be seen by the following abstract from an early volume of Loudon's "Gardener's Magazine: "—" In November take off the suckers and pot them singly in 48-sized pots; plunge in a moderate bottom heat, and a temperature of about 55°. By the middle of January shift into larger pots, and increase the heat to 60°. By the end of February shift again, and increase the heat to 65°. In April shift for the last time into 12-sized pots; remove the plants to the vinery, and supply them copiously with water. About the beginning of June remove to the greenhouse or conservatory. For compost use equal parts sandy loam, leaf mould, and bog-earth. Under this treatment the plants grow above 6 feet high, covered with branches of several feet in length, all beset with a profusion of flowers. In fact they continue in flower from July to October."

THE PRIMULA.

How charmingly gay are these beautiful winter-flowering plants just now! --and what a pity it is that they will not bear a position in the window of a sitting-room better than they do! At this time of year I often walk through the centre avenue of Covent Garden Market to get a peep at the Primulas on sale there; and finer and deeper-coloured flowers can hardly be conceived. Indifferent flowers are rarely to be seen there, just because they would not command a sale.

Just now the Primula appears to be passing through a period of change. A little while ago, and large, stout, and finely fringed flowers of the single purple, and white varieties were thought to be almost the ne plus ultra of improvement; but now, in the hands of the skilful cross-breeder, not only are the single flowers being produced in shades of cerise and carmine, but also flaked and spotted, and even edged flowers are finding their way into notice. The old double white variety has passed into flowers suffused with delicate rose, and these again into heightened colours, until large and handsome deep-coloured purple flowers are springing up under the magic spell of the hybridiser. To mere outsiders, so great is the improvement that it may appear as a result of the magician's touch; but to the true florist, who sees in every fresh creation the operation of that inevitable law of progress working in every department of nature, it is the realisation of his bright hopes and ardent wishes.

A notable and well-known instance of variation in the single flowers was that observed in the variety known as Primula sinensis kermesina, in which a bright rosy carmine colour took the place of the dull purple shade so well known to all. As the seed of this variety was mainly obtained from the continent, the flowers were found in many cases to be devoid of the fimbriated edges so greatly desired. Now that seed of this variety-and it is a very pleasing and striking shade of colour-has been produced in our own country, the strain has greatly improved. This has been noticed during the past winter at the Horticultural Gardens, South Kensington, where Mr. Eyles has frequently exhibited some very fine and showy flowers of P. kermesina grown from seed of home saving.

In the hands of Messrs. Windebank & Kingsbury, of Southampton, who seem to be in the van of the advance of floricultural enterprise in the southern counties, the single flowers have appeared in some new, varied, and beautiful forms. Finding that the Fern-leaved varieties of P. sinensis possessed a greater strength than those in ordinary cultivation, they have used them in the course of their experiments.

It may here be stated that in all the beautiful variations the cross-breeder has developed, there appears to be no lack of size or substance in the flowers, nor

of that fimbriated edge so exceptionally demanded in this flower; for, as it was put by Mr. Thomas Moore in the pages of the FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST some three years ago, it is "a singular fact that, whereas in almost every flower which has been improved by cultivation, the process of improvement has been mainly directed towards securing smoothness of surface and margin, in this Primrose the old smoother-edged sorts are at a discount, and the modern improved ones all have fringed edges! It seems as if floral law, which is generally inflexible, has here given way before some other code."

The lowest form of the variations of the white flower (for to this colour they appear at present to be confined), appears to be that of being slightly suffused with rose, and in other forms there is a greater depth of colour, approaching to cerise, more or less apparent. Some of these flowers-as far as could be perceived those of the lightest and medium shades-have the edges of the fringed petals heavily tipped with rosy purple when the flowers are just expanded, and on a further examination it would seem that this deep edging of colour gets withdrawn from the edge into the body of the petal, so to speak, as the flowers age. Others are faintly spotted with carmine, or pencilled with just-perceptible narrow flakes of the same colour; in others the flakes are broader and more frequent, and have a lilac or pale purple hue, and occasionally a portion of one of the petals is entirely of the last shade of colour. One very novel form was plainly apparent, the flower having a conspicuous brownish-orange centre, surrounded with a ring of white, then a broad ring of pale rosy pink, the edge of the flower being again white. The flowers marked in this manner were remarkably stout and well fringed.

It was curious to observe in the Fern-leaved varieties that the colour of the leafstalks affords no clue to the probable colour of the blossoms, as in the case of the older kinds. This singular fact may be restricted only to those plants that have been crossed; but a fact it is, and that clearly apparent.

The largest and stoutest flowers of the white and flesh-coloured varieties were observed in some instances to possess the germ of a second row of fimbriated edges to the petals. From blooms of this character, fertilised with the pollen of others of a like character, had been developed double flowers of large size and great substance, produced by plants of short, stiff, and vigorous habit-a wonderful improvement on the attenuated specimens of the double white variety, the propagation and preservation of which have given the grower considerable trouble, and caused him no small amount of anxiety.

A few years ago a double variety of Primula sinensis, named atro-rosea, was exhibited by Mr. Turner, of Slough, at some of the London shows, and later, one of the floricultural sensations of the season was some double varieties produced by Messrs. F. & A. Smith, of Dulwich, two of which were considered to be so good, that they were figured in one of the illustrated gardening publications. It was said that they (the double varieties) could be raised from seed; but it would appear this statement was premature, inasmuch as the difficulty has been to obtain seed. Then, again, it would appear that in proportion to the depth of colour in the flowers, there was a certain diminution in the strength of the constitution of the plants, which necessarily interfered with their propagation. Such a statement as this appeared to receive verification from some double varieties shown by Messrs. F. & A. Smith, of Dulwich, as the deepercoloured flowers looked to be of a weaker constitution than the white and fleshcoloured, while they were also less double. In the Fern-leaved varieties that are double white, there is observed, as has been stated before, a strength and robustness of constitution wanting in the older kinds, and when, as we are led to hope will be the case under skilful fertilisation, heightened colours in double flowers are produced, it will be interesting to note if there is any loss

of vigour resulting from the advance. It is said that the new varieties shown by Messrs. F. & A. Smith were raised by Messrs. Windebank & Kingsbury.

Nor is the Primula entirely free from a tendency to variegation. A few weeks ago some plants of single kinds, the foliage of which was variegated with a pale whitish green, were seen at one of the meetings of the Floral Committee at South Kensington. Messrs. Windebank & Kingsbury have a white variety, which is excellently variegated, a large portion of the leaves being of a yellowish green. It would seem, however, that the very effort to maintain the variegation renders the work of propagation very difficult, at least in their This variety is not of their own raising, as it was originally sent out by a London nurseryman. I fear but little will be gained to the Primula from variegation. Professor E. Morren observes that "variegated leaves (the partial disappearance of chlorophyll), are a proof of weakness;" and as there is need for imparting more vigour to the constitution of the Primula rather than detracting from it by encouraging variegation, it must be regarded as but a questionable advantage.

case.

QUO.

COILING VINES.

THE veteran of Sawbridgeworth has been lately reviving an old practice, which, like many others, may have some points in its favour; but at the same time a great deal can be said against it. Its great advocate at one time was Mr. Mearns, who, at the time, was gardener at Welbeck, but was afterwards Curator of the Leeds Botanic Garden. Some of the discussions on the subject were ridiculous enough; but to compare them with the practice of pot-Vinegrowing of late years makes them doubly so. There are, however, still people who, if not directly, to a certain extent follow some of the rules. At that time it was considered that by coiling a Vine in a pot it brought the fine nutlooking buds nearer the surface, that they broke better, and produced larger bunches. This is quite true, but unfortunately they are of little use when they come. The evil of the practice is that the sap has to travel through the long shoot buried in the cold wet soil, the moisture of which no doubt permeates into the alburnum and affects the sap accordingly, because, we find frequently, both in pot-coiled Vines and old stems laid in the soil a long distance, that the fruit comes on well, sometimes better than in ordinary Vines, up to the time of changing colour, when shanking invariably commences. If the stem of an

old Vine before being laid into the soil is cut a little with a saw behind the joints, roots will strike out readily, and the same will be the case with canes coiled in pots; but these roots do not seem to have the same effect as the original; they frequently produce grosser foliage, but the sap does not appear to go through the same purifying process necessary to bring the fruit to perfection.

Something of the same sort of practice often goes on with growing Vines. A makes a good border and plants young Vines that have a large amount of fresh soil and chemicals to excite them into making a splendid growth, and at pruning-time the fine plump buds and large growth lead the operator to pause and consider whether it would not be better to leave some of that fine wood just to get a bunch or two; and that will prove in the end to be the ruin of the Vines, because the wood is not ripened, and never can be, and the consequences to the large fine bunches shown are the same as in the case of young Vines coiled; for although the cold, wet soil is not in contact with the stem, the sap is in a crude state, and when the ripening process commences so also does shanking. B makes the same arrangements as A, but instead of leaving the

canes long they are cut down to, say, the height of the front light, and the second year's wood alone is looked for. Many amateurs in commencing a little house and a Vine or two bring about this result on their first attempt, and from the Vines going on shanking from year to year, give up what might otherwise have been a source of great pleasure.

REMARKS ON FRUIT TREE CULTURE.-No. 7.

F.

Ir occurred to my mind the other day, in reference to my remark at page 20, that in the culture of pyramid fruit trees the operator has both a greater scope and facility for so regulating his manipulations, as to induce the formation of fruit-bearing spurs-that there are some guiding principles bearing upon the subject, which it may be useful to remember; and, therefore, before proceeding to remark upon the special treatment best adapted to each kind of tree, I must trouble those who are interested in the subject, to follow me a little more into those ruling principles, because it will smooth our future path, and enable the operator the better to understand the practical part.

In training out a young tree from the commencement-say against a wall, in the first instance, the operator should set before himself the object he has in view. The primary one, no doubt, is to get the wall as speedily as possible covered with healthy fruit-bearing wood; not merely covered with wood of which the fruit-bearing parts are the extremities of the branches, but with fruitful wood distributed equally from the centre to the extreme branches. This is the legitimate object to be kept in view, although we cannot always attain it, even under the very best and most careful management. We can do so for a series of years; but eventually the natural enlargement of the lower part of the branches springing from the central stem will become so great, that there is no room for fruit-bearing wood, and, therefore, a certain radius from the starting point will be devoid of fruit-more or less, according to the age of the tree.

Now, I must confess that I like to see a tree brought into that state where there is plenty of room for development, because, being in full health and vigour, there is something substantial to work upon, and the operator is enabled to take more liberties with the organisation of such trees, in order to influence their future development, than he can with younger trees which, having less development, have a weaker foundation to start from, and are more likely to resent interference with their functions by the production of wood instead of fruit. We must remember that trees do not naturally bear fruit in a young state, but must arrive at a certain stage, under conditions which I have already explained, before fruit-bearing commences. We can only, therefore, produce analogous circumstances in young trees by the process of checking, which of course weakens in the tree the power of development, and to us the power of influencing it; but, with care, this apparent evil cures itself in time, for as the development of parts increases, so also the strength to answer to treatment is increased. In fact, we cannot justly call upon a tree to do more than its strength is equal to without running the risk of materially injuring it; and, therefore, in placing the object in view before our mind's eye, we have to remember that the strength required to fill the wall must be husbanded, but not driven away, otherwise it will be expended at the extremities of the branches, And why is this, but because the tree possesses the tendency, which is common to all trees, to push outwards, and to fill up from the centre-in other words, to extend itself vertically, or upwards from the centre on one hand, and laterally, by the side branches, on the other? Now, the various manipulations to which

we subject fruit trees are mainly intended to counteract this tendency towards vertical growth, because of the limited space to which we are obliged to confine them for the same reason we are chiefly dependant upon the lateral growth for fruitful wood, and, therefore, must perforce divert the flow of the sap from the vertical into the lateral growth; and herein we find one of those great causes which influence the production of great effects, and which is, in fact, a great secret in management.

In this tendency which most trees possess to grow vertically, we find the reason why good managers always recommended that the centre of trained fruit trees should at all times be kept open; but, whereas many of our predecessors in the profession depended upon winter pruning for the attainment of that object, the more modern system aims at arriving at the same end by the more effectual and rational mode of summer pruning, when the trees are in full growth.

It will thus be seen that the operator in placing before himself an imaginary perfect tree, has to bring a great amount of practical experience, combined with a certain portion of theoretical knowledge, before he can hope to see his ideas carried out; he will know that it is easy enough to cover a wall with wood when the roots have plenty of room for development; but as he wants fruit, and cannot afford either time or space for the tree to exhaust its energies, so as to arrive at a fruit-bearing condition in its own time, he must put in practice artificial methods to counteract natural tendencies. There are only two legitimate methods of doing this: One is root-pruning (see page 8), which may be called cutting off the supplies; and the other is summer-pruning, or cutting off the channels through which those supplies are conveyed and made available for future development. In order to understand this in a simple manner, we must take it for granted that a free development of roots can only take place when there is a correspondingly free development of branches covered with healthy foliage; and supposing the two to be in equal action, take away a portion of one, and the balance is immediately disturbed. Thus, by removing leaves and shoots we check root-action; and, vice versa, if we cut off roots, we check the power of making wood, the difference being only the season of operation; for as pinching and stopping are summer work, so root-pruning is very properly delayed until the trees are dormant.

These, then, are the operations by means of which the primary object of covering the wall with fruit-bearing wood must be attained; and the reason why there is more scope for the production of fruit-spurs in the culture of pyramids appears to me to be that there is no need to remove any of the surplus shoots, but that the whole may be subjected to the routine of pinching and stopping, in order to convert them into fruit-spurs. Trained wall trees on the contrary, which expose only one face to the light, and are limited as to space, must in many cases have two-thirds of the shoots entirely removed, and sometimes even more, otherwise the wood would become overcrowded. And, again, as the principal object of raising walls for the culture of fruit trees is to obtain the full benefit arising from the intercepted rays of heat, it is obvious that the fruit-bearing wood should be kept as near the wall as possible, because during the day it absorbs a great amount of heat, which is given out at night by radiation, and hence all foreright shoots, or such as have a tendency to push outwards, must be kept removed, all of which tends to lessen the space available for the production of fruit-spurs-not that I believe this to be any disadvantage, but the contrary, because, as I before observed, an excessive development of fruit-buds is rather to be avoided than encouraged. I like to see a reasonable amount of growing wood, as well as of fruitful, because then there is hope for a continuous crop; for a great development of fruit in one