March 3, 1670. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



172 



Pea supporters ; it should be lay-cord; the holes in the frames 9 inches 

 apart. Your suggested forms would do, we think. 



Gardeners' Examinations {E. B.).—IS you write to Mr. Richard?, 

 Assistant Secretary, Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensington, he 

 will send you printed particulars. 



Pea (A. R.).— Among the myriad of varieties the seed of a Pea must be 

 very peculiar indeed fur anyone to tell from them its name. Yours are 

 liie those of Champion of England. 



Reburrection Plant {E. X. R.).— This, the Rose of Jericho, or Anas- 

 tatica hierochuntica, is an annual, requiring to be grown in a frame like 

 a half-hardy annual in spring, and succeeds in light loam. What you 

 have is not a living plant, but a dried specimen, which has the property 

 of expanding in water, and assuming a life-like appearance for a time. 

 In the " Cottage Gardeners' Dictionary," page 34, you will find the follow- 

 ing statement :— " An annual plant, indigenous to the Egyptian deserts, 

 and called the Rose of Jericho. When full grown it contracts its rigid 

 branches into a round ball, and is then tossed about by the wind. When 

 it alights on water, or on damp ground, the branches relax and open out, 

 as if its life were renewed, hence its name of Resurrection Plant." 



Hyacinths after Flowering in Water (E. N. R.).— After flowering 

 you may plant them out in an open border, but they are of little use, 

 though we have seen them do tolerably well in borders after a year or 

 two. It is usual to throw the bulbs away when the flowering is past. 

 They are of no further use for growing in water or pota. 



Forcing Vines (A. 0.).— Now is a suitable time to apply fire heat for 

 the house, so as to keep up a temperature of 40° at night for a fortnight; 

 then advance it to 45°, and in the course of another fortnight to 5j", and 

 have it from 55° to fil>- by the time the Vines are in leaf and showing for 

 bloom. You may syringe them morning and evening until in leaf, and 

 maintain a moist atmosphere bv sprinkling water over all suitable sur- 

 faces two or three times during tbe day. The bleeding of the pot Vines 

 in the greenhouse may be stopped if you dip the ends in a pan of boiling 

 pitch, but this wilt destroy tho eye next to it if at all near. Hot sealiDg- 

 wax will not injure the Vines, but it will not stop the bleeding. The 

 " patent knotting " used by painters is the best composition we know for 

 Stopping bleeding in Vines and similar subjects. 



Golden Colecses for Bedding (Idem).— Except for warm situations, 

 these are not suitable for bedding purposes. We cannot name plants 

 from leaves only; flowers are necessary, good specimens with fohage. 



Planting for Budding Manetti Stocks (Y--un : i Ro*arian).— Plant in 

 rows 2 feet 6 inches apart, and 6 inches from each olber in the rows, and 

 do not plant deeper than sufficient to cover the roots. In budding, put 

 in the buds near the Boil, and when they have begun to grow you can 

 cover up to them with soil. 



Conifers from Seed [Idem). — Sow thia month (March) in pans well 

 drained, and filled to within half an inch of the rim with light sandy 

 loam, placing the seeds evenly over the surface, and covering with fine 

 soil. Water gently, and place tbe pans in a cold frame, or cover them 

 with a hand-glass. Keep -the soil moist, but avoid making it very wet, 

 and when the plants appear admit air freely, keeping tbem as cool as 

 possible. In winter protect them from frost by a covering of mats, and 

 in spring prick-off round the pots, putting about a dozen plants round 

 the side of a 6-inch pot. Continue them in a cold frame for another 

 year; then, after being well hardened-off, they may be planted out in 

 lines 1 foot apart, allowing 6 incbes between the plants in the lines. 

 Water them in dry weatber until they are again established. In two 

 years they will be good plan's, requiring to be again transplanted. Allow 

 them double the distance they had before, or they may be planted out 

 where they are to remain. 



Hc?iea elegans Dying (A. B.). — We are unable to account for the 

 plants dying off suddenly, and without apparent cause, especially as you 

 have been hitherto successful. Perhaps it is owing to the soil, and we 

 would advise you to try a change of compost, say two parts turfy loam, 

 and one part leaf soil, omitting the horsa droppings and peat; and in 

 shifting the plants do not pot them deeper than tbey were before, and 

 shift before they become pot-bound. Allow them plenty of room, so that 

 air can reach the stems. 



Pointing an Old Garden Wall [An Old Subscriber).— You will not 

 find anything equal to pointing with mortar, the joints of the brickwork 

 being well raked or picked out previously. Cement will not do, for it is 

 impossible to nail tbe trees afterwards from its setting hard. If it is 

 not impossible to nail the trees from the bad state of the wall, you may 

 now unnail the trees and wash the wall with a mixture of lime, sulphur, 

 and soot, brought to tbe consistency of paint with a solution of 4 ozs. of 

 soft soap to the gallon of water, applying it to the wall at a temperature 

 of 160 . If you do not think it well to unnail the trees, yon may syringe 

 the wall and trees with a solution of 3 ozs. of Clarke's compound to the 

 gallon of water. 



Canna3 {F. Duke).— A dozen with fine foliage are:— gigantea major, 

 grandiflora floribunda, discolor iloribunda, musa?folia,.metallica, zebrina, 

 Annei Orange, and liendatleri. These are for garden planting. Four 

 others are Warscewiczoides grandiflora, Premices de Nice. Keteleeri, and 

 hybrida Warscewiczoides. They may be obtained of any of the principal 

 London or provincial nurserymen and seedsmen. We cannot recommend 

 dealers. 



Names of Plants (A Constant Reader). — Gymnogramma ochracea, 

 Fittonia argyroneura. [Charles Hurt}. — Epidendrnm cochleatum. ( W. F. 

 H.).— Nephrodium molle. Dew. (A. £.).— 1, Kennedya (Hardenbergiaj 

 monophylla; 2, indeterminable; 8, probably a species of Gnaphalium, 

 but impossible to tell from the wretched specimen sent. 



POTTLTRY, BEE, AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. 



THE SPRING IS COMING, BROTHER FANCIERS: 

 And can I possibly be cheery-hearted enough to write the 

 above ? Is it not far on through February, almost March, and 

 still the fro6t is on the pane ? Has not that north wind sent 

 hall the world to their beds, and the other half tit coughing by the 



fire? Yes, true; but in spite of this — nay, the more, because 

 of this cold and frost, the spring is coming, and coming quickly 

 too. Let an old legend help me to grasp the soothing truth. 



Concerning Candlemas-day— that is the 2nd of February, 

 when we take down the Christmas decorations in our churches, 

 there is an ancient superstition universal in Europe, that if it 

 be a sunshiny day the winter is not half finished. The Ger- 

 mans, too, say that the badger peeps out of his hole on Candle- 

 mas-day, and if he finds snow he walks abroad, but if he sees 

 the sun shining he draws back again into his hole. Well, on 

 Candlemas-day this year, even in the genial West of England, 

 there was snow ; and more than that, on Valentine's-day it was 

 bitter, biting cold, and men and boys were skating, and the 

 postmen — Oh ! the poor postmen ! — did not bless the boys and 

 girls for the extra work they gave them, and did not, as usual on 

 fine Valentine days, hand in the bulky letters with a joke and 

 a smile. So putting legends and weather together, the spring 

 must be coming, and coming at a jump, for it is not the first 

 week in January, but the last in February, and it is cold still. 

 " Hope on, hope ever ! " this is my motto. In sick rooms, 

 beside sick beds, say still, " Hope on, hope ever ! " Take the 

 invalid's thin hand in yours, and whisper to your heart and in 

 his ear, " Hope on, hope ever ! " 



But I am digressing. The spring is coming ! Soon we shall 

 have the first after-tea stroll, and hear the Blackbird's note, 

 and watch the Rooks playing at building their nests — they 

 teem to play at it at first, they, too, taking up the strain, 

 " The spring is coming ! " 



Now, ye good people, who never loved a bird, whether fowl, 

 or fancy Pigeon, or cage bird, or cared to watch the busy beo 

 republic, ye know not how many resources those who love 

 these alwaj'3 have. Now that spring is coming, I look through 

 my fowl house ; I think of what variety of fowl I shall breed 

 this year, I see about broody hens, talk the matter over with 

 pjultry-keeping cottagers, I see if the cjops aie in order; and 

 then comes a vision of chickens on the grass in the May sun- 

 shine ; for you know spring is comirjg, and soon I shall hear 

 the hum of the bees among the spring flowers. Then I look 

 through my poultry books, and revive recollections of all little 

 clever plans ; I get down back volumes cf "our Journal," and 

 turn the leaves and re-read the choice bits. 



Then, in intervals of finer weather (the sun does bear power 

 now, for the spring is coming) I adjourn to the Pigeon-loft, and 

 stand and watch how affairs are goiag on there. A great deal 

 of cooiDg there is, of course, for the spring is coming, and 

 there as I stand I plainly perceive a dangerous flirtation be- 

 tween a lady and gentlemaD, which must not he permitted, for 

 it would be an unsuitable match, and like a hard-hearted old 

 baron of old I seize the lady, who has been giving sparkling 

 glances in reply to the cooing, and running, aDd tail-sweeping 

 of that young scamp of a cock ; and I place the lady in the 

 strong prison of the mating cage, and with her the gentleman 

 I intend she shall wed, or " to a nunnery she shall go," a3 

 Hamlet said to poor Ophelia ; but no fear of a nunnery, for 

 after a little demur she will wed as I wish her. 



Not fowls or fancy Pigeons alone, there are my (no, I dare 

 not write " my," lest I should have a disapproving chorus from 

 little girls' throat.-) i ur Canaries. What means this extra- 

 vigorous singing that I hear ? Why, it means what I write, 

 " Spring is coming." Away, then, to the school-room, all hen 

 birds ; it shall be a hen convention there— governess, girls, 

 birds. The cocks shall be my company. But more. I go to 

 a certain cupboard and pull out the nest-baskets and look at 

 them, and trifle with them, and think, after spring has come, 

 huw dainty little eggs will be in them, and then I think about 

 nests and all the appurtenances of breeding. I look at the 

 breeding cages, and almost fancy I see the groundsel and 

 chickweed on them, for you know spring is coming. 



I spoke of the resources which fowl, and PigeoD, and bird, 

 and bee keepers have over and above other people : and they 

 have comforts, too, as well, over and above what otherB have. 

 And now on this head I subjoin a true anecdote, recent as well 

 as true. 



For twenty years there was a blessed bountiful home— a spa- 

 cious house, large, far-extending gardens, greenhouses, poultry- 

 yard, and all within and without betokening wealth and com- 

 fort. More still ; within that home was a happy and very 

 numerous family — clever, promising children, grown, and grow- 

 ing up ; comforts and blessings. But this home had to be left, 

 and another to be made in a far-off part of England. 



" 'Tis hard to part when friends are dear, 

 Perhaps "twill ccst a Bigh or tear." 



