May 9, 1872. ] 



jouenaIj of horticulture and cottage gardener. 



Slugs in Asparagus Beds {Llaii Thomas).— Apply salt immeiliately at 

 the rate of 1 lb. to every square yard, and a similai- quautity at the end of 

 Jane. We never apply salt at any time except when the plants ai"e in a gi'ow- 

 ing state. In autumn and winter we never use it. 



Garden L.tBoun (OtJcriforfced).— Although it is possible to do the work 

 with the assistance you mention, it is impossible to do it well with less than 

 double the help you have. If your vineries are fuU- sized— say 40 feet long by 

 14 feet wide — and as your conservatory is large, the work of prepai-iug plants 

 for it and that connected with the Vines cannot be done in a creditable manner 

 in the spring and eai-ly summer mouths. If your employer does not object 

 to the flower garden being filled with hardy plants, will be content with a 

 vei-y limited number of plants grown for the use of the conser\'atory, and is 

 not particular about the appearance of the pleasure grounds and walis, it 

 may be possible to rub on ; but even then the most cannot be made of the 

 kitchen garden, because there may not always be time to get the crops in that 

 ai-e wanted at a particular period. ^Ve certainly recommend your employer 

 to give you more assistance ; at the same time no employer ought to be urged 

 to pay for his gardener's hobbies. 



Vaiuous {J. J.) — A little spent hops as mulching over the young Pear 

 and Apple tree roots will be on advantage if applied, not now, but in June or 

 July alter the ground has been heated; much mulching early in summer 

 keeps the ground and the roots too cool ; imt on after the ground is heated, it 

 keeps the latter moist and encourages surface-rooting. \S'e think yoiu: pro- 

 posed planting will look very well, but we would place the Cinerarias iu the 

 centre, and the band of Ii-esine Lindeni a little closer, so as to leave 8 or 

 10 inches from the grass for the fine-foliaged Geraniums, instead of G as 

 you propose, as that would be too near, and would not permit of justice being 

 done to the plants. Ten inches apart will do if these Tricolor Gei-aniums are 

 of a fair size, but if rather small and you want a fine effect, from 6 to 8 inches 

 apart will give room enough. If you ai'e scarce of plants, you may insert a 

 plant of the LobeUa between each. These four small beds centred with Cine- 

 rai-ia, ringed with Iresiue Lindeni, and edged with Mrs. Pollock, Neatness, &c., 

 will look very well. For the central large bed we would plant with the va- 

 rieties of Zonals, but we are doubtful of having Purity for the centre, if it is 

 the white we suppose, as it is not so strong-growing as Bayard, Orange Nose- 

 gay, &c. Besides, as the other beds are centred with white, we would centre 

 this with scarlet or pink, and tone down through Rebecca and Amy Hogg to 

 Purity, Madame Vaucher, or any othei- good white, for the outside row. A 

 string of Cerastium would improve it, even if 3 inches wide ; and if you did 

 not use Lobelia for the margins of the other beds, in this central bed we would 

 mix a string of blue Lobelia and Cerastium. 



Garden Apprentice {Kittie). — We think it would be better for the young 

 man to remain a year or two with your old gardener, or get into another gar- 

 den for a year or two. There is no general practice as to taking apprentices 

 in nursery gardens. Some nurserymen will not have them at any price, and 

 others will take a young lad with a premium, or without a premium but with 

 reduced wages. If the youth wish to follow the nursery part of the busi- 

 ness he had better go into the nursery line at once. As you are willing 

 to help him, we think an advertisement making a similai- statement to that 

 which you have done to us would most likely bring you some answers. If, as 

 you say, well educated, active, and willing to make himself useful, were we in 

 a position to do so, we should think that without any premium his labour 

 would be worth from one half more to double of what he now receives. A 

 sum of 5s. is very little for a lad of sixteen years of age. 



Fixing Hot-water Pipes (Rodu-sUr). — In your case with so much danger 

 from dra'noge water, we would use a saddle-back or a waggonette-boiler. 

 You might then have the boiler and even the ashpit above the ground level ; 

 and if the flow-pipe is a foot above the top of the boiler you will have a fail- 

 circulation, but not such a rapid one as if you had 2 or 3 feet of a rise. We 

 have worked boilers, such as those that need no brick- setting, without any 

 rise at all, and they did well, but the flow is not so rapid. With a rise from 

 the boiler your pipes will have to be liigher in the house. Thus, if your 

 small boiler has the top 15 or 18 inches above the groimd level, the pipes 

 inside need not be more than 18 to 21 inches above that level. We should 

 have no doubt ourselves in doing and working it thus ; but if you have doubts, 

 then the best thing you can do is to use lead, or brick and cement, to make 

 your stokehole a dry tank to keep water out. 



Packing Grapes (.4 Cmtomcr). — The following is the method recom- 

 mended by Mr. W. Thomson, the eminent Grape-grower : — " I have hght deal 

 boxes made, capable of containing 10 lbs. of Grapes. The boxes have a divi- 

 sion in their centres, and are thus in two compartments. I place a layer of 

 fine paper shavings in the box ; I then wrap each bunch of Grapes in a 

 sheet of fine silver paper, and lay it on the shavings in the bos, then a few 

 shavings between it and the next bunch, till the compartment, which holds 

 four moderate-sized bunches, is filled, when all comers round the bunches 

 are stuflfed full of shavings, and a layer is laid on the top of all, so that when 

 the lid is put on with screw noils the bunches are subject to a sort of elastic 

 pressure. This, without bruising them, serves to keep them from shifting in 

 the box. It is better to err on the side of packing them too fiim than loose, 

 for, tossed about as boxes are in railway trucks and vans, if they aie not 

 firm they suffer very much. The division in the box takes off the weight of 

 pressure one set of bunches would exercise on another." 



Vine Leaves Scalded (W. B. B.).—lt is merely a case of sun bum, and 

 as only two leaves are injured, it wiU in no way affect the general health of 

 the Vine. It happens in the best-managed houses. 



Warted Vine Leaves (S. Saunders}.— The Vine leaves are slightly warted, 

 which shows either that there has been too much moisture at the roots, or too 

 much moisture in the atmosphere of the house. The scalding and blistering 

 of the leaves arise from a totally different cause— a moist atmosphere, bright 

 sun, and the want of air sufficiently early. Give air early in the morning or 

 leave a little on all night, and you will have no more scalding. Confined 

 moist air with the sun beating on it soon becomes like steam from a boiler. 

 We expect you find the scalding worst near the top of the house. 



Rootlets from Vi>-e Stems (Mrs. 1'.).— If the atmosphere is so dry as 

 you say, then the roots are not in a healthy medium, and as fresh rooting does 

 not take place freely in the groimd, the Vines in self-defence throw out roots 



nmended last week, 

 page ova. 



Insects (I. St. Qeoroe).— The small red grab which infests the young buds 

 of Easpberry plants, eating into the stem, is the young of a pretty little 

 moth, Lampronia rubieUa, a figm-e of which, in its different states, shall 

 shortly appear.— J. 0. W. 



Names of- Plants (A. Rau-mn).— It is the white vai-iety of Orchis mono. 

 CummiTigs).—!, Eucalyptus pulveralentns ; 2, Nerixmi Oleander ; 3, Senecio ' 



(Cineraria) tussilaginoides, or a closely allied spCL-ies. (D. D.). — 1, Lastrea, pro- 

 bably some as 2 ; 2, Lastrea dilatata; 3, Too young for determination. (E. 

 Eades). — 1, Aspidium (Polystichum) acxileatum; 2, Aspleuium Adiantuin- 

 nigrum; 3, Brj-ophyllum calyciuum. {Sigma). — 3, Polypodium lycopodioides ; 

 4, Polyxjodium ( Campy loneoron) repens, L. (Bush). — Both are varieties oj 

 Lacheualia versicolor. (C. T., Sussex).— Orchis, morio. (T. W. Y.).—l, Doodia 

 lunulata; 2, Xephi-olepis exaltata; 3, Pellrea hastata ; 4, Scolopendrium 

 vulgare, var. crispum; 5, ditto, typical form; 6, Aspidium (Polystichum) 



angulai-e. ( ). — The letter of a correspondent enclosing two Orchids has 



been unfortunately mislaid. No. 1 ("Cattleya?") is probably a variety of 

 Cattleya Skinneri ; No. 2 (is-ith " leaves about 6 inches long, and pseudo-bulbs 

 about the size of a pigeon's egg'') appears to be a Sarcopodium. (0. H. B.). 

 — It is impossible to name plants from single leaves. 



POULTRY, BEE, AND PIGEON OHEONIOLE. 



A PACT FOE OTJE KITCHEN AUTHOBITIES. 



When the Ducliesse d'Angouleme was a child in the palace of 

 Versailles, and the Parisian mob clamoured under the windows 

 for bread, it is said she asked a lady in waiting why they cried 

 out for bread. Eeceiving for answer that they had none, she 

 said, "Why do they not eat pastry?" So Mr. Balderstone, coming 

 home from the city one Saturday, told the partner of his for- 

 tunes that, contrary to his usual habit, he had not brought the 

 Sunday dinner. The advent of the city man (clerk, it may be), 

 living "in the suburbs, to home earlier than usual on Saturday, 

 is second only in importance to that event of past years, the 

 arrival of the husbands' boat at Margate. Everything is in 

 order : the dinner somewhat later, and visions of croquet, cricket, 

 rounders, or, if that cannot be, the treat of a long walk with 

 father — or papa, as may be the fashion — will be enjoyed by 

 anticipation by aU. The careful housewife — God bless her, we 

 write for such — has brought the consumption of the week to a 

 clever crisis, and a rice pudding has been necessary to eke out 

 Saturday's dinner. Father dines with them and carves on 

 Sunday. The dinner is provided from a square brown basket, 

 which is brought on Saturday only, and from which emerges a 

 piece of beef or a choice joint of mutton, and at times oranges, 

 at another figs, or almonds and raisins — cheap pleasures, bxit 

 appreciated by children, and, well used, forming the cement by 

 which the bricks of mutual love, respect, and dependance ai-e 

 made into one compact mass for after years and trials. 



"Oh, dear! dear! dear! here's that prosy fellow at work again! 

 It's so long since we heard of him, we hoped he had emigrated. 

 We doubt it, but he might be tolerable at the antipodes ; but 



here . What has this to do with poultry'?" Not much. 



But the basket came down empty on this occasion. WTien it 

 was announced there was no frown on the good wife or children's 

 face. They knew the husband and father would reverse the 

 Cranstoun motto and say, " I will want ere you shall want ;" 

 but, as an old statesman said that loyalty was difficult for a man 

 breaking stones at 9d. per day, so it is difBcult to see the end of 

 a difficulty when wife and childreu look for diimer when they 

 come out of church and the joint is missing. 



" Well, but, George, how has it happened ?" 



"Everything, Emily, is beyond price. Mutton 11(?. per lb., 

 roasting beef a shilling, veal out of the question, and lamb no 

 longer sold by weight but by the joint. I turned everything 

 over in my mind till my ideas were like a tangled ball of string, 

 and then I made up my mind to leave you to advise rue." 



"Papa," said one of the little ones, " let us have some poultry. 

 I recollect we had a Goose once." 



"No," said the eldest girl ; "we have plenty of eggs, let us 

 have eggs and bacon." The thought seemed a happy one, the 

 dish was a new one ; it was accepted, and the usual Saturday's 

 walk was merrier than common. 



" I do not know," said the wife in the evening, " what we are 

 to do if meat continues at the present price. It seems to me 

 everything increases in value except the labour of educated men. 

 The childi-en must have meat, and the expense is terrible. We 

 shall be obliged, as Septimus said, to eat poultry." This was 

 said with a smile, as, on the occasion of the last christening, 

 paterfamilias had pm-chased two fowls which were uneatable, 

 being so hard. In the evening an old friend came in, a French 

 lady, who on a small income had lived for yeai-s abroad and in 

 England, and the occurrences of the day formed the subject of 

 a cheerful conversation. 



" Ah ! " said she, " the old story. Nothing but the best meat 

 and poultry, and that made the least of. Nothing but a lump 

 of meat roasted or boUed, doing only half the service it is capable 

 of doing in a family. No poultry, no helps, all for want of a. 

 knowledge of cookery or contempt for the science. Now listen, 

 out of those two fowls which were thrown away I could have 

 made a savoury, succulent, and nourishing dish. Poultry need 

 not be beyond the reach of the middle classes of England. It 

 is not so abroad, where people are not so well off as they are 

 here. But in France a knowledge of cookery supplies the want 

 of excellence in the meat. That which is unfit for roasting or 

 Ijailing may be stewed or made into a dehcious pie. 



" This is the mode of doing it. The fowls, however old, must 



