IM 



JOURNAL Off HGETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAKDENER. 



[ February 14, 1807. 



STOppiua Vjnes (.T. jr. IF.).— 1st, When tto sboot is .■^ufficientlv Icug 

 to Bhow (bo liimcb ami Iho next joint above it, i''n''li u"t the iioiot im- 

 mediately nbove the leaf at the •joint next above the fruit. 2nd, The 

 floDis of the house should be kept damp for some time after the Grapes 

 begin to o<.lour, but not when tliey are beoomiuc ripe. SrJ, It would not 

 injure the roots to lay a path with Bn tar, further than bv preventing 

 rain pacslns throuKh tlie walk, and if the latter is not wide tarring it 

 will not make mueb dilTerence. ' 



Gyoiakens Frosted C^. .V. W(u>r).— Tlie best conrse to pnrsnelato 

 leave tbem as they are, neither rtvyinc tbeui ofl'uor trying to indnce fresh 

 growth. It wonld not An to diy them otr as tlie growths are not mature, 

 nor excite thorn, as that would weaken the corma. Treat them as if they 

 had not been frosted and they will gradually recover. We have Cyela- 

 inen vernum and C. coiun in full bloom en vookwork. and nono the worse 

 of the lato severe weather. We urcsume yours are C. pcrsieum, which is 

 not hardy. 



OoTTlNii Pows ZosjLE PEI.ABBONICM8 (Calcarin).— Yon should gradu- 

 ally withhold water, and eut the plants down early next month, repotting 

 them in smaller pots when the new shoots are an inch or two long. Shift 

 m May into the blooming pots. It will answer better than top-dressing. 



Vior.A roRNCT.i, Jlisini.us cutuecs, axd Patisies Sown in Heat (.4 

 Su)l.<cr»j,r).— Plants will flower towards the end of July, and later, if 

 raised from seed sown now in a hotbed. When largo enough to handle 

 they should lie pricked off an inch apart in pans and gro«Ti ou, hardening 

 them off and planting them out in the end of May or early in June. They 

 should be kept near the glass to have them strong. 



LitlDM TENFIF0I.ir.1I, L. ArRATFM, AND TkITOMA UVARIA SeED PoTV- 



TSG {Id fin). —The seed should bo sown earlv next month in pots or pans, 

 well drained, in a compost of turfy loam, peat, aud leaf mould, with the 

 addition of one-sixth of silver sand. The seeds should be covered with 

 fine soil to a depth equal to the diameter of the seed. The pots should 

 E.^^'"'"?^' '^'^''''''''' ""'' placed in a hotbed with a temperature of 70'. 

 When the plants appear admit air and harden them off or remove them 

 to a vinery at work, where they should be placed in a light, airy situation. 

 li there is not a vinery at command, remove them, toatjreenhouse. Keep 

 them well supplied with water, and in September graduallv withhold it, 

 discontinuing the supply alter October, all but a little now and then to 

 keep the soil moist, but not wet. The Liliums should have the seeds 

 placed so far apart that they can grow in tbo pots or pans as sown, an inch 

 will suffice : but Ihe Tritoma plants should, when large enough to handle, 

 be potted off singly in small pots, and the soil in these should be kept 

 moister in winter than for the Liliums. The Liliums, also, should be 

 potted in November smgly in 4J-inob pots, or three may be placed in a 

 Beven-inch pot. They should be kept in a cool greenhouse. 



TOSSILAGO FABFARA VAItlEGATA FOE EEDDrKG (Mfm).— This is a rather 

 effective and certainly pleasing and curious variegated hardy perennial. 

 It answers for bedding, and will gi-ow -well in a position where it does not 

 receive the midday sun. It will grow anywhere. 



Ohnamental-poliaged Annuals (Mon).— The most attractive of theso 

 flre half hardy, or requiring to be grown in lieat previous to planting out. 

 Kicinus sanguineus. E. communis, E. borbonensis, aud Zea japonica 

 variegata, which all grow 5 or more feet high ; Perllla nankinensis, 

 Amaranthus melaneholicus ruber, and Cineraria maritime, wbicb grow 



■ IJ to 3 feet; the variegated Marvel of Peru attains a similar height, and 

 is handsome. Oxalis corniculatft,rubra(tropiBoloides), isa very neat plant 

 for an edging to such a bed as you propose. 



CALADinM Eootstooks DECAYING (T. Oliirr).— Wo think Tou bave kept 

 them too dry and in too low a temperature, either of which conditions 

 will cause them to become "mellow" both at the crown and at bottom. 

 They should remain in the pots as grown after they die down, and stand 

 on a moist floor, or iu a position where the soil in the pots will not be- 

 come dust dry; but the pots should not be watered, tboii!:;h a skiff from 

 the syringe once or twice a-week over the pots will keep the roots fresh. 

 The temperature should not be less than CO'' to winter them safely. The 

 " mellow " rootstocks will most probably rot if they are not already 

 rotten, especially those gone at the eyes ; those decayed at the base may 

 yet bave the upper part or eye portion sound, and if so they may grow. 

 Pot them, and place them in a bottom heat of 70' and top lieat of from 

 65° to 75' or 80'. 



Vines Unfruitful (J. IT.).— The roots of the largo Elm trees will, of 

 course, injure your Vine border. The best plan is either to keep a deep 

 open trencli outside the wall, or build a deep wall in cement, to keep the 

 Kim roots out. As the Vines have broken so strongly, however, wo do not 

 think the Elm roots are so much to blame, but rather incline to think 

 that the couip.arative barrenness is cither owing to the roots being too 

 deep, or the wood being imperfectly ripened last seasou. Probably a little 

 more hardening of the wood by extra tiring in the dull autunin would 

 have made all right. 



Heating Small PtiNT-nousB (JVoeen-oi*f). — ^We should prefer a gftff 

 stove with a tube for the fumes from it to pass into the open air. Yon 

 can increase or diminish the heat of that by merely turning the tip. We 

 are sorry that No. 2G9 is out of print, but yon can see our office copy any 

 day that you call. We have no pity for those who have their gas appara- 

 tus frozen ; they should have the meter iu a place not liable to a freezing 

 temperature. 



PiNE-APPLE Culture (B. C.K.). — "The Pine-Apple Manual" can be 

 had free by post from our oflice if you enclose thirty-two postage stamps, 

 with your address. 



Best First Early Potato (.7. L.). — We are informed by many reliable 

 authorities that the Coldstream Early is the best of the earlies, both in 

 quality and prolificacy. 



Drying Specimens (Hortus siccus). — Laid flat and covered with sand, 

 dry in a gentle heat, and then x>reserve between sheets of cartridge paper. 



Erratum. — In our last we inadvertently stated tlnat the new edition of 

 the " Miniature Fruit Garden " was the 15th instead of the 14tb. 



Names of Plants (Tl''. J. P.). — 1, Polysticbum, probably P. aculeatmn; 

 3, Asplenium flacciduni ; 4, Gymnogramma chrysopbylla. (7". T.). — 

 1, Pelhea adiantifolia ; 3, Adianlum hispidum ; 3, One of the garden 

 hybrids between Gymnogramma ebrysopbyllaand G. ealomelauos; 4, Ne- 

 phrodium setigerum ; 5, Gymnogi-amma ochracea ; 6, Cheilantbes hirta ; 

 7, Gymnogramma chrysopbylla ; 5, Blecbnnm oecidentale ; 9, GjTnno- 

 gramma ochracea ; 10. Gj-mnogramma peruviana. (C. .4 ). — 1, a Begonia, 

 but species not detectable from such a scrap. 2, Abutilon striatum. 

 S, not determinable from a mere leaf. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS in the Suburbs of London for the Week ending February 13tb 



POULTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHEONICLE- 



CHIEF CHAPw\.CTERISTICS OF THE PRINCIPAL 

 SORTS OF GAME FOWLS. 



[Concluded from i^agc 95.) 



The following sorts are not considered as sportsmen's birds, 

 not being much used by them : — 



_ Dark Birchens. — These are produced by crossing, and though 

 like the Dark Greys, are softer, and not so good. They are, in 

 general, produced from the Brown Bed hens, crossed with 

 either Dark Grey, Yellow Duckwing, or YeUow Birchen cocks. 

 The first cross makes good birds ; the Duckwiug cross, which 

 is most common, is not so good ; and the Yellow Birchen cross 

 is the worst. Dark Birchens often have olive gi-een legs of a 

 dark colour, and incline to the yellow skin. 



WiLi,o\v-LE(-,c,ED DucKwiNos stsud ncxt, and are a well- 

 known sort at exhibitions. These are the gamest of all the 

 willow- legged, and are good, hard, strong, and courageous. 

 They are considered by some a sportsman's bird, as they have 

 sometimes, though not generally, beaten both Brown Beds and 



Cheshire Piles, but, being willow-legged .and yellow-skinned, 

 cannot be classed as a true cock-fighters' bird, as they always 

 reject willow-legged and yellow-skinned birds, as not being 

 Game enough to be good winners. 



Willow- LEGGED Black-beeasted Reds are the most common 

 and best-known of all Game fowls, aud, though larger, strongly 

 resemble the wild species known as the Gallus Bankiya of 

 Java and India, which is of exactly the same colour. The 

 Willow-legged IJlack-breasted Beds are an original, wild, 

 coloured sort, and are the parent stock of the Willow-legged 

 Duckwings, which were originally bred from the strongest and 

 hardest of these Black-breasted Beds, which first threw the 

 Grey bens, and subsequently the Duckwing cocks. These 

 Black-breasted Beds have long been rejected by sportsmen as 

 being too soft, and they have been often beaten by Brown 

 Beds, Piles, Dark Greys, Duckwings, and all the sorts that 

 have been previously enumerated and described. 



Willow-legged Black-breasted Beds are the Game fowl of the 

 agricultural districts, contrary to the Brown Beds, which are 

 the Game fowl of the towns, and of the manufacturing districts. 

 These Black-breasted Beds, in breeding, always throw a great 

 many pullets in proportion to the cock chickens, a sign of 

 softness ; whereas the Dark Greys, Brown Beds, and other 



