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JOUBNAIi OF HORTICTILTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



[ December 31, 1868* 



liking a light Boil, when removed it does not readily recover 

 itself. I planted a hardy fernery some three years back, and 

 filled the crevices of the stones with this Fern, and have now 

 some good specimens. 



The same rule applies to Aspleninm trichomanes, which 

 yonr correspondent states "is very unwilling to be domes- 

 ticated." I own, I lost many plants at first, but now I have 

 plenty of good plants, even more than I require. 



It may, perhaps, interest some of your readers to know that 

 Woodwardia radicans, Polystichum setosum, Lastrea opaca, 

 Iiastrea decurrens, Cyrtomium falcatum, and Adiantum pe- 

 datum, do well here out of doors, and with the exception of the 

 last have with me stood three winters. By this I mean that 

 they are really quite as hardy, and as vigorous in growth, and 

 are now (December 12lb) looking as well as our ordinary 

 English Ferns. The same may be said of the American 

 Ogmnndacese. — H. A. Box, Parker's Well, Exeter. 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



As yonr correspondent, " Failure " (see page 466), wishes to 

 know what is the kind of structure in which my Mushroom 

 beds are made, I will state for his information that it is a 

 small house which I have lately put up on the Oldaker system. 

 It is 15 feet long and 9 feet wide (inside measure) ; there are 

 sis beds in it, three on each side, 3 feet wide, with a path 

 3 feet wide in the centre, underneath which runs the flue, 

 which passes up one side the whole length of the house, and 

 returns in a parallel direction down the other. The floor 

 fceds are sunk beneath the level of the ground about 1 foot, so 

 that the tops of the beds are level with the path. The other 

 fceds are 2 feet apart and 9 inches deep. A floor or ceiling is 

 then formed with boards Ij inch thick, resting on the two wall 

 plates, and on the standards which support the front of the beds 

 in the centre ; the whole is then covered over with 2 inches of 

 sand. Square holes, 9 inches in diameter, are left in the ceil- 

 ing, along the middle of the house, at 3 feet apart, and they 

 Me provided with slides to ventilate when needed. The whole 

 is then covered in with a hipped-tiled roof. Square holes are 

 left in the back wall (which is 18 inches higher than the front), 

 at 3 feet apart ; each of these is also fitted with a slide board, 

 which admits air into the space left between the ceiling and the 

 roof. 



I use half a bushel of spawn to two of these beds ; this I 

 find quite sufficient. — Agakicus. 



CINERARIA LEAVES CURLING— TRAPPING 

 MICE. 



I SAW in yonr number for December 17th an answer to a 

 correspondent who complained of his Cineraria leaves curling, 

 and I have experiecced the same evil in the case of my own 

 Cinerarias, which I lately removed from a frame to the green- 

 house, where the air is kept very much drier than in the frame. 

 I was quite at a loss for a long time as to what was the cause, 

 for no insect was to be seen ; but I replaced in the frame one 

 of the plants ihat looked worse, and I soon found it recover. 

 I then determined to give those in the greenhouse a slight 

 syringing every morning, and they have quite recovered. Per- 

 haps similar treatment will cure " A Constant Eeadee's " 

 plants. 



I observe frequent inquiries as to the best way of catching 

 mice, and many methods of doing so have been pointed out. 

 I have seen and tried numbers of these with some success. As 

 the mice began last week to make great havoc among our Cro- 

 cuses, I told one of my men to set some traps, and to strew 

 coal ashes over the bed. The traps, which are of a kind quite 

 new to me, proved very efiective, and are so simple that they 

 can be made in five minutes, even by a boy. It may, therefore, 

 he of service to the readers of the Journal to describe them, 

 as I know how destructive mice are to bulbs at this season, 

 and to Peas, Beans, &c., in spring. 



In the first place take a No. 1 flower pot, stop np the drain- 

 age hole with clay or a cork, then fill the pot with water to 

 within 4 inches of the lim, make a hole in the ground near 

 the bulbs or other plants which it is desired to protect, and 

 sink the pot to within 3 inches of the rim. Plant two forked 

 Sticks, one ou each side of the pot, the forks to be of just the 

 same height above the surface as the rim of the pot; take a 

 Stick, such as jou tie up plants with, about 2 feet long, round 

 and small at each end, and square in the middle ; cut likewise 



two small pieces, about 6 inches long, with pointed ends ; split 

 the long stick in the middle, and insert the two small ones in 

 it, BO as to form a cross like the toy windmills which children 

 run about with, only for the mouse trap the cross part is in 

 the middle. Instead of paper, as in the toy, a Bean or a piece 

 of Crocus is placed on each point, and the mouse travelling 

 along the long stick to the top of the cross stick where the bait 

 is, his weight turns the spindle round, he falls into the water, 

 and the next point comes up to take its place. In this way 

 scores of mice may he caught in a single night. We caught 

 four in one night last week, and one of my men tells me he 

 caught as many as twelve in one night last Pea-sowing time. 

 — John Tatlok, jun. 



SANDRINGHAM WHITE CELERY. 



I WAS induced this spring, from seeing an advertisement of a 

 well-known firm, to purchase a packet of the Celery seed they 

 were sending out as the Sandringham White. During the 

 autumn, I mentioned to a neighbour who had called with me, 

 that I had my suspicion that it was an old friend under a new 

 name. " Oh," replied he, " the seedsmen did not send it out 

 as a new one, only as a sort the Prince of Wales was fond of." 

 A few days afterwards I visited Mr. Welch, Armagh, and seeing 

 some very fine Celery growing there. I was led to speak of the 

 Sandringham White. Judge my surprise when told that the 

 seedsmen had laboured hard to convince Mr. Welch that it was 

 distinct from the well-known variety. Turner's Incomparable, 

 and as a convincing proof, sent a packet of each. They were 

 growing side by side. Now, had a little seed of all the known 

 and unknown varieties of white kinds been shaken on the 

 counter, swept up, and sent out for Turner's Incomparable, the 

 mixture could not have been more complete. I do not like to 

 meet old friends under new names in this way. How mnch 

 better to have sent it out under its own name as a selected stock 

 of Turner's Incomparable. I had for some years given over 

 growing the above sort, for the very reason of its being bo 

 mixed. Nor is it equal for table use to some of the others 

 now in cultivation, such, for instance, as Williams's Matchless. 

 There may be larger-growing sorts, but for quality it has few 

 equals. 



I find that it is the fate of a great many of our vegetable 

 seeds to get mixed and spurious, and when grown it would 

 puzzle anyone to Bay what kind they are, although whea 

 making out our seed lists, we choose such as are represented as 

 " true " " very fine selected stock," &o. Now, whether we ought 

 to blame the grower of seed, or the seller, either wholesale or 

 by retail, I will not venture an opinion. One thing I know, the 

 gardener is always the sufferer, and that often when too late 

 to be remedied. Are there not enough of disappointments fall 

 to our lot without old varieties being sent out under new 

 names? — North of Ireland Gardener. 



MILDNESS OF THE SEASON. 

 I HAVE regarded the late mild weather as very favourable to 

 the ripening of wood buds and the perfection of fruit buds, 

 with which most trees are well supplied ; but on looking ronnd 

 to-day (December 19th), |he thermometer reading 59" in the 

 shade, I perceive vegetation is in some instances acting upon 

 the old but wise maxim of " early to rest and early to rise," 

 for Lilacs, Ehododendrons, Honeysuckles, Eoses, and Goose- 

 berries are showing unmistakeable signs of starting. Migno- 

 nette is flowering freely, and some Trentham Eose Pelargo- 

 niums and Purple King Verbenas that were left out of doors 

 are flowering tolerably well ; but unless we have a winter as 

 exceptional for warmth as the summer has been, the above- 

 quoted maxim will not apply to vegetation with such truth as 

 it does to ourselves, and unless more seasonable weather soon 

 occur, we gardeners must make ample preparation against 

 injury from spring frosts. — Thomas Record, Hawkhurst. 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



As the weather still continues much the same the operations 

 recommended during the last few weeks should lie proceeded 

 with. Everything used for the protection of tender plants 

 should be in readiness in case severe frost should suddenly set 

 in. Cauliflowers, if the autumn sowing failed it will be ad- 

 visable to BOW in a box, which may be placed in a forcing- 



