12 



JOURNAIi OP HOBTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDEKBB. 



[ J&naary 2, 1806. 



IlBAViEST TlUNCH OF Otiapek {A Subtc ribrr).— Tho woltfbt in a given 

 Bpftco JriH-ndH up(«i the closunoBB of the berrios to each other. The 

 8t*tomoiit is Sprrchl«'y'8 own. 



Dkhtroting WoKMft OS LxvTTt {A Conttani Iifadf^r).—'Pnl a Rtono of 

 limo in n hci^hhcatl, and pour in forty trillions (»f water. Stir woll up, anil 

 allow the liijuid to Htand forty-ciKiil lioiirM. Roll tlio lawn well, and 

 durinK shawi-ry weather, the evening,' lieforo it is watered with tin- clear 

 limo wattr, and apply this from n rose wfttering-pot. The worms will 

 either be killed or brought to the surfare. and the lawn nhnuld bo Hwept 

 with A broom, and the womiH rarried away. Kuccohr, especially at this 

 Boasou, depeiidw on giving the ground a thorough Boaklng of lime water. 

 It may be nocetisary to repeat the watering at lutorvala of a fortnight or 

 throe weeks. 



Forming a FfinNRnv of TnxR STrurs (R. P.). — Your north-west 

 nffpoct will bo sufficiently nhaded for the majority of hardy Ferns to do 

 well. The shade •>( the Larch trees will prevent any danger of their 

 being scorched. Wo should begin by throwing up a bank of loose rubbihh 

 againut the w^ll, and if more utoues than soil all the better. This mound, ' 

 or bank, we would have eiiual in height to the wall, all but 3 feet, and 

 as wide at bottom as it is high, forming it, however, in an Irregidar serpen- ] 

 tine fashion. At the base of the bank lay a row of tree wtumps, and fill i 

 op the interstififi with soil, which may consist of peat and loam in equal i 

 pa^t'^. *ir failing the poit, the top soil from n wood from which the leaves 

 are never removed but allowed to rot. I>ay another tier of stumps and I 

 ilion fill up witli soil, and so on. Work the soil into the vacant Hpaces as I 

 you proceed, instead of flrflt making the rootory and then filling in the ; 

 interstices, leaving the paHs beneath the stuinp-i hollow. Huild up firmlv, I 

 with a Ktriiight face in some parts as if it were a wiUl, in others sloping, 

 and in nome parts much wider than in others, and as tree stumps are 

 more easily placed than rock stones, we hIiouUI certainly have the door- 

 way formed of the stamps placed one upon the other, and the other end, 

 or exit, open. On the other side (for next the rootery against the wall 

 should be a path 4 feet wide), the stumps should bo placed so as to corre- 

 spond with the side next the wall, and tliii^ piirt may be of any width, 

 height, or form desired. The main points to bo attended to are to 

 build up the rooterj- firmly, to fill the openings with auil, and to make 

 its appearance as bold and rugged as po-sible. The stumps for the 

 most part should be about half buried in the soil, some almost entirely 

 hidden, others entirely bare, and all firmly placed. In addition to filling- 

 np the hollows as the stumps are laid, the whole should be gone over 

 afterwards, and any openings where Ferns are to bo planted should have 

 soil placed in them. Ail the commoner kinds of British and hardy 

 exotic Ferns would do fairly. Of these we can only name a few— \iz. :— 

 Lastrea Filix-mas and varieties, Osmunda regaHs, Lastrea oroopteris, 

 L. recun-a, L. dilatata, ami I,. ei>iuosn ; Polj-podium vulgar* and varieties, 

 P. dryoptoria, and P. phrtropUris; Polystiehuni lobatum and varioticB, 

 and P.angulare; Scolupendrium vulgare and varieties; Asplenium adian- 

 tom nigrum. A. trichomanes and varieties. A. viride; Allosorns crispus ; 

 Blechiiuni spicant and varieties; Oystopteris fragilis, dentata, and 

 Dickicnna ; and Athj-rium Filix-fcemina in great variety. Of exotic Feme 

 may be mentioned Lastrea intermedia and L. marginalis; Polystichum 

 proliferum, P. pungens, and P. acrostichoides; Struthiopteris germanica 

 and S. pennpylvanica ; Onoclea sen^ibiUs; Usmimda iuterrupta (Clay- 

 tonianat, O. spoctabilis. O.cinnamomea, and O. gracilis; and Cystopteris 

 bulbifera. All require a plentiful supply of water in summer. 



WATEnrxG Overhead Azaleas and He.\ths (^hcaftf^Jt).— Watering 

 the plants overhead through the rose of a large watering-pot would not 

 do any great harm to Azaleas placed out of doors in summer, if the water 

 was not given to excess, and only on the evenings of hot davs. The night 

 dew and rain are quite suflicieut for Azaleas after the buds'have set. and 

 for Heaths watering overhead ia more or less injm-ious. We conclude 

 that the plants were watered overhead onlv, and had no water or an in- 

 sufficient amount of it at the root, which, with the pots exposed to the 

 snn, would account for the plants dying. Or it may be that the soil in 

 the pots has been so soddened as to cauBe the fibres to perish, as those of 

 Azaleas, Heaths, and all hardwooded plants will do if the plants are 

 potted so that the water drains to not from the collar, and if is regularly 

 given without regard to their requirements. The soil in which they are 

 grown should never be allowed to become so dry as to affect the foliage, 

 and, on the other hand, it should not be so regularly watered as to be 

 very wet. The right condition is hetweeji the two extremes. There ia no 

 work published on the culture of Azaleas. Any information which you 

 specially wish wo shall be glad to furnish. 



Pbopaoating Haudy Ferns from Spores (W. W. w.).— Chooae a pot 

 which a bell-L'lass will just fit within the rim, place a large crock over the 

 hole, half fill the pot with smaller pieces, and on them place half an inch 

 of mosp ; then fill the pot to the rim with the following mixture— via. :— 

 aandstone' broken in all sizes from that of a grain to a hazel nut. sandy 

 flbrouB peat, and yellow fibrous loam, of each equal parts, adding to the 

 whole one-sixth of silver sand. Put over the surface a ven" small quantity 

 of sifted soil, and make it firm bv pressing it with the hand. Put on the 

 ^U-Rlaas. and if it fit closely on the soil it is all right. Remove it. and 

 stand the pot in a pan in a rather shadv bnt not dark part of the green- 

 honsc, for what is wanted is a diffused, though not a strong hght. Give 

 a g'xid watering all over the surface through a fine-rosed watering-pot, 

 flllmg the pan with water. N'ow,take the frond ivith the spore-cases open, 

 and, holding It over the pot, rub it with the hand on the under side and a 

 kind of brown or vellow dust will faU on the soil. Yon may scrape the 

 spore-cases fruni the back of the fronds, but if the dust faU so as to make 

 the soil brown or yellow, it is enough. Press the surface gently with the 

 hondandput on the bell-glass, taking care that it touch the soil all round. 

 Keep the pan, or saucer, full of water, and give n.me on the surface 

 ^J'^S^V '**"^'""'* **'■>'• which it never ought to do. nor will it if aufliciently 

 Shaded and the saucer be kept full of water. When the surface becomes 

 green lilt the bell-glass a little on one side at night, and as the soil 

 becomes greener tilt it higher, giWng a gentle watering now and then to 

 keep tlie surface from becoming drj-. When the plants have made two or 

 three fronds gradually remove the bell-gbiss. and pot off the Ferns when 

 they can be handled safely. The pots may be plactd outside eiiwaed to 

 Irost, hut then the vegetation of the spores wilt not be so speedy and 

 certain as when the pots are placed in the greenhouse. 



RoREs-GERANrrMsi/-. J.).— lioses with mulch over the roots should 

 not have any hquid manure until they commence growth in the spring, 

 wedo not thmk that Scarlet Geraniums cut down and covered witl 

 ashes would survive the winter. If they did they would bo weak and 

 flower late. 



Dr-SKONTANiA spiKosA CcLTCRE (.S'. jyorfwr).— Tho greatest drawback 

 to blooming lhi« plant i<t keeping It in loo close and warm an atmo- 

 sphere. It retiuiros a cool airy situation in a light house, a fair amount 

 of jmt room, and perfect drainage. Your plant, wo shuuld think, requires 

 potting, which may bo done from the present time up to March, and for 

 BO largo a plant, a l."* or iH-inch pot would not be too large. A compost of 

 good hazel ..r yellow loam suits thi.H plant, thai from rotted turves being 

 the best, and it then needn n<» manure ; add, however, one-third of well- 

 reduced loaf mould, and a free admixture of sharp wand. Drain the pot 

 thoroughly, and pot with the neck or collar rather high in the centre of 

 the pot. Keep the plant well watered whiUt growing, and at other times 

 moist. It requires about as much water as a Camellia. Aga is all that is 

 wanted to make it flower more profusely. 



Seedlinu Gloxinias, Amauyi.lises, AKn Aciiimener (A Subteriher, 

 J. H.).— Gloxinias and Achimeues flower the same vear the seed is sown. 

 If sown early, way in February or March, on a ho'tbed and grown nn in 

 the bed, with hberal treatment they will flower in autumn, but better in 

 the second year. It usually requires three years to bloom seedling 

 Amaryllises, and then the treatment must bo such as will encuurago 

 growth. 



Transplantino a Cobk Tree (<?. 8. A,).~lt is usual for this and every 

 other kind of forest tree to form a tap root, but as vours would be a 

 transplanted tree when planted, there is no danger lo'bo feared on that 

 account. It is only when seedling trees are allowed to grow up whcro 

 sown that there is danger to be experienced from the tap r(»ot. Wo havo 

 moved trees much larger than yours, by taking out a trench a yard from 

 the stem and 2 feet deep, cutting off all the ro.,ts we came across, and 

 working under the ball at that depth, cutting all roots towards the centre 

 of the ball. This wo did in September, and in the following September 

 we moved the tree, meanwhile filling up the trench. In this wav we 

 have within a year transplanted trees with a good ball and an abun- 

 dance of fibres, although we had otherwise no prospect of duing so. We 

 should try to remove the trye in March with a ball, and if wo foimd that 

 there was no possibihty of doing so, wo would fill up the trench again and 

 wait another year. It is of no use attempting to move trees of this kind 

 unless they have a good ball with plenty of fibres in it, and, at the same 

 time, there is no necessity to leave a 'quantity of loose boil alK>vo tho 

 roots. 



Temperatcrk for Ferns and Fancy Pelargoniums (Henry HifioinM), 

 —Maiden-hair, Gold, Silver, and other Ferns is not definite enough (or u3 

 to tell you the temperature required ; but vou say they are greenhouse 

 Ferns. Xow, there is no Gold Fern that we are acquainted with except 

 Gyinnogramma oehracea, and only one Silver — viz., Gymnogramma 

 tartarea, that will do in a greenhouse, and then the house must seldom bo 

 allowed to have a temperature of less than 45 . The others require a 

 temperature of 65 from fire heat in winter, bnt the thermometer may 

 oecasionaUy read as low as 50- without injury to the plants. The Maiden- 

 hair will winter safely in a temperature of from 4U to 45^ from fire heat, 

 which IS also suitable for alt the greenhouse kinds. By day the ther- 

 mometer should road 5 higher on dull davs. 10 when they arc cloudy 

 with clear intervals, and 15", with air, on' bright days. Fancy Pelar- 

 goniums retjuire a temperature of from 40 to 45' from fire heat, with an 

 increase by day as before mentioned, affording them abundance of aiit 

 light, and a rather dry atmosphere. 



Stage for Greenhouse {A Country Clrrgym(in).—yi'e should have a 

 shelf along the front 18 inches wide, and also at the end from the door- 

 way ; it may cither bo of stone or of laths. This will, of course, be over 

 the pipes or Uue, and should be on a level with the bottom of the front 

 wall-plate. Allow 3 feet for a pathway from the front shelf, and have a 

 stage of wood at the back, the first shelf 9 inches from floor, and the 

 others receding towards the back, and inches above each other ; the last 

 shelf should be 4 feet from the glass. Your stage will thus have seven 

 shelves, tho first 7 inches broad, and tho others an inch wider pro- 

 gressively upwards until the fifth is reached, when those above it need bo 

 no wider. The shelves should bo inch red deal, or they may bo formed 

 of laths 1^ inch by 1 inch. It would improve the appearance if the end 

 of the stage fac:iug the door\fay were made to rise from the pathway iu 

 the same way as along the back. 



Books {ff.}.— The little book yon havo from our office, if you mnUipIy 

 tho quantities by ten. will guide you sufficiently to aid your own good 

 Sense. There is no work of tho kind you mention. 



Coil-planting Vines. — Mr. Rivers informs us, that tho surface of the 

 soil over the coil (see page 5'i5|, should be covered with '* 2 inches," not 

 " 10 inches " of rotten manure, as there stated, in order to encourage tho 

 buried part of the stem to emit roots rapidly. 



EsPERioNE Vine.— rj/f^io asks—" Is it pospiblo to obtain cntlings, or 

 eyes, of the genuine Esporionu Vine mentioned by ' Upwabds a»d 

 Onwards?' " 



Heating by Gas.— Tyr^o also asks—" Can any one give mo any in- 

 formation of an apparatus for heating greenhouses or rooms by gas, made 

 by K. & W. Watson, or K. A W. Wilson, London ;*" 



Colouring for Old Fri-it-thee Wall [E. ./.>.— A bushel ol limo 

 flowered down, passed through a fine sieve, and with about two or more 

 ounces of lampblack, or blueblack (the latter is the betterl, made into a 

 paste and mixed with it with a sufficiency of water, passing all through 

 a bievc, will make a nice colour, the white of the lime being tuned dowo. 

 If the walls are old and unsightly, it would be advisable to add a peck of 

 flue gritty sand and as much lUn'uan cement. If much moss, Ac, be on 

 the wall, it would bo as well to give a coat of the lime first. Tho drier 

 and cleaner the wall when the wash is applied tho better, and the longer 

 will the colouring stand. 



Kdging for Border (.S'urpron, Hal/-;in(/).— We have found Thrift form 

 a good edging where Box would noi grow at all. Another very good 

 edging plant is the small-leaved Ivy, common enough in hedgerows and 

 wouds. If you particularly wish for a plant-edging, we should advise yoix 

 to try Thrift or Sea Pink, which makes a very close and tractable edging, 

 and is, besides, very pretty when in bloom, green and grass-like at all 

 seasons. Glass edging-tiles would bo tho most permanent and reqalM 

 no after-care, but they are rather expensive at first. 

 Lychnis Senno. — W. S. wishes to know where this can be obtained. 

 Communication {A Oardtner Lad). — Write on one side only. Any sized 

 paper, the thinner the less postage you have to pay. Do not fasten tha 

 loavcb together, but uumbor each page. 



