STOCKS FOR SPRING AND EARLY SUMMER.

H

OW lasting are first impressions! I believe it was a bed of Stocks which first kindled the horticultural spark, and impelled me with a restless longing and irresistible desire to follow in the craft of Adam, and become a tiller of the ground, a worker-I did not care how humble-in a garden of flowers. I need not tell of my little struggling and scheming to attain this end; suffice it to say that, like many another, I have had enough, and sometimes too much of it, yet verily believe that in any other calling with better emolument (and in truth such has been rejected) I should not have been so content as in the work of my first love implanted by the Stock. Long years have passed since then, and many a fine sight and thing forgotten, but the Stocks remain as clearly photographed on the mind as ever, as vividly and distinctly as the first smile of one who for years, as another first love, has been dearer to me than the flowers. Both these first loves will be dear to the end; but I will not dwell further, except on the Stocks.

The Stocks were a bed of old Bromptons in an old baronial garden. They were grown as we never see them grow now. A large quarter of the kitchen garden was set apart for them, and they were planted-or rather the doubles left to stand-just 2 feet apart all ways. They were like floriferous trees rather than mere plants, a sea of bloom of the richest, and redolent of almost overpowering perfume. Where are these fine Stocks now which were once so common that huge paper bags of seed hung in almost every garden house of squire and cleric, and even those of less note? That was in the garden period of perfume, when sweet and simple flowers had a greater charm than a gigantic conglomeration of gaudy colours. The colour period, however, grew apace, and swept all before it. Old things were relegated to the limbo of oblivion. But that period has now passed the zenith of its power, and is succeeded by a taste in massing more elegant, educated, and refined. Without saying one word against it, and free from any mental wish for its discontinuance, one cannot but observe that many are now giving a welcome back to plants which made the gardens of former generations, if not brilliant, yet abodes of quiet colour and homely sweetness. These spring and early summer Stocks are again playing an important part in many gardens, and seed-growers are vieing with each other in raising and offering the best strains. A demand for these things is evidently budding, and although it is not to be expected that they will ever again be so extensively used as they were thirty years ago, yet there are undoubted signs-speaking in fashion parlance-of their coming in." Let them come, and whenever justice is done them they may be trusted to delight what they are sure to have-admirers.

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The old Brompton is one of the finest of all Stocks; its towering spikes, massive blooms, and high colour being

No. 688.-VOL. XXVI., NEW SERIES.

the week is 70.0'; and its night temperature The greatest fall of rain was 1.48 inch.

especially striking. It is emphatically an amateur's plant, and one of the most telling, when well grown, of any that can be used either in a mixed garden or for a great glorious mass in a large bed. "All very well," some may say, "but what of the bed when the Stocks are gone?” My answer is, Plant it with Asters. Try this another year. Anyone can do it, it is so simple, and almost costless. Get a packet of the Stock; it may cost a shilling. Sow it in the garden in a drill very thinly, just as if it were Onion seed. Sow in June, and if dry soak the drills thoroughly before putting in the seed. It is simply labour in vain watering the surface of a seed bed in hot weather after the seed is sown; the watering must be done before, and then if the weather is very bright shade the surface until the germinating seed cracks the ground, and no longer. When the Stocks are about 2 inches high and stout, as they should be if thinly sown, transplant in a very open airy place in soil firm rather than light, and poor rather than rich. Remember a woody, not a sappy, growth is the point to aim at. Sow about the same time and in the same way some Golden Feather, and treat it the same; it may cost sixpence. In October the plants should be hard stocky stuff. If the Stocks are plentiful, plant in the blooming bed at once; plant pretty closely together, so that if half are singles they can be drawn out, and still leave sufficient for the beds. Surround at the same time with the Pyrethrum.

If, however, the Stock supply is limited, winter them under a south wall or fence where they will have some shelter from the frost, or, what is as pernicious, excessive wet. Sometimes the plants will pass the winter in the open bed, and the blooms will be finer; but in case of accident it is well to have a store to draw from to replace or fill up blanks, therefore in November have the bed full, and as many more planted on a south or dry sheltered aspect as will fill it if wanted in February or March, according to the weather. In winter the bed will be neat, in spring interesting, and in early summer-May and June-rich, sweet, and, I was going to say, magnetic, as it is sure to attract.

But the "afterwards." Well, sow Victoria Aster in light rich soil the first week in May quite in the openthat is, without any glass shelter. Sow thinly. As soon as the young plants can be fingered comfortably fancy them Celery, and treat accordingly-that is, spread a layer of manure 3 inches thick, and over it an inch or two of soil, and on this prick-out 5 or 6 inches apart, and always keep watered. In July the plants will be in fine condition for moving, almost showing the blooms, yet with care they will not lose a leaf. Now pull out the Stocks, and put in the Asters, first digging-in manure, and also giving a thorough soaking-a regular deluging-of liquid manure, and then with fair attention and good luck one of the finest beds of Asters will follow one of the best beds of Stocks ever seen. It will be a bed fine from frost to frost, gay before the Geraniums are open, and gay after they are over. This little example is given to get over the much-feared and ever-paraded bugbear of a bare bed in autumn. Empty in spring would seem to

No. 1340.-VOL. LI, OLD SERIES.

be a virtue, but empty in autumn a blunder and calamity; yet the best of all is that neither circumstance is a necessity. It is written also for the amateur having a garden but no glass, and who is not in a position to purchase expensive plants to effect what he desires-a garden gay and enjoyable, and yet whose taste tends towards massing rather than mixing. For this latter mode nothing is better than these fine old Stocks. They are worthy also, to those having pits, of being wintered in pots, three in a pot, and shifted-on for in-door decoration, or planting-out, when they flower early, which is sometimes of importance. When the winter is passed they cannot well have soil too rich, and as summer approaches they will know what to do with liquid manure. To sum-up, these Stocks are about as hardy as Broccolis, and as easily raised.

on hand, not only to become softened by the air, but in case of any extra quantity being required. I know of one place in Middlesex where the water for the garden is supplied from a well situated in the middle. At each corner of the garden there is a broad open slate tank sunk into the ground, and these tanks are filled every morning, the water being conveyed to them by square wooden troughs in convenient lengths, and about 3 inches deep by 6 wide. I should think triangular troughs would have done as well, and they would have been cheaper, because more easily constructed and requiring less material. At the well there is another large tank, which is always kept filled. The garden is watered from these tanks with but little trouble; and I should think that, from the size of an amateur's garden generally, the above would be a good plan to adopt, unless there is an opportunity of getting water by either of the other ways named above.

By whatever mode water is obtained, by all means let it be conveniently laid on, so that at every quarter it may be applied without walking for it. If it is conveyed round the gardens in pipes underground, let there be taps fixed in them at intervals, so that a hose may be screwed on of sufficient length to convey the water to where it is required. This plan is only cient to carry it through the pipes. If the pressure is great enough, and the pipe is fitted with a rose, the trees on the walls may be conveniently syringed and the borders watered, which will be an advantage in point of time and a benefit to the trees.-THOMAS RECORD.

THE KITCHEN GARDEN.-No. 8. Most of the preliminary work having been described, there yet remains one thing to be considered before going on with the formation of the walls, with which it might interfere, and that is the means of conveying water. Without a good supply of water no garden can be considered complete, for it is essential in every department, and is a principal agent in the nourishment and growth of everything cultivated in the garden; it is a purifier as well.

On this, however, I will not dwell, but will proceed to the consideration of the best and easiest means of obtaining a supply, and conveniently carrying it to every part of the place so that it may be easily and quickly distributed where wanted. I hold that there is no work that will pay better for being well done than this, as convenience in this one matter is better than extra labour at any time; for carting water, whether by manual labour or by horse power, is both tedious and expensive, as well as unsatisfactory, because it is seldom that time can be spared to give the crops a plentiful supply. I have experienced this difficulty in a large establishment, where the means of obtaining water appeared to have been the last consideration instead of one of the first, and the labour of watering was one of the largest items of expenditure for the summer months.

In the first place, wherever a garden may be situated, one of the first considerations should be to provide accommodation for storing all the rain water that can possibly be obtained from the glass houses and other buildings. This is believed to be the best sort of water for use among plants and vegetables, and if the situation will allow of it, even the water that is carried off by the drains should be allowed to accumulate in some convenient place, so as to be useful when wanted. This done, it will be necessary to learn whence the regular supply is to come.

In places of large scope water is many times to be found at an elevation above the gardens. This is, of course, an advantage, because at comparatively little expense a plentiful supply can be secured; in others there is a lake or river within a reasonable distance, and water can be sent up by hydraulic rams into a large reservoir situated high enough to allow water to run to any part of the garden. This is a more expensive mode, but in many cases there is no alternative but to adopt it; it has the merit of being perfect and durable. For the most part amateurs' residences are situated near towns, and the above means of obtaining water will not often come within their compass, consequently water is supplied from wells dug about the grounds, and the general supply provided by a water company. Now, whichever of the latter two sources are depended upon, it will be wise to have a store of water always

WHAT IS REPOSE ?-No. 2.

A WEAK point in very many gardens is a want of finish, a disjointed meaningless appearance often being perceptible in conspicuous parts of the dressed grounds; and the frequent attempts to remedy this evil, while tending to prove its general recognition, are not often so successful as could be wished. Repose is evidently wished for, but the difficulty is how to impart it successfully. Take, for example, a group of shrubs which, from mismanagement when the shrubs were young, presents 2 or 3 feet of bare stems offensively to the eye. Attempts to conceal this with flowers are made in summer, but with indifferent results, for the flowers, starved by the greedy shrubroots, serve rather to attract attention to the deformity than to conceal it. There can be no doubt that the use of flowers at all in such a case is a mistake, there being as little beauty in a ragged border of flowers as in a straggling group of shrubs. Far better would it be to turn our attention to the improvement of the shrubs by judicious pruning, layering, or replanting; and so by bringing the group as near to perfection as might be, it becomes complete in itself, and regains its legitimate importance as an ornamental feature.

Bare spaces under the shade and drip of trees are blemishes of frequent occurrence which can be easily remedied. Plants which thrive in shade are sufficiently numerous to afford ample materials, not only for the concealment of defects, but for imparting as much finish and beauty to retired spots as are usually visible in the more prominent lawn or flower garden. Ferns love the shade of trees, as everyone knows, and a secluded corner or "bosky dell" suits them admirably. But it is not with Ferns that we should seek to clothe bare spaces under trees where turf has failed. Ivy, from its evergreen character, hardy and accommodating nature, and, above all, from its elegant appearance, is the best of all plants for this purpose. A little extra care and culture are requisite till the plant is established; afterwards, when it has grown into a compact mass, a trifling amount of labour will suffice to keep all neat and trim. Nothing can look better than broad edgings of it along shady walks; it also clothes bare heaps or mounds with perennial greenery, imparting a life and brightness, a soft and quiet beauty, to many a barren spot. It is surprising that a plant with which all are familiar should be so much neglected, for it is easily propagated; and although it thrives best in a rich soil, it is perfectly healthy in a poor one.

Frequent attempts are made to form ribbon borders along the front of shrubs; and here again the failures that occur are usually caused by the poverty of the soil, or by the drip and shade of overhanging trees. Wherever there is sufficient space the best remedy is to continue the turf close up to the shrubs, and to make a bed for the flowers a few yards in advance upon the turf; by which means an agreeable contrast is produced, crowding and confusion are altogether avoided, each feature has full play, bearing the stamp of individuality, while a soft

STOVE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE.-No. 2. BOUGAINVILLEA SPECTABILIS is of very free scrambling habit, with acuminate leaves and splendid rose-coloured bracts in bunches like Hops, but, unfortunately, it is a shy bloomer. It is from South America. It should be planted out in sandy turfy loam with a fourth of leaf soil, good drainage being secured, and the roots limited to a space that need not, for a large plant, be more than from 9 to 12 square feet. The shoots ought to be trained near the glass-not more than 16 inches from it, nor nearer than 9 inches, and so far apart that the leaves may not overshadow each other. The shoots, as they show, must be rubbed off to prevent overcrowding, not allowing them to grow several feet and then cutting them out. The plant should be well supplied with water in spring when it begins to grow, and throughout the summer up to August, when watering should be left off, none being given as long as the leaves keep from flagging; even if the plant flag under hot sun but recover at night, do not water. In winter keep dry, watering only when the plant shows for flower, as it may do in December, but usually in spring. After the appearance of bloom water freely, and after flowering cut-in the shoots to within two or three eyes of their base, leaving a sufficient number of well-ripened shoots for extension and for covering the trellis. Growth to be encouraged by frequent sprinklings overhead and top-dressings of loam and leaf soil, increasing the supply of water in proportion to the growth. Cuttings of the young shoots a little firm, in sand over sandy loam with a little peat, well drained, set in a close frame, or covered with a bell-glass, and placed in a bottom heat of 80°.

CLERODENDRON BALFOURIANUM. - Deciduous twiner, with smooth, oblong-ovate, deep green leaves, and large dense cymes of flowers, of which the calyx is of a creamy white, and the corolla rosy crimson, having a very effective appearance. It is a decided improvement on C. Thomsonæ, being larger in all its parts. Hybrid, or garden variety, emanating from the Edinburgh Botanic Garden.

but those in each cluster being so numerous, and succeeding each other so rapidly, the plant is seldom out of flower from October or November to March inclusive. It is of rather strong growth, and in a border succeeds admirably. East Indies.

Pruning should be done in spring-April, or after flowering, before new growth takes place, the flowering shoots being cut back to within two or three eyes of their base; but as the plant, like most others, is disposed to start strongly from the highest part of the old shoots or stems, these should be depressed so as to ensure the breaking of the eyes at the base of the rafter, and when they are somewhat advanced the stems and shoots may be secured to the trellis. If there is little but bare stem at the base of the rafters, cut back the stems to some young wood there, and this will give young shoots from that part, securing thereby the covering of the trellis from the base upwards. The shoots ought to be trained-in their full length, and fully ex. posed to light and air. Top-dress the border with fresh soil after pruning, and water moderately, increasing the amount with the growth, giving it abundantly when the plant is in full growth; but when growth is complete, as it ought to be by August, reduce the supply of water, applying it only to keep the leaves fresh, and so on through the winter, as with moderate moisture in the soil it will flower during the winter months.. Avoid making the soil wet in winter, a sodden soil not being suited to this plant, especially at that season. A moist atmosphere, with sprinklings overhead morning and evening, is, during growth, very beneficial. Equal parts light turfy loam and sandy peat, a fourth part leaf soil, a sixth of silver sand, and a similar proportion of nodules of charcoal, with good drainage. Cuttings of the short side shoots in sand over sandy peat in a close frame or covered with a bell-glass in brisk bottom heat.

I. LEARII has deep red or crimson flowers, produced at the end of summer (September), and is from Ceylon. It is suitable for roof-covering, and requires treatment similar to I. Horsfalliæ, which is, however, superior to it.

I. FICIFOLIA. Fig-like leaves, the plant being a deciduous twiner, having purple flowers late in autumn, generally October, and occasionally in spring. It is only of moderate growth, and may be grown in a pot. Buenos Ayres.-G. ABBEY.

The time of flowering is in spring, April and May, on short stubby shoots proceeding from well-ripened wood of the previous year; the object, therefore, of the cultivator should be to secure strong shoots and to get them well ripened. Sometimes the plants flower more or less continuously throughout the summer, but not when the wood is well ripened, and such continued flowering most generally occurs on plants grown in pots and trained to trellises at some distance from the glass. Pruning should not be done until the flowering is past, and should be confined to cutting the flowering shoots to the wood eyes next below the cyme of flowers, leaving the other leaves undisturbed, and encouraging young shoots from the bottom of the rafter; these should be trained up the roof, and not stopped until they reach the limit of extent. When the old shoots are so numerous as to crowd each other and the young shoots, they may be in part or wholly cut away, having young to supply their place. The watering should be liberal when the plants are growing freely, as well as when in flower, continuing it through the season of growth, along with moisture overhead; but when growth is complete gradually withhold water, and leave it off altogether by October. The wood being thoroughly ripened the leaves will fall, and the plants need no water during the winter, or only a little to keep the wood plump. In spring, when they begin growth, water should be given, loosening also the surface soil, and applying a light top-dressing. Cuttings of the firm stubby side shoots, taken off closely in spring or early summer, inserted in sand over sandy peat, placed in a close frame, or covered with a bell-glass, and set in bottom heat. Soil two parts light fibrous loam, one part each sandy peat and leaf soil, with a sixth of silver sand, and a similar quantity of charcoal in pieces the size of a walnut, with good drainage.

IPOMOEA HORSFALLIE.-Evergreen twiner, with deep green, brownish-purple-tinted leaves, divided into five leaflets, and the flowers borne in clusters of from ten to thirty or more. They are of a bright rosy crimson, in form and size resembling a Convolvulus, which it is, and, like all flowers of this family, I

66

BONUS-HENRICUS.

Journal by Mr. Wright on the vegetable extensively grown and A FEW weeks ago (page 258), I noticed an article in your eaten about here, but I believe unknown in the metropolis, called Mercury, or, as it is vulgarly pronounced in these parts, 'Markwherry." I assure you it is a first-class vegetable, an excellent tonic, and highly popular in this county. I have several beds of it, and for many weeks, or even months, in the early period of spring and summer, it is enjoyed at almost every day's dinner. I deem it next, if not equal, to the favourite Asparagus.

As to cooking, it requires boiling about half an hour in water Serve it at table either with melted-butter sauce, or let it be in which a quantity of salt is placed to preserve its greenness. eaten with the gravy from meat on the plate.

its freshness and flavour will have departed by the time conI hope you will enjoy it, although I am afraid somewhat of faded by the journey, place it in fresh water a few hours to sumed between its being cut and your partaking of it. If it is restore its life.-GEORGE BOOTHBY, Louth.

[The bundle of Mercury arrived very fresh, and we pronounce it a most excellent culinary vegetable. The leaves were cooked as Spinach, and were quite equal to it; and the stalks were cooked like Asparagus, and though not equal to that in flavour, were in our opinion as good as Sea-kale. This Mercury has the great merit of being hardy, and without any special care producing a continued harvest throughout the spring and early summer.-EDS.]

COMPACT PLANTS OF CYTISUS.-I should like to know the routine of culture adopted in producing the compact floriferous plants of Cytisus, or Genista, I saw selling in Covent Garden at 1s. each. There must be some quick and easy way of getting such plants at the price named, which I and many another countryman are strangers to. You might reply in the correspondence column. I am sure the information would be generally useful. One might travel a hunded miles in the

Fig. 2.-Ophioglossum vulgatum.

The above enumeration comprises all the Ferns I can find to be natives of St. Helena. If any of the readers of our Journal can give me further information on the subject I shall be most grateful.-EXPERTO CREDE.

METROPOLITAN FLORAL SOCIETY.

I AM happy to be able to announce that arrangements have been completed with the Directors of the Alexandra Park, by which an autumn exhibition will be held there on August 22nd and 24th, as indeed it would have been last year but for the disastrous fire. Our schedule is a very liberal one-upwards of £160, and while it is mainly the object of the Society to encourage amateurs, ample scope is given for all exhibitors. There will be no entrance fee, as has heretofore been the case, but we look for an increase of subscriptions to enable us to carry out our plans. Our Society becomes more than ever necessary; for now the Royal Horticultural Society does not hold an exhibition at all in August, nor the Crystal Palace, consequently growers of Hollyhocks and Gladioluses in the southern counties would have no place to exhibit them were it not for our exhibition; while the prizes offered for Dahlias at the Royal Horticultural Society give little encouragement to the growers of that fine flower. We therefore, in face of the rising tide of taste for florists' flowers, confidently appeal to horticulturists to give us their aid, and hope to be borne rapidly on the "flood that leads to fortune."— D., Deal.

GENERAL MEETINGS OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY were held on the 13th and 27th of May for the election of Fellows, &c., when the following candidates were elected viz., Mrs. Bald, H. Benjamin, M. H. Benjamin, Oswald Bloxsome, Mrs. Alexandré Cassavetti, Lady Duke, William

M.P., Henry D. Macaulay, William Humphrey Ransford, Lewis R. Starkey, M.P., Edward L. Walker, Mrs. Walker, Mrs. Forbes Winslow, Earl of Aberdeen, Thomas George Barclay, Frederick Campion, George Dunlop, Lady Clayton East, J. Caven Fox, Mrs. Grimwood, James Innes, Charles T. Ritchie, M.P., Mrs. Jacob C. Rogers, &c.

THE PEAR PARADISE STOCK.

THE name of the Pear Paradise will strike most people as being something novel in fruit-culture. What has been wanted so long is a stock of the same nature as the Pear, which would effect the same results upon it as the Apple Paradise does upon the Apple, and this has been to some extent obtained by M. Miro, of Meaux, near Paris. He says in a communication sent to a French contemporary :

"In a course of arboriculture which M. Baudinat and I gave in the garden of M. Messager, member of the Horticultural Society of Meaux, after speaking of the effects of various stocks on different fruit trees, some of our audience remarked on the ingenuity of making a Pear Paradise stock. I made no pretence of having found a Paradise, but a sort of intermediate, which shall be the subject of this communication. The suckers of the Pear stock grow less vigorously than the parent, and are therefore in this respect between the Pear and the Quince. They make excellent pyramids, and fruit quickly, and they have the advantage over the Quince of prospering in all soils by reason of their rooting near the surface.

"In 1863 I bought two hundred plants of suckers which I planted in my garden. I grafted almost all in July of the same year. I made a plantation of them in very bad dry soil, despairing of the success of this plantation. Since that time till 1871 I had not seen these trees, when I was agreeably surprised at their moderate vegetation, which was very green and less strong than the trees on the Pear stock, and they were so heavily laden with fruit as to require to be thinned. This proved to me that stocks from suckers of the Pear are well adapted to make garden trees, while trees on the Pear stock are only fit for orchards."

This is an experiment which anyone can try. Procure in autumn, when the leaves have fallen, a number of suckers from small-sized Pear trees in an orchard or garden. Choose those that appear to be the most delicate growers. Run them out in lines, and when established graft them with any kinds of Pears which are desired, and no doubt the result will be equally satisfactory as M. Miro found his experiment to be.

A FEW HINTS ON SUMMER BEDDING. By the time this appears in print, most gardeners will have made up their minds as to the way in which the flower beds and borders under their care will be planted this year with their summer and autumn occupants. In all well-ordered gardens this matter is decided a considerable time beforehand, and the number of the different varieties of plants required to complete the arrangement ascertained, for the purpose of getting them ready in good time, so that they may be properly hardened and in good condition when planting-out time comes round. This plan has much to recommend it, and adhering to it will prevent mistakes in the distribution of the plants, and cause the work to get on more expeditiously at the time of planting. But although the plan of deciding beforehand the position that each kind of plant shall occupy in individual or groups of beds is the right way to proceed, it is not in all instances carried out. And possibly there are some readers of this Journal who up to the present time have not fixed upon any particular style of arrangement as regards the distribution of the various kinds of flowering plants in the beds or borders for this year. If there are such, no time should be lost in deciding upon a bedding-out plan; but before doing so, the stock of bedding plants should be gone over and counted, noting down the correct number and condition as regards health of each variety. Having got a list of the different varieties of plants on hand, and the correct number of each kind, with a plan of the beds or borders to be filled, having the correct size of each bed marked thereon-the work of arranging how the plants are to be distributed in the beds can be done in a shorter time, and with a certainty of more satisfactory results, than if left until the hurry of planting-time comes.

I need not tell the majority of gardeners that the success of bedding plants, after being planted out, depends very much on