THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



231 



The more glazed and hard the leaves of roses 

 the less will mildew attack them ; hence Chinas 

 suffer the least, and some Noisettes, such as 

 Aimee Vibert, are rarely touched with it. The 

 Rev. W. J. Eatclift'e, of Rushton, one of the 

 most successful rose- growers, attributes the 

 mildew, so prevalent this season, to the last 

 severe winter. He dressed his roses this year 

 with refuse strong beer, mixed with liquid ma- 

 nure and six times the quantity of water; and 

 also with Peruvian guano, mixed with twelve 

 times the quantity of water. He has taken 

 eight first prizes and one fourth prize this 

 season, and that is a good proof of the safety of 

 his practice. Drought has been as j)roductive 

 of mildew this season as excessive moisture has 

 been in former years. 



East Wall. — J. )V. S., Dunmoic. — The east wall 

 will not do fur peach, apricot, or nectarine in 

 your climate. If you want a bit of fruit on the 

 wall, plant Thompson's pear, or Morello cherry, 

 or Jetlerson's plum. Perhaps Cydonia Japo- 

 nica, with its lovely Howers, would suit you 

 better. As to the inde.x api^earing in the 

 January number, new subscribers must put up 

 with it : we cannot attain to such perfection in 

 minute detail as to please everybody. If we 

 publish it in the December number, it cannot 

 be so complete or so correct as it is by deferring 

 it a month. All the former numbers may be 

 had, and also former volumes. 



PoBiULACCAS KEEriNu OUT FiiosT. — I have read 

 in the September number of the Flobal 

 WOBLD a letter signed "J. R. N.," saying that 

 " a very healthy plant of the Scarlet Pcrtu- 

 lacca " had appeared in his garden, self-sown ! 

 1 have two small beds in my garden, which 

 have been sown lor a few vears past with Por- 

 tulaccas. I have alvrays treated them as tender 

 annuals, vhich I supposed them to be, sowing 

 them afresh every spring. Last summer, in 

 consequence of the wtt weather, they scarcely 

 flowered at all, and I hardly imagined the 

 seeds had ripened ; at all events, I left them to 

 their fate, and made no attempt to protect the 

 soil from the intense frost and cold of last w in- 

 ter. This summer, to my surprise, nearly the 

 whole of one bed, and some plants in the other, 

 have reappeared ; the plants are strong and 

 healthy, llower very freely, and arc of all 

 colours. I know a garden in which the beds 

 of Portulacca are preserved in the winter by 

 covering them with cinders, but in this case 

 nothing of the kind hid been done, and what 

 venders it more remarkable, of the seeds sent 

 to me this year by one of the first nurserymen, 

 only those of tlie Portulacca alba have come 

 up at all. The soil of my garden is not warm, 

 but the situation is sheltered, and not very low. 

 Will you have the kindness to mention in your 

 Notices to Correspondents whether some com- 

 mon lamp could not be used with advantage in 

 a small cold pit during the winter nronths, as a 

 protection to the plants from frost and damp. 

 — O. M. H. [The question of a lamp can 

 better be determined on the spot. Any cheap 

 source of heat, which is not accompanied with 

 pernicious fumes, will answer the purpose, if 

 Hufficient in power tor the size of the place. 

 We have often kept frost out of frames by 

 means of rushlights, and once burnt compo;ite 

 candles by the dozen where a flue had got out 

 of order. Such a matter must be arranged by 

 observation. One of the simplest and surest 

 sources of heat is a lurge stone bottle filled with 

 boiling water at night, but neither candles nor 

 lamps, nor bottles, nor even liaes, will always 

 avail to keep severe frost out.] 



Febns and Mosses, — We have received twovery 

 attractive little books, " Rambles in Search of 

 Perns," and " Rambles in Search of Mosses," 

 by Margaret Plue', published by Messrs. Houl- 



ston at one shilling each. They are in the (to 

 us) unattractive form of conversations, which 

 perhaps may render them all the more accept- 

 able to young people ; but as to the informa- 

 tion conveyed, and the tinted pictures, these 

 pretty books are entitled to our highest com- 

 mendation. The illustrations comprise figures 

 of about a hundred species iu each book, and 

 though they are not marvels of art, they are 

 the most sharp and accurate we have yet seen 

 in any shilling books. Many who are puzzled 

 to name their ferns and mosses will find them 

 useful. 



CuiiiNO Pots. — J. W. — Pasoall's pots have a 

 rim into which a bell-glass is fitted. They are 

 figured and described in the Floral Wokld of 

 July, 1858. They may be obtained of Messrs. 

 Hooper and Co., Central Avenue, Covent 

 Gardeu. 



Coke Dust. — J. W. — The tomatoes growing into 

 it so freely may have been as much through its 

 retention of moisture as any other cause. If 

 you can obtain it at ashilling a cartload, it seems 

 a pity not to turn it to use. The best way to 

 use charcoal on the open ground is to spread it 

 at the rate of a quarter of a bushel to every 

 square rod, or perch, and dig it in immediately 

 before planting a crop. Charcoal is a most 

 efTective fertilizer, and we see no reason why 

 coke-dust, which is wholly carbon, should not 

 be so too. 



Planting on Chalk. — Subscriber. — We should 

 prefer the removal of the soil to the depth 

 of 2 ft. 6 in., a bottom of about four inches 

 of hard stufi', rammed down and covered with 

 a coating of sand or cinders, and then good 

 sound luam to fill up with for the planting. 

 In removing the soil place it in samples if it 

 varies much, reserving only that which you 

 know to be good for the trees to grow in. In 

 filling up again, mix the best of the top soil 

 taken out with the new soil obtained to make 

 up the deficiency, and keep the worst to dress 

 the surface wilh. Save a sufficiency of the 

 best and mellowest soil you have to till iu about 

 the roots of the trees. Stations six feet square 

 are generally marked out (or the trees, and that 

 is more than your circles of nine feet circum- 

 ference. But your spaces will do very well for 

 four or five years, and then they might be en- 

 larged. 



Ther.mometers. — Mr. G. Cox, of 5, Barbican, 

 London, E.G., has forwarded descriptions of his 

 maximum and minimum thermometers, which 

 we know to be excellent instruments, also de- 

 scription of the "chemical weather-glass,'' 

 which we also know to be a delusion. 



Spergulas. — It. P. £. — The gardeners have in 

 many places opposed the new turfing plants, 

 through some foolish prejudice, on the prin- 

 ciple of condemnation without trial. The more 

 we see of it the more we like it, and our expe- 

 riences with it as a subject of culture more than 

 bear out former recommendations. Our sample 

 of pilifera is now most beautiful, and being 

 beside good grass turf is in the best possible 

 po.-ition for comparison. All who see it say 

 that it makes the grass look coarse, it is such a 

 refined object in its close, neat style of growth. 

 Sagiuoides is best adapted for dry, sandy soils, 

 pilifera for good loams and clays. The more 

 exposed the situation, the better for either of 

 tliem. The best way of turfing is to cut it into 

 small pieces, as it can only spread from the 

 outer edges. This is a good time for planting, 

 and watering will not be necessary if the roller 

 is frequently used over it. 



Cbystal Palace.— J". T. E. — The bed No. 1 is a 

 crimson minimum Noscga3', edged with a varie- 

 gated the name of which we did not book. 

 Bed No. 2 is Rubens, edged with Harkaway. 

 — W, iSiiicliff'e,—Th& angle beds on the rose 



