JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ Jauaaiy 18, 18T2 



potted into larger pots, and will receive no more stopping ; but 

 a second lot has been left unstopped to come in after the first, 

 and other lots have b«en stopped to come in later. Small 

 plants of last season have also been repotted, and the terminal 

 buds nipped out. This, in many cases, is much better than 

 taking away the points of shoots, as there is less check given, 

 and it is not advisable to give any plant two checks at once. 

 It is well to defer the picking-out of the buds for a week or so 

 after repotting. We potted singly those florists' Pelargoniums, 

 that had stood thickly in cutting pots during the winter. 



Cyclamens showing bloom freely will now requu-e a fan- 

 amount of water, and an aii-y sunny position. Large old plants 

 are stiU a great treat, but they will become less so when the 

 practice of sowing in the spring and bloomuig the plants from 

 this sowing in the following winter becomes more general. 



Violets.— Vfe wished we had put more under protection. 

 Those out of doors, owing to the frost and so much wet, have 

 not yielded their usual crops, but we shall get the usual supply 

 when the weather is better. Meanwhile we should have been 

 badly off if we had nothing but those out of doors to go to. 

 All kinds, if potted early in the autumn, bloom well in windows 

 or anywhere under glass where severe frost is excluded. 



Buibs coming on need a good deal of water, and those 

 plunged in a hotbed are lifted out and gradually hardened 

 before being taken to house or window. — R. F. 



TEADE CATALOGUES BECEIVED. 



R Parker, Exotic NurseiT, Tooting, Snn-ey.— Catalogue of 

 Aqricultural, Flower, and Vegetable Seeds, Fruit Trees, d-c 



W. Cutbush & Son, Highgate, London, N.— Catalogue of Select 

 Vegetable, Flower, and Far,n Seeds. ,,,,., 



T Bunyard & Sons, Maidstone, Ashford, and Allmgton.— 

 Descriptive Catalogue of Vegetable, Flower, and Agricultural 



Hogg&Wood, Coldstream andDunse, N.B.— Sprmjr Catalogue 

 of Veaetable and Flower Seeds, £c. 



Little & BaUantyne, C&rMsle.— Catalogue of Forest and Orna- 

 mental Trees, Shrubs, Fruit Trees, Ac. ^ , ,„„ -r, X ^ 



James Dickson & Sons, Newton Nurseries, and 102, Jiastgate 

 Street, Chester.— Caia^ise of Vegetable and Floioer Seeds.— 

 List of Gladiolus. ,, , , „ ^ , 



Charles H. Dickson, 23, Market Place, Mavchentei.— Catalogue 

 of Vegetable, Flower, and Agricultural Seeds. 



J Scott Yeovil, Somerset, and Meniott, Crewkeme.— Cafa- 

 logue of Seeds for the Kitchen Garden, Flower Garden, and 



F. & A. Dickson '& Sons, 106, Eastgate Street, and Upton 

 Nurseries, Chest&r.—Catalogne of Vegetable and Flower Seeds, 

 cOc. 



W. Eollisson & Sons, Tooting, London.— Genera?. Seed Cata- 

 logue, and List of Seeds of Subtropical Plants. 



PLANTrsG WiLL TREE3— S0APS0D9 FOE TREES (T. H. T.).— You may 

 plant the waU as proposed, but on the principle that the standards are to be 

 pruned-in to eive the dwarlg room, as two dwai't Peaches a^amst a waU will 

 soon cover ''I feet in len^-th unless the roots are curbed or pruned. In that 

 part Tvhich"tho sun leaves at noon, you mi«ht, as respects fruit, Rrow Plums 

 and Cherries very fairly. A little soda in your soapsuds will do no hai-m in 

 wateriu" at the roots. Such a mature may also be used for syrmprlng trees 

 freely when they are in a dormant state. When In fuU leaf we prefer weak 

 soap water that has not been used for washing and other purposes. 



Trees for Bank with Ashes for Spbsoii, (.Suimvl.— On a similar 

 kind of bank we have found the Austrian Pino and Elm thrive, with Coto- 

 neaster microphyUa and Ivy for undergi-owth. If the ashes are m a tlnck 

 layer— say 3 feet or more— and if there is only a thin layer of soU, your 

 chance of gettmg anything to grow is estremoly small. 



Azalea Flowers Shall (.SI. Honori).— Forcing is no doubt tho cause of 

 the flowers being small. If the plants liad been brought fonvard less rapidly 

 the flowers would have been larger. You might have increased the size ol the 

 flowers by giving a Uttle weak liquid mannrc two or three times a-week. 

 Hai-in" had the plants in bloom at Chilstmas, it is not remarkable that the 

 flowers were smaU. Caladiums to winter safely require a temperature ol 

 from 60° to 65", and cannot be kept satisfactorily in a greenhouse. Ihe 

 roots are much better left in the soil— in fact, in the pots, and should be 

 set on a floor or any place that will communicate to the pots a kttle damp- 

 ness. If they must be kept iu a diy position, give a sprinkUng from a syrmge 

 overhead once a-week. This keeps the rhizomes plump, and prevents then: 

 becoming fai-maccons and decaying when wateiing is resorted to to mduce 

 fresh growth.l 



Sewaoe (T. H.).— We can haidly adrise you about yom- tank. Our im 

 pression is, that the water from the scvUlery, washhouse, and slops from hea- 

 rooms n-ith merely the water that falls from a washhouse to dilute it, wui, as 

 a rule, be too string to water Vines in pots with. We have used common 

 house sewage for such purposes, but then there was a considerable amount of 

 tolerably clear water mixed with it. It is much safer to give three clear weak 

 manWwatei-ings than too strong a one. Try it on Cabbages and Catdi- 

 flowers, and if the water snit them, give it to the Vmes c^onsiderably '™JBe^'; 

 It would be an advantage if your tank were divided '" " 



ge and the other for roof water. Though 



to have one part for 



a-.e aiiu me uiiici lui luu^ ,.„.v.. *~>...o_ such sewage ourselves, 



always tiT and regulate its strength according to the fitness of the plants 

 for receiving* it. UquU Manure.— U you have such a difficulty in gettmg 

 liquid manm-e, sm-face-dressing the pots would answer as weu, il you are 

 afraid of the sewage. The safest and cleanest way would be to scatter oyer 

 the sui-face ol a 15-inch pot about 2 ozs. of supeiThosphate of hme, and repeat 

 the operation in two or three weeks. It guano is resorted to, use a quarter ol 

 an ovmce to a pot at a time. A half-inch dressmg of ' horse droppings after it 

 has lain for a week fermenting in a heap so as to have just lost its rankness, 

 is much reUshed by Vines, and acts as a mulching, lendeimg the necessity of 

 watering less fi-equent. 



Soot Water (/ticm).- Qear soot water is a good Uquid 

 and every plant that does not prefer a cooler 



clear 

 barrel, and use only 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



ViKE Cbiture— Black Gr.ipes [A ,Su6scn!>d1.— The best Black Grapes 

 are Black Hambmgh, Black Muscat of Alexandria, Black Pi-ince, Madresfleld 

 Court Black, Lady Downe's, and Alicante. For yom- other quertions on cul- 

 ture we refer you'to one of our numbers of last year, No. 553, page 831. 



PLANTrNO Espaliers- Pears on QnixcE (IrfliinJK-Pcars on the Quince 

 and Apples on the Paradise stock, trained to espaUers, should be planted from 

 12 to 15 feet apart. Of the sorts you name, Jai-goneUe, Beunc d'Amanlis, and 

 Louise Bonne of Jersey do well on the Quince. We do not know whether the 

 others you name will succeed. The following are recommended: WiUiams s 

 Bon Chretien, BemTi Superfln, Doyenne du Cornice, Eeurre Hardy, and 

 Winter Nelis. 



SrOGESTlOKS (W. JoiHMon).— Thanks for yom- suggestions. 

 Garden Plan {J. ITatson).- We cannot Im-nish plans, we only criticise 

 those proposed. In " Gai-den Plans," which you can have free by post from 

 om- office for 5g. id., there ai-o numerous drawings of beds, borders, &c., how 

 to plant them, and how to cultivate the plants. 



Questions (i?. C. W. S.). — Any questions you send -will receive the best 

 replies we can obtain. We make no chai-ge. 



Compost for Vine Border (^n OU Stilscrilcr). — The veij best 

 materials for an outside Vine border is turfy loam from an old pastm-e. To 

 evorv tivf r;ii-tl..!irls ..f this add one hundredweight of crushed bones. Should 



th.- I t I I L.-y nature, add one cartload of mortar rubbish to every 



tin • 'I. 



Li ,1 1- FRriTiNG {Cleveland). — Yom* Lemon trees ore, no 



duuljL. >rL.ui,i:-. 1 licy requfre the same treatment as Orange trees, but 

 being of a very much more robust growth they are much longer in coming 

 intolieai-ing. Do not repot if the plants are in good health, and they -will 

 soon form fruitful spm-s. 



Ribbon Border [A Beriintter). — We do not plant borders ; but with a row 

 of standard Roses in the centre, you cannot, unless yon use very small plants, 

 have lorn- rows all round— that is, eight rows besides the Roses iu a 08-inch- 

 wide border. We would sow at the end of Febi-uary Pei-illa, use that for the 

 centre row in the same line as the Rose stems and between them, then a 

 band of yellow Calceolarias, next a biind of Tom Thumb, and an edging 

 all round of a mixture of white Cerastium and Lobeha Trentham Blue. If 

 you had cuttings, the Iresine Lindeni would be better than the Perillo. The 

 centre filled would give relief, and then thiee rows round would be ample. 



for Vines 



Azaleas and Cine- 



•y plant mub uvva noi. pic»i:i a v,ju.vi — .... — -. "'.,„„ . ,-« ,i„, 



A bushel of good dry soot will be enough for fr-om 100 to 150 gallo 

 of water. We like to have it without dust and lumps, and ■■- "i»-- -■ 

 best brandy. To secure this place the soot in a tub or barre 

 little water at a time until you have beaten it all up into a thick P^f «, then 

 it with the water, and add one large shoveUulol quickhme; on the to;™oon of 

 the day after remove the surface scum, and on the followmg day t."e>f ™ 

 be a powerful clear Uquid manure. For tender plants it wou^d require to he 

 reduced. Such clear liquid is invaluable for synnging, ^t if you have a 

 doubt, use it weak. The use of such water overhead wiU save many a tobaccc- 

 fumigating. 



Stage or Bed foe Orchids and Stove Plants (A ^'^"''f' ^''.f"""'--; 

 There can be no doubt that some plants do better with a little bottom h^t, 

 but in your case we would be perfectly satisfied with the u:on-grated platfonn, 

 and evaporating-pans on the flow-pipes beneath them. .There is a double 

 Buogestion we would make. As the fron-gratmg is there, it woiild be bettei 

 to galvanise it, and for tender plantsyou might have thru round pieces of wood 

 or date to set the pots on, as iron is apt to get too hot or too cold 'o' ^ome 

 plants. To do this well you must add two more 8-mch pipes in *'« P?;»™[- 

 If ever you should make a sort of chambers in yom- two pit^s, ^^ich you could 

 easUv do even now by having sufficient rough cocoa-nut reftiae on ^c grating 

 to partly plunge the pots in, then we would recommend two Pipe>^tli 

 evapo"atto%ansaUroiid the sides andendofthehouseaboye^the^^tmgpl^^^ 

 foi-is. With voM present aiTangement and the addition of pipes, y™ may 

 do wonders, it is a mistake to Ihuit piping with a view to e="n^n>y; J "" 

 much more firing is wanted, and because heat li-om vei-y warm pipes is 

 always unhealthy. . If you wish to.,giye^ a ht£e bottom^bcat, _aU_th^^^^^^^ 



Mmd, 



need do is to shut-in part of 

 cocoa-nut fibre, which does not 

 however, it is one of the best i 

 it chiefly for keepmg the hf at \ 

 well if you covered the giatm 

 you wished to attempt gi-ow ui 

 perature and an additionally 

 of one of the pits, and plr 



Uttle bottom boat, aU thatyo 

 • pit -with a wooden dirtsion audi 

 hiiboui WTjtUiif -.r ninth as tan 



1 , 1 should r 



httle box ' 



The 



and prove! 



,aSy'moVerandTevers"ed''th7l™er side te™- 1 ' \ ' LTr„mmc' 

 cs exceedingly useful m such smaU houses With the extii piping, 

 to;^e7,?ou'm:rSo'%ery weU without these addition, , P'-'--P-„^-^;, 

 flora does best on a log of soft wood as the Caiaba-h tiee, oi even on woou 

 covered with cork fixed with a Uttle sphagnum. 



LirRcsTrNtrs not Flowering (Black Edi,e).— "The sprig you enclosed to 

 us^snTtlvJin^dry frost, and the Aowei-buds would have expandedwheu 

 the weather became sufficiently mild. They are late '" fl°7™; !^L\". 

 the cold and wet season. The cause of the waU plants in pots hanging then 

 heads we sboidd SOT is injury fr-om the late November frosts. Are the po s 

 protctld^ n not [t'is pSble the roots bave pei-ishcd J^e^Po's should 

 be plun"ed m the ground over the rim, or be protected with ashes m H'tei i i 

 wdnteT All^-on clfl do is to protect the plants with mats in cold weathe . 

 ■What you want is mild weather. The HoUics cast «Y"f iT %'on can 

 sequence of their removal, change of position, and the early frost. You can 

 do notbmg to prevent such occuiTences. „„,i„rately sun- 



TJRCEOLINA ABREA AFTER FLOWERING (6. H.).-Keep »' ""f^™™^ ™r 



ulied with water, give it a light airy position, and contmue this tieMm™' 

 CtSXut Ipril- then aftei reducing the <"^Vjlr 9i v. aierkeevth^ vl^nt 

 dry for three months, when it may be again started mto gro-wth The Afhe 

 iSdra aurantiaca IloeM done flowering should be kept 'i=,7.1f ' ■^'1°"'"; ' 

 BO as to cause the leaves to shrivel, and in about three weeks it should be cut- 



