Supplement  to 
Maroh  14,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
219 
and  the  young  wood  rarely  grows  over  it.  In  time  the  dead  portion 
decays  and  forms  a  channel  for  disease  which  would  not  have  been  had 
the  cut  been  made  the  other  way. 
When  cutting  off  or  shortening  a  branch  a  cut  should  first  be 
made  underneath,  so  that  when  cut  from  above  the  weight  when 
falling  will  not  tear  the  bark  off  the  trunk  or  portion  left.  If  a  large 
heavy  branch  has  to  be  taken  off,  it  should  first  be  lightened  by 
sawing  it  off  2  or  3  feet  from  the  trunk  ;  this  will  minimise  the 
chances  of  accidents,  either  of  falling  against  and  overthrowing  the 
operator  and  his  ladder,  or  by  falling  prematurely  and  injuring 
the  tree.  It  is  also  a  good  plan  to  sling  heavy  branches  by  means  of 
a  rope  passed  over  an  upper  branch  ;  by  this  means  injury  to  under¬ 
growth  may  be  avoided.  Cuts  should  always  be  made  clean  and 
well  into  the  wood,  snagged  branches  being  one  of  the  worst  evils 
attending  bad  pruning.  Snags  die  and  decay,  thus  forming  a  ready 
means  for  fungoid  and  other  diseases  to  reach  the  heart  of  the  tree. 
As  soon  as  a  tree  or 
shrub  has  been  pruned,  all 
wounds  should  have  any 
roughness  pared  smooth 
and  be  dressed  with  Stock¬ 
holm  or  coal  tar,  which 
forms  a  good  protection 
against  the  inclemencies 
of  the  weather  and  the 
entrance  of  fungoid  pests, 
until  they  are  healed  over. 
Damaged  bark  or  wounds 
of  any  description  should 
be  cleaned  and  pared 
smooth,  and  treated  as  other 
wounds.  Decayed  parts  of 
trees  may  be  scraped  clean, 
and  have  several  dressings 
of  Condy’s  fluid  or  a  fairly 
strong  solution  of  carbolic 
acid,  after  which  a  dressing 
of  tar  should  be  applied. 
All  prunings  should  be 
gathered  up'  and  cleared 
away  at  once,  for  if  left 
lying  about, t  in  addition 
to  beiDg  unsightly,  they 
rapidly  decry,  and  form  an 
excellent  medium  for  the 
propagation  of  fungoid 
diseases,  a  matter  which 
cannot  be  given  too  much 
attention.  If  trees  are  to 
be  formed  into  fine  speci¬ 
mens,  and  be  of  value 
when  mature  for  timber, 
it  is  of  the  utmost  import¬ 
ance  that  no  means  should 
be  neglected  by  which 
fungoid  pests  can  be  kept 
away,  or  their  injurious 
effects  reduced  to  the  lowest 
possible  minimum.  A  great 
point  is  to  have  good  tools, 
and  keep  them  clean  and 
sharp.  The  requisite  tools  are  saws  of  various  sizes,  standard 
pruners,  choppers,  ax  j,  knite,  light  steps,  ladders,  &c. — W.  Dallimore. 
(To  be  continued.) 
seen,  the  leaves  and  the  stems  are  slightly  downy.  The  former  are 
dark  green  and  entire.  As  a  climbing  plant  or  as  a  trained  pot 
specimen  this  tine  old-fashioned  flower  deserves  more  attention  than  it 
receives.  A  temperature  ranging  between  50°  and  60°  suits  it  well. 
It  can  be  raised  from  cuttings  or  from  seeds,  and  ordinary  yellow  loam 
with  a  slight  addition  of  peat,  should  be  afforded  as  a  potting  compost. 
Tibouchina  and  Pleroma  are  generic  names  that  are  used,  but  are  not 
so  well  known  as  Lasiandra.— K. 
Seakale  Lilywhite. 
of 
Lasiandra  macrantha. 
Lasiandra  macrantha. 
Here  we  have  one  of  the  handsomest  and  most  beautiful  of  all 
greenhouse  or  conservatory  climbers.  The  plant  is  amenable  to  all 
kinds  of  treatment,  for  I  have  grown  it  when  the  roots  were  cramped, 
and  often  hungered ;  while  again  I  have  seen  massively  spreading 
plants  with  the  full  root  run  of  a  good  border.  The  plant  always 
furnishes  abundance  of  young  wood,  and  under  some  conditions  it  has  a 
tendency  to  become  straggly.  The  flowers  are  borne  in  clusters  of 
four  or  five,  while  successive  buds  continue  to  open  over  a  lengthened 
period.  By  the  adoption  of  a  winter  system  of  pruning  or  thinning 
out  of  old  wood  L.  macrantha  can  be  flowered  during  the  dark  month 
of  December.  The  accompanying  illustration  admirably  portrays  the 
character  of  odo  of  the  violet-blue  flowers,  but  whole  clusters  of  equally 
large  or  larger  flowers  are  usually  produced  by  the  plants.  As  will  be 
I  have  been  remarkably  impressed  this  winter  with  the  superiority 
Lilywhite  Seakale  for  forcing.  I  believe  this  is  quite  contrary 
to  the  general  experience 
of  most  gardeners.  I  first 
noticed  the  habit  this  plant 
had  of  comparatively  early 
ripening  on  this  cold 
ground  of  curs.  They  were 
quite  destitute  of  foliage 
at  least  a  fortnight  before 
the  ordinary  kind,  both 
sorts  being  planted  on  the 
same  day  and  side  by  side. 
Seeing  this  habit  of  early 
ripening,  which  was  more 
pronounced  last  autunrn, 
there  being  no  frost  here 
to  cause  a  premature  decay 
of  the  foliage,  I  naturally 
thought  they  would  start 
a  trifle  ear'ier  when  intro¬ 
duced  into  heat  than  those 
plants  which  retained  their 
foliage  for  sorhe  little  time 
longer. 
Alter  the  foliage  had 
parted  fn  m  the  crowns, 
the  roots  were  taken  up 
and  exposed  to  the  weather, 
and  when  a  portion  of 
them  were  put  into  heat 
at  the  end  of  November, 
they  came  away  slowly 
but  strong,  aid  certainly 
more  delicate  in  colour 
than  that  of  the  ordinary 
variety. 
Many  connoisseurs  say 
it  is  superior  in  flavour 
to  the  old  variety. 
Whether  this  is  so  I  am 
not  able  to  say.  This 
variety  pays  for  a  little 
extra  care  and  attention 
when  growing  in  its  sum¬ 
mer  quarters,  by  giving 
it  a  good  deep  and  rich 
crowns  as  large  as  the  more 
root-run ;  it  will  then  produce 
common  sorts. 
As  the  planting  season  is  at  hand  the  following  remarks  will  not 
be  out  of  place.  Our  root  cuttings  have  been  made  some  time,  and 
are  now  buried  in  the  ground,  wailing  for  the  soil  to  become  workable, 
when  they  will  be  immediately  planted.  Our  plan  is  to  draw  shallow 
drills  about  18  inches  from  row  to  row,  and  with  a  dibble  make 
holes  about  16  inches  apart  and  drop  a  cutting  into  each  hole,  taking 
care  it  rests  on  the  bottom  of  the  hole.  The  crown  end  of  the 
cutting  is  left  level  with  the  bottom  of  the  drill.  Then  I  like  to 
put  about  2  inches  of  refuse  from  our  smother  heap  directly  over 
the  crown  end  of  the  cutting.  I  find  by  doing  this  the  crowns  are 
comparatively  free  from  injury  by  slugs.  As  sood  as  the  cutting 
sprouts  are  about  2  inches  above  ground  we  go  carefully  over  and 
remove  all  but  the  strongest,  which  is  then  encouraged  to  make 
rapid  growth. 
If  the  ground  is  of  a  dry  and  sandy  nature  the  plants  would 
be  greatly  benefited  by  an  occasional  dusting  of  salt  between  the 
rows  while  growing ;  but  on  our  ground  I  find  it  best  emitted. 
If  space  could  be  spared  I  should  prefer  to  plant  the  rows  2£  feet 
wide  and  18  inches  from  plant  to  plant,  but  for  want  of  ground 
I  cannot  spare  them  this  breathing  room.  —  J.  Easter,  Nostdl 
Priory  Gardens. 
