532 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  30,  1898. 
There  are  “  Daisy- Bushes,”  Geraniums,  Violas,  Pansies,  Dic- 
tamnuses.  Lychnises,  Asphodels;  there  are  early  Campanulas,  Lupines* 
Marigolds,  Cytisuses,  Saxifrages,  and  Stonecrops;  while  the  House- 
leeks  begin  to  thrust  up  their  great  fleshy  flower  stems.  Flowers 
graceful,  flowers  sweet,  flowers  quaint,  flow'ers  stately — all  have  been 
called  into  birth  by  the  heat  of  midsummer  days ;  but  we  cannot  stay 
now  to  tell  of  all  at  length. 
There  is  somethiug  pleasing  in  the  diminutive  attached  to  the 
names  of  some  of  our  plants.  “  Gentianella  ”  is  familiar  to  the  most 
of  us,  and  sounds  softer  than  the  shorter  “  Gentian.”  As  I  look  out 
of  the  window — for  much-wished-for  rain  has  come — a  plant  of  the 
white  Fraxinella,  Dictamnus  albus,  presents  itself  to  view.  To  the 
uninitiated  it  is  well  named,  so  far  as  its  foliage  is  concerned* 
“  Fraxinella,”  or  “little  Ash,”  but  those  who  know  it  well  can  scarce 
recognise  tlie  appropriateness  of  the  name.  We  used  to  consider  the 
purple  Fraxinella,  usually  known  as  D.  Fraxinella,  the  type,  but  it 
now  appears  that  we  have  been  wrong,  and  that  the  "white  form  is 
the  type  plant,  and  that  it  is  to  be  known  as  D.  albus,  and  the 
purple  variety  by  the  paradoxical  term  of  D.  albus  purpureus.  The 
older  writers  cared  little  for  these  things,  and  some  of  them  knew 
the  plant  as  the  Bastard  Dittany,  a  name  now*  apparently  obsolete. 
While  the  purple  form  is  much  inferior  to  the  fine  variety  now 
known  as  D.  caucasicus,  the  white-flowered  plant  is  almost  Indis¬ 
pensable.  It  is,  too,  a  flower  which  stands  drought  well,  always 
provided  that  it  is  established  in  good,  strong  soil,  which  is  really 
necessary  if  truly  effective  plants  are  desired. 
The  luminous  vapour  exhaled  by  the  Dictamnus  has  often 
excited  much  curiosity.  That  it  is  inflammable  has  been  doubted, 
and  some  years  ago  an  amateur  who  wrote  about  it  in  one  of  the 
gardening  papers  thought  it  necessary  to  support  his  statements  by 
appending  a  certificate  of  their  truth  from  the  provost  of  Auchter- 
muchty,  a  Scottish  town  unpronounceable  by  the  tongue  of  those  of 
southern  birth.  A  pretty  plant  is  Dictamnus  albus  with  its  long 
spikes  of  ivory-white  flowers  of  distinct  form. 
In  the  writer’s  all  too  brief  college  days  he  was  often  galled  by 
the  apparently  purposeless  repetition  and  reiteration  of  certain  simple 
things  "which,  however,  when  examination  times  came  on,  were  found 
of  almost  incalculable  value.  So  it  is  in  writing  on  flowers.  There 
are  plants  of  which  we  have  to  speak  again  and  again  before  their 
worth  becomes  recognised.  One  is  almost  afraid  to  say  how  often 
the  Helianlhemums  or  Sun  Eoses  have  been  mentioned,  and  now  that 
we  are  in  the  sunny  months  they  once  more  put  in  a  claim. 
Many 'who  cannot  grow  the  Cistuses  can  grow  the  Helianthemums, 
and  although  they  cannot  reiflace  the  former,  they  can  be  grown  on 
sunny  rockwork  or  dry  mounds  or  banks  with  much  advantage. 
Fugacious  though  they  are,  they  are  very  beautiful,  and  a  packet  of 
seed  Avill  produce  many  attractive  varieties  which  would  delight 
almost  anyone  by  their  flowers.  Less  fleeting  in  their  beauty,  if 
heavier-looking,  are  the  double  forms.  Of  these  nearly  all  are  worth 
securing.  There  are  double  scarlet,  double  orange,  double  yellow, 
double  cream,  double  white,  and  one  or  two  others  of  various  shades. 
They  are  propagated  by  cuttings,  and  in  some  positions  look  very 
beautiful  indeed.  On  one  rockery  the  writer  has  a  patch  of  tiie 
double  scarlet  Helianthemum,  "W'hich  Avas  planted  beside  the  single 
white  Rosa  pyrenaicr.  The  latter,  as  is  its  Avont,  disdains  being 
confined  to  an  allotted  space  and  rambles  among  the  stones,  Avith  the 
result  that  the  scarlet  floAvers  of  the  Sun  Rose  mingle  prettily  with 
the  leaves  and  blooms  of  the  Pyrenean  Rose,  making  a  charming 
combination. 
There  is  a  dainty  little  Pink  in  this  garden  of  AA'hich  I  thought  of 
writing  a  year  ago.  My  plant  was  but  small,  and  I  delayed  until 
it  had  attained  its  true  character.  Recently  I  saw  a  fine  plant  at 
Glasnevin  Royal  Botanical  Gardens,  and  one  feels  that  so  unpretend¬ 
ing  a  flower  deserves  some  commendation.  It  must  be  premised 
that  the  name,  Dianthus  suavis,  is  applied  by  one  or  two  of  my 
books  to  a  Pink  which  dififers  in  some  respects  from  that  grown  at 
Glasnevin,  and  here  by  the  name.  The  Pink  of  which  I  speak  has 
small  white  flowers,  fragrant,  and  produced  singly  on  rather  long 
stems.  The  foliage  is  small,  dense,  and  grass-like  in  its  general 
appearance.  On  rockwork  a  good  plant  looks  as  if  it  had  hanging 
from  it  a  number  of  silver  spangles,  Avhen  viewed  from  a  little 
distance.  It  is  a  dainty  single-flow'ered  Pink,  which  should  be  sought 
after  for  the  rock  garden. 
The  time  of  summer  shows  has  come,  and  pressure  on  the- 
Journal’s  space  is  correspondingly  great.  Close  one  must  with 
regretful  looks  at  the  SAveet  and  beautiful  floAvers  around. — S.  ArnOTT^ 
DEFOLIATING  TOMATOES. 
This  is  a  matter  AA'^hich  has  been  .much  discussed,  and  about  it 
there  seem  to  be  many  conflicting  opinions.  At  one  time  it  AV'as  the 
usual  custom  to  shorten  back  the  majority  of  the  main  leaves  in 
a  rather  reckless  manner.  This  led  some  prominent  writers  to 
attack  the  practice  mercilessly,  and  to  declare  that  it  was  a  barbarouS’ 
proceeding  to  shorten  the  leaves  of  Tomatoes,  and,  moreover,  totalljr 
at  variance  with  all  scientific  teaching.  Such  bold  assettions  made- 
the  timid  ones  waver,  and  although  they  might  be  convinced  by  their 
own  practice  that  a  certain  amount  of  leaf-shortening  was  advan¬ 
tageous,  few  ventured  to  express  their  opinions  in  the  horticultural- 
press.  At  the  present  time  the  matter  stands  in  this  unsatisfactory, 
condition — that,  though  the  majority  of  vATiters  condemn  the  shorten¬ 
ing  of  Tomato  leaves,  I  suspect  that  nearly  all  of  them  practise  it  in. 
some  degree. 
It  is  one  of  those  matters  whicli  ought  to  be  modified  according  to 
circumstances.  What  may  be  the  best  practice  in  one  instance  may  be 
quite  unsuited  to  another  set  of  conditions.  If  I  wanted  to  groAV^ 
some  extra  large  fruit  of  the  Perfection  type  for  exhibition  purposes,  I 
should  set  the  plants  2  feet  apart,  remove  all  side  shoots,  and  not  shorten 
a  single  leaf ;  there  is  then  no  difliculty  in  securing  splendid  fruits. 
For  ordinary  purposes,  however,  very  large  Tomatoes  are  nor  desirable 
either  for  supplying  the  markets  or  private  families ;  medium-sized 
smooth  fruits  of  such  fine  varieties  as  Frogmore  Prolific,  Ham  Green,, 
and  Challenger  are  invariably  preferred.  The  point  the  cultivator  has 
therefore  to  aim  at  is  to  secure  as  large  a  crop  of  fruits  as  possible  of 
the  right  size  in  a  given  space — not  undersized  ones,  but  lully  grown 
specimens  of  their  respective  varieties,  being  as  far  as  possible  with¬ 
out  spot  or  blemish. 
The  best  AA^ay  to  accomplish  this  object  is,  according  to  my 
experience,  to  platit  rather  closely,  from  13  to  15  inches  apart,  and 
slightly  shorten  every  leaf.  Fortunately  the  leaf  of  a  Tomato  plant 
is  so  constructed  as  to  lend  itself  to  material  reduction  without  show¬ 
ing  any  injurious  results  when  the  work  is  performed  in  an  intelli¬ 
gent  manner — i.e.,  done  piecemeal,  as  opposed  to  the  practice  of 
severely  shortening  a  number  of  leaves  at  one  time.  The  plan  I 
adopt  is  to  shorten  the  leaves  regularly  as  growth  is  made,  rather  than, 
allow  them  to  grow  luxuriantly  for  a  time,  and  then  have  a  grand 
“slaughtering  day.”  From  some  of  them  I  remove  one  joint,  from 
others  two  whenever  I  find  the  growflh  becomes  unduly  crowded  ;  and 
in  all  instances  I  make  a  point  of  having  the  flowers  fully  exposed,  as 
without  full  exposure  perfect  fertilisation  is  not  effected.  As  the  fruit 
begins  to  ripen  at  the  base  of  the  plant  the  leaves  commence  turning 
yellow  at  that  point ;  as  fast  as  they  do  so  I  remove  them,  to  hasten 
the  ripening  of  the  fruit  by  giving  full  exposure. 
In  working  on  such  lines  I  maintain  that  Ave  so  manipulate  the 
plant  as  to  secure  the  greatest  possible  weight  of  good  fruit  in  a  given 
space,  and  I  have  yet  to  learn  that  there  is  anything  barbarous  about 
the  practice.  It  is  simply  a  case  of  bending  Nature  to  our  aaoII,  and 
thus  correcting  some  of  her  inequalities.  In  the  case  of  a  Vine  or  a. 
iVlelon  we  resort  to  a  severe  stopping  and  thinning  of  the  shoots,  and  I 
suspect  the  only  reason  why  we  do  not  systematically  reduce  the  size 
of  some  of  the  leaves  is  that  they  have  no  natural  points  of  division. 
By  manipulating  the  shoots  of  a  Vine  or  Melon  we  manage  to  get 
weighty  crops  of  fruit,  (ar  superior  to  those  which  could  be  obtained 
without  such  reductions  of  growth.  Why,  then,  should  the  practice 
of  defoliating  Tomatoes  be  termed  by  thinking  men  a  barbarous- 
one  ? — H.  D. 
A  Japanese  Blood-leaved  Maple  Hedge.  —  Considering  the 
many  wonderfully  beautiful  effects  to  be  had  from  the  arrangements 
of  plants  unknown  to  the  general  public,  it  is  puzzling  that  some  of 
our  more  wealthy  citizens  ao  not  interest  themselves  more  in  beautifying 
the  surroundings  of  their  residences.  The  resources  are  unlimited. 
Take  the  subject  of  this  paragraph  for  instance.  A  hedge  of  this  lovely 
Japanese  Maple  would  surpass  any  effect  ever  attempted  in  landscape 
arrai\gement,  and  so  simple  too.  The  writer  drew  inspiration  for  this 
commendation  from  a  view  of  about  a  dozen  nursery  rows  of  these- 
Maples,  the  leaves  just  expanded,  each  extending  a  distance  of  100  yards. 
Their  beauty  was  unsurpassed,  and  would  continue  all  the  season. — T.  M- 
\ 
