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JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t November 7, 18G7. 



used to have advertisements of stout, pliable, waterproof mfiterial, tbat 

 was scarcely more than double or treble the price of mats, and then that 

 coverinR would bo much cheaper than mats. A mat is a very good pro- 

 tection from frost so lonp as it is dry, but when once it is wet and cliuRS 

 to the glass, it loses much of its protective power. When roll.?d off and 

 on when wet, mats soon break and rot ; the strands cling firmly together 

 and thus lose their protective power. A single mat will only protect 

 from a Blight frost. When at all damp it will require several thicUnesses 

 of mats to keep out the frost from a cold pit or trome, and it is anything 

 but pleasant for an nmateur to dangle them about when dripping wet. 

 Even if mats are used they will last much longer, and be more eflectua', 

 when liept dry, and a light flexible material will do that effectually, ana 

 do more than anything else to secure plants from damp in winter. We 

 have no doubt when the importnnce of keeping protecting material dry 

 is sufficiently looked at, even in nn economical point of view, that we 

 shall have plenty of waterproof material to choose from at a very reason- 

 able price. Cotton is not yet so cheap as it was, or strong calico 2 yards 

 wide would be just the material to waterproof for common frames. A pit 

 from 9 to 18 feet long or more could then quickly be covered, if the piece 

 was fastened to an 8-feet pole at each end. and thepe poles secured to the 

 wall-plate at each end, the cloth being hung by a loop every 4 feet or so. 

 back and front. Thus held tight, even common calico will throw off 

 much water ; when waterproofed the glass and all below it will be kept dry, 

 a matter of first importance as a protection against frost, and a protection 

 against as bad an evil— damp. After having used almost every make- 

 shift protection, we would unhesitatingly recommend as the cheapest by 

 far in the end, not for a year, but when a few years are looked at, neat 

 wooden covers made of three-quarter-inch wood, with a ledge all round 

 to keep a space of fully an inch between the wood and the sash-bars, and 

 the next best would be waterproofed textile material, even though at 

 first it was several times the price of a mat. 



GYMNOSTAcnYTJM VERScirAFFELTi (J. D.).— This plant is a native of 

 Brazil, and requires a stove temperature. It is of a rather dwarf, half- 

 trailing habit, and its leaves are veined nnd netted with red. A compost 

 of two-thirds turfy s;indy peat, nnd one-third leaf mould and sandy loam 

 in equal parts, wiih a free admixture of silver sand suits it well. A few 

 lumps uf charcoal mixed with the compost will help to keep it open. The 

 pot should be well drained. The plant must have a moist atmosphere 

 and abundant supplies of water when it is growing, hut it should be kept 

 rather dry when at rest. A light and aii-y situation suits it, and it should 

 be placed in a position near the glass and not shaded by adjoining plants. 

 BouoAiNviLL.isA sPECTAEiLis (Irfcm).— So far from its being a free it is 

 a shy-flowering plant. It is of strong vigorous growth and makes very 

 long shoots, and on that account may be termed a climber. It succeeds 

 in a cool stove or warm greenhouse, and in a compost of turfy loam two- 

 thirds, and one-third leaf mould or turfy peat. Liberal supplies of water 

 should be pflorded ivhen growth is being made, but afterwards the plant 

 can hardly have too little so long as the foliage is not affected. Too mnch 

 light cannot be given, and the nearer the plant is to the glass the better, 

 providing its shoots do not touch it. Free drainage must bo afforded. 



Amaryllis and Caladicms in Warm Gdeenhodse (Tilhide). — You 

 may grow Amaryllises nnd Caladiums in a warm gi'eenhouse, if they are 

 started and forwarded in heat, but the Caladiums must have a warmer 

 place than a greenhouse in winter, they requiring a stove. Half a dozen 

 good Amaryllises are— A. aulica fulgens, Prince of Orange, Marginata 

 venusta, Johnsoui superba. Mngnifica, and Crocea \itellina. Six of 

 superior merit are Queen of the Netherlands, Fair Ellen, Madame Kachel, 

 Stephenson, Bella L>onna, and Souvenir d'un Ami. 



Planting Grafted Vine (Idem). — Providing your Vine is networked 

 high on the Black Hnmburgh stock, plant so that the union of the stock 

 and graft shall be covered with soil, but if the junction is some distance 

 from the place whence the fibres first spring, do not plant deeply with 

 the view of covering the junction. In no case plant more deeply than is 

 sufficient to cover the roots with 2 or 3 inches of soil. Deep planting is 

 more injurious than Ijeneficial, and ought to be avoided. 



Mimosa Budding (C.A.J.). — You do not say what species of Mimosa 

 you grow. If it have a number of eyes below the point to which you 

 wish to cut it down, you may t^afely perform the operation. We do not 

 know of any species of Mimosa that is hardy. M. prostrata, a greenhouse 

 plant, is the hardiest we have cultivated, but it will not endure frost. 



Use of Glass Studcture iVitis viniffira). — It is hard to say how your 

 house would best repay you the outlay. We think your idea of planting 

 six Vines in the front woiild be the best, but they will not repay you in 

 three years. You might have upright Vines in pots as thick as yon could 

 place them, but this is not a plan desirable for early forcing, or even 

 forcing at all. Your next idea we do not see the propriety of, as Vines 

 and Peaches do not force well together. Your next proposition we think 

 the best — viz., to have Peaches, diagonal cordons, on the back of the 

 house, nnd Peaches in pots from the pathway to the front lights. This 

 we think a good idea and likely to prove remunerative. The last notion 

 would also pay, and you might have hit on a less likely plan, only Pines 

 are longer in'fruiting than either Vines or Peaches, but you could to a 

 certainty have both Vines and Pines. It requires skill to work them 

 satisfactorily together, and that we fear will not be found in the lad you 

 appear to depend on. Roses, we think, would not pay you to force or pro- 

 pagate. 



Fine-foliaged Plants for a Flowxr-stand (Inquirer). — Caladiums 

 will not do, and they will not long succeed in a greenhouse. They are 

 Btove plants. You niiplit employ the variegated Begonias in summer, 

 and they will do tolerably well in a greenhouse, and so will some kinds of 

 Dracsenas. Eight plants that would answer are— Saxifraga sarmentosa, 

 S. Fortuni, S. tricolor, Sedum Hieboldi variegatum, Veronica Audersoni 

 variegata, Hydrangea japonica variegata, Bambuwa Fortuni variegata, 

 and Phormium tenax. If you do not care for more than one of a genus, 

 then in place of two of the Saxifrages, you may substitute Dracicua aus- 

 trahs and Farfugium grande. They are all nearly hardy, but not quite 

 so except in warm situations. 



Putting Ivy-berries in Rough Cast (Ivy). — Your idea is certainly 

 novel— namely, mixing the berries with the rough cast with which the 

 waU is to be covered. The Ivy-berries, if the rough cast is to be made of 

 a consistency to adhere to the wall, will not vegetate. You will succeed 

 by planting strong plants at the foot ol the wall in good, light, open, rich 

 soil. Ivy does not injure the walls against which it is planted, but 

 keeps many an old wall up. 



DESTEOvrNG White Flt (Reader, Lancashire).— This very iTOuh\esomc 

 pest is not easily cleared off, though it is speedily destroyed by tobacco 

 smoke, but on commencing to fumigate the pest falls on the floor and is 

 there comparatively safe from the effects of the smoke. On this account, 

 prior to fumigating, we make the floor of the house quite wet. taking care 

 not to wet the foliage of tlie plants, snd we then find fumigation with 

 tol»acco effectual. The fumigation should be frequently repeated. Syring- 

 ing with a decoction of 2 ozs. of gi-ound tobacco to every gallon of water 

 is an effectual remedy, but some plants are injured by it. 



Potting Blandfordia ckocea ^H. j4.).— Plants of this maybe shifted 

 from thumlt-pots into those 4^ inches in diameter, using a compost of 

 two-thirds tnrfy yellow loam, and one-third peat or leaf mould, with a free 

 admixture of sand, and plenty of drainage. After potting give a good 

 watering and place the pots in a light and airy situation in a greenhouse. 

 It is sufficient to keep the soil merely moist when the plants are at rest, 

 but when they are growing they can hardly have too much water ; when 

 they cease growing the supply of water ought to be lessened and the 

 plants have full exposure to the sun's rays. 



Position of Feens in Greenhouse (L. P.)— The Ferns you name 

 should at this season be well exposed to light, and will pi-obably succeed 

 on the stand at the back, which will undoubtedly be tbelbest position for 

 them in summer, whilst in winter they will succeed admirably on the 

 front stage if not exposed to cold drying currents of air. They will not 

 STicceed under the stage, as the drip from the plants on the stage will 

 destroy them. Your house must be kept at something more than a gi'eeu- 

 honse temperature to winter safely Gold and Silver Ferns. Feras require 

 shade from bright sun from March to October, but not gi-eat shade. 



Dendrobium nobile Culture (A. C. C. H.). — It thrives in a pot rather 

 large for the size of the plant, one-third filled with pieces of broken pots; 

 use a compost of equal pnrts of sphagnum, turfy peat, and charcoal in 

 lumps from the size of a Hazel nut to that of Walnut. The sphagnum 

 should be chopped, the whole of the ingredients well mixed, and a liberal 

 addition of silver sand given, equal to about one-sixth. The soil should 

 be raised in the centre of the pot above the rim. and the roots of the 

 plant should be covered with sphagnum. The plant is best potted in 

 spring when it commences growth. It is necessary that the soil be made 

 rather firm. It succeeds in a house having a winter temperature of 

 from 45' to 50", it being then kept dry and fully exposed to light. The 

 dryness must not be so excessive as to cause the stems to shrivel. When 

 the plant has flowered (as it will do in spring if strong enough, and the 

 growth of preceding years is sufficiently ripened), and commences growth, 

 it must have a moist atmosphere, shade from bright sun, and a f-prinkling 

 overhead at least twice a-day, biit any approach to saturating the com- 

 post should be avoided for a time, or until the plant is fairly in growth, 

 when it can hardly have too much moisture. This should he continued 

 until it ceases growth ; then let sen the supply of moisture, and expose 

 fully to the sun's rays. A temperatm"e of between (J0= and 65" at nighty 

 and* from 75^ to 90^ by day, is not too much during the season of growth. 

 It will be benefited by guano or any description of manure applied to the 

 compost. 



Potting-off Pelargonium Cuttings {T. jV. N.). — We have neither 



time nor room to spare for the ])otting-off of Pelargonium cuttings in 



autumn, and we, therefore, keep the majority in boxes or their cutting- 



I pots until February or March. As you have only windows to winter them 



I in, we would leave them in the pots, pans, or boxes they were struck in 



I until spring, and then pot them off. They will winter more safely than 



' were they now potted off, and take up less room. Your cellar will, no 



j doubt, answer for the preservation of old Pelargonium plants in winter 



if frost be excluded. They should not on any accoimt be watered. The 



soil cannot be kept too dry. 



Cutting-back Mors Rose (/(Zfwi)- — Your weak Moss Rose will be im- 

 proved by cutting it closely in to two or at most three eyes, and you may 

 do this early next month, or now if the leaves have fallen. If the wood 

 is soft and immature, the beginning of March would be a better time to 

 prune. Vegetable Marrows will succeed in the situation you name, if the 

 tall fence gives shelter and does not shade the spot where the Vegetable 

 Marrows are planted. They cannot have too warm and sunny an ex- 

 posm*e. 



Fruit Tees for Garden Wall [W. B. R1.— Your walls 50 feet long 

 will afford room for three trees on each of the aspects. Against the waU 

 of which the aspect is south bv east,voumav plant Jefferson, July Green 

 Gage, and Coe's Golden Drop Plums'; against that with a west by south 

 aspect, Marie Louise, Glou Morc^eau, and Albertine Pears; and on the 

 oast by north aspect, Cox's Pomona, Cox's Orange Pippin, and Cellini 

 Apples. 



Aspleniuh monanthemum Proliferum (J. J. H.)—1i is not uncom- 

 mon for this Fern to become proliferous when nged. We have had many 

 instances of its becoming proliferous. We have for many years grown 

 the species, and have foimd it become proliferous under conditions 

 favom-able to its abnormal development. 



Removing Dead Fronds of Platycerium alcicorne (Idem).— The 

 circular disks, as you term them, are the barren fronds proper of this 

 Fern, and it is quite immaterial whether they are removed or not. We 

 usually remove them when we can do so without injury to the plant ; hut 

 in most cases we find the roots densely clustered behind them, and even 

 adhering to them, so that their removal would be very injurious. 



Grass Edging NOT Growing (H. C. L.).— If you were to have the ground 

 where the grass edgings are, well and deeply trenched, working in a liberal 

 dressing of manure, and fresh turfed, we think the edgings would grow 

 well; but you must not raise them more than an inch or so above the 

 walk, nor cut them more than once a-year. This has nothing to do with 

 the clipping of the edgings, which of course will be done every time the 

 grass is mown. Wo presuppose that the soil where the edgin*.;?. are is 

 good, and that they are not walked upon, nor suffer from any sulistance 

 that may be put upon the walks from time to time to destroy weeds. We- 

 have no recollection of the name of the advertiser of Roses about whom 

 you inquire. 



Rhododendrons for Cover Planting (Ah Old Subscriber).— \o\i will 

 best attain your object by advertising for what you require, stating 

 quantity and' size of plants. Now is a good time to plant Rhododendrons,, 

 and they may safely be planted up to May ; but if you plant whilst the 

 trees are leafless there is everything to hope for. as the plants will have 

 made some progress at the roots before the trees have made any great 



