JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 14, 1870. 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



Bell & Thorpe, Paddock Nurseries, Stratford-upon-Avon. — General 

 Catalogue of Plants. 



Child & "Lorinier, 49, Darley Street, Bradford, and Bradford Nur- 

 series, Shipley. — Catalogue of Agricultural Seeds. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



«®- Being published in time for transmission by the Thursday morning 

 mails, The Journal of Horticulture should, with but few ex- 

 ceptions, be delivered on the same day in all parts of the country. 

 If there is any delay, let our readers apply to the nearest railway 

 bookstall, andby paying their subscriptions in advance their copies 

 mill be regularly supplied. If country booksellers cannot obtain 

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

 the fact to our Publisher. 

 *«» We request that no one will write privately to any of the 

 correspondents of the " Journal of Horticulture, Cottage 

 Gardener, and Country Gentleman." By so doing they 

 are subjected to unjustifiable trouble and expense. All 

 communications should therefore be addressed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, die, 171, Fleet 

 Street, London, E.G. 

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

 week. 

 Aquarium (R. C.).— Mr. J. Caven Fox, Arcades, Boyal Horticultural 

 Gardens, South Kensington, will give you the information. 



Address (J. W. Mcanwood).—1he address you require is 61, York 

 Terrace, Regent's Park. 



Delachampia Roezliana (Constant Reader).— You may obtain it from 

 any one of the following nnrservmen :— Mr. Bull, King's Road, Chelsea ; 

 Messrs. Veitch, King's Road, Chelsea ; Mr. Williams, Victoria Nursery, 

 Upper Holloway. 



Mushroom Culture (Mushrooms)^- If you enclose five postage stamps 

 with your address, and order " The Kitchen Garden Manual," it will be 

 sent to you post free. It contains the information you need. 



Hangolt Wurzel (E. W.).— This, or Mangold Wurzel, is the correct 

 mode of spelling. Mangolt is the German for Beet, and wurzel for root. 

 The book you mention could be obtained through Messrs. Sampson, Low, 

 and Co., Booksellers, Fleet Street. 



Cyclamen Seedlings (J. J. Jarrold).— When they have made two or 

 three leaves, pot them off singly into small pots, and in summer remove 

 them to a cold frame, keeping moist, and shaded i'r on ! 1 le'ht sun. Pot as 

 may be necessary into larger pots, and take in-door3 at the end of Sep- 

 tember, placing the plants on a shelf in a house with a temperature of 

 45 r ; and with due supplies of water, and potting as required, you may 

 probably flower them next spring ; if not, let them go to rest in 

 summer, potting them when they begin to grow. They will flower in 

 autumn, winter, or spring, according to the sort. In potting cover the 

 corni with soil. A little old cow dung may be mixed with the soil. Good 

 drainage should be given. 



Flower Bed Arrangement (R. Clarke).— If you send us a plan of the 

 beds, and how you propose to plant them, we will point out any errors or 

 improvements that we can. We cannot originate the planting for any one. 

 New Dahlias (Amateur).— Alice Gair. Aristides, Provost, Toison d'Or, 

 Annie Neville, Emperor, Indian Chief, Memorial, Mrs. Brunton, Unique, 

 James Hunter, and Head Master. These are all kinds sent out in 1809 and 

 1870. The latter, of course, are expensive. 



Carnation Shoots Eaten (Novus Amicus).— We think earthworms are 

 not the cause of the mischief, and though you cannot find them, we never- 

 theless think slugs are your enemies. Dust the plants with Boot— it will 

 drive away the slugs, and dust with lime occasionally. Soot is a good 

 manure. 



Cucumber Growing (Idem). — We think with you that something must 

 be wrong besides the heat of the hotbed, as, after this month, linings of 

 graBS keep up a sufficient heat. Have you the " Garden Manual ?" It 

 contains instructions for Cucumber culture, and may be had post free 

 from our office for twenty postage stamps. 



Delphinium formosum (An Inexperienced). — The only difficulty with 

 the Delphinium is to see that the seed is not dried up after germination 

 has taken place : hence, if sown out of doors, a little shade may be 

 given until the seedlings appear. We sowed last year in a little box in a 

 cold pit, and the seedlings came np like Mustard and Cress. We cannot 

 well account for the want of success, except by the reason given 

 above. The flower garden will look well, especially if you can look down 

 upon it. Your centering 6, 7, 8, 9 will be an improvement. We should 

 edge all these with Cerastium, and then you can edge 2, 3, 4, 5 with 

 Lobelia, and plant these beds with Golden Chain, Mrs. Pollock, &c. The 

 best Calceolaria to suit Stella would lie Amplexicaulis ; the next best, 

 and strong-growing, would be Aurantia multiflora. 



Boxes for Greenhouse Climbers (C. H.). — We do not think you 

 could have anything better than slate for your boxes for climbers. 

 From 18 to 24 inches square, and as much in depth, would be large 

 enough. Wooden boxes of a similar size would last many years, and 

 they might be painted, and well sanded outside when the paint was fresh, 

 SO as to resemble stone, but they would not be so lasting as slate. Slate 

 could be painted and sanded in the same way, if deemed desirable. 



Strawberry — Cinerarias (Stotan). — The berry was smashed. The 

 fruit probably is deficient in flavour, as, though ripe, you " never let them 

 get dry." The Cinerarias are pretty, but mauy better are in the florists' 

 lists. 



Erratum.— In page 260, fourth line from bottom of second column, for 

 " wall " read pot. 

 Worms in Orchard-house Pots (T. Matthews).— Worms will injure 



the roots of your pot plants by making the soil loose about them. You 

 can easily destroy worms bv watering with clear lime water. Throw a 

 spadeful of quicklime into 'thirty or forty gallons of water, stir it well, 

 and if left a night and a day it will be quite clear, and then use the liquid. 



Glazing without Putty (S. Shaw).— From what yon state we hardly 

 know whether your roof is very steep or very flat, as people speak of 

 angles so differently. If steep, there will be no .linger from drip. II the 

 Blope is very fiat, like that of a common frame, there will be danger if 

 the glass be not well packed beneath. The grooving plan is no doubt 

 good, but we cannot speak from our own experience. We know that 

 placing the squares edge to edge without laps will not cause drip, but the 

 grooves must be deep enough to allow of expansion laterally. 



Glass over a Border (H. C). -You can cover such a border in the 

 way proposed ; a lean-to roof and an upright front would be the cheapeat. 

 The best plan would be to have an upright front 6 feet high, and then a 

 low hipped or a span roof from the back wall, and front glass. The Figs 

 will succeed best in the Vine divisions. 



BOCGAINVLLLEA SPECTABILIS NOT FLOWERING (J. L.).—Foi this plant 



to do well it should be planted-out in a border of light turfy loam, not 

 very deep, wide, nor long ; 4 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 2 feet deep, will be 

 sufficient. To this space its roots ought to be confined. Good drainage 

 must he provided, and then fill with light turfy loam chopped np, adding 

 about a third of leaf toil, and a fourth of sharp sand. It is well to have 

 the border near the hot-water pipes, so that it may be warm and dry in 

 autumn and early in winter. We should turn out the plant at once, and 

 give it every encouragement to growth up to September, then keep it dry 

 at the roots, and the atmosphere also dry. Continue this treatment up to 

 the following February, an<! if the plant do not flower then, gradually 

 moisten the soil, and from March to the end of summer give !i 

 growing heat ; then keep the plant dry in autumn and early 

 and it may flower throughout the winter and early in spring, 

 water is to be withheld in autumn and winter, it must not be to the 

 extent of causing the wood to shrivel, and yet the foliage may slightly 

 flag without injury to the plant. It is necessary that the shoots be 

 trained near the glass, the nearer the better, if the leaves do not actually 

 touch. It will not bloom on the trellis, or but poorly. 



Medinilla magnifica not Flowering (Idem).— If it do not show 

 flower by May, pot in a compost of two-fifths fibrous sandy peat, one-fifth 

 li»ht turfy loam, one-fifth lent soil, and one-fifth of silver sand and 

 charcoal from the size of a pea to that of a hazel nut, mixing well, but 

 not sifting. In potting, remove the old soil as far as it can be done with- 

 out injury to the fibres, drain well, pot rather firmly, but not very tightly, 

 and give a good but not excessive shift. Plunge in a gentle hotbed, and 

 water sparingly, but keep the soil moist until the roots are working 

 freely in the fresh soil, then water copiously. To insure a good growth a 

 moist, brisk beat is necessary, and when the growth is ceasing, keep the 

 plant dry, though watering to keep the foliage fresh, and expose it fully 

 to light and air. It ought to flower next year. 



Raising Water (Aquarius).— As yon object to having a pump for rais- 

 ing the water into the cistern, you might employ the " Archimedean 



Snail," which 

 might be so 

 constructed as 

 to fix to the 

 side of the cis- 



i moist 



n winter, 



rly in spring. Though 



nd be 



removed when 

 the water re- 

 quired had been 

 raised. " It 

 is an inclined 

 axle turned by 

 a winch. A 

 tube or pipe is 

 twisted spirally 

 round the axle, 

 the i 

 twist 



oi 



d ar- 

 when 

 turned that the 

 water flows up- 

 wards. The spi- 

 rals on the side 

 shown all in- 

 cline to the 

 and the 



water, therefore, flows in that direction. The axle must be of the length 

 of the height to which the water has to be raised, inclined at an angle 

 of SO ."— (English Mechanic). 



Fuchsias, Pelargoniums, and Climbing Fern for a Greenhouse 

 (Poplar).— Prince Albert, dark; and Rose of Castile, light, are two good 

 Fuchsias for trelliswork or rafters. Zonal Pelargoniums, General Pehssier 

 and Clipper are good scarlets, free-growing and free-Mooming. A climD- 

 ing Fern is Lygodium scandens ; it grows freely, is very elegant, and 

 ought to be in "every collection. 



Camellia Jenny Lind (Live and Learn).— The description you give of 

 your plant and flower leads us to the conclusion that it is corre.tly 

 named. You would, we think, be acting injudiciously to have it grafted, 

 esneciallv as it is so fine a plant, and we strongly advise you not to doit. 

 The flower, as you say, is small, but very pretty. We consider it a 

 fit companion for Lady Hume's Blush, one of the finest of all Camellias 

 for cut blooms, but which, unlike Jenny Liud. is not a cupped flower, 

 being more prominent in the centre. There is no work on the cross- 

 breeding of plants. 



Cyclamen Treatment 'E.B.B).-1he leaves sent are certainly very 

 Boor, but why should you despair ? Try again. If the plants are varieties 

 of Cyclamen persicum keep them iu a slightly shaded part of the green- 

 house but on a shelf and near the glass, and water them so as to keep 

 the leaves fresh. In May place in a cold frame 

 watering as required, and in June remove the lights, g 

 than enough to keep tne soil moist, or rather dry than — 

 rain that may fall will do the plants good. At the end ol August or the 

 beginning of September, the plants will begin to grow; pot them, but 

 without disturbing the roots, though any loose soil may be removed, and 



east border, 

 3 more water 

 rather dry than otherwise, but any 



