iieptcmber  3,  1896. 
SOUMAL  op  HOnTtGtjLfVkE  and  COTTAGE  GARDEmR. 
2i9 
with  branches  of  trees  and  watered  twice  daily.  The  second  crop 
of  Potatoes  is  being  lifted,  and  another  planted.  Early  Peaches 
are  set  well ;  Apricots  will  not  flower  for  three  or  four  weeks. 
The  Roses  are  ever  with  us,  and  the  Chrysanthemum  cuttings  are 
just  being  inserted.  We  have  had  no  rain  for  twelve  weeks,  the 
shade  temperature  during  the  past  fortnight  has  been  from  70'’  to 
85°,  and  three  times  the  minimum  has  been  26°  and  27°.  I  hope 
this  may  be  of  interest  to  readers  of  our  old  guide  and  friend  the 
Journal  of  Horticulhtre. — W.  Hopkins,  Maritzhurgh. 
POTTING  BULBS. 
^  In  the  case  of  those  intended  for  early  forcing  this  work  has 
already  been  begun,  and  should  be  continued  at  intervals  for  the 
next  month  or  six  weeks.  This  makes  the  work  of  keeping  up  a 
constant  succession  much  easier  than  when  the  whole  stock  of 
either  class  of  bulbs  is  potted  up  in  one  batch.  Roman  Hyacinths 
are  so  much  in  demand  for  decorative  purposes,  both  in  spring  as 
well  as  during  the  autumn  months,  that  I  have  found  it  desirable 
to  pot  up  the  latest  batch  by  the  first  week  in  October.  These 
can  be  grown  and  flowered  in  cold  pits,  and  are  always  highly 
prized  in  the  spring,  even  when  numerous  other  plants  are  in 
flower  ;  with  good  numbrrs  of  these  and  Lily  of  the  Yalley  well 
flowered,  the  decorator  has  splendid  materials  for  forming  a 
“setting”  for  taller  growing  plants. 
It  has  often  been  asserted  that  almost  any  soil,  light  soil,  is 
suitable  for  potting  bulbs  in.  From  this  I  entirely  dissent,  as  I  am 
firmly  convinced  that  on  the  employment  of  the  right  kind  of 
compost  depends  to  a  great  extent  the  success  of  bulb  forcing. 
Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  I  think  by  good  culture  we  can  possibly 
add  a  single  bell  to  a  spike  of  Hyacinth,  as  I  know  well  that  the 
spike  in  the  embryo  comes  to  us  with  the  bulb  ;  what  we  can  do  is 
to  develop  these  bells  to  their  maximum  size.  All  bulb  forcers 
know  that  the  great  point  to  aim  at  in  early  forcing  is  to  promote 
as  quickly  as  possible  the  formation  and  extension  of  roots,  so  as  to 
secure  as  it  were  a  good  foundation  before  top  growth  has  made 
much  progress.  This  should  lead  us  to  look  for  a  compost  which 
encourages  rapid  root  production. 
After  having  experimented  with  many  soil  mixtures,  I  now 
invariably  use  one  consisting  of  loam  and  leaf  soil  in  equal  parts, 
with  a  good  sprinkling  of  sand  added.  No  manure  of  any  kind  is 
employed,  because  when  it  is  used  numbers  of  minute  insects  often 
find  their  way  to  the  bulbs,  and  destroy  the  young  rootlets,  or  at 
least  prevent  them  working  freely.  I  usually,  however,  place 
a  little  rough  manure  on  the  drainage  ;  this  I  cover  with  soot, 
and  by  the  time  the  roots  reach  it  they  are  vigorous  and  well 
able  to  take  care  of  themselves,  as  well  as  benefited  by 
the  rich  food  thus  stored  for  them.  All  plants  in  their  early 
stages  of  root  development,  ought  to  be  surrounded  with  a  sweet 
compost.  Who  would  think  of  placing  manure  in  soil  used  for 
cuttings  ?  Yet  this  principle  seems  to  be  overlooked  by  many 
when  potting  bulbs,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  bulbs,  like 
cuttings,  have  no  roots  to  start  with. 
The  earliest  Hyacinths,  Tulips,  and  Narcissi  I  like  to  place  in 
shallow  boxes,  simply  putting  a  little  rough  leaf  soil  in  the  bottom, 
covering  this  with  prepared  compost  and  a  sprinkling  of  sand.  The 
bulbs  are  then  set  closely  together  and  just  covered  with  soil,  which 
is  slightly  pressed  as  the  work  proceeds.  After  having  been  placed 
in  heat,  at  the  stage  when  the  flower  spikes  begin  to  show  colour, 
these  bulbs  are  carefully  lifted  and  potted,  taking  care  that  every 
bulb  in  each  pot  has  reached  the  same  stage  of  development  when 
this  operation  is  performed.  It  is  in  this  way  that  the  evenly 
flowered  potfuls  which  find  their  way  to  the  markets  are  grown. 
Later  batches  I  like  to  pot  in  the  first  instance  into  their  flowering 
pots,  for  if  care  is  exercised  in  selecting  the  bulbs  they  may  be 
relied  upon  to  come  away  evenly  when  not  severely  forced,  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  if  treated  in  this  way  they  last  longer 
when  in  flower  than  do  transplanted  bulbs. 
In  potting  bulbs  some  advise  that  the  pots  be  filled  lightly 
with  soil  and  the  bulbs  pressed  into  it.  This  I  maintain  is 
decidedly  a  bad  practice,  because  it  causes  the  soil  immediately 
under  the  bulb  to  become  very  firm.  This  being  the  point 
where  joung  roots  are  emitted,  it  is  certainly  an  advantage 
to  have  the  soil  somewhat  loose  there  to  enable  the  roots  to  start 
quickly,  but  after  they  have  started  freely  a  firm  soil  beneath 
prevents  them  from  striking  straight  to  the  bottom  of  the  pot,  as 
the  roots  of  bulbs  are  naturally  inclined  to  do,  instead  of 
permeating  every  particle  of  soil  in  their  descent,  as  we  prefer  they 
should.  The  plan  I  adopt  in  pottiug  is  to  first  half  fill  the  pots 
with  soil  which  is  pressed  moderately  firm.  A  layer  is  then  placed 
over  this  and  left  without  pressing,  but  a  sprinkling  of  sand  is 
given  to  the  surface  and  the  bulbs  placed  thereon.  Whatever 
sized  pot  is  used  the  bulbs  are  packed  in  as  closely  as  possible. 
Sufficient  soil  is  next  added  to  just  cover  the  bulbs  and  is  slightly 
pressed  around  them,. 
In  the  case  of  large  flowering  Hyacinths,  Daffodils,  and  Tulips, 
which  are  not  subjected  to  sharp  forcing,  but  generally  brought 
into  flower  in  comparatively  cool  structures,  I  employ  manure  with 
the  compost,  because  by  the  time  these  begin  to  grow  vegetation 
is  not  so  sluggish  in  its  action,  roots  become  stronger, and  are  better 
able  to  take  care  of  themselves,  and,  like  all  other  plants,  will,  with 
an  increase  of  light  and  sun,  enjoy  a  greater  amount  of  stimulating 
food.  The  species  and  varieties  grown  for  this  purpose  are  more¬ 
over  naturally  more  vigorous  rooters.  A  compost  in  which  these 
bulbs  for  late  flowering  succeed  admirably  is  formed  of  loam  and 
old  hotbed  manure  in  equal  parts,  with  a  little  sand  and  charcoal 
added.  Hyacinths  I  usually  pot  singly  in <5- inch  pots,  or  place 
three  in  a  6  or  7-inch  one ;  these  latter,  when  in  flower,  are 
extremely  useful  for  placing  singly  in  masses.  Daffodils  I  find  are 
the  most  effective  when  grown  in  rather  large  pots.  That  grand 
variety.  Sir  Watkin,  I  grow  in  quantity  ;  the  bulk  of  them  are 
placed  in  7-inch  pots,  packing  the  bulbs  quite  closely  together. 
With  neat  staking  when  in  flower  these  make  grand  potfuls.  Half 
a  dozen  of  such  massed  together  in  a  pedestal  or  bowl,  with  a 
fringe  of  greenery  and  an  overhanging  Palm,  form  an  ideal  type  of 
indoor  embel  ishment. 
Tulips  are  often  required  in  large  quantities  for  dinner-table 
decorations  during  the  winter  and  early  spring  months.  To  provide 
these  I  place  the  bulbs  in  shallow  boxes  ;  thi<  greatly  lessens  labour 
when  removing  from  place  to  place,  as  well  as  when  the  bulbs  are 
inserted.  When  in  flower  these  are  lifted  with  the  bulbs,  and  the 
straggling  roots  cut  away.  Used  in  this  way  the  flowers  last 
longer  than  when  severed  from  the  bulbs.  After  potting  bulbs 
should  be  watered,  the  pots  placed  closely  together  in  beds  in  the 
open  air,  and  be  covered  with  some  kind  of  plunging  material. 
Coal  ashes  should  never  be  placed  in  direct  contact  with  the  bulbs, 
became  freshly  made  ashes  contain  noxious  gases  inimical  to  plant 
growth,  and  in  some  instances  bulbs  refuse  to  start  when  ashes  are 
employed  to  cover  them.  Cocoa-nut  fibre  refuse  is  perhaps  the  best 
of  all  materials  to  cover  with  ;  this,  however,  costs  money,  and  is  not 
always  easily  obtained.  1  generally  use  leaf  soil,  as  we  have 
abundance  of  it.  This  i*  sifted  through  the  half-inch  sieve,  and 
placed  around  and  over  the  pots  to  a  depth  of  4  inches,  over  this  a 
couple  of  inches  of  coal  ashes  are  added  to  give  weight  and  throw 
off  rains. 
Each  batch  of  bulbs  is  marked  with  a  long  label,  which  stands 
well  above  the  plunging  material.  This  label  states  the  date  of 
potting,  as  well  as  the  name  of  the  bulbs  in  full.  It  is  then  easy 
at  any  time  to  unearth  the  exact  pots  required  to  be  taken  into 
heat.  This  should  not  be  done  till  both  roots  and  top  growth  are 
moving  freely.  As  soon  as  each  batch  of  bulbs  has  made  top 
growth  inch  in  length  they  are  removed  to  houses  and  cold  pits 
and  kept  covered  with  inverted  pots  for  a  week.  The  little  air  and  light 
that  reaches  the  growths  through  the  hole  of  the  inverted  pot  will 
by  that  time  have  rendered  it  capable  of  bearing  full  exposure  to 
light  with  impunity.  Those  plac^  in  warm  or  dry  bouses  should, 
however,  be  lightly  syringed  daily,  as  this  practice  helps  to  promote 
a  clean  healthy  growth.  Any  bulbs  required  to  be  kept  for  very 
late  flowering  should  only  be  covered  with  a  couple  of  inches  of 
plunging  material,  and  although  the  buds  may  push  through 
thi#  while  the  weather  is  yet  severe  the  frost  will  not  injure 
tnem. 
Soot  water  and  liquid  manure,  if  given  in  a  weak  state,  are  of 
immense  benefit  to  midseason  and  late  batches  of  bulbs  when  they 
are  growing  freely,  but  on  no  account  should  strong  doses  be  given, 
as  I  know  of  nothing  more  quickly  injured  by  so  doing  than  are 
the  tender  roots  of  bulbs.  I  have,  however,  never  yet  been  able  to 
discover  that  early  forced  bulbs  were  in  the  least  benefited  by 
application  of  liquid  manure. — H.  D. 
HORTICULTURAL  HISTORY  NOTES. 
Old  Nueseries  about  Kensinoton  and  Fulham. 
We  hear  it  said  sometimes  that  the  profession  or  trade  of  a 
gardener  ii  overcrowded,  and  certainly  the  number  of  applicants 
that  usually  offer  themselves  for  any  vacancy  is  a  fact  which  seems 
to  support  the  assertion  ;  but  how  very  few  employments  are  not 
overcrowded  in  this  age  ?  No  doubt  some  have  greater  attractions 
than  others,  either  from  their  nature  or  the  money  result  they  yield, 
and  it  is  not  surprising  that  gardening  pursuits  should  fascinate 
many  ;  we  are  nearly  all  gardeners  in  our  childhood.  It  is  note¬ 
worthy  that  about  the  middle  of  last  century  several  of  the  leading 
London  gardeners,  chiefly  commercial,  had  an  idea  that  it  would  be 
well  to  impose  a  check  upon  persons  entering  the  calling.  They  got 
up  and  published  a  pamphlet,  which  was  a  kind  of  appeal  to  the 
