June  22,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
509 
first  erred  in  the  method  of  repotting  and  arranging  the  plants, 
then  in  overfeeding.  vr-'SSj 
As  to  repotting  such  Roses  now  (June),  we  can  only  say  if  they 
were  ours  and  unhealthy,  still  recoverable,  we  should  proceed  as 
follows : — Have  suitable  and  proper  moist  soil,  with  clean  pots  and 
crocks  in  various  sizes  ready  ;  take  a  plant,  turn  it  out,  liberate  the 
roots  of  loose  and  also  sour  looking  soil,  even  if  need  be  to  half 
the  bulk,  or  more  ;  plunge  the  roots  into  an  empty  pot  or  two,  and 
choose  one  which  holds  them  comfortably  though  slightly  coiling 
round  or  pressing  against  the  sides ;  crock  the  pots  thorough,  and 
protect  the  drainage  efficiently,  then  place  in  and  press  down  the 
proper  quantity  of  soil  for  raising  the  collar  of  the  plant  to  within 
a  little  more  than  an  inch  below  the  top  of  the  pot,  then 
work  fresh  soil  between  the  roots,  not  huddling  them,  and 
settle  it  with  a  few  sharp  raps  on  the  bench ;  press  down 
with  the  fingers,  add  more,  finish  level  and  quite  firm  an 
inch  below  the  rim,  stand  the  plant  out  of  the  sun  in  the 
shed,  and  syringe  it  forthwith.  The  whole  process  should 
foe  done  in  two  or  three  minutes.  Proceed  with  the  others 
in  the  same  way,  letting  them  stand  in  the  shed,  keeping 
the  leaves  wet  and  the  floor  damp. 
What  next?  If  we  had  a  sufficiently  deep  pit  we  should 
arrange  them  in  it  on  a  bed  of  damp  ashes,  put  down  the 
lights,  and  shade  heavily  if  sunny,  and  syringe  as  often  as 
necessary  for  keeping  the  leaves  fresh.  If  we  had  no  such 
pit  we  should  make  a  shelter  with  stakes  and  mats  all  round, 
with  rails  across  for  supporting  mats  over  the  plants ;  stand 
these  on  tiles  or  ashes,  keeping  the  base  moist,  and  syringe 
■&S  before ;  also  expose  to  night  dew. 
With  the  leaves  still  fresh,  the  second  day  after  repotting 
would  probably  be  soon  enough  for  giving  the  soil  a  thorough 
watering,  which,  with  the  syringing  and  shading,  may  last 
for  a  week.  By  that  time  if  the  leaves  never  flag,  as  they 
will  not  if  kept  wet,  fresh  root  action  will  have  commenced, 
then  syringing  and  shading  must  be  gradually  reduced,  and 
the  plants  will  soon  endure  and  enjoy  full  exposure.  They 
must  never  get  too  dry  at  the  roots  before  water  is  given,  and 
the  freer  the  root  action  and  growth  the  more  frequent  the 
supplies,  always  copious,  will  be  needed. 
By  such  treatment,  properly  carried  out,  we  should  bring 
the  plants  round,  ripen  their  wood  during  August  and 
September,  and  nor  repot  them  in  the  autumn ;  but  top-dress  when 
starting  them  into  growth.  As  to  starting  and  blooming  “  Bryn  ” 
sets  us  a  poser.  He  wants  to  “  secure  blooms  in  February  and  March, 
starting  the  Roses  with  Vines  about  that  time.”  We  give  it  up, 
AS  our  Roses  require  a  few  weeks  of  growth  after  starting  before 
they  unfold  their  welcome  blooms.] 
made  be  ever  so  carefully  preserved  there  is  the  possibility  that  they  may 
become  broken  in  the  planting,  or  may  be  injured  by  insects  or  other 
pests  in  the  soil. 
Then  there  is  the  undoubted  fact  that  during  the  past  spring  the  soil 
was  as  a  rule  very  cold.  I  found  its  temperature  to  seriously  affect  the 
tuber-growth  even  when  the  planting  was  not  done  until  the  second  week 
in  April,  and  that  is  not  early.  In  every  case  the  sets  were  carefully 
selected,  had  been  for  some  time  exposed  to  light  and  air,  and  were,  of 
course,  all  fully  sprouted.  But  be-jause  the  soil  was  so  cold  growth  was 
most  irregular,  and  it  was  some  time  ere  any  degree  of  evenness  in  growth 
was  manifest.  The  breadths  I  have  so  far  seen  were  on  light  porous 
warm  soils,  but  still  even  on  these  soils  there  was  seen  ample  irregularity. 
^  Did  we  regard  Potatoes  more  as  tender  warmth-loving  plants  than  we 
PATCHY  POTATO  BREADTHS. 
“  W.  S.”  asks,  on  page  491,  for  my  remarks  on  the  general  condition 
of  Potato  breadths  this  season.  They  entirely  coincide  with  his  own, 
for  generally  I  find  the  plants  to  bo  very  irregular,  having  come  indiffer¬ 
ently,  some  coming  late,  and  not  a  few  making  no  growth.  Now  what 
are  the  causes  of  this  irregularity  ?  First  there  is  the  undoubted  fact 
that  whilst  in  hot  dry  seasons  the  Potato  murrain  or  fungus  does 
attack  the  plants,  yet  its  effects  are  so  much  mitigated  that  thoroughly 
■diseased  or  rotten  tubers  are  uncommon.  But  in  many  of  them  there 
are  fungus  spores  all  the  same,  that  are  by  the  drought  rather  driven 
in  than  out.  Were  there  much  moisture  iu  the  soil  the  spores  would 
soon  run  through  the  tubers  and  destroy  them.  For  lack  of  the  moisture 
the  spores  remain  almost  inactive,  but  still  are  there.  Numbers  of 
such  tubers  are  planted  in  the  spring,  the  planter  not  suspecting  the 
presence  of  the  fungus  so  concealed  in  them. 
Many  of  these  tubers  put  into  the  damp  cold  soil  decay  entirely, 
others  sending  up  weak  shoots,  and  late.  Then  there  is  the  fact  that 
open  mild  winters,  such  as  the  past  one  was,  render  the  keeping  of  seed 
Potatoes  restful  a  matter  of  exceeding  difficult}’  ;  with  many,  except 
where  favoured  with  stores  of  exce])tionally  cool  temperature,  impossible. 
Premauire  growth  ensues,  and  either  has  to  be  rubbed  off,  or  if  allowed 
to  remain,  becomes  long  and  weak,  unless  the  tubers  be  kept  not  only  in 
full  light  but  in  the  air,  and  cool,  even  if  the  premature  shoots  thus 
Fig.  111.— Halesia  tetraptera. 
do,  we  should  defer  the  planting  until  we  were  in  the  month  of  May. 
No  extent  of  growth  seems  to  render  Potato  plants  any  more  hardy. 
The  native  tenderness  of  the  plant  remains.  Could  we  in  our  so  common 
mild  winters  but  manage  to  keep  the  seed  tubers  thoroughly  at  rest,  and 
then  were  to  plant  them  later,  probably  few  blanks  in  the  breadth  would 
befeen.  Even  then  there  would  always  be  possible  trouble  through  dormant 
disease  spores,  but  I  do  think  the  primary  cause  of  irregular  growth  is  to 
be  found  in  the  other  cause  I  have  indicated. — A.  D. 
Under  this  heading,  “  W.  S  ”  has  drawn  attention  to  a  matter  that 
might  with  advantage  bear  some  investigation  at  the  hands  of  your 
readers.  Although  not  suffering  in  that  respect,  I  can  fully  endorse  the 
opinion  that  this  year  there  are  more  failures  amongst  Potatoes  than 
can  be  remembered  for  many  seasons.  I  was  recently  inspecting  what 
ought  to  have  been  a  fine  breadth  of  Reliance,  and  failures  in  scores 
we%  to  be  counted  in  one  part,  and  on  inspection  we  found  many  of 
those  that  bad  been  cut  to  be  quite  decayed,  the  whole  “seta”  showing 
much  the  better  average  in  every  respect.  From  this  I  should  imagine 
that  the  cold  and  rain  immediately  following  planting  had  much  to  do 
with  it,  especially  as  the  ground  is  of  a  heavy  nature,— R.  P.  R. 
HALESIA  TETRAPTERA. 
The  spray  of  flowers  sent  by  “  R.  0.  N.”  for  identification  represents 
Halesia  tetraptera,  popularly  called  the  Snowdrop  Tree,  in  splendid 
•condition.  It  is  not  commonly  planted,  but  it  has  a  good  habit  of 
growth  with  pleasing  foliage,  and  when  in  flower  in  early  summer  it  is 
highly  interesting,  as  the  branches  all  bear  a  large  number  of  pendant 
white  flowers  (fig.  Ill),  which  have  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  Snowdrop. 
It  will  grow  freely  and  bloom  profusely  if  planted  in  any  garden  amongst 
a  general  collection  of  trees,  and  all  who  know  anything  of  good  shrubs 
will  always  regard  it  as  valuable. 
