January 13, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL ®F HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



bat in the majority of cases, when a young man is dismissed summarily, 

 it is after he has given much trouble, and set every regulation at defiance. 

 Heating a Frame frou the Furnace of a House (R. C. 3/.).— The 

 difficulty in all cases like yours is doing so much in such a small space 

 aB that of a Cucumber box, i\ by c\ feet. The proposed mode of taking 

 the flue up and over the top of the furnace will answer, especially if even 

 then the flue rather rises than sinks into the present flue of the plant 

 house, and if heat will be wanted in the plant house always when you 

 want it for your Cucumber box. But if your plant house is merely a 

 greenhouse.'you would seldom want fire heat for it.Jsay after the middle 

 of March, and yet you would be- better of heat for your Cucumbers until 

 after midsummer. Therefore, to do the work neatly and economically, 

 you should be able to heat either place separately or together, and to be 

 able to regulate the heat at your pleasure. We think you may do so in 

 the following manner. The top of your furnace outside, and on the 

 same level as the ground, is S feet by 2 feet, and that, if the heat is at all 

 concentrated in it, ought to be quite "ample for your small bos. We would 

 leave your flue, then, exactly as it is now, with the exception of 

 a damper put across it, which we thiuk you have room to do in the flue 

 outside the plant house. Then we would make your furnace into a stove 

 by taking a 4-inch pipe out of it near the top, and opposite the furnace 

 door. An earthenware pipe outside would do for a small chimney. 

 Have a plug to fit the chimney. When you merely wish to beat the 

 plant bouse, keep the plug iu the chimney. When you wish more heat in 

 the frame, take the plug out and put the damper in the flue when most of 

 the smoke has passed off, if you use coals. Do exactly as you propose with 

 the bricks on which to set the frame. We would prefer that your bricks 

 should be set upright on their sides. Thus your one-brick wall would be 

 9 inches wide and 4^ inches high. Then, asjrespects the space inside, 

 outside the top of the furnace brick, tile, or concrete the space, letting it 

 rise a little to your brick base for the frame. Give a thin coating of 

 Portland cement to the top of the furnace, and, indeed, all the enclosed 

 space might thus be done, leaving the top of the furnace the lowest if 

 anything. Then place on this prepared floor just as many bricks-on->ed, 

 and no more, as will support the slates you speak of for a floor for the 

 soil. You will thus have an open chnmber, except where the brcks, or 

 an equivalent, are placed to receive the slate. In the centre set up a 

 3-inch drain pipe about IS inches long, the bottom end standing 1 inch 

 above the floor. Through the p pour water to secure moist 



bottom heat. A small stick left in the pipe, with a piece of moss or 

 sponge fastened to the end of it, will tell you when more water is neces- 

 sary. Have a neat wooden plug to go into the top of the pipe, and thus 

 you can obtain dry top heat or moist beat as you like. But for simplicity 

 you might have two pipes, one a foot from the back, and the other a foot 

 from the front, but the one pipe will do. Place some rough chopped 

 sods above the slates, and then at least one foot of soil. If you try this, 

 let us know the result. We advise " Strive " to adopt a similar plan, as 

 such a bed will be first-rate for propagating purposes. 



Cucumber Leaves Spotting {T. U.).— We think the evil is owing to 

 two causes. First, the leaves are rather near the glass— 4 or 6 inches 

 farther off for the trellis would be better— and then chiefly, we think, to 

 too much heat and dryness at the roots. Three 4-inch pipes in a 3-feet bed, 

 if the pipes are at all hot, must give a great heat to the roots nearest the j 

 pipes. Have you any mode of securing moisture beneath, and keeping 

 the soil from being over-dried and heated by the pipes? 



Feen Case Planting, &c. (.Rot. W. H.).~ We could have advised j 

 better if we had known more about the structure of the fernery, and j 

 even its dimensions, for we are still doubtful of its size from what you 

 give us, " 24 by 30, by 14." Wepresume inches ; but then is it 24 in . 

 and. 30 by 14 in length and width ? or is it 30 by 24 length and width, and ' 

 14 in height ? In the former case we would use such plants as the ' 

 following for the centre row: — Polypodium calcareum, Adiantum for- 

 mosum, Lastrea criststa, Polypodium Dryopteris, ana Polypodium Phe- 

 gopteris, these being British Ferns, with the exception of the Adiantum 

 formosum. For the sides we would use such plants as the following :— 

 Adiantum capillus-Veneris, Asplenium Trlchomanes, Allosorus crispus, 

 Asplenium marinum, Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum, Cystopteris alpina, 

 Cystopteris fragilis, Polypodium vnlgare, Polypodium vulgare cambri- 

 cum, all British plants, to which might be added of exotics— Adiantum 

 tenerum, Adiantum pedatum, Adiantum brasiliense, and as a base for the 

 whole, a green covering of Selaginella helvetica and stolomfera, with 

 some tufts of umbrosa. If your case is only 14 inches in height, 

 almost all those named for the centre will he rather high. If the case 

 could he kept somewhat warm, we would have Adiantum formosum for 

 the centre, and such plants as the Polypods named, with Adiantum 

 pedatum, andDoodia aspera,Doodia media, Pteris cretica.and Adiantum 

 capillus-Veneris, Ac, for the sides. When the case is high, such plants 

 as Selaginella cassia violacea and Tradescantia zebrina look well sus- 

 pended from the roof. As to the shape of Fern cases, a rounded, 

 somewhat semicircular top looks best iu a room, and with means of 

 giving air when desirable it. does very well, and better still when the 

 circular part at top is moveable, so as to examine and do what is wanted 

 to the plants without entirely removing the glass. But for appearance, 

 a square case with a flat glass roi if is as good as any, so far as the well- 

 being of the Ferns is concerned. With a rounded top, even though the 

 sides are not much rounded, watering will need to be less frequent, as 

 the vapour condensed against the inside will trickle down the sides, and 

 thus there will be less danger from drip than when the roof is flat ; but 

 then the moisture on the inside of the sides, until it all trickle down, 

 will be apt to obscure the view of the Ferns inside. With a flat roof we 

 would have it merely laid on, whether the glass were in one piece, or, in 

 a large case, in several pieces, and then by reversing the glass in the 

 morning you will escape all annoyance from drip, as some Ferns, though 

 they like moisture at the roots, do not like frequent moistening of their 

 fronds. The condensation of moisture inside the glass would be much 

 prevented by having a clean linen or cotton cloth on purpose to throw on 

 the case at night. Were we making a Fern case for ourselves, we would 

 go to the little extra expense of having a double bottom, with an interval 

 of about 3 inches between the two bottoms, like a drawer, to be water- 

 tight. With the upper floor perforated, thorough drainage will be secured, 

 and then in severe weather hot water could be placed in the drawer form- 

 ing the second bottom, which would be beneficial to the health of the 

 Ferns. However formed, in planting drainage must be secured. This 

 may be done with broken pots, pebbles, or bits of sandstone, if free from 

 iron. On these a sprinkling of moss will keep the earth from filling up 

 and clogging the drainage. If the moss is fresh, however.it will be 



advisable to soak it in water near the boiling point, with a little quick- 

 lime in the water, and then after some hours take it out and spread it to 

 sweeten and dry before using it, as then the moss will have no vermin, 

 &c, left in it. Even a small slug will cause much havoc in a Fern case, 

 and often will bo difficult to find or trap. Better keep a small one out 

 than search for it afterwards. The drainage being secured, a very gene- 

 rally applicable soil would be two parts of fijbry loam, three parts of heath 

 soil not made too fine, one part of silver sand, and one part of charcoal, 

 broken about the size of horse beans, and all the fine dust excluded. 

 One part of little bits of porous sandstone may be added. According to 

 the size and height of the case, the inside may be greatly diversified 

 by miniature hill and dale, and alcoves, and recesses, using for this pur- 

 pose pumice stone lava, soft sandstone, pieces of cement, vitrified bricks, 

 and even various-coloured coral for ornament. These, as already stated, 

 if not covered, should have a green fringe of the Lycopods already 

 named, to which might be added such sweet little Mosses as Selaginella 

 apoda and S. densa, and even S. alpina. The materials to which we 

 have just referred— pumice stone, &c, will enable you to make a consi- 

 derable variety of surface, as thus you can keep the roots moist though 

 considerably elevated from the floor. When once nicelv watered, and 

 the superfluous moisture earned off, the management is next to nothing. 

 It is well to change the air, say twice a-week, but, other things being 

 equal, you will have to look after watering just as you give air, and allow 

 the moist vapour to escape. We have seen cases do well that had no 

 water for two or three weeas. Where air is given at all freely, the plants 

 would need examining once a-week, and twice at any rate in hot weather. 

 With a moveable top it is easy to do this with a small jug, by carefully 

 examining the soil with the finger, and passing by those plants that are 

 moist enough. As your stand is to be placed close to a window facing 

 the east, supposing there is no blind used to the window, it will be advis- 

 able to have a thin shade of muslin or paper for the shading of the side 

 facing the sun whilst the sun is bright and strong. The glass on that 

 side might be frosted, or even tinted green or blue, to serve a similar 

 purpose; but we would prefer a shade, as when the sun was gone the 

 Ferns could have the full light of the room. 



Mushroom Power (B. S. M.).—& Mushroom forcing its way through 

 plastering is not extraordinary. The same species of fungus has been 

 known to lift up a flagstone. 



Age of Mushroom Spawn (3. B.).— You need not be afraid of using 

 the spawn that you obtained last March, sc far as age is concerned. 

 We have extraordinary gatherings just new from spawn that was 

 nearly two years old seven weeks ago. The oldest spawn we have used 

 with success was eight years old, and of our own making. It had been 

 used all the intermediate years. We cannot further answer your ques- 

 tion— How long does Mushroom spawn keep'.' It might keep longer for 

 anything we know to the contrary. It was kept in a dry shed on a 

 wooden bin, and the cakes a little open to prevent damp'affecting it. 

 From May to October some mats were placed over it to prevent the air 

 in the rather open shed from drying it too much. When broken it 

 smelt as fresh as if it had been made a few months, and was a mass 

 of spawn threads not individually larger than the finest flossy silk. The 

 condition of your spawn is everything. If it has been at ah damp, and 

 the spawn threads have swelled and run to the size of strong cotton and 

 darning worsted thread, if we used it at all we would use it liberallv, as 

 its vigour would be spent. If the spawn is greatly dried and shrivelled, 

 it would be as well not to use it. A friend of ourB thought his spawn 

 could not be too dry, and had a bin formed over a furnace, but he was 

 wofully disappointed. We know there is, perhaps rightly, a prejudice 

 for new spawn, and no doubt chiefly because the purchaser may not 

 know how it was kept. Many years ago a celebrated nurseryman told 

 us in August he did not know what to do, he could obtain no fresh 

 spawn, and had numerous applications to send direct, and he had none 

 but what he obtained in the previous October, and a rare lot it was, 

 lying in a dry loft. We had some, and never had a better bed. We ad- 

 vised him to send it out, stating it was good, but nearly a twelvemonth 

 old. He had a multitude of inquiries afterwards for his old spawn, and 

 a greatly increased demand for spawn generally. 



Annuals to Flower rN April and May (Idem).— We are afraid we 

 cannot tell you of flower seeds to sow now to bloom in the borders in 

 April and May. Virginian Stocks, Sweet Alyssum, and Collinsia bicolor 

 are about the earliest. If you could sow in a slight hotbed, and plant 

 out in March, then you might add Candytufts, Nemophilas, Silenes, &ci 

 For a small space you could sow in small pots, and plant out in patches 

 in March. Where much was to be done, you could sow in semicircular 

 drain tiles, or narrow slips of turf, under glass, give air to harden ofl, 

 and transplant in trenches in the middle of March. If you were near 

 anyone who grows early annuals at all largely, if the self-sown seedlings 

 were left, you might purchase lots of plants for a trifle to plant out, and 

 then Candytufts, Nemophilas, Collinsias, Sweet Alyssums, Silenes, and 

 Virginian Stocks would bloom freely, and be ready to take away for the 

 summer occupants. For instance, in both the nurseries at Hitchen, 

 belonging, one to Mr. John Fells, and the other to Mr. William Fells, we 

 have seen dense carpets of the above in winter and early spring, and 

 many were in full bloom in the end of April. We know of nothing more 

 attractive whilst they last, than lines and beds of the Nemophila insignis 

 and Sileno pendula. The Virginian Stocks will flower much earlier. 



Potting Ismxnes— Oxalis Leaves not Falling (Rusk).— If you 

 Ismenes needed a shift, they should have had it in summer or early in 

 autumn. They should have been allowed gently to go to rest instead of 

 repotting and watering so freely, and placing them in a cool greenhouse. 

 That has led to decay at the necks, helped by the deep potting. The coo 

 greenhouse would have done if the pot had been full of roots and the soil 

 rather dry. The Amaryllis, or Sprekelia formosissima, is hardier and 

 stood it better, but that, too, does best when the growth is made in summer, 

 rested, and merely top-dressed when it begins to move. The Oxalis that 

 blossomed well in November in a small pot, and as yet shows no signs of 

 losing its leaves, must be kept growing until it does so, but giving less 

 water than before it bloomed. There are so many Oxalises that they 

 differ much in the treatment required, though most of the tuberous and 

 bulbous sorts require much the same management. 



Vine Borders (E. £".).— We do not approve of the soil of a Vine border, 

 or for that matter, the soil about the roots of any plant being kept so 

 very ory all the winter. It is necessary to reduce the supply of moisture 

 somewhat in the autumn, so as to check a late continuance of gruwth, in 

 our inside borders and artificial conditions ; but as roots are frequently 



