228 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 18, 1366. 



Wintering Calceolarias and Geraniums [A. E. Coswald).— It is not 

 necessary to have a trick pit for wintering Calceolarias, as an ordinary 

 garden frame will do equally well if the sides be banked up with ashes or 

 soil. Yon may, however, have a brick pit for both, but it should be 

 divided into two compartments by u 4^-inch brick wall. If it is to be 

 used for bedding plants only, it will merely be necessary to dig out a 

 foot or so for foundations, nfnd then carry np nine-inch brick walls 3 feet 

 high at back, and 1 foot G inches in front, and on this place the frame 

 and lights. Any bricklayer and joiner could make you a pit. Choose 

 for it a dry. warm, and ^-ht-ltered situation. If you wish to grow Cucum- 

 bers or Melons in the pit in summer, the soil should be taken out 3 feet 

 deeper to afford space for a hotbed of leav - i ir dung. We shall be ready 

 with particuiiii- at the proper time as to the preparation of the pit for 

 the cutting* oi Calceoloi lug and Geraniums. 



Raspberries Unfruitful [S. C.}* — We think your soil is much too 

 rich, and the canes too close t< '--.'ether, so that long" sappy shoots which do 

 not ripen are produced. Thin out the stouls to 4 feet apart, or plant in 

 lines 6 feet by S apart. Thin out the canes to six of the best and 

 strongest to a stool, and instead of manuring and digging the manure 

 in, give a slight dressing at manure in autumn, leaving it there until 

 February ; then merely point over the Boil between the rows with a fork. 

 In spring, when the suckers are 1 foot high, remove alt except six of the 

 Strongest to each stool. Allow these to grow, and after the lniit has 

 been gathered cut away the old bearing canes close to the ground. Fastolf, 

 Carter's Prolific, Prince of Wales, and Red Antwerp, are all very free- 

 bearing, and of excellent quality. 



Destroying Woudlice {Ji. IV. H.).— You may give the ground a dress- 

 ing of gas lime in autumn, and let it He on the surface for n fei 

 then dig it in, pouring ammoniacal liquor, from the gasworks along the 

 wall. You must not put on the gas lii if there be any trees in the 

 garden, nor crop the ground until it ha- laid six months and been dug 

 over twice. Your safest plan would be to keep a few small fowls in the 

 garden ; they would soon clear the ground of woodlice and other equally 

 destructive insects. If the soil is heavy, paring and burning would be a 

 *»ood plan to adopt. 



Shading a Hardy Fernery (IT. R. H.). — As your fernery has a north 

 aspect, and is, we presume, so shielded from the south by a wall as not to 

 receive any sun except for a short time during the day, or only morning 

 and evening, we do not think you will require any tree for shade ; but in 

 any case the same prejudicial effects as before will result from a tree 

 planted now, for the roots of the new tree will extend amongst the Fern3, 

 just as those of the old Willow tree did. If we were t>> plant a tree at all 

 we should not choose either a Sumach or an Acacia, but something better 

 calculated to afford shade, as a Lime or a Beech. You may safely plant 

 any of the trees mentioned at a height of G feet. 



Climlf-rs for a Wooden Fence (Idem), — Of the plants you name. Pas 

 siflora carulea would prove hardy, we think ; and but two of the other3 

 are evergreen, which i^ not what you wish. We advise Cratffigue pyra- 

 cantha, Photinia serruluta, Berberis Darwinii, Viburnum suspensum, 

 Cotoneaster Simmonsii, and Escallonia macrantha. 



Name of Rose (E, C, LittJrbur>i).—'Soi^tte Solfaterrc. 



Names of Fruit (H. P.).— Not Bergamotte d'Esperen; it resembles the 



Washington. (D. J. C). — "Peart: 1. Flemish Beauty: 2 and 3, Passe 



4, 6, and 8, numbers louse ; 5, Duchesse d'Augouleme; 



7, Doyenne d'Ete. Peat ft/a : 1, Royal George; -, Crosse Mignonae; 3, the 

 leaf appears to be that of the Grosse Mignonne. 



Names of Plants (P. J. Newton).— Seemingly Ceanothus dentatus, but 

 we cannot be sure without seeing the bloom. (G. F.}. — Tigridia pavonia. 

 (P. C.i. — l,Pteris longi liili.i, Mir. serrulate ;2, Stevia fascicularis. [E. T. W.). 

 — Pleroma heteromallum. (A T . II*. C). — 1. Myoporum parvifolimn ; 2, Gna- 

 phalium tomentosum. {G. V. S.).- Salpiglossis atro -purpurea. (G. GF.h— 

 Hoya bulla. {G. £.).— 1, Selaginella DIartensii ; '-i. Elechnum, perhaps 

 B. polypodioides ; 3, Asplenium maiinnm; 1. Lastrea dilatata; 5, Poly- 

 stichum lonchitis ; 6, Cheilanthes hirta ; 7, Selaginella denticulatn ; 



8, Adiantam formosum. (M. T. A.). — Appears to be a very interesting 

 variety of Athyrium Fllix-fcemina. Can t us a better specimen, 

 and let us know where you obtained it from ? (IK. A. W.). — It is quite 

 impossible to name Conifers from the mere points of their shoots. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS in the Suburbs of London for the Week ending September 15th. 



POULTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE. 



THE STORY OF MY WHITE DORKING 



CHICKENS. 



" It is- a very foolish idea. Do not Lave chickens for the 

 ■world, to run up and down, scratching everywhere, making 

 messes on the lawn, and waking one up in the middle of the 

 night with their noises." 



" Why, papa, everybody's chickens don't do so;" I said, in 

 reply. 



" Then they go to a world of expense to enclose them. No, 

 we will have none of that bother." 



A few weeks after this papa went to Birmingham about 

 business, and he came home late in the evening with a strange- 

 looking parcel. I think I ought not to call it such, for it was 

 nothing less than a can, such as children use for carrying a 

 quart of milk. 



"Here is a present for you, Maud, for sitting up for me. 

 Now, handle it carefully, for it will break." 



" What is it '? " Very eagerly I pulled off the lid, and looking 

 in could see nothing but a solid mass of bran. The only 

 thought in my head was to turn all out upon the floor. I dare 

 say I should have done so in my impatience, but we had just 

 had a pretty now carpet, and I did not like to spoil it. " Why, 

 what is it ?" I inquired, again poking my lingers in — and 

 behold they were eggs. 



" Yes, they are eggs for hatching ; you see I had an offer of 

 them this morning and could not well refuse, so I thought of 

 you and bought them. I suppose they are first-raters." 



With many thanks and much pleasure I took possession of 

 my eggs. But what to do with them ? 



" You must have them sat upon as early as possible." 



" But we have no hen, and I don't know where to get one." 



'' Try the market." 



" Market hens never do well." 



" Well, you must do the best you can, I cannot bother about 

 that. You have been raving after poultry for years." 



The eggs were put back into the bran. No hen could be had 

 for love or money. The country people laughed at the idea of 

 borrowing a hen in the beginning of April. "Why, you see. 

 Miss, everybody wants them for themselves, they havn't had 

 the trouble of keeping them all winter to lend in spring ;" and 

 the farmers' wives said they " never knew their hens be so long 

 wanting to sit all their lives, it was very strange, but they 

 could not help it ;" and there was no " Wiltmiikk BiicioK " in 

 our district to proffer kindly help in our need. 



Day after day passed, papa grew cross, for he said they re- 

 presented so many half-crowns ; and the gardener was over- 

 heard to say, he " would build his stable before he bought his 

 horse." Late one evening there came a little barelegged lad 

 with a black hen under his arm. He asked for "Miss." Miss 

 was out, so in trouble he went away with his burden. Next 

 morning he came again, saying over the same ditty, asking for 

 Miss. " I'll lend you this if you'll feed it, don't pine it ; it's all 

 I have." He sat down on the soft grass and smoothed the 

 ruffled feathers of his quiet hen as he spoke. I sat down by 

 his side. 



The little ten-year-old soon told me all his troubles — " How 

 much he wanted to have chickens of his own, and she (his 

 stepmother) would not let him ; how she stole the eggs out of 

 the nest when he was away out in the fields picking up stones ; 

 and then said she did not lay, as if a hen ever • clocked ' without 

 having laid; but then his stepmother had come from Manchester, 

 and he didn't suppose they ever had fowls there." "But will 

 your mother be angry if you leud her to me ?" "I dou't care if 

 she is, for she said yesterday she would drown her to make her 

 forget chickens." So I proffered a shilling for the loan of the 

 hen, 6rf. to be paid down at once, and the other half when she 

 was returned ;" but the little fellow was fully alive to the 

 value of his property, and had his own conditions to make. 



