July 21, 1873. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



G9 



proportions, and in potting press the soil rather firmly around 

 the ball of the roots. 



We have been repotting softwooded plants of different sorts 

 to supply ns -n-ith cut dowers for decorative purposes in the 

 autumn, and putting in some cuttings of the best sorts of Zonal 

 Pelargoniums, which are very valuable for the same purpose. 

 Amongst the plants potted were Phloxes (Phlox decussata); the 

 cuttings were inserted singly in 3-inch pots about six weeks ago, 

 and have made good growth; being now in 5-inch pots, they 

 will flower in the autumn when the others are over, and very 

 useful they are for arranging amongst greenhouse plants. They 

 take up no room, and the long stems are hidden amongst 

 other plants. The flowers have also a very agreeable perfume. 

 It may not be out of place to name half a dozen of those best- 

 adapted for pot-culture : Aurantiaca superba, Madame Domago, 

 A. F. Barron, Mous. Linden, Mons. Marin Saison, Queen Vic- 

 toria, and Venus. After they have done flowering they are 

 removed to a cold frame for the winter, and make excellent 

 plants for plautiug-out in the spring. 



We also potted-on Tea Roses; these are very valuable for 

 autumn flowering. The plants are making vigorous growth, 

 and only require to be kept free from green fly, red spider, and 

 mildew to reward us with a splendid bloom. We also accommo- 

 date such plants as Bouvardias of sorts, Eranthemum pulchel- 

 lum, Thyrsacanthus rutilans, itc, on shelves in the Cucumber 

 house ; they will each in order reward us with plenty of flowers 

 during the dreary winter months. We have been repotting 

 those requiring that attention, and tying and placing sticks to 

 those plants in want of support. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



The weather this year has been favourable to continuous 

 bloom in the flower beds, and we do not think they have ever 

 looked better. No artificial waterings have been given to the 

 plants, except in the ease of one or two of the beds which had 

 become dry from not receiving the whole of the rain that fell. 

 Both in the flower and kitchen garden we advocate deep trench- 

 ing, and placing some of the manure at the bottom of the trenches 

 as well as near the surface. Roses are now far past their best, 

 and all flowers are removed as soon as possible after they are 

 showing signs of fading. Attention is also given to removing all 

 suckers from the base of standards, aswell as from dwarfs on the 

 Manetti stock. Through ignorance, we have seen this stock 

 entirely smother the Rose that had been grafted upon it, and 

 the shoots of the Manetti had been annually pruned, the owner, 

 however, looking in vain for Roses. Other work consisted of 

 mowing the lawn, trimming the edgings, and making all neat 

 and clean in the garden. — 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 they 

 are subjected to unjustifiable trouble and expense. All 

 commanications should therefore be addressed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture^ ttc, 171, Fleet 

 Street J London^ B.C. 



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

 week. 



The Journal ih Xkw Zealand (G. ^.).— By far the best way for you to 

 priicare the Joamal safuly and expeditiously is to send your sabscription for 

 a year direct ti the oilico here iu London, and the paper will be posted to you 

 weekly. Yuu will aeo the terms of Hubacription published at the top of the 

 first advert i somen t column of each number. Wo know the difficulty you 

 labjur under, as we have frequent complaints, and tliis is the beat remedy. 



Varieoated SwEF.r WiLLiAii (A. F. Ootlwar(l).—Xo\xr variegated- leaved 

 Sweet William appears to be a very pretty thing. 



Tlantino a Wall (An IrtAk Suhifcribert.—ThB best time to plant fruit 

 trees la as sood hs tUe leaves have fallen. Do not plant them on a muunil, 

 and do not make the soil too rich. Yoor garden would be better of a lime- 

 dressing. 



PardERviMO Melons. — A correspondent is anxious to know of a good re- 

 ceipt fur preserving Melons whole ; any information on the subject will be 

 esteemed. 



Rohan Hvacintii (}V. D.).— The Roman Hyacinth grows wild in France in 

 the Honthern departmentu, bat not at Lyons. You will fiml it at Cannes, 

 Narlxtnne, Tonloase, and in the basin of the Garonne. It also grows about 

 Rome, and on the coast of Barbary. 



PnHTijfo Trees {D?o'/ir). — The concluding paper of the series on orna- 

 mentiil planttni; will be devotoJ to general details, among which the subject 

 of your inquiry will be fully explained. 



FRtiTiNfi Forced Strawbekries in the Second Year (T. J.).— The 

 plants you tnmod out from \tf)tn lant year, and which have produced a good 

 crrjp this seasf)n, will bear a^ain well next year if the runners he duly re- 

 moved and the plants well manured in autumn, but the fruit is rather 

 smaller than in the first season after planting out. The plants put in last 

 year, and which have bomo scarcely any fruit in tlie present Heason, will fruit 

 well another year, remahung where they are, and the runners cleared off. 

 It would not do to remove the plants to another part of the garden. 



Grapes not Swelling (O. /.).— The berries do not swell because they are 

 not sot. Yoa miy effect this artificially, by going over the bunches whilst in 

 bloom with a dust brash, such as painters use, or by drawing the hand lightly 



over them. Some Vines, however, are at best bad setters, requiring more 

 heat than other kinds to swell well. There are no insects on the leaves sent us, 

 but evidence of there having been thrips, the remedy for which is to fill the 

 house on a calm evening with tobacco amoke, repeating the dose the next 

 night but one. Have the foliage of the plants dry, but the floor of the house 

 wet. 



Melons Failing (Anxious). — The failm-e probably ai-ises from want of 

 bottom heat, too much moisture when setting, and overcrowding the plants. 

 \Vhen the flowers are on the point of setting, the bottom heat should be 7a", 

 and the air of the house should be dry ; a little air may be admitted at night 

 to prevent the deposition of moisture on the blossoms, and no water should 

 be given over the leaves or flowers ; if any be needed at the root it should 

 be applied without making the surface of the bed moist. After the fruit is 

 set and begins to swell, water will be needed until ripening, and its use 

 should then be discontinued. One plant on each mound is quite sufflcient, 

 and its principal shoots should be 1 foot apart. We apprehend you have 

 a mound to each light of about 3 feet 6 inches wide. In other respects we do 

 not see that your treatment is wrong. 



Cucumbers in Pots (H. J.). — They may be grown successfully in pots ; 

 we have grown them well in 11-inch and l.'J-inch pots, but we like them best 

 in 15-iuch pots. We suppose the pots will be plunged in some material that 

 will be heated by the two -l-inch pipes; or are the pots simply placed between 

 them? If they have the sides of the pots against the pipes the roots will 

 probably suffer from the heat. The pots should stand clear of the pipes, or 

 they may bo placed on them. It would have been preferable to have had the 

 wooden-lattice frame 4 inches above rather than below the plants. Your 

 frame or pit to be worked from the outside will not be of much use for winter 

 work, as it will not be advisable to open the lights in contuiued frosty weather 

 to duly attend to the plants. They will, no doubt, answer well for summer 

 work. 



Melon Treatment (J. W. L.).— The cause of the Melons turning yellow 

 and not swelling is because they are not set, or impregnated, and that may 

 arise from too close and moist au atmosphere, or it may be due to a deficiency 

 of bottom heat. Give rather more air when about setting, leaving a little on 

 at night if at all moist, and have the surface of the bed dry, but the soil duly 

 moist. Three or four fruit are not too many on a plant if they are vigorous. 

 It is proper to stop one joint beyond the fruit, and about the time the flowers 

 expand is the time to stop them. Liquid manui-e may be given at every al- 

 ternate watering after the fruit commences to swell, but it should be weak. 



Name of Fern (Idem). — It is Adiantum assimile, a very useful kind for 

 bouquets. Adiantum cuneatum is pronounced cu-ne-a-tum, not cun-eat-um. 



E-scALLONiA aiACRANTHA (May, Kcnilworth). — In your part of the country 

 this should have the protection of a wall. 



Planting Vines — Heating (An Old Rcaih'r). — Intending the houses for 

 plants as well as for Vines, we should not plant the Vines closer than 3 feet 

 10 inches, or one to each light, and by all means have them planted in- 

 side. For the earliest and latest house we should have the borders the entii'e 

 width of the house, except, perhaps, the pathway at the back. In the other 

 houses the 4-feet inside borders will do. It would not answer well to have 

 1-inch flow and return to the other houses through the early house, nor 

 would we have any in the other houses, save those which are required for 

 heating, but, instead, a 4-inch flow and return outside the houses, and take 

 branches from it as each house was reached. The supply pipe might pass 

 through sheds which miglit be used for growing Mushrooms and forcing 

 llhubarb, Sea-kale, &c. The flow and return supply jjipes might, if you ob- 

 ject to this, be taken in a flue und«r the back pathway of the houses, and 

 might either be covered-in or a lattice pathway made over them. The heat 

 they would give o£f would be beneticial rather than otherwise, especially as 

 you intend to have plants. It is desirable to have the front lights made 

 moveable and double, so as to form a narrow space in which the Vines can 

 be placed when at rest. The house by this arrangement will be liberated for 

 the growth of plants requiring a temperature hurtful to the Vines. This 

 arrangement you will find fully treated of in " Sanders on the Vine," a work 

 pubhiihed at om- office. Noth withstanding the subsoil being dry and sandy, we 

 should concrete the borders, secure perfect drainage, and confine the roots to 

 the border. For the early house we recommend three Black Hamburgh, three 

 Buckland Sweetwater, and two White Frontiguan ; this house to be started 

 in November. Second house, started iu January, Frankenthal, Black Prince, 

 Muscat Troveren, two Mill Hill Hamburgh, Black Muscat of Alexandra (Muscat 

 Hamburgh), and two Muscat of Alexandria. Thirdhouse, started in February 

 or early in March, two Frankenthal, Trenthara Black, two General de la Mar- 

 mora, Black Prince, Muscat Trovren, and Golden Hamburgh. It is presumed 

 you will have Muscats remaining from the second house to come in along with 

 the other kinds in the third house. Late house, Muscat of Alexandria, two 

 Mrs. Pince, Alicante, two Lady Downe's, West's St. Peter's, and Trebbiano. 



Brown Turkev Fig not Ripening (G. S.). — This variety does well with 

 us in pots, and why it should not succeed with you while the others ripen we 

 cannot say. When Figs are grown in pots under the shade of Vines wo have 

 found them drop off before they are ripe. In your case the trees might have 

 received some check from under or over-watering at the roots. 



Plum not Bearing (AmateuT). — We can only account for your tree not 

 hearing so well as your neighbour's from the fact that his tree, having the 

 protection of a wall, receives more warmth while in flower, which causes the 

 blossoms to set more freely. When fruit drops off when of the size of peas, 

 it is because the blossoms did not set. Your district may be too cold for this 

 sort as a standard or pyramid. In the south of England it bears abundantly 

 as such. 



Potatoes with much Haclm {South Hackneii).^The Potatoes you hove 

 I)lanted are robust-growing sorts, Suttons' Red-skin Flourball especially so. 

 In all probability your garden is shaded or confined in some way. You ought 

 to plant them wider apart in the rows than usual, and the rows should not 

 be less than 2 feet apart. Cutting away some of the haulm will not increase 

 tho size of the tubers. It is early yet ; if you wait a few weeks perhaps the 

 tubers will swell. 



Strawiiekrv Plants {Cf. W. 0.).— Any of the nurserymen in your neigh- 

 bourhood will supply you with Strawberry plants. There are surely nursery- 

 men at Blackhoatb. 



Weeds on Lawn (An Old Subscriber),— Such weeds as your lawn is in- 

 fested with are very difficult of removal, except by hand-weeding and destroy- 

 ing the flowers so as to prevent seeding. Although weeding is a tedious 

 process, it will no doubt have the effect of gradually extirpating the pest. 



Markciiai. Niel Rose (A Beginner).— 'So doubt Man-chal Kiel will do 

 well in the situation you mention. A good strong loam will aiut it. 



