190 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 10, 187a 



from alluding to it again for some time ; but we know that 

 many are anxious to try striking by cuttings in spring, and we 

 Buould like tbem to have the pleasures of success. Such a 

 box could be heated by gas or a lamp, but when near the 

 dwelling-house we know nothing simpler than just drawing off 

 the cooled water and replacing it with warm. It matters not 

 with what the space at bottom is lined, provided it is water- 

 proof. Wood itself may easily be made waterproof, and con- 

 tinue so when supplied constantly with water. It is essential 

 that the outside at least be wood to keep the heat in. — R. F. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 

 In the Suburbs of Loudon for the week ending March 8th. 



2.— Overcast ; cloudy, but fine ; rain. 



\i. — Dense fog; very fine ; overcast. 



4.— Rain ; drizzling rain ; overcast and cold, rain. 



5.— Overcast and cold ; very fine; clear and fine. 



G. — Clear aDd frosty : densely overcast ; overcaBt. 



7. — Overcast; densely overcast; overcast. 



8.— Overcast, cold wind ; overcast : densely overcast. 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



Carter & Co., 237 and 238, High Holborn. — Carter's Farmers 

 Calendar, Illustrated, 1870. 



John Morse, Dursley, Gloucestershire. — Catalogue of Cuttings. 



John H. Ley, St. John's Road Nursery, Croydon. — Catalogue of 

 Ferns and Stove Plants. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



e®" Many complaints having reached us as to the difficulty and delay 

 in procuring this Journal on the day of publication, vc repeat a 

 notice in the first column of our advertising pages, shaving how 

 its delivery can be promptly and punctually secured. Being pub- 

 lished in lime for transmission l*y the Thursday morning mails, 

 The Journal of Horticulture should, with but few exceptions, 

 be delivered oh the same day in all parts of the country. If there 

 is any delay, let our readers apply to the nearest railway booh- 

 steill, and by paying their subscriptions in advance their copies 

 •will be regularly supplied. If country booksellers cannot obtain 

 the Journal in time, we shall be obliged by their communicating 

 Hie fact to our Publisher. 

 N.B. — Many questions must remain unanswered until next 

 week. 

 Books (G. R.).— " The Garden Manual." You can have it post free from 

 our office if yon enclose twenty postage stamps with your address. 



Emigration (J. C. P.).— Before you, or anyone, fix on a colony whither 

 to emigrate, let " The Year-Book and Almanac of Canada" be* read. It 

 can be obtained at the Canadian Government Emigration Office, 11, Adam 

 Street, Adelphi, London. 



Table Maize (Ml D.).— The Rev. T. C. Brehaut informs ua that the 

 Maize seeds can be had of Messrs. Ban & Sugden, lung Street, Covent 

 Garden. 



Strawberries {Idem). — All the varieties you name can be obtained 

 from nurserymen who especially attend to the propagation of Straw- 

 berries. They advertise in c 

 French Pruning Nippebi 

 informed where to obtain these. 



Resurrection Plant (E. N. It.).— We know of no other than the 

 Anastatica that ia so named. If you send ns a flower and leaf we niav 

 be able to identify it. 



Czar Violet (M. C.J.— Wo do not know where its seeds can be pur- 

 chased. If they were sown, the seedlings would probably not be like 

 their parent. 



Striking Cuttings of Mrs. Pollock Pelargonium (Qelia). We 



should advise you to wait until the end of March before taking them oft, 

 and for two reasons. The first i3, there will be less danger of their 

 damping off then, and the second is the cuttings v, ill be larger or there 

 will be more of them. We have known a sad loss result from putting in 

 cuttings of old woody Pelargoniums in February without sufficient heat 

 to urge them on. We advise you not to be in too much haste in putting 

 them in. 



Verbena venosa Seed not Vegetating (E. F. H.),~ One of our corre- 

 spondents who grows this Verbena extensively, says it is better not to 

 sow the seed until oarly in spring, as he once lost a quantity sown at the 



r columns. 



-the Secateur.- 



' C. M. TF." wishes to be 



end of August in consequence of the plants not attaining sufficient size 

 to withstand the dark days, as the plant dies down, leaving no foliage 

 whatever, like many herbaceous plants, but a number of Couch-like rootB 

 near the surface. The seed also requires a long time to germinate ; but 

 if sown in March, and the young plants duly attended to in the way 

 of pricking-out, &c, it will dower as early as the other kinds of Ver- 

 bena. The plant produces seed in abundance, which occasionally vege- 

 tates in the following spring when self-BOwn. We would not, therefore, 

 advise you to throw away for a week or two the pan you sowed in 

 October, buVaow some more, and if the seed be good the "result will be 

 satisfactory. 



Verbena venosa Seed Sowing (Bunkofthc Tees).— It is a very useful 

 plant for bedding; the colour of the flowers is blue. Sow the seed now in 

 a compost of two parts sandy loam and one part leaf soil, with about one- 

 sixth of silver sand, and place it in a hotbed of 70 . When the plants are 

 up keep them near the glass, and when large enough to handle pot them 

 off singly in small pots, return them to the hotbed, and keep them close, 

 moist, aiid shaded for a few days, and then harden them off and remove 

 them to a cold frame, planting them out at the end of May or beginning 

 of June. 



Myosotis DI3SITIFLORA Seed Sowino (Idem).— The seed may be sown 

 from now to the end of June, but we think April or May the beBt time, 

 sowing in pans, and placing these in a cold frame until the plants appear, 

 then expose them fully. When the plants are large enough prick them 

 out on an ea6t or slightly shaded border, in lines 6 inches apart and 

 3 inches from each other in the lines, shading until established, and 

 watering as required. In autumn the plants may be planted where they 

 are to flower, or be potted in 4 £ -inch pots and wintered in a cold frame, 

 planting out in February or the" beginning of March. 



Gaillardia picta Treatment (Idem).— It requires the same treatment 

 as Asters — that is, to be sown in loamy soil and leaf soil, in a pot or pan, 

 and to be placed in a hotbed. When the plants are large enough prick 

 them out in pans about an inch apart, continuing them in a frame for 

 some time longer ; then harden them off, and plant them out at the end 

 of May. 



HoLLmocK Seed Sowing (Idem).— Sow it in paos now, and place 

 them in a frame with a gentle heat. Wben the seedlings appear remove 

 them to a cold frame, keeping them near the gla?s and well aired. When 

 the plants have two rough leaves they may be planted out in an open 

 situation, in light sandy soil, and in lines 1 foot apart and 6 inches from 

 plant to plant in the line. In October the plants may be taken up and 

 potted if of a choice strain, and be wintered in a cold frame, planting 

 them out at the end of March. Instead of taking up and potting you may, 

 at the end of August or beginning of September, remove every alternate 

 plant and line, and plant in lines 2 feet apart, with 1 foot distance 

 between the plants. 



Stipa pennata Treatment (Idem).— Sow the seed in sandy soil, and 

 place it in a frame, keeping the soil and air of the frame moist and rather 

 close. When the blades appear admit air, and when the plants can be 

 handled pot them off' singly in small pots, and return them to the frame, 

 keeping tbem close and shaded until they have recovered from the pot- 

 ting ; then admit air freely, and harden them off, planting them out in 

 the open ground when they become strong. 



Anemone Seed Sowtng (Idem). — Sow now or early in April in light 

 sandy soil enriched with leaf soil, sowing in a bed 4 feet wide with 18-inch 

 alleys. All the seedlings require the first year is to be kept clear of weeds 

 and to be watered in dry weather, but not after the growth is complete. 

 A better plan is to sow the seed as soon as ripe. The bed should have ft 

 slight mulching of leaf soil in autumn or early in winter. In the second 

 year the plants will flower, and you may then mark the best, and remove 

 them from the seed bed when the foliage decays, throwing the worthless 

 ones away or planting them in a shrubbery border. 



Striking Corontlla Cuttings (J. if.}.— You do not say what Genista 

 it is, but we presume it is Coronilla glauca, a greenhouse plant, requir- 

 ing a cool airy position in a house from which frost is excluded. Cat- 

 tings of the current year's shoots should be taken when theBe become 

 firm, and inserted in loam, sandy peat, and silver sand, surfacing the pot 

 with an inch of silver sand. The cuttings should be put in round the 

 side3 of the pot, and the cutting-pot inserted in one of larger size, the 

 space between the pots being filled with small crocks, surfaced with sand. 

 The rims of both the pots should be level. Put on a bell-glass with the 

 edges resting on the sand between the pots. Plaoe the cutting-pot in a 

 gentle bottom heat of from 70° to 75°, and a top heat of 60° to 65°, shad- 

 ing from bright snn and keeping close and moist, but avoid making the 

 soil wet or the cuttings may damp off. In a month or six weeks the 

 cuttings will be rooted, when they should be hardened off, potted, and 

 removed to the greenhouse. The soil best suited for growing the plants 

 is light turfy loam two-thirds, and one-third leaf-soil, with a free ad- 

 mixture of sharp sand. The Azalea cuttings should be struck in the 

 same way, only they require all peat. 



Hyacinth Flower Buds Turning Brown (C. E. £.).— We cannot 

 account tot the flower buds turning brown, unless it be from their being 

 exposed to too great heat, and having in some way been injured. We have 

 never seen Hyacinths, and what are known as Dutch bulbs, do worse than 

 they have this year; the spjkes being in most cases very small, the 

 flower buds few,"and opening very small and poor. 



Indianrubber Plant Treatment (A Constant Reader).— This plant 

 requires a temperature of 50- to 55° in winter, and 60 c to 65° in summer 

 at night, with a rise of from 5° to 10- on dull days, and from 15 to 20° 

 with sun and air. Owing to the cold the growth of the plant is not per- 

 fected in summer, and the points go off ia winter from the damp. There 

 is no remedy but to give the plant more heat and keep it drier, for 

 though it has a hard thick leaf, unless well matured by heat and ex- 

 posure to light, it is not proof against a greenhouse temperature and 

 damp during the winter. When the growths are made and matured in a 

 good heat no plant will stand longer in a dry cold atmosphere, and it is 

 on this maturity of the growth that its value for the decoration of rooms, 

 &c, in winter so much depends. 



Cutting-back Ericas (Idem).— Plants that have become very straggling 

 in growth ought after flowering to be cat back, but young green eboots 

 must be left at the base, or below where each cut is made. The pruning 

 may be done now. and the plants repotted this month. All pruning 

 should be done by the end of June. 



