344 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  22,  1897. 
bottom  heat  these  root  cuttings  soon  form  shoots,  and  the  plants 
may  then  be  potted  singly  and  treated  similarly  to  the  ordinary 
rooted  cuttings. 
After  lightly  trimming  the  remainder  of  the  roots  on  the 
shaken-out  plants,  return  them  to  pots  just  large  enough  to  hold 
them  comfortably,  and  place  the  plants  in  gentle  heat  for  a  few  days. 
Directly  root  action  has  recommenced  remove  the  plants  to  warm 
piti  and  frames,  shifting  them  into  pots  two  sizes  larger  before 
they  become  root-bound.  Top  sufficiently  often  to  make  them 
bushy. 
Young  and  old  plants  alike  must  have  abundance  of  air  during 
the  hottest  part  of  the  year,  drawing  the  lights  clear  off  during 
mild  nights,  and  blocking  them  up  over  the  plants,  also  shading 
lightly  on  bright  hot  days.  They  must  have  abundance  of  water 
when  growing,  and  towards  the  autumn  liquid  manure  also  freely, 
though  not  in  strong  doses.  House  the  plants  before  cold  weather 
sets  in.  They  will  flower  best  in  a  warm  greenhouse,  or  a  tem¬ 
perature  of  from  50°  to  55°,  and  may  be  introduced  from  rather 
cooler  quarters  in  batches.  Green  and  black  fly,  red  spider,  and 
thrips  are  all  enemies  to  Bouvardias.  Tobacco  smoke  or  nicotine 
vapour  will  do  good  service  in  keeping  down  the  aphides  and 
thrips,  and  if  ordinary  syringing  will  not  ward  off  red  spider, 
introduce  a  handful  of  flowers  of  sulphur  into  the  syringing  water, 
and  well  coat  the  under  side  of'  the  leaves  with  this. 
Private  gardeners  will  wonder  why  no  allusion  has  been  made 
to  the  plan  of  planting  out  Bouvardias  during  the  summer.  I  am 
no  stranger  to  this  practice.  It  is  not  one  to  commend  to  the 
notice  of  market  growers,  labour-saving  as  the  practice  may  be. 
They  do  well  in  pits,  frames,  or  bed»  of  moderately  light,  rich 
soil,  and  strong  plants  result.  When  these  come  to  be  lifted  in 
the  autumn  they  must  have  pots  altogether  too  large  to  please 
market  growers,  who  prefer  handier  sizes  for  their  Bouvardias 
and  other  plants.  Let  tho*e  who  prefer  this  method  of  culture 
give  the  readers  of  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  the  benefit  of 
their  experience.  Perhaps  mv  views  are  incorrect,  and  there  is 
“something  in  it  ”  after  all. — Market  Grower. 
FRUIT  GROWING  ON  CHALK. 
As  those  who  have  bad  practical  experience  are  fully  aware,  the 
successful  cultivation  of  'fruit  on  soils  in  which  chalk  greatly  prepon¬ 
derates  is  far  from  being  an  easy  task  ;  indeed,  it  may  appropriately  be 
described  as  uphill  work  from  beginning  to  end.  Should  the  attempt 
be  made  to  grow  fruit  in  the  ordinary  way — ie,,  planting  a  tree  and 
expecting  it  to  flourish  without  anything  further  than  the  customary 
training,  pruning,  and  autumnal  mulchings  of  decayed  manure,  signal 
failure  in  the  majority  of  cases  is  aJmoBt  certain  to  ensue.  This,  of 
course,  applies  to  soils  of  the  very  worst  description,  and  to  such  fruit 
trees  as  Apples,  Pears,  Plums,  Apricots,  Peaches,  and  Nectarines.  With 
small  fruits,  such,  for  instance,  as  Gooseberries,  Currants,  and  Straw¬ 
berries,  the  case  is  somewhat  different,  owing  to  their  being  mostly  of 
a  surface-rooting  habit  ;  still  even  with  these  more  than  ordinary  pains 
are  needed  to  insure  profitable  and  satisfactory  results. 
The  foregoing,  it  must  be  admitted,  is  simply  the  gloomy  side  of 
the  question.  It  must  not  for  a  moment  be  supposed  that  success  is 
impossible,  or  that  such  a  thing  belongs  only  to  soils  of  a  more  genial 
character  than  those  with  which  we  are  now  dealing.  “Where  there’s  a 
will  there’s  a  way.”  is  an  old  adage,  and  one  certainly  which  applies  with 
a  certain  amount  of  force  to  fruit  growing  on  chalk.  It  is  astonishing 
what  a  person  may  accomplish  if  he  only  has  the  will,  receives  encourage¬ 
ment,  and  determines  not  to  be  conquered  in  the  struggle.  That  fruit 
trees  may  be  made  to  flourish  on  extremely  chalky  soils  will  not  admit 
of  any  doubt,  but  to  accomplish  this  I  must  confess  is  a  somewhat 
costly  and  laborious  process.  The  last  course  to  adopt  where  failure  has 
hitherto  been  the  only  result  is  to  make  a  fresh  start  and  plant  only 
young  trees,  say  two  or  three  years  old,  not  more  than  four  certainly. 
Previous  to  planting,  trench  the  ground  to  a  depth  of  18  inches,  and 
as  the  work  proceeds  work  in  a  liberal  dressing  of  well-decomposed 
manure  and  any  decayed  vegetable  matter  there  may  be  from  the  refuse 
heap.  Ashes  from  the  burning  of  prunings  and  other  rubbish  may 
also  be  advantageously  employed  in  the  same  way. 
Young  trees  invariably  thrive  well  the  first  two  or  three  years  after 
being  planted  ;  but  suffer  them  to  remain  longer  without  any  further 
proceedings  being  taken,  and  the  penalty  incurred  will  make  itself 
only  too  plainly  visible.  Yellow,  sickly-looking  leaves,  which  are  barely 
able  to  withstand  the  summer’s  sun,  and  weak  spindly  growth  are  the 
inevitable  results  of  such  a  system.  To  avoid  this  state  of  things,  and 
to  produce  a  better,  Urn  person  immediately  responsible  for  the  well¬ 
being  of  the  trees  should  make  up  his  mind  to  resort  to  that  which,  under 
the  circumstances,  is  the  only  safe  remedy — namely,  lifting  and  replant¬ 
ing  the  trees  periodically,  say  once  in  three  years.  By  adopting  this 
practice  the  roots  are  prevented  gaining  a  firm  hold  of  the  subsoil,  which 
is  the  cause  of  so  much  canker  and  decay,  as  it  also  is  of  many  trees 
dying  prematurely,  and  of  fruit  of  an  inferior  quality.  Wherever  this 
periodical  lifting  system  is  adopted,  the  trees  not  growing  on  walls  or 
as  espaliers  must  of  necessity  be  treated  either  as  pyramids  or  bushes. 
Grown  in  this  way  they  become,  as  regards  lifting  and  replanting, 
manageable  for  a  number  of  years,  and  oertainly  far  more  than  trees  which 
have  been  unattended.  The  above  applies  to  Apples,  Pears,  Plums,  and 
Cherries,  also  Apricots  on  walls. 
With  Peaches  and  Nectarines  unquestionably  the  best  plan  is  to  make 
and  prepare  a  special  border  for  them,  take  out  the  soil  2  feet  deep, 
concrete  and  drain  the  bottom,  and  at  a  distance  of  4  feet  from  the  wall 
on  which  the  trees  are  to  be  grown  and  parallel  to  it  build  a  4^-inch 
wall  of  either  concrete  or  brickwork.  Now  we  have  to  prepare  the 
material  for  the  border.  Procure  the  best  turfy  soil  obtainable  in  the 
locality  ;  mix  the  same  with  the  top  soil  taken  from  the  border,  in  pro¬ 
portion  of  one  load  of  the  latter  to  two  of  the  former  ;  give  a  fair 
sprinkling  of  brick  and  mortar  rubbish,  and  if  the  turf  is  only  of  an 
ordinary  quality  add  a  little  decomposed  manure.  With  this  to  grow 
in,  and  the  necessary  attention  as  to  training,  pruning,  watering,  and 
mulching,  there  need  be  no  apprehension  as  to  what  the  ultimate 
result  will  be. — E.  C. 
SALYIA  GESNERiEFLORA. 
Amongst  the  many  attractive  and  useful  plants  adapted  for  the 
spring  decoration  of  the  conservatory  is  this  old  and  somewhat  neglected 
plant,  which,  I  imagine,  was  more  recognised  upwards  of  a  quarter 
of  a  century  ago  than  it  is  now.  Why  it  should  be  neglected  is 
a  matter  for  some  amount  of  wonder  considering  its  comparatively  easy 
culture,  freedom  from  the  attacks  of  insects  or  other  disease,  and  not 
requiring  the  protection  of  glasB  during  the  summer  and  early  autumn 
months.  It  may  be  remarked  that  the  foregoing  attributes  are  more  or 
less  shared  by  several  other  species  of  this  numerously  represented 
genus,  which  are  recognised  for  their  useful  decorative  value  under 
glass,  whilst  that  unique  rich  blue  coloured  species,  S.  patens,  introduced 
from  Mexico  nearly  seventy  years  ago,  is  still  unsurpassed  for  richness, 
besides  being  equally  appropriate  both  to  the  greenhouse  and  flower 
garden. 
It  is,  however,  to  Salvia  gesnerseflora  that  I  more  particularly  desire 
to  draw  attention,  especially  as  to  its  suitability  for  growing  into  large 
specimens  for  the  decoration  of  the  conservatory  during  the  months  of 
March  and  April,  when  its  long  racemes  of  brilliant  scarlet  flowers  are 
so  acceptable  at  a  time  when  red  flowers  are  not  very  plentiful.  It  is 
bordering  on  twenty  years  since  I  last  had  the  pleasure  of  cultivating  it, 
and  for  many  years  previously  several  fine  standard  as  well  as  pyramidal 
shaped  specimens  were  in  my  charge.  Some  of  these  included  the 
largest  I  ever  knew,  and  some  little  idea  may  be  formed  of  their  size 
from  the  knowledge  that  the  stems  of  a  few  of  the  finest  of  the  standards 
varied  from  2  to  4  feet  in  height  and  6  or  8  inches  in  circumference,  with 
heads  measuring  when  in  full  bloom  several  feet  in  diameter.  Of  course, 
it  will  be  conjectured  that  it  was  a  matter  of  several  years  in  their 
cultivation  before  the  specimens  in  question  attained  the  size  indicated. 
That  their  culture  was  of  the  simplest  character  may  be  inferred 
when  I  remark  that  for  several  years  subsequent  to  the  attainment  of 
their  full  stature  it  was  the  usual  practice  to  prune  them  hard  back  as 
soon  as  the  branches  had  become  ripened  after  the  flowering  period. 
When  the  new  growths  had  become  a  few  inches  long  the  plants  were 
turned  out  of  the  pots  and  the  mass  of  roots  reduced,  returning  them  into 
the  same  pots  with  a  substantial  compost  of  turfy  loam,  old  Mushroom 
bed  refuse,  and  leaf  soil,  with  a  little  sand,  firmly  rammed  around  the 
ball  of  roots.  When  all  danger  of  frosts  was  over  they  were  plunged 
up  to  the  rim  of  the  pots  in  a  sunDy  border,  and  no  further  care  taken  of 
them,  except  the  necessary  waterings  and  occasional  doses  of  weak 
liquid  manure,  until  towards  the  end  of  September,  when  they  were 
removed  into  a  Peach  house  or  other  structure  prior  to  consignment  to 
the  conservatory  at  anytime  during  the  winter,  as  even  when  not  in 
bloom  the  noble  appearance  of  the  plants  in  the  form  indicated  afforded 
pleasing  variety  to  the  other  inmates. 
It  is  somewhat  of  an  anomaly  that  this  genus  of  useful  decorative 
plants  should  have  been  comparatively  neglected,  seeing  that  several  of 
them  possess  also  the  faculty  of  flowering  during  the  dullest  part  of 
the  year,  and  of  these  especial  mention  may  be  made  of  such  aB  for 
autumn  use  the  well-known  old  S.  splendens,  supplanted  by  its  form 
Bruanti,  and  this  latter  by  splendens  grandiflora,  a  splendid  scarlet- 
coloured  and  close-habited  variety,  a  fine  specimen  of  which  was 
exhibited  at  the  Drill  Hall  last  autumn,  from  the  gardens  of  Sir  Trevor 
Lawrence,  when  it  was  awarded  a  certificate  of  merit.  Next  to  the 
foregoing  comes  *S.  Heeri,  a  magnificent  bloomer,  and  one  of  the 
best  to  last  in  a  cut  state  without  dropping  itB  flowers.  Salvias,  ia 
general,  are  not  good  subjects  for  lasting  in  a  cut  state. 
Another  variety,  S.  rutilans,  deserves  mention  as  a  beautiful  flowering 
winter  species.  It  is  popularly  called  the  Pineapple-scented  Salvia. 
Its  crimson  flowers  are  produced  in  long  slender  spikes,  in  the  way 
of  the  well-kown  S.  coccinea.  It  is  a  continuous  flowerer,  which 
greatly  prolongs  the  beauty  of  the  plant.  S.  Betheli  also  claims 
attention  for  its  rosy-pink  flowers  and  floriferous  habit,  whilst  amongst 
tbe  blue-coloured  section  S.  Pitcheri  merits  distinction,  and  is  most 
effective  in  association  with  some  of  the  white-flowered  Chrysanthemums. 
Being  herbaceous  in  character  it  is  easily  increased  by  division  or  by 
cuttings  made  of  the  young  growths  in  spring.  S.  Butcheri  is  said  to 
be  the  best  blue-coloured  variety  for  autumn  use  ;  it  is  of  dwarf  habit. 
Several  others  of  this  interesting  and  invaluable  family  might  be 
enumerated  for  the  purpose  in  question,  but  the  foregoing  are  amongst 
the  foremost  worthy  of  special  notice. — W.  G. 
