158 



JOURNAIi OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ February 20, 1868. 



lost by the greater trouble of grafting, so as to graft low enongh after 

 potting. If the plants had previously been in pots, then we would say, 

 Prune back and excite the stocks gently before grafting. The shoots cat 

 off will grow if inserted in the ground, made, say, 9 inches long and 

 one bud left above the ground. The shoots of the Roses now in a cool 

 greenhouse will do for grafting the Manetti stocks. See answers about 

 Manetti Roses and stocks in page 14.2. 



Destroying CnicKET.s (An Old Subscriber). — Try phosphorus paste 

 spread on slices of bread, laying these down in the house at night, and 

 remo%ing them in the morning ; or mix 1 oz. of arsenic, and a little ground 

 aniseed and caraway eced, with half a pint of oatmeal. Lay the mixture 

 on pieces of paper, but take core that no domestic animal shall touch it. 

 It is a good plan to tempt the crickets with oatmeal and aromatics, with- 

 out the arsenic, for a night or two, before using the poisoned mixture. 



Caterpillars ox Pelabgonicms (W. B. 2I/.\— Your box arrived in a 

 dilapidated state, and one of the three insects had escaped. The other 

 two caterpillars are tliofe of two distinct species of Noctuida', the large 

 being that of a Graphipbora. They should be looked for after dark with 

 a light when they come out of their retreats imderground, or among the 

 leaves to feed. — \V. 



Tree Osion (B. V. G.).— We consider it quite worthless as compared 

 with others of the same genua. You will be often deceived if you accept 

 as a guide the work you name. No seedsman keeps the Tree Onion. It 

 does not produce seed, but a bunch of very small bulbs on the top of a stem. 



Mathematics (A Subscriber). — Buy the Treatises in Chambers's 

 ''Educational Course." Loudou's " Self -instruction " contains some 

 elementary information. 



Peach Tree Pruning (A Novice). — The fruit is borne on the spurs. 

 The leading shoot imtil it has attained its limit will not require stopping' 



Preventing Moss on Garden Walls (Subscriber, E. P.).— The best 

 way to clear a wall of moss is to wash it with a strong brine made fully 

 strong enough to support an egg on its end, but not to raise it. This 

 should be applied to the wall with a brush, the trees being unnailed, 

 drawn from the wall, and covered up if the buds have begun to swell, as 

 is likely at this season. V.hilst wet the wall should be dusted with fresh 

 lime, making it quite white, and in two or three days it may have a coat 

 %f whitewash, subdued iu colour by the addition of 1 lb, of flowers of 

 sulphur to fcvery gallon of whitewash, and 1 lb. of lamp black or soot to 

 every ten gallons. 



Propagating the Oriental Plane (Wfm).— The best plants are those 

 from seeds ; but the plants are liable to be cut off by the frost, from the 

 growths not being si^ciently ripened. They should be grown in a warm 

 sheltered situation in dry ground, where the shoots will be better per- 

 fected, and able to withstand frost. Layers partake of the tree-like 

 liabit of the parent, and are more hardy than seedlings. Lime trees are 

 increased by layers, and they make splendid trees, and bo would the 



Plane from layers, only oar climate is in most localities too cold, and oar 

 summer too short for the full maturation of the wood. We would advise 

 you to try grafting on the Sycamore. 



Al Fresco (A. TroUope). — We never state the real address of corre- 

 spondents who adopt anonymous signatures. If you will send to us a 

 letter undirected, with the six postage stamps requisite for the American 

 postage, we will forward it. The same reply will applv to the query of 

 "B. W. Royston," except that one postage stamp will suffice. 



Moss and Plantain on Croquet Ground (Jfc/fcoiirnfl.— The best way 

 to eradicate the plantain is to grub it up by the root, which may be done 

 now when the ground is soft, or during showery weather. The produc- 

 tion of moss is caused by the poorness of the soil, and the consequent 

 poor growth of the grass. We would advise you to remove the plantains 

 from now up to the clo^e of March, and then to give a good dressing of 

 very rotten manui'e or rich fine compost. After a heavy rain rake tho 

 surface well with an iron rake, and with a grass or daisy rake clear off the 

 rough particles, if any, by the middle of April, and give a pood rolling 

 after sowing 4 lbs. Suckling Clover, 4 lbs. White Clover, 4 lbs. Cynosurus 

 cristatus, 4 lbs. Festoca duriuscala, and 2 lbs. Poa neutoralis, in mixture, 

 for one acre of ground. Any remaining roots of plaintain may be de- 

 strtyed by applying a drop of sulphuric acid from the end of a small 

 stick to the heart or crown of each plant in dry weather. 



Potting Passiflora Belloti (J. Bayift/).— Your plant having been so 

 long in the same pot, we would not only repot it, but remove aa much of 

 the old soil as possible without destroying too many roots. 



ToBENiA PULCHERRiMA CULTURE (Irf^m). — You sliould havc good wcU- 

 rooted cuttings of this plant potted-off and established in pots before 

 autumn. They should be kept on shelves near the glass and moderately 

 dry during the winter. In spring they should be repeatedly shifted into 

 larger pots as the pots become filled with roots, giving the last shift in 

 June. The shoots may be stopped up to this time, and doing so will tend 

 to make the plant bushy. With a light, airy situation, and a position 

 near the glass, this plant flowers freely in autumn and winter. It re- 

 quires the temperature of a stove, but will succeed in a vinery in summer. 



C0MBRETC3I PURPTJREUJI PRUNING (J(/<'m).— In pruning, the side shoots 

 1 only should be cut back to withiB two or three good eyes of the main, 

 stem or shoot from which they take their rise. 



Mulching Fruit Trees (E. A. S.).— The mulching put on in autumn 

 should now, if of excessive thickness, be reduced by taking some of it 

 away ; but if it does not exceed 3 inches in thickness it may remain, and 

 will gradually disappear. You are quite right; the less the ground is 

 stirred close to the stems of fruit trees the better ; but the spaces between, 

 not being occupied with the roots of the trees, may be forked over with 

 advantage. Never dig so as to interfere with fruit trees' roots. 



Names of Pl.vnts (A. B.). — Polytrichum undulatum. (71. D. Bolton). — 

 1, Pteris serrulata; 2, Salicornia herbacea. (R.L.). — Crata;gQ3 coccinea. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS in the Suburbs of London for the week ending February 18th. 



POULTRY. BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHEONICIE. 



LIGHT AND DARK BRAHMAS. 



In reply to " T. B. A. Z."s " letter, commentiDg on my re- 

 marks on Light and Dark Brahmas, I hope that I am" not 

 unreasonable in asking for fairness to be exercised, as it is 

 absurd that cups should be ofiereJ to both varieties, but 

 invariably won by the Dark. 



That Dark E/ahmas are larger I do not deny, but I do deny 

 that they are handsomer ; in fact, I do not know a prettier sight 

 than a yard of twenty or thirty Light Brahmas in good feather 

 and condition. 



"T. E. A. Z." seems to think that I ask for too much when 

 I suggest separate cups for both varieties ; but if the entries of 

 Light increase as they have done of late years, I think com- 

 mittees will be well able to afford them a cup to themselves. 

 If, however, they cannot afford a cup to both, let them ofier 

 the cup to the Dark, and increase the prizes to the Light ; this 

 would be much more .satisfactory. 



WTiile on these subjects, I should like to know your opinion 

 on trimming fowls' legs, &c. Is it fair to do so, or is it not ? 

 I know several exhibitors who openly admit that they do so, 

 and if you expostulate with them they simply say, " Every- 

 body does the same." But this appears to me most unsatis- 

 factory ; it should be either fair to get them up iu the best 

 way possible, or judges should disciualify for the least appear- 



ance of trimming, and exhibitors discovered tampering with 

 their birds should be excluded by the Society from further 

 exhibitions. For myself I do not care which way it is to be, 

 but I do hope before another season Mr. Hewitt and other 

 eminent Judges will give us their opinions. — Albert 0. 

 WoRTHiNGTON, Newtoii Park, Burton-on-Trent. 



FOUR- TOED HOUDANS. 



I AM glad to see Mr. Schroder advocating the extinction of 

 the " wretched fifth toe " in Houdans, and as in a work written 

 by me, and very favourably noticed in your columns, I have 

 contended (the first, I believe, who has done so), for the same 

 result, I would like to add a word on the subject. 



I feel quite certain that the fifth toe is the ultimate cause of 

 the bumble foot of the Dorking. This is said to be caused by 

 the bird flying from a high perch on to hard ground, or, accord- 

 ing to some, by the great weight of the fowl ; but many Brah- 

 mas are yet heavier, and still never have bumble foot, while a 

 have seen many Dorkings never suffered to roost more than I 

 foot above soft grass turf, and which never set foot on any- 

 thing harder, in which the disease in its worse type has been 

 developed. 



Now, we profess to import and breed the Houdans, not so 

 much as fancy birds (for even their plumage has not yet be- 

 come uniform), but for their utility and hardiness. With the 

 latter point the extinction of the fifth toe is ultimately asso- 

 ciated, and I venture to predict that just as soon as that fea- 



