Jnlj?  1,  18  S?, 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
3 
plants  would  do  well  to  make  a  start  at  the  present  time  with 
some  of  the  best  varieties  of  these  Begonias.  Young  plants  ready 
for  potting  may  be  obtained  very  cheaply,  and  frames  or  pits 
recently  cleared  of  bedding  plants  are  just  the  places  to  grow  them 
in  during  the  summer  months. 
I  find  a  simple  yet  fairly  rich  compost  suits  them  well.  The 
one  I  use  consists  of  three  parts  loam,  one  leaf  soil,  and  one  of 
well  decayed  manure,  with  a  little  sand  and  artificial  manure 
added.  Althc’igh  it  is  a  good  plan  to  keep  the  plants  close  for  a 
time  after  bei.jg  repotted,  it  is  not  wise  to  coddle  them  afterwards. 
They  ought  to  be  given  abundance  of  air — in  fact,  such  treatment 
as  tuberous  Begonias  enjoy  during  the  summer  ;  but  during 
autumn  and  winter  their  flowering  capabilities  are  not  fully 
demonstrated  if  kept  in  a  lower  temperature  thau  one  ranging 
between  50°  and  G0°. 
The  following  varieties  are  some  of  the  very  best  : — 
Argyrostigma  gigantea  is  a  strong  grower,  with  large  foliage 
beautifully  marked  with  silver  spots.  Ascotensis  is  a  grand 
bloomer,  which  bears  large  clusters  of  pink  flowers.  Carrieri  is 
fine  for  winter  flowering,  flowers  white.  Fuchsioides  is  well 
adapted  for  covering  walls  and  pillars,  and  in  a  suitable  tempera¬ 
ture  flowers  freely  throughout  the  year.  Attractive  pot  plants, 
suitable  for  decorative  purposes,  may  be  had  in  flower  in  the 
depth  of  winter. 
Hybrida  floribunda  is  a  grand  free-flowering  hybrid,  bearing 
coral-coloured  flowers.  It  is  one  of  the  few  plants  which  possess 
the  distinction  of  blooming  profusely  throughout  the  year  without 
becoming  exhausted ;  this,  too,  when  grown  in  comparatively 
small  pots.  Hydrocotylifolia  is  good  for  winter  flowering  ;  the 
foliage  is  bronzy.  Tnsiernis  is  free  and  vigorous  ;  the  flower*  are  of 
a  lilac-pink  colour.  Knowsleyana  is  one  of  the  very  best  for 
winter  flowering  ;  c:)lour  light  blush. 
Nitida  is  a  very  strong  grower,  which  produces  large  clusters  of 
silvery  blush  flowers  in  both  winter  and  spring.  Nitida  alba 
odorata  is  similar  to  the  preceding,  except  in  the  colour  of  the 
flowers,  which,  as  the  name  implies,  are  white. 
Ricinifolia  is  a  useful  variety,  having  large  bronzy  green  leaves 
and  bold  flower  stems,  Semperflorens  gigantea  rosea  and  semper- 
florens  Dr.  Chassagny  are  a  pair  that  should  be  grown  by  all  for 
winter  flowering,  as  they  are  very  free  and  showy.  Gloire  de 
Sceaux,  a  recent  introduction,  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
winter- flowering  Begonias  we  have.  It  is  upright  in  habit  of 
growth,  and  the  soft  pink  flowers  stand  well  above  the  bronzy 
foliage.  Those  who  only  require  one  variety  should  grow  this, 
which  concludes  my  list. — H.  D. 
PRECEPT  AND  PRACTICE. 
{Continued  from  page  500,  last  vol.) 
The  gciENCEs  Generally  Considered. 
A  GENERAL  knowledge  of  those  sciences  which  are  in  intimate 
relationahip  to  gardening  must  be  regarded  as  essential— indis¬ 
pensable  ;  although  such  knowledge  from  its  complexity  and  vast 
extent  will  not,  probably  cannot,  in  the  aggregate  extend  beyond 
sound  elementary  principles  except  in  that  direction  towards  which 
the  individual  bias  inclines  it. 
One  matter  previously  touched  may  now  be  concluded — viz., 
natural  propagation  other  than  by  seeds,  for  this  in  a  measure 
enters  into  our  daily  practice  in  some  shape  or  form.  What  Nature 
pure  and  simple  does,  and  can  do  in  this  direction,  will  only  briefly 
detain,  although  her  methods  are  both  interesting  and  ingenious  to 
supply  auxiliary  means  of  perpetuation.  The  branch  depending 
to  the  ground — a  natural  method  of  layering;  root  buds  ;  suckers  ; 
bulbs,  corms,  and  tuberous  roots  of  all  kinds,  with  their  plenary 
powers  of  reproduction  and  multiplication  independent  of  seeds. 
Such  methods,  of  course,  being  practically  excluded  from  annuals  or 
biennials,  which  we  find  generally  endowed  with  marvellous 
fecundity  of  seed-bearing  powers.  There  is  here  a  fine  field  for 
observation  and  experimenting. 
Respecting  our  own  work  of  propagation  and  the  practices  of 
budding,  grafting,  and  inarching,  whereby  the  sturdy  wildling  or 
vigorous  variety  supports  and  nourishes  the  finer  bred  relation, 
such  work  must  ever  present  an  attractive  interest  to  the  young 
horticulturist,  and  it  is  a  matter  for  regret  that  many  are  debarred 
from  practising  the  theories  they  may  be  well  versed  in.  Here  we 
find  a  nursery  training  conferring  privileges  which  may  be  excluded 
from  the  general  routine  of  a  private  garden.  Some  of  the  most 
delightful  of  early  days  are  recalled  by  memories  of  budding — 
Rose  budding  and  fruit  tree  budding.  Two  of  u*,  boys,  carried  the 
worsted  and  tied  in  after  the  budders,  who  were,  of  course,  experts, 
and  kept  us  rigorously  to  our  own  share  of  the  business,  but  the 
dinner  hour  was  our  opportunity,  when  we  inserted  buds  to  our 
heart’s  content  into  every  available  branch  or  plant,  from  a  Thorn 
to  a  Thistle,  and  took  many  surreptitious  peeps  afterwards  at  our 
(un)handiwork. 
Since,  as  a  head  gardener,  I  have  (and  doubtles*  many  of  the 
same  status  have  too)  observed  a  good  deal  of  this  boyish  practice 
carried  out  much  on  the  same  lines  and  in  the  same  stealthy 
manner — buds  and  grafts  where  no  buds  and  grafts  should  be. 
But  early  recollections  are  accompanied  by  a  good  deal  of  sympathy 
for  those  who,  having  the  will,  will  find  the  way  to  amalgamate 
precept  with  practice.  Our  lads  of  the  bothy,  whose  work  does 
not  include  anything  in  the  way  of  budding  or  grafting,  can,  if 
they  will,  bring  these  matters  into  the  categorjj  of  their  pleasures, 
and  if  the  “  head  ”  should  be  startled  at  finding  a  Victoria  Plum 
or  a  General  Jacqueminot  Rose  springing  from  the  hedgerow  it 
may  be  overlooked  in  the  knowledge  that  “  boys  will  be  boys,”  and 
that  the  culprit  in  particular  will  be  a  gardener.  With  many 
matters,  as  with  these,  we  may  now  and  again  hear  the  lament  that 
an  opportunity  has  been  wanting,  with  the  poor  attempt  at  self- 
satisfying  consolation  that  it  may  never  be  needed.  There  is  no 
balm  in  the  whole  kingdom  of  gardening  for  this  sore,  and  if  our 
young  readers  can  conscientiously  say  that  they  have  no  oppor¬ 
tunity,  and  granted  that  such  is  a  fact,  and  granted,  too,  that  they 
want  it,  then  would  I  say.  Create  your  opportunity,  and  you  will 
have  it. — An  Old  Boy. 
(To  be  continued.) 
NON-PRODUCTIVE  STRAWBERRIES. 
The  remarks  that  are  now  being  made  about  Strawberry  plants  are 
extremely  interesting,  and  I  will  relate  my  experience  with  them. 
When  Royal  Sovereign  first  came  out  I  sent  for  six  plants.  Four  of 
these  bore  some  splendid  berries  the  first  season  after  planting  ;  while 
two  of  them,  the  finest  of  all,  did  not  even  blossom.  I  propagated  a 
large  bed  from  all  the  runners  I  could  get,  and,  being  a  novice,  used  all 
the  six  plants  for  that  purpose.  That  accounted,  I  suppose,  for  the 
large  number  of  barren  plants  in  the  bed  and  in  another  I  have  made 
since.  Laxton’s  Noble,  under  exactly  similar  circumstances,  gave  the 
same  result. 
In  order  to  settle  the  matter  once  for  all — to  my  own  satisfaction,  at 
least — I  am  this  season  making  more  accurate  experiments.  The  plants, 
both  fertile  and  barren,  are  isolated,  so  that  there  will  be  no  danger  of 
taking  a  wrong  runner,  as  there  always  is  in  a  large  bed.  I  have 
noticed,  too,  that  in  old  plants  there  are  several  crowns,  of  which  some 
are  barren  and  some  feitile,  and  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  making  a  mistake 
with  the  runners.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  pull  out  in  May  all  the  plants 
and  parts  of  plants  that  do  not  blossom. 
I  am  working  with  Royal  Sovereign,  Laxton’s  Latest  of  All,  and  Sir 
J.  Paxton  ;  but  on  a  bed  of  Auguste  Nicaise  I  cannot  find  a  barren 
plant  for  experiment.  It  others  will  undertake  the  same  interesting 
work  we  shall  be  able  to  say  by  this  time  next  year,  without  the  present 
uncertainty,  what  percentage  of  Strawberry  plants  comes  right  and 
wrong  from  fertile  crowns,  and  what  percentage  comes  wrong  and  right 
from  barren  crowns.  Also,  if  the  plants  are  allowed  to  stay  in  their 
places  for  a  second  year,  we  shall  know  whether  the  barren  ones  become 
feitile  by  age. — ^T.  W.  B. 
THE  ROSE  ACACIA. 
Robinia  hispida,  or,  as  it  is  often  called,  “  The  Rose  Acacia,”  is  si 
native  of  the  South  Unit^  States,  and  makes  a  valuable  addition  to  any 
collection  of  hardy  shrubs.  Possibly  on  account  of  its  not  being  really 
well  known  it  is  rarely  met  with,  except  in  those  places  where  shrubs 
are  made  a  speciality  of.  At  Kew  several  masses  are  to  be  found. 
The  plants  grow  to  a  height  of  6  or  8  feet,  and  all  the  young  wood  is 
thickly  clothed  with  reddish  brown  hairs,  which  vary  in  length  up  to  one- 
third  of  an  inch.  As  the  wood  becomes  older  many  of  the  hairs  turn 
woody  and  sharp.  The  pinnate  leaves  are  made  up  of  from  eleven  to 
seventeen  leaflets,  which  are  ovate  in  shape,  and  terminated  with  a  long 
stiff  hair.  The  flowers  vary  in  colour  on  different  plants  from  almost 
white  to  deep  rose.  They  are  produced  on  slightly  drooping  racemes 
four  or  five  together.  Ou  the  typical  plant  the  flowers  are  about  the 
size  of  an  ordinary  garden  Pea,  rose  coloured,  with  the  side  petals  of  a 
lighter  shade,  the  calyx,  like  the  young  wood,  being  thickly  covered  with 
soft  brown  hairs. 
Of  the  sever'\l  varieties  that  known  as  Robinia  hispida  var.  inermis 
is  the  best.  The  wood  of  this  is  glabrous,  the  flowers  larger,  and  pro¬ 
duced  in  larger  racemes.  The  growth  is  not  so  free  as  in  the  type,  but 
it  makes  much  the  better  plant  of  the  two  for  a  single  specimen.  When 
grafted  on  a  short  stem  small  round-headed  trees  are  formed. 
To  propagate  the  typical  plant  the  long  roots  should  be  cut  up  into 
pieces  3  inches  in  length,  the  pieces  being  put  singly  in  thumb  pots 
in  sandy  loamy  soil,  and  kept  in  a  close  case  until  growth  and  root 
action  has  commenced.  In  case  of  the  variety  mentioned  it  may  be 
grafted  on  stocks  of  R.  pseud-acacia,  or  the  young  growths  may  be 
layered.  Between  propagating  and  planting  permanently  not  more 
than  one  or  two  years  should  pass,  as  very  long  roots  with  little  fibre 
are  made,  consequently  large  plants  do  not  move  welL  Sandy  loam 
with  yearly  dressings  of  farmyard  manure  suits  it  well. — D.  K, 
