234 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICTJLTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ March 28, 1867. 



Sni-pnuR AND Lnre (Tn.iiifr<T).-TVhen these ore boiled tostether in 

 water they unite and form what chemists have named bi-sulphnret of 

 calcium Calcium is the metal which united to oxygen forms lime. The 

 bi-Buli)huret is fatal to insects and injurious to tho leaves of plants. 



Heliotrope UsHEALTnT (.1. 11. J. L.).-The plant, judpinK from the 

 stem and leaves vou enclosed has been seriously damaRed by the ayrmi-- 

 i„a with the Giahurst solution. Your remedy will he to have the plant 

 "Jll syringed, and repeatedly, so as wash it off. The solution has been 

 7«r too strong, and wo do not perceive the reason for an application of 

 Giahurst to a plant having, as this has, such a woolly leaf and stem. 

 We would cut the plant in closely, or every shoot to within an mch or two 

 of the old wood. . , , , 



FoKcrac. IJLIES OF V,u.LEV (.Y. Y. Z.).-Our practice is to take up 

 those roots that have largo plump crowns, and such only, potting them 

 in a compost of rich turfy loam, and placing them in a house with a tera- 

 neratu" of 40 to 46^ for a fortnight, and afterwards until they bloom in 

 ' .™nrrTlnre of 50' to 55', and not exceeding CO' at night, affording 

 Jhcm'^a posit on near the glass and plenty of water. Wo ne^r fail to 

 it? n Plentiful supply of bloom ; but we pot none other than the 

 flowcrrnlroots, whi^his^difTerent from taking up patches from the borders, 

 l^flhan half of which are by far too small and weak to flower, and, 

 ?^deed have no flower.bud formed ; for were you to cut a crown open you 

 i?S see the bud, if any. Pot none but the large crowns, and put them 

 rCs or pans at about an inch apart. The price of Keane's "Out- 

 koo? hardening " is Is. 6<J., or free by post M. extra. 



Moss ON Lawn (F. I. C.).-It is hardly possible to free your lawn en- 

 tirelV from moss, nor do wc think a little any great harm, but rather an 

 ^dvau age as it is much pleasanter to walk upon. The chief causes of 

 mossy lawlis are a poor soil and its being undramed We would recom- 

 mend i dressing of rich soil or very rotten manure, first scratching the 

 U^ with an iron rake, and then applying the B,lt at the rate of half a 

 , „^^ r,or snmre yard : finally dress with the compost, not covcnng deeper 

 5 w a mi"ter o1 'an inch. The first heavy rain will wash it in ; when the 

 ground is 'dry roll well, sowing previous to rolling 24 lbs. per acre of reno- 

 vating lawn grass seeds. 



Weeds on Walks (W^m).— If your walks have become dirty at the 

 snrfxce which is a prolific source of grass and moss, we would advise 

 ?Sch- hein" now picked up and turned, giving them a sprmkling of fresh 

 OTavel You will, if you roll well, have a splendid walk uuta half the 

 fy,mmer is over, and by the time weeds are troublesome one dressing of 

 silTwrn serve the whole season. 8 lbs. per square yard are required to 

 destTOV weeds on gravel walks eflectu.ally and that quantity makes the 

 sSface Todamp that it is by many objected to ; and salt causes Ihcgr.-ivel 

 t^wear much more quickly, and so eueourages the growth of weeds : hence 

 the nrevTiling opiniin, weeds on walks come thicker after salting. The 

 time to salt walks is when there are weeds; and its application will bo 

 T,Vcess°ry in April or May, and again in July or August, putting it on 

 durin- dry weather, dependant, of course, on the season. 



Pi INTING Flowt.r-hed (Hrm).-Yom- proposed planting of a circnlar- 

 bedbv using Silver-edged Pelargonium, a double row for edging, then a 

 doublJone of Stella, and filling the centre with Purple King \erbcna or 

 Pe?U a would not answer well. We wonld have the centre some silver- 

 foliaied plant as Cent.^urea argontea, C. ragnsina, or Cineraria maritima, 

 tho ffowers being pinched off the variegated Pelargoniums^ A very effec- 

 tive bed may be uiade by using Cerastiumtomentosum, orC.Biebers eini 

 as an edging, then Punile King Verbena, next yellow Calceolana, filling 

 in the centre with Perilla. 



Pinching Show and Zonale PELAEGONitrais (A COMfant Rmder).- 

 The Show ones may now be pinchedif necessary,but not later ■' y°";".* 

 them to flower at the end of J one, and the Zonale no «!ter the third 

 week in April. It is better to retard than force them into bloom. 



Insects in Old Tan U. J3.X).-Wo presume the insects in the tan, 1 

 ovtrthe dung hotbed, are some kind of mite that will do your plants or . 

 cuttings no harm, but disappear when air is given. 



v.nr J roRNUTA FROM SEED (/rf.'m'.— Thcro is no more art required 

 in the Ais?ug of this plant from seed than that of any other of the Pansy 

 family TV'^Bhnplv drain a pan well, fill it to the rim with a compos of 

 sandy Inrfylo-amtwo-thirds, .and one-third leaf mould, and, m.king the 

 sOTface smooth by patting it gently with the bottom of a flower-pot sow 

 the seed and just cove? it with fine soil. A gent e vvatenng is then 

 iiven and the pan placed in a gentle heat, as that o a Cucumber-frame, 

 S hotbed with a temperature of 05' or 70', assigning them a position 

 near the glass. The plants come up well, hut we have had failures 

 through the seed being bad. 



Tea-scented Eoses in Greenhouse (7,ffm).-We advise the placing 

 „f „11 kinds of Roses ont-doors in summer, as under glass they arc 

 subject to red spYdert besides, they are benefited by a brief sojourn in 

 pure air and refreshing rains. Put them out in June, and house m 

 October. 



Estimate of Coal eor Heating Garden Structures (TFn..(fAo(, 

 Want Xof '.-Yours is a very difficult question to answer, as the quahty of 

 the coal is a serious consideration, some kinds lasting half as long again 

 ns others We presume you bum slack coal, and m that case 1 ton per 

 we?k fOT the summer, and 2 tons for the winter se^ason would he a fair 

 rilowance.or 78 tons per annum, the cinders from the house being added 

 thereto. The usual allowance for a gardener's cottage is 5 tons of best 

 coal per annum, but the allowance varies; for instance, m the south 

 4 tons only "n the west 5 tons, whilst in the north 6 tons are allowed, and 

 in many places where coal is cheap, there is no limit to the quantity. 



Planting Potatoes fBetiry Boivrl.-The soil being light the sets may 

 be planted in drills deep enough to allow of these being level, earthing- 

 np after they have been well hoed and cleaned They will no doubt, 

 aSswer weutbut if the soU be heavy, or wet, it is better to plant in ridges. 

 LiNUM FLAVUM (Mfm).— It is a perennial not flowering the same season 

 as sown, unless sown and forwarded in heat. 



A Yard of Netting (A Bf^fniKr).- When -we order netting 2 yards 

 ■wide, we expect it when one side is fastened to the top of a wall under 

 the coping to hang down 6 feet, and if it do not we return it. A yard of 

 netting is, when the two sides and ends are fastened, to cover square 

 feet or 1 yard superficia!, and to cover 10 yards square, 100 yards of 

 Sing only are required; hut some allowance mast be made tor slack 

 ?n 1 ekvation from the ground, which in the covering of fruit bushes to 



protect them from birds, very often take up more than double the netting 

 necessary to cover the ground. Netting is usually sold by the bneal yard. 



Netting for Doors of ORCnARD-norsE (£. S.).— We do not know of 

 aiivthingthat could possibly be more Ught, airy, and elegant than Hay- 

 thorn's hexagon netting for keeping out wasps and Ijirds. 'This tacked to 

 frames providing tho frames were himg to the posts with hmges, would 

 not bo inconvenient. It is advertised in our columns. 



Seed Sowing (K^iirv jBorcr).— The plants you name may be sown and 

 treated as you propose in a cool greenhouse with every prospect of 

 success, only keep the soil moist, and when they are np give plenty of 

 air and a position near the glass, 



IxoRA cocciNEA LEAVES BROWSED (A Common Cathnge).—It is pro- 

 duced through moisture lodging on the leaves, the plants being kept m 

 too low a temperature. If you were to give the plant the benefit of a hot- 

 bed of from 75 to 8r. , and a top heat of Ii5- to 85°, with plenty of moisture, 

 but not through syringing overhead, with a moderate amount of venti- 

 lation , and a position near the glass, we think the leaves would not brown. 



Vines at Back of a Greenhouse (H.).— The Vines will never thrive 

 so long as they are overshadowed by cUmhers. and the back of a green- 

 iiouse is no place for them. They should have a position on the roof. 

 Allow but one shoot from a Vine, train it 15 inches from the glass, aUow- 

 inc it to grow imtil it reaches the limit of the space allotted to it, then 

 stop it The laterals should have their points taken out at the first leaf 

 or joint and again at the second, cutting them close to the cano at the 

 commencement of October. Water well now, and again when necessary, 

 keeping well watered until September, then diminish the supply, giving 

 none after September. Sj-ringe morning and evening up to August, but 

 early in the morning, and let the foliage be dry, or give air before the 

 sun shines powerfully upon them. You may top-dress them now with an 

 inch or two of rich compost. Water wiU he required about once m every 

 ten days— a thorough soaking. 



Camellias for Market {A Constant Reader).— Ynn will find none equal 

 to the old Double White, or Alba plena, and Fimbriata, of the w-hites ; 

 Bealii (Leeana superba), and Chandleri of reds ; Saccoi nova and Augus- 

 tina superba, of rose; and of the striped shaded sorts, Storyu, Jenny 

 Lind, Madonna, and Sarah Frost. 



lUU, ilAtlLlOUliU, »,.« .."• 



Roses for Forcing (Irfcm).— The Tea-scented and Hybrid Perpetual 

 are the best, a list of which you will find at page 167 of the present 

 volume. 



Old Plants of Tom Thumb Pelargoniums (.4 SubKriher to the 

 Journal) —Your old plants may at once be placed in the hotbed, and when 

 grown sufficiently take cuttings from them, but we fear they will not 

 crow Buflicientlv, being now no more than alive, to furnish cuttings that 

 will be available for the present season. You can raise cuttings of Ver- 

 benas in your hotbed, particulars for which, as also for Pelargonium cut- 

 tings, you will have read in last week's Journal. 



Pruning Camellia Root {A Con.itant Siib.icriher\—lt is not necessary 

 to root-n'rune Camellias to keep them in small pots, as no plant will thrive 

 longer in the same pot than Camellias. We say. Do not root-prune them, 

 but vou may remove most of the old soil, potting again m the same sue 

 of no't If vou -n-ere to give the Primulas more heat and moisture they 

 would' throw the truss well up above tho foliage. All they reqmre is 

 more Hberal treatment. 



Genista not Flowering (M.»i)— -Afford a compost of turfy sandy 

 loam a cool airv situation in the greenhouse, and a position near the 

 glassl with water, so as to Iceep the soil moist; it will assuredly flower, 

 bein" the freest of flowering plants. Do not allow it to suffer for want of 

 water, and, on the other hand, water only when necessary when the buds 

 arc swelUng and the plant is in flower. 



Melons to Ripen in August ()r!;<'s'd<-)-— The easiest way to ripen 

 Melons in the first fortnight of August in a pit with the help of mnnnre 

 heat is to have tho manure sweetened, at least the upper portion of it, 

 bv the end of April ; have the bed made and the soil in by the first week 

 in May, and turn out slrongplants,butyoung in the soil as soon as warm. 

 Let the plants be stopped as soon as they make the third rough leaf, and 

 of the shoots that come from tho axils of the leaf select two, nipping out 

 all others. If vour light is wide plant three plants singly and at equal 

 distances ; if narrow, say S feet, only two plants. Of the two shoots 

 on each plant train one to the back and one to the front of the pit. Do 

 not stop at all until the shoots arc within a foot of the back and front, 

 then nip out the point of the shoot. As the shoots are growmg, every 

 bud that appears at the axils of the leaves, which buds would be 

 lengthened into shoots, should be nealy taken out with the point of a 

 knife, until vou reach to within 6 or S inches of the point of the shoot 

 stopped as stated above. This wiU leave annmber of buds near the end 

 of the shoot that will lengthen into secondary shoots, and on these the 

 fruit will generally show at the first or second joint, and they fould be 

 st"ppedat the joi ,t above the fruit. Care should be taken to set the 

 hlnssoni, and to keep a warm, dry atmosphere at that time By the above 

 simple plan the pit will not be crowded with shoots, and there will be a 

 3 strength in the plants to set the fruit when it shows. A volume 

 could scarcely say more definitely on the subject. 



Flower Garden Plan (Jon. S.).-Yonr garden will look very well, 

 and the central part at least will have all the openness of the lawn at 

 Tingrith, alluded to last year. We ike your proposed arrangements ; 

 but as you have the plants we tlnnk you would improve the whole by 

 h ving a band of Cineraria maritima round ISo. 1 in centre^ We would 

 put a band of orange Calceolaria, fringed with Lobeha, round 6 and 7. 

 Gazania round 8, and Cerastium round 4 .and 5. 



Cucumber for Ridge Growth-Fowls Trespas.sing M Comlant 

 Reader) -The old Long Prickly is the best useful variety, either for grow- 

 i.,B in the onen air or in a cold frame. If fowls creep throngh your 

 h?™ hedge have son" galvanised wire netting placed aU along the bot- 

 tom™ fth? hedge. If they fly over have similar netting fixed to supports 

 a™ng the top of the hedge. If the fowls continue to injure your garden 

 after hartng given notice to their owners, you could recover compensa- 

 tion in tho County Court. 



Iris Kempferi.— " A. E." informs us that he has bloomed it for some 

 years past ; he will oblige us by stating whether he considers it a very 

 distinct and desirable flower. 



Tiffany (Darorcj.-Apply to Messrs. J. Shaw & Co., 29, Oxford Street, 

 Manchester. 



