184 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 4, 1866. 



time I should in an ordinary greenhouse. The girth of the 

 largest stem near the bottom is .;*, that of the other 3} inches. 

 — Robert Bcllen, Gardener to A. Turner, Esq., Bow Bridge, 

 Leicester. 



LIST OF ROSES. 



Last year Mr. Radclyffe was so good as to give you, at 

 page 209, Volume IX., a list of thirty-six of the best Roses; 

 would he revise that list by this year's experience, and add to 

 it so as to increase it to fifty Roses? With respect to the 

 thirty-six, I can say that, excepting Duchess of Norfolk and 

 Due de Cazes, which did not succeed very well, and Eugene 

 Verdier, Achille Gonod, and Triomphe de Paris, which I did 

 not plant, all the rest made and are still making an admirable 

 display. — P. C. 



[I have had little or no experience of Roses of any kind this 

 year, bnt last year these were very, very good : Duohesse de 

 Caylus Al, Rushton Radclyffe, Due de Wellington ; I think they 

 are three grand Roses. I have just ordered of Mr. Rivers twelve 

 Duchesse de Caylus, twelve Marguerite de St. Amand, twelve 

 Rushton Radclyffe. M. Boncenne was the best crimson Rose 

 at the International, and Marguerite de St. Amand was Al in 

 light colours in every box at the National — a fine Rose. I have 

 only seen my Roses three times this season. They were most 

 glorious, but the novelties had bloomed out when I went to 

 Rushton, twelve miles off, so I am much in the dark. Marechal 

 Niel is glorious colour, but I fancy it will not stand well out 

 of doors ; my Briar and Manetti plants of it (gift of Verdier and 

 Turner), have been signal failures. — W. F. Radclyffe.] 



HOYA CARNOSA NEGLECTED. 



I found in the greenhouse of a house to which I have lately 

 moved, a plant of Hoya carnosa in a nine-inch pot. It appears 

 to have been neglected for years, but the leaves look healthy. 

 As I made alterations in the greenhouse, I put the pot out 

 under a south wall, where it has been all the summer, attended 

 to as to watering. 



The only place I have for it is on the ground in a warm 

 greenhouse, trained against the end of the stage. If needful, 

 what soil should it be repotted in ? and should it be cut back 

 or not ? — Thorn. 



[Shift the Hoya carnosa into a pot 12 or 15 inches in dia- 

 meter, remove a portion of the surface soil, and fill up with a 

 mixture of equal parts of rotten dung, loam, lime rubbish, and 

 sand. Do not prune the plant at all, but leave it as you pro- 

 pose at the end of your stage in a warm house ; and if you can 

 give it plenty of sun, plenty of water in summer, and little in 

 winter, you will be rewarded with a profusion of flowers. It 

 is one of the finest of our old plants, and your house is the 

 place for it, but it must have light.] 



LAXTONS PROLIFIC EARLY LONG-POD PEA. 



As the raiser of this Pea, my object in writing to you is not 

 to combat the opinions expressed in letters from " An Amateur" 

 and others in your Numbers of the 14th and 21st of August, as 

 I am content to let the Pea stand or fall by the voice of public 

 judgment alone ; but that the condemnations contained in the 

 letters alluded to are not universal, I have proof abundant in 

 flattering reports of the successes of other growers who have 

 volunteered their opinions. " As Amateur " appears to have 

 assumed that it has been announced as the best Pea in culti- 

 vation, and to have condemned it as not answering that descrip- 

 tion ; he may have been disappointed as many others must be 

 who look for improvements in all points in anew Pea or plant. 



Had Messrs. Carter announced it as such they could hardly 

 have been liable to a charge of deception ; but they have in 

 their description of it, I think, been singularly moderate and 

 faithful. 



My object, however, in troubling you is to explain what I 

 believe to be the origin of the three so-called varieties in the 

 seed alluded to by " An Amateur." The variety in question is 

 the result of a cross between Beck's Prizetaker (true), and 

 SangBter's No. 1 ; and although the appearance of the seed 

 as evinced in my own sample would lead one to suppose there 

 were three varieties, yet the produce in the growing state will 

 show but one character with very slight variations, and this is 

 not the only Pea which exhibits such a tendency. Dickson's 



Favourite has been likened by high authority to the variety in 

 question, and has probably originated from crossing two Peas 

 of a similar class. Dickson's partakes of a like mixed charac- 

 ter of seed, and the variations in the growing produce are also 

 insignificent. It is a characteristic of many crossed Peas to 

 show in their produce after the second generation seeds like 

 both parents and intermediate, and possibly this may explain 

 the appearances alluded to.— Thomas Laxton. 



In February last I purchased a quart of this Pea raised by 

 Mr. Laxton and sent out by Messrs. Carter. With me I find 

 it is a very good second early variety, certainly much larger in 

 the pod than the other Peas of its class, quite equal to them in 

 flavour, and ripening about the same time. I have now grow- 

 ing three rows of 12 yards in length, and each row is loaded 

 with fine long pods. I intend to cultivate this variety largely 

 next season. — W. Woollex, Seedsman, Bunbury. 



VIOLA CORNUTA. 



With reference to your reply in No. 281 to " M. K., Bristol," 

 I beg to say, that towards the end of last May I bought six 

 little plants in pots, and turned them out into lightish soil. 

 They grew very fast. I soon began to take cuttings, and have 

 now more thau 350 rooted plants, while the originals have 

 spread so as to cover more than a square foot of ground each, 

 and are in beautiful bloom. 



I never made cuttings of anything which rooted more easily. 

 I inserted them in light sandy stuff, about twenty nnder a six- 

 inch bell-glass. I think every one grew. They are all out 

 now, some in their places, some in a reserve-bed, nice stocky 

 little plants. Mine appear to have one fault, they bloom 

 towards the outsides of the plant, the centres being void of 

 blossoms. I take it for granted that 1 have the true sort, as I 

 bought them of Messrs. James Carter & Co. — Thorn. 



MILDEWED GRAPES. 



I have been a successful Grape-grower for many years ; but 

 this year my crop of Black Hamburghs, though excellent in 

 size of bunches and berry, is completely ruined by mildew. 

 The leaves of the Vines are perfectly healthy, but not one of 

 the bunches will be fit for use. My Vines never had the 

 slightest attack of mildew before, and I am not aware that 

 their treatment this season has been different from that of 

 former years. What ought to be done ? Would it be well 

 to cut off the bunches immediately ? and what precautions 

 should be taken to avoid this pest for the future ? I have a 

 crop of Muscats very slightly attacked, and the disease does 

 not seem to increase. The orchard-houses as usual are full of 

 fruit.— W. C. 



[" Completely ruined," though a very strong epithet, is not 

 so definite as to enable us to judge whether some of the berries 

 might not be saved for table use. If they are not burst we 

 should have a dish full of flowers of sulphur held under each 

 bunch, so that the bunch rested in the sulphur ; and we would 

 rub each berry between the fingers and thumb, so as to have 

 it thoroughly covered with sulphur. This ought to have been 

 done when the mildew was first seen on the berries. We 

 have seen some very severely attacked by the mildew saved 

 by the treatment we have specified. If the berrieB are all 

 burst cut off all the bunches and burn them. Sprinkle sulphur 

 over the borders at once, and when the leaves have fallen from 

 the Vines paint the stems with a creamy mixture of soft soap, 

 flowers of sulphur, and water. ] 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



We are informed that Lady Dorothy Nevill has determined 

 on parting with her collection of tropical fruits, which is per- 

 haps the finest both in regard to extent and condition in the 

 country. Here is an opportunity for any one who is disposed 

 to begin or extend this interesting branch of culture to possess 

 himself of true specimens of the best exotic fruit trees. The 

 Mangoes are remarkably fine, and flower abundantly every 

 year. 



Mr. Rivers has raised another seedling Nectarine from 



the seed of a Peach. It is not yet named, nor will it be for a 



