X06 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August 8, 1867. 



wai be to poor water, at 75°, at back and front of the bed, where it ia likely 

 to be the driest, and then make little holes witli a pointed stick over the 

 bed in the open places, so as to let tho wnter down, givinf* a little two or 

 three days eousecutively. A close, moist atmosphere is fsivourahle to the 

 production of Mushrooms, and the dampinR of the floor and walls, and 

 partly blocltiug the doorway at present, will most likely be sufficierit. We 

 would go on putting up other beds in the cellnr ns you propose, chiefly for 

 having successions at present. As the nights become colder the fresh 

 beds will help the other beds by their increased temperature before 

 spawning. Consult "Doings of the Last Week," published in our num- 

 ber for July 26th. 



Lifting Vines— BoEDEn-M.UiiNG (.^ma/^Jir).— Yon should have referred 

 ua to the page in which former replies appeared ; it is impossible for us 

 to keep each individual correspondent's case in mind. Now. as to the 

 present inquiry. If the Vines, with bare stems in the ground, destitute 

 of fibres and deep in the soil, are old. it would be better to remove them 

 and plant afresh than to raise and bring the roots nearer the surface. 

 The sis young Vines planted this season and doing well, may either re- 

 main or will he easily raised and replanted if you make a fresh border. 

 The description of the subsoil shows that in natural circumBtances 

 drainage is wholly unnecessary, but still we would allow the drain to re- 

 main. With such a subsoil we see no renson for concreting, layers of 

 rubble at the bottom, or much trouble at all, provided you can keep the 

 roots near the surface with surface-manuring. As the border is already 

 almost all above the surrounding level, we question if a little fresh soil 

 and annual top-dressings would not be ample for securing good Grapes. 

 The only daneer is, that from neglecting the surface of the border the 

 roots of the Vines should be. even in the search after moisture, induced 

 to descend into the subsoil of snnd and stones, and there be unmaunge- 

 able. But for this we sep no reason for making a bottom for the Vine 

 border ac&ordinc to the "most approved modes;" but if there is this 

 danger, then at o feet from the surface we would incorporate about one- 

 fifth part of quicklime with five parts of the sandstone and gravel, and 

 lay down 4 inches of concrete, rolling it hard, allow this to set firm, and 

 sloping to the drain, and on that place 6 or 8 inches of rough rubble, the 

 finest on the surface, and then the soil for the border, placing turf re- 

 versed over the surface of the rubble. The soil from the grass field will 

 do very well ; but we would not take it above 2 or 3 inches deep unless 

 we were under the necessity for going deeper, as the nearer the surface 

 the richer and the better stored with fibre. For such soil as you describe 

 we would use little else, except a barrowlond of lime rubbish, rough, to 

 every ten ban-ow^loads or so of loam, and about a barrowload of broken 

 boiled bones to every thirty barrowloads of the soil. You can easily top- 

 diess afterwards. It matters not much whether or net such a border 

 is made at once ; but as you have the "Vine Manual," for the reasons 

 there given we prefer mnking the border at several times, say at first 

 from 3^ to 4 feet wide, which would do for a year or two, and then adding 

 2 or S feet more. We could not do better than refer to the instructions 

 given in the "Vine Manual " as to transplanting and border-maliing. 



Speing-planting a Town Flower Gaeden {An Ignorant Amateur] — 

 We hardly know how to advise you as to securing a displny in a town 

 garden early in spring, where Snowdrops, Anemones, Jonquils, Narcissus, 

 and even Winter Aconite cannot be made to flourish. We would advise 

 Snowdrops and Aconites to be left with their folinge until this becomes 

 quite yellow, and then cover them with a little rotten dung, as much to 

 . mark the place, so as not to be injured by other plants, as for any good 

 the dung will then do to the roots. Wo would try Crocuses and early 

 Tulips, and if these show signs of not flourishing, we would lift and 

 store the hnlbs, and plant afresh every yenr, and so you mif,'ht do with 

 the Snowdrops if pl.Tnted early enough. You cannot sow the seeds of 

 double Daisy too soon for a 'fir<* di'^play next spring. The seedlings 

 should be pricked out and phnntfd :s edpings next season. You might 

 also divide any plants of Bnisies now. pricking the smallest bits out about 

 S inches apart, and they will make fine plants for next spring. You will 



not succeed with Variegated Arabia from seed ; but every single bit 

 planted in a border now and up to Christmas, will root and be fit for 

 edgings next spring. This is the best way to treat this, Cerastiums, Ac. ; 

 pricked out in autumn they will be fine plants in the spring without hand- 

 lights or anything else. You may cut the Sweet Alyssum as you like, 

 and that and Virginian Stock usud to do well in the smoUiest parts of 

 London, and both are so hardy that scarcely a seed would fail, and they 

 make excellent edgings. Such plants as Prince's Feather, Love-lies- 

 iileedjng, and all the Chinese Chrysanthemums do well in town gardens. 

 We think that your bulbs will be' bettor lifted, owing to the warmth and 

 damp of your winters. If your Sweet Alyssum is likely to become too large 

 before the end of the season, you might sow now, just behind the ,old 

 plants. 



Book on GARDENrKG fS. Zfa).— The "Garden Manual," Is. 6d., or free 

 by post from our office for Is. Hd. 



Various (C. K i?.).— From your description we have little doubt yon 

 have Kitley's Goliath Strawberry. The flower-buds of Auguste Mie and 

 Smith's Yellow Hoses will he apt to damp or fall ofl" in such stiff soil as 

 yours, and in such a season as we have had. The remedy is at least deep 

 moving, planting higher, after lightening the soil, and the Roses will do 

 better than in a light soil. If Scarlet Pelargoniums would not suit yon, 

 then scarlet or nearly scarlet Gladiolus, as Gandavensis and varieties 

 would answer ; and for yellow, the single Marigold, Tagetes tenuifolia 

 pumila. 



Manual of Gardening (Brierton) — We cannot recommend you any- 

 thing better for your purpose than " Out Door and In-Door Gardening}'' 

 which you can have from our office for Is, Hd. each by post. 



Dryi>g Pelargoniums [E. B. H.).— The best way is to dry them be- 

 tween blotting paper. Do not press them too heavily, and change them 

 frequently. 



Elton Strawberry {An Old Subscriber, Dublin) — Strawberries suffer 

 very much from pacldng and carriage. Those received were in a state of 

 decomposition, but are certainly not the Elton. It is conical not round, 

 and is briskly acid ; leafstalks hairy, leaflets roundish, and concave. 



Wedding Bouquets (M. L. D.).— These are frequently made of an 

 enormous size, but we would not have them more than 8 inches in 

 diameter, and if we consulted merely our own taste we should prefer 

 them 6 inches across. In the bride's bouquet there should be little bnt 

 white flowers, but n few Forget-me-nots or Lobelias may be introduced 

 with advantage. White should also prevail in the bridesmaids' bouquets, 

 but flowers of other cnlours may be more freely employed. By all means 

 introduce sprays of Adiantums or other Ferns. 



Yellow-leaved PELARGONitM (W. H. B.. Beckcnham). — You should 

 submit your variety to the Floral Committee of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society. If you mean the article which appeared in page 38, you will, 

 on again referring to it, find that flowers, not leaves, were spoken of. 



Name of Insect (17. Y- M). — Your insect is the Sirex gigas (female) 

 the larva of which does considerable damage to Larches by boring ronnd 

 holes in the wood. The long tail-like appendage is used not as a sting, 

 but for boring into the wood in order to deposit the eggs. — W. 



Names of Plants (Verifos).— Trifolium procumbens. (TV. T. S.). — 

 Chlora perfoliata. (James). — 1, Pimelea glauca; 3, Erica jasminiflora; 



4, Erica aristata ; 5. Erica Aitonia ; 6, Erica costata, var. ( Tweedside).- — 

 Linaria vulgaris {H. M.). — Cassia occidentalis. (J. Boyd).— The Fern 

 being without fructification cannot be determined. {A Constant Header). 

 — 1, Phalaris arundinacea colorata ; 2, Vcrbascum thapsus : 3, Aspleninm 

 laserpitiifolium ; 4, Abutilon striatum; 5, Hypericum cnlycinum. (P.O.)- 

 — 1, Pteris scaberulii ; 2, Asplenium cicutarium. {W. Hallett). — Ferns: 

 1, Polypodium pustulatum ; 2, Adiantum capillus- Veneris; 3, Blechnum 

 occidcntale ; 4, Cystopteris fragilis ; 5, Polystichum augulare. Selagi- 

 nellas : 1, Selaginella cuesia ; 2, S. Kiaussiana ; 3, S. pubescens ; 4 and S» 



5. Martensii ; 6, S. cuspidata. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS in the Suburbs of London for the Week ending August 6th. 



Wed. . 

 Thnts. 

 Fri. .. 

 Sat. .. 

 Son... 

 Mon... 

 TneB. . 



Mean 



GSNEBAL EkUARES. 



Fine, slight haze ; fine throughout. 



Dry wind ; overcast and cold; overcast at night. 



Overcast; cold; very fine at night. 



Overcast ; fine ; cloudy and warm. 



Very fine; fine; cloudy; fine. 



Very fine ; fine ; densely overcast; rain. 



Rain ; constant rain; fine. 



POULTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE 



POULTRY PRODUCE. 

 I SEND yon my poultry account for the present year from 

 January to Juue. I keep my fowls in two small pens, and let 

 them out on a grass plot for about an hour every day. 1 have 

 at present twenty-two hens and two cocks ; of the latter one is 

 Spanish and the other a Golden-spansled Hamburgh. The 

 hens are— Spanish, 7 ; Golileu-spangled Hamburghs, 3 ; Game, 

 1 ; Cochin-China, 1 ; Cross-bred, 10. Three of tho Spanish 

 liens I obtained in July and one in Juue. I sold three White 

 Coohin-Cliina hens on April 6th. 



The monthly production of eggs was : — 



Egos. 



January 76 May 



February 133 June 



March 238 



April 210 



189 

 167 



Total lOOS 



£ s. d. 



Receipts 4 4 4 



Expenses 8 1 6 



-COCKEEEL. 



Proflt j£l 2 10 



Ii'SwicH PouLTBT Show. — This is entitled to the special sup- 

 port of all poultry exhibitors. The prize list is very liberal ^ 

 there are eight silver cups. The Great Eastern Eailway rnXi 



