318 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ April 26, 18T7. 



the plants must be watered, as the roots are formed into a com- 

 pact mass so that water cannot penetrate into it rapidly enough 

 to sustain the plant. Before planting them out it is well to see 

 that the leaves are free from red spider. This pest is very 

 troublesome and does much damage in little time. "We dip the 

 plants in a pail of water to which 3 ozs. of soft soap and half a 

 pint of tobacco liquor has been added, laying them on their 

 Bides afterwards so that the solution may drain off without 

 running into the roots. 



Most of the Pear, Plum, and Cherry trees are m blossom, and 

 aome of them have even passed the blossoming period. We 

 have done no work amongst them except to put on a few grafts. 

 This work should be finished at once, and if necessary the hoe 

 may be run through the ground under the trees. 



PINE HOUSES. 



Owing to the greatly increased light and higher temperature 

 •out of doors the night temperature where fruitis swelling should 

 now be 70'— that is, if it is desirable to have the fruit ripe as 

 quickly as possible. If it is not necessary to do this G5' is just 

 as healthy a medium for the plants. Many cultivators recom- 

 mend syringing the plants when the house is closed in the 

 afternoon ; but this is really not necesEary, and water applied 

 in this way is nearly all conveyed down the leaves^ to the base 

 of the stem, where the soil becomes sodden and in the worst 

 possible condition to supply the plants with the nourishment 

 they require. It is a good plan to syringe underneath the plants 

 ■during hot drying days, and to water the surface of the beds as 

 well as the walls and paths of the house. Fruiting Pines are 

 not benefited by much moisture in the atmosphere ; in fact a 

 ■close moist atmosphere causes an overgrowth in the crowns, 

 which takes away the sap that ought to be appropriated by the 

 fruit. Succession plants should be grown-on in a very similar 

 temperature to that of the fruiters. The plants ought now to 

 be potted into their fruiting pots without any delay. Hot^ water 

 pipes fixed in a chamber underneath the bed is much the best 

 method in which to apply bottom heat. The heat in the tan 

 bed will then last at least six months, and if the old tan is then 

 just turned over and mixed with some fresh the heat will be 

 maintained for some months longer. 



CnCUMKER AND MELON HOUSES. 



Cuoumber plants require looking over at least once in ten 

 days to thin out all old wood and to replace it with the young 

 bearing shoots. It is difficult to keep the plants quite free from 

 insect pests, which attack the leaves when the warm weather 

 Bets in. Red spider may be kept down by syringing, but thrips 

 will not yield to clear rain water, and any solution that will 

 iiU the insect is injurious to the leaves. We generally destroy 

 it by fumigating the house with tobacco smoke, but this may be 

 too strong for the leaves, and it is better to fumigate two or 

 three times than to run any risk from an overdose. 



Melons that are at that stage when the fruit sets require daily 

 attention, and it is as well to manage it so that a sufficient 

 number of female blossoms are in flower at one time, as if one 

 or two are set two or throe days only before the others, they 

 will advance at such a rapid rate that the others suffer. The 

 fruit sets best in a moderately dry atmosphere. The lateral 

 growths of Melon plants require very similar management to 

 that of Vines as to stopping and training, and the growths ought 

 not to be crowded too closely together, else the fruit is not likely 

 to be of good quality. Many persons shade their Melon houses ; 

 but if it is necessary to do this it is a sign that the plants are 

 not in good condition, probably owing to their being grown in 

 a hot moist atmosphere and air not having been freely admitted 

 to them when practicable. The house should not exceed G5° at 

 night, and if the temperature falls to C0° no harm will accrue 

 to the plants. 



PLANT STOVE AND ORCHID HOUSES. 



Shading is one of the most important it;ms of the details of 

 the culture of stove plants. It may be underdone, but it is 

 more frequently overdone. In duU cloudy weather shading is 

 positively injurious to plants underneath it, especially Orchids 

 and some flowering plants. The blinds ought to be fixed so that 

 they may be easily let down or rolled up. 



We have a number of plants of Dipladenia Brearleyana, sorue 

 of them trained to the ruof, and others to circular trellises in 

 pots. The flowers are of the most handsome description, and 

 are well adapted for decorative purposes in the drawing or dining 

 room. itr. Baiues, who grew Dipladenias better than any other 

 cultivator, says that the plants require very little water at the 

 roots, and our own experience agrees with this ; they also luxu- 

 riate in a high moist temperature when growing. 



We have cut down a number of plants of Poinsettia pulcher- 

 rima, and also the new variety plenissima. Those who have 

 not yet added this new sort to their collections ought certainly 

 to do so, as it is destined to supersede the old variety not only 

 for its greater brilliancy but also for its more lasting character. 

 The plants ought not to be placed in a high temperature— 55? is 

 suitable; and they ought to be placed near the glass and be 

 freely exposed to the suu. 



Many species of foliage plants are liable to be attacked by red 



spider ; and as the value of these plants consists in the leaves 

 being kept healthy the pest must be promptly sponged off, and 

 the leaves be kept free from its presence by frequent and regular 

 syringings. 



One of the most showy plants we have at this season is Antiiu- 

 rium Scherzerianum. Its brilliant-coloured spathes are very 

 striking ; and one great advantage the plant has over many others 

 is that the spathes not only last a long time in beauty, but they 

 are not easily injured by syringing or any other cause. Keep 

 the leaves of a healthy deep green colour and free from scale. 

 The plant as to treatment requires the temperature of a Cattleya 

 house, and the plants ought to be potted in the same way, and 

 similar material ought to be used- viz., the pots to be half filled 

 with dean potsherds ; and the compost turfy peat, sphagnum 

 moss, and a few potsherds and bits of charcoal mixed with it. 



Many species of Orchids are now throwing up flower spikes, 

 and they require frequent watching with a good lamp at night 

 to destroy slugs and snails, which not only eat the flowering 

 growths just as thev are starting, but also the fresh young root- 

 lets which arc just forming. Those Orchids that are in flower 

 ought to be preserved as long as possible. To do them justice 

 they ought to be placed in a house a little cooler than that 

 wherein the plants were growing, and the atmosphere should be 

 kept drier : a very moist atmosphere causes the flowers to be 

 disfigured with small damp spots. At this season there are 

 many species that require repotting, and it ought to be done 

 without any delay. In former papers full instructions have 

 been given as to the potting and basketing of Orchids. It la 

 important to pot them at the right time— that is, just when they 

 start into growth. If Orchids are shifted at a time when they 

 are not about to make young roots they seldom do well. Many 

 species of Dendrobium are subject to the attacks of red spider. 

 A good plan is to syringe the leaves well in the early part of the 

 day with water that has been standing close to the hot-water 

 pipes. D. Devonianum suffers much from the attacks of this 

 pest. — J. Douglas. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 

 • * All correspondence should be directed either to " The 

 Editors," or to "The Publisher." Letters addressed to 

 Mr. Johnson or Dr. Hogg often remain unopened unavoid- 

 ably. We request that no one will write privately to any 

 of our correspondents, as doing so anbjeota them to un- 

 justifiable trouble and expense. 

 Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet ques- 

 tions relating to Gardening and those on Ponltry and Bee 

 subjects, and should never send more than two or three 

 questions at once. All articles intended for insertion should 

 be written on one side of the paper only. We cannot 

 reply to questions through the post. 

 Books (C. P.).— The " Cottage Gardener's Dictionary " contains all that 

 yon name. 



WnD Flowers (C. Bim^dok).— We cannot state tlie nnmber. All 

 natives will be published that produce flowers, but not the Orjptogaml. 



Ammonia (G. M.).— There is not any ammonia in saparphosphate ot lime. 

 Cannot you obtain ammoniacal liquor from gasworks ? 



MiEfxHSL NlEL Decaying (T. Rose).— The stock cannot supply sufficient 

 Bap for such luxuriant growth. You do not state what stock it is upon. 



PoLVANTHusEs.— Mr. Caudwell, florist, ;Wantage, has sent us speoimen 

 flowers ; they are very varied in colour and good pips. 



QoiNCE Trees IMrs. Hend<-rsoii).— They are very hardy and require much 

 moisture. They usually succeed best when growing by the side of a stream 

 or pond, and as standards. 



Mildew on Strawberries (J. B.).— The fruit sent is small and Ul-shaped, 

 but only contains slight evidence of mildew, and there is no mildew on the 

 leaves. There is no remedy for the unsatisfactory condition of the fruit in 

 its presout advanced state. The most certain way of preventing a similar 

 occurrence is to obtain runners from a fresh stock of young healthy plants. 

 In your case we think this change is very desirable. 



Gravel ( W. B. T.).— One ton of gravel will cover about 36 square yards of 

 walk an inch thick. 



Leaves Infested with Black Fongfs {M. A. C.). — The leaves havs 

 their upper surface coated with a black fungus, but there were no traces ol 

 insects upon them. Probably the points of the shoots are or have been 

 infected with aphis, which would succumb to fnmigalion with tobacco or 

 syringing with tobacco water, one part ol tobacco juice diluted with six parts 

 of rain water. The fungus may be washed ofl «nth a sponge, employing tepia 

 water holding in solution 2 ozs. of soft soap to a gallon. 



Centadeeas from Seed {Idem).— Sow at once in a pot or pan wdl 

 drained, filling to withm half an inch of the rim with a compost of two parts 

 loam and one part leaf soU, with about a sixth of sand, the whole wall mixed 

 and nasRcd through a half-inch sieve. Make the surface smooth, and scatter 

 the seeds evenly and thinly, covering them about a cjuarter of an mob deep 

 with fine soil, place in a hotbed, and keep moist, but avoid making the BoU 

 sodden. When the plants appear keep them near the glass and moderately 

 ventilated, potting them off singly into small pots when they show the 

 second loaves, returning to the hotbed, keeping rather close, and 9li«d«a <"«» 

 bright sun untU established. When growing remove them to a cold Irame, 

 admitting air freely, hardening weU off before plauting out. The plants wiu 

 hardly be laige enough (or planting out by the beginning of June. The seoa 

 for that purpose should have been sown early in March. 



