292 



THE GARDENER. 



[June 1873. 



Strawberries in Pots. — Any portion 

 of these yet to ripen will now do be.st 

 in cold pits where there is nothing bat 

 siiu-heat. Plant ont all those from which 

 the fruit are gathered for next year's 

 bearing outdoors. As soon as ever 

 runners can be had for laying for next 

 year's forcing, let the oi)eration be pro- 

 ceeded with. For early forcing we 

 always liked to see them in their fruit- 



ing-pots the first week of July. Either 

 lay them in 3-inch pots at once, or in a 

 layer of rich soil laid between the rows, 

 where such is convenient. Those in- 

 tended for early forcing should not be 

 put into such large pots as those in- 

 tended for successional or later sup- 

 plies ; and the soil for the earliest 

 should be a degree lighter than in the 

 case of the later cro])s. 



ITotices fa Corrcspanbcnts. 



H. A. — Sow the Peas you name at once. They should be sown about the 

 middle of May to come in by the 1st of September in ordinary seasons. We 

 are rather at a loss to know how to answer your other question, because you do 

 not state whether the collections are required for spring or late in summer. 

 Presuming that it is about the month of August, we should say for six — Peas, 

 French Beans, Cauliflower, Potatoes, Carrots, Onions ; for ten, add to these 

 Vegetable ]\Iarro\v, Celery, Spinach, and Turnips. These are all first-class 

 vegetables, and the most generally useful. 



T. P. — Six excellent winter-blooming Orchids are Ctelogyne cristata, Ca- 

 lanthe Yeitchii, Dendrobium nobile, Lycaste Skinnerii, Phajus grandiflorus, 

 Cypripedhim insignis. These are all well adapted for your purpose, and are 

 verj^ easily cultivated. You should possess yourself of Williams's Orchid Manual. 



A. 'M. — Bowood and Tynninghame Muscats will do quite well at the warm 

 end of your vinery. Next to the Duke of Buccleuch, Buckland's Sweetwater is 

 the best early. 



N. D. — Plant out your Clematis without delay. If your ground is shallow and 

 l^oor, excavate it to the depth of two feet, and make up with two-thirds loam 

 or good ordinary garden soil and a third of well-rotten manure. The beauty 

 of these fine varieties depends much on liberal culture and close pruning annually. 



Constant Reader. — The wet sunless summer of last year is doubtless the 

 cause of your comparative failure. Push them on with a high temperature in 

 the afternoon and evening, and air liberally by day. Let the moisture be 

 moderately supplied, and do not let the growths ramble too much, which they 

 will be disposed to do, the crop being so light. If well ripened this season, you 

 will be certain, all other things being equal, to have a good crop next year. In 

 such a house as yours, with the Vines rather crowded, it was next to impossible 

 to ripen late Vines last year. 



IX. ^y. — Both the firms you first name manufacture first-rate Mowers. We 

 do not recommend tradesmen. We have not had experience of the third, but 

 it is highly spoken of too. 



Subscriber. — Areca VerschafFeltii, Areca lutescens, Cocos Weddelliana, 

 Diemonorops melanochajtes, Geonoma Schottiana, Seaforthia elegans, are all 

 excellent for table decoration. 



B. M. — You are quite right, but we do not intend to say more just now. 

 Bricklayers' labourers get far better pay, and do not even require to produce a 

 character. Indeed, the order of matters just now is, that men who require, as 

 the foremost indispensable, a high character for morality and trustworthiness, 

 get the very worst pay going ; and conspicuous among them are, we are sorry to 

 say, gardeners. 



D. INI. — Tetratheca ericoides : Calceolarias so smashed that an opinion can- 

 not be formed. 



J. Craig. — We never heard of the Sphagnum being infested with mealy bug 

 on the moors before. Are you sure it is mealy bug ? 



A Constant Reader. — Inasmuch as the Carnation you name is not hardy, 

 it must be considered a soft- wooded greenhouse plant. 



