I873-] NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 531 



by allowing them to swell their buds in a cool temperature before applying fire- 

 heat : of course your crop M'ill be late. If you determine to start them before 

 Christmas, try and give a gentle bottom-heat, by plunging the pots in a bed of 

 leaves, or in a bed underneath which there are hot-water pipes, 



A Learxer. — No. We will be glad to hear that you have tried any other 

 with greater advantage. 



R. T. — If you want dwarf trees and quick returns, plant Apples on the Para- 

 dise stock and Pears on the Quince. But if you wish for large trees and great 

 crops ultimately, jJant them on the Crab and Pear stock respectively, and lift 

 or root-prune them biennially till they begin to bear freely. We never recom- 

 mend nurserymen. Consult our advertising sheets. 



P. W. — You cannot grow more profitable Orchids for supi)lying cut bloom 

 from now till Christmas than the varieties of Calanthe vestita and Lycaste 

 Skinnerii, Cypripedium insignis, and Coelogyne cristata and Odontoglossums 

 in variety. 



An Amateur . — "W. Thomson on the Vine, and Williams's Orchid-Growers' 

 Manual, will supply the information you require. See also a series of X)apers in 

 the ' Gardener ' of this year. 



A. D. F. — Clematis Jackmanii has more points of excellence than any of the 

 darks that we have seen. Lanuginosa nivea is by far the finest white ; Lady 

 Bovil the best bluish lavender. Give them rich soil, and do not plant till 

 spring. 



Cottager. — The most useful for your purpose would be Lord Sufiield, 

 Stirling Castle, King of the Pippins, Blenheim Pippin. 



M. N. — Instead of liming your stiS" soil now, we would rather do it in sj^ring, 

 spreading it on a rough surface in a hot powdery state, and forking it into the 

 soil. 



W. Bridges. — You should not have the slightest difiiculty in having yoiir 

 garden gay in August by adopting what is generally'' termed the bedding 

 system, using the best of scarlet and pink, &c. Pelargoniums, Calceolarias, 

 Verbenas, Alyssum, Lobelias, Alternantheras, and the various colours, would 

 do splendidly in your climate. November is a much more diflicult month — 

 about the most difficult — to get a bright garden. Still, after you lift the tender 

 plants named above, much can be done to enliven a garden bj' having in reserve 

 a stock of Golden and Silver Ivies and Hollies, variegated Periwinkle and 

 variegated Veronica, and shrubs of various hues. Besides these, such i)lants 

 as Arabis lucida variegata, Arabis albida, some of the variegated 

 Aubretias, in combination with many of the beautiful glaucous Sedums and 

 Saxifrages, such as S. longifolia, S. rosealaria, and others. Then there are 

 Euonymus japonica argentea and E. j. aurea, Pyrethrum Golden Feather, and 

 Alyssum variegated, we should say would be quite eflective in your climate 

 in November, and many of the early-flowering Chrysanthemums might be used. 

 For your wall, Magnolia grandiflora, M. conspicua, and M. Exmouthii would 

 be at home in your climate. Crataegus pyracantha, Chimonanthus fragrans, 

 Wisteria sinensis, Jasminium nudiflorum, Clematis Jackmanii, C. luginosa 

 nivea, C. Princess Mary of Cambridge, C. Lady Bovil, Lycium europeum, 

 Tecana radicans, Ceonothus azureus, Escallonia macrantha, Skimmia japonica, 

 Arbutus unedo crispus, Lonicera tartarica, and we should say Camellias, 



