152 



JOUllNAL OF HOBTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE UAKDENEU. 



[ Fcfartuu-y 90, IBU. 



Eon-pLAST CCLTmr. {S. B., ai/itfjou-). — Sow tho 8o«d(i aboat the 

 middle of March In ii comport of tnrfv loam nnd nne-foarth leaf noil, and 

 ylacv In n hottted of fnnn 70- to 75 . When tho KeedUnux are Hufflcleutly 

 larK« to htiudlc. prick them off Niimly int«) smnM pots, and rontinue them 

 in tho hotbed, liivinn ahundHiicool nir afttT thoy hfcomo i-HtAhlighcd.uid 

 keepiuK' Ihr soil and nir moist so a« to enroar««o free Krnnth. Whou tlio 

 pot« arc full of ^'^l^^ nhlft the plants into pots a size larRcr, and afford a 

 tempornturf of from fiO to 7S. or 85 , with air daily, and a position near 

 tho n'nsf". A Bholf in a vinery is bh Rood a placo as any. Continn« to 

 shift into larRpr potw as may bo uoce^'sarj', nsinR a compost of turfy 

 loam fMin rotted turvcw, and one-fourth rotten manure. Oood draiu- 

 aco muht bo secured, espcciiilly at tho last pottintf, which will bo froni 

 MX into eittht-iueh potR. Tho plants reqnire plenty of nir nnd a muiftt 

 ffrowim; hmt. au<l beinR kept clear rtf ffreen fly and rod 8pidor. thoy will 

 RTow freely, tlower, and set their bloom ; thi- p(»ints of the shoots are 

 then to ho pinched out. and tho fruit thinned to two or three on a 

 plant. Supply with weak liquid inauuro at every alternate wateriuR, and 

 tho fruit will attain tho size of a lu-n'a eau, and the plauts uiiiy then he 

 removed to a Rreenhouse, and, iitdocd, they may be prown there after 

 l»einR removed from the hotbed, if kept io a liRlit. moist, and airy situation. 

 Tho maiu points are to keep theui Rrouinff freely until a Rood plant is 

 obtained, and to keep them free of aphis and red tipider iu all stages of 

 their RTowth. 



PRIMCL.^ FILICIFOI.IA RUBRA NOT FLOWERING (W. A. O.).— TillS VaHcty 



is not a phy bloomer ; it flnwer^ (luite as freely as the white variety, hut 

 is later, as the red-shaded varieties invariably are. Do not ovorpot, but 

 give weak liquid manure in place of too much pot room. Never mind 

 about their not flowering. Von will have a tine plimt and much finer 

 bloom than were tho plants to flower early nnd whilst sumll. 



CrcCMHEit Leavks Injured (K. C). — AVo ha\e examined narrowly and 

 find no insects on the leaves, and yet we are almost sure that you have 

 thrips on them— a very small insect, lonj? for its width, and which will he 

 sure to jump if you examine tho backs of the leaves narrowly. Besides 

 that, however, the loaves exhibit traces of soaldiuR, or burning, which 

 might be occasioned by too much heat iu dull weather, and an hour's 

 sun on the leaves whilst they were damp, and before being dried by air. 

 The burning might be caused by the roots being too hot, or coming in 

 contact with the hot pipes for bottom heat, which they might do on ono 

 Ride of your hou^c accordiuc to the sketch given ; or by a strong heat in 

 the pipes for top heat and no air, as these pipes are coated with sulphur 

 and lime. It is very possible to throw off too strong fumes from pipes 

 thas encrusted with sulphur, and especially at this dull season. When so 

 encrusted the water iu the pipes should bo rarely above 150\ Wo by no 

 means infer confidently that this is tho cause, as you seem to have 

 abandanoo of heating power for an eight-Ieet-wide low span house. We 

 fool sorry that you should have been so troubled after tho caro you have 

 taken to wash and clean tho house. Wo are still more sorry that we can 

 hold out no prospect of cure, if the leaves generally are at all as bad as 

 those sent. If tlie plants are strong, the best plan would be to cut off 

 all tho leaves auJ burn them, taking them off close to tho stem, hut 

 hurting no buds. Daub the cut parts next the stem with a powder formed 

 of lime and charcoal. Let the soil become rather dry. Do not syringe 

 the stems, but keep a moist atmosphere and the usual heat, and givo a 

 slight siuiiking with tobacco, repeated two days after tho first, and shade 

 from briK'hl sunshine. If the plants break strongly you may succeed in 

 obtaining a good and an early crop ; but there is just the chance that all 

 your elTorts will fail, and hence the importance of at once nuiking another 

 sowing. l>f course, when tho plants In-eak :»frcyh, they must gradually 

 receive the usual quantity of moisture ; but a very moist state of the 

 soil, after removing most or all of the large leaves, would prevent the 

 plants throwing out healthy shoots. It is better to feed the stems, as it 

 wore, through a moist atmosphere. We have found several times that 

 Cucumbers appearing like yours would do wonders after being treated as 

 above. The stems might be washed with a sponge and clear soft water 

 at 80 '. The sponge must be used carefully so as not to injure buds or 

 incipient shoots at the axils of tho leaves removed. Once we had a lot of 

 Cucumbers with all the large leaves worse burned in appearance than 

 yours, by means of tho bursting of an old fine near them. By removing 

 every leaf larger than a florin-piece, and treating as above, in less than a 

 month tho plants bore no trace of tho disaster. It would bo well, how- 

 ever, to secure fresh plants, as we did. 



Preserving Flowers.— J. it. would be glad to know if flowers should 

 be dried before dipped in glycerine. 



I Apiielexib CuLTunc {A \orfc«).— An article will be pnbUshed Bhorily. 

 CiiiurtNANTHUH riiAGRANH IN ISiTH (G. .S'.i.— Wo bftve flowered the CU- 

 mouanlbus iu a pot ; hut it requires a vpr>- large ono, good loam, with a 

 little peat, plenty of water in t>ummer, and a warm sunny plao* in tbc 

 autunm, and the water to be reduced tht:n to harden the wood. It ro* 

 quirfs much the same culture as a spurred Currant true would do, only 

 that the young stubby shoots are what must he l.wked after nod prepared 

 for winter. If a plant has several htems now, and they are bristling with 

 hhort shoots, these m.iy all be cut in to a bud in the end <>f March. Ero 

 long they will push ; if the shoots couje strong, pinch them back, go as to 

 obtain two instead of one. If the shoots produced are of the size of from 

 a crow(iuill to a gonsequill they will lie fjuitt' strouR enouRh ; and if these 

 side shouts grow longer than fmm H to lo inches ni|> out the pointfl. 

 Treat them much in the same way as Mr. Rivers treats his fruit trees in 

 pots. II the shoots are too thick lo obtain light enough, thin them out. 

 Give all the heat possible out of doors in autumn, and as much dryness 

 as the plants will stand, to ripen tho shcmte.' If the plants must stand ont 

 in winter protect tho roots with Utter. Ah the soil becomes damp and 

 the weather is mild, the buds will expand. When done flowering, prune 

 us before. 



Insects (irn(*ontanV — Your larva is that of the well-known and most 

 destructive wee\il, otiorluTiehus sulcatus. We know no bettor remedy 

 than that uf carefully sifting the earth in your ixits and picking out the 

 gi*ubs, which are easily seen from their pale colour. A careful inspection 

 of every pot should be made, and the earth stirred round the base of the 

 I stems, as it will be too late to take these precautions when tho plants 

 show bigus of being attacked, by flagging.— W. 



Trees and Siikuds for a Wet Hollow {Mm. F. S.}. — For the low- 

 lying ground, formerly a pond, and filled up with stifiish soil, about a 

 quarter of an acre in extent, and which will always be rather moist, 

 backed now by trees on all sides except that fronting the bouse, which 

 Ftands on a much higher l<.'vel, the planting of the old pond must depend 

 (something on the trees already round it, and whether it would be desirable 

 til make that harmonise with the other trees or to assume a distinct 

 character of its own. In the latter case a quick and pleasing effect would 

 1)0 produced by using Willows and Poplars for light foliage, either without 

 or in combination with some sombre-loaved Pines, and with an under* 

 growth of evergreens and other plants if desirable. Thus in such ajplacc, 

 first there might be planted three Rood plants of the Babylonian or Weep- 

 ing Willow, one of the White and two of the Duke of Bedford Willow, or 

 Salix Kusscllioua ; and mixed with these, one plant of Popolus alba, 

 P. tremula, P. fastigiata, and P. balsamifera. Then the whole under- 

 growth might be a mass of Ijaurels, Privet, and Box ; or walks might bo 

 made through it, and the following arranged in groups, ^o as to be very 

 attractivi", tlio last-named sorts being kept most to the outsidcs :— Ever- 

 Rreen Oaks, a few Hollies, common Lam'els, Portugal Liiurols, Boxes 

 of sorts, Aucuba japonica. Daphne laureola. Arbutus uncdo, Atriplex 

 halimus ; Rhododendrons, if a little peat can be given them, and there 

 is little or no calcareous matter in the soil ; Uj*pericum calyclnum, 

 or St. John's Wort, and Laurustinus. keeping the latter chiefly at the 

 outside. '2nd, if tho .Willows and Poplars should be too light, you may 

 mingle with them a few Pines, as Spruce Firs, lAhios excolsa), Picea 

 pectinata. and Pinus austriaca, and rigida ; hut if these are encouraged to 

 feather to the giomid, nothing else must he planted near them. 3rd, the 

 Spruce Fir. and Pinus austriaca and rigida, would flourish pretty well 

 in such a place, and would soon form a thicket of themselves ; but if the 

 place were desired to look well from the house, and to be a place of resort 

 as well, then if such sombre trees were planted from 3U to 40 feet apart , 

 walks could be carried through tho sp.ice, and the above evergreens 

 thrown into groups in the open spaces, to which, might be added such 

 deciduous plants as Privet. Dogwood, &l\ 4th, if the surroundings admit 

 of it, and as economy is your object, we would jdant with Willows and 

 Poplars, say from 30 to 40 feet apart, including a few Spruce, and 

 then use Laurels for uudcrgrowth^ with a belt of iLanmstinas for the 

 outside. 



Names of Plants (H. T. IT.).— No. 1 and 3, doubtful; specimens sent 

 insutfieiont — 1, Gymnogranmia Mortensii (?) ; U, G. ochracea (?) ; 3, Alloso- 

 rus (Pelltea) rotundifolia ; 4, Doodia caudata. (.V. W.). — Thea chinensis, 

 var. Bohea. (J. Z).|. — We cannot name seeds at sight. 1, Bauhinia (?l ; 

 'J, Olca ; 3, Vicia (?) ; 4, Hibiscus, i ir. B.).—\, Doodia ciudata ; 2, Ony- 

 chium japonicum ; 3, Aspidium moUc i?J ; 4, Mohria thurifraga ;5, Phyma- 

 todes peltata. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS in the Subiubs of London for the Week ending February 17tU. 



POULTRY. BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE- 



THE KOUP. 

 Hdnting after some new breeds and varieties, I passed 

 through CJermauy hist summer, and \Ycnt to a poultry esta- 

 blishment belonging to a nobleman. In the course of conver- 



sation I complained of that bane of the poultry-yard, the roup, 

 causing so much heartache to us poultry fanciers in England. 

 The overseer laughed. •' Roup ! We know nothing about 

 such wholesale destructiou as you complain of. Roup ! Your 

 fo-.vls eat their excrements, that is tho most likely cause of it." 

 This idea was new to me. I told him that I had my fowl- 

 houses swept three times a-week thoroughly. " Not enough." 

 "Shall I have it done once a-day?" "No, twice or thrica 



