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JOURNAL 0F HORTICULTITKE AND COTTAaE G-AKDENEE. [ November 17, 1863. 



CONVEKTINO A GREENEOUfiE INTO A ViNERY f£/j/). — OUF fricndfl wllO 



■wish for an answer to questions in next weeit's impression shuuld lei us 

 have their questions in the beginning of the week. Y'lu very modestly 

 propoee two questions, but these involve ever so many, and a fall anewer 

 to them would iietd a whole Number of this Journal. Most of them ha\e 

 recently been dit-eussed in detail, so we must be brief. "We should have 

 fully comprehended your span-roofed greenhouse, facing east and west, 

 30 feet by 17, it you had given us the height at sides and the height of 

 the ridge-board. Tlie height at the eidee, wall and glass, would have 

 given uc the key-note for the forming of your borders for Vines. Glass in 

 square?, twenty-nnc ounce, and in such large squares as 20 by 16 inches, 

 shuuld have brads at their lower ends at any rate, besides the putty to keep 

 them from slipping. A brad in the middle of tlie square in such a case, with 

 a slice of india-rubber beneath it , would make all more safe, especially if the 

 rebates are verj shallow. If at all deep, they will not be needed. There 

 are plenty of offices which insure glass houses against injury from hail- 

 storms, &c. ; but we cannot take upon us to recommend any oflBce in pre- 

 ference to anottier. A gr.ivcHy and sandy soil, if the two first are in excess, 

 will not grow Vines successfully ; but it deep and open it may be enriched 

 with manure and loam, and some chalk or lime rubbish and a few bones. 

 If the grivcl jind sand are unhealthy to vegetation, some of the cleanest 

 gravel and snnd thouUi be lued with lime, in the proportion of six parts of 

 the former to one of the latter, to make a concrete bottom of 3 inches, and 

 on that place good fresh loam for the Vines. If other things grow well in 

 your sandy gravelly soil, the Vines will also do well with the addition of a 

 little loam and nuinuie, ihe latter chiefly as top-dressing. For making 

 borders, see notee. on Keile Hall, and notice of Trentham at page 374 ; but 

 if you merely wish for late Grapes, and the )?oil is at all favourable and no 

 chance of stagnant water, you may add a little fresh soil merely on the top 

 of the old, mixed nr not mixed with it, as you will shortly see was done by 

 Mr. Lane at Berkhamp>te;ui. In general cases the preparatory mode will 

 he found the best in the end. We prefer the Vines to be planted inside, 

 and "would have the loots to run there as well as outside. The outside 

 border might be from 8 to 10 feet wide. You might have eight Vines on 

 each side if jou chiefly wished tor Vines ; and if you wished these to be 

 forced early, or to Imve little forcing at all, but to be ripe and cleared ofl 

 in the autumn- say by the middle ot October— then nothing would be better 

 than Euckhind Sweetwater, Royal Muscadine, and different varieties of 

 BUek Hamburgh. You might also add a plant of Hamburgh Muscat and 

 Muttjat of Alexui;dria. If you wished the Grapes to come in late and hang 

 during part of the winter on to the spring, then to the above add the Tieb- 

 biano, Charle^woith Tokwy, and Lady Downes' Blick. If you propose 

 growing fruit trees in such a house, there will be no difficulty ; but the five 

 Vines on each side would be enough, and you make your houre a fruithouse 

 and not a greenhouse A good arrangement for such a house would be 

 a bed in the midillo 7 feet wide, the path round 2^ feet, side borders 

 2^ feet. Any small ."-addlf-back or conical boiler would do for such a house, 

 increasing the si/e according to what you want from it. It would be place'. 

 bert at the end of the houi^e, nest the range ol pits to be heated. We 

 have frequently desci ibed how different places may be easily heated from 

 the same boiler. The quantity ot piping would depend on the time Grapes 

 were wanted, ami two four- inch pipes all round would be ample for general 

 purposes, and these could be place'J side by side on the side and end borders, 

 avoiding the doorwajs. For very early lercing a third pipe would be neces- 

 sary, or a couple of pipes might go under the central bed, with clinkers or 

 stones round, and then eaith or other matter to set the pots in. The top 

 spit from a pai^ture— or rather 3 inches of it piled in a heap for a 

 few months, with layers of branches in it to let the air through it— would 

 be in capital order to be chopped roughly down in sis months. Any 

 fresh soil beneath tur', or froui a roadside, may be used at once if you 

 deem such fresh soil necessary, and certainly it is safest The great thing 

 is to avoid stagnant water and the roots getting too deep- The time of 

 planting is immaieriyl. If planted now and well mulched the roots will 

 begin to make fresh fibres at once. If planted in March and a little heated 

 soil is used and warmed wiittr also, they will soon start away. If you 

 can grow the Vines inside until June, you can plant out then and shade u 

 little to prevent a check. In every case the roots should be carefully 

 spread out r^rhais the best plan of all, if it could be done, for quicli 

 work, would be to tuin out the roots in spring carefully into shallow 

 baskets some 2.^ to 3 feet in diameter. Grow them inside a warm house 

 and then plant out in fine aired soil in June, planting basket and all 

 together. Plnntir.g inside, howevei,you may doit anytime when the ground 

 Ifl ready. With Vines tliiuly on the roof, the plants in pots will do very well. 



Transplantiko Pr.AcnFs, Apricots, &c. (/rfcw).— There need be no hesi- 

 tation in moving these trees, eight or ten years old, from one garden wall tu 

 another, and the sooner it in done before the ground is cooled the better. 

 Prepare the ground where the trees are to be planted, unfasten the trees 

 and fasten the branches in bundles so as not to be broken. Then dig down 

 a deep trench near to where you may expect the extremities of the roots 

 to be, and pick down and throw out the soil in the face of the trench, saving 

 every root that comts in your way, and thus go on until you get up to the 

 tr«e, wrapping the roots, il the weather is at all dryer sunny, in damp mats. 

 Carry the tree with all its ruots thus secured to the new place, and pack the 

 roots nicely in the fre:^h soil, and the bulk of them to be 6 or 8 inches from 

 the surface. Light sandy soil will be the best to pack them in, and then 

 place the other soil over and fasten down moderately, and place a good 

 layer ot litter over the »oil to keep the frost out. Must likely if thus managed 

 the trees will be improved by the moving. But in order to give them a 

 first-rate chance, whilst these means are used to encourage loot-action, 

 keep the shoots from the wall as long as possible that they may be kept from 

 swelling their buds too soon. 



AspABAGDs-BED-MAKiNG (A Reader, Bingley). — If the soil is light, 

 rich, and deep, inches of well-rotted manure, worked-in in trchching the 

 ground 3 feet deep, is a good preparation, the beds being made 5 feet wide, 

 with two-feet alleys between. In very cold heavy soils it is advisable 

 to take out the soil to the depth of 3 teet, and fill in 6 inches thick of 

 charred turf at the bottom, then inches of manure, 3 inches of river 

 sand next, then more turf, or moderately light, good-bodied soil, manure, 

 and tand, until the whole is raised level with the surface. Having an 

 opening at one end, turn the whole over, mixing it well together ; and when 

 that is done, throw ont the alleys I foot deep and 2 feet wide over the beds 

 on each side, which should be 5 feet wide. The ground being well drained 

 previously, and proper care taken of the beds alterwar<ls, good crops will 

 result. 



Papeb Drapkrt (Paper Brapet-y). — We cannot find such an advertise- 

 ment in our columns. 



Prontnciation of Ciclames (A Subscriber).— It is pronounced as if 

 spelt Sick-lamen. 



Asa-BARK FOR EPILEPSY {Charlotte). — ^The hark of the female Ash-tree 

 (Fraxmus excelsior) — that is, a tree bearing fertile keys, differs in no known 

 quality from the bark of the male, or non-secd-beuring tree. Some Ash 

 trees bear both fertile and unfertile flowers. 



OcviRANDRA FENESTRALis CuLTCRK (Aiixious /rt^uiVer).— Youp treat- 

 ment is right, except that you are ignorant of the piand secret in growing 

 it—*' Keeping the leaves tree from dirt, and all aboul it sweet." A suc- 

 cessful cultivator furnishes us with th- following particulars of its cultiva- 

 tion :— " It requires a temperature of from 70" to 70". Broad glaes pans 

 are most suitable for it, as they al.ow of the structure of the leaves being 

 perfectly visible from the light transmitted through the sides. The compost 

 consists of fibry peat with a little rotten turf. This is put at the bottom of 

 the pan to the depth of 3 inches, and is covered with half-an-inch ot 

 liver sand. The sand is to prevent the water becoming discoloured or dirty 

 when the pl.int is syringed. It is watered with the .s) ringe every morning, 

 taking care to use water of the same temperature as that, lu which the plant 

 is growing. This syringing frees the leaves of any sediment that might 

 adhere to theiu, and prevents green slimy moas farming in the water. The 

 sides of the glass requirt: rubbing occasionally to keep them clean. Early 

 in spring the soil is renewed, as the leaves begin growing smaller and 

 weaker wben the soil stops in too long. The suit is only changed once 

 a-year." You did quite right to repot the plant when you iouiid it was not 

 doing well, as that, it seems, is one of the main pointt; to be attended to 



Plants fop. a Shaded Conservatory Border {F. jV,). — Ferns are 

 more adapted for such a border than Heaths, which require, and must have, 

 sun, light, and air. The variius multifid and elegant varieties of the 

 Briti-)h species of Ferns would be charming in such a place, grown in pots 

 or planted out. We know of nu flowering plants that would do in such a 

 place as that you name. 



Cref.pehs roE Conservatory Porch {Idem).— Those you name wonld 

 do very well. Wistaria sinensis is a handsome fast-growing plant, and so 

 is Clematis lanuginos.i, the former flowering in spring and the other during 

 the summer. Of evergreens there are CaprifoUum jiponicuui, sempervirens, 

 and Youngi ; Lonicera biachypoda and flexuosa ; and Jasminuin revululum 

 and Wallichianum. Magnolia grandiftura, and Crata?gus crenututa, Pyra- 

 cantha, and its variety fiuctu-albo, are handsome evergreens. 



Early-flowering Annuals (Jgjics). — Sweet Alyssum ; Campannla 

 Lorei; Clarkia pulcheiia var. Tom' Thumb ; C. pulchella and alba; GiUa 

 bicolor and tricolor; Eacharidium grandifloruiu ; GypsophiU muralis ; 

 Coltinsia atrorubens, bicoljr, bartsiajlulia, and bart^imfolia alba; Esch- 

 scholtzia californica, and crocea alba; Silene pendula and alba; Limnan- 

 thes grandiflura and alba ; Lupinus nanus and nanus albus ; Ne^nophila 

 in^ignis maculata; Noiaua atriplicifolia, alba, and paradoxa ; Venus's 

 Looking-glass; Leptosiphon aureus and densiflorus; Candytuft ; and Erysi- 

 mum Peroffskianum. These, with many more, bloom early. March is the 

 best time to move them, though we have found very little difi'crence between 

 tho-*e moved in October or the begioning nf November, and those trun*^ 

 planted in March. Tbe grand secret is to lilt them with balls, and to 

 disturb the root^ as little as possible. All transplant well with balls of earth 

 attached to them. 



HippEASTRiM EQCESTRE {A Subscriber shice 185G). — It is an evergreen 

 from the West Indies, Your treatmei-.t i? quite right so far ; but you should 

 have gradually withheld water from the beginning of October, but not 

 60 much as to suddenly cause the leaves to turn yellow. Place on a 

 shelf in the stove, allow them all the sun and light practicable, and gi\e 

 very little water duviii^'^ the winter- that is, fiom November until the 

 beginning of March. It i.-- not necessary to put them to rest by drying-oft 

 the bulbs, as that de-tioys the roots in the pots, which we are certain 

 weakens the bulbs. Cleopatra and many others do not die down unless 

 compelled by withholding water We do not recomir.end that plan, but 

 recommend ihe roots to be kept dry for a period of three months at the 

 dullest time of the year, and to give them more sun, light, an*:! air, at that 

 period than any other, and a corresponding dryness. You are quite right 

 in giving them plentiful nourishment after flowering ; in fact they canno; 

 be encouraged too much tor three months after flowering, or until the foliage 

 attains its full size. After that time water should be gradually withheld, so 

 that they will need very little indeed during the wintei . We will attend to 

 your other inquiries. 



■Wintering Pelarookivms and Yocng Heliotropes in a Koom {Ah 

 Old Subscriber).— The plants you have managed to strike out of doors, and 

 establish in four-inch pots, will no doubt succeed well under the same care 

 as thcvt which has broui^ht them thus far. A room is a very good place to 

 keep such things, provided there be plenty of light, and the plants be 

 placed near the window. Pelargoniums ar^ quite as hardy as bedding 

 Geraniums of the scarlet or similar breeds, and will endure quite as rough 

 usage ; but there is a wide difference between wintering piantf lor the 

 flower garden and preparing tidy plants for keeping in pots to flower In the 

 latter case nice-shaped plantdare'requircd ; in the other, sliape and symmetry 

 are of little moment. Hnwever, by giving thu best places to those plants 

 which are required for retaiaiug in pots, tuey will be better shaped; but 

 you can hardly expect to compete with those having better means. Your 

 Heliotropes will keep very well if you do not give them too much water. 

 Perhaps, however, the luliage may becouie a little disfigured during the 

 short days, but they will grow well enough afte'-wards, and afford cuttings 

 to propagate from in April, when they root freely. If the room ihey are 

 growing in be not too dry, we do not think bell-glasses will be wanted, 

 excepting for plants not suicicntly rooted. You arc perfectly right, h.'W- 

 ever, in trying such experiments, and we hope to hear from you again.. 

 Perhaps the next time you will favour us with the result of your experiment? 

 in some department that will be adaptable to other of our readers. 



Names op Fruit {7*. .4., i*(j;7i«9fo»)— -It ha? now *' come to your turn." 



3, Passe Colmar ; 4, Swan's Egg (i^ ; 5, Uvedales St. Germain ; 6, Nouveau 

 Poiteau ; 7, Flemish Beauty; 8, Vicar of Winkfield ; 10, Chaumontel ; 

 11, Comte de Lamy ; 13, Shepherd's Seedling ; 14, Bedfordshire Foundling; 

 15, White Costing; 16. Trumpington; 17, Court of Wick; 16, King of 

 Pippins; 19, Domelow's SeeJling. Others not identified, {An Old Sub' 

 xcribcr, FAmdon).— Pems.— 2, Nouvean Poiteau; 3, White Dcyemafi; 



4, Neill ; 6, Madame Elize ; 7, Comte de Lamy ; 8, Van Mons Leon lo ClerCk. 



