placed out in a well-p

y spot in the open groun

May, and remain during the The soil is taken out to the d

14

, and a layer of cow-dung and hot-toppings, to the depth of fou inches, put at the bottom, then the retuned, an The plants are turned out pot, simply removing the crock bottom of the balls, planted plants firmly and a little plein and then top-dressed w mould and cocoanut-fibre. 1 the plant a kept well watered, soap-suds on washing days; and treatment they do remarkably well. plants are divided but once in the year, at 300 time of potting, when the soil a abakon n the roots, and the tap-root shortened back 85 plan aro put in 18-in. pots, and thy maller ones into pots appropriate to their this time of the year and onwards, Proublesorac, but an ocea sional painting of the undersides of the leaves with Fowler's Intel is

that

the skin oing of a dep orange yellow on the shaded side, and freely spotted and fluted with purplish-red on the nosed parts. Pha flesh a deep creamy-jellow, juicy, melting, and briskly flavoured, gor d taking on a fine aroma when highly

Apricots are especially adaptor for orchardhouse culture in pots, and the quality of well

1878.]

9

I

offered for Polyanthuses, the competition is confined to George IV., Exile, Cheshire Favourite, Rev. F. D. Horner, and Hilton's President; William IV. and Formosa are North of England flowers, very pretty red-ground varieties, something in the way of Lancer. have obtained George IV. from two sources; in one case the plants are of delicate growth, in the other quite luxuriant; and I fancy I note a distinct character in the foliage. I am hopeful the debility observed in the first case may be but temporary, and that the plants will soon grow out of it. I have now a good strong plant of each in a 48 or 5-in. pot, and I hope in the spring to be able to set up a group at one of the meetings of the Royal Horticultural Society. If any reader of the FLORIST can put me in the way of getting a few of the varieties I do not possess, I shall be very grateful to him. My mode of treatment of these fine Polyanthuses is as follows:-The plants are potted in August, in good auricula soil, but a little more firmly than I do auriculas; and they are then stood under a north wall on a raised bed of cinder-ashes, being freely watered overhead in dry weather. At the end of October, when wet weather sets it, the plants are removed to a raised frame on the same aspect, and there they remain till spring, when they are removed to a cold greenhouse to flower. This house is a little too sunny to have the flowers in perfection long together, and I am on the point of

putting up a north house specially for blooming Auriculas and Polyanthuses.

The plants are placed out in a well-prepared bed in a shady spot in the open ground about the middle of May, and remain during the summer. The soil is taken out to the depth of nine inches, and a layer of cow-dung and fresh horse-droppings, to the depth of four or five inches, put at the bottom; then the soil is returned, and the plants are turned out of the pots, simply removing the crocks at the bottom of the balls, planted out, pressing the plants firmly and a little deeply into the soil, and then top-dressed with a mixture of leafmould and cocoanut-fibre. During the summer, the plants are kept well watered, especially with soap-suds on washing days; and under this treatment they do remarkably well. The plants are divided but once in the year, at the time of potting, when the soil is shaken from the roots, and the tap-root shortened back; the strong plants are put in 48-in. pots, and the smaller ones into pots appropriate to their size. At this time of the year and onwards, green-fly is a little troublesome, but an occasional painting of the under-sides of the leaves with Fowler's Insecticide is a capital remedy.

I have a few promising seedlings that bloomed last year for the first time, and I am hopeful I may secure something nearly if not quite up to first-class form.-RICHArd Dean, Ealing, W.

HIS little known Apricot belongs to the free-stone race with sweet kernels, and is an early variety, as, indeed the name Early Anjou implies, ripening about the end of July; it is also a variety of good quality, and one which may be recommended to the notice of fruit-growers.

The fruit is of medium size, roundish-oval, with a shallow suture, very highly coloured,

the skin being of a deep orange yellow on the shaded side, and freely spotted and flushed with purplish-red on the exposed parts. The flesh is a deep creamy-yellow, juicy, melting, and briskly flavoured, sugary, and taking on a fine aroma when highly ripened.

Apricots are especially adapted for orchardhouse culture in pots, and the quality of wellripened fruit thus grown is excellent.-M.

step in the right direction, a considerable advance of growth being gained during the first season over those planted during the resting period. The greatest drawback to summer planting consisted

in putting the roots into the soil nearly in the same condition in which they were when turned out of the pots, which left them in the coiled-up state for all time after. Younger plants than it was otherwise desirable to use were consequently obliged to be taken.

Having had something to do in Vine-planting during the two past seasons, I have devised a plan to obviate the evil above-named; and it has succeeded so well that I feel induced to relate it. In the winter of 1875, some old vines which were not giving satisfaction were torn out of a vinery here, to make room for young ones. Owing to unavoidable circumstances, the border could not be got ready until the end of April or beginning of May. It was therefore decided to grow the Vines on in heat, and to plant them out in summer. Early in February I had some boxes made, one for each plant, of the following dimensions-sides, 4 ft. long; depth, 10 in.; breadth of end, 10 in. All that was required was to nail a narrow strip of wood on to the two lower edges, to rest the cross bottom-pieces of 1 or 2 inches wide upon, and another narrow piece on to each end of the sides, to keep the ends in their places when filled with soil; then to put all the pieces into their places, and fasten both ends by a double ply of rope-yarn, which kept the whole firmly together. The Vines were then turned out of their pots, and the soil clean removed; a little soil was put into the box, and the plant placed at one of the ends, the roots being carefully spread out over the length of it. The box was then filled up with soil, well watered, and removed into a cool place until the time of starting into growth. At the time of planting out, an opening was made under the sole-plate of the house, by removing a few bricks, to give sufficient room for the vine to be safely conducted inside. At the same time, the box was carefully moved forward to its proper place and depth. The fastening was cut, and one of the

sides taken away, the soil being brought hard up to the side, so as to prevent the young roots from getting injured. The two ends were next removed, and the soil made firm to the ball in a similar manner, when the remaining side was lifted away, and the space being clear, the narrow bottom-pieces are drawn out one by one. This having been completed, the soil was carefully packed round the roots, and so little were they disturbed, that the plants never showed any signs of suffering from the removal into their new quarters, not even requiring shading.

A similar plan was adopted this season with vines for a new vinery, but instead of the plants being planted at the ends, they were put in the centre of each box, while the roots were

extended both ways. The object of this was to plant the vines so that the roots might grow inside as well as out, the front wall of the house being arched for the purpose. The vines, having grown several feet in length, were planted into the new-made border on July 2nd, the soil being taken out sufficiently deep in the new compost to allow the end of the box to pass under the arch. This done, the planting proceeded as in the former case, and although the days had begun to shorten, and the hotwater appliances were not in working order until the end of the first week in August, the shoots of one of the vines had reached the top wire of the house, a distance of 22 ft. from the ground, by September 14th, and nearly every vine in the house had reached the top before the end of October, some of them having been trained along the top wire for a considerable length, and all lateral growth being encouraged and tied in, so as to induce root-making to the fullest extent. Although planted so late in the season, I do not remember ever previously to have seen young vines make such rapid progress during the first year of planting.-J. WEBSTER, Gordon Castle.