JOURXAL  OF  HORTICULFURE  AXD  COTTAGE  GARDEXER. 
Juno  il,  1903. 
.ol4 
Centaurea  dea’bata. 
The  plant  we  figure  on  the  opposite  page  is  one  of  the  most 
graceful,  as  well  as  showy,  of  its  genus.  It  is  a  Caucasian 
species,  growing  12in  to  18in  high,  with  pinnate  leaves  covered 
with  white  hairs  underneath.  It  flower.s  during  the  sununer, 
being  quite  hardy,  and  when  once  planted  requires  but  little 
attention.  The  blossoms  are  rosy-niauve. 
Hardy  Bulbous  Plants. 
The  majority  of  hardy  bulbs  are  not  particular  as  to  soil,  but  a 
heavy  clay  is  .sure  death  to  them.  Most  of  the  members  of  the 
smaller  bvdbous  family  are  either  natives  of  the  Cape  or  South 
America,  so  that  a  sunny,  well-drained  spot  suits  them  the  best. 
If  the  place  where  they  are  planted  suits  them,  they  will  increase 
readily  and  take  care  of  thein.selves.  Others  are  tender  and 
require  to  oe  taken  from  the  ground  and  stored  in  a  dry  place  in 
sand  or  some  such  material  until  the  danger  of  injury  by  frost 
is  over.  These  niu.st  not  be  exposed  to  the  air  too  long,  or  they 
shrivel  and  are  no  good.  The  Chronodoxas,  or  “  Glory  of  the 
Snow,”  are  certainlj’  more  tender  than  the  Sciuills ;  still,  if  they 
had  a  fairly  rich  sandy  soil,  and  not  too  inuch  clay  under  them, 
'they  do  well,  and  might  remain  in  the  earth  for  several  years 
without  being  disturbed.  The  Tigridias.  or  Tiger  flower,  from 
their  gorgeous  spots  and  the  shape  of  the  fl.ower,  are  natives  of 
Mexico,  and  are  not  nearlj^  so  much  grown  as  they  ought  to  be. 
Although  a  bloom  only  lasts  a  day,  the  next  morning  there  is 
another  ready  to  take  its  place.  The  plant  proves  more  bene¬ 
ficial  when  grown  in  a  deep,  rich,  sandy  soil  with  a  little  peat, 
and  in  a  dry,  sunny  situation.  It  is  generally  recommended  that 
these  plants  should  be  taken  up  every  year  after  blooming,  and 
stored  in  eand  until  the  spring  comes  again.  The  Montbretias 
are  a  hardy  class  of  .summer  flowering  bulbs,  which  do  well  in  any 
sunny  border.  There  have  been  several  new  varieties  intro¬ 
duced  of  late,  which  are  worth  growing.  The  Plantain  Lilies 
(Funkias)  are  not  so  much  grown  as  could  be  wished.  They  do 
not  require  Tuuch  care,  either  in  soil  or  situation,  and  their 
handsome.  Plantain-like  foliage  gives  a  graceful  appearance  to 
a  flower  border. 
Irish  Roses. 
The  criticisms  of  “  W.  R.  Raillem”  remind  me  of  those  given 
by  him  .some  years  ago  in  the  Journal,  and  afterwards  printed 
in  his  most  valuable  book  on  Roses,  entitled,  “  Manners  and 
Customs.”'  He  always  deals  with  the  subject  in  a  masterly  way, 
and  I  should  have  no  hesitation  in  procuring  a  Rose  which  he  has 
described  and  recommended.  I  am  not  a  large  grower  of  Roses 
now,  but  at  the  time  he  gave  his  former  descriptions  of  Roses, 
I  was  growing  between  two  and  three  thousand;  and  each  Rose 
as  portrayed  by  him  was  a  faithful  representation  of  both 
qualities  and  failings.  I  also  know  most  of  the  Roses  he 
criticises  now,  and  I  am  very  pleased  to  find  dealing  as  faith¬ 
fully  with  them  without  fear  or  favour,  as  this  is  just  what 
readers  of  the  Journal  want  to  know.  I  well  remember  the  praise 
given  to  the  Earl  of  Dufferin  when  it  first  came  out  ;  also  how 
disappointed  we  were  when  we  had  to  grow  it.  I  also  remember 
purchasing  three  plants  of  the  beautiful  Ethel  Brownlow,  when 
flr.st  sent  out  ;  but  they  were  very  little  larger  in  five  years  after¬ 
wards.  Mrs.  Edward  Mawley  is  a  very  fine  Rose ;  I  have  a  bloom 
in  a  vase  before  me  as  I  write,  which  has  been  in  water,  five  days, 
and  still  gives  a  nice  scent,  and  the  colour  is  quite  bright  for  the 
long  time  it  has  been  cut.  I  quite  agree  with  “  W.  R.  Raillem” 
in  the  washy  colours  of  some  of  the  otherwise  good  Roses ; 
Mavourneen  being  one  of  these  dull  colours.  Messrs.  Alex.  Dick¬ 
son  are  to  be  congratulated  in  sending  out  so  many  very  fine 
varietie.s;  some  of  them  will  live  for  many  years  to  come,  when 
some  of  us  will  be  forgotten.  As  an  old  reader  of  the  Journal,  I 
should  be  pleased  to  have  ”  W.  R.  Raillem’s  ”  description  of  some 
of  the  newer  varieties,  .such  as  Souvenir  de  Pierre  Netting,  Frau 
Karl  Dru-schki.  Dorothy  Perkins,  Jeanne  Buatois,  Madame  Viger, 
Porlc  von  Godesburgh,  Madame  Antoine  Mari,  ttc. — Scott. 
Gioriosa  Rothschtldiana. 
A  magnificent  new  species  of  Glorio.sa  has  flowered  with  the 
Hen.  Walter  Rothschild,  M.P.,  at  Tring  Park,  Tring,  from 
tubers  collected  by  Major  H.  B.  Rattray,  in  the  Vganda  district, 
near  the  Lake  Victoria  Nyanza,  Tropical  Africa,  and  which 
proves  to  be  by  far  the  h.andsomeist  of  the  genus.  Its  pure 
glowing  crimson-coloured  flowers  constitute  it  one  of  the  showiest 
of  warm-hou'S?  plants'. 
Yucca  glcriosa  at  Bridge  Hill,  Canterbury. 
In  the  gardens  at  Bridge  Hill  House,  near  Canterbury,  Kent, 
there  is  growing  a  large  specimen  of  Yucca  gioriosa  planted  some 
twenty-five  years  ago.  It  has  grown  luxuriantly,  and  of  late 
years,  since  it  has  become  well  established,  has  flowered  profusely. 
The  photograph  on  page  ol9,  taken  last  summer  (1902),  shows 
three  magnificent  spikes  of  flower,  each  over  9ft  in  height.  If 
you  think  it  of  sufficient  interest  for  insertion  in  the  Journal  of 
Hdi  ficuUure,  I  .should  be  pleased  for  you  to  do  .so. — Thomas  Pen¬ 
fold.  Head  Gardener. 
Spraying  Orchards. 
The  fruit  division  of  the  Canadian  Department  of  Agriculture 
is  just  now  giving  a  series  of  orchard  demonstrations  in  Ontario 
and  Quebec  to  illustrate  the  great  advantages  which  follow  the 
use  of  the  power  sprayer.  Work  has  been  carried  on  in  the 
vicinity  of  Woodstock  and  Ingersoll,  Ontario,  by  Messrs.  P.  J. 
Carey,  Dominion  fruit  inspector,  and  J.  C.  Harris,  West  Oxford, 
both  practical  farmers,  who  have  made  a  success  of  fruit  growing, 
and  who  give  careful  attention  to  all  the  details  of  their  spray¬ 
ing  operations.  The  chief  object  is  to  show  that  a  dozen  or 
more  farmers  may  profitably  combine  to  purchase  a  power  sprayer, 
place  it  in  charge  of  some  such  man  as  usually  does  thre.sh- 
ing,  who  can  easilj'  make  himself  thoroughly  conversant  with 
the  best  methods  of  spraying,  and  engage  him  to  make  regular 
visits  to  their  orchards.  At  each  farm  the  expert  sprayer  will 
only  require  the  assistance  of  a  teamster,  and  thus  the  regular 
work  of  the  farm  need  not  be  interrupted.  Under  present 
methods  evei’y  farmer  in  the  fruit  districts  requires  a  spraying 
outfit  of  his  own,  and  the  spraying,  if  done  at  all,  is  done  in 
a  careless,  half-hearted  way  by  men  Avho  do  not  know  just  when 
or  how  the  work  should  be  ijerformed.  Farmers  are  very  busy 
at  the  season  when  spraying  should  be  done,  consequently  it  is 
often  neglected  entirely,  or  postponed  until  too  late  to  bo 
effective.  Farmers  have  reason  to  feel  indebted  to  Mr.  W.  A. 
M'Kinnon,  chief  of  the  fruit  division,  for  bringing  to  their  atten¬ 
tion  the  merits  of  the  power  sprayer.  If  the  old  methods  of 
spraying  were  valuable,  and  it  is  generally  admitted  that  they 
were,  this  new  plan  must  prove  infinitely  better.  It  is  thorough 
and  rapid,  and  is  accomplished  Avith  little  or  no  exertion  or 
if?convenience.  The  pressure  is  supplied  by  a  small  gasolin(A 
engine  on  the  waggon,  and  the  si> raying  done  while  the  horses 
are  driven  up  and  down  betAveen  the  roAvs  of  trees.  The  liquid 
is  forced  from  a  tank  on  the  waggon  through  tAvo  lines  of  small 
rubber  hose.  By  the  use  of  Bamboo  rods,  Avith  a  cluster  of  six 
small  nozzles  at  the  end,  it  is  possible  to  reach  the  topmost  parts 
of  the  trees,  and  the  spray,  which  is  as  fine  as  a  cloud  of  vapour, 
falls  lightly  upon  the  trees  and  adheres  much  better  than  if 
applied  in  a  coarse  spray,  as  is  sometimes  done.  The  pressure 
of  801b  to  1001b  to  the  inch  ensures  a  .spray  so  fine  that  it  pene¬ 
trates  to  all  parts  of  the  trees.  This  is  one  of  the  chief  advan¬ 
tages  of  the  neAv  sprayer.  The  difficulty  has  been  to  reach  the 
tops  of  trees  AA'ithout  a  AA’aste  of  the  preparation  used,  which  has 
been  the  iiumriable  result  Avhen  a  lieaA^y  stream  was  turned  on. 
Again,  the -appliances  used  by  most  farmers  have  only  one  nozzle, 
while  this,  as  has  been  stated,  has  six  on  each  line  of  hose,  and 
the  force  is  much  greater  and  the  mist  finer,  AA'hich  is  all-impor¬ 
tant.  Under  favourable  conditions  the  operators  of  this  machine 
could  probably  spray  from  600  to  800  trees  per  day.  Forty 
trees,  some  of  them  difficult  to  get  at,  wmre  si^rayed  in  about 
twenty-fiA'e  minutes.  After  making  several  moves  a  day,  some 
of  them  long  oiies,  the  operators  have  been  averaging  betAveen 
400  and  500  trees  a  day.  The  trees  sprayed  will  be  given  a 
regular  course — four  siArayings  at  least.  It  is  hoped  by  the 
Department  of  Agriculture  that  these  tests  will  bring  about  the 
general  adoption  of  the  power  sprayer.  A  similar  spraying 
apparatus  is  being  used  by  prh'ate  oAAmers  in  the  Niagara  distinct, 
and  is  said  to  giAm  excellent  results. 
