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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER .  December  19,  uoi. 
Young  Gardeners’  Domain. 
Hints  for  Young  Heads. 
( Continued  from  paqe  522.) 
“Beauty  is  the  soul  of  inspiration.”  In  the  arrangement  of 
the  tropical  house  lays  a  splendid  opportunity  for  the  exercise 
of  a  deft  hand  and  a  critical  eye,  which  is  apparent  in  countless 
trifles  summing  up  perfection.  It  may  be,  often  is,  that  high 
culture  and  thorough  cleanliness  rule,  and  yet  there  is  felt  to 
be  one  thing  wanting,  and  that  is  tasteful  arrangement.  It  is 
a  simple  matter  in  itself,  but  when  the  requirements  of  every 
plant  have  to  be  considered  in  the  matter  of  space  and  position 
it  is  a  complex  task.  As  with  ourselves,  so  with  plants ;  they 
have  their  likes  and  dislikes,  and  it  is  not  rare  to  find  a  plant 
unkap’""  in  the  one  position  thriving  in  another  part  of  the  same 
house.  Light,  shade,  heat,  moisture,  and  air  are  all  variable 
quantities  within  the  circumscribed  area  of  any  one  plant-house, 
and  require  due  consideration.  Stages  for  the  plants  must, 
however,  be  considered.  The  old  step-ladder  staging  is,  surely, 
of  all  internal  fixtures  the  abomination.  Possibly  more  plants 
can  be  crammed  into  a  given  space  by  its  aid,  but  as  cramming 
enters  not  into  our  curriculum  such  means  must  be  employed 
as  will  make  our  houses  attractive,  display  plants  (not  pots)  to 
the  best  advantage,  and  cater  for  their  whims  and  fancies,  as 
well  as  give  facility  for  the  constant  attention  they  demand. 
Flat  table-like  stages  raised  about  3ft  from  the  floor  suit  all 
purposes  admirably,  and  plants  can  always  be  elevated  when 
necessary  on  inverted  pots.  These  stages  must,  perforce,  be 
adapted  to  the  house.  A  span-roof  house  of,  say,  16ft  wide,  may 
be  fitted  with  a  central  table  6ft  in  width,  side  staging  2ft, 
leaving  a  clear  passage  of  3ft  all  round.  Virgin  cork  3in  or  4in 
,  in  depth  forms  a  tasteful  edging  to  the  stage,  which  in  the  case 
of  metal  frames  and  slate  slabs  is  easily  attached  to  a  heavy  lath 
run  round  the  margin  of  the  stages  for  the  purpose ;  or,  in  the 
latter  case,  a  more  permanent  edging  of  rough  coke  dipped  in 
Portland  cement  may  be  used.  Fine  bright  gravel  washed  clean, 
or  broken  shells,  covering  the  stages,  has  both  good  effect  and 
value  as  a  moisture-retaining  medium.  A  fringe  of  Panicum 
variegatum  with  dwarf  plants  interspersed — such  as  Pilea 
muscosa,  Saxifraga  sarmentosa,  the  red  and  white-veined 
Fittonias,  and  other  of  that  ilk — are  very  suitable  for  this 
marginal  table  decoration.  The  Maidenhair-like  Muhlenbergia 
is,  too,  a  good  plant  for  the  purpose. 
Cuttings,  merely,  of  the  above  plants  are  sufficient,  and  tightly 
rolled  in  a  little  fresh  green  moss  may  be  firmly  tucked  into 
the  interstices  of  the  coke  or  wedged  inside  the  cork,  with  a  little 
of  the  gravel  drawn  over  the  base.  Soil  of  any  kind  on  the 
stages  should  be  avoided,  but  a  good  watering  twice  daily 
through  a  rose  must  be  given.  A  rough  rockery  under  the  stages 
in  alignment  with  the  floor  edging,  filled  in  with  old  potting  soil, 
is  adapted  for  the  growth  of  Rex  Begonias,  Panicum  plicatum, 
Ophiopogons,  and  other  coarser-growing  plants,  with  patches  of 
Fittonias  and  Ferns  interspersed.  Needless  to  say,  all  these 
things  flourish  amazingly,  and  form  a  pleasing  feature  where 
otherwise  an  intolerable  bareness  would  reign  supreme.  With 
head  room  over  the  paths,  various  beautiful  and  useful  twiners 
and  trailers  particularly  well  adapted  to  the  position  are 
always  accessible  for  training  and  cutting.  Plants  most  pro¬ 
minent  for  this  purpose  are  Bougainvilleas,  Allamandas, 
Stephanotis,  Thunbergias,  Ipomsea  Horsfalli,  and  the  choicer 
Passifloras,  particularly  P.  kermesina,  which  is  a  gem  for  the 
tropical  house.  The  free-growing  habit  of  the  above  plants  when 
planted  out — which  they  should  be,  if  possible — necessitates  due 
regard  both  in  planting  and  training  to  avoid  overcrowding. 
For  covering  bare  walls  Ficus  repens  is,  for  the  purpose,  what 
the  Ivies  are  outside,  but  choicer  things  must  not  be  lost  sight 
of,  such  plants  as  Pothos  argyrea  and  the  climbing  kinds  of 
iEschynanthus  being  very  desirable.  Where  it  is  expedient  to 
clothe  an  end  wall  with  the  larger-foliaged  plants,  coke  dipped 
in  cement,  with  an  amplitude  of  pockets  for  soil,  is  from  its 
permanence  infinitely  preferable  to  the  less  lasting  method  of 
netting  the  wall  and  packing  it  with  peat  and  moss.  There  is 
a  plant  in  particular  which,  where  room  is  afforded,  one  would 
like  to  see  on  a  wall  in  every  tropical  house,  viz.,  Monstera 
deliciosa,  its  quaintly  cut  noble  foliage  and  habit  of  growth  ren¬ 
dering  it  a  peculmrly  striking  object.  Further  remarks  on  this 
phase  of  our  subject  need  not  detain,  for  this  auxiliary  adorn¬ 
ment  is  capable  of  being  carried  on  until  every  bare  place  is 
made  to  contribute  its  share  to  the  beauty  and' interest  of  the 
whole.  In  fact,  anything  advanced  must  be  regarded  rather  as 
suggestive  than  empirical. 
.  With  a  house  thus  beautified  few  will  find  a  more  interesting 
job  in  plant  culture  than  the  periodical  dismantling  and  re¬ 
arrangement  of  the  plants  necessary  to  keep  them  in  perfect 
health  and  order;  and,  it  must  be  said,  no  more  tiring  one.  All 
pots  to  be  marked,  every  plant  critically  examined  for  insect 
pests,  or — what  is  better — if  the  plants  are  known  to  be  clean,  a 
spraying  with  the  Fir-tree  oil  solution  to  keep  them  so,  entails 
considerable  labour,  but  is  a  labour  of  love  when  method  pre¬ 
vents  confusion.  The  more  forethought  given  to  this  work  the 
greater  satisfaction  when  completed.  It  is  as  well  to  impress 
this  need  of  a  system,  for  the  want  of  one  may,  often  does,  end 
in  a  muddle.  Now  and  again  splendid  examples  of  what  the 
tropical  planChouse  should  be  are  met  with,  and  an  intelligent 
youth  will  hardly  fail  to  find  in  them  some  object  lessons,  for 
they  are  the  best  teachers.  It  is  easier  to  copy  models  than  to 
follow  rules.  But  above  and  beyond  that,  the  young  practi¬ 
tioner  cannot  commence  too  early  in  life  to  mentally  criticise 
and  form  an  independent  judgment  of  all  the  examples  of 
gardening  in  its  manifold  phases  he  will  meet  with.  Most 
youths  possess  an  inherent  feeling  tending  to  this,  mental 
analysis ;  but  many  stifle  it  from  some  vague  assumption  that 
certain  things  must  be  right  because  certain  people  do  them,  or 
do  not  do  them,  so  are  content  to  dog  along  in  the  visible  sheep- 
tracks  of  routine  or  rest  in  the  calm  neutrality  of  indifference. 
A  word  of  warning  however,  lest  the  exercise  of  this  prerogative 
should  lead  to  its  abuse.  The  writer  knows  that  at  the  age  of 
twenty  he  was  pretty  strongly  imbued  with  that  most  detestable 
failing  termed  priggishness,  but,  unfortunately,  he  never  knew 
it  until  he  was — An  Old  Boy. 
(To  b®  continued.) 
Drainage. 
Roughly  stated,  enough  rain  falls  annually  in  this  country 
to  cover  the  entire  surface  of  the  soil  to  a  depth  of  2  feet.  What 
becomes  of  all  this  water  ?  In  most  cases  it  disappears  as  it 
falls,  being  promptly  absorbed  by  the  soil ;  the  plants  growing 
in  it  take  up  a  certain  quantity,  but  the  bulk  of  it  sinks  down 
in  undrained  soil  to  a  depth  determined  by  the  nature  of  the 
subsoil,  which  is  generally  so  compact  that  it  retains  much 
water  near  the  surface,  where  it  becomes  stagnant  and 
unwholesome.  The  baneful  effects  of  such  shallow  water 
tables  are  clear  and  UDmistakeable,  and  may  thus  be  explained — 
1,  The  soil  becomes  sour  and  unfit  for  the  food  of  many 
plants. 
2,  Its  temperature  is  so  low  even  at  midsummer  that  growth 
is  slow  and  crops  backward. 
3,  This  lowness  of  temperature  arises  from  the  accumulation 
of  so  much  stagnant  water  near  the  surface,  its  temperature 
at  a  depth  of  2  feet  being  only  47  deg.  in  the  heat  of  summer. 
It  chills  the  soil  above  it,  as  it  constantly  ascends  by  capillary 
attraction.  It  chills  the  atmosphere  by  evaporation  so  much 
that  frosts  at  midsummer  are  by  no  means  uncommon.  Early 
frosts  in  autumn  destroy  tender  vegetables  prematurely.  The 
frosts  of  winter  are  of  exceptional  severity,  and  are  propor¬ 
tionately  destructive,  and  with  the  late  frosts  of  spring  hopes 
of  a  fruit  crop  repeatedly  vanish.  Soil  that  is  thus,  in  the 
words  of  quaint  old  Tusser,  “  with  water  oppressed,”  is 
certainly  in  an  unsuitable  condition  for  a  kitchen  garden,  and 
must  be  drained  before  anything  else  is  done.  Considerable 
