412 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t May 29, 1873. 



lings encouraged, they may flower late in autumn. They sliould be planted 

 out 8 inches deep in rich damp soil, or if put in at a less depth they should 

 be protected trom frost in winter hy a 3-iuch mxilching of partially-decayed 

 leaves. 



Heating a Greenhouse {I, J. I. A'.).— We should advise, as you can only 

 attend to your house at distant intervals, to have a gas-heated hot-water 

 apparatus, and four rows ol 2-in(;h pipes along the front of the house — i.e., 

 two rows of How and the same of return pipes. They couUl join the boiler as 

 a single pipe in each case, branching directly where the flow leaves and the 

 return enters the boiler; or two rows of 2-inch pipes all around would do just 

 as well. "We should have the stove or boiler inside the house, with a pipe 

 irom it communicating with the external air. The Zigzag gas boiler is 

 probably the best. 



MtTLBERRY PRorAGATiON (S/)cro).— Insert cuttings of the young shoots in 

 autumn in sandy soil in a sheltered spot, leaving one or two buds out of the 

 ^ound. " Truncheons," that is. branches of good size, taken from the tree 

 in February, and planted a foot deep in a sheltered shaded place, make free- 

 fruiting trees. Wrap the moss round the stems above ground, but do not 

 cover the upper two pairs ef buds. 



Asparagus Beds Failing (G. P.).— The cause of failui-e -we cannot 

 .possibly ascertain, as you do not state how the buds were made and have been 

 treated. 



Semovea^le Greenhouse (W. McA.). — If a greenhouse rests upon what 

 carpenters call a plate of wood, without being fixed either to it or to a wall 

 behind it, it is removcable by the tenant who so constructed it. 



Bowling-green and Croquet Ground (Inquirer). — Full directions for 

 making a bowhng-green (and they apply to a croquet-ground), are published 

 in our No. 468. The size should not be less than a quarter of nn acre, 

 nor should a croquet- ground be much less, if more than ona party are to play 

 at the same time. 



Manuring Roses (Jno. Watson' .—Mineral manures ai-e those which owe 

 their fertilising properties to mineral ingredients, and not to carbon or vege- 

 -table matter—as nitrate of soda, phosphate of lime, chloride of sodium, &c. 

 Sulphate of potash should be spai-iugly used. Nitrate of potash is preferable 

 .aa more dilique^;cent, but both are expensive. The latter might be used 

 occasionally at the rate of about 1 oz. to two gallons. The best way of using 

 mineral manures as stimulants to plants is to put a handful of guano and 

 the same quantity of superphosphate of lime into four gallons of water, and 

 use it once or twice a-week to the roots. Clear soot water is also good; it 

 is made by stirring fresh Boot in soft water, using the liquid when the seili- 

 ment has settled and the mixture is like clear porter. It is better to dilute it. 

 The vitriol- carboys you describe are, we know, very useful as propagating glasses 

 ■when the base is taken off. John Gould Veitch as a double Clematis is not 

 nearly so profuse a bloomor as Jackmamii, though it is well vforth growing. 

 ■Get Lord and Lady Londesborouiih and Miss Bateman if you wish for free- 

 blooming kinds to contrast with Jackmanni. 



Select Fragrant Hvrrid Perpetual Roses {H. C.).— La France, 

 ■Charles Lefebvre, Boule de Neitie, Madame Knorr, Marie Baumaun, Beauty of 

 Wttltham, Cheshunt Hybrid, EUzabeth Vigneron, Madame Charles Verdier, 

 Bessie Johnson, Louisa Wood, and add Tea Gl-jire de Dijon, and as many 

 others of the same class as you like, not forgetting Mai't'chal Niel. 



Bougainville A spectablis Culture {A Subscriber). — It succeeds in a 

 cool stove or warm greenhouse, and in a compost of tuify loam two-thirds, 

 and one-thu-d leaf mould or turfy peat. Liberal supplies of water should be 

 aiforded wheu the growth is beinc; made, but afterwards the plant can hardly 

 have too little so long as the foliage is not affected. Too much li^'ht camiut 

 be given, aud the nearer the plant is to the glass the better, providing its 

 shoots do not touch it. Free drainage must be afforded. 



Red Spider on Drac.tsna (Z>. C.).— Of the plants you send, No 1 is Ne- 

 phrolepis exaltata, or it may bo N. tuberosa. We cannot be certain from part 

 of a frond. If the latter, it will succeed well in a greenhouse, but if the former 

 it requires a warm greenhouse or cool stove temperature. No. 2 is Pilea 

 muscosa or Ai-tillery-plant, and requires a stove. The " white scale " on the 

 Dractena, or No. 3, is the result of red spider, for which the leaves should be 

 sponged with 3 ozs. of soft soap to the gallon of water, at a temperature of 

 100^ ; use two sponges aud draw the leaves through them, taking care not to 

 injure these. This should be done once a-wcek for a time. Give more water, and 

 preserve a moister atmosphere. No. 4 is probably Tremandra ericfefolia; if 

 so, it will have rosy-lilac flowers in July or August. It ought not to be cut-in 

 like an Epacris, but be left its full length, restraining irregular growth by stop- 

 ping; thin-out old weak growths in autumn or after flowering, and en- 

 courage the young. Keep the plants in a light airy position. 



Insect on Rose Trees (S. W. mieclwrir/ht). — The insect is most probably 

 the Curculio oblongus, or Oblong Rose Weevil. It is not easily got rid of. 

 One way is to put white sheets or towels under the trees at night aud trive the 

 trees a shai-p tap or shake, when the insects will fall on the sheet. They may 

 be slow processes, but hand-picking and this method are the only means we 

 know to extirpate the pest. We must apologise for the delay in answering 

 the question, as one of our correspoudonts to whom we sent your inquiry 

 accidentally mislaid the paper. 



Ants is Cucdmher Frame iMoifrs.) — We do not understand how ants can 

 cause the Cucumber plants to bo infested with a sort of black fly. No aphis 

 nor fly exists that will not yield to fumigation with tobacco. Neither tobacco 

 smoke nor tobacco powder will destroy ants. Mix arsenic with honey in equal 

 proportions, place in a shallow saucer, and cover with an inverted saucer of 

 larger size raised at the edge so far from the soil that the ants can get under 

 to the inner saucer, which should be Runk in the soil, or the edges brought so 

 low that the ants can get over. Keep Tiseful animals from tho poison, 

 ■which should be used with great care, as it will destroy whatever partakes 

 of it. 



Insect fL. Y. 1'.),— The insect sent is the very common Puss Sloth (Cerura 

 vinula).— I. 0. W. 



Names of Plants (Spero). — Omphalodos verna. ID.). — 1, Veronica Cha- 

 miEdrys ; 2, a Myosotis; 3, Nepeta Glechoma; 4. Cerastium triviale; 5, Ge- 

 ranium molle. (-ff. RUchie). — Some Crat-Tgus or Pyrus, but impossible to say 

 further without flowers, (ilf. D.).— 1, Davallia sp. ; 2, D. dissecta. We cannot 

 name florists' varieties of Azalea. (.V. Il.).—l, Asplenium lucidum. (No 

 number), A. acrostichoides ; 4. Aspidium coriacoum. We cannot answer your 

 question further than by saying that specimens should always be as com- 

 plete as possible. (T. W. H.).— 1, Probably Oxalis megalorhiza, as we before 

 observed (page 381), but we cannot be quite sure without seeing root ; 2, Di- 

 plotaxis tenuifoUa ; 3, Hibbertia, probably linearis. 



POULTEY, BEE, AIJD PIGEON OHEONIOLE. 



POULTRY PAST AND PRESENT— THE LAW 



OF DEVELOPMENT.— No. 2. 

 In some remarks under this heading the other day I tried to 

 show, that as in breeding fowls for any object whatever, certain 

 accepted standards must be presupposed, so in breeiliug for 

 shows, where birds must be judged as they appear in pens, 

 those standards must, from the very nature of the case, be 

 visible ones, aud therefore more or less arbitrary. If this be 

 clearly understood it will also make clear my meaning iu the 

 few remarks I made on Game, aud show where, in my judgment, 

 j there lurks some little fallacy in the arguments of " Old Black 

 Eed " and " Cobnish Duckwing." Let me try to make it plain. 

 If long experience in breeding, slowly acquired by couutless 

 breeders, has proved anything, it has proved that in breeding 

 we cannot attain all objects at once. To think we cau is a com- 

 mon mistake of novices, but all old breeders know otherwise ; 

 and one of the most valuable remarks in Eaton's queer but 

 fascinating book ou the Almond Tumbler is that in which he 

 warns the young fancier against trying to breed for " all five 

 properties " at once. We may get a fair average of many ex- 

 cellencies, but we can only get the highest excellence in one 

 point at a time. The old Game-breeders knew this well, and 

 hence, in breeding for the pit, they crossed all colours, their 

 only object being to get birds that would fight the best. To this 

 cause were owing the forty or fifty different colours kuowu to the 

 old cockers; they came from various crosses and sub-crosses 

 between differeut colour's, the object being not colour, Init to keep 

 up or increase the vigour, quickness, and endurance of the race. 

 The breeders succeeded to such a degree in developing the fight- 

 ing power and disposition of their birds, that not a few were 

 useless from actual excess of it, turning so savagely on their 

 own handlers as to give advantage to the adversary. But this 

 could not be done with what a fancier calls " high breeding " as 

 to feather and beauty of shape ; and it will be clearly seen, on 

 careful readiug, that mauy of the questions asked by my friendly 

 opponents as to the old Game fowls refer them to the old 

 standards, which in a pen cannot be applied. " Old Black Bed " 

 asks, " Were we not purs ?" Yes. " Were we not courageous ?" 

 Yes, emphatically. But wheu he asks, " Were we not equal iu 

 colour and as perfect in feather?" I should myself reply. No, 

 decidedly. It may be matter of opinion, but my only assertion 

 was that breeders, the public, and the judges gave the prefer- 

 ence to the modern fowl. Can this be disputed ? *' Old Black 

 Red " does not give this preference, and there are others who 

 do not, but certainly the public do, and breeders as a body do. 

 I remember well when, after our old friend " Newmarket " had 

 been airing his views on Game fowls pretty freely, he added 

 how much he admired Mr. Chaloner's birds, and Mr. Chaloner 

 immediately replied, stating that as his name had been men- 

 tioned he felt bound to say how entirely he dissented from 

 " Newmarket's " opinions. Aud, except in case of admitted 

 mistakes, it is surprising how unanimous the opinion of Game- 

 fanciers is in picking out the best birds at a show. I have 

 almost invariably found that when anyone complained about the 

 " old " style being lost, he was one who opeuly or on the sly 

 yet followed the old " sport," which will, I hope, soon be a thing 

 of the past. 



I am not going to maintain that our modem Game fowls 

 would fight as well as the old ones. "Cornish Duckwing" 

 says they would not, and it must be so ; for just as the old 

 cockers, in seeking fighting quaUties, were obliged to sacrifice 

 in other points, so in seeking the greatest beauty we cannot 

 retain also the greatest fighting power. To maintain otherwise 

 would be to fall into the very same mistake. AVhile fowls are 

 fought as well Nb shown there may be a high degree of both 

 merits maintained ; but once let fighting be entirely abandoned, 

 and the very means by which the selection was made that kept 

 up the fighting of the stock is lost, and some of the fighting 

 must be lost with it. But this does not imply Malay or other 

 cross ; it simply implies that what is no longer sought will 

 diminish ; for in breeding no quality can be kept up unless it be 

 carefully and assiduously sought : hence our Game fowls, unless 

 they are to be fought, must by degrees change their type ; and 

 while their ancient blood will, probably, ever secure a high 

 degree of courage, the strength and other qualities which made 

 them conquer cannot be kept up without the old tests. The 

 correspondenta "Cobnish Duckwing " refers to, on the very face 

 of it, wanted birds for fighting. I never implied that the modem 

 birds were so good for that, and I would not greatly care for 

 them to be, for, unless they are to be fought, what good is it? 

 We do not wish a highly- cultured nobleman's son to have the 

 powers of a prize-fighter, and yet in time of trial he may have 

 all the real courage and more, while his higher qualities may 

 be thought worth at least as much as the powerful fists of the 

 other. 



