May :, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



?.61 



We also request that correspondents will not mis up on the 

 same sheet questions relating to Gardening and those on 

 Poultry and Bee subjects, if they expect to get them 

 answered -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. 



Seedling Primroses (.S.).— The dark is richly and the pale delicately 

 coloured. Thoy are superior to many of the numerous varieties. 



Peas Eaten hy Slugs and Sparrows (Barn*'/).— To keep away the slugs 

 sprinkle lime over the leaves and soil ; to exclude the sparrows have small- 

 meshed galvanised iron netting arched over the rows. 



Roses not THnI\^NG {Fanny Fern). — We will obtain the information you 

 need, but after long neglect we are not surprised at some failures. The fol- 

 lowinj extract is from a letter written by a lady who knows how to cultivate 

 •'the Queen of Flowers" — " Roses, as a rule, requiro more management and 

 understanding than are often exercised to train them up and bring forth their 

 beauties and gifts to advantage, just like human plants. Happily, like them 

 too, they n*xll sometimes thrive and be lovely, and give forth sweetness not- 

 withstanding lack of special culture."' 



Cutting Asparagus (B. d- W.). — Do not cut the small shoots or sprue; 

 neither cut the fme shoots to a late period of the season. The stems and 

 leaves of this year have to elaborate and store np materials for the next year's 

 produce. This is so essential that we know of gardens where half the number 

 of beds are entirely uncut from every alternate year, tliough manured as 

 usual. The produce is strikingly improved in size and abundance by this 

 practice. 



AccuBA AND Rhododendron Leaves Browned (J. Booth). — The leaves 

 of the " Variegated Laurel " (Aucuba japonica), and those of the Rhododen- 

 dron ponticum are browned by the frosts we had in February. They will fall 

 off, but the fresh gi-owth will be healthy. Evergreens have been much injured 

 by the frosts of February, the shoots having been unripe owing to the wet and 

 cold of last year. 



Trassplakting Laurustinus (I. N., !r('((7Hmoii?ft).— November is not a 

 bad time to transplant this, but we prefer October, and showery weather 

 from the middle of March to the end of April. Laurustinus, as also many of 

 the more tender kinds of evergreens are much iujoi-ed by frost, and look 

 very brown and dead; they will, however, recover with brighter weather. 



HoRSF. Chestnut Seedling (Flora).— It should flower in ten or twelve 

 years, but much depends on the Iccality and treatment of the tree. It ought 

 to be a large tree in fourteen years, and will no doubt flower soon. We have 

 known a Horse Chestnut be twenty years old before it flowered. We do not 

 know what shrub of aa evergreen character would thiive in your swamp, 

 except Spruce, which is a tree. Hemlock Spruce would also thrive if the 

 uroand is not very wet. Comus mascula, C. mascula variegata, C. sanguiuea, 

 Viburnum Opulus, Deutzia scabra, Salix, and Alders would do ; but they are 

 deciduous. The weed you sent us is an Autennaiia, probably A. dioica. Your 

 lawn is dry and poor. There is no remedy but to grub it up with a knife, and 

 to pick out the creeping stems. The flower we cannot name, owing to its 

 having reached us dried np. 



Plant under Elji Tree {Coi/ojv?).— Periwinkle would grow, and give a 

 gi-een leafy covering. Vinca minor does even better than V. major. Ivy 

 succeeds well under trees, and covers the ground more quickly than 

 Periwinkles. 



Azalea Repotting (T. H. B.).— Azaleas will thrive if in repottmg you do 

 not use "turf;" but if by "turf" you mean peat, then we can only say it is 

 essential for Azalea culture. Sandy peat three parts, and one part light 

 fibrous loam, with one-sLxth of silver sand form a good compost for Azaleas. 

 Turfy light loam, and a fourth of old dry cowdung, will also grow them well. 



Watering Peas with Liguro Manure {Ohl Subscriber, A. F.).— In dry 

 hot weather liquid manure applied to Peas is desirable, pouring it along the 

 sides of the rows, and not directly on the rows or base of the haulms, for if 

 strong it destroys the crop. It should be weak, and applied along the sides of 

 the rows, giving a good soaking once or twice a-week after the plants are 

 bhowing for flower. 



Pear Trees Unfruitful (Y. O.).— The past season, in fact the last two 

 years have been very unfavourable for the ripening of the wood of out-door 

 fruit trees ; they have i-un much to wood. Your trees being vigorous we should 

 root-prune them next autumn; the sooner it is done after the leaves fall the 

 better. If the trees are only moderately vigorous, it is likely that with a flue 

 summer and properly pinching the shoots it will not be necessary to root- 

 prune. 



Pruning Fig Tree (Gardenia). — It was at one time a common saying, 

 *' that a pruned Fig tree never bears." It would not if the young wood was 

 cut back in the same way as an Apple or Pear tree is pruned. All the pruning 

 required is to remove superfluous old wood in the autumn after the fruit is 

 gathered. If your tree is much crowded with wood, you may remove some of 

 it now, but it must be done spai'ingly at this time. 



CLiJTBEns FOR Arbour (H''m). — Clematises of the Jackmanni type, or some 

 of the climbing Roses, would be the best plants to cover your arbour. We grow 

 a verj' pretty climbing Rose, Princess Louise. 



Spiung Fi-owers under Trees (Idem).— They succeed best under trees 

 and amongst shrubs. You may plant the different varieties of the common 

 Primrose, Anemone nemorosa, Rcilla non-scripta, blue, white, and flesh- 

 coloured; Lily of the Valley, Solomon's Seal, Snowdrops, Hyacinths, early 

 Tulips, and the diflferent species of Karcissus. Jlii some leaf mould or road 

 scrapings with your clay soil; a dressing of lime would probably do it good. 



Peach Aphis (O. C).— Yours seems to be a bad case. Dissolve G oz^. of 

 soft soap and half a pint of tobacco liquor in two gallons of water, with which 

 wash the young shouts. When the leaves are much curled it is of no use 

 applying the wash with a syringe. The young shoots should be taken in the 

 hand, and the liquid applied with a soft brush, drawing it upwards. Vou 

 might winter-dress the trees with Gishurst compound, VIozh. to the gallon of 

 water. 



Vines Failing (A Four-year^' Suhscriher). — Do you give your Vines 

 enough water i' If they are all right at the roots the shoots should not be so 

 stinted. We have seen similar examples to those you send, and have had a 

 few in our own garden ; we attributed it to the unfavourable season of last vear. 



Give the Vines a good watering at the roots; follow in other respects the in- 

 structions given in the manuals you have, and we think the Vines will grow 

 out of it. Of course the roots of the Vines were imcoiled and laid out in the 

 borders when planted ; neglecting to do this is sometimes a cause of failure. 



Self Pansies (C. Stuart).— They are all good for clumps, especially Bla- 

 nerne and the Claret. 



Bocgaintillea spectabilis (G. G.). — Y'our specimen of the flowers and 

 their coloured bracts is very good, but gardeuers have long since learned how 

 to make it flower. That was not the case when the " Cottage Gardeners' 

 Dictionary " was first published. 



Name op Fruit (W. Foir/^).— Your Apple is the West Grinstead Pippin. 



Names of Plants (HI. P.).— The flower is Orobacche minor. Smaller 

 Broom-rape. We cannot name plants from leaves only. (W. H. Tillett). — 

 You did not number your specimens, so we could not refer to them. {J. Brad- 

 burif). — We cannot name varieties nor species from their leaves only. 

 (T. W. S.). — Amygdalus nana, or dwarf Almond. It is anative of Russia, and 

 introduced here in 1683. (ElroHge).~Yow: shrub is Cerasus japonica flore- 

 pleno, or Double-blossomed Japanese Cherry. It camo to this country from 

 China in 1810. 



POULTRY, BEE, AlH) PiaEOI OHROIHOLE. 



REFORM IN POULTRY EXHIBITIONS. 



In' addition to the numerous i5uggestion8 that of late have 

 appeared in the columns of the Journal as to improvements in 

 the management of poultry exhibitions, allow me to add still 

 another practice that perhaps needs revision even more than 

 any yet noticed. I allude to the really objectionable feature of 

 holding shows without any protection whatever from unfavour- 

 able weather, either as regards the birds themselves or the 

 persons called upon to arbitrate. True it is that such shows 

 are mostly held in summer, when, if the weather prove favour- 

 able, there is, perhaps, but little if anything of which to com- 

 plain ; but can any person predetermine what may be the 

 weather at any fixed date in this truly variable climate ? It has 

 very frequently occurred that unexpected thunderstorms have 

 taken place, drenching to the skin both the poultry shown and 

 the arbitrators also, who may have been previously chosen to 

 decide on the respective merits of the fowls entered. This I 

 kno<7 that some years back I was confined to my bed for several 

 weeks consecutively from the effects of such a thorough soaking. 

 Again, Mr. Teebay, whose experience I know is quite in accord- 

 ance with my own, was laid up for some months not long since 

 owing to a similar wetting, so much so that, to use that gentle- 

 man's own words, " he scai-cely hoped to recover." 



Nor are thunderstorms the only danger from holding shows 

 entirely open to the sky, thorough continued drizzling rain all 

 day long is perhaps equally injurious in its consequences ; and 

 I have repeatedly judged with parties thus situated, when, after 

 as we thought completing our duty, we found, to our utter 

 astonishment, that the pencil awards in our judges' books were 

 entirely obliterated or rendered barely distinguishable by the 

 incessant downpour. Hundreds of valuable show birds have 

 been irretrievably ruined from this cause alone, though some- 

 times in the case of the hardier varieties only after protracted 

 suffering. Nor is this the only cause for fearing injury. Direct 

 and unimpeded sunshine during the height of summer kills, or 

 at least irreparably injures, the plumage equally with constant 

 rain. Many of our oldest exhibitors will call to mind that the 

 extraordinarily good Buff Cochin cock (the best bird of his day, 

 and the winner of so many prizesj, was entirely lost to his owner, 

 Mr. Gueldard, of Aikrigg End, near Kendal, owing to the effects 

 of sunstroke when exhibited at Anerley Show in 18.jG. His 

 comb, wattles, and throat became a perfect damson colour, and 

 despite of all remedial measures, " he died off by inches," to use 

 the words of the experienced poultry-man who attended him. 

 Nor was he the only one by many that, to my knowledge, were 

 killed outright by the excessive heat of that day. 



I think I may safely suggest, that calm deliberate arbitrations 

 cannot fairly be expected from judges thus situated. I do not 

 anticipate that this suggestion of having in all cases of field 

 shows, tents for the protection of poultry and visitors will be 

 adopted, for I know more than half a dozen committees who 

 state, " That if they provided tents they coulh not continue 

 their show, for the additional expense would bring them to a 

 dead standstill." Although I am well aware I am treading 

 on tender corns, I cannot but say, in my humble opinion, the 

 sooner this takes place the better. Few but such parties as 

 rear or purchase prize poultry know their actual value, or the 

 positive difliculty of replacing them wh*;n thus injured; the 

 only consolation, if such it can be called, usually offered to the 

 annoyed owners by the secretaries of these shows when troubles 

 have ensued is, *' I assure you the committee are very sorry ; it 

 was their misfortune, not fault (?) ; your birds were treated the 

 same as the others." 



A certain remedy is in the hands of the exhibitors themselves 

 if they will avail themselves of it — viz., never to exhibit at all 

 where the poultry is shown entirely without shelter, and as in- 

 variably, where doubt exists, to inquire by letter whether tents 

 will be provided, and if not decline at once exhibiting. Perhaps 



