March 13, 1866. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICTJLTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



207 



GaEEsaoosE Vbesy (A SJiteriler, BalUiuulce).— 1st, We have no doubt 

 that tbe greenhouse vinery will answer very well if you have sun in sum- 

 mer from 8 A.M. to 4 p.m. It would answer better still if you could raise 

 the back wall higher than 14 feet— say 16 feet; but 14 feet according to 

 your own showing will do. The front of the house, to look well from the 

 llvinK-house, should be 6 or 7 feet in heit'ht, and of that 3 feet at least may 

 he brick wall. The front sashes should be hinged to move, and three or 

 four short sashes at the top should be moveable ; all the rest of the roof 

 may be fixed. 2nd, Supposing you raised yonr wall in front 3 feet, you 

 might make the most of your border above the flags now in tbe yard by 

 raising the border at back, close to the siU. Then, instead of taking the 

 Vines through holes in the wall, we would build the wall on arches, run 

 a wall along inside, leaving a space in front at least 3 feet wide, and fill 

 that with good soil as high as the border outside, and there we would 

 plant the Vines, and thus have all the stems under control, and tbe roots 

 could go out as they liked. This border would do for setting plants on, 

 or you might have a sparred trellis all over it with a wall behind it; you 

 can arrange the rest of the house by stage or otherwise. The very best 

 arrangement would be a walk all round, a hipped stage in the centre, and 

 the back wall covered with Camellias. Acacias, 4c., or with shelves If 

 many plants were to be stored. 3rd, For such a house we would be in- 

 clined to use from six to seven Vines, and according to your fancy they 

 should be these — one Bowood Muscat where the heating pipes come in, 

 one Muscat Hamburgh, one Whit€ Frontignan, two Black Hamburghs, 

 and one Esperione, and if a seventh, one Royal Muscadine. 4th, With 

 what you tell us of the circumstances we cannot be so sure of the Roses 

 succeeding on the trellis on three sides of the court ; if there are walls 

 on the sides would they not do as weU on them and thus give you more 

 space ? We have little doubt that by removing the flags and the con- 

 crete, and putting in 3 feet of good soil, your p'ants will thrive if they 

 have enough of sun and air. Of course they will receive much less 

 sun than the greenhouse, which will stand at the north end of the 

 paved court. \ paved court is generaUy more comfortable behind a 

 house, especiftllr when shaded, than either grass or gravel. We wonld 

 just throw out the hint, before raising the flags, whether vases or baskets 

 would not answer the purpose better. Nice little Ijeds might also be 

 made above the flags, hijrh enough to let the flags remain, or so low that 

 the flags could be removed only beneath the beds. Such beds or vases, 

 we think, wonld look more artistic than mere beds of earth. 



HoT-WATEE Appaeatcs Faitltt (.-i Sfv^n-years Subscriber). — We do 

 think you should make a complaint and have the tradesman to see the 

 heating apparatus if the following sutrgestions do not help you. 1st, See 

 that the fine is all open and clear, then keep the damper open and the 

 ashpit door open until the fire take good hold, then shut the ashpit 

 door, and when the fire becomes bright shut in the damper, not so as to 

 leave a space that would admit the blade of a knife, but from half an inch 

 to a quarter. To save trouble you might drill three or four quarter-inch 

 holes in the damper. 2nd, See what is said about deficient piping in 

 ** Doings of the Last Week,"' page 186. In such cold nights as we have 

 lately had, we think the two pipes, 30 feet we presume, in the house did 

 very fairly in keeping up a temperature of 45'. and that under the circum- 

 stances would be high enough for a conservatory. To have a heat in cold 

 nights of from 50- to GO- in such a house with front, one side, and top of 

 glasf^, wonld require four rows of piping, or 60 feet. 3rd, We cannot see 

 why such a fire should involve smothering with smoke, and runn in g to it 

 eight or ten times in an evening if at aU rightly managed. We have seen 

 a person lighting a fire with the damper in. Most likely you must in- 

 doctrinate the cook with an interest in the plants. The flower yon en- 

 closed is Abuttlon vitifolium. The sticky excretion on the leaf is " honey- 

 dew." You can remove it either by sponging or syringing. 



Heatis-g a Glazed House (W. S. S.]. — We are not sure from your 

 description whether your house is to be a true epan — that is, 6 feet on 

 each side, and 10 or so at the apex, or whether it is to be a lean-to with a 

 hipped roof on one side. If yonr levels are all right you can easily heat 

 Huch a bouse from the kitchen boiler alluded to, and you would have no 

 occasion whatever for a flue. Pipes of the requisite length, and 1 inch in 

 diameter, to screw into the boiler, one near the top and one near the 

 boitom for the flow and the return, will do very welL These can be 

 sc. ewed at the other end into cap socket joints that will fit into four-inch 

 pipes. From 3*) to 60 feet of these four-inch pipes will be necessary, 

 according as yon wish merely to exclude frost or have a higher tempera- 

 ture in winter. Grapes may be grown : but whether in pots or otherwise, 

 the more you have of them the less yon will have of otlier things. For a 

 cool house Royal Muscadine and Black Hamburgh will be best. 



Floor of Geeeshouse (fl". G.j. — For a greenhou.se the floor may be 

 slate, flags, pebbles, or even the earth. If a certain part is floored for 

 paths, the earth or pebbly gravel would do as well as anything, and would 

 always be easily freshened up. For Peach-houses and vineries we like 

 earth as well as anything : and the floor wUl always look fresh when 

 fresh raked, or a fresh sprinkling of clean soU added to it. If the trees 

 are planted outside, the floors may be paved or tiled with advantage. W'e 

 fear we do not catch your meaning. 



Eeddixg-oct (J I'oun^ Gardtnrri.— To prodnce your colours— 1, Perilla 

 nankinensis, or Ariosto Improved Verbena ; 2. Tom Thumb Geranium, 

 or B^ule de Feu ; 3, as proposed, white Variegated Sage, white Verbena, 

 or Alma Germinm.with the flowers removed ; 4, Purple King Verbena for 

 purple, a dwirf Ageratnm for lilac blue ; 5, Lobelia speciosa ; 6, Calceo- 

 laria Aurea floribunda. or .\urantia mnltiflora, as you wish it to be 10 or 

 15 inches in height. Plant Lobelias from 4 to 6 inches apart ; all the 

 rest a foot apart. 



GlAST White PETTn,lA.— We shall be obliged by information in answer 

 tfl the following :— " I have long tried to obtain a plant of the Giant 

 TMiitc Petunia, having seen one once at .Southampton Nursery, quite as 

 large as the purple one, which they call the Great Western in these 

 parts. Mine are of the size of a small tumbler, and I think if the white 

 one could be as easily raised they would make a very beautiful bed to- 

 gether. I sent for some seed of a kind called Petunia grandiflora alba, 

 but it proved to be only the common white one. which grows self-sown 

 in my garden. Cuder what name ought I to ask for the large-flowered, 

 and where can I procure it ? l^st year the Giant Parple one perfected its 

 s«eJs, which it never did before, and I have a pan full of seedlingB now 

 coming up in my greenhouse. — E. S. B. G., Teignmouth." 



F1.0WEE-P0I5 'A. aaf OtVrj).— We mist refer you to the advertisement 

 in las-t week's .Journal, inserted by Albert Downs, Edmund Hill Pottery, 

 Glafitonbojy. 



P.HODODE.SDBOS FoRTrsEI.— We shall be obliged by information in 

 answer to the f oUovring ;— " ' W. D.,' a great admirer of PJiododendrons, 

 wishes to know if anv of your numerous correspondent-t ban yet bloomed 

 P.hododendron Fortu'nei. I bought one when it was sent out first, now a 

 large plant out of doors, and have another large plant m a pot m the 

 house, but neither of them appears likely to flower. I bloomed Aucklandli 

 beautifully last season, a much younger plant than those of Fortunei. If 

 it has bloomed in this country is it an acquisition of any value, or not? 

 What are the blooms like ?" 



Sowiso PicEA NoHDSlAN-xlASA SEED (B. it J^.).— Sow the seed thinly, the 

 present time is as good as anv, in pans or boxes of rather sandy soil made 

 firm at top, and if you take the trouble to partly fix each seed m or rather 

 on the top of the soil, we would not advise any covering beyond a Uttle 

 moss laid looselv over the surface, to prevent the sun parching up the seed 

 while in course of vegetation. A cold frame will do very well, or the pans 

 may be set in a gentle heat if vou wish to hasten germination. Remove 

 the'moss by degrees as the seed vegetates ; but before that keep a slwrp 

 look out for mice, which prey sadly on the seed. Water moderately when 

 dry weather sets in, until then little will be wanted. We would prefer a. 

 cold frame to a hot pit for these plants, and more seed, when new, will 

 be found to vegetate in this way than when sown in heat. 



Disease in Silvee Fies IH. J.).— We are sorry we cannot offer any 

 eflectua! remedy or preventive to the disease you compbiin of. W e saw 

 some trees similarly covered with a white substance in Kent a short 

 time ago. They were about 40 feet or more in height, and had until the 

 last year or two appeared in the most robust health, but were absolutely 

 dying, and some had succumbed. We did not examine the white sub- 

 stance by which the stems were covered ; but from its appearance we 

 supposed it to be of a resinous nature, and exuded from the tree, showmg 

 that something was wrong either at the roots or with the foliage, in conse- 

 quence of which the balance of sap and its absorption was not mamtamed. 

 Of course these views may be erroneous, as we had not the means of 

 examining the trees closely. We have, however, seen a white resinona 

 substance ooze out of an Araucaria during an unfavourable season, and 

 the next vear the tree was all right again, showing that the evU w^ only 

 temporary; but we much fear that the Silver Fir is worse aflected, and 

 we will make further inquiry in the matter. 



Rhododekdeoss foe Forctsg fO. B.).— The best we have grown of 

 the early-flowering hybrid Rhododendrons were :—RusseUianum, cnmson 

 scarlet; WeUsianum, bright scarlet ; Stamfordlanum, rosy scarlet ; Cau- 

 casicnm album, white-spotted ; Nobleanum in scarlet, rose, and light 

 varieties; Perspicuum, white; Campanulatnm hybridum. white; .Mta- 

 clerense, scarlet ; and Eronghtonianum, rosv red. ^ aneties of P.. cataw- 

 biense :— Everestianum. lUac, spotted and fringed ; Glcnnyanum, whitish ; 

 Grandiflorum, bright deep rose ; Pjiseum elegans. bright rose ; Kasenm 

 superbum, deep rose ; Purpureum elegans, purple ; and .Ubnm elegans, 

 waxy white, green spots. Of the late-flowering hybrid scarlets:— Vic- 

 toria, dark plum; Blandyannm, deep crimson; Atrosangnineum, blood 

 red ; Alarm, white, deeply edged with light scarlet ; John W aterer, gjowmg 

 crimson; Maculatum purpureum, purpUsh rose, much spotted ; Towardii, 

 rosy lilac; William Downing, rich dark puce, intense blotch; Lefevre- 

 anum, purplish crimson ; Coriaceum, white ; Brayanum, rosy scarlet, with 

 lighUr centre ; and Hogarth, rosy crimson. Of the dwarf apoall-foliagea 

 kinds;— ponticum odoratum, and myrtifolinm, and P.. hirsutum ; all 

 I pretty, free blooming, and sweet. 



Teainisg Weepkg Ash to Foem a Scxmee-hocsx iE. C.'.— We should 

 ' advise you to have poles 9 feet long, fixed in the ground to the dep'h " 

 I 2 feet, first charring the thickest end for that length, and coatmg it wnilst 

 hot with coal tar. Fix the poles in an erect position, a yard apart, onthe 

 I circumference of a circle, each at 6 feet from the stem of the tree. 1 hey 

 I mav be 3 or 4 inches in diameter. Their tops being sawn off level, tne 

 I half of a pole of the same diameter should be nailed, flat side down- 

 wards, on the heads of the upright poles. The branches of the tree are to 

 ' be raised and put upon the rail thu^ formed, fastening them with a piece 

 of tarred string. If the raU is so high that the branches cannot be brought 

 over it without l,reaking. the poks must be less in height or nearer tne 

 stem. On the side where the branches are thinnest a doorway may De 

 formed, and any available branches trained in that direction. In a few 

 years you will attain your object. 



HEATDiG BV Gas (J Comiani Eco-kr).— The following mode we pubr 

 Ushed in our First Series, Vol. XXH., p. .34. where an engraving is also 

 ^ven : — " The apparatus consists of a burner— a ring of brass tube, 

 5» inches in diameter, pierced with fifteen small holes— placed 4 mches 

 above the level of the floor. Over the burner is what may be described 

 as an inverted galvanised iron trough, 9 inches wide, 7 inches deep, 

 and 5 feet long, resting on four legs 4 inches high. The burner 19 

 placed under one extremity of this trough ; from the other end runs the 

 chimney, whichis of three-inch galvanisediron piping, the jointsof which 

 are not cemented. This rises 5 feet, and is then carried across the bouse 

 12 feet, and finally makes its exit in the kitchen chimney. Placed on the 

 top of the trough over the bumeris anevaporating-pan,cont.ainingabout 

 three gaUons. This arrangement, if not ornamental, is cheap an! useful, 

 and, with a little expense, may be made more elegant ; at any rate, it is 

 entirelv removed during the season when the more attractive flowers «rt 

 summer invite visitors." U you chose to have a smaU boUer and pipes 

 for circulating hot water, and hwted by gas, you wiU find a drawing and 

 description in So. 94 of our New Series of this Journal. « o will put>- 

 li.sh some notes and drawings shortly. 



SowrSG ASSCALS (S. A. .V.I.— Seeds of Tagates signata. Phlox I>rum- 

 mondi. and the Ice-plant, may all be sown in pots in gentle heat, m the 

 coarse of the present month, hardened ofl; and planted out towards the 

 end of Mav, when aU danger of frost is past. The annual Lupines may 

 be sown out of doors, when the son is in good condition, about the begin- 

 ning ol April. If required to bloom early, they may be sown in a little 

 heat, or out of doors in the present month. The plant is Acacia decur- 

 rens var. mollissima. 



EiaGEATioK (G. B.).- We never advise upon this Bubiect. Too much 

 depends upon circumstances of which we know nothing. 



AucuEAS 'W. B. 7.).— There are male and female plants in a" *he 

 species, so we cannot aid you. Of course plants of both sexes must D« 

 present to obtain fertile seed. 



Xamxs of Fecit [E. W. A.).— Applet .-—1, Beanty of Kent ; 2, apparenUy 

 the B«me, bat of a paler colour ; S, Lewis's Incomparable. 



