JOURNAL OP HOBTIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



449 



B g»p the plan is good, and we can do with fewer plants potted 

 is the aaianm. As several times hinted at, we have no Straw- 

 fc— rilf that for oropping resemble those turned oat of pots last 

 season. We hope to turn out a good many presently, and would 

 have had more out but tor the difficulty of watering them. 



.Proceeded with watering in houses, thinning late Grapes, 

 and we trust ere long to have all extra plants out of fruit 

 s, as plants do little good after the roofs are covered with 



ORNAMENTAL DEPARTMENT. 



Proceeded with potting, ohiefly plants of a season, asColeus, 

 end Acijmenes, and we shall have much potting Ferns, &c, 

 as soon as we can get at them. The Coleuscs are valuable for 

 fill-gaps, where there is much space to go over, and little space 

 lor keeping, or growing. With very little bottom heat, they 

 grow so freely and quickly, that a catling soon comes to be a 

 handsome plant. Some beginners may like to know that leaves 

 and even parts of leaves of Coleus strike freely, form a sort of 

 flashy haae, and then throw up shoots. Most are aware how 

 the leaves of Gloxinia and the fine- foliaged Begonias maybe 

 cat into strips, and every little strip forms a plant when in- 

 serted as a cutting. It is well at times to depart a little from 

 general routine. In taking off the points of Coleus Verscbaffelti, 

 thinking they might be wanted, a young man inserted them 

 just as they were, I without catting to a joint, or removing or 

 shortening a leaf, and in a week the pots were a mass of roots, 

 and not 3 leaf had damped. There are many things that have 

 a firm stem that strike well without the trouble of cutting to a 

 joict, as roots come freely from any part of the stem. 



We have done the bulk of our bedding-out. We planted out 

 some Coleus three weeks ago, but the plants do not look over- 

 well. The bulk will go out about the 21st, or a day or two 

 later. A little delay in their case is not time lost. We had 

 rather they never lost their rioh colour. 



We shall also plaoe a few patches of such annuals as Clarkias 

 among Borne of our beds, as they tend to relieve the monotony 

 of eolonr and are easily cut or removed when not wanted. The 

 rain of the 16th has done all the plants good, and they seem 

 to be going on well, though after watering when planted they 

 never, or hardly ever, had water again. When we read direc- 

 tions about watering fresh-planted bedding plants daily, we can 

 hardly help asking what those people are to do who cannot 

 water if they would. We can hardly make such everyday 

 waterers believe that such and such beds newly planted have 

 had no iratsr for ten days, and in scorching weather too. We 

 know plants look fresher at the time when frequently watered, 

 but we have great doubts about the propriety of this frequent 

 drenching. At any rate, we know places where, by means of 

 pipes laid on, it is easy to water every day, and water was thus 

 given in all dry weather ; and yet we have seen more massive 

 and gorgeous beds where watering was refrained from for a 

 fortnight, three weeks, or a month, and moisture secured chiefly 

 by surface-stirring. It is easy to go to extremes, and it is quite 

 possible where water is plentiful to use it too freely. — R. F. 



METEOROLOOICAL OBSERVATIONS 

 Jn £b© Saburbs of London for the week ending June 21st. 



IS. — X-iTiy fine ; exceedingly line ; clear and fine. 



3fi.— Fine; very fine and close ; thunder, lightning, and rain. 



37.— Densely overcast ; cloudy but fine ; clear and fine, 



18. — DKOsdy overcast ; fine, cloudy ; clear and fine. 



39. — Very fine ; exceedingly fine ; clear and fine. 



90. — Oveicast \ cloudy but fine ; fine and very clear. 



31.— "Very fine ; exceedingly fine : very hot ; clear. 



TRADE CATALOGUE RECEIVED. 



Ant. 'Boom. Florist, Overveen, near Haarlem, Holland. — Catalogue 



of Jfyoczntte. Tn!'i>s t Crocus, Narcissus, and other Dutch and Cape 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



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

 correspondents of the " Journal of Horticulture, Cottage 

 Gardener, and Country Gentleman/' By bo doing they 

 are subjected to unjustifiable trouble and expense. AU 

 communications should therefore be addressed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture > <&c. t 171, Fleet 

 Street, London, E.G. 

 We also request that correspondents will not mix up on the 

 same sheet questions relating to Gardening and those on 

 Poultry and Bee subjects, if they expect to get them an- 

 swered promptly and conveniently, but write them on 

 separate communications. Also never to send more than 

 two or three questions at once. 

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

 week. 

 Charcoal Water (Zwanziaer). — There is no such thing as charcoal 

 water. Charcoal is totally insoluble in water. Powdered charcoal mixed 

 with the soil about the roots of plants slowly forms carbonic acid, and is 

 beneficial to them. 



Kiln Dust (H. P.).— What iathis ? Ashes from the fuel, or from sifting 

 malt ? If it is for a manure to the Roses, it must be spread on the surface 

 and pointed in. 



Ismene Amancaes (C. M. M.).— Its blooming is not rare. The plant 

 has been exhibited at South Kensington, recently, more than once, an! 

 was interesting chiefly from a plant of another name being supposed to b6 

 identical with it, and from its appearance after being neglected for soma 

 years. 



Clematis Jackmanni Training for a Bed (E. S. IT.).— For training 

 this plant, a trellis of wire is the best. Wood latticework, however, 

 will do, but it is more conspicuous. It ought to be fixed bo that at the 

 sides or edges of the bed it will be no higher than the grass or Box 

 edging, and should be from 9 inches to a foot higher in the centre than 

 at the sides, or rise from the latter to the former 1 foot in 3 feet. 



Aivlamanda not Growing (AUamanda).— The plant, we Bhould think, 

 would again grow well if you were to cut it down to where it is starting 

 from near the root ; but if it has not started into growth by this time, 

 it would be well to replace it by a young one. The cause of its present 

 cnfeeblement is no doubt the excessive flowering of last season. 



Zonal Pelargonium Thomas Speed (R. F. S.). — It is a very good Bort 

 for greenhouse or conservatory decoration— as you say, " a grand Scarlet 

 Pelargonium." Of its bedding qualities we have no experience, but we 

 question its surpassing Bayard for that purpose. We shall be obliged by 

 a statement of anyone's experience of its bedding properties. 



Golden and Silver Tricolor Pelargoniums (Mary).— You do not 

 say whether you require them for in-door or ont-door culture. We pre- 

 sume the former, and recommend— Gulden Tricolors : Lucy Grieve, Mrs. 

 Dunnett, Prince of Wales, Mrs. Turner. Mrs. Headly, nnd Sir Robert 

 Napier. Silver Tricolors : Italia Unita, Miss Pond, Imperatrice Eugenie, 

 Mabel Morris, Charming Bride, and Glen Eyre Beauty. 



Obtaining Shrurby Pelargoniums (Centurion).— The petals of the 

 Pelargoniums were shed and faded, but seemed pretty. The best way to 

 obtain good stubby flowering Pelargoniums, is to turn them out when 

 done blooming, keeping the pots moist at bottom, but giving little or no 

 water at the Burface. Place them full in the sun, so as to ripen the wood. 

 When the wood becomes hard, prune back according to taste, the more 

 like so many deers' antlers the better. A few days afterwards give a little 

 water, and when the bare shoots break repot in smaller pots, and give 

 larger pots as the heads grow. Keep the plants near the glass, and in a 

 heat not below 45°. 



Scorzonera, Salsafy, and Cottagers' Kale Culture (Northunt' 

 brian).— Scorzonera and Salsafy should be sown at the beginning of 

 April in dri'ls a foot apart, and the plants thinned out, when they can 

 well be laid hold of, to 4 inches from each other in the rows. They re- 

 quire no further care than to be kept free of weeds. Tako the roots up 

 in November, and store them in sand in a shed or cellar. The tops? 

 should be cut off to within about half an inch of the root. The roots are 

 the eatable portion ; boiled like Parsnip, and served with white sauce or 

 melted butter they make a nice dish. Cottagers' Kale is sown about the 

 same time as Salsafy, or at the beginning of April ; and from the middle 

 of June to the middle of July the plants are planted out in an open 

 situation in good rich soil, and at 2 feet apart every way, like Cauliflowers 

 or Curled Greens. The ground will need to be hoed to keep down weeds, 

 and the plants to be earthed-up when they are sufficiently grown. They 

 will give you a quantity of delicious greens next winter and spring. 



Desert Pea (R F. J.).— We are not certain, but we think that "Desert 

 Pea " is a popular name of Clianthus Dampieri. It belongs to the same 

 natural order as the Pea, and is a native of desert districts of New 

 Holland. 



Peas ant> Kidney Beans for Late Gathering {A Constant Reader). 

 —For a late supply of Peas there is no equal to Ne Plus Ultra. We have 

 gathered from it as late as December 21st, but of course the autumn was 

 mild. We would advise you to sow now that kind and Princess Royal, 

 both of which we pnt in on the 15th ult, and we shall supplement this 

 sowing with one of Dickson's First and Best at the beginning of next 

 month. Kidney Beans for late gathering should be sown at the beginning 

 of July. We bow the last out of doors on the 15th of July, but we have a 

 sowing made on the 1st of July, and every fortnight to that from the end 

 of April. Liver-coloured and Negro are the hardiest and best for out-door 

 sowings. We have pods from the last two sowings until the plants are 

 cut off by frost. 



Peaches and Nectarines (A. D. t Tale of Man).— The Peaches are 

 mildewed. See what we saiH at page 420 of our last number. The Nec- 

 tarines shrivel from want of a supply of sap. and the roots, probably, 

 have descended into au ungenial subsoil. If so. you cannot lift them 

 now. Try removing thfj surface coil, replacing it by soino a little richer, 

 and water with tepid, very weak, liquid manure. 



