be given without any fear of evil results. Above these ventilators we have glass, but this is a fixture, varying in width from 18 inches to 2 feet. The glass is butted end to end, being only bedded at top and bottom, thus the maximum amount of light is ensured. But three or four courses of brickwork appear above the ground, and upon this rests the woodwork to which the side ventilators are hinged. The top ventilation is provided by means of small or mediumsized lifting lights. at intervals to the extent

for the use of stages only complicates matters. We stand our plants upon a gravel bottom, using slates, tiles, or bricks to place under the pots when required. If the house be a wide one, i.e., one in which the trees cannot easily be attended to by means of one central path, two paths are provided with a row of trees-the dwarfest-next the front. In other houses not so wide a central path only is provided. Brackets and swing shelves are fixed, these being used for Strawberries. In the narrower houses the pipes are fixed

GLADIOLUS "MRS. CECIL

BARING."

THIS variety was shown by Messrs. Kelway & Son at the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society on August 14, being one of four varieties which gained Awards of Merit. The flowers are of very large size and of lemon-yellow colour, except the base of the lower petal, which is densely spotted with red. This lower petal forms a distinct lip to the flower, whilst the uppermost petal is much reflexed. The flower-bearing portion of the spike was 18 inches to 2 feet long.

of about one-fourth of the entire length of the roof. Continuous top ventilation is not, in my opinion, needed; it would, I think, create more draught than is advisable. The houses should be lightly constructed, the present system of tie-rods in a great measure dispense with much heavy woodwork. I am not an advocate of very cheap houses of inferior material, but I do most certainly disapprove of useless expenditure in erections intended for utilitarian purposes. Houses of ornamental construction are not needed for practical cultivation. Our glass is cut all to one size, viz., 15 inches by 20 inches, and it is always of good quality, for this I consider essential. No staging is provided, nor is any required,

around the sides, one above the other, with a smaller pipe (3 inches) sunk near the path. In the wider houses the pipes are laid flat around the sides, with room between them for one row of trees; in these the central bed has a 4-inch flow and return pipe around it. A sufficient quantity of piping is provided to afford the requisite temperature without making the pipes unduly warm. For making the paths gravel is used, the aim being to secure a moist bottom throughout. Large rain-water tanks are provided under the beds in order to catch all the rain-water possible. I consider the use of rain-water for these trees most essential. James Hudson.

(To be continued.)

NEW OR NOTEWORTHY

PLANTS.

HEMEROCALLIS FULVA, NEW VARIETIES AND HYBRIDS.

HEMEROCALLIS fu'va shows many fine natural varieties; the double forms, such as disticha fl. pl. and Kwanso fl. pl., from Japan, are well known in gardens. Some years ago Mr. C. Sprenger introduced certain new and very fine varieties from Central China. The first was the unfortunately named " 'maculata," from Shen-shi. The flowers are larger, brighter in colour, and the blotch more marked than in the common type. The plants are here a week later in flowering, and seed freely. and have given many very distinct and interesting hybrids; as far as I know, the first of the fulva. class, of which I will speak later on.

The second form is var. "Cypriani," from Hupeh, very distinct, dwarfer than the common falva and than maculata, and very floriferous. The flower is coppery red with a golden centre and a well marked golden line down the middle of the petals; the form is gracefully reflexed.

The third new variety is "hupehensis"; this is the brightest of all, flowers very reflexed and andulating, bright coppery red, with a yellow throat.

H. x fulcitrina (fulva maculata x citrina), the first hybrid from fulva crossed with another Day Lily. Fulva maculata is the seed parent, and H. citrina, a Chinese species introduced some years ago, is the pollen parent. It is a fine series of plants, showing all shades, from light coppery red to dark yellow; the petals long and narrow as in citrina, or even broader than the seed parent. All these hybrid varieties are good additions to our hardy plants. William Muller, Vomero, July 27, 1906.

A CORNISH TRIP. STRANGE to say, though an ardent Fernhunter for nearly 30 years, I had never set foot on Cornish ground until recently, Devonshire, the Lake District, and Scotland being selected year after year, more often than not for other reasons than ferny ones. My old friend Mr. George Bunyard gave me, however, such a glowing description of waist-high Hartstongues and Blechnums and shoulder-high Lady and Male Ferns, to say nothing of first-storey-high Tree-Ferns in all their native glory, though transplanted to Antipodean paradises, that I half resolved to go and see for myself, and the other half of the resolution was clapped on instanter when I found I could have as a congenial companion Mr. George Nicholson, of Kew Gardens fame. Despite my warning that he would be unutterably bored, as a ferny lane a mile long would take me half a day to investigate, he did not quail at the prospect. As a result, Falmouth was selected as our destination pending the choice of a still fernier one, and eventually we settled down in Penryn, a couple of miles outside that ancient port. Falmouth itself is hardly a Fern paradise, and yet, curiously enough, I found a pretty crenate marginate variety of Hartstongue snugly ensconced in a chink in a stone wall facing the main road. Find No. 1. The river Fal, like all the so-called Cornish rivers towards the Lizard, is really an arm of the sea stretching inland, and, in this case, fetching up short at Truro with a meandering series of cuttings and docks adjacent to a bridge, which indicates, presumably, a river proper on a small scale higher up, though a sudden thunder plump prevented us from landing and ascertaining the fact. The streets of Falmouth are tortuous, narrow, and steep, the town seeming to be built on a switchback system of levelling, and as some 30 of our finest ironclads and a swarm of destroyers happened to be in port the atmo>phere was nautical in the extreme, and a glimpse of the port itself showed it to be pervaded with little boats and big boats, jolly boats, and dinghies impelled by electricity and petroleum, steam and elbow-grease in all directions, laden with cabbages, conger-eels, loaves of bread, and all kinds of comes and probably drinkables, which were being transferred from terra firma to the fleet aforesaid. All this, however, is presumably common to most scaports, but it is not everywhere that one can turn a corner and suddenly confront a house literally covered as to its front walls with ivy-leaved Felargoniums smothered

with bunches of brilliant rosy bloom and soaring upwards 20 to 30 feet from the ground, while every here and there in the gardens we get a peep into there are Palms (Chamærops), Agaves, Cordylines, and many other plants demonstrating that the climate differs materially from that of the eastern coasts and inland generally. Of these, however, more anon, for the glimpses here were but a meagre foretaste of the glorious vegetation we witnessed in more favoured localities. Thus one of our first visits was to TREGOTHNAN, the seat of Lord Falmouth, a few miles up the Fal river, whence the palatial mansion is seen crowning an eminence on the right bank as we ascend. Access to the estate is obtained from the steamer by a boat, in which Mr. Andrews, the head gardener, was awaiting us. From the sea the whole estate, save the long avenue-like clearing in front of the house, appears to consist of dense rounded masses of low-growing Oaks, which cover the sea faces of all the hills hereabouts and mask, as we subsequently found, an infinite wealth of Fern life. Land

[Photo by G, Nicholson,

FIG. 64.-TREGOTHNAN.

ing, we climbed a pretty steep slope forming a carriage road, bounded on one side by a high bank teeming with Hartstongues, Shield Ferns, and several other species, while under the trees and among the shrubs huge specimens of these, together with Lady Ferns and Male Ferns, formed a veritable jungle, to which later on some splendid Dicksonias added an Antipodean touch. It is, indeed, in this particular direction of intermixture of our native plants, shrubs, and trees with semitropical ones in the open air that we find one of the main features of interest in Cornwall, and it is doubtless due to the cultural facilities thus afforded that we find so many splendid gardens dotted about the country, in most of which the vegetation reminds one forcibly of that of Mediterranean resorts. Naturally, under such conditions a visit to a number of such, each with its particularly grand speciments of exotic growths, render it somewhat invidious to specify this or that specimen as eclipsing all others. Hence, while recognising the kindness of Mr. Howard Fox, Rosehill, whose gardener, Mr. Jenkins, accompanied us round his charming garden, where the birds are so tame as to take crumbs from the hands of

his visitors, of Mr. Andrews, of Tregothnan; Mr. Smith, of Penjerrick; Mr. Rundle, of Basahan; and Mr. Gill, of Tremough, we are compelled, with a few exceptions, to lump together the chief examples of sub-tropical growths which we noted. One special exception was Datura suaveolens in Mr. H. Fox's garden, a magnificent specimen 60 feet in circumference, and, like a smaller companion, crowded with hundreds of the long trumpet-shaped and warmly tinted flowers of this species. A giant Cordyline here, with a massive trunk 2 feet in diameter, is probably the finest specimen in the country. Among the exotic Ferns here Lomaria magellanica, Dicksonia antarctica, Woodwardia radicans, and Cyrtomium falcatum were in grand form, and were, of course, accompanied by innumerable native species. It was, however, at Basahan, on the Helston river, the estate of Sir A. P. Vivian, C.B., that we saw the nearest approach to a New Zealand Fern prospect, since here, in one secluded valley, scores of fine examples of Dicksonia antartica form a dense roofing of fronds by their intermingled plumes, while the soil is even more densely covered with huge Hartstongues and other native Ferns intermingled with dwarf Palms, which have been liberally planted, and promise some day to create a monopoly at the expense of their neighbours. Secluded pools or lakelets surrounded by elsewhere tender exotic trees and shrubs and fringed with luxuriant masses of the white Calla Ethiopica imparted quite a tropical appearance to the prospect, and one would hardly have been surprised to see the snout of an alligator poke out as a specimen of appropriate fauna, though nothing worse than the native frog appeared to shock us. Osmunda regalis was, of course, entirely at home, and in a ferny jungle in this district a magnificent revolved and crispate variety of Lastrea filix mas fell to Mr. Nicholson's lot as a striking example of the surprise kind which now and then rewards the British Fern-hunter; a waist-high specimen and utterly different from any of its neighbours of the same species. Curiously enough, a hunt through thousands of robust Hartstongues failed to yield anything better than half-and-half attempts at a marginate form not worth having, although under such congenial environments a thorough. bred frilled form (S. v. crispum) would suggest itself as a most appropriate response. Our finds hitherto had been several prettily crested forms of this species (not the merely forked or "lobatum type, which is common, but thoroughbreds), all found in a very small state on old walls or chinks, where luxuriant growth was im possible. Thus one was "spotted" by Mr. Nicholson high up under a railway arch, just within reach of a stick, another by myself in a dry hedge, and a third in a stone wall by the roadside, a slender-fronded polydactylous form. This led my companion to propound the theory that variation might be due to restricted growth; a theory, however, subsequently withdrawn when the big Lastrea aforesaid turned up, and certainly not accepted by the writer in view of his experience and knowledge of robust varietal finds elsewhere. In a churchyard at Penryn, a marked submarginate, or, rather, sublineate variety of Hartstongue was found, and within a few yards from it a very narrow fronded form, both these being within less than a hundred yards of the slender polydactylous variety above cited, which was found outside the boundary wall of the churchyard in question. Polypodium vulgare, contrary to expectations, was extremely constant to the normal type; no examples of bi-pirmation cropping up, such as are so frequently noted in Wales and Ireland. An old wall in one of the Peuryn lanes had, however, two widely separated colonies of an erratic variety, in which nearly every frond was either ramose or bifid or with

serrate pinnæ at the base, or eccentric in some way. Under culture this has retained its eccentricity. The two colonies were some 30 or 40 yards apart, and consisted of a large number of independent plants, a fair proof that the spores reproduced the erratic type. A promising lineate form of Asp. ad. nigrum was found in a hedge, but requires proving. Altogether the 9 days yielded 14 varieties worthy of trial, and the bulk of these have proved themselves true by subsequent growth. L. æmula was rare, and the first find, an unexpected one and very robust, among a lot of L. dilatatas, was actually carefully lifted as a crispate foliose variety of the latter species before the recurved pinnules undeceived us, and the finding of another clump in the vicinity removed all doubt, when the "find" was replanted with a pang of disappointment. Among the most striking plants observed growing in the open in the several gardens we visited were Woodwardia radicans, Lomaria magellanica, Dicksonia antartica, all in best possible form, Solanum crispum, S. Wendlandii, Datura suaveolens, Abutilon vitifolium, Citrons bearing large fruits, Olearia argyrophylla, O. macrodonta (10 feet through and a mass of white flowers), Pittosporum Tobira, Cordyline australis, flowering freely, Fragaria indica with yellow flowers, Viburnum rugosum, Semell (Ruscus) androgyna growing most luxuriantly, clambering over adjacent trees and shrubs, and bearing fringes of yellow flowers on its leaflike bracts. Sempervivum holochrysum, with grand bunches of yellow flowers, Solanum aviculare, rich purple blue flowers, Azalea indica myoporum lactum, with profuse pellucid dots on the foliage, Desfontainia spinosa, Lapagerias rosa and alba, Rhodochiton volubile, with purple red calyces, Arundo donax, Leptospermum scoparium, with thousands of white flowers, Grevillea rosmarinifolia, red-flowered 16 by 6 feet, very fine; Arundinaria fastuosa, with canes 14 inch in diaineter, Clianthus puniceus in splendid form, Teucrium fruticans, avenues of Camellias, and innumerable other exotics, which elsewhere in these islands require glass culture and winter warmth, while here they are as robust and rampant as in Madeira or similar warm habitats. Chas. T. Druery, V.M.H., F.L.S.

LILIUM NEILGHERRENSE:
THE NILGIRI LILY.

THIS rare and stately species, with blossoms 11 inches in diameter, can be had in flower from July until November; but, unfortunately, it is not easy of culture, and is therefore seldom successfully grown. I send a photograph of flowers produced on bulbs raised in England from small offsets, the original bulbs having been sent me direct from the Nilgiris ten years since. This bulb, like most of those imported from the East, had been deprived of its lower roots a proceeding that entails severe loss to the plant, which, in consequence, makes little growth during its first season after the operation. One meagre flower, almost without foliage, was produced the first year; but it was cut off before it had faded, and the bulb was placed close to the glass of a warm vinery and encouraged, by careful watering, to mature itself. A slight top-dressing of rich soil was added to the surface, and it was many weeks ripening its stem and bulb before it went to rest. short time it was kept almost dry, in a minimum temperature of 45°, until signs of growth began (in April), when more rich top-dressing was added, and a strong stem, with ample foliage and one large bloom, was produced, with several small offsets surrounding the original bulb.

For a

During the next spring the bulb was repotted low down in a 9-inch pot that was pro

vided with good drainage, the compost consisting of peat, loam, and leaf-mould in equal proportions, charcoal in small lumps, sand, and bone-dust being added in moderate quantities. The offsets were removed at the same time and grown on in the same manner as the large bulb, until they had attained their flowering size, when each produced two blooms on a stout stem, of far greater vigour than those from the original bulbs.

The bulbs are not repotted every year, and they usually succeed best when left for two years in the same pot, their wants being supplied by fresh top-dressings.

In this way it is not difficult to work up a stock of this magnificent Lily at home, although the supply of bulbs from India is very limited. The usual mistakes in growing it are two-fold. It is the common practice to "dry off" the bulbs of Liliums directly after flowering, but every leaf on the stem should be kept green until they show signs of having completed their work. A large quantity of water is not, however, required by the maturing bulb, and it is therefore necessary to supply its wants with judgment. All the sunshine possible, with sufficient firewarmth in winter, should also be supplied dur ing the long period of ripening.

The other usual error is to repot the bulb yearly. All Liliums resent disturbance at their roots, and especially injury to the thick, fleshy roots below the bulb. They should, therefore, be given sufficient room (in repotting them) to allow of several renewed top-dressings, with plenty of tepid water and liquid manure during their time of growth. I. L. R.

[A fine illustration of this Lily was given in our columns on July 20, 1901.]

LIME IN SOILS.

IT has long been recognised that the lime in soils is subject to regular loss. This is owing to the carbonic acid which is present in rainwater, and also that which is constantly being formed in the soil itself acting as a solvent to any lime which may be there, and so removing it into the drains or to the general stock of underground water and out of the reach of roots of most garden crops. Ordinary garden soils which contain upwards of one per cent. of lime and but little organic matter are subject to a normal loss of carbonate of lime in the drainage water amounting to about 800 pounds per acre every year. Most of the carbonate of lime present in soils has been derived either from the natural chalk formation of the district, or from artificial applications of chalk to the land, or dressings of quicklime and marl.

The loss of this carbonate of lime in soils is increased by the use of manures containing sulphate of ammonia, low grade acid superphosphates or coal ashes, but is diminished by the use of nitrate of soda, basic slag, farmyard and stable manure, and vegetable débris.

The Rothamsted agricultural experiments show that manuring the land with organic manures, such as stable manure, rape cake, shoddy, dried blood, skin and bone manures, &c., and the growth of Peas, Beans, Clovers, and other leguminous crops which leave behind in the soil a considerable residue of roots rich in oxalate of lime, or the débris of plant-root tissues which accumulates in the soil of grass-land, or of fields laid down to temporary pasture, all go to maintain the stock of carbonate of lime, which in its turn is being as constantly drawn upon for nitrification purposes by the micro-organisms in the soil, and for the neutralisation of the acids produced during the bacterial decay of the organic matters which the soil receives in manures.

Further, the normal growth of crops tends to restore a certain amount of carbonate of lime and

of carbonate of potash to the soil, because the plant in feeding upon the various salts dissolved in the soil by the rainwater, melted snow, and minor deposits, takes more of the acids than of the lime or potash, leaving behind a basic residue of lime or of potash, combined with carbonic acid excreted from the roots of the growing plants. Experimental research has shown that with ordinary garden crops the restoration of lime and of potash base in the before-mentioned fashion must be considerable, probably supplying sufficient base for the nitrification processes which are always going on in the soil beneath our feet. The soil is not a dead, inert mass, but a laboratory of living germs which are always working for the benefit of man, or for the development of the higher descriptions of plant-life.

These facts go to explain why many soils containing little or no carbonate of lime yet remain healthy under ordinary garden cultivation, provided that acid manures or coal ashes are not used on them.

In old garden soils and market gardens, to which large quantities of farmyard or stable manure or peat-moss litter are constantly applied, there is a danger of these becoming sour, provided but little natural lime exists in them. In this case an application of crushed chalk, 2,000 lbs. per acre, or of ground quicklime, 1,000 lbs. per acre, or of basic slag, 500 lbs. per acre, or a liberal dressing of old mortar rubbish, is to be recommended. Any one of these may be applied in the winter or early spring, and dug or ploughed in, so as to get them well incorporated with the soil. One application of these materials given once in five years would, in most cases, be sufficient. For fruit trees and for Vines 8 ozs. of bone-meal may be given once in each two years to each square yard of land immediately under and around the stems according as the surface roots may have extended.

In garden soils which are subject to the clubfoot disease, or to the "finger and toe " fungus, it is a sure indication that the soil is in want of lime, and an immediate application should not be neglected. It is also necessary that the diseased plants be taken up and burned; do not put them upon a manure heap, or into a pig-sty, because the disease would be again returned to the soil, and in a more virulent form. J. J. Willis, Harpenden.

NURSERY NOTES.

MESSRS. A. CAMACHO & CO.'S ORCHID NURSERY, BRIGHTON.

A FEW years ago Messrs. Camacho commenced to import Odontoglossum crispum in very large quantities, selling the importations at Messrs. Protheroe & Morris' Auction Rooms, Cheapside. The success of the early importations, and the beauty of some of the spotted varieties which flowered out of them, induced the firm to start their compact block of 11 long span-roofed houses in De Montford Road, Brighton, in order to test at least a fair proportion of, their importations and some of the collections from new districts, Mr. Bogaerde, well known both in England and on the continent as a clever Orchid expert, undertaking the management. Consequently the establishment can now boast over 60,000 unflowered plants of Odontoglossum crispum, of which some 12,000 are freshly imported and the remainder are in various stages of establishment approaching the flowering condition. The houses are not arranged for show purposes, and the plants until proved are kept in small pots, closely placed on the staging to economise space. As the spotted forms flower they are potted on and placed on inverted flower-pots, and in that way quite a valuable collection is arranged in one of the houses. At present but few are in bloom, but four very nicely blotched varieties were among them, one

small and weak plant having a very finely-formed white flower densely blotched all over with light red-brown, a tint which Mr. Bogaerde expects will deepen when the plant produces fully developed flowers. The batches are kept together as imported, and it is curious to see how some peculiarities may be traced in each batch by which they can be distinguished from others collected in localities so near together that no difference could have been expected. One batch of 4,000 plants with red-brown bulbs is being carefully watched, as the few of them which have already flowered have been spotted varieties, and another in bud is heavily blotched and very promising. One batch has not yet produced any with spotted sepals and petals, but an unusual proportion of varieties with large and finely spotted lips, the three now in flower well showing that peculiarity. The plants of another set are prolific in good forms of O. Adrianæ and, as usual in that case, O Hunnewellianum is also present with the O. crispum. Some good O. loochristiense have also appeared with a very close affinity to O. crispum, but with yellowground colour blotched with brown,

The culture of Odontoglossum crispum may be said to be the main object of the nursery, but there is also a fine batch of a good type of O. Pescatorei and smaller lots of several of the showiest Colombian species.

Two long houses are also filled with established unflowered Cattleyas, the first having a very fine lot of C. Trianæi in sheath, including a large mass imported as a large, pure white variety; and the other an equally good lot of C. Warscewiczii from a new locality, and which are said to come with a recommendation from the collector, and dried flowers, which render it desirable to prove them before selling.

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

MUSHROOMS, And How to GROW THEM. By John F. Barter (J. F. Barter, Ltd., Napier Road, Wembley, R.S.O., Middlesex).

We advise those of our readers who want to grow Mushrooms for sale or home consumption, and who are hesitating owing to lack of knowledge, to purchase this small octavo volume of 44 pages and consistently to follow the simple instructions therein given by a man who has made a good living by Mushroom-culture and the making of the spawn from which the esculent springs, and who has 40 years' experience behind him. He is a firm believer in the open-air treatment of the Mushroom, and gives full directions for making the beds (ridges) and spawning a meadow, as the case may be. His practices in some points differ from our own, but then, before such a master of the craft one must be silent. The spawning of the beds or ridges should not be done till the warmth has sunk to 75° as proved by the plunging thermometer. We used to spawn beds at 98° and a degree or two less. The remarks on the casing soil are very much to the purpose, many a failure in Mushroom growing being traceable to the use of unsuitable soil. Another thing to avoid is impatience, the Mushroom being an erratic esculent. Sometimes," says Mr. Barter, "a crop will come in a month or in six weeks. On the other hand, we have known beds made in November to delay bearing until the following April, and then to produce splendid crops." There are pithy little paragraphs on Testing the Heat of Ridges, Gathering, Digging out Stalks, Frequency of Gatherings, Grading, Packing, Marketing, Mushrooms in Sheds, in Vineries, Cellars, and all full of useful remarks by a man of observation. This one will serve. The spawning of a meadow by two men would, in the case of a prosecution for trespass, be taken as evidence of the land being cultivated."

THE ROSARY.

AUTUMN CULTURE OF ROSES. OCTOBER will be a very busy month in the Rose garden. The planting and preparing of the ground by trenching for planting must then be undertaken. A fairly well drained loamy soil will meet the requirements of most varieties. Some well decayed farmyard manure and half-inch bones should be incorporated with the soil as the trenching proceeds, but these instructions will avail little unless we have, prior to planting, a heavy and continuous downpour of rain, for, in the south, the long drought has been much more serious than has been the case for some years. I am an advocate of early planting providing the soil is in anything like a suitable condition. The trenching should be done some weeks in advance of planting so that the ground may become settled. Briar and other stocks intended for budding can be planted early this year on account of the forward ripening of the wood. Seedling Briars and Briar cuttings succeed best on heavy land, the Manetti and the multiflora stocks on lighter soils. These can be planted any time aftèr the second week in October, as circumstances permit. Standard Briars can be planted last of all, or even during November, but I will refer to these later.

A goodly portion of the pot Roses that have been plunged outside during the summer may be placed in October in a cold house or frame, in which plenty of ventilation is allowed both during the day and the night time, providing the weather be genial. These plants will furnish an abundance of bloom for some time to come, and the remaining plants if brought in later will provide a succession of bloom. A light spray.ng with the syringe on bright days when the trees are first brought in will help the buds to open, cleanse the growths and keep the foliage fresh. If the plants have rooted through the pots they should be placed on or be plunged a few inches deep in a bed of soil, but on no account should the roots be mutilated till the flowering season is over. On or about the 15th of the month is a suitable time at which to lift plants from the ground for potting for later forcing. They should be carefully taken up with all their fibrous roots intact, and be allowed to carry three or more well ripened shoots. Directions for potting and preparing of soil were given in a former paper. Hybrid Tea varieties will be found to succeed and flower well in pots with less forcing than varieties of the Hybrid Perpetual type. There are two varieties that I should like to mention. They are old kinds but they are still of the best quality, viz. G. Nabonnand and Souvenir de Catherine Guillot. They have both handsome foliage and are profuse bloomers and their flowers open well, which is a very desirable qua ity, as some varieties fail to do this. When the potting is completed, they can be plunged for a month outside in a bed of ashes before being brought into the glass-house, for until they are established they must be kept cool, and forcing must be deferred until the plants have plenty of active roots. An important operation in October is the insertion of cuttings. Well ripened shoots should be taken for the purpose with or without a "heel," and the cuttings, from 6 to 8 inches in length, be planted in lines on a north aspect 6 to 9 inches apart. The soil should be prepared previous to planting, and some good gritty sand and burnt earth should be well incorporated with it. A portion of these materials can be put in with the cuttings when the trenches are made, for it will help the cuttings to form a -callus. Tread the soil about the cuttings firmly, and leave two or three buds above the surface of the ground level. After all is finished, apply a thin mulch of cocoanut-fibre. J. D. G.

PLANT NOTE.

ASCLEPIAS DOUGLASI.

THIS perennial, a native of Western America, is little known in gardens, but is worthy of culture for its foliage alone. The entire leaves in strong specimens are a foot in length and 4 inches in width, and the plant, exceeding 6 feet in height, has a noble appearance when it has attained its fullest dimensions. It flowers in August, producing numerous rounded heads of small blossoms, some of the flower-clusters having a circumference of 11 inches. When all the blooms are fully expanded these "flower balls '' appear flesh-pink in colour. The corollas, which are less than half an inch across, are yellowish in tint and the reflexed petals of a dull reddish hue. The blossoms are perfumed, and the flower-heads attract innumerable Humble bees, which soon become stupefied by the nectar. Between 150 and 200 blooms are contained in a single flower-head. S. W. F.

The Week's Work.

FRUITS UNDER GLASS.

No better

By T. W. BIRKINSHAW, Gardener to Lt.-Col. Sir CHAS. HAMILTON, Bart., Hatley Park, Bedfordshire. Early Black Hamburghs.-If the vines that were forced early have made weak growths, it is a sign that they need attention at their roots. time than the present can be selected for overhauling the borders should they require it. Have some new compost prepared ready for applying as the work proceeds, but before commencing see that the old border is in a thoroughly moist condition and cover the glass-roof with mats, so that the foliage may be kept syringed without fear of burning. Commence by forking out the old sour soil, but do not damage or bruise any of the roots during the process. When sufficient of the old compost has been removed, make up the border again with the new soil, spreading all the roots evenly near to the surface before they are covered. Half-decayed leaf-soil and grit should be placed about the roots, for these substances encourage the formation of new fibrous roots. Use the coarser material on the top and when finished make the border quite firm. Retain the shading on the roof for some time longer, and always keep the foliage moist. New roots will soon begin to spread in the compost, and by autumn the vines will have recovered from their disturbance, but they must not be started into growth early.

Young Vines of this season's planting should be watered carefully and they should also be kept free from red-spider and thrips. They will derive much benefit from a little artificial heat, at the same time ample ventilation should be given them. Gradually reduce their lateral growths each week.

Grape Gros Guillaume-This variety does exceedingly well when grown in the same house as Muscats, and, with proper treatment and careful attention during its growing period, very large bunches of fruit may be had. This variety has a reputation for shyness in bearing, but this can be largely overcome by occasionally cutting out the old rods and training young ones in their places. It seems to succeed better when inarched on Buckland Sweetwater or Muscat of Alexandria, than when it is growing on its own roots. The fruit has quite a noble appearance on the dinner table, and it is well worthy a place in any vinery. In most cases the fruit will now be ripening, but with care it can be had in good condition until November. Liberal supplies of food are necessary in order that the bunches and the berries may become properly finished. The rods should be trained fully 4 feet apart to allow plenty of space for the strong growing foliage.

THE FLOWER GARDEN. BY HUGH A. PETTIGREW, Gardener to the Earl of PLYMOUTH, St. Fagan's Castle, Glamorganshire. Naturalising Bulbs.-Where wild gardening is practised the present is an appropriate time for arranging for displays in the spring months. In the old Orchard that is retained because of its picturesque appearance, whose trees are preserved because of their green, lichen-covered trunks and bright ornamental fruits rather than for their economic value, many desirable effects may be had from bulbs. Natural, informal stretches of Snowdrops, Crocuses, Narcissi, and Tulips to succeed one another in flower, with here and there groups of blue Apennine Anemones, Chionodoxa Fritillarias, and Scilla sibirica, if

around.

tastefully arranged will create charming effects. To obtain the best results the bulbs must be used liberally for planting thickly in broad, rich masses of one kind. In grouping, the aim should be to avoid hard lines of demarcation between the colours and groups, and at the outskirts to let them disappear quietly and not abruptly into the space In undulating grass the ridges should be left unplanted and only the hollows filled in. To achieve a natural form of grouping one must, after having determined on the size and shape of the groups, throw the bulbs in large handfuls in the direction the effect is desired, and then let men follow with trowels or crowbars to plant them exactly where they have fallen. By doing this stiffness and formality will be avoided. Where the bulbs are to be grown, the grass should be mown quite closely previously to planting, in order to facilitate the operation, and again at the close of the growing season of the grass, so that in the spring the flowers can be seen to the best advantage. After the bulbs have flowered the grass must not be mown until the foliage has ripened, otherwise the vitality of the plants will be impaired and they will not flower well the following year. The bulbs should be put down as deeply as it is possible to put them, for no matter how deep they are planted the flowers will appear above ground at the proper time, and by being deeply planted they will be the safer from the attacks of mice. In naturalising Snowdrops, they should be grouped in the grass near to the pathways, while the white and yellow Crocuses are better seen at a distance in distinct clumps of colour. The purple coloured Crocus is the least effective in grass, and should only be grown in spots open to the full sunlight. Of Narcissi suitable for naturalising the kinds are numerous, but the following are amongst the best -Large Trumpets: Emperor, Empress, Golden Spur, Henry Irving, Horsfieldii and Obvallaris. Medium Crowned: Barri conspicuus, Leedsii, Sir Watkin and Stella Superba. Small Crowned: Burbidgei, Poeticus and Duchess of Westminster. Duchess of Westminster is rather expensive, but it affords a lovely effect in grass. Queen of Spain is a charming Daffodil that should have a favoured spot given it, close to a walk through the grass, as it is a delightful flower and really does better naturalised than cultured in a border. Tulips, unlike the Daffodils and other bulbs mentioned, unfortunately do not increase when naturalised, but require to be replanted every three years. Cramoisie Brilliante and Dusart are two varieties well adapted for the grass as their colours show up well at a distance, and they are of such sturdy habit that they hold their flowers erect in their surroundings.

THE KITCHEN GARDEN.

By J. GIBSON, Gardener to His Grace the Duke of PORTLAND, Welbeck Abbey, Notts. Autumn trenching.-At this season of the year, when many crops are being cleared from the land and it is too late to plant others, the opportunity should, whenever possible, be taken to trench the ground, with a view to securing an early crop next spring. The surface of the soil is generally trodden hard in the gathering of such crops as Peas, Beans, Onions, &c., but it is not advisable that it should remain in a solid condition all through the autumn and winter. The disintegration of the soil by the agency of atmospheric gases and of water is retarded when the soil is in a solid condition. Therefore it is advisable to trench early and manure the ground in a suitable form for the crop that is intended to be planted in spring time. Now is the best time at which to prepare for next year's Onion crop, and by early manuring the material has time to become well rooted and incorporated with the soil, so that it is in the best condition when the young roots are ready to absorb it. Soils of a light texture may, in trenching, have the second and the bottom spits brought to the sur face, but if the subsoil is very heavy and clayey, thoroughly break up the bottom of the trench and add plenty of material that will lighten its texture, such as road-sweepings, wood ashes, &c., and allow it to remain until the next time of trenching before being brought to the surface. Ridging heavy soils is strongly to be recommended in order that the influences of frost and air may pulverise it and bring it into a better working condition. The value of deep culture of the soil has been especially evident during the past I may instance a crop of Peas that were sown on a

season.