February  18,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
131 
ACACIA  CULTRIFORMIS. 
Several  of  the  Australian  Acacias  are  known  in  gardens,  as  they 
are  useful  and  distinct  plants  for  greenhouses,  and  mostly  flower 
profusely  in  the  spring  months.  One  of  the  species — namely,  Acacia 
cultriformis  (fig.  30) — is  peculiarly  distinct  from  most  of  those  with 
which  most  growers  are  familiar.  It  has  flat,  somewhat  triangular, 
silvery  white  phyllodes,  and  racemes  of  small,  globular,  bright  yellow 
flower  heads  freely  produced  along  the  branches,  and  when  a  good- 
sized  specimen  is  in  flower  it  has  a  very  remarkable  appearance.  In 
pots,  plants  of  moderate  size  flower  readily,  requiring  a  compost  of  peat 
and  sand,  with  the  same  care  in  the  supply  of  water  as  is  needed  for 
hardwooded  plants.  During  the  spring  months  some  of  the  florists’ 
shops  display  bunches  of  Acacia  cultriformis  apparently  obtained,  with 
others  now  in  great  demand,  from  continental  growers. — F.  W.  W. 
OUR  HARDY  PLANT  BORDER. 
{Continued  from  page  555,  la»t  vol.) 
Wallflowers. 
The  work  of  preparing  the  border,  as  regards  digging  and 
allotting  sites  for  plants  requiring  particular  soil  or  special  treat¬ 
ment,  having  been  accomplished,  as  already  described,  it  became 
necessary  to  arrange  for  the  planting.  The  situation  being  both 
cold  and  damp  necessarily  restricted  the  selection  of  plants  greatly, 
as  in  order  to  avoid  the  annoyance  and  loss  that  would  result  from 
the  continual  death  of  choice  or  delicate  plants,  only  those  that 
possessed  the  hardiest  constitutions  could  be  chosen.  At  the  same 
time  it  was  desired  to  secure  as  good  a  floral  effect  as  possible,  and 
the  best  means  of  assisting  this  object  seemed  to  be  afforded  by 
raising  seedlings  of  some  of  the  more  effective  annuals  or  biennials. 
First  on  the  list  were  placed  Wallflowers,  chiefly  because  they  are 
great  favourites,  but  also  for  the  reason  that  they  could  be  easily 
and  quickly  raised,  and  an  extensive  bright  display  could  be  insured 
the  following  season.  To  this  useful  plant  therefore  a  few  remarks 
will  be  devoted  in  the  present  letter. 
Perhaps  few  better  instances  are  afforded  of  the  extreme  range 
of  conditions  under  which  cultivated  plants  will  thrive,  as  compared 
with  their  wild  state,  than  we  have  in  the  Wallflower.  The 
Cheiranthus  Cheiri  of  botanists  is  not  only  a  native  of  England, 
but  is  also  found  in  many  districts  of  Europe,  frequently  on  old 
walls  and  in  similar  situations  where  there  is  comparatively  little 
nourishment  to  support  vegetable  life,  and  which  seem  more  adapted 
for  such  succulent  plants  as  Sedums  and  Sempervivums  than  for  a 
plant  of  the  Wallflower  habit.  Some  years  ago  a  garden  under  our 
charge  was  bounded  on  one  side  by  an  extremely  old  wall  of  con¬ 
siderable  thickness,  and  this  was  the  abode  of  many  interesting 
little  native  plants  ;  but  most  conspicuous  amongst  them  were  the 
Wallflowers,  which  have  during  a  long  period  held  a  position  there, 
every  season  producing  abundance  of  their  bright  yellow  flowers, 
followed  by  seed  from  which  an  annual  supply  of  young  plants 
keep  up  a  constant  succession.  Many  of  these  when  in  flower 
formed  miniature  bushes  4  to  6  inches  high,  symmetrical  little 
models,  every  branch  terminating  in  numerous  small  flowers  rarely 
exceeding  half  an  inch  in  diameter. 
These  are  the  kind  of  plants  found  as  wild  representatives  of 
the  Wallflower,  yet  under  cultivation  we  have  had  plants  over 
2  feet  in  diameter,  bearing  hundreds  of  flowers  1J  to  2  inches  in 
diameter.  They  will  grow  and  flower,  too,  in  almost  every  situation, 
except  that  swampy  or  much  shaded  ;  but  though  the  extremes  are 
not  desirable,  yet  a  moderately  moist  but  well  drained  soil  is 
preferable  to  a  dry  one,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  Wall¬ 
flower  i»  a  wild  state  is  almost  invariably  found  in  dry,  poor  situa¬ 
tions.  Wallflowers  can  be  greatly  improved  by  the  judicious  appli¬ 
cation  of  manures,  especially  artificial  manures,  as  we  have  fully 
proved,  but  the  time  at  which  the  stimulants  are  applied,  and  the 
condition  of  the  plants  when  the  manurial  aid  is  supplied,  if  this  is 
done  after  the  plants  are  transplanted  from  the  seed  bed,  are  of  great 
impoitsnce.  Apart  from  the  use  of  manures  altogether,  however, 
the  method  of  raising  the  plants  and  the  growth  secured  before  the 
winter  have  a  considerable  bearing  upon  their  ultimate  success. 
The  time  of  sowing  is  an  important  matter,  and  though  we  have 
sown  every  month  from  March  to  August,  there  is  one  time  which 
in  the  majority  of  seasons  has  given  much  the  best  results,  and 
this  is  the  first  week  in  May.  In  warmer  districts  April,  or  even 
March,  will  be  suitable,  but  it  is  not  advantageous  to  give  the 
plants  too  long  a  season,  all  that  is  required  is  a  well  developed  but 
sturdy  growth  that  will  not  suffer  during  the  winter.  Still,  if  not 
sown  sufficiently  early  for  the  seedlings  to  have  progressed  beyond 
the  early  stage  before  the  heat  of  summer  overtakes  them,  they 
will  be  seriously  and  often  permanently  checked  for  the  whole 
season.  This  is  precisely  what  must  be  avoided  as  far  as  possible, 
as,  like  many  other  plants  raised  from  seed,  the  Wallflower  is 
impatient  of  any  prolonged  check  in  its  young  state. 
The  seed  bed  should  be  well  prepared  by  digging  and  pulveris¬ 
ing  the  soil,  but  it  must  be  moderately  firm  ;  and  we  prefer 
sowing  the  seed  thinly  in  drills  6  inches  apart  to  sowing  broadcast 
in  a  bed.  Various  stimulants  have  been  tried,  to  ascertain  whether 
any  advantage  is  derived  from  providing  some  special  food  in  the 
soil  ready  for  the  seedlings  to  appropriate  to  their  immediate 
advantage,  but  the  only  benefit  observed  was  in  one  season,  when 
owing  to  unfavourable  weather  a  late  sowing  had  to  be  made.  On 
that  occasion  half  the  seed  bed  received  a  very  slight  dressing  of 
nitrate  of  soda,  at  the  rate  of  about  a  quarter  of  an  ounce  to  the 
square  yard,  the  result  being  that  the  seedlings  on  the  dressed 
portion  of  ground  made  much  more  rapid  progress  than  the  others, 
in  fact  they  were  very  little  behind  those  raised  two  months  earlier 
in  the  ordinary  way.  Beyond  this  no  special  advantage  has 
occurred  from  manures  in  the  seed  bed — indeed,  there  is  a  danger 
of  having  too  much  growth  before  the  young  plants  are  thinned. 
The  question  of  transplanting  is  an  important  one,  and  a 
comparison  has  been  made  of  the  effects  produced  by  the  following 
methods  of  treatment  : — 1st,  Sowing  the  seed  where  the  plants 
were  to  remain,  and  thinning  to  the  required  distances  ;  2nd, 
Transplanting  direct  from  the  seed  bed  to  the  position  where  the 
plants  are  to  flower  ;  and  3rd,  Transplanting  from  the  seed  bed, 
and  then  again  subsequently  to  their  permanent  quarters.  The 
last  necessarily  means  considerably  more  expenditure  in  time  and 
labour,  and  therefore  under  some  circumstances  would  be  impracti¬ 
cable,  but  experience  has  in  my  case  proved  that  this  system  gives 
much  the  best  results.  The  chief  difficulty  is  to  secure  suitable 
weather  conditions  at  the  first  time  of  transplanting,  which  is 
preferably  done  within  a  month  from  the  time  of  sowing  if  the 
seedlings  have  made  sufficient  progress.  This  brings  it  to  the  first 
