440 



JOmiNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 1, 18G3. 



Select Felarooniums (C. J, M.).— TMenty-f(nn- fne- flower i?iff Pelar- 

 ffiniums : Colossus, Koyal Albert, Rosy Bloomer, Censor, Impruveratnt, 

 Ariel, Celeste. Empress Eugi?nie, Fairest of the Fair, Lady Taunton, Lord 

 Clyde, Mrs. Hovle, Norma, Princetta, Koseum, S:r Colin Campbell, The 

 Belle, Sunset, Bacchus, Lady Canning, Ajrauiemnon, MeiTirajic, Viola, 

 Leviathan. Sir Spotted : Landseer, Monitor, Conspicuum, Sansp.ireil. Mr. 

 Hoyle, Peacock. Six Fancies: Ellen lieck. Acme, Arabella Goddard, 

 Cloth of Silver, Madame Sainton Dolby, Modestum. 



Beans — W. H. wislies to have any approximation to a statistical account 

 oj the acreage planted with Beans in England each year, or in the United 

 Kingdom ; also^rhich are the principal Dean-producing districts, and whether 

 they are grown to any extent in loreign countries, and, if so, what coun- 

 tries 7 We fchall be obliged by a reply to these queries. 



Select Chrtsanthemums [P. A.).—Ticeh-r best Chn/sant7icmums, largc- 

 iiowered : Her Majesty, Duchess of Buckingham, Jardin des Flanief, 

 Beverley, Lord Palmerston, Talbot, Queen of England, Dr. Rosap, Plutus, 

 General Slade, Antonelli, and Cleopatra. Six Pomjwips : Mrs. Dis, Danae, 

 Julie Engelbach, Lucinda, Duruflet, and Julie Lagravere. 



Erectio.v of a Greenhouse {i:conomy).~The cost always varies too 

 much with locality and circumstanci s for us to give an estimate without 

 almost a certainty of misleading. For seven postage starapa you may have 

 from our office " Greenhouses for the Many," which gives full particulars 

 and illustrations. 



New Zkalakd Flax Culttjke (JV.).— This plant (Phormium tenax) has 

 been found hardy as far north as Inverness-shire. It bears the climate of 

 the southern counties of England, and gro^vs freely in the moist climate of 

 Ireland. It will, therefore, no doubt prove hardy with you in the south- 

 ■west in a sheltered situation. The plant is easily'propagated by division of 

 the root. The divisions may be taken off in April and planted at once in 

 loamy soil in their final quarters. The seeds should be sown in March in 

 rather strong loam, scattering them thinly over the surface, and covering 

 with a thickness of soil equal to that of the seed. Place the pot or pan in a 

 Cucumber- tram e or any place with a nice gentle heat. Keep duly supplied 

 with water, and when fairly up gradually harden-off and place in a cold 

 frame. Prick them out in a cold frame when eufiiciently large to handle, 

 making the toil moderately rich by adding some leaf mould or well-rotted 

 manure to it. Keep rather close until the plants become established, then 

 admit all the air and light possible, and give copious supplies of water. 

 The plants should have the lights put over them in severe weather, some 

 toracken or straw being placed on the lights in long-continued frosts. Plant 

 out in the April following. They require a moist soil and climate, and will 

 no doubt do well on the margin of your lake We should advise you to try 

 an established planter two fiist, and see what effect the climate and soil have 

 upon them before you risk a number of plvints. 



Applenium viviPARUM CULTURE ( B. 5.).— We gTow this in a moist stove 

 fernery, and have no necessity to employ a bell-glass. It dr.cs well in a 

 tempeiature of 55° by night and 65" by day in winLer, and one of C5~ by night 

 and 75^ to 85° by day in summer. It has fronds much resembling Fennel, 

 and bears a quantity of little plants on its fronds as they become mature. It 

 usually grows about 1 foot high, and does well in 'a six-inch pot if a 

 moder.ite-sized plant, a ninc-iuch one being suflBeient for the largest plant. 

 Cocoa dust is a good material for growing it in, and it requires the same 

 amount of moisture as any other stove Fern, the Filmy-Ferns excepted. 



Tynningham Muscat Guate (Old Subscriber^ J^^otiitit/hn m).~Ti\is is a 

 very fine variety of the Muscat of Alexandria, and you can procure it 

 tbroDph any respectable nuiseryman ; but should you have any difficulty, 

 "Write to Mr. R. Parker, nurseryman, Tooting, near London, and you will be 

 sure to obtain it. 



Dracaena heliconifolia and D. siamensis (W. T. r.).— These cannot 

 be successluUy cultivated in a greenhouse where the temperature falls 

 Ijelow 50* at night in winter. They do moderately well in a warm green- 

 house in which the temperature rarely falls to 45° at night; but a stove 

 ■with a temperature in winter of 55° at night and C5° by day, and in summer 

 of from 60'' to 85* is more suited to their requirements. We should be only 

 deceiving you were we to say that they would thrive in a cool greenhouse. 

 Ton may keep them dry during the winter, when they will bear a lower 

 temperature, and probably they might be wintered safely in your cool 

 greenhouse. Anthurium acaule is not worth growing by those whose 

 space is limited. It is well enough for botanical collections ; hut, as a tine- 

 foliaged plant or ornamental-leaved— which are all the charms it possesses, 

 or even are claimed for it— we think it is one of many that could well be 

 spared. We know of no other attractions beyond those already seen by you. 



Cloth of Gold Rose not Flowering (5. P. i^raAc).— This Rose, at 

 the very best, is a shy bloomer. A southern aspect is more suiuble for it 

 than an eastern one. as the sun will not be long enouRh upon it to suffl- 

 ciently ripen the buds; therefore they come blind or make wood only. 

 We should advise you to thin out the shoots and admit sun, light, and air 

 to them by not nailing-in the shoots nearer than 1 foot apart. If you could 

 conveniently dig out a trench about 4 feet from the stem and down to the 

 lowest roots, which you would cut and then fill in the trench wiih rather 

 poor soil, we think it would not then grow so rampantly as it does, and 

 this probably njjght be the means of causing the wood lo ripen better and 

 afford more flowers the season after next. We thoroughly understand 

 what you mean by blind shoots. 



Names of Fruit ( W. U C).— Your Pears are— 1, Beurrt' Diel ; 2, Chau- 

 montel; 3, Vicar of Winkfleld; 4. Passe Colmar ; 5, Bcurre de Ranee; 

 6, quite rotten; 7, unknown. ( Tf^ 6'(7/)._It is not Doyenne d'Ete, but 

 Benrr6 Bcnnert. {A Subscriber from JlVz/rs).— Your Pear is Red Doyenne. 

 You may have in addition Jos<^phme de Malines, M'inter >'elis, Jean de 

 Witte, and Bcrgamolte Esperen. 



Kames of Plants.— Some of our correspondents are in the habit of 

 sending small fragments ot plants for us to name. This requires from us 

 such a great expenditure of lime that we are compelled to say that we 

 cannot attempt to name any plant unless the specimen is perfect in leaves 

 and flowers. (Jarmatt)-^li is not a Fern, but Pitea muscosa, the Pistol or 

 Artillery Plant, belonging to the natural order Urticea?. (If. //. JA). — 

 1, Hymcnophytlum tunbridgense; 2. H. unilaterale. (M, A, &).— Cys- 

 topteris fragilis. ( Tf'. H. J/oi/ne).— Nos. 1, 2, and 3, Trichomanes radicans 

 in diflferent conditions; 4, Adiantum cuneatuoi, certainly. (.4. T.). — 

 1, Litohriichiii uurita; 2, Fteris arguta; 3, crushed, apparently Tetralheca 

 ericEBfolia; 4, Monocheetum ensifcrum. (T. P.).— Your Ferns are— 1. Pteris 

 longifolia; 2, Pteris cretica albo-lineata; 3, Pteris hastala macrophylla; 



4, Pteris cretica; 3, Pteris hastata ; Ij, Pteris serrulata. (B. H. W.)'~ 

 1, Pteris serrulata; 2, Ptens iremula ; 3, Selaginclla pubesctns; 4, Pte^^ 

 hastata macrophylla; 5, Aihyrium Filix-focmina; G, lortnia asiatica. We 

 do not go beyond this limit. (S. 6. Tf'ood/onrfj).— Pteris serrulata. \,A 

 Scolvhinun). — Uhyncospermum jasminoides. (7". C. S. Tyrinn). — Hyme- 

 nnphyllum tunbridfiense. (A Subscriber to the JI. X).— Your bulb is 

 Sternbergia lutea, one of the Amaryllidacex. It is a native of the South of 

 Europe, but we do not know whether it is found in Paltsime. It has been 

 cultivated in our gardens for muie than two centuries. 



POULTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE. 



commo:n sense applied to exhibiting 

 and selling. 



At page 401, "Eqomet" touches on various matters in 

 answer to "An Exhibitor in a Small Wat." In answer to 

 the same exhibitor, I would reply that " Egomet's " obser- 

 vations are well worthy of attention. I, too, am an exhibitor 

 in a small way, and understand how difficult it is for owners, 

 especially when not present at the shows, to conceive that 

 birds, which by constant scanning they have considered the 

 " pinks of perfection," remain unnoticed. The fact is, that 

 Judges, as a rule, see more impartially than we do, and as 

 generally they judge ignorant of ownership, we ought to give 

 credit for honesty in carrying out the very difficult task of 

 trying to please everybody. It is imijossible perhaps, that 

 such practised eyes as Mr. Hewitt's or Mr. Baily's can ire- 

 quently examine closely the same pen and not occasionally 

 recognise the projirietor ; but because the well-known pen 

 obtains the blue ribbon, we have no right to blame the 

 Judges. Occasional mistakes there must be : sometimes we 

 may get the benefit, as a poultry friend lately told me I had ; 

 sometimes we may get the loss, as I have also done : — these 

 are matters that the greatest care, the most precise rules, 

 the strictest judging by points, can never wholly avert. 



Though less fortunate than I had hoped to be at the Crystal 

 Palace, I might ijerhaps have been tempted to Birmingham, 

 but for the peculiai' method of entering and the hints 

 about the small size of the pens. I know 1 have seen many 

 valuable birds considerably damaged by this, and it seems a 

 pity that "the mother of shows" should act so unwisely in 

 this particular. As regards Manchester, I think a gi'eater 

 point against the Show than the days on which it is held is 

 the chai'acter of the prize list ; but on this point, aiter Bir- 

 mingham and Manchester, I may with your permission say 

 more, as I hojie to analyse those Shows as to entries, as I 

 have done the London Shows. My only experience of a Show 

 on the same principle was Sheffield ; there the classes filled 

 very badly, and to many, myself included, bare honour was 

 all that was gained, as the prizes have never appeared. 



Let "Exhibitor in a Small Wat" take the Crystal 

 Palace catalogue and jjrize list ; he wOl see many exhibitors 

 of pens from one to six in number, amongst the prizetakers, 

 whilst he will also see many entering largely, yet not achiev- 

 ing success in proportion. " One who does not Mind the 

 FoRMALiTT OF AN ADVERTISEMENT," also gives him adviCB 

 with which my experience quite agrees. Get a name for a 

 breed, and even without an advertisement he will seU 

 bmls- — at least I have done so largely this yeaa', purely, as I 

 presume, on the strength of my success in exhibiting, for I 

 have never advertised. I think it is time now, especially as 

 some little time ago I saw an advertisement of bii'ds as 

 from my stock by a former purchaser. This leads me on to 

 "Constant Keader;" and, I may say that in each case of 

 application I have sent prices of bh-ds, but requested post- 

 office order first. All except one did so, and several exjiressed 

 then- satisfaction, nor have I ever had a complaint. Aftei- 

 you have supplied a few to theu- satisfaction, you have them 

 as persons to whom you may refer others. " Constant 

 Keadeb" may, perhaps, in future, send his post-office order 

 not to be payable for ten days. I have trespassed so lai'gely 

 on your space that I must leave my remarks on " Brahma 

 Pootra" till after the two great Shows to which I have 

 alluded.— Y. B. A. Z. 



CEEVE CCETTR FOWLS. 



I HAVE just rea<l your account of the Creve Cojur fowl, 

 and, I am pleased to say, I can endorse M. Jacque's good 

 opinion of this bh'd. I was rather prejudiced as to its 



