4SG 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Jmie 13, 1872. 



because imotber conxFi>on(lc-nt says he cannot find it in botanical books. It 

 is the Golden-netted Honeysuckle of some authors. Train it upon a treJis; 

 it requires no pruning. 



Aecms— Ln-iEs or the Vallet— Pannn-is attee Flowerino (J/. H.).— 

 The Arams should be kept in the greenhouse, and be watered as may be need- 

 ful They will require less water than when growing and flowenng. In 

 autumn they will begin to grow freely, and shonld then be potted as may bo 

 necessary, and watered more freely. They may be placed out of doors now, 

 and housed in September. Plant out the LUy of the \ alley m rich bght soU, 

 at a toot apai-t every way, selecting a border shaded from the midday sun, but 

 not oTerhung by trees. The plants must have liberal suppUes of water in dry 

 weather. In the course of a yeax or two they will be fit for forcing agam, or 

 thev wiU flower out of doors. They wUl not be satisfactory in pots next 

 season As rcai-da the Piimulas, you may remove the old flowers, stems, and 

 leaves,' and set" the plants in a sheltered slightly shaded position, and they 

 will flower again in autumn, but not bo well as young plants. 



Peonia Mot;TAK Propagatios (H.).— It is increased by division and by 

 cuttings of the voung shoots in spring. Take ofi the latter close to the stem, 

 insert them in"sandy soU, place them in a hotbed, and keep them close 

 and shaded from bright sun. It is also increased by layers of both the old 

 and young wood, ringing them— i.e., removing a snrnU nng of bark aU round 

 the shoot or branch, and if this be done between every joint, and the shoot 

 be hiyered in the soU, every bud will form a plant. There are upwM-ds of bfty 

 good distinct varieties, and about a dozen of them have very fine double 

 flowers. We should be glad if any of our correspondents would favour us 

 with a select Ust of the varieties of this neglected but fine hardy flowering 

 shrub. 



Tbatxisg Misiattee Fecit Teees (J. J.).— From the remarks in yoM 

 letter you seem to understand the treatment that the trees requu-e. Pmch 

 the side shoots as von propose. The length at which the leading shoot 

 requires to be slopped depends much on the sort; some form side branches 

 more freely than others. We generaUy pinch the leadmg shoot twice in the 

 season when the tree is in fuU growth. Apple, Pear, and Plum trees requure 

 similar treatment in this respect. We do not advise you to let the young 

 shoots grow untU autumn, and then cut them back. Pinch back the shoots 



Trees in Oechaio) Hocse (^molcur).— No one can tcU you how many 

 trees should be allowed to mature their fruit in your orchard boose unless 

 he knew the size of them. You may place the trees as close together as you 

 please when they are dormant; but if they are crowded when making tlieur 

 growth weakly shoots and but few f^ui^buds will be the result. Supposmg au 

 orchard house to contain seventy-five trees when the frmt is npemng-oH, a 

 hundred may be admitted mto the same house until the first week of June, 

 when twenty-five of them should be placed out of doors to ripen the frmt. 



Fecit Tree Ccltcre (H. HaU).— The Pear and Apple trees on your walls 

 are probably trained on what gardeners caU the horizontal system; if so, 

 the young side shoots ought to be pinched back to three or four leaves, 

 the Cherry and Plum trees are trained 

 young wood will require to be laid- 



Orchard House" will 



tbe front extra power over tlie more expcsed buds. AVheu 

 rather rough material is "useel as mulching in the autumn, and 

 brought close to the collars of the plants, much security is 

 given against severe frosts. . 



The appearance of tender fruits out of doors shows tbe im- 

 portance in our fickle chmate of protectmg them in a simple 

 mode with glass, but on this we cannot enter. Even such frmts 

 as Apricots and Peaches will stand a considerable degree of 

 frost if tbe air is dry and still. In confirmation of this we may 

 state that Peaches, Nectarines, Cherries, Plums, &o., in 

 orchard-houM-s have set too thicHy, and must be thinned very 

 much, except at least the earliest Chenies which are npemng. 

 Such trees grown in pots, even if the pots, as ours are, should 

 be mostly sunk, require frequent examination to see that the 

 moisture is sufficient. In such cases there is no test so good 

 as a gardener's finger grabbing down into the soil ; the next 



best would be a neat pointed stick. We lately showed that one 

 cause of ruin to plants in pots was repotting them with the ball 



and roots in a dry state. This surface-sprinkling is a.nother 

 cause of failure to plants in general, and to fruit trees in pots 



in particular. Some time ago we were asked by a keen 



amateur to look at some fruit trees in pots in a small house, 



hut ventilate and water as he would, though the trees were 



iair the fruit when young would keep dropping until scarcely 



any were left. As the bottoms of the pots were merely set m 



the ground, from one-half to two-thirds of the upper part of the 



pot being exposed, a stroke with om- walking-stick against the 



pots told us the cause in an instant. " Too dry ! Impossible ! 



Just see how wet they are. Watered them this momingmyself." 



Well, the turf and soil were moist enough to the depth of 



IJ inch. To prove our case, we went on our knees, and with 



our knife made an opening and dug up the lower soil as dry as 



dust. The rest of the crop was saved by two or three water- 

 ings, not a great one, until every root and bit of soil was 



moistened. 



0BNA3IESTAL GAEDESISG. 



We did much potting, fresh arranging, and propagating. 



Or chief work would have been planting-out, and we have 



about half done, reserving Coleus for a fortnight later, but the 



heavy rains have forced us to do the work in snatches. Only 



one fine day we had, and we put in a lot of plants, almost 



filling the beds at once. On this, the 8th, as on two previous 



days, we could only do a little In the forenoon ; the ground was 



too wet in the morning, and in the afternoon there was nothing 



but shed work for the men. In vei7 light ground more might 



have been done, but, in our soil, experience teaches us that we tveen the" flues „ 



had better wait, as when the ground is at aU poached the ^J|^ie to let the heat up into the s'oU'. The water is taken out of the tank, 



plants rarely flourish. It is just like sowing in muddy soil, there might be too much damp, and still no improvement. We see at once 



We mention this because many are uneasy that tbey are so | ;,^,t„f^^^^.'^-'^"„^^S„^^7,^^^^^^ 



great deal too much bottom heat, and that, though not hurtmg mere growth, 

 hurts the valuable pa:t— the young fruit. We think that with one flue shat in 

 under the bed, and the other left exposed for top heat, we should have no 

 difficulty with such a pit. We prefer the rubble under the eirth, however, to 

 be first covered with a layer of fine clean gravel. Under present circumstances, 

 as the tank is there, we should fix a 3-inch pipe over it at every 4 feet, the 

 pipe rising 3 inches above the soU, and furnished with a plug, so as to let 

 moist heat into the atmosphereof the place at pleasure. On each side, between 

 the tank and flue, we should fix similar or 4-inch pipes upright through the 

 soU the lower end fixed, but left open among the rabble. This would give 

 TOU dry heat, and if too dry pour water down among the stones. Tou would 

 not need so much fire as now. Extra bottom beat we think the chief cause of 

 failure. 



CoLocn OF TnicOLOE Geeashims U- P-)- — 'fon may use weak liquid 

 manure for your Tricolors planted in beds, to increase the size ajid brilliancy 

 of the leaves ; but one of the simplest and best plans is to cover the beds with 

 from 1 to 2 inches of riddled rotten dung, then have a bright sun, and the 

 foliage will be bright. 



Show Pelaegosicms foe BEDDrao-ocT (E. S.).— Several of the hardier 

 lar^e-flowerin" or Show Pelargoniums will do when bedded-out, but tbey do 

 not" Ust long enough, and require to he thoroughly protected from wind. It 

 is some time since we have seen any tried, but the best were of the Fancy 

 tribe and if we remember right, EUen Beck, D^Ucatum, and a few others 

 sQcceeded admirably. We should be glad if any of our correspondents can 

 name any varieties of this section of Pelargoniums which have succeeded in 

 their hands. 



Eose-buds Distorted (S. F. ^.).— The buds have apparently suffered 

 from oranne rast or fungus, most probably from having been too dry at the 

 roots. Dust with sulphur, and water libcraUy, giving a little guano as a top- 

 dressing, and let the plants have plenty of air without draughts. 



Lamaeqce Koses Grees-centeed (Lamarque).— The reason the boda 

 have come with green eyes is most probably from a check after too vigorous 

 fTowth. Cold weather coming after a forcing spring is apt to cause it. The 

 riant will most probably do well after another year. Thin out any weak 

 ™.n.fl, hnt rlo not Tinme nor shorten strong wood this autumn. If Marcchal 



the fan system, then some of the 



to tbe wall, cutting back all young wood 

 not required for this purpose. Thompson's "Gardeners Assistant" ' 

 best practical work on fruit culture. Pearson on the ' 

 suit yon. 



CccnrBER Pit (A Disappointed Amaltur).—Yovi do not say a word about 

 the ventUation, and therefore we presume that it is efficien t. You say you can 

 have what heat you require: want of heat, therefore, cannot be the reason of 

 the Melons not setting and the Cucumbers not swelling. Your place is heated 

 by three flues— two flows along the sides, a return in the middle, and a tank 

 over the latter, supplied with water and covered with perforated matenal ; the 

 them, and over the tank, covered with open 



behind. We know our plants are growing, and we can soon 

 get them out if the weather changes. We disHke, too, having 

 grass round beds trampled when wet, or discoloui-ed with wet 

 mud on it. We counsel to wait a little longer in preference to 

 tui-ning the plants out when the ground is soaked. We find 

 even good-sized plants do best when the earth can be turned 

 round the roots in a nice, friable, dryish, warm condition. 

 When not too wet, mowing could be proceeded with, and this 

 ■was aU the more necessary, as the rains made the grass grow 

 too quickly for our macMnes. This is especially the case 

 ■with the lawn we fresh-laid last season, as to make it all even 

 and level we had to use richer soil than we liked for the 

 jurpose. — R. F. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



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

 correspondents of the " Journal of Horticulture, Cottage 

 Gardener, and Country Gentleman." By so doing they 

 ai'e subjected to imjustifiable trouble and expense. All 

 communications shotdd therefore be addressed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, <&c., 171, Fleet 

 Street, London, E.C. 

 Mowing SLicmsE {Mower). — We never knew one unsatisfactory if properly 

 managed, so we cannot recommend any one specially. 



Seedling Pansies (C. S. HilUide). — They are very unique and good, both 

 in colour and form. Send some specimens to the Floral Committee of tbe 

 Koyal Horticultural Society. 



Ferns cnder Yellow Glass [W. A.). — As the glass is not entirely 

 yellow, but only with a diamond pattern of that colour on it, we think that 

 the Ferns will thrive under it. At all events try them, and send us a report 

 of the result. We found our opinion upon the results of Mr. Hunt's experi- 

 ments, who found that under yellow glass and blue glass plants were not 

 blanched, but they were under red glass and green glass. 



Japanese Honeysuckle {Boheston). — Your specimen is this Honeysuckle, 

 Lonicera brachypoda r. aureo-reticulata. W"e give the botanical name fully 



growth, but do not prune nor shorten strong wood this autumn. 



Kiel has succeeded well in the same aspect, we have Uttle doubt Lamarque will 



*%Tah'aleb Stock (Centurion).— It ia quite common, and Cherries worked 

 upon it may be bad at any nursery in England. Brent's book may be had at 

 om- office if twenty-six postage stamps are enclosed with your address. Any 

 bookseller will obtain the ether for you. 



