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THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



give its great capacity, and the load is 

 placed beyond the wheels, so that a 

 slight pressure becomes a means of pro- 

 pulsion, and the laborious nature of 

 wheelbarrow work is entirely obviated. 

 Messrs. Dray and Co., of Swan-lane, 

 Upper Thames-street, London, are 

 the manufacturers of these, and also 

 an improved form of the common 

 barrow, fitted with a moveable tail- 

 board. 



CLIMBERS FOR EAST WALLS. 



Cotoneaster microphylla (old plants) 



Chimouanthes fragruns. 



C. grandiflora. 



Clematis montana. 



C. Jiammuhi. 



Jasminum officinale (the common 

 white). 



ROSES. 



Williams's New Evergreen, Crimson 

 Boursault, Myrianthes, Ayrshire. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Chinese Primula.— C. M. — Directions for culture 

 by one of the most eminent growers, will appear 

 in our April number. In the " Town Garden," 

 which you can have for 21 stamps, you will find 

 the lists you require. They would be inappro- 

 priate to the pages of the " Floral World." 



Cucumber Seed. — M. W., Wells.— Do not sow 

 till the heat has become steady, then sow in pots 

 or pans, and plunge in old tan laid on the surface 

 of the bed, or in leaf-mould that has been riddled 

 through a course seive. If to be grown on in 

 pots, the pots should have crocks at the bottom, 

 and nearly haLf filed, and three seeds sown in 

 each, the soil being fresh light loam. We 

 generally raise seedlings to be turned out in 

 pots for early fruiting, in leaf-mould and silver 

 sand, so as to get a good ball quickly. When 

 the plants are well started, thin them to one, 

 and that the strongest, and earth up by degrees 

 with rich light loam ; each plant to be stopped 

 when it has two rough leaves. As to the 

 amount of heat, that depends on when the fruit 

 is required, but cucumbers will stand any heat 

 between 85° and 60" — the more heat and mois- 

 ture, the faster the growth, and the finer the 

 fruit. Mr. Latter, one of the most noted of 

 cucumber growers, gives a bottom heat from hot- 

 water, averaging 80°, water at S5° for watering 

 and syringing. 



Dielttra Spectabilis.— J. H. S.— This lovely 

 herbaceous perennial is quite hardy, and is a 

 noble addition to our border flowers. It conies 

 from cuttings freely all the summer. We have 

 struck them in the open ground in sandy loam, 

 by merely turning a bell-glass over for the first 

 few days. Seeds are not to be had, and on that 

 point we have yet something to learn. You may 

 get a plant anywhere for eighteen-pence, and 

 propagate toany extent you please. As it makes 

 a fleshy tap root it requires a good depth of soil. 

 Garden Plan, &c.—E. A. C— Drying flowers— 

 L. J. A. — Both accepted with very sincere 

 thanks. 



Hot Water Heating.— A. B., Wandsworth.— We 



think your plan a safe one; the use of B for 

 propagating is a good idea, but how do you get 

 rid of the burnt air from the burner below A ? 

 If you do not carry it right away out of the 

 house, it will be sure to do mischief. We would 

 not only carry off the products of combustion as 

 quickly as possible, but we would even feed a 

 gas burner with air by means of a flue or air 

 drain wherever possible, so that the flame 

 should have no atmospheric connection with the 

 house. 



How to make a Hot-bed.— 71'. W.— If you get 

 hot dung from a heap, and at once make" up the 



bed, it will burn up every seed committed to it, 

 and be exhausted in a short time. To secure a 

 safe and constant heat, the dung should be first 

 well shaken out so as to allow the atmosphere to 

 penetrate every portion of it. After two or 

 three days it should be turned over again, and 

 a fresh heap formed in a new place, every lump 

 being broken by the fork in the process. If dry, 

 it must be sprinkled with water at each removal, 

 and, if very short, and pasty, which may be the 

 case if there is pigs' dung mixed with it, a mode- 

 rate admixture of dry litter, such as fern, straw, 

 old turf, &c, will give it more substance, for the 

 duration of the heat depends on the quantity of 

 undecomposed fibre in the heap. When it has 

 acquired a moderate heat all over, mark out the 

 place for it, a foot larger than the frame all 

 round, drive in short stakes at the four corners, 

 and shake the dung lightly within this space, 

 just putting it together with the fork as you go 

 oil It should be from three to five feet high, 

 and the larger the bulk, the longer will the heat 

 continue. Put the frame on, so that the dung 

 projects equally all round it. and tilt up the light 

 to let off the foul gases. In a couple of days 

 you may spread four inches of good loam all 

 over it, and you may then sow what you please — 

 cucumbers, melons, marrows, capsicums, to- 

 matoes, tenner annuals, &c, in pots. If you 

 purpose fruiting any of the gourd family in the 

 frame, you can make room for them as other 

 things are removed ; and the way to plant them 

 is to turn out the ball under the centre of a 

 light, and then heap loam all round it so as to 

 make a hillock, the outer edge of which must be 

 heaped up above the ball, so that the plant will 

 stand in a basin at the top of a mound ; water 

 will then soak to the roots instead of running off 

 down the sides. It is better if you can do it, 

 to make up a second bed to receive the plants from 

 the first, when they are ready for it, and so on, 

 working from frame to frame, and the first beds, 

 when half spent, will be found quite warm 

 enough for things that require only a little heat. 

 We raise our early annuals in beds after gourds, 

 and sometimes spawn the beds for mushrooms 

 after the annuals. 



New Dahlias. — if.— Franz Joseph is a blood-red, 

 and has beautifully variegated leaves, raised by 

 Deegen. Apollon is a golden amber ; Midnight 

 is a splendid thing, nearly black; Lady Popham, 

 white, tipped with lavender ; Due de Malakoff 

 red amaranthe. Dahlias started at this season 

 will supply abundance of cuttings, but beware of 

 cooking them in excessive heat ; 75 degs. is plenty 

 — when it gets to 90 or 100, plants may be had, 

 but not of sufficient robustness ever to do well. 



Planting Five Beds.— H. R. R.— Plant the large 



