Octobtr 24, 1866. 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



349 



GlBICnENIA SEMIVESTITA— TuDEA PF.LLnCIDA— LepTOPTEBIS SUPEIIBA 



CULTUKE (^nj-(oin).— The whole nro greenhouse I'enis, Todoa pclUtcida 

 being all but haidv. indeed it will eudure its Ironda being frosted. 

 Gloichenia scmivestita is best grown in a pun rather than a deep pot. 

 Draining it well, three parts (111 it with very llbn,- brown peat, and then 

 place on thi.s the delicate wiry rhizomes, fllling in aniuuil them with very 

 flbroua peat and one-tourth silver aanil, to which a little loam may be 

 added ; just cover the roots and no more, keep moist, but avoid syringmg 

 on the foliage, and let the atmosphere bo moist Irat not stagnant. The 

 soil should be neither ver\- moist nor yet dry. .V temperature of from 

 40 to 45 in winter is sufficient. Leptoptoris superba will do under the 

 same conditions, but in a pot, and when either of Ihom becomes esta- 

 blished it is of tree growth, but l>i>t!i arc difflcult to establish, reiiuiring 

 great patience and coaxing. Toiica pellucida. or hymenophylloides of 

 some, may not do well from the atnu>sphere not being sulHcienlly moist. 

 It requires » moist and rather close atmosphere, plenty of moisture at 

 the root, a spongy soil, and a cool temperature, and then it gi-ows freely. 

 When the atmosphere is no more than moist enough for the majority of 

 Ferns it is well to cover the plant with a bell-glass, tilted a little. 



Position and Heatinc. oe Span-roofed Hothouses — REJiovrats 

 Sashes in .\UTusni to Ripen the Wood (lilfm). — When it can be 

 conveniently done, we prefer span-roofed houses to have their ends 

 north and south, as then both sides of the house receive a nearly equal 

 amount of the sun's ravs, and the power of the sun is least at noon, when 

 in lean-to bouses, facing the south, it is the most powerful. We have 

 seen s-pan-roofcd houses, however, with their ends east and west, and 

 their sides facing south and north, do vei-y well for most things, and 

 especially if the roof on the south side was not too thickly covered with 

 vegetation. For low-gro«1ng plants such a position answers very well. 

 Between these the position may be varied t6 suit circumstances, but, all 

 things considered, we prefer the ends of the house to stand north and 

 south. We think that the idea of taking glass sashes from the roofs of 

 houses at this season for the purpose of ripening the wood is quite a 

 nustake. Something might be said in its favonr as respects early houses 

 if the trees were exposed to a briglit sun in September, but then if it 

 happened to be showery the whole pui-poso would be neutrolised, and 

 growth would be encouraged instead of ripening and resting. The plan 

 of uncovering such houses, if good for anj-thing, is good for staning and 

 destroying insects, especiallv if a little frost comes after wot. To ripen 

 the wood thoroughly wo would prefer the glass to remain on, so that with 

 all the Sim possible there might be a rather diy atmosphere, and as high a 

 temperature as could be given without starting the buds, and there will 

 be little danger of that whilst there is any gi-een in the loaves of the 

 plants. With the top and bottom ventilation yon propose you may 

 safely depend for success on a fixed roof, and if stout bars are used 

 instead of sashes there will, as you state, be a great difference in the 

 expense. As to heating, when much is to be done, there is no mode equal 

 to hot water, and especiallv in forcing. ^\Tiere great economy in fuel is 

 an object, a flue from the f'ui-nace might be taken wholly orpartly through 

 one of the houses. For a single small house a flue will answer very well. 

 For earlv work one flue should not be expected to do more than from 

 80 to 40 feet long. Whatever mode is adopted, you can only obtain a 

 certain amount of heat out of a certain amount of fuel. To have a hot- 

 water apparatus for a single small jhouse is so far wasteful, that do what 

 you vrih in the way of reijulating by damper, Ac, much beat will escape 



from the chimney, which would hare been absorbed and given out by a 

 fine. For a large house, or several houses to be heated from one f unuice, 

 hot water is the best mode of heating. 



DWARK Apple Tbeks {J. .^.).— You do not say whether they are required 

 for dessert or kitchen use, so we can only name for dessert— Cox's Orange 

 Pippin Kod Ingcstrio, Golden Hurvey, Pitmaston Nonpareil, Sturmer 

 Piniiin' Cockle Pippin, (iolden Kuinotte, Margil. For Kitchen— Manka 

 Codlin', Hawthomden, Cellini, Nonsuch. The "krgest" Apples do not 

 succeed as dwarf trees. 



Various (IK. .S.).— We think your Geranium leaf a temporary detect, 

 and that the leaves of the shoots next year will be green. The old dents 

 of the weaving machine make good pegs for Verbenas, and so does the 

 thickest of flexible wire sold for trainiug-puniosos. Mareclial Niel Rose 

 is hardy tor a Tea Rose, but would require a slight protection in winter 

 in your district. 



SpAWNixii MusHROov-BEDs (T. ;fenrf).— Inquirers should ho particular 

 in their references. There is not a word on Mushrooms in the Number 

 for the 3rd of September, nor could there be, for there ie no Number of 

 that date. There is information as to making Mushroom spawn in the 

 Number for the 12th, but nothing is said th.-re as to the management of 

 the beds. Such spawn is generally broken into pieces of the size of a 

 walnut and larger, and planted over the bed at from 7 to 9 inches apart. 

 When the heat has declined to about 70-. watch, and if all is right— that 

 is, if there is no tendency to rise higher, earth over with from 1} to 

 U' inch of good stifl' soil, well and hard beaten. If the bed is all right, 

 liushrooms may be expected in from six to seven weeks, according to the 

 state of the bed and the heat round it. If above GO' the Mushrooms will 

 come earlier, and if from 50 to 55- they will he longer in coining. We 

 have made a shallow bed, put in good lumps of spawn, and much thicker 

 than tho above, covered with three quarters of an inch of soil, and 

 gathered in three weeks. Wo have had good beds that we expected to 

 produce in six weeks that did nf)t produce under ten weeks, so that cir- 

 cumstances will greatly modify the time. As a rule, quick returns giva 

 short returns. 



Potatoes ( ).— Sutton's King of Potatoes is an excellent, very pro" 



ductive, second early variety, sometimes kidney-shaped, sometimes round* 

 and has a clear yellow skin. It has taken several first prizes at different 

 shows. Daintree's Seedling is one of the earliest and most prodacUye 

 Potatoes known, keeps well, and is of excellent flavour. 



Names of Fruit (E. H.).— Franklin's Golden Pippin ; Croft Castle Pear. 

 (W. fl".).— Gloria Mundi. (B.).— Golden Russet. (C. W. H.).— 19 appears 

 to be Beurrii Diel. The other Pear, of which tho tree only bore one fruit, 

 is Easter Beurre ; 5 and 15 in the previous lot were not determinable. 

 13/r. Porter).— 1, Glou Morceau; 2, Hollandbury ; 4, Beurr,/ de Ranee; 

 5. Golden Reinette ; 6, Wyken Pippin; 7, Coiut. of Wick; 8, Nonpareil; 

 10, Franklin's Golden Pippin, (i. T. W., Horji»ey).—Yow: Pear is the 

 Old Colmar. {Rev. Mr. Jf' C'aJmonf).— Yoiur Apple is the Hampshire 

 YeUow. , . ^. 



Najies of Plants (C. J., Thame Park). — Your tree is Salisbnna adian- 

 tifolia. (/ai/o).— Verbascum blattaria. (J. Pcaraoa).— Cuprcssus macro- 

 carpus. (J Subscriber, Marford).—l, Salvia horminum ; 2, (ij-psophila 

 serotina ; 3, jEthionema graudiflora, var. micrantha. (J Youni Gardener). 

 — 1, Fei-n frond without fructification ; 2, CandoUea cuneiforuiis ; 3, Cras- 

 sula, but without leaves we cannot determine the species. 



POULTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE. 



DUCK-FOOTED GAME FOWLS 

 Mr. Hewitt, one of the leading poultry arbitrators, says the 

 duck foot in Game fowls is a disqualification. The " Standard 

 of Excellence," compiled bv parties considered equally able to 

 judge in the matter, says it is a defect. Now, as there is a great 

 difference between that and a disqualification, I think it is 

 desirable that a proper understanding should be arrived at. 



It appears to me that the first thing to consider is, What is 

 the cause of the duck foot " or heel ? " Is it a flaw in the 

 breed of the fowls, something hereditary ? In fact, wQl duck- 

 footed fowls be likely to produce duck-footed chickens, or is it 

 only a defect produced by the fowls not having a proper place 

 to roost ? If it can be substantiated that the former is the ease, 

 then I think it ought to be considered a disquaUfication, so 

 that exhibitors would make it their duty to keep their breeds 

 of fowls free from the defect, in the same way as the hanging 

 comb in Spanish, the want of the fifth toe in Dorkings, single 



comb in Hambiirghs, are guarded against. If, on the other hand, 

 it is only the effects of carelessness in rearing (as I have always 

 heard it attributed to allowing chickens to roost on a flat sur- 

 face, instead of a proper perch), then I think it ought to be 

 considered only a defect, and where fowls are much superior 

 in other respects to those competing against them, it ought not 

 to disqualify them from taking the prize. I hope that Mr. 

 Hewitt, and the compilers of the " Standard of Excellence," 

 will give their reasons for arri%'ing at different conclusions, 

 in order that an amicable arrangement may be brought about. 

 — Scotchman. 



In '•The Poultry Book" we find the Birchin TeUow cock's 

 plumage described as follows:— '• The Birchin Yellow cock has 

 a yellow and black-streaked breast, blackish-grey thighs, tail 

 and belly nearly black, with the remainder of the plumage 

 yeUow." This description does not exactly coincide with the 

 Poulti-j' Club's notion of colour. And, again, in the disqualifi- 

 cations, I do not find so great and natural a defect as duck- 

 footed birds mentioned. I think a duck foot ought to be as 

 much ignored as either a crooked breast or back. I have not 



