340 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
October  19,  1899. 
drawn  from  these  remarks  that  anything  derogatory  to  the  purest  and 
most  practical  of  human  pleasures  is  intended.  Gardeners  who  know 
and  feel,  alas  !  the  serious  aspect  of  the  case  would  be  the  last  to  think 
so.  Comparing  the  heavy  tax  upon  a  gardener’s  time,  brains,  and 
muscle  with  the  inadequate  remuneration  so  many  receive  consequent 
upon  a  glutted  market,  if  men’s  hearts  were  not  in  their  work,  life,  if 
not  a  physical  impossibility  without  that  organ,  would,  at  least,  be 
not  worth  living. 
Born  gardeners,  there  are,  of  course,  but  the  bulk  are  made;  and 
of  the  latter,  the  great  majority,  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  higher 
wages  in  other  walks  of  life  are  the  dominant  influence  of  attraction. 
The  born  gardener  seeks  but  his  own,  and — and  it  goes  without  saying — 
he  will  never  become  bricklayer,  mason,  carpenter,  or  engineer.  For 
such,  there  has  been,  is,  and  always  will  be,  ample  room,  for  they  are 
rare.  Again,  no  invidious  comparison  is  implied  between  those  gifted 
few  and  the  great  company  of  honourable  men  and  good  gardeners 
who  adorn  the  positions  they  have  fought  for  and  won.  The  difference 
between  them  is  a  vanishing  quantity,  and  finally  disappears  as  life 
advances.  The  one  is  debarred  by  his  hereditary  love  of  gardening 
from  seeking  any  other  means  of  living,  the  other  is  forced  into  it  by 
circumstances,  when  that  dormant  germ,  which  appears  to  be  implanted 
in  the  whole  human  race,  is  nourished  into  active  growth,  which  none 
of  the  rusts  and  blights  of  later  life  are  able  to  destroy.  There  is, 
then,  at  this  period,  little,  if  any,  difference  between  the  born  and 
the  made  gardener,  but  there  has  been  a  time  when  a  distinct  line  of 
demarcation  separated  the  two — viz.,  the  turning  point  in  life  where, 
say,  one  youth  claims  his  birthright  as  a  gardener,  and  nine  seek  their 
living  in  the  best  market  within  reach,  and  find  it  in  gardening.  With 
an  opening  market  in  the  building  trade  and  its  allied  branches,  as  well 
as  other  phases  of  life,  the  present  flourishing  conditions  of  our  country 
bring  to  light,  we  have,  one  thinks  and  hopes,  a  turn  of  the  tide. 
— A.  N.  Oldhead. 
SALVIA  SPLENDENS  GRANDIFLORA. 
For  a  showy,  free  flowering,  autumn  greenhouse  plant,  this  has 
few  equals,  and  when  grown  and  flowered  as  Mr.  Hudson  of  Gunners- 
bury  House  gardens  does  it,  no  one  can  fail  to  be  charmed  with  its 
brilliant  display  of  flowers. 
Although  everyone  may  not  meet  with  the  same  success  as  Mr. 
Hudson  does,  with  ordinary  care  anyone  who  has  a  cool  greenhouse 
may  be  sure  of  a  good  supply  of  the  pretty  scarlet  flowers  for  two 
months  in  autumn.  A  sound  method  of  culture  is  to  sow  seeds  or  root 
cuttiDgs  in  a  gentle  bottom  heat  about  the  end  of  February.  The 
voung  plants  should  be  potted  in  a  mixture  of  loam,  leaf  mould,  and 
sand,  and  as  soon  as  root  action  has  become  active,  be  placed  in  a  cold 
frame;  they  should  be  pinched  several  times  to  form  a  good  founda¬ 
tion.  As  often  as  the  pots  become  filled  with  roots  the  plants  ought  to 
be  repotted,  rich  soil  being  used  until  they  are  in  7-inch  pots  ;  after 
this  they  will  require  heavy  feeding.  About  the  end  of  May  they 
must  be  placed  outside,  where  they  will  remain  until  they  flower. 
Plants  grown  under  this  treatment  make  specimens  3  feet  in 
diameter,  aLd  bear  between  thirty  and  forty  racemes  of  flowers  from 
8  inches  to  a  foot  or  more  long.  Besides  being  an  excellent  indoor 
plant,  it  is  very  useful  for  planting  out,  the  flowers  being  produced  in 
abundance  from  early  August  until  frost  appears.  By  rooting  cuttings 
in  April  or  May  excellent  little  table  plants  in  5-inch  pots  can  be  had. 
— Kewite. 
RHUS  OSRECKI. 
Though  this  plant  was  introduced  from  Japan  more  than  thirty  years 
ago,  it  is  not  as  yet  grown  nearly  so  much  as  it  ought  to  be,  which  is, 
perhaps,  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is  not  very  striking  in  a  young  state, 
though  when  older  it  forms  a  bold,  handsome  specimen,  suitable  either 
for  growing  singly  on  a  lawn  or  in  conjunction  with  other  shrubs.  It, 
perhaps,  makes  a  better  plant  when  grown  by  itself  than  when  cramped 
with  other  subjects,  for,  when  once  it  is  fairly  established,  it  grows 
rapidly,  and  forms  a  rounded  shrub  15  to  20  feet  in  height,  and  as  much, 
or  more,  in  diameter. 
A  good,  fairly  rich  soil  should  be  provided  for  it  in  a  well-drained 
position,  where  it  will  not  be  shaded  by  anything  else,  as  this  plant  likes 
full  exposure  to  the  sun.  The  pinnate  leaves  are  stiffer  than  those  of 
most  of  the  other  members  of  this  genus — though  not  so  stiff  as  to  be 
ungraceful — and  are  from  a  foot  to  18  inches  long.  The  leaflets  vary 
from  seven  to  eleven  in  number,  and  are  oval  in  shape,  sessile,  broadly 
toothed,  and  covered  on  the  under  side  with  a  dense,  white  wool,  which 
shows  to  advantage  when  the  leaves  are  blown  upwards  by  the  wind. 
The  petiole  between  each  pair  of  leaflets  is  broadly  winged,  from  which 
this  plant  has  been  called  R.  semialata  Osbecki,  and  which  is  the  name  it 
is  most  commonly  known  by  on  the  continent. 
The  flowers  open  in  September  and  October,  and  are  borne  in 
terminal,  branched  panicles,  6  inches  to  a  foot  in  length.  The  individual 
flowers  are  very  minute,  but  are  produced  in  great  numbers,  and  are  pure 
white  in  colour.  It  flowers  too  late  in  the  season  to  bear  fruit  in  this 
country. — C. 
PLANTING  PEACHES  AND  NECTARINES. 
Where  suitable  structures  have  been  erected  for  the  production  of 
these  delicious  fruits  it  is  false  economy  to  spare  pains  on  the  prepara¬ 
tion  of  the  borders  for  the  trees,  though  there  may  be  instances  when 
the  natural  soil  is  as  good,  if  not  better,  than  any  compost  that  can  be 
compounded  artificially.  In  such  cases  trenching  the  ground  2  feet 
deep  and  adding  some  well-decomposed  manure  may  be  all  that  is 
necessary,  save  for  dressings  of  such  simple  substances  as  basic  slag 
phosphate  and  kainit  to  the  surface.  But  this  state  of  affairs  is  not 
general,  and,  though  we  find  trees  succeeding  fairly  well  in  a  great 
diversity  of  soils,  there  are  many  exceptions  ;  hence  additions  have  to 
be  made  to  the  soil  in  many  instances  to  render  it  suitable  for  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  delicious  fruits. 
Assuming  the  structure  to  be  adapted  in  every  respect  for  its 
intended  purpose,  we  may  pass  to  the  border.  This  must  be  efficiently 
drained,  the  base  having  an  incline  to  the  dram,  which  should  be 
formed  of  3  or  4-inch  tiles  having  proper  fall  and  outlet.  In  unfavour¬ 
able  subsoils  it  may  be  necessary  to  concrete  the  base,  otherwise  it  is 
not  advisable  to  do  so,  as  moisture  then  has  a  better  chance  of 
ascending,  and  the  roots  will  not  descend  if  they  are  properly  nourished 
in  the  border.  Use  clean  drainage — first  a  layer  of  half  bricks  or  rubble, 
another  of  smaller,  and  a  third  of  the  size  of  road  metal  ;  these  9  to 
12  inches  thick  collectively,  with  a  3-inch  layer  of  old  mortar  rubb’sh 
or  chalk  on  the  top,  will  make  a  very  substantial  foundation.  The 
old  mortar  rubbish  must  be  freed  from  pieces  of  wood,  be  rather  fine, 
and  passed  through  a  pinch  sieve,  using  that  not  passing  through  for 
drainage,  and  the  fine  for  mixing  with  the  soil. 
Good  strong  loam  is  the  only  suitable  material  for  the  border,  the 
top  3  or  4  inches  of  a  pasture  with  its  tnrf  being  the  best ;  but  well 
worked  rather  strong  garden  soil  will  grow  Peaches  and  Nectarines 
well.  If  the  turfy  loam  inclines  to  be  light,  add  a  fourth  of  clay 
marl  finely  divided,  preterably  dried  and  powdered ;  if  very  strong, 
add  a  fourth  of  road  scrapings.  A  cartload  of  wood  ashes  may  be 
added  to  twelve  cartloads  of  loam,  and  about  4  cwt.  of  crushed  half¬ 
inch  bones.  These  will  supply  mineral  matter  of  which  turf  is 
generally  deficient.  If  these  cannot  be  had,  use  4  cwt.  of  basic  slag 
phosphate  and  2  cwt.  kainit,  mixing  thoroughly  with  the  loam.  Lime 
rubbish  may  he  added  to  the  extent  of  one-sixth  to  a  tenth,  according 
to  the  nature  of  the  loam.  If  ordinary  garden  soil  be  used,  it  will  be 
advisable  to  add  a  fifth  part  of  horse  droppings  or  stable  manure,  freed 
as  far  as  possible  from  the  straw;  if  the  soil  be  too  light,  use  cow 
manure.  The  materials  must  be  well  incorporated  and  put  together 
firmly  when  in  a  fairly  dry  state.  The  border  need  not  be  more  than 
24  inches  in  depth,  and  for  young  trees  it  may  be  only  3  feet  wide 
4  feet  6  inches  width  accommodating  trees  trained  two  or  three  years 
to  walls,  while  in  any  case  the  border  must  only  be  a  loot  more  in 
brtadth  than  the  spread  of  the  roots  to  begin  with. 
The  best  trees  for  planting  in  houses  are  those  that  have  been 
trained  to  south  walls  or  trellises  in  cool  houses  for  two  or  three  years, 
as,  if  carefully  lifted  and  properly  planted,  they  will  produce  some 
fruit  the  first  season.  Plant  rather  high,  as  the  soil  will  settle,  and 
the  surface  dressings  will  raise  the  soil  correspondingly.  The  earlier 
the  trees  are  planted  after  the  leaves  give  indications  of  falling  the 
better,  as  provision  is  made  for  the  emission  of  fresh  rootlets  at  once. 
Supply  water  after  planting,  allow  it  to  soak  in,  and  when  dry  enough 
firm  well,  and  mulch  as  far  from  the  stem  outwards  as  the  roots 
extend,  or  a  little  more,  with  a  couple  of  inches  thickness  of  short, 
rather  fresh,  but  sweetened  manure.  If  the  lights  are  movable,  as 
they  were  in  all  Peach  houses  in  my  younger  days,  take  them  off,  and 
let  them  so  remain  until  the  time  of  starting  the  trees.  The  autumnal 
rains,  winter’s  fog-,  mists,  rains,  and  snows,  with  the  keenest  frosts, 
will  not  do  the  trees  any  harm,  but  benefit  them  by  insuring  complete 
rest,  and  the  thorough  moistening  of  the  inside  border. 
It  is  now  difficult  to  make  selections  of  varieties,  there  being  so 
many  from  which  to  choose.  For  very  early  forcing,  Alexander  or 
Waterloo  and  Early  Louise  Peaches,  Cardinal  and  Rivers’  Early 
Nectarines.  Second  early  :  Hale’s  Early,  A  Bee,  Royal  George  or 
Stirling  Castle  or  Dymond  Peaches ;  Lord  Napier,  Rivers’  Orange, 
and  Stan  wick  Elruge  Nectarines.  Midseason:  Grosse  Mignonne, 
Noblesse,  Goshawk,  Bellegarde,  and  Violette  Hative  Peaches;  Elruge, 
Humboldt,  Dryden,  and  Bjron  Nectarines.  Late  houses:  Barrington, 
Princess  of  Wales,  Gladstone,  Walburton  Admirable,  Nectarine 
Peach,  Sea  Eagle,  and  Golden  Eagle  Peaches ;  Pineapple,  Newton, 
Milton,  and  Victoria  Nectarines.  Unheated  houses  or  wall  cases  to 
give  a  long  succession  of  fruit:  Waterloo,  Early  Louise,  Hale’s  Early, 
Dr.  Hogg,  Rivers’  Early  York,  Alexandra  (Noblesse),  Goshawk,  Royal 
George,  Grosse  Mignonne,  Dymond,  Bellegarde,  Barrington,  Princess 
of  Wales,  Gladstone,  Sea  Eagle,  Walburton  Admirable,  and  Golden 
Eagle  Peaches;  Cardinal,  Early  Rivers,  Lord  Napier,  Stanwick Elruge, 
Humboldt,  Dryden,  Pineapple,  and  Victoria  Nectarines. 
AVith  those  or  some  of  them  a  supply  of  fruit  may  be  had  from 
early  in  July  to  the  middle  of  October  or  later,  and  all  of  the  highest 
excellence. — Grower. 
