JOURNAL OP HOBTICULTURK AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. t January 15, 1867. 



boat, nnil wo can only account for their not having done so from your 

 keeping them in constnnt growth without affording a season ol dr.niess 

 or rest ; or they may not have heen Iniincd suffiricntlv near the Klass to 

 afford tlie shc.ts a sufflcienfy of liaht and air, of which thev can hardly 

 have too nmcli. Your PomcKTanate out of doors will only succeed on a 

 south aspect, and in a warm soil and sheltered situation. Both it and 

 ^acsonia Devoniensis are tender. 



Labels tor Fruit Thees IA. /M.-The most enduring labels are those 

 formed of lead with the names of the kinds of fruit tree impressed or 

 indented with an iron stamp ahout Imlfwar through the lead, which may 

 ho that known as 7 lbs. to the Buperlieial foot. The labels should be 

 J inches long, Ij wide, and have a hole through a shoulder left in the 

 middle or one side of the label. The label should be fastened to the 

 tree with stout flexible lead wire, allowing room for the tree to grow. You 

 wiU require punch letters of the alphabet, and the figures corresponding 

 to that of the year in which the trees were planted, if you care to date 

 their planting. Labels of this kind only perish with the lead. These are 

 the most durable labels we know. Zinc labels are also good and last a 

 long time, if the names of tlie trees be written on them with proper ink, 

 which may be made of 1 drachm each .)f verdigris and sal ammoniac 

 powder, ^ drachm lamp black, mi.xed with 10 drachms of water. The 

 labels should be made bright by rubbing them with sand paper, then 

 write the names upon them immediately in a clear bold hand with a 

 quill pen. 



DiPLiDENIA AND AlLAMANDA STARTING INTO GROWTH {M. F.).— YoU 



Will now prune them, thinning r.ut the weak and shortening the strong 

 growths, and when the shoots have grown an inch or two pot the plants 

 ••arefnljy, and encourage their growth by affording plenty of heat and 

 moisture, but avoid making the soil very wet ; in fact, be careful in respect 

 to w.iter until the plants recover the potting. Water sparinglv until they 

 are growing freely. » o . ., 



PIHEI.EA DECCSSATA TREATMENT (7,ifm).~The plant uow covcred with 

 young growth in your stove looking to the north, and being rather dark, 

 should without lurther delay be removed into a light and airv situation 

 ma greenhouse. The shoots you sent do not exhibit Hoiver-buds, but it 

 IS too early to distinguish them. Thev may form flower-buds, and, if so, 

 •mil most likely flower during May or June. 



Newly Planted Peach Trees (Wcmo).— Your wall being onlv G feet in 

 height. It IS certain you cannot want growth to any great extent. We 

 would not, therefore, cut back the trees, but, having a sufllciency of 

 shoots to cover the wall at 9 inches apart, train them at their full length, 

 and in spring pineli the side shoots or take out their points at the third 

 leaf, excepting any that may be required to train in to cover the wall, as 

 already stated, with branches 9 inches apart All laterals after the first 

 pmching should be stopped at the first leaf. If von propose to treat them 

 on the long-pruning system, it may be neeessarv to head back the trees 

 so as to furnish the requisite number of strong long shoots, and in that 

 case the strong shoots may be cut hack one-third and the moderately 

 strong two-thirds their length, and vou must make up your mind to wait 

 two or three years for fruit; but liv the first plan you will with proper 

 care be sure of a crop the year after planting. 



Camellia Bl-ds Pallino {£. r.l.— We should think the buds fall from 

 the want of proper support, and attribute it to the roots not being healthy, 

 or at least inactive. Tlie leaves are probablv scorched through allowing 

 the sun to shine powerfully upon them whilst wet and immature. It is 

 not necessary to pot every year, once in three years is sutHoient if the 

 drainage is good. When making new growths they require an abundant 

 supply of water, with bent, plentv of atmospheric moisture, and slight 

 shade from bright sun. The soil should at all times be kept moist, no 

 water being given until there are signs of dryness. 



Amaryllis Adokis {.4n Amnlru,).—rhis will succeed "if started in a 

 good bottom heat from the beginning of March to 3Iay." Gradually with- 

 draw the plant from heat, moving it to a light warm greenhouse ; there 

 place it in the full sun, water plentifully for at least six weeks longer, and 

 afterwards diminish the supply. 



IxiAs, SrAEAxis, and Tulips under Hand-lights (I<;,>m).— The pots of 

 these, now that growth has commenced, may be removed to a light, airy, 

 cool gi-eenhouse, or to a cool part of a warm one, affording plenty of air ; 

 or you may leave them where they are, and protect with mats in severe 

 weather, giving air when the temperature is mild. 



Heating Hotbed lIilrm).~By having a door made to fit closely at a. 

 as shown in your sketch, you may prevent the heat escaping. You may 

 keep up the heat by renewing the dung at each end alternately and 

 frequently with hot well fermented material, and by keeping the snace 

 beneath full of the same. .- «• o e 



Grafting Camellias (Mem) —Obtain stocks of the single red, and in 

 spring, just before the plants begin to push afresh, whip-graft them just 

 above the soil. After the graft has been made plunge the pots in a mild 

 hotbed of from 70 to7r,', and cover with a bell-glass, hand-glass, or elose- 

 fltting frame, in addition to the outer glass covering of the house, keep- 

 ing close until the gi-alts commence growth, then admit air by degrees. 

 Full directions for grafting are given in " Fruit Gardening for the Many," 

 which you can have free by post from our oflice, if you enclose five 

 postage stamps with your direction. 



VlNERT (One ill Pt:ri<!exil!i).—la the house 50 feet long by 12 wide, in 

 •which you have three Peach trees and a Vine against the back wall, there 

 IS nothing to prevent your having these trees in a cool house, and a 'Vine 

 up the rafters at every 4 feet, but you must restrict these Vines to close 

 spur-pruning, and not allow the bearing laterals to extend too far from 

 the stem, fm- just in proportion tj your shading the roof with Vines will 

 you darken juid injure the trees on the back wall. If you divide the 

 house into two, and have a stove in one end, that end will come in before 

 the other, and thus give you a succession, a matter of importance as 

 respects the Peaches. The inside border will do for the Vines, but you 

 must top-dress it well every year. If vou left two or throe of the rafters 

 vacant it would be all the better for the back wall. If you value the 

 Vines most, then plant against each rafter. For such a house, Black 

 Hamburgh. Esperione, Royal Muscadine, and Buckland Sweetwater will 

 answer weU. 



Extent of Piping a Boiler will Heat (Exeehior).—V,-e should 

 judge such a boiler, suiTounding a furnace 18 inches by 24, would beat 

 from 250 to 3IK1 feet of four-inch piping, but much would depend on 

 the working. We do not exactly perceive the importance of the Bii- 



teen tubes, 6 inches by 1{ at the top, through which the fire passes to 

 the flue. Are these tubes for air and smoke, or are they for water, and 

 the smoke to get to the flue between them ? The feeding-door being 

 beneath these pipes leaves us in doubt. The boiler complete, without 

 brickwork, is an advantage, but unless the boiler be inside, with merely 

 the feeding-doors outside the house, much heat will be lost, especially 

 if the boiler is not protected at the sides by a non-radiating, non-con- 

 ducting material, as has several times been reconimeuded for such 

 boilers. To obtain the most heat and no dust, the boiler should bo inside 

 the house, and the foedmg-door, ashpit, &a., outside. 



Planting Strawberries (C. ir.).— The groundyou intend to plant with 

 Strawberries should at once be trenched to a depth of 2 feet, or as deep 

 as tho soil allows. Too much of the subsoil, if it is sand, gravel, or clay, 

 must n«t be brought to the surface, though a few inches may do no 

 harm. If there he turf on the gi-ound place it at the bottom, and unless 

 the soil is light no further manuring will be required, but if it is light 

 and poor apply a good dressing of cowdung, and place it a foot or 

 18 inches from the surface. It would be well if the soil is heavy to throw 

 it up in ridges, and being exposed to frost and air it will be'the easier 

 worked, and more suitable for the plants. Choose a limj when tho 

 ground is in good working order during March to plant the runners of 

 Inst year, moving them with a ball of earth to each. Spring ia the best 

 time to plant Strawberries. 



Soil for Camellias and Azaleas (.Senej-).— Camellias do best in a 

 compost of turfy loam formed by cutting turf from a pasture where the 

 soil IS neither very light nor very heavy, but a good medium-textured, 

 hazel or yellow loam. Cut it 3 inches thick, and place it in on open 

 situation, gi-ass-side downwards, with a layer of cowdung an inch thick 

 between each layer of turves. At the end of six months turn the heap 

 over, and again three months afterwards, and at the end of twelve 

 months the soil will be fit to take under cover, and being chopped up 

 with a spade it constitutes the best compost we know for Camellias. 

 Failing this, two-thirds loam, if tm-fy all the better, and one-third peat, 

 with a free admixture of sand, will grow them well, but not equal to the 

 former compost. If the loam is poor and not turfv, you may add one- 

 fourth of your well-rotted dung ; the little old mortar there is in it will do 

 no harm. The Azaleas should have a compost of two-thirds s.andy, turfy 

 oeat, and one-third turfy loam, adding one-sixth of silver sand. Azaleas 

 do not require manure. Both Camellias and Azaleas requii^e the pots 

 well drained. 



Nitrate of Soda (Bexley).—One dressing of nitrate of soda for a lawn 

 is sntlicient for one season. 



Caterpillars on Quickset Hedge (Jdcm).— Syringe the hedges in 

 the evening with a solution of 2 lbs. of soft soap, and one peck of lime in 

 thirty gallons of water, straining tho solution so that dirt mav no( clog 

 the syringe ; or after a shower strew newly slacked lime over the hedges. 



Peach Trees Infested with Scale (Anjriuus).—\\'e sympathise with 

 you, but caunot believe that the use of the composition named at page 78 

 of No. 226, Vol. IX , would cause the mischief you complain of, for we 

 have employed it m.my times before and since tbat time for dressing 

 Peach and other fruit trees without the loss of a single fruit-bud, or in- 

 jury to a oranch or shoot. We fear the brusli has been used with no light 

 liaiid, and been rubbed up and down as in painting woodwork, which 

 would, to ft certainty, disturb the buds. The brush should have been 

 used gently, taking proper care not to disturb the buds. The wood, 

 you say, is dried up. None of the ingredients of the composition will 

 destroy the wood of any deciduous smooth-barked trees, and how it 

 could penetrate through the sciles of the buds we do not know, unless 

 they had begun to swell before the application of the composition. 

 Either the latter was applied at a higher temperature than lUi', or 

 the trees were so much infested with scale (which you state rendered 

 them unsightly in growth), that the shoots were' exhausted. Irre- 

 spective of any harm from the application of the composition, we do not 

 think you have any hopes of a cr,>p of fruit this year. You must now 

 wait and see the result of the swelling of the buds, and the commence- 

 ment of new growth ; and should the buds fall, as we apprehend they 

 will do to a great extent under any circumstances, cut away the shoots 

 that should have borne to within half an inch of the lowest new shoot, 

 and train that in the place of the shoot cut away. An attack of scale, 

 such as your trees appear to have suftered from, was more than sufficient 

 to have caused the evils of which you complain. 



Heating by Hot Water (J'urdinier). -We do not understand your ease 

 thoroughly, because you do not state where your steam-pipe was placed, 

 where your supply-box is situated, or whether it communicates with the 

 top or the bottom of the boiler ; and, again, the exact position of this 

 supply-box is also a mystery, since it is described as being 2 feet above 

 tho boiler, and, again. ;l feet above the highest point of the pipes. Now, 

 first, with the supply-box so much higher than the highest point of the 

 pipes, in order to prevent this boiUng over, we would change the tap into 

 an open gas-pipe, going out of the house, and at a height of several feet 

 above the supply- box. Then, if this did not answer, you would have 

 either to make your supply-box larger, or add another one at the same 

 height, to communicate by a lengthened tap-pipe with tho highest point 

 in the pipes of the house. Y'our trouble of boiling over arises from tho 

 power of the boiler to heat five times the quantity of piping, tho size of 

 your supply-box being insufficient for the rapid exhaustion of greatly 

 heating the water. Y'our house would have been better heated with moro 

 piping. By taking the air-pipe from the tap, as proposed, out of the 

 house, and, say fully feet above the water-pipe, reversing its end f, 

 putting on merely enough of fire to heat the same 80 feet of piping, and 

 banking up and using the damper, then we think the boiler may be used 

 without boiling over. 



Sugar-baker's Skimming (3/. T. Smith). — It has been frequently ap- 

 plied to Vines and other fruit trees which required manuring. Its fer- 

 tilising qualities are chiefly owing to the ox blood used for clarifying the 

 syrup. We never heard of its employment as a liquid manure, and do 

 not think it would dissolve. 



Names of Fruits ( Umpire). — Apples : 1, Court of Wick ; 3, Sykebouso 

 Russet; 4, Biggs' Nonsuch; 5, Autumn Pearmain. Pears: -2, Beurre 

 Derouineau ; 8, Swan's Egg; 4. Zepiiirin Grt-goire, (}V. H. S.). — Your 

 Pear is bt. Leziu. 



Names of Plants (J. C. 37- \ — A Maxillaria most likely; but too far 

 gone when received for identification. (E. ^f. Buck). — 1, Cheilanthes 

 myriophylla ; 2, Pelliea hastata ('.') ; 3, Selaginella hortensis ; 4, Blechnum 

 sp. ('/) ; 5, Unychium japonicum ; 6, Asplenium dimorphum. (C. T.F.). — 

 We will give the name and particulars ol your Sulanum next week. 



