514 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
December  5,  1901. 
Trees  for  the  Clydeside. 
We  believe  a  scheme  is  being  undertaken  by  a  Mr.  A. 
Cameron  Corbett,  of  Thornliebank  House,  Glasgow,  to  plant 
trees  upon  strips  of  land  on  the  south  side  of  the  Clyde,  running 
east  from  the  Suspension  Bridge,  and  also  upon  the  strip  of 
land  between  Jamaica  Bridge  and  the  Suspension  Bridge. 
Fruit  Models. 
With  the  lai'ge  number  of  fruits  named  and  scattered  over 
the  country,  it  is  almost  impossible  for  anyone  to  keep  in 
memory  the  characteristics  of  each  one,  and  yet  nurserymen 
everywhere  continually  have  fruits  sent  them  for  name.  A 
correspondent  to  “  Meehans’  Monthly  ”  makes  the  good  sug¬ 
gestion  that  if  someone  would  take  in  hand  the  making  of 
plaster  casts,  properly  coloured,  of  all  the  leading  varieties  of 
fruit,  there  would  be  sufficient  demand  for  them  to  make  the 
preparations  profitable.  There  are  few  nurserymen,  he  believes, 
but  would  be  glad  to  have  on  hand  a  dozen  or  so  of  the  leading 
varieties  of  Apples  and  Pears,  at  least.  .  He  observes,  further, 
that  there  is  as  just  as  much  need  of  these  models  of  fruit  as 
there  is  of  a  herbarium  to  a  botanist. 
Home-grown  Pine-apples. 
May  and  June  is  a  very  important  time  to  have  Pine-apples 
ripe,  as  fresh  fruit  is  not  over-plentiful,  and  they  are  a  great 
ornament  at  dessert,  far  transcending  imported  fruit  in  appear¬ 
ance,  and  are  juicier  and  more  briskly  flavoured,  besides  having 
a  much  more  pleasant  aroma.  Where  a  supply  is  required  at  the 
time  named,  and  plants  are  not  now  showing  fruit,  it  will  be 
advisable  to  select  from  those  started  in  March  last  which  have 
completed  a  growth,  and  are  now  in  a  state  of  rest,  such  as 
show  a  stout  base,  the  best  indication  of  starting  into  fruit  when 
subjected  to  a  higher  temperature,  both  at  the  roots  and  in  the 
atmosphere.  The  plants  are  best  placed  in  a  structure  to  them¬ 
selves.  Where  this  cannot  be  afforded,  they  must  have  a  light 
position  in  the  house  where  the  fruiters  are  swelling.  Maintain 
a  night  temperature  of  65deg  in  the  fruiting  department,  5deg 
less  in  the  morning  of  cold  nights,  and  70deg  to  75deg  by  day ; 
but  in  severe  weather  a  few  degrees  lower  is  preferable  to  extra 
sharp  firing. — Practice. 
Strawberries  in  Pots. 
When  the  plants  that  were  started  early  in  December  com¬ 
mence  swelling  the  crowns  and  the  trusses  appear,  the  tem¬ 
perature  may  be  advanced  a  few  degrees  by  day,  but  50deg  to 
55deg  is  sufficiently  high  at  night.  Syringe  the  plants  lightly 
in  the  early  part  of  fine  afternoons.  Examine  them  daily,  and 
supply  water  to  all  that  require  it.  Keep  a  sharp  look-out  for 
aphides.  They  cluster  on  the  swelling  crowns,  and  if  any 
appear  vaporise  with  nicotine  compound,  or  fumigate  with 
tobacco  paper  on  two  or  three  consecutive  evenings.  It  is  very 
important  that  the  plants  be  perfectly  clean,  and  fumigation 
must  not  be  practised  when  they  are  in  flower.  Another  batch 
of  plants  should  be  placed  in  a  house  from  which  frost  is  ex¬ 
cluded,  removing  the  decayed  leaves,  loosening  the  surface  soil, 
supplying  a  top-dressing  of  rich  material  with  a  little  steamed 
bonemeal  added  to  it.  Attend  to  the  drainage ;  if  defective, 
rectify  it,  and  wash  the  pots.  The  plants  may  be  introduced 
during  the  next  three  weeks  to  shelves  in  a  Peach  house  started 
at  the  new  year,  or  into  a  Strawberry  house.  La  Grosse  Sucree, 
Vicomtesse  Hericart  de  Thury,  and  Royal  Sovereign  are  suit¬ 
able  varieties;  also  Keen’s  Seedling  and  Sir  Harry,  when  true. 
Plants  for  starting  later  will  be  quite  safe  in  their  quarters  out¬ 
doors  plunged  in  ashes  to  the  rims  of  the  pots,  and  a  light 
covering  of  dry  fern  or  litter  may  be  given  in  severe  weather, 
allowing  to  remain  until  the  plants  are  thawed  after  being  hard 
frozen,  otherwise  remove  in  mild  weather.  If  the  plants  are 
placed  in  frames,  the  lights  should  be  drawn  off  in  mild  weather, 
but  in  this  and  wet  tilt  the  lights  at  the  back  of  the  frames,  so 
as  to  throw  off  the  rains,  yet  let  the  plants  have  plenty  of  an. 
They  cannot  be  kept  too  cool,  and  none  should  be  allowed  to 
suffer  through  want  of  water.— G. 
The  First  Snowdrops. 
Miss  Constance  Beiliss,  writing  from  Compton  Hall,  near 
Wolverhampton,  says :  “  The  first  Snowdrops  are  just  peeping 
through  the  ground ;  that  is  always  a  cheerful  thing  at  this  time 
of  year.” 
Jottings  on  Pines. 
Young  growing  plants  are  liable  to  become  drawn  and  weakly 
at  this  time  of  year  by  keeping  them  too  close,  moist,  and  warm, 
the  damage  often  being  irreparable,  and  not  infrequently  arises 
from  improper  structures  being  employed.  Well  ventilated  pits 
or  small  houses  properly  heated  are  most  suitable  for  young 
Pine  plants,  as  they  can  be  kept  near  the  glass,  and  should  be 
given  plenty  of  room.  Maintain  a  night  temperature  of  55deg 
to  GOdeg,  which,  with  65deg  in  the  daytime,  will  keep  all  young 
stock  gently  growing,  admitting  a  little  air  at  the  top  of  the 
house  at  Godeg,  leaving  it  on  all  day ;  but  do  not  let  the  tem¬ 
perature  fall  below  that  point,  and  when  the  temperature 
advances  to  75deg,  a  free  ventilation  must  be  allowed.  The 
bottom  heat  should  be  kept  steady  at  80deg.  Avoid  a  damp 
atmosphere;  an  occasional  damping  of  the  paths  will  suffice. 
Water  only  when  necessary,  but  when  the  plants  become  dry 
then  afford  a  thorough  supply  of  weak  liquid  manure. — A. 
Daphne  Cneorum. 
Considering  the  classical  associations  gathered  around  Daphne 
— who  was  one  of  the  virgins  of  Diana,  and  was  reported  by 
Ovid  to  have  been  turned  into  some  beautiful  flowering  bush 
now  bearing  the  name — it  is  strange  that  those  who  are  continu¬ 
ally  looking  for  English  names  referring  to  the  ancient  story 
have  not  dug  up  something  that  might  be  appropriate  to  our 
plant.  But  it  continues  everywhere  as  Daphne  Cneorum,  with 
no  one  objecting  that  it  is  a  hard  name.  The  bright,  rosy-pink 
heads  of  sweet  flowers,  on  its  about  Gin  of  height,  are  so 
unique  in  appearance  as  always  to  attract  attention.  It  grows 
naturally  in  rocky  or  stony  places  along  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  and  must  present,  as  a  wild  flower,  a  very 
unique  appearance.  In  our  flower  gardens  it  thrives  best  in 
soil  that  is  rather  open— one  might  say  one  that  is  the  opposite 
of  heavy  clay.  Though  regarded  as  a  spring-blooming  plant,  it 
has  a  fashion  of  flowering  at  different  times  during  the  whole 
season,  till  the  full  autumn  period  has  arrived.  Though  per¬ 
fectly  hardy,  it  does  not  like  the  full  blaze  of  the  winter  sun, 
and  thus  does  better  when  planted  in  partial  shade,  piovided 
the  ground  is  not  dried  out  by  the  roots  of  large  trees. 
Cereus  nycticalus. 
In  earlier  days  of  English  gardening,  the  introduction  of 
night-flowering  Cactuses  created  a  very  vivid  ripple  amongst 
the  votaries  of  it  throughout  the  land.  It-  was  a  great  event 
when  the  first  plant  flowered,  and  the  curious  facts  of  the 
ephemeral  glory  of  the  beautiful  flowers  became  know  n.  No 
doubt  the  rumours  descriptive  of  the  wonderful  plants  were 
largely  the  incentive  to  the  mania  that  arose  during  the  middle 
of  the  Nineteenth  Century  for  Cactuses.  It  wrns  common  for 
owners  of  a  night-flowering  Cactus  to  invite  a  party  of  friends 
to  come  and  enjoy  the  rare  sight  when  their  plants  developed 
blooms.  However,  the  enthusiasm  once  again  burned  itself  out, 
yet  these  later  days  have  brought  distinctively  to  notice  the 
fact  that  Cactus  culture  is  by  no  means  obsolete,  though  the 
army  of  cultivators  is,  so  far,  still  diminutive  and  disunited. 
We  figure,  on  page  515,  a  huge  flower  of  what  is  most  commonly 
termed  the  night-flowering  Cactus,  Cereus  nycticalus,  and  the 
close  resemblance  to  the  flowers  of  some  of  those  charming  new 
Water  Lilies  we  have  all  heard  so  much  of,  and  especially  to 
the  Queen  of  Water  Lilies,  the  Victoria  regia,  is  immediately 
apparent.  Unfortunately,  this  most  beautiful  flower  is  scentless, 
and  besides  flowering  at  night,  it  is  fragile  and  fleeting.  The 
plants  bloom  at  various  times  during  autumn  and  early  winter, 
beginning  to  open  their  flowers  about  seven  o  clock  in  the  even¬ 
ing.  C.  nycticalus  and  C.  grandiflorus  are  both  large-flowered 
species,  but  the  former  is  the  more  sesthetic  of  the  two.  It  is 
a  native  of  the  arid  plains  of  Mexico,  the  home  of  so  many  other 
species,  and  most  notably  the  Giant  Cactus,  Cereus  giganteus. 
This  genus  affords  some  of  the  most  wonderful  examples  of 
Cactus  growth  it  is  possible  to  refer  to,  and  though  slowT  to 
gain  in  stature  or  dimensions,  the  patient  cultivator  can  alw-ays 
discover  in  their  quaint  and  generally  exact  proportions  a  study 
of  the  highest  interest  and  a  continual  source  of  w-onder. 
