255 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Books and Catalogues. — The " Garden 

 Obaclb" for 1862, is now ready ; it is a full 

 review of the progress of horticulture during 

 the past year, and contains descriptions of, and 

 cultural directions for, 365 window plants, clas- 

 sified so as to indicate at once theii' suitableness 

 for every class, from the cottage to the palace. 

 The descriptive list of New Plants comprises 

 everytliiutf worthy of record, introduced during 

 theypar; the lists of Plants, Flowers, Fruits, 

 and Vegetables for general use and exhibition, 

 have all been carefully revised, and the old and 

 cheap varieties are classed apart from the new 

 ones, for the guidance of purchasers according 

 to their means. Mr. Tegetmeier has con- 

 tributed a paper on Bee-hives ; showing how 

 the amateur may construct for himself, at 

 a triilmg cost, the best wooden boxes for the 

 depriving system ; and there are, in addition, 

 notes on curious, interesting, and useful plants 

 for botanical collectors and gardening ama- 

 teurs. The four volumes of this work con- 

 tain a mass of information as valuable now 

 as when they were first issued ; and as they 

 have all been reprinted, those who possess only 

 one or two may complete their sets and bind 

 them together for perusal and reference. — 

 "Marvels of Pond Life, by H. G. Slack, 

 F.G.S. Grpombridge and Sons." A delightful 

 series of pictorial and literary sketches of the 

 microscopic plants ;md animals commonly found 

 in ponds and brooks. As a text-book for the 

 use of the microscope, and a guide to the selec- 

 tion of objects, it is the best work of the kind we 

 have yet seen ; too many such books are mere 

 compilations ; this is the production of a 

 master of the instrument, and a thorough cul- 

 tivator of microscopic science. — " Chater's 

 Catalogue of Hollyhocks for 1863," is ar- 

 ranged on a new plan, so as to classify the 

 varieties according to colour, height, price, and 

 quality. It comprises the best new and old 

 hollyhocks grown at the nurseries. Saffron 

 Walden. — " Wra. Paul's Catalogue of Hoses 

 grown at the Nurseries, Waltham Cross," will 

 be useful to intending planters, as the varie- 

 ties are faithfully de-cribed ; only the best of 

 the new ones ai-e entered. 

 Names of Plants. — Quiz. — Tour first is Eho- 

 danthe Manglesii, not " an eatable passion 

 flower," but a greenhouse composite-flowered 

 annual, of slender growth and very pi-etty, to 

 be grown in the same way as an aster. Your 

 second, " Strapiolum tripeolura," we never 

 heard of before, and never expect to hear of 

 again. Is it a tropseolum? If so you will 

 find plenty of information about it in former 

 volumes. 

 New Garden. — D>: Tf'., Maidstone. — You will 

 see that your wants have been anticipated. As 

 to planting the trees on stations, that must 

 depend entirely on the nature of the ground. 

 If a " loam ten feet deep," and lying high and 

 dry, then to adopt stations would be waste of 

 money ; if the subsoil is gravelly, or wet, or a 

 cold clay, then stations will well repay their 

 first cost. We do not recommend nurserymen ; 

 those who advertise in the Floral World, may 

 be depended on to supply whatever you want. 

 One general recommendation we offer to all 

 our readers, is to deal with the nurserymen in 

 their own locality, if ijossible, as they are 

 liliely to know best what suits the district, 

 and the goods can be seen before they are 

 purchased. 

 Tariotjs. — J. It. — Two parcels safe, thanks for 

 them. Strange ; the geranium truss was bo far 



gone that we could not get the last bud to open, 

 but from a few withered petals, we take it to be 

 Crimson minimum Nosegay. — W. B. — Owing 

 to the author's heavy pressure of engagements 

 of late, " Brambles and Bay Leaves" has been 

 delayed. It will be ready about the middle of 

 the month. — Ciuts.— You may obtain the infor- 

 mation you require, by stating your wants to 

 Mr. Chitty, of Stamford HiU. We quite sym- 

 pathize with you. — Polly.— Gras tar is the 

 cheapest, and serves the purpose as well as the 

 other ; but either will do.— -K. Z. — No ; we 

 destroy all anonymous letters as soon as an- 

 swered ; letters with real names and addresses 

 we file, in case of requiring to refer to them. — 

 W. TK.— The department of study you are in- 

 terested in, is fully treated in "Recreative 

 Science," in which, for eightpenoe a month, 

 you may obtain information of the progress 

 of every department of science, microscopic 

 botany and entomology included. 

 Old Garden. — A. C. S.—lt will be hard work 

 for you 10 bring such a place into decent order, 

 but take the bull by the horns, persevere, and 

 you will be sure to conquer. As for the old 

 fruit-bushes, if they ai-e smothered with bear- 

 bine, root them up and burn them. In fact, 

 destroy and burn whatever has become so bad 

 through neglect that recovery is doubtful. The 

 apple-trees and roses will probably pay for 

 restoration, the filberts will not. The straw- 

 berries you may replant by cutting strips hke 

 turf, and the site chosen for the new planta- 

 tion should be trenched two spits deep, and 

 dressed with the charrings, of which you will 

 have plenty. In February next, top-dress them 

 with half-rotten dung, lightly forked in be- 

 tween the rows. Keep the vines ; pruning and 

 cleaning will render them fruitful. It will be 

 quicker and cheaper work to reduce the place 

 as speedily as possible to the condition of 

 maiden ground, excepting such few thintjs as 

 there is a fair prospect of recovering. A labourer 

 can trench it over, and lay up in ridj^es to the 

 frost, and with liberal manuring you may 

 secure abundance of vegetables next summer 

 to compensate far having to wait for other 

 crops. Wo have had to deal with many such a 

 piece of ground, and have generally found it 

 the cheapest course in the end to clear it, 

 prairie fashion, by fire. We once struggled for 

 three years with a quarter of bush -fruits, wrdch 

 a previous tenant had allowed to run unpruned 

 for years, eaten up with bear-bine. At last we 

 turned them out, and made a sepulchral pyre 

 of them, and that piece is now covered with a 

 beautiful lot of dwarf bushes, all from cuttmgs 

 of the trees destroyed, and not a weed to be 

 seen. As you have been a reader of Ploeal 

 World, you will know how to go to work in 

 earthworks and planting. Intlie Nos. for Jan., 

 Feb., and April, 1858 (Vol. i. pp. 18, 42, 78), 

 are some instructions on the restoration of old 

 gai'dens which exactly meet your case, and you 

 wiU be sure to derive from the perusal of them 

 some suggestions that will be of value. 

 EosES. — O.IV.F.H. — As you have only a pit to win- 

 ter them in keep them in the thumbs, and pack 

 them to the rims of the pots in coal ashes. AVe 

 have made notes on all the new roses, as you 

 will see. — Tyro. — As you can winter yours in the 

 greenhouse, shift them at once into sixties, and 

 use sandy peat and turf rather rough, without 

 dung. This will cause them to form fine masses 

 of roots, whereas dung now would render them 

 too sappy. 

 Propagating Case. — K, Z. would greatly oblige 



