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TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Autumx-Plantf.d Potatoes. — M. A. — You raay plant Mona's Pride, Milky 

 White, or any other potatoes, in autumn with the utmost safety. The best day ia 

 the whole year to plant potatoes is the same day as the ripe tubers are taken up. 

 If on that day the middling-sized sets were selected, and at once planted for next 

 year's crop, the best possible results would ensue. Generally speaking, this cannot 

 be done, and the next best thing is to plant as soon as possible after tlie harvesting 

 of the crop. Autumn-planted potatoes must be covered with seven inches of soil 

 to be safe from frost, and at that depth no frost will hurt them. The two sorts 

 named may be obtained of Messrs. Sutton and Sons, Reading. 



Caxceolaui.vs Dying. — JS. C. H. — We do not undertaks to account for the death 

 of your plants, but we have no doubt that the dryness of your soil, and the poverty 

 of it combined, are the causes of your loss. In all parts of the country calceolarias 

 have perished en masse ; indeed, in the course of our visits to hundreds of gardens 

 this season, we have seen only two samples of calceolarias doing well ; one was in 

 the garden of J. B. Saunders, Esq., Taunton, the other in the garden of Mr. 

 Beningfield, Broxbourne. The remedy for this has been plainly pointed out in the 

 Floral World (see pages 256 and 278 of this year's issue). The best covering to 

 exclude frost and rain from a shed is a framework of wood, either rough and portable, 

 or fixed as a roof, and over which is laid a tarred siilcloth, or a rick cloth, such as 

 is used by farmers. Tifi'any is of very little use for such a purpose. As you want 

 to flower chrysanthemums in the shed, probably the best mode of procedure will be 

 to have a roller-blind made of stout canvas. The cost of a greeniiouse we cannot 

 give, but you may reckon on getting something substantial at 30s. to 403. per foot 

 run. Generally speaking, the village carpenter is the best person to call in, but if 

 you want it sent ready to put iip, and the best make possible, we recommend Sir 

 Joseph Paxton's make, which you can obtain of Messrs. llereman and Morton, 7, 

 Pall Mall East, London. 



Small Fisrnery. — M. IL — You had better put glass in the side of the house 

 next the hollies and yews, for though that is a dark side, the glass will admit some 

 light, and perhaps enough to prevent the ferns growing one-sided with all their 

 faces to the east. You had best use clear glass on the dark side, to get all the light 

 possible there, but rough plate will do on the east side. No need of a steep pitch 

 to the roof; the more it approaches a flat, the better for ferns and orchids. You 

 must ventilate, and the best way will be to have a ventilator over the door at each 

 end, to let out heated air in summer, and leave out two or three bricks in the wall 

 in the centre of the house ; that is, midway between north and south ends. A 

 draught is not desirable, but a circulation of air is. As to heating, we can only 

 tell the old story, that there is nothing so good as hot water, but a large charcoal 

 Stove (made by Swan Nash, Newgate Street, London) will keep out frost. 



Peofitaele Flower Seeds. — C. asks, "What would be the most profitable 

 seeds to sow on a few acres of strong loam ? I refer to annual garden flowers, and 

 when the best time for doing so." Tiiis is a perple."5ing question, because if C 

 wishes to embark in the seed trade, it is useless to seek advice and guidance through 

 these pages, for the simjjle reason, that as we do not understand the seed trade, we 

 cannot Initiate any of our readers. If the object is to beautify the " few acres," 

 then we leave C. to select according to taste. The annual which is most largely 

 grown at seed faims is the fragrant mignonette. At Messrs. Carter and Co.'s seed 

 farm at Dedham, there were ten acres of mignonette grown this season. Perhaps 

 next in importance to mignonette is the Minor TropMulum, many acres of which are 

 grown at seed farms. But this is all beside the mark ; a thing to be profitable 

 must be convertible into money, and you might fail to find a market for your pro- 

 ducts, and, looking at the case from several points of view, and having no trade 

 experiences, we think it best to say that we cannot advise you what to grow for 

 purposes of profit. 



Gloxinias. — Bronilore. — Your gloxinias have been too cold, and perhaps too 

 wet, and the consequence is abortive flower buds. 



American Shrubs, — Jl- L. — This is certainly the lest time to transplant rho- 

 dodendrons and azaleas. If the turf is tough and rich in fibre, and the soil in it 



