244 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[Mirch 23. 1853. 



and early eiJi-ing, wonld succeed well. It has yellow flowers, but it is 

 deciduous. 



DocBLE Daisies Ccltuke (G. .S.)-— Double Daisies do best in a border 

 shaded from the midday snn. They should have a rich, moist, and ralher 

 stifl* soil. They should be divided after flowering, and watered copiously 

 in di*y weather. The soil should be well drained, for they are impatient 

 of wet in winter, and equally so of drought in summer. 



Herbaceous Pt.ants <B. N. C). — Viola cornuta, V. pennsylvanica' 

 v. calcarata, and all the varieties of V. odorata ; Trollius europieus' 

 T. napcllifolius, Spiraea filipendula plena. Scilla sibirica, S. hifolia' 

 Pnlmonaria angustifulia rubra, P. ofliciiialis, Draba aizoides, Dielylra 

 spectabihs, Doronicum plantagineum, Erigeron grandiflorus, Galium 

 boreale. Delphinium formosum. D. Belladonna, D. grandiflorum, D. alo- 

 pecuroides, Cheiranthus Marshalli, Convallaria majalis, C polyponatum, 

 Campanula aggi-egata, C, carpatica, C. speciosa, C. pusiUa, C. nitida 

 plena, Asclepias tuberosa, Aubrietia grandifl^'ra. Aster alpinus, A. tann- 

 cetifoUus, A. teuuifolius, Betouica grandiflora, Aquilegia caryophyl- 

 loides, A. grandulosa, Anchusa pauii'ulata, Anemone steLlata fulgens, 

 A. japonica and vax'ieties vitifolia and Honorine Jitbert, A. apennina, 

 Alyssum saxatile, Ajuga alpina, Agrostemma coronaria, Achillea mille- 

 folium rubrnm. Geranium sanguineum and lancastriense, Geum coc- 

 cineum its variety grandiflorum, Helloborus niger and variety major, 

 Hepatica triloba and angnlosa, Hypericum calycinuni, Iberis ^axatilis, 

 I. Tenorcana, Iris germauiea vars., I. pallida, I. reticulata, Lilium auran- 

 tiacum, L. candidam, L. coJchicura, L. chalcedonicnm. L. Martagon, 

 jL. tenuifolium, Lotus corniculatus flore-pleno, Lychnis viscaria splen- 

 dens, L. Haageana.Mimnhis roseus pallidum, Ornbns vernus, Piponia albi- 

 flora vars.. P. ofticinalis vars., Phlox vema, Polemonium creruleum, Po- 

 tentilla Menziesi, McN'cbiana, and bicolor grandiflora. All the above 

 will grow in your cold climate. 



Asparagus Planting firf/'m).— The beginning of May is the best time 

 to plant Asparagus, but it may be planted now. 



Strawberries Unproductive iP. /.).— Your light loamy soil ought to 

 be very suitable for Carrots. Trunch the dung you Ui^e to the bottom, 

 say to 16 or 20 inches from the surface, and after sov\ing mil firm. The 

 ground being so light, give, as you have done, plenty of manure to your 

 Strawberry plot ; but after preparing the ground trend it firm and roll on 

 the surface before planting. Tread well after planting, then mulch be- 

 tween the rows with rotten dung, and never dig until you dig down the 

 plants, but merely fork an inch deep or so every season, add fresh mulch- 

 ing, tread if not firm enough, and we will almost guarantee that you will 

 gather plenty of Strawberries, if you plant from fruitful plants. 



Planting Muscat Hamburgh Vine (H. II'.).— We would prefer plant- 

 ing the Muscat Hamburgh, or Black Muscat of Alexandria, in your late 

 and cooler house. 



Heating a Greenhouse — Cutting Down Rhododendron Stools 

 (E. jV.).— We consider that the proposed quantity of piping will be ample 

 for the house. We would certainly lose no time in cutting down the 

 central part of yonr Rhododendrons, as the outsides near the ground 

 are doing so well". Most likely the central pHtts will break strongly. If the 

 branches are large we would cut them neatly, and then daub the cut part 

 with white lead paint, darkened so as not to attract altention. This 

 would prevent damp, ic, acting on the cut part. 



Flower Garden Planting.— Wo must dechne to plant beds; we 

 merely criticise proposed planting. As you prefer bedding Pelargoniums 

 you could, as you propose, fill the centre with Mrs. Pollock, and the other 

 four beds— two with Christine and two with Alma. We wonld prefer for 

 the large central bed a string of Cerastium next the grass, then a broad 

 band of Lobelia erinus speciosa, and in the centre all through Mrs 

 Pollock ; for the two side beds Christine Pelargonium, edged with Purple 

 King Verbena, and two beds of Little David edged with variegated Alma 

 or Bijou ; the former preferably. {J. L.).— With a row of Centaurea out- 

 side, and then a row of Coleus, we would prefer Cerise Unique or Stella 

 Pelargonium for the centre of the bed to Bijou, as that would make too 

 much of a I'ght colour. One of the most striking beds we ever saw was 

 formed of the dark Coleus, with a broad margin of white-leaved Cine- 

 raria, or Centaurea, we forget which, at Woburn. It was as a single bed 

 very fine, the Coleus being healthy, and its richly coloured leaves of a 

 fine satiny texture. 



Erecting a Small Conservatory (M. E. G.) —Ribbed glass or rough 

 sheet will let in plenty of light for the roof of your conservatory, and 

 you will require no shading. With common British plate we have seen 

 the same result accompUshcd by painting the glass inside with a bluish 

 tint, which looked verv well, answered for the plants well, and needed no 

 shading. The front glass you had better have clear with thin blinds. As 

 to the flooring, as a matter of taste, ornamental richly coloured tiles will 

 always look better than flagstones ; but the latter will stand the roughest 

 treatment. 



Climbers for a Small Conservatory (Wi-iH).— Ipomcea Learii will 

 do in a cool conservatory that is heated so as seldom to be below 45^ or 

 even 40-. Lower than that it will die. We presume your house is to he 

 heated, and then you will grow Lapac;eria rosea well if you give it plenty 

 of drainage, a rather shallow soil, and plenty of water. All the Tacsonias, 

 Kennedyas, and hardier Passifloras would do well in such a house. 

 When once they are established they will give plentv of shade in sum- 

 mer. Habrothanmus elegans is a fine plant for blooming all the winter, 

 and Mandevilla suaveolens yields a profusion of white flowers in summer. 



Growing Cucujibers ■without Artificial Heat (T/zro).— You may 

 grow Cucumbers in the yard with the help of the frame without artificial 

 heat, by elevating the frame sufficiently behind to catch the rays of the 

 sun as "much as possible. Bring the earth in by the beginning of May, 

 turn it over frequentlv so as to get the soil warm, and keep the warmth 

 in after a warm day by throwing a mat or drugget over the glass. By 

 the end of May or the beginniug of June turn out your plants. You 

 had better have strong plants from some neighbour; failing that, sow 

 near the chimney in the end of April, and place afterwards under a bell- 

 glass or thin paper funnel in the window of a warm room. If you ob- 

 tain a few plants well hardeued-off. they will suit you best. You may 

 have a gi-eat deal of heat if you take advantage of what the sun affords 

 you. We are supposing you want to grow good kinds. For short common 

 kinds you would have little necessity for being so particular. Tomatoes 

 may be grown very successfully in pots and boxes, and so they might 

 against the walls or fences in such a yard. 



Cause of Dew on Vines in the Morning (E. TF.).— If you mean the 

 moisture condensed on the leaves of Vines under glass, the cause is that 

 the leave? are colder than the air of the house, and the moisture in its 

 air is consequently deposited upon them. Read Johnson's " Science and 

 Practice of Gardening." It explains the formation of dew, and the 

 reason ot most phenomena in horticulture. 



Weeds on La\\'n {H. D.).— Send us specimens in flower, and we will 

 tell you what they are. We cannot guess, for they vary with the soil. 

 Daisies are best eradicated by cutting them out of the turf by means of 

 a knife, taking care to cut through the roots an inch or more below the 

 surface. The grass soon covers over the vacant spots; or to hasten the 

 process of covering, sprinkle half a dozen seeds of Suckling on each 

 vacancy. 



Pea Supports (An Anxious Tnquircr).~-'j:'he best answer wc can ofl"er 

 is the following extract from one of our early volumes : — '* We have had 

 them in U'^e now without repair for three years, and can strongly recom- 

 mend them. The only alteration we liud desii-able is that, instead f t 



having the supporters fixed upright, as in these sketches, they should 

 lean inwards, and their tops touch in this manner /\. We paid Gd. for 

 each hurdle of unplaned deal, and had it painted over with coal tar. 

 For the purpose of obtaining a more durable, and, therefore, less ex- 

 pensive supporter for Peas, we have had a __ 

 kind of hurdle made with only a top and " 

 bottom bar, and these bars pierced with Iioles 

 G inches apart, as represented in the annexed 

 drawing,/;?. 1. To prevent confusion in this 

 we have only shown one of the hurdles as 

 pierced with holes, and with string passed 

 through them ; but, in practice, both are 

 strung ahke. Each hurdle is 5 feet long, and 

 3 feet wide between the two bars ; for tall- 

 gi'owing Peas the width might be more. The 

 upright ends are made of deal, and are 4 feet 

 long and 2 inches square. Eight inches of 

 the lower ends are charred and pointed, be- 

 cause they have to be fixed in the ground. 

 The side bars are 2 inches wide and 1 inch 

 thick, also of deal, sunk into the uprights, 

 and then nailed. The Peas are sown in 

 double rows, with a space of inches between 

 the rows. The hurdles are strung with stout 

 wetted string, because when dry it becomes 

 tighter, and rain does not slacken it after- 

 wards. A hurdle is put outside of each row 

 of Peas, and is made steadier by being tied 

 to the one next to it, and the whole made firmer by being united t© 

 those opposite by pieces of wood about 1 foot long, tied as shown in fig. 2."" 



Hexagonal Vineries {if. G. IT.).— Write to Dr. Newingtou, The Vinery, 

 Ticehurst, Sussex. 



Seedling Broccoli (G. CooJino). — The heads are very white, compact, 

 and firm, and remarkably pyramidal in form, and it is the more useful at- 

 being a second-enrly variety, not coming in all at once, but, as you say. 

 allowing of being cut fromthe same bed for three suceessional weeks. 



Arbutus Propagation (F. G.).—You may put in cuttings of the shoots, 

 selecting moderately strong shoots of the current year, their points 

 being taken when iu the condition of half ripe, or when the base has 

 become firm. The cuttings may be about 4 inches long, and should be 

 inserted in a compost of equalparts sandy peat and silver sand, pre- 

 %iously cutting them transversely below a joint and removing the leaves 

 from two-thirds the length of the cuttings, which part is to be inserted 

 in the soil. They should be placed in a mild hotbed, keeping moist, close, 

 and shaded from bright sun ; or the cuttings may be inserted in a cold 

 £r:irac. which should be kept close until a callosity is formed. It ik 

 rather diflicult to increase the Arbutus from cuttings. Layering is a 

 mnre certain mode of propagation. Seeds of the kinds you name are not 

 to be had. 



Apple Tree Shoots Diseased (C. C. £.).— The shoot enclosed to us 

 appears to have been attacked by mildew. The best remedy will be to 

 take up the tree, well trench the ground, and replant. Flowers of sul- 

 phur should be applied to the shoots when the symptoms first appear 

 and be continued as necessary. 



Fixing Wire Trellises to Walls (Idem).— We have several hundred 

 superficial yards of wall covered with wire for fruit-tree training, and 

 have no difticultv in fixing them. We simply have a plate of iron i^ by 

 half an inch, the' height of the wall, and with an eye screwed into tlie 

 piate at every 4 inches, the first eye being put in the plate inches from 

 the 'Tound. " These plates are made secure to the wall by means of hold- 

 fasts at each end, and the wive being made straight by straining, is 

 fastened to the eyes in the iron plates at the end least convenient for 

 str.Tining. Previously to doing this a number of hooks about 3 inches 

 iong. flat half an inch by quarter of an inch, with a hole in the flat side 

 of the hook to allow of the wire being passed through, are driven 

 into the joints of the brickwork at a distance of from 3 to 4 feet npnrt. 



