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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 9, 18*56. 



Ivies — Clematis — Jasminum geandiflorum— Plant foe North 

 "Wall (Miss M.). — 1, The Ivies yon name will do to train round a wire, for 

 they are hardy in situations whieh are not very exposed or bleak: but 

 they will not do without protection if the soil is wet and heavy. A well- 

 drained and not very rich soil makes all the difference between their 

 being hardy or not. 2, The leaf-pattern you sent appears to have been 

 cut from a leaf of Hedera digitata — a very fine Ivy for rustic work. 

 3, Silver-belted Ivies, Hedera helix arborescens alba lutescens, and mar- 

 ginata argentea ; E. caunriensis marmorata ; and the slender kinds with 

 silver-margined leaves, H. helix inarginata vars. argentea, pulchella, 

 robnsta, major, C'ullisi, and elegans ; the golden-blotched and belted 

 H. helix aurea maculata, and H. cauariensis aurea maculata, the first 

 being a form of arborescens. All the variegated Ivies are liable to ex- 

 hibit different degrees of variegation— to have more green and less varie- 

 gation at times than usual. 4, The Clematises planted against Pines 

 would grow more freely if manured, but we apprehend dryness of the 

 soil is the cause of their not being vigorous, they not doing well on ever- 

 green trees. 5, You may plant the Jasminum grandiflorum, which we 

 presume is the large-flowering variety of Sweet Jasmino (Jasminum 

 officinale grandiflorum), against the south wall of your house, either 

 with or without covering the roots with cocoa-nut fibre. It is quite 

 hardy. 6, Evergreen, or Dutch Evergreen Honeysuckle would do on the 

 north wall. Crataegus pyracantha would also do, and is much finer than 

 Honeysuckle for such a situation. — G. A. 



Vine-border Soil ( ).— The soil when received was all alike and 



mixed in the box. It looked like good soil, which had become like dried 

 mud after having stood in stagnant water. The bottom of the border, 

 if flagged as you sr.y, and sloping from back to front, would be greatly 

 improved by drainage, and still more so if the Vines were raised, open 

 rubble laid all over the flags, with a deep drain in front, turf reversed 

 laid on the rabble, and a good drain in front. When information is 

 asked it is desirable to use ink instead of pencil, and to write on a 

 Bheet of paper that the queries may not be separated and misapplied. 



Stove Plants for Cut Flowers (J. Clarke, Cork)*— Gardenia florida, 

 Hoya carnosa, Gardenia citriodora, Eranthemum pulchellum, Hobe- 

 clinium ianthemum, Erauci^cca confertiflora, Itondeletia speciosa 

 major, Poinsettia pulcherrima, Euphorbia jaeqniniaeflora, Stephanotis 

 fioribunda, Jasminum graeile, Jnsticia speciosa, and Luculia gra- 

 tissima. 



m Vines for a Greenhouse (Ardent Lover of Flowers).— The White Fron- 

 tignan is a most abundant bearer, producing good bunches and good- 

 sized berries. Your Sweetwater has probably not set, hence the berries 

 are very small. The White Frontignan is a much better Gripe, and has 

 a fine Muscat flavour. In your house of 15 feet long you will have room 

 for five Vines at 3 feet apart, and to those you have we would add the 

 White Frontignan, a Black Hamburgh, and a Trentham Black. The 

 berries of your Sweetwater Grapes may be small from the number of 

 bunches left, twelve being too many for a Vine the first year of bearing. 

 Half the number would have been better. 



Greenhouse Leaking (An Inquirer). — It would be better to consult a 

 painter and glazier as to the cause of your house leaking. If it should 

 arise from the roof not having been painted for home years, andthe putty 

 having become loose and falling off, then we know of no other way than 

 replacing all the loose putty, and well painting the whole. Of course 

 all broken and defective glass would be replaced at the same time. If 

 the house is an old-fashioned one, glazed with small squares of crown 

 glass, and many of them are broken, we would take them all out, and re- 

 glaze with 21-oz. sheet glass in large squares. The cheapness of the 

 latter as compared with crown glass, and the better appearance which it 

 will have, will fully compensate for the little additional cost. We would 

 not advise any extensive repairs with old crown glass or thin inferior 

 sheet, as the after-breakage is so great with the common kinds that it is 

 generally cheaper to have the work done well at first. 



Names of Fiuit^ iA. Thwrtcll).— Pears : 1, Seckle ; 2,Dunmore; 3,Fon- 

 dante d'Automne; 4, Autumn Colmar; 5, Vicar of Winkfield; 6, Marie 

 Louise; 7, Passe Colmar; 8, Retour de Rome ; 10, Calebasse; 12,Uvedale's 

 St. Germain ; 18,BeuiTe d'Aremberg. (A Subscriber, Uppingham). — Pears : 

 1, Vicar of Winkfield ; 2, Beurre Diel ; 3, Fondante d'Automne ; 4, Forelle ; 

 5, Duchesse d'Angoulcme; fi, Napoleon. 



Names of Plants (L. E.H. N.).~ The petals of all the Geraniums were 

 shed ; but if they had not been, we have again to reply that we cannot 

 undertake to identify florist's flowers, they are so numerous and so many 

 are nearly alike. (F. A. C.).— The specimen was very much crushed ; we 

 think it is Euouymus latifolius, or Broad-leaved Spindle Tree. \T. S.).— 

 Spergula arvensia ; Nasturtium officinale, [J. Armstrong). — 1, Asplenium 

 prsemorsum ; 2, Lastrea decomposita ; 3, Pleroma heteromalla ; 4,0m- 

 phalodes verna ; 5, Gypsophila repens ; 6, Erysimum Peroffsldanum. 

 {Mrs. Strange). — The Fern is Cystopteris fragilis. The other plant may 

 be Salvia argentea, but we cannot say from a single leaf. 



POULTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE. 



VULTURE-HOCKED BRAHMAS. 



Perhaps this matter has been written on until it wearies, 

 and I did not intend to have again touched on the point, but 

 " Brahma, K.V.H.," whilst writing against the vulture hock, 

 has so completely confirmed some of the positions I have held 

 in these columns, that I beg to add a few more " last words " 

 on this troublesome question. 



In the first place, I have been considered by some to go in 

 for the vulture hock complete — viz., stiff feathers projecting 

 from 2 to 5 inches beyond the joint. I will not deny that such 

 birds may be as pure as any ; but I have never advocated this, 

 for I confess I do not like it ; but were I forced to select this 

 or an absolutely naked-hocked bird to breed from, I think I 

 should choose the vulture hock complete. It would be to my 

 mind the less evil. I have written, or fancied I had, in favour 

 of soft feathers, projecting from half an inch to 1| inch beyond 

 the joint and curling round it, thus hiding it from view. 

 "Brahma, N.V.H.," says, "The existence of short fluffy 

 feathers that merely curl round" (the italics are his), "the 

 joint would hardly be" called an offence." But these identical 

 short fluffy feathers are an offence to some judges, and it is 

 against this fiat that others besides myself have appealed. 

 The reply to this appeal from one of our "judges " was, that 

 amongst other points it was of recent introduction. Kindly 

 mark the word, friend " Brahma, N.V.H." I have en- 

 deavoured to prove this an error before, and I now have to 

 thank " Brahma, N.V.H." for supporting this, and proving 

 incontestably that it is nothing of the kind. He perfectly 

 recollects Mr. Gilbert in the height of the Cochin mania show- 



ing him a pullet perfectly naked-hocked — ah ! no, I beg pardon, 

 vulture-hocked, so that Mr. Gilbert declined to avail himself of 

 her as a means of fresh blood!! I do think this case bears 

 out the suggestion I made in a former letter, as to the reason 

 why the earliest importations were not so much vulture-hocked ; 

 but in any case, it does certainly prove that the judge is deci- 

 dedly incorrect when he says the addition is of recent intro- 

 duction. I have written strongly, perhaps, but, I trust, fairly 

 on this point, because I believe the adoption of the naked- 

 hocked standard will injure, nay, has injured the breed ; that 

 instead of our having birds with legs well feathered and pro- 

 jecting from the hock downwards 



Thus far I had written last night, and now " our Journal " 

 has arrived, and contains a few more words on the subject 

 from "Brahma, N.V.H." I confess I hardly understand them. 

 On the part of those who have advocated moderate hock 

 feathers, I have not noticed from others, " thinly veiled per- 

 sonalities or unkind inuendoes." I cannot answer for myself, 

 for, perhaps, we need that 



" Some fay the gift should gie us. 

 To see ourselves as others see us." 



I can only reply, that I have meant neither the one nor the 

 other. I have been obliged personally to write much about the 

 " Judge's " opinion, but as that decision was the cause of the 

 difference, I could not help myself, and I can only write, that 

 if anything I have written is unfairly personal, I regret it 

 exceedingly. 



With these few words apologetically, I will return to the hock, 

 and repeat my own conviction that the naked hock is ac- 

 companied by scanty feathering, especially just below the joint, 

 and that in my humble opinion this is not desirable ; that a 

 full feathering of the outside of the middle toe is an advantage, 

 and that this advantage is rarely found in naked-hocked birds. 



