June  23,  1904. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
.“>4  1 
The  Culture  oS  Hlppeastrums, 
(^Continued  from  lyage  !j09.) 
The  practice  of  some  growers  is  to  dry  the  bulbs  off  com¬ 
pletely,  and  then  through  exigencies  of  space,  to  store  them  on 
their  sides  pot  on  pot.  Others  work  in  the  other  direction  by 
considerably  reducing  the  amount  of  liquid,  but  not  thoroughly 
drying  off  the  bulb  in  the  manner  previously  mentioned.  The 
contention  is  that  the  bulb,  having  fleshy  roots,  and  these  being 
required  for  the  succeeding  j’ear’s  gi’owth,  should  be  kept  plump 
by  the  presence  in  a  diminished  way  of  moisture.  In  this,  as  in 
many  other  things,  I  myself  prefer  to  effect  a  compromise  by 
witliholding  the  water  supply  as  in  the  former  case,  but  leaning 
slightly  to  the  latter  method  by  plunging  the  pots  up  to  the 
rim  in  some  moisture-ietaining  material,  such  as  cocoa-nut  fibre 
or  coal  ashes^  which  will  keep  the  pots  well  soaked,  and  thus, 
by  the  diffusion  of  moisture,  the  hall  of  the  plant  will  be  pre¬ 
vented  from  becoming  dust  dry,  whilst  it  will  at  the  same  time 
be  much  nearer  to  that  state  than  to  complete  saturation.  That 
this  is  an  ideal  method  of  storage  cannot,  I  believe  be  gainsaid, 
and  it  will  be  found  on  turning  out  the  bulbs  in  the  spring,  that 
they  are  firm  and  pining),  and  the  fleshy  roots  are  in  a  similar 
condition. 
The  time  for  repotting  the  plants  is  just  before  renewed 
root  action  occurs.  In  this  the  first  necessity  is  to  thoroughly 
soak  the  ball  of  soil  by  plenteous  watering  for  two  or  three 
days.  This  will  admit  of  the  exhausted  soil  being  more  readily 
parted  from  the  roots  without  damaging  the  latter.  Having 
extracted  ail  the  old  soil  remove  all  dead  roots,  and  those  that 
have  died  back  half  way  remove  at  that  point,  for  they  will 
eventually  throw  out  rootlets.  Then  thoroughly  wash  the  bulb, 
and  having  allowed  it  to  dry  potting  may  commence.  The  com¬ 
post  should  consist  of  good  fibrous  loam,  some  fibrous  peat,  but 
not  in  a  large  quantity,  some  well  decaved  leaf  soil  which  has 
passed  through  a  half  inch  sieve  with  the  small  taken  from  it 
by  means  of  a  quarter  inch,  some  broken  cow  or  sheep  manure, 
lime  rubble  treated  in  a  similar  manner  to  the  leaf  soil,  and  a 
fair  quantity  of  broken  charcoal,  with  a  liberal  amount  of  coarse 
sand.  This  should,  when  turned  over  three  or  four  times,  form 
a  mixture  into  rvhich,  under  the  general  laws  of  growth,  it 
would  appear  an  impossibility  for  the  roots  not  to  freely  run. 
Clean  pots  and  crocks  should  be  used,  neglect  in  this  matter 
being  a  violation  of  the  very  alphabet  of  garden  principles.  A 
goodly  number  of  crocks  ai'e  necessary,  and  over  the.se  place 
moss.  Then  put  in  a  little  of  the  compost,  and  press  down  with 
the  hand.  Hold  the  bulb  in  position,  arranging  the  roots  so 
that  they  Avill  be  pretty  evenly  distributed.  Shake  in  some 
fine  portion  of  the  compost,  and  work  in  with  the  fingers.  Then 
put  more  soil,  and  make  firm  with  the  hand  until  it  reaches  to 
within  half  an  inch  from  the  top  of  the  pot.  The  bulb  should 
not  be  wholly  covered,  the  siirfaco  soil  being  but  slightly  above 
that  part  of  the  buib  which  gives  the  largest  circumference. 
Too  firm  potting  is  not  to  be  recommended,  for  the  roots  being 
of  a  fleshy  nature,  will  reqnii-e  more  room  and  freedom  than  in 
the  case  of  fine  fibrous  rooting  plants. 
After  potting,  watering  must  be  carefully  attended  to,  no 
great  quantity  being  required  until  plenty  of  root  action  has 
taken  place.  If  plunged  and  frequently  syringed  overhead, 
some  time  should  elapse  before  they  evince  any  desire  to  become 
acquainted  with  a  water  pot.  AVhen  both  subterranean  and 
superterrene  growth  has  received  a  good  stimulus,  remove  the 
plants  from  the  plunging  material,  and  irlace  in  a  light  house 
boasting  a  temperature  of  55deg  to  GOdeg,  with  a  healthily 
humid  atmosphere,  the  chief  part  of  tlie  culture  now  being 
prudence  in  the  admission  of  air,  and  the  maintenance  of  an 
even  balance  in  the  way  of  water. 
The  two'  most  important  foes  in  point  of  destructive  ability 
are  mealy  bug  and  the  Eucharis  mite.  When  the  former  hate¬ 
ful  pest  is  at  present  no  half  measures  should  be  used,  for  I 
am  strongly  of  opinion  that  the  policy  of  “  keeping  it  down  ” 
incurs  a  far  greater  expense  of  labour  and  rvaste  of  plant 
energy  than  the  more  drastic  but  far  more  effectual  method 
which  I  am  going  to  give  in  detail.  AVhen  the  prevalence  of 
the  bug  is,  so  to  speak,  in  its  infancy,  it  is  not  difficult  by  a 
severe  measure  of  isolafion  and  constant  murderous  attention 
to  stop  the  evil,  but  when  such  a  firm  hold  is  established  that 
the  insects  are  to  be  found  not  only  at  the  top,  but  at  the  roots 
of  the  bulb,  then  it  is  that  the  severest  measures  are  justified. 
The  autumn  undoubtedly  affords  the  best  opportunities  for 
thoroughness  in  the  cleansing  proce.ss.  Let  the  soil  be  well 
soaked  to  free  it  from  the  roots,  and  this,  as  well  as  the  crocks, 
should:  bp ,  thrown  on  to  a  fire  or  put  into  an  out  of  the  way 
jJace  whevo  there  is  no  possibility  of  the  danger  of  re-intro¬ 
ducing  the  pest.  The  pots  also  will  need  a  good  waishing. 
The  dead  roots  having  been  cut  away,  all  loo.se  skin  should 
lie  rubbed  off  the  bulb,  and  it  should  then  be  tlioroughly  washed 
in  a  solution  of  .strong,  soapy  water,  into  which  has  been  poured 
the  directed  quantity  of  some  proved  insecticide.  It  will  do  no 
harm  to  nse  the  liquid  as  hot  as  the  hand  can  comfortably  be 
boriie  in  it.  A  .somewhat  stiff  brush  will  be  nece.ssary  to  work 
the  liquid  well  into  the  bulb,  for  the  pest  has  what  is  to  us  a 
pernicious  and  annoying,  but  to  itself  a  highly  defensive  habit 
of  lurking  in  any  crack.  AVhen  treated  well  in  this  manner  ca.st 
the  bulbs  into  .some  clear  water  for  a  few  minutes.  Plunge 
when  dry  in  Itoxes  of  cocoa-nut  fibre  refu.se,  which  should  hence¬ 
forth  be  kept  in  a  “  via  media  ”  between  thorough  dryness  and 
a  wet  condition. 
As  the  restarting  time  aiiproaches  new  roots  will  be  thrown 
out  from  the  base  of  the  bulb,  and  I’ootlets  from  the  old  roots. 
Encoui'aged  by  the  condition  afforded  them  by  the  moisture- 
retaining  fil)re  the.se  will  quickly  grow,  .so  that  an  eye  should 
1)0  kept  on  them  in  order  that  they  can  be  potted  up  early  in  a 
compost  such  as  pieviously  detailed.  The  after  culture  will  be 
as  usual,  with  the  difference  that  an  (*ye  of  vigilance  should 
be  kept  for  the  possible  reappearance  of  the  mealy  pest. 
The  Eucharis  mite  may  be  dealt  with  in  a  similar  manner, 
but  this  destructive  microscoj)ic  pest  thrives  in  a  soil  soured  by 
negligent  watering,  so  that  the  opposite  happy  condition  will 
tend  largely  to  its  abolition. — AA’m.  IIowles. 
The  Garden  Village  ol  the  Small  Holdings 
Association.- 
{Continued  from  i>age  500.) 
The  introduction  of  the  motor  has  brought  our  distant  vil¬ 
lages  nearer  to  the  towns  and  the  railways  and  to  each  other, 
and  the  motor  system  will,  in  my  judgment,  play  an  important 
part  in  the  establishment  of  garden  villages.  Our  experience 
thus  far  has  shown  me  that  there  are  thousands  of  country-bred 
townsmen  who  are  anxious  to  change  their  occupation  for  rural 
life,  although  on  the  ba.sis  of  our  own  applicants  it  is  probable 
that  not  more  than  10  per  cent,  have  the  means  or  capacity  to 
make  a  start  on  the  purchase  system.  Of  the  1,200  applications 
which  were  made  to  us  in  1903,  a  small  proportion  consisted  of 
those  impo.ssible  pensons,  city  .shopkeepers’  as.si.stants  and  clerks, 
who  have  no  experience  of  the  country  or  of  any  lural  occupa¬ 
tion.  The  remainder  were  chiefly  composed  of  more  or  less 
practical  men,  the  majority  of  whom  possessed  insufficient 
means.  Of  the  suitable  men,  a  considerable  number  were  pre¬ 
pared,  after  making  their  purcha.se — for  many,  indeed,  could  not 
be  accommodated  to  continue  wholly  or  in  part  in  their  present 
occupations  until  such  time  as  the  land  was  ready  for  tlieni  to 
devote  their  vrhole  attention  to  its  cultivation. 
These  men  coidd  see  their  way,  and  were  prepared,  as  skilled 
mechanics,  artisans,  or  pensioners,  to  combine  the  one  occupa¬ 
tion  with  the  other  so  long  as  they  found  it  e.s,sential.  Of  one 
fact  I  am  assuied — that  the  rural  labourer,  with  very  few 
exceptions,  is  not  the  man  who  will  take  up  land,  allotments 
excepted,  under  the  hire  or  purchase  sy.stem,  except  in  a  few 
particular  districts;  but  that  the  man  upon  whom  we  may 
depend  is  the  country-bred  townsman,  who  has  never  lost  his 
attachment  to  the  farm,  and  vho  ha.s-  acquired  siifficient  busi¬ 
ness  experience  to  enable  him  to  combine  with  the  labour  of 
cultivation  the  capacity  to  sell  his  produce. 
Aly  own  idea  of  the  Garden  A'illage  is  a  compact  and  not  too 
extensive  property  situated  in  a  district  in  which  agriculture 
is  not  higlily  prosperous,  and  in  which  the  population  chiefly 
depend  for  their  food  upon  foreign  produce.  The  soil  should  ba 
substantial — preferably  poor,  if  comparatively  stiff  or  heavy, 
than  light — such  as  sand,  gravel,  or  chalk.  It  shoidd  be  suffi¬ 
ciently  well  supplied  with  water,  adjacent  to  the  village,  church, 
chapel,  and  .school ;  drained  ;  its  fields  conveniently  divided  by 
fences  and  ditches,  and  all  acce.ssible  from  good  roads.  The 
homses  should  be  at  once  sub.stantial,  .simple,  artistic — for  mo.st 
men  take  a  pride  in  a  prettily  constructed  home — and  con¬ 
veniently  equipped  for  warmth,  cooking,  and  all  necessary 
domestic  purposes.  The  arrangement  of  the  land,  whether 
adjacent  to  the  house  or  not,  is  a  matter  for  the  decision  of  the 
occupier,  and  will  be  controlled  by  his  system  of  culture;  but  in 
any  case  he  should  pi-ovide  a  garden  of  sufficient  size  to  supply 
ids  own  table,  and  this  .should  embrace  a  poultiy  yard,  this  form 
of  live  stock  being  supplemented  by  a  breeding  sow  or  two,  and, 
in  the  absence  of  a  cow,  with  one  or  two  milch  goats  for  the  pro¬ 
vision  of  milk  for  his  children.  A  common  or  club  room  should 
be  established  for  the  use  of  the  vhole  colony,  and  in  some  )vay 
supplied  with  newspapers,  especially  those  representing- farming 
and  gardening,  with  technical  books,  some  innocent  games,  and. 
a  few  works  of  reference.  , 
There  should  be  a  club  or  co-operative  .society,  controlled  by 
a  committee  elected  by  the  coloni.sts  theni.selves,  and  intended 
for  the  purchase  and  supplv  of  food— whether  for  the  home  or 
the  stock— manur(\  seeds,  implements,  and  utensils,  coals,  and 
tlie  provision  of  the  more  costly  articles  of  farm  equipment,  to 
be  used  in  turn  by  those  requiring  them.  The  committee,  too, 
should  be  chai’ged  with  the  conduct  of  the  repair  of  the  private 
roads,  of  the  ditches  and  hedges  adjacent  to  those  roads,  and- 
they  should  repiesent  the  whole  body  where  cases  of  appeal  are 
*  Manchester  Statistical  Society;  read  by  James  Long-,  April  IStb,  1904 . 
