July 10. 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



33 



fruit from the same plants all the year round; about a dozen 

 fruit are sometimes cut at one time, and laid up in the frnit 

 room, which pives us an opportunity to thin-out the shoots more 

 freely, and to cut off any old leaves that may become infested 

 ■with thrips or spider. Thrips are very destructive in Cucumber 

 houses, and are not easily destroyed ; fumigating the house two 

 or three times in succession with tobacco smoke will keep them 

 nnder, but it is best to continue fumigation iintil they are quite 

 destroyed. 



CONSERVATORr AKB PLANT STOVE. 



There is continuous work here in the way of re-arranging 

 plants, as the tlowers are not so lasting as they are in cool 

 veatber ; but we do not care so much for tlowers here, when the 

 flower garden and borders are at their best. We have been re- 

 potting Chinese Primulas, Tree Carnations, and other plants of 

 this nature, to furnish us with flowers when there are none to be 

 had out of doors. 



Chryaanthcmums also claim attention in the way of sticking 

 and tying-out the shoots of specimen plants. The young shoots 

 had become infested with aphides, which would soon have 

 checked their iTowth ; they were dipped in tobacco water, which 

 efiEectually destroyed the aphides. Some dry snuff «haken over 

 them would have answered the same purpose, and can be more 

 readily applied. "We have also very nearly finished potting all 

 of them in their blooming pots. Those intended for cut flowers 

 were placed three plants in 11 or 13-inch pots, and a few pairs 

 of plants in 9 and 10-inch pots. The specimen plants were 

 potted in various-sized pots from 8 inches up to 1.5 inches inside 

 cliametor. The pots are always crocked with oyster-shells, and 

 the same material pounded-down serves to mix with the com- 

 postin which the plants are potted. 



FLOWER G.\RDEN. 



The beds are now at their best, and much care is taken to 

 pick off all decaying flowers as soon as they appear to fade. 

 The Rose beds and borders must be looked over every third day, 

 as decaying Roses on standard or dwarf plants cannot be per- 

 mitted. They are free from green fly this year, and the worm 

 which attacks the bud as soon as it is formed has not been so 

 troublesome to ns as it is sometimes. Our soil is not adapted 

 for herbaceous plants, as a large proportion of them require a 

 soil of good depth and of some holding power. In our shallow 

 gravelly borders they require much attention, especially as 

 regards watering; if neglected in this particular many of the 

 more delicate die altogether. In all gardens where things are 

 expected to be done in first-rate style, and where labour is 

 highly paid, it is best to have the water laid-on to all parts of 

 the garden, so that hose can be attached aud the water spread 

 over the ground easily and quickly. — J. Douglas. 



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 th«y 

 are subjected to unjustifiable troublo and expense. All 

 communications should therefore be addressed solely to 

 The Editor* of the. Journal of Horticulture ^ d'C.j llljFleet 

 Street, London, E.G. 



We also request that correspondents will not mix 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 

 separate communications. Also never to send more than 

 two or three questions at once. 



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

 week. 



Book {Fidget). — Onr " Flower Oaiden Manoal " contains the treatment of 

 FelAFgoDinniH, KnchsiM, &c. It maj be hAd free by post from our office for 

 Qve posta(/« Htainps. 



Fruit (if. P.).— Write to Jlesars. ■Webber, Central Avonno, Covent Garden 

 Uarket. 



Deodar Cedab «J. B, B.).— The IcftTes being white at the end of each 

 Rhofjt, it 18 only a eport, occasioned, probably, by the roots having descended 

 into ari nufavourablo soil. 



VEiTrn Prizes.— Mr. Wakefield, who took the firfit prize for Black Grapes 

 on the Jlrd inst (hce pa<Te .Si, is gardener to F. Gretton, Kpq., Uladon House, 

 Borton-on-Trent, not Leamington, whence, however, he eent his entry. 

 ^ Bbattko a Bh all Greenhousf. (-/. Wi\gon). — Any Ras-Btove with a 9-inch 

 rinff of flamefi, and a tube to carry the fumes into the open air, would be 

 snfllcient to exclude frost from a houne 12 feet by feet. 



Strawberribs iA. B. O.). — Even if in perfect orderwe cannot name Straw- 

 berriefi, ihey are loo hlightly differinK ; but your two berries were reduced to 

 a palp, and the box itreaming with their juice. 



Rosea with Grkkh Cehtreb {M. E. TT.).— Early pmning and cold weather 

 in sprinif, which give a check to the Fop, are often the cauBCs of green eyes in 

 the centre of lUi^ea. There is. wo fear, no royal roa-l to prevent it. It i» 

 never wise to leave early-pushed bnds on the plants at pruning time, which 

 many do for the itake of baring earlier bloom h. 



SEEnLiKo OsRAKTrM (If. F. IT.).— It IB Dot eiuol to many of similar colouT 

 and leaf. 



Spir^a japonica after Floin-ering {Lady SHfesfriber),— The plants 

 should be kupt iu a coki frame if they aie out of llower before May, and ought 

 to be kept there with ubuudance of air aud duo supplies of water until the 

 middle of that month, oi- later if frosty. TUey pbouhi then be plunyed out- 

 doors, and must be well supplied with water throiishout the summer. If the 

 spot is Bh«ltered they may remain until wanted for furcin^', aud may then be 

 shifted into a larger-sized pot. Ours under this trcatmeut increase in size 

 annually, and as a rule produce double the number of npikes of bloom. They 

 are iu lur^'e puts — masses giving lifty or more spikes of bloom. 



Improving Son. (Irf^m). — The soil you sent us is very bai-ren, being mostly 

 sand. The iusect in it — for we only found one — is the wireworm. To destroy 

 it we would dress the uncropped ground with gas lime at the rate of twenty 

 bushels per acre, and point it in with a fork. To improve the land we should 

 add all the turfy loam we could, and at the same time apply a good dressing 

 ol stable or farmyard manure, not more reduced than will permit of its being 

 dug-in. Tne addition of fresh soil we should most reiy on, applying as much 

 of that as you could procure, also of dung. With tbefe applications thisi, 

 autumn, dug-in aud thrown np roughly for the winter, forkiog over in fi'osty 

 weather iu February, a good lining in Mai'ch (lUD bushelB per acre), and fork- 

 ing-in, we think you may next year put iu the various kinds of kitchen-garden 

 crops, as well as tlowers, with every prospect of success. 



Pea? Diseased [A. F. S.). — The Peas, from your description, are suffering, 

 and have died, from the coldness of the soil and long-continued cold weather. 

 Though ours have not died they have suffered to a c-nsiderable extent, having 

 turned yellow, but only those of the Wrinkled Marrow section. The best 

 means of saving the crop in future would be to dress with quicklime in 

 Bprinu, and point it iu before sowing. When the Peas appear above ground 

 dust them and the soil with quicklime every week or ten days until earthed- 

 You will not hnd them die-off next year. 



Treatment of Tricolor and Bicolor Pelargoniums {Fidget). — The 

 plants are best shielded from powerful sun, hot sun being fatal to good colour- 

 ing. We would have an awning of tiffany on a roller to let up aud down by o- 

 cord and pulley, using it only during bright sun. The soil we advise for the 

 Tricolors is librous loam, neither hea^-y nor light, three parts, leaf soil onep4i-t> 

 hall a part old cow dung, and half a part silver sand and pieces of charcoal in 

 equal proportions, the whole well mixed. Be careful to afford good drainage, 

 and do not overwater, especially soon after pottiug, and yet they should never 

 be allowed to become thoroughly dry. This applies more particularly to 

 Bicolora. They should be kept near the glass aud have abundance of air. 

 We do not advise mix.ng peat with the soil for these Pelargoniums. The 

 plants from cuttings of last year should soon have a rest by being kept dry,, 

 and should then be cut down like other Pelargoniums. 



Grape Bunch Shrivelled {Idem). — The bunch you sent ns is shrivelled 

 in coDseqnence of the Vine roots being in soil of a luuch lower temperature 

 than that in which the leaves are growing; hence the sap is not furuished 

 rapidly enough to meet the requirements of the foliage. The only remedy is 

 to keep the temperature of the house rather low by a fvee admission of air in 

 hot days iu the early stages, or until the Vines ai-e coming into flower, or to 

 apply heat to the border. 



CuccMBER Leaves Spotted {G. W.). — We think the leaves have been 

 Scorched by the sun, but the spotting may have been caused by the fumiga- 

 tion. Ihey exhibit no indications of insects. We should give a little air 

 early in the day, so as to have the leaves dry when the iun strikes powerfully 

 on them, and in fumigating be careful to deliver the smoke cool and not too 

 strong. Put flowers of sulphur on the hot-water pipes. 



Ivy Cuttings (F. J.). — You may put in cuttiuRs of the young shoots of 

 the current year as soon as they become firm, which they wiU be about this 

 time. It ie not necessary to have a portion of old wood, but they may be 

 cut into pieces of 6 inches, and inserted two-thirds their leugth in light sandy 

 soil in a shady border, keeping moist. We prefer the short stubby shoots 

 6 or b inches long. 



Morello Cherries Falli.ng {Idem). — It is very common this year, which 

 we attribute to the long-continued cold, and this has not conduced to the 

 thorough setting of the fruit, or it may be a result of the wood being imper- 

 fectly ripened last year, owiug to the cold and wet of the late summer and 

 autumn. With us all kinds of out-door fruits, except Apples, have set very 

 indifferently. The pinching of all shoots which you cannot lay-in is right. 

 It would not cause the fruit to fall. 



Thinning Pears (Idem). — We should thin-out the fruit in each cluster to 

 two or at the most three, not leaving mure than two or three dozen on each. 

 tree. The fruit will be finer, and the trees will not he injured by the crop 

 named if you feed them well at the roots. 



Galls on Male Blossoms of Oak (C. J. G.).— The galls sent appear tft 

 be shrivelled-up Currant galls, as they are termed, caused by the punctures of 

 Cynips quercus-pedunculi. The gall flies will appear next spring. Male gall 

 flies ore well known. — I. O. W. 



Galls on Elm Leaves {J. E. Slinf old'. —The very numerous excrescences 

 on the Elm leaves ore galls formed by a plant-loube. Aphis gaUarum ulmi* 

 each gall being inhabited by a small brood of the young of these insects. — 

 I, O. W. 



Strawberhieb for Succession {A. C. H.). — Vicomtesse Hericarfc de 

 Thury, President, Sir Joseph Paxton, Dr. Hogg, and Frogmore Late Pine. 

 There are no late varieties of Asparagus. 



Azalea and Camellia Culture {A Very Old Subscrihfr). — When th© 

 growth is made and the buds 8et, place the plants out of doors on awhes, in a. 

 position shaded from the midday stm, taking cai'O that they do not suffer irom 

 want of water. The hot and dry conservatory would be altogether unsuitable, 

 also the vinery after the growth is made. 



CiKERARiAH and CALCEOLARIAS {Iiirvt). — The plants would thrive much 

 better if placed on ashes on a shady border sheltered from winds, and should 

 be kept moist. A hot and dry conservatory ia not united to them. 



Tuansplanting Violets {Idfm], — You may now take off the rooted runners 

 or suckers and make a new plantation, shading them from bright sun, and 

 watering in dry weather. It would have been better lo have planted them 

 eorUer. 



Horse Chestnut and Sycamore Leaves Duied-up f J. B.).— Not know- 

 ing more than the fact that the leaves are dead, wo can only hay, that as there 

 are no fungi upon the specimens hcnt, wo burmise that the roots have de- 

 scended into an obnoxious soil. 



Graper Spotted (An Orphan Oardmer). — Pcmovc all the spotted berries 

 and water the roots of the Vines copiously with tftpid water once a-lortnight} 

 and the alternate week with very weak hquid manure. 



