372 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
November  17,  1898. 
doors  from  the  earliest  stage  of  development  are  smitten  is  pjoof  that 
the  poison  is  still  as  virulent  as  ever,  and  the  plant  no  more  capable  of 
resistance  now  than  previously.  If,  however,  we  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  certain  soils  produce  plants  only  slightly  tainted,  as 
appears  to  be  the  case,  then  we  must  also  conclude  the  disease  to  be 
incapable  of  making  good  its  attack  on  such  plants,  and  therefore 
possible  of  neutralisation.  Personally  I  have  tried  many  methods,  and 
always  have  had  more  or  less  of  a  failure  to  record.  For  next  season 
I  sowed  seeds  in  September,  the  produce  now  being  in  a  cold  and 
thoroughly  dry  pit,  and  ready  to  move  into  48-pots.  Six  weeks  later 
more  seeds  were  sown,  and  the  seedlings  from  these  are  now  in  boxes 
iu  a  slightly  warm  dry  pit.  Tn  this  way  I  hope  to  avoid  the  almost 
certain  loss  that  follows  summer  sowing,  as  well  as  the  weakness  of 
plants  raised  in  heat  in  January.  The  plants,  I  may  add,  are  kept 
suil  dry,  though  always  growing,  and  this  treatment  in  a  modified 
furm  I  hope  to  continue  till  they  are  planted  out.  A  little  phosphate 
will  also  be  occasionally  applied. 
The  Carnation  is  so  much  the  victim  of  disease  in  various  forms 
that  I  have  selected  it  as  another  example.  The  Carnation,  like  the 
Hollyhock,  has  been  cultivated  in  western  Europe  for  how  long  no 
one  knows.  That  it  should  have  been  difficult  to  manage  in  earlier 
times  we  are  almost  justified  in  accounting  for  by  the  injudicious 
treatment  to  which  it  was  subjected  by  florists.  Now  it  is  grown 
more  rationally,  but  the  plant  is  as  subject  to  certain  diseases  as 
ever. 
Cold  and  dryness  are  the  best  preventives,  while  wet  and  warmth 
combined  are  deadly  in  their  effect.  Diseases  are  partly  constitu¬ 
tional  though  largely  varietal.  For  example,  many  crimson  varieties 
suffer  extremely  from  spot  and  black  rust.  Yellow  varieties  on  the 
other  hand  are  victimised  by  a  yellowish  rust,  which  is  less  harmful 
than  the  black,  though  it  is  more  difficult  to  suppress,  as  it  appears 
alike  on  plants  cultivated  in  the  open  and  under  glass. 
The  Malmaisons  are  more  erratic  in  the  diseases  to  which  they  are 
subject  than  either  of  the  above.  In  England  the  Malmaison  disease 
is  “  Helminthium,”  in  Scotland  it  is  “Tylenchus,”  The  former  is 
no  wise  difficult  to  destroy  in  Scotland.  The  latter,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  remove.  It  destroys  or  renders 
plants  in  any  number  impotent  of  growth  in  root  or  stock.  In  England 
it  is  treated  as  a  quantity  not  worth  consideration,  so  also  when  it 
attacks  border  Carnations,  which  fortunately  embrace  a  few  sorts  only, 
the  greatest  care  is  necessary  to  keep  down  losses. 
As  with  the  Hollyhock,  so  with  these.  Many  seasonable  methols 
have  been  attempted  to  procure  immunity  from  disease,  but  all  fail, 
and  now  it  is  whispered  there  is  no  use  in  attempting  to  grow  out  of 
doors  all  the  year  any  but  varieties  of  the  hardiest  constitution  ; 
Malmaisons  never,  but  always  under  the  protection  of  glass.  Last 
winter  was  a  particularly  trying  one  to  bedded  Carnations,  and  I 
learned  of  more  than  one  collection  which  was  sadly  wasted.  The 
present  winter  is,  to  every  appearance,  likely  to  be  equally  destructive ; 
and  while  there  are  doubtless  methods  of  cultivation  and  of  treatment 
that  render  the  young  plants  less  susceptible,  there  can  at  the  same 
time  be  no  doubt  that  there  are  inaDy  varieties  otherwise  of  much 
value  which  cannot  be  depended  upon  to  weather  a  damp  winter 
without  much  loss.  For  the  majority  of  gardeners  the  best  method 
of  treating  these  is  to  dispense  with  them  altogether,  and  in  other 
instances  to  keep  a  reserve  stock  in  a  Carnation  pit  for  planting  in 
spring.  The  former  method  is  the  more  commendable,  as  while  no 
flowering  plant  is  rnoie  interesting  than  a  healthy  fforiferous  Carnation, 
on  the  other  hand  weakly  objects  are  a  blot. 
I  find  my  pen  has  been  filling  more  paper  than  expected,  so  much 
so,  that  I  dare  not  ask  for  more  space  than  a  few  lines  to  remark  on  the 
Tomato.  I  have  seen  many  cases  of  bad  disease  in  these,  and  my  first 
acquaintance  with  it  daces  a  long  way  back  -  till  before  Tomatoes  were 
grown  at  all  largely  in  gardens.  I  at  that  time  marked  the  influence 
that  cold  and  damp  had  in  developing  disease  in  the  fruits.  I  saw  it 
repeated  this  summer  on  young  plants  growing  in  a  damp  house  with 
little  or  no  ventilation,  the  result  being  attenuated  growth,  with  stems 
and  foliage  “going”  in  every  part  of  the  structure.  I  am  also 
acquainted  with  instances  where  the  disease  both  in  stems  and  fruit 
was  directly  the  result  of  a  too  warm  atmosphere,  and  manure  in  too 
great  abundarce  for  the  plants  to  assimilate. 
Only  twice  in  a  quarter  of  a  century  have  I  seen  disease  on  plants 
that  were  treated  with  the  consideration  due  to  the  species,  and  these 
simple  cases  no  doubt  arose  from  a  slight  deviation  from  correct 
methods.  The  Tomato  requires  very  simple  culture.  A  shallow  soil, 
if  healthy,  suits  it  better  than  a  deep  root  run.  The  manure  it 
requires  to  perfect  a  heavy  crop  is  best  when  of  a  phospbatic  nature, 
and  it  ought  always  to  be  applied  as  a  surface  dressing.  Till  the 
stage  of  fruit-setting  water  ought  to  be  applied  with  the  utmost 
caution.  If  the  border  is  9  inches  wide  water  will  be  required  more 
frequently  than  in  borders  three  or  four  times  wider.  I  have,  however, 
grown  plants  with  only  one  slight  watering  when  planted  out  till 
numbers  of  fruits  have  been  set,  without  once  watering  the  border. 
During  the  swelling  of  the  fruit  water  is  required  according  to 
need,  but  long  before  the  crop  has  been  fully  gathered  its  application 
should  cease.  A  dry  and  airy  atmosphere  is  also  of  moment.  Two 
local  effects  of  too  much  heat  sometimes  cause  much  uneasiness  to 
growers.  In  the  one  case  the  foliage  is  curled  together  and  browned, 
and  in  the  other  the  side  of  the  fruit  becomes  of  a  diseased  appearance. 
This  is  in  both  cases  simply  scald,  and  when  the  cause  is  known  the 
remedy  in  each  case  is  very  simple. — N.  B. 
HEDGEROWS. 
The  ordinary  hedgerow  is  a  characteristic  feature  of  English 
landscape.  It  is  interesting  to  the  student  of  botany  and  the  naturalist» 
and  to  the  young  of  all  ages  a  never-failing  source  of  curiosity  and 
delight.  From  the  time  of  the  first  Violet  and  the  Rathe  Primrose* 
that  shelter  on  the  banks  beneath,  to  the  Blackberry,  Nut,  and  scarlet 
hep,  there  is  always  something  to  admire.  I  make  no  apology,  there¬ 
fore,  for  speaking  of  hedgerows,  although  they  scarcely  come  within 
the  gardener’s  scope.  And  yet  I  have  seen,  here  and  there,  some  charming 
effects  produced  by  garden  hedges.  Here  close  by,  in  front  of  a  house 
facing  east,  is  a  Sweetbriar  hedge ;  it  is  about  40  yards  long,  3  feet 
high,  and  2  feet  through.  During  June  and  July  it  was  starred  thickly 
over  with  the  pretty,  single,  deep  pink  flowers — a  deeper  rose  than 
Rosa  canina — and  now  it  glows  with  the  cornelian  of  the  hep. 
Perhaps  the  prettiest  of  all  hedgerow  shrubs  by  the  south  coast  is 
Escallonia  macrantha,  with  its  stiff,  dark  green  glossy  leaves,  and 
trusses  of  trumpet-shaped  crimson  flowers.  It  was  introduced,  I 
believe,  about  seventy  years  ago  by  the  late  Mr.  Dorrien  Smith,  lord 
proprietor  of  the  Scilly  Isles,  and  to  see  it  in  perfection  one  must  go 
so  far  as  St.  Mary’s  or  Tresco.  Miles  of  it  are  in  use  there  as  a  shelter 
for  the  early  Narcissi.  Hedges  4  feet  high  are  raised  from  cuttings  in 
as  many  years.  Euonymus  is  also  grown,  but  it  is  being  gradually 
dispensed  with.  It  impoverishes  the  ground,  and  is  not  so  manageable 
as  Escallonia.  Veronica  also  is  used,  and  flowers  delightfully. 
Another  hardy  shrub  used  for  a  similar  purpose  is  the  Tamarisk. 
It  is  of  rambling  growth,  however,  and  not  nearly  so  effective. 
Perhaps  of  all  hedgerow  shrubs  the  Holly  is  handsomest  and  most 
effective  as  a  garden  fence.  One  thinks  of  Evelyn’s  garden  at  Dept¬ 
ford  and  his  great  Holly  hedge,  “  a  hundred  and  sixty  foot  in  length, 
seven  foot  high,  and  five  in  diameter,”  a  glorious  and  refreshing 
object,  glittering  with  its  armed  and  varnished  leaves.  And  then  one 
thinks  of  the  “  beast  and  hedgebreaker,”  Peter  the  Great,  who  was 
living  in  the  house,  and  whose  delight  was  to  be  driven  through  this 
hedge  in  a  wheelbarrow.  Perhaps,  however,  a  handsomer  hedge  is 
that  of  the  Aucuba  when  loaded  with  its  clusters  of  crimson  berries. 
If  my  memory  serves  me  correctly  the  male  Aucuba  was  only  intro¬ 
duced  about  forty  years  ago.  The  late  Mr.  Chandler  was,  I  believe, 
the  first  to  make  a  ten-pound  note  of  the  berries.  It  may  not  be 
generally  known  that  a  spray  of  the  male  blossom  suspended  in  a 
phial  bottle  with  water  am.  ng  the  branches  is  sufficient,  with  the  aid 
of  ti  e  bees,  to  fertilise  many  female  plants. 
Then,  of  course,  there  are  many  evergreen  shrubs  suitable  for  hedges 
— the  common  and  Portugal  Laurel,  and  the  Bay,  the  Box,  Cupressus, 
and  Yew.  The  latter  is  an  admirable  foil  for  tall-growing  plants,  such 
as  Hollyhocks,  pillar  Roses,  and  Delphiniums.  Probably  of  all  ever¬ 
green  trees  and  shrubs  the  Yew  and  the  Box  are  most  amenable  to  the 
topiary  art — a  barbarous  art,  still  in  favour  with  old-fashioned  folk 
who  love  a  garden.  But  Bacon  carries  the  joke  too  far  when  he  speaks 
of  his  “  stately  arched  hedge,  and  over  every  such  arch  a  littlo 
turret  with  belly  enough  to  receive  a  cage  of  birds,  and  over  every 
