JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAP.DENER. 



such plants out to harden-off, as our old resources are of no 

 avail. To have strong seedling Cinerarias ioi the beginning of 

 winter the seeds should be so\^ti now in a gentle hotbed, and 

 the same may be said of all varieties of Chinese Primroses. 

 These and Cyclamens are worthy of all the care described in a 

 late number. It is now late enough to sow Cyclamen seed, 

 even with warm treatment, in order to have them in free flower 

 dui-iug the following spring. The whole tribe are most useful 

 as cut flowers for small glasses and bouquets, and yield a large 

 supply for the space they occupy. 



We have alluded above to having soil warmed a little for 

 potting. We have no doubt that the attacks of insects after 

 fresh potting are often due mainly either to watering with too 

 cold or too warm water. In either case the roots suffer, and 

 often severely, though they show no visible signs. See that 

 the water is at least of the temperatui'e of the house ; water 

 only when required, and, to be sure, do not scruple to ring the 

 pot, or even turnup the soil with a stick or the finger, in order 

 to be sure of its condition beneath. — R. F. 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



B. S. Wilhams, Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Upper Eollo- 

 "way., London. — General Catalogue of Plants. 



Charles Tiu-ner, Royal Nurseries, Slough. — General Spring 

 Catalogue for 1^12. 



A. Forsyth, Brunswick Ntu'sery, Stoke Newiugton, and 120, 

 Mount Street, Grosvenor Square, London. — Descriptive Cata- 

 logue of Chrijsanthemums, Dahlias, Geraniums, d-c. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*^* We request that no one will write privately to any of the 

 correspondents of the " Journal of Horticultui-e, Cottage 

 Gai'dener, and Country Gentleman." By so doing they 

 ai-e subjected to unjustifiable trouble and expense. All 

 communications should therefore be addi-essed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture ^ t£'c., 171, Fleet 

 Street^ London, E.G. 

 We also request that correspondents will not mis up on the 

 same sheet questions relating to Gardening and those on 

 Poultry and Bee subjects, if they expect to get them 

 answered promptly and conveniently, but write them on 

 sepai*ate communications. Also never to send more than 

 two or three questions at once. 

 N.B. — Many questions must remain unanswered xmtil next 

 week. 

 White Nonpareil {C. i?08«).— No doubt was suggested by the Committee 

 as to the name being con-ect. Oui- report was awkwardly worded. 



Pears, &c. (Centurion). — The Pear Duchesse d'Hivei- is not woi-th grow- 

 ing, and the fruit is hkely to remain as you say it is — " gi*een, hai'd, tough, 

 and shiivelling." No doubt it is more lilcely to be melting fi-om a south wall 

 than from a standard, but we doubt very much if it will ever be worth such a 

 position. Winter Crasarme is another of the doubtful late Pears. We have 

 sometimes seen it passably good, and still more frequently worthless, except 

 for stewing. Winter Nelis would do veiy well double- grafted. Prime 

 Quinces when you prune other fruit trees. Perhaps yom- tree has been grow- 

 ing vigorously, and hence it has only just begun to bear. Do not pnme it too 

 sevei-ely, or you will encom-age a giowth of wood instead of a production of 

 fi-uit. It is not too late to plant Kaspbemes. We do not know "Early" 

 Catherine Peach. You can bud theAlmond witheither Peaches or Nectai-ines . 

 Seedling Azalea (A. D. S.).— No one can form a judgment on such 

 small pieces. Send specimens packed in damp moss to the Floral Committee 

 of the Royal Horticultiu-al Society, South Kensington, on April 16th. 



Barley after a Succession op Crops of Potatoes (C. G. D.}.— We ai-e 

 unwilling to differ from your neighbom-s as regai-ds applying dung or other 

 manure to gi-ound that seems exhausted by Potatoes, for we have often found 

 ad\-ice tendered on the spot the best that could be given ; still we think 

 mamu-e might be tried with advantage, and if too much seed be not used we 

 think the crop might stand upiight till haawest. As yom- purpose in a gieat 

 measure is to renovate the loud for futm-e garden crops, we would go a step 

 further, and, in addition to snwing Eailey, as early as you can, about the be- 

 ginnmgof May wewoiiia -.a ri.,,,., ;M:inngstthe Barley, roUing in the seed, 

 and if all go on weU \w < >,vtr will be half the height of the 



Bai-Iey byhai-vesttmiL, \ ■ « ^ ur to remain one year, you would, in 



1874, have aU thoadvuntr . ..I \ii m -nil to begin with. Sowing Clover with 

 Bai-ley is a common pnicLn.L m homt' oi the best cora-gi-owing districts, and 

 we have never heard of a complaint of too much straw, even when sheep 

 had been folded on the previous Turnip crop, and additional food given them 

 to increase the amount of manm-e. We certainly think youi- neighbours, who 

 oppose your intended dressing the land before sowing, must either have reasons 

 unknown to us, or be in eiTor. 



Various (Q. Q.). — The best artificial maum-e is guano, which may safely be 

 apphed as a top-dressing to every description of kitchen-garden crop. It 

 may be used to all the crops you name. It is advantageous to mis one part 

 ealt with two pai-ts of guano. A peck to 36 squai-e yards is a good dressing ; 

 apply it in moist weather, or just before rain. Good autumn-stmck plants^of 

 bedding Geraniums should be planted a foot apart, and spring-struck plants 

 J inches apart. When very close the plants become drawn and weak, and are 

 not so easily wintered as when they have more light and air. You do not say 

 when the Onions were sown. If they were so-mi in spring, it is likely the'y 

 will iim to seed without attaining any considerable size of bulb, but you may 



prevent then- doing so by breaking off the flower-stalk. Ton need not trans- 

 plant them unless they are veiy close together. They should stand 6 inches 

 apart, if closer transplant. You can give them a trial, and they will be good 

 for drawing young, if for no other pm-pose, and should they bulb you will have 

 some very fine ones. We do not know the price of an Abyssinian pump. 

 Write to some of those advertising pumps, &c. It would not increase the 

 chance of water in dry weather if drains wei*e dug so as to terminate close to 

 the proposed pump. You aie almost sme to have water in the soil you de- 

 scribe. Stocks, Asters, and Phlox Drummondi sown in a frame over a slight 

 hotbed in the thia-d week in Maixh, will need protection untU the beginningof 

 May, but the lights and frame may be withdiawn at the end of Api-il, after 

 which the plants should be protected with hoops and mats at nights and during 

 frosty days. 



Tobacco Culture {An Old Subscriber).— iiovf the seed now in a pot or 

 pan filled with light rich soil, press the surface gently and evenly, scatter the 

 seed rather thinly, place in a hotbed with a tomperatme of 65^ to 70°, and 

 keep the soil just sufficiently moist, and when the seedlings appear keep them 

 close to the glass, and water carefully. As soon as the plants have a pair of 

 rough leaves prick them off about on inch apart in pons or boxes, retmn 

 them to the hotbed, and shade for a few days until established. In the 

 course of another fortnight or three weeks they may be potted-off singly in 

 3-inch pots, retm*ned to the hotbed, and in about a week or ten days removed 

 to a house with a temperature of 55^ to 60^ at night. When the pots are 

 filled with roots the plants may be shifted into 5-inch pots, and be grown on, 

 placing them in a cold frame, and hardening-off well before planting out, 

 which may be done early in Jxme. The soil for the plants cannot be too light 

 and rich. Water well in dry weather. If gi'own for their leaves, plant a yard 

 apai-t. 



Ferns fok Wall (C. T. H.).— We suppose yon intend the Peraa to gi'ow 

 in the crerices of the wall, in which case you must have some rather lai-ge 

 crevices ; or, after picking out the mortar from between the joints, stop them 

 with sandy peat, just leaving room for the introduction of the roots of the 

 Ferns. These should be made secui-e with soil, and should be so planted that 

 the rhizomes or crowns may be just level with, or a verylittle within, the faceof 

 the wall. The wall must bo shaded from the bright rays of the sun, and from 

 wet. On an old wall we have seen Asplenium Ruta^mm-aria, A. Trichomanes, 

 A, vh-ide, Allosorus crispus, Blechnum Spicant, Cystopteris fragilis and voi". 

 dentata, Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum, and small plants of Lastrea Filix-mas, 

 and Scolopendi-ium \Tilgare. We have no doubt many others would succeed, 

 only they were put in small, and had a good crevice filled with soil, the wall 

 being kept wet fi-om March to October. In-doors there is nothing so fine for 

 a wall as Aspleniimi mai-inum and Adiantura Capillus- Veneris, and they 

 would probably succeed with you out-doors. We should give them a trial. 



Replanting Vines— Sowing Orange Pips— Peach Aphis (A Subscribei'). 

 — You may take up the Vines that were recently planted, and of which the 

 canes were x>artly bmied in the soil. They will not suffer, though the shoots 

 are an inch or two in length. Do not cover thu roots at the collar more than 

 3 inches deep with soil. Water and shade, if the sun be bright, for a few days. 

 On the back wall of a vinery you may gi-ow Figs or Oranges, or Camellias if 

 you want flowers. Vines will succeed in an unheated house on which the sun 

 does not shine after midday, but you must select the hardy sorts. Seville 

 Orange pips should be sown now in light soil, and placed in a hotbed. The 

 seedlings should bo potted when they show the rough leaves, and grown on 

 in a li^ii^i wiih ;i ( iitle heat — such as a vineiy. Any kind of Lemon will 

 ans\M I ■' .1 ]■ i~ of course necessaiy to graft or inaixh them, though 



they \ , It. but that is considerably hastened by giaf ting. For 



green ii|tlii - . i ! 1 it. rs iu blossom we cannot advise anything but fumiga- 

 tion ^ith ti.lKH I , i i'l v.r Iiniild practise, though we had a house not 

 smoke-tight, tin > , , t . i uing, shutting up as closely as we could, and 



I til. I, ,,, . ly to let out the smoke. 



respcf 



i; ' . ■ ),— There is no sepai'ate work that we kown 



' 1 ;; -t I'.iikrs and the management of furnaces. We are 

 ; I: I" hi'lieve that the best ai*ticles that were ever published 

 have n[i}ii ;ui .1 lu Hm [uiges of the Journal. There is no royal road to pai-ticu- 

 lais in till !■ Hiiiiii I ., You must condescend to leani the wherefores from 

 yom- boiler, and act accordingly. The veiy fact that the pipes boil over is a 

 proof that yom- boiler is well set. It is a waste of fuel ever to allow the water 

 in hot-water pipes to boil, and pipes at boiling heat will less or more injm'e 

 the atmosphere of the house. Such boiling must be prevented by the use of a 

 damper, aud keeping the ashpit door duly regulated ; on the latter we must 

 chiefly depend. Keep an- from the fue and it will biu-n slowly, keep it away 

 entirely aud the lu-e will go out, just as a bud or a rabbit will die in the ex- 

 hausted receiver bf an aii--pump. Then, again, if the water cools so much 

 when you bank the fire up ^"ith ashes you must note and regulate it accordingly, 

 and use fewer ashes, and give a Httle an- when you wish the fire to bum 

 slowly. As regards keeping the water boiling, without boiling ovei- further 

 thau stated above, we have no sympathy with you whatevei-, because for a 

 gi-eenhouse we would never wish the water to be within 30' or 40" of the boil- 

 ing point, and constant heat is not reqim-ed. 



Potted Plants Failing {J. Woodl i^e).— The soil is nearly all peat. It 

 requu-es more loam mixed with it for the usual gi'eenhouse plants. Acid 

 fumes, if of any of the compounds of sulphiu- or chlorine, would injm*e. 



Cnoss-BHEEDINO — INSUFFICIENT KooM FOR PLANTS {A You7ig Reader). — 

 There is no work on cross-breeding plants, but you will find fuller instruc- 

 tions for the management of plants in "Keane's In-door Gardening," which 

 may be had by post fi-om our ofllce for Is. 7irf. We can only refei- you to our 

 pages as to the management of your house, aud we do not see how you are to 

 increase yom- stock of plants without adding to your- accommodation for 

 wintering, aud propagating them in spring, with means for hardouiug-off the 

 plants. Upon any subject that you requue information we shall be glad to 

 assist you, but to answer your questions on the genei-al treatment of plant 

 houses and frames would take up several numbers of oui- Jom-nal, and only be 

 a repetition of om- weekly calendar of operations. 



Asi.uivLLis Belladonna Treatment— Sowing Hepaticas (F. IT.).— In- 

 stead of planting out the Amarylhs Belladonna, we advise you to keep them in 

 pots on a hght any shelf in the greenhouse, in pans filled with wet sand, con- 

 stantly kept wet, even when the plants ai-e dormant ; do not water at top 

 while the plants ai'e at rest. Do not repot them until the bulbs split the pots. 

 They should be well supplied with water xmtil the leaves begin to tm-n yellow. 

 If you plant them out of doors choose a wai-m diy border, and plant about 

 2 inches over the crown. About a foot from the front wall of a greenhouse, 

 or other wall with a south aspect, will suit. Plant them now, protecting them 

 in frosty weather, and water them freely up to June. Before autumn cover 

 the bulbs fully 6 inches deep with soil. Good loam, with a fiee admixture of 

 leaf soil and a little peat mil gi-ow them well. Hepatica triloba Beed may be 



