strawberry  Tree, 
so  that  it  should  be  a  welcome  addition  to  the  list  of  first-class  ever¬ 
greens  in  most  gardens  of  the  southern  half  of  England.  In  point  of 
beauty  it  is  surpassed  by  few  of  its  class,  and  as  an  isolated  specimen 
on  a  lawn  leaves  little  to  be  desired.  It  thrives  best  in  a]  good  deep 
soil  free  of  lime,  and  if  it  is  of  a  peaty  nature  sojmuoh]  the  better. 
The  small,  tubular  flowers  open  from  February  to  April,  and  are  white 
with  a  faint  tinge  of  Iqmon  at  the  mouth,  and  are  occasionally  streaked 
with  red  on  the  outside.  They  are  borne  in  terminal,  branched  racemes, 
on  every  shoot,  and  make  a  fine  display  when  the  plant  is  in  full  flower. 
Like  the  other  members  of  the  genus,  this  plant  is  impatient  of  removal, 
and  should  be  kept  in  pots  until  it  can  be  placed  [in  jits  permanent 
quarters,  as  the  shifting  of  even  small  specimens  cannot  be  done  without 
running  considerable  risk  of  losing  them  altogether.  It  can  be  pro¬ 
pagated  by  grafting  on  A.  Unedo,  or  by  seeds,  which  are  produced 
in  warm  localities,  and  which  reproduce  themselves  jfairly  true  to 
character. — J.  C. 
Cineraria  Culture. — As  I  was  more  than  usuallyj [successful 
last  season  with  these  handsome  flowers,  I  will  describe  briefly  my 
methods  in  the  hope  that  they  may  be  of  service  to  myjfellow  jamateurs. 
The  flower  heads  were  fuller  than  I  have  ever  seen|them.  I  have 
measured  scores  of  the  blossoms,  and  find  several  fully  2J  inches  in 
diameter,  and  the  colours  exceptionally  rich.  The  first  sowing  was 
made  April  14th,  1899,  in  pans  half  filled  with  rough  peat,  to  which 
was  added  a  mixture  of  loam  and  peat  finely  sifted,  with  plenty  of 
sand.  The  pans  were  then  covered  with  glass,  and  placed  on  the 
higher  shelves  in  a  cool  greenhouse.  As  soon  as  the  plants  showed 
their  second  leaves  they  were  potted  singly  into  thumb  pots,  using 
rather  coarse  soil,  but  taking  care  not  to  cover  the  hearts  of  the  plants. 
They  were  then  placed  in  a  close  frame  shaded,  and  sprinkled  morning 
and  evening  till  well  established,  being  kept  close  for  a  couple  of 
weeks,  after  which  more  air  was  given.  As  soon  as  the  pots  were  full 
of  roots  the  plants  were  shifted  into  4i-inch  pots,  and  again  at  the  end 
of  September  into  8-inch  pots  for  the  largest  specimens.  As  soon  as 
the  flower  buds  showed  the  plants  were  liberally  supplied  with  soot  and 
liquid  manure.  Plenty  of  air  was  given  night  and  day  when  the 
weather  was  suitable,  and  at  all  stages  of  their  growth  the  plants  were 
shaded  from  bright  sunshine.  The  soil  employed  was  equal  parts  of 
rich  loam,  leaf  mould,  and  thoroughly  decayed  horse  manure,  mixed 
with  charcoal  dust  and  coarse  sand, — Amateur. 
