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JOURNAL  OR  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  14,  1886. 
those  in  charge  of  them  seem  to  think.  Even  if  water  is  abundant 
and  can  be  easily  applied,  it  is  yet  more  to  the  purpose  to  mulch 
— not  before  the  sun  warms  the  soil,  but  before  it  gains  great 
power  and  abstracts  much  moisture  from  it.  Mulching  prevents 
the  necessity  of  many  drenchings,  which  lower  the  temperature  of 
the  soil  and  wash  the  plant  foods  downwards,  surface  roots  not 
then  being  plentiful  as  a  rule. 
Mulching  material  properly  utilised  is  a  great  saving  in  labour, 
but  it  must  not  be  expected  that  it  will  wholly  obviate  the  necessity 
for  using  water.  In  my  case  mulched  borders  instead  of  being 
watered  once  a  week,  and  oftener  where  Tomatoes  are  growing, 
need  only  be  watered  every  ten  days  or  fortnight,  according  to 
circumstances,  and  the  trifling  cost  of  mulching  is  saved  several 
times  over  during  the  season  in  labour  and  water  rates.  Nor  is  this 
the  only  advantage.  The  mulched  plants,  or  those  kept  constantly 
moist  at  the  roots,  are  the  least  liable  to  succumb  to  insect  attacks 
or  diseases  generally  and  invariably  produce  much  the  heavier 
crops.  This  may  appear  to  be  a  strong  assertion,  but  my  readers 
may  rest  well  assured  that  I  should  not  buy  twenty  loads  of 
strawy  manure  during  the  month  of  May  solely  for  mulching 
purposes  if  I  were  not  well  convinced  that  by  so  doing  a  con¬ 
siderable  gain  would  be  effected. 
Freely  mulched  inside  borders  do  not  suffer  so  much  from  being 
trampled  on  as  do  those  left  bare,  this  remark  applying  in  a  lesser 
degree  to  oatside  borders.  All  wall  trees,  Peaches  and  Nectarines 
in  particular,  are  greatly  benefited  by  early  and  heavy  mulchings, 
applied  not  merely  about  the  stems  but  to  a  distance  of  from  4  feet 
to  6  feet  away.  Mulchings  are  also  most  desirable  in  the  case 
of  newly  planted  trees  and  bushes,  as  well  as  those  partially  or 
wholly  lifted  last  season,  and  those  on  surface-rooting  stocks 
generally,  these  requiring  abundance  of  moisture  and  food  to 
support  them  in  their  endeavours  to  annually  produce  extra  heavy 
crops. 
Top-dressings  more  often  than  not  take  the  form  of  a  rich 
mixture,  consisting,  say,  of  equal  parts  of  fresh  loam  and  good  solid 
manure,  with  burn  bake,  old  mortar  rubbish,  and  bonemeal  added. 
Sometimes  only  loam  and  chemical  manures  are  used  at  the  rates 
advised  by  the  vendors.  All  those  advertised  are  good,  and  have 
given  satisfactory  results  ;  rank  stable  manure,  and  in  some  few 
cases  strong  ammoniacal  chemical  manures,  applied  to  borders  in 
a  warm  house  have  been  known  to  ruin  the  foliage  of  Grape 
Vines.  The  mischief  was  done  during  the  time  of  closing  and 
syringing  in  the  afternoon  of  a  bright  day  and  the  next  morning  ; 
a  surfacing  of  kiln  dust  fresh  from  a  malting  also  once  worked 
much  damage  in  a  vinery.  Mix  these  strong  ammonia-charged 
manures  with  fresh  soil  prior  to  using,  and  danger  from  them  will 
be  reduced  to  a  minimum.  Damping  down  with  guano  water  in 
the  afternoon,  an  ounce  to  a  gallon,  does  no  harm,  but  good. 
Top-dressings  of  any  kind  should  never  be  applied  to  either  dry 
or  hard-capped  borders.  First  loosen  the  surface  with  forks  to  the 
extent  of  baring  the  topmost  roots,  and  if  the  old  loosened  soil  can 
be  wholly  dispensed  with,  replacing  this  with  the  fresh  compost, 
so  much  the  better.  Not,  however,  till  the  borders  have  been  well 
moistened,  if  need  be,  ought  the  top-dressing  to  be  given,  and 
if  the  latter  can  be  still  further  supplemented  by  a  mulching  of 
strawy  manure  or  other  suitable  material  there  will  be  a  greater 
likelihood  of  the  roots  being  attracted  to,  and  kept  active  in  the 
top-dressing. 
Mulchings  and  top  dressings  are  not  always  attended  with 
marked  benefit  to  the  crops  favoured  by  one  or  both  of  these 
operations.  This,  in  numerous  instances,  is  owing  to  a  neglect  of 
other  cultural  details,  more  especially  in  the  direction  of  omitting 
to  apply  water  or  liquid  manure  at  the  right  time.  The  fresh  soil 
on  the  surface  may  be  moist  enough,  but  not  so  that  full  of 
hungry  roots  underneath.  It  is  the  latter  that  ought  to  be  tested 
frequently  and  watered  when  approaching  dryness,  paying  little  or 
no  heed  to  the  top  dressing.  If  we  are  guided  by  the  state  of  the 
top-dressing,  then  the  chances  are  we  shall  be  misled  and  harm 
result.  Dry  top- dressings  again  are  of  no  service  beyond  acting  as 
a  mulch,  and  that  is  another  reason  why  they  ought,  particularly 
where  exposed  to  sunshine  and  drying  winds,  to  be  accompanied  by 
a  mulching. — W.  Iggulden. 
_ ; _  •  >  A  • 
.  -  v* '  >  O  f  yf  ()  1 1  > 
HARDY  FLOWER  NOTES. 
Looking,  as  is  my  wont,  through  the  bewildering  array  of  beauty 
in  the  garden  for  something  of  which  to  speak  in  detail  I  came 
on  the  double  Daisies,  which  with  button-like  flowers  are  so 
beautiful  in  this  month*of  flowers.  Their  sisters  of  the  fields  and 
of  many  places  besides  need  no  champion  and  no  pen  to  tell  of 
their  beauty.  From  Chaucer  onward  the  poets  have  told  of  their 
loveliness,  and  have  used  to  the  full  the  gifts  of  their  genius  in 
singing  their  praises.  The  “  floure  white  and  redde,"  best  loved 
by  Chaucer  ;  the  “  wee,  modest,  crimson-tipped  flower  ”  of  Burns  ; 
or  the  “queen  in  crown  of  rubies  drest  ”  of  Wordsworth,  needs 
not  our  praise ;  and  as  in  any  case  the  garden  flowers  are  more 
within  my  province,  I  devote  a  few  lines  to  those  Daisies  which 
for  long  years  have  been  coveted  and  admired  in  the  gardens  of 
those  of  high  or  of  low  degree. 
Like  many  other  flowers,  the  double  Daisies  have  too  often  been 
left  in  the  cold  shades  of  neglect,  and  though  more  sought  after, 
are  not  without  need  of  being  more  brought  before  the  notice  of 
growers  of  hardy  flowers.  I  have  been  gathering  together  a  small 
collection,  and  find  them  very  interesting  and  so  beautiful  as  to 
be  very  attractive,  formal  though  some  think  their  quilled  or  flat- 
petalled  flowers. 
The  Aucuba-leaved  Daisy,  Beilis  perennis  aucubsefolia,  is  very 
much  admired  by  many  on  account  of  its  spotted  foliage,  whence 
it  appropriately  enough  receives  its  varietal  name.  The  best  known 
variety  is  the  crimson  one,  but  the  white  flowered  one  is  also  not 
infrequently  met  with.  There  is,  however,  also  a  pretty  pink  or 
blush  coloured  one,  which  has  its  flowers  quilled  like  those  of  the 
others.  These  Aucuba-leaved  Daisies  are  rather  more  difficult  to 
keep  than  the  others,  and  require  more  careful  looking  after.  The 
Hen  and  Chicken  Daisies  or  Childing  Daisies,  as  the  curious  pro¬ 
liferous  varieties  are  called,  are  very  interesting,  and  usually  attract 
a  good  deal  of  attention.  The  small  flowers,  which  cluster  round 
the  larger  central  one,  are  really  only  an  assumption  by  the  bracts 
of  the  floral  form,  and  in  some  gardens  Hen  and  Chicken  Daisies 
revert  to  the  ordinary  form  of  the  double  Daisy,  and  show  no 
“  chickens.”  Sometimes,  too,  the  “  chickens  ”  are  not  produced 
until  the  “  hen  ”  has  withered  away,  and  thus  the  interest  of  the 
curious  flower  is  considerably  lessened.  How  many  kinds  there  are 
of  Hen  and  Chickens  Daisies  I  do  not  know,  and  I  can  only 
recollect  of  having  met  with  four  or  five,  none  of  which  was 
white.  There  is  a  double  Daisy  mentioned  in  some  of  the  old 
gardening  books  as  the  Cockscomb  Daisy,  of  which  Miller  names 
two  varieties,  the  red  and  the  white.  The  flowers  appear  to  have 
been  in  the  form  of  the  Cockscomb,  and  I  should  be  grateful  to 
anyone  who  can  put  me  in  the  way  of  the  Cockscomb  Daisies. 
Some  of  the  double  Daisies  assume  a  form  slightly  resembling  the 
Cockscomb  before  fully  opening,  but  I  do  not  suppose  this  is  what 
is  meant  by  the  old  gardeners. 
I  have  already,  I  fear,  said  too  much  to  permit  me  to  say  any  . 
more  about  the  many  white,  pink,  red,  and  blush  Daisies,  varying 
so  much  in  size  and  in  appearance.  Some  of  the  miniature  forms, 
such  as  Dresden  China,  Blush  Queen,  and  Blushing  Bride,  are  very 
pretty,  and  among  those  I  have  is  a  very  small  deep  red  quilled  one, 
of  which  I  do  not  know  the  name.  The  raising  of  seedlings  is 
rather  disappointing  in  many  cases.  Last  year  I  raised  several 
from  a  packet  of  seed  procured  from  Italy,  and  which  was  offered 
with  quite  a  flourish  of  trumpets.  I  think,  however,  the  results 
were  less  satisfactory  than  my  previous  attempts. 
From  these  flowers,  which  are  the  products  of  the  gardener’s 
art,  and  are  still  too  modes':  to  be  thought  worthy  of  the  attention 
of  a  large  number  of  hardy  flower  growers,  it  is  a  long  step  to  the 
Dodecatheons  or  American  Cowslips.  The  first  of  these  to  flower 
has  been  the  ordinary  D.  Meadia,  which  looks  qaite  happy  in  a 
shady  pocket  at  the  base  of  a  rockery  where  a  large  stone  wards  off 
the  sun’s  rays.  Yery  pretty  is  it,  and  with  its  varieties  always 
receives  notice  on  account  of  its  reflexed  petals,  which  Henry 
Phillips  in  his  curious  but  useful  book,  “  Flora  Historica,”  says 
give  the  flower  “  the  appearance  of  an  half-expanded  parasol,  and 
which  resemblance  is  considerably  heightened  by  the  long  tapering 
shape  of  the  parts  of  fructification  and  the  golden  colour  of  the 
anthers.”  Phillips  also  gives  the  name  of  Yirginian  Cowslip,  ac4 
the  French  name  as  “  Gyroselle  de  Yirgine  while  still  another 
name  frequently  used  is  that  of  “  Shooting  Star.”  The  ordinary 
D.  Meadia  is  of  a  rosy  lilac  colour,  and  its  flowers  are  most 
attractive  as  they  droop  pleasingly  towards  the  earth. 
