August  28,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
195 
Notes  from  Gardening  Literature. 
( Continued  from  page  157.) 
All  sorts  of  questions  are  asked  in  the  old-time  papers.  “  Is 
human  urine  a  beneficial  manure  ?”  “  Have  any  experiments 
been  made  with  milk?  If  so  what  is  the  result?”  “I  am 
trying  it  on  two  or  three  Auriculas,  and  shall  let  you  know 
Nepenthes  x  mixta. 
(See  page  196.) 
the  effect,”  the  conductor  added  in  a  footnote.  I  failed  to  find 
the  note  in  subsequent  papers. 
The  forcing  of  the  Lily  of  the  Valley  was  well  understood 
in  Germany,  although  little  noticed  in  Britain  at  this  time 
(1820-40),  and  I  doubt  if  we  have  found  out  anything  new  about 
this  pretty  flower,  except  it  is  in  the  retarding  of  the  crowns, 
and  for  that  I  believe  we  are  indebted  to  a  Dutchman  or 
German. 
If  there  is  anyone  who  has  an  inclination'  ta  excel  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  German  Aster,  here  is  the  way  to  success: — 
“  If  you  wish  for  Asters  possessing  beauty  and  magnitude,  have 
the  seeds  sown  in  a  hotbed  by  the  middle  of  March,  and  when 
sufficiently  strong  to  transplant,  remove  to  the  bed  where 
they  are  intended  to  bloom.  The  soil  of  this  bed  should  consist 
cf  horse  dung,  well  rotted,  and  be  turned  for  the  previous  six 
months  to  the  depth  of  2ft.  '  Place  over  this,  rich,  fresh,  strong 
loam,  from  an  old  pasture,  with  a  sixth  part  of  leaf  mould, 
twelve  months  incorporated.  Pare  the  top  spit  of  a  moory 
pasture,  and  burn  it,  spreading  the  ashes  and  soil  2ft  in  height 
over  the  subsoil.  By  observing  this  plan  the  Asters  will  attain 
a  great  height  and  magnitude,  and  produce  a  mass  of  flowers 
of  superior  size.”  The  latter  article  was  written  by  a  lady.  It 
appears  to  me  that  the  roots  of  the  German  Asters  would  have 
to  travel  a  long  way  to  reach  that  subsoil  of  six  months  old 
manure. 
There  was  some  impostors  in  these  earlier  times,  but  they 
seem  to  have  come  over  from  France,  and  gulled  our  fathers  by 
selling  them  so-called  yellow  and  black  Moss  Roses,  yellow 
Camellias,  and  yellow  Lilacs.  According  to  an  account  the 
Frenchmen  sold  £1,000  worth  in  London  alone. 
The  prices  of  certain  plants  are  often  referred  to,  and  I 
have  no  doubt  they  understood  how  to  make  money  out  of  new 
things  as  well  as  we  do  now.  I  only  give  one  example.  Poin- 
settia  pulcherrima  was  coming  into  repute  about  1836,  and  the 
price  of  a  small  plant  was  £2,  and  of  a  plant  3ft  to  4ft  high, 
was  £7  to  £10.  I  previously  remarked  that  some  of  the  articles 
in  the  papers  were  very  brief;  possibly  the  pruning  knife  was 
applied.  Here  is  an  article  on  Primula  sinensis,  in  which  the 
writer,  after  three  lines  of  preliminary  remarks,  says :  “  The 
compost  I  make  use  of  consists  of  rich  light  loam  and  peat  soil 
in  equal  parts.  The  seeds  are  sown  in  the  month  of  May,  in  a 
pan  lightly  covered,  and  placed  in  a  cold  frame.  When  the 
plants  have  formed  their  first  leaves  they  are  transplanted 
singly  into  60-pots.  When  their  roots  have  filled  these,  they 
are  then  removed  into  48’s  and  afterwards  into  32’s,  keeping 
them  in  the  same  situation,  and  finally  into  24’s,  removing  them 
into  the  greenhouse  in  October.  It  is  necessary  in  all  the 
pottings  to  give  a  good  drainage  of  broken  crocks  or  cinders.” 
Here  is  a  curious  method  of  growing;  the  Hyacinth  which 
some  reader  might  try — Place  a  bulb  in  the  bottom  of  the  pot 
with  the  growing  point  or  crown  through  the  hole  and  fill  up 
with  soil,  placing  another  bulb  on  the  top  of  the  lower  one. 
Of  course  the  pot  has  to  be  suspended  in  the  dark  for  a  time, 
and  also-  in  the  room  or  greenhouse.  I  was  struck  on  one 
occasion  by  a  short  paragraph  about  the  hybrid  Rhododendrons 
as  to  their  hardiness  compared  with  the  common  R.  ponticum. 
I  have  never  seen  it  stated  in  print  in  any  recent  publications, 
but  I  have  often  remarked  about  the  note  in  speaking  of  them, 
having  personally  noticed  the  same  thing,  and  also  I  notice 
how  much  more  R.  ponticum  suffers  in  dry  weather,  compared 
with  the  hybrids,  although  grafted  on  to  R.  ponticum. 
While  living  in  a  certain  part  of  Yorkshire  I  often  heard 
the  villagers  speak  of  the  Musk  Tree,  a  name  they  gave  to  the 
common  yellow  Musk.  I  came  across  a  note  on  Mimulus  Harri- 
soni,  Harrison’s  Monkey-flower,  raised  by  Mr.  Low,  of  Clapton 
Nursery,  to  the  effect  that  it  forms  a  vigorous,  brandling 
plant,  about  4ft  high.  Has  anyone  seen  it? 
In  the  Transactions  of  the  Horticultural  Society,  some  very 
short,  articles  are  given  in  the  form  of  letters  to  the  secretary. 
On  January  7,  1824,  some  foroed  Rhubarb  was  sent  to  a  meet¬ 
ing  cf  the  society,  and  had  been  forced  in  the  following  manner: 
“  The  roots  were  taken  up  as  perfect  as  possible,  leaving  the 
earth  which  adheres  to  them  still  attached.  They  are  placed  in 
a  bed  of  decayed  tan,  or  in  boxes,  or  pots,  filled  with  the  same, 
and  set  in  the  Mushroom  house,  which,  by  the  aid  of  a  flue, 
is  kept  at  a  temperature  of  45deg  to  55deg.  Tan  is  preferable 
to  leaf  mould,  because  it  receives  water  more  freely  when  given 
to  the  plants.  After  the  forcing  is  finished,  the  roots  are  kept 
under  long  litter  or  manure  till  warmer  weather  in  April,  when 
they  are  divided  by  a  sharp  knife,  and  planted  in  a  north 
border,  in  the  open  ground.  In  the  following  autumn  the 
strongest  are  fit  for  forcing  again.” 
The  foregoing  account  is  hardly  up  to  the  practice  of  the 
present  day  ;  and  the  following  is  how  a  gardener  at  Thirkleby, 
Yorkshire,  secured  a  good  crop  of  Onions  by  getting  rid  of  the 
Onion  grub.  The  soil  of  the  garden  was  very  strong.  He 
trenched  it  in  winter,  digging  in  manure  at  the  same  time,  and 
left  it  exposed  to  the  frost  in  a  rough  state  till  the  time  of  sow¬ 
ing.  It  was  then  raked  without  digging,  and  the  Onion  seed 
sown  in  drills  8in  apart.  The  crops  obtained  by  this  practice 
were  not  only  uninjured,  but  were  of  superior  size,  and  had 
never  failed.  He  sowed  his  Onions  in  the  middle  of  February, 
if  the  ground  was  in  a  fit  state  to  work  properly,  for  the  earliest 
sown  Onions  are  always  the  largest.  I  am  afraid,  however, 
that  the  simple  remedy  of  trenching  will  not  always  prevent 
I  the  attacks  of  the  Onion  grub. — J.  B.  S. 
