218 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



r Hareh 30, 18«<. 



cue t(i the olhiT ; but always, excepting from the burKting of 

 the buds up to tLe time of tbo fruit Betting, and from the be- 

 ginning of the softening to the ripening of the fruit, eommend 

 me to the hot nmmonmcal fumes of house sewnge. One cigar 

 would be Fiiflloient to fumigate the crinoline contrivance, or a 

 two-light Cueunibir- frame. 



Now with regard to the inquiries of " A Beoinsei!." " First, 

 how often the syringing is recommended to be used to trees in 

 an orehard-hiiuso when free from insects?" I answer, That de- 

 pends entirely upon " A Beoinneii's" inclination and time. 

 From the setting of the fruit up to its last swelling for ripen- 

 ing an application every evening, if bright fine weather pre- 

 vails, would benefit the foliage ; and the same may be said 

 from the gathering of the fruit to tlie maturation and fall of 

 the leaf. AMicn, however, the wind is in the east, and dark 

 murky clouds move sluggishly over the firmament, if fruit and 

 a healthy foliage are the objects in view, the trees must be in- 

 dcfatigably syringed with the sewage morning and evening. 



" Second, how often is it recommended for borders in an 

 orchard-house, to be syringed for the purp ose of filling the 

 house with steam ? " I answer. As a matter of course the 

 borders must necessarily become moistened every time the 

 trees are syringed ; but if roots arc there, give the border a 

 thorough deluging with sewage once a-wcek whilst the fruit is 

 arriving at maturity, and the same may be done to the soil in 

 pots, and in tine hot weather the latter must be watered with 

 pure water every day on which the sewage is not applied. For 

 a vinery, by sjrringing the hot sewage from pail to pail, the 

 house soon becomes filled with steam. Soak the borders both 

 inside and out once a-wcek, only desisting as soon as the 

 Grapes begin to colour. In 181)4 I continued syringing over- 

 head my Vines in the house till the Grapes became ripe. The 

 hloom stood it better than I could have thought possible. 

 Last year I never syringed after the Grapes were set, but con- 

 tinued the sewage-steaming and saturated the borders once 

 a-week. I shall continue the latter plan for Vines under 

 glass, as being what I consider much the best. The heated 

 ammoniacal gases prove sufficiently pungent to maintain the 

 <Trape foliage in health, and to prevent red spider ; but Peaches, 

 Ncctaiines, and Tlums in an orchard-house recjuire the direct 

 application to their foliage. 



I advise a " A BEoiNNEn " to adopt the mixture of horse- 

 droppings and malt-dust which Mr. Eivers recommends in his 

 work, the " Orchard House." I have used it two years as a 

 top-dressing for my pots, and not only for fruit, but for 

 Myrtles, Heliotropes, Geraniums, itc. I find it most excellent 

 for the purpose, and it always remains porous so as to allow of 

 water passing down, and, as a matter of course, air as well. I 

 am of opiniou that whole borders, wherever they may be, 

 would be vastly benefited during the heat of summer by a sur- 

 facing of this mixture. 



I beg to inform " D., Deal," that the raiser of the Lapstone 

 Kidney was Major Haigh, a shoemaker, who formerly lived at 

 Bartsey, near Leeds. Haigh first raised the Kidney bearing 

 his name. It is a fine staiued purple sort, throwing very 

 meagre brittle haulm, a spare cropper, one of the firmly-mealy 

 cUss, and richest of the esculents. Afterwards Haigh raised the 

 " Cobbler's Lapstone," which he dubbed so because many of 

 the finest tubers bore a resemblance to his lapstone. Haigh 

 died in 185G. Honour to the " benefactor of his country " who 

 raised two excellent sorts of Potatoes — honour even in a 

 greater ratio than that commonly accorded to the "two-blades- 

 of-grass " men. — Ui-wards ano Cnwarpp. 



rr.EVENTING FICUS ELASTICA BLEEDING. 

 Havikc, noticed in the Journal, a short time since, an appli- 

 cation for a remedy to prevent Ficus elastica bleeding when 

 headed back, I send you a simple but effectual remedy if you 

 ihink it worth ymblishing. It merely consists in heating some 

 silver sand to about l'Mf\ and applying it to the wound the 

 moment the cutting is taken off. One application I generally 

 find sufficient; hut should the sap be very lively it is easy to 

 repeat the dose. This may be a very old remedy, but I have 

 not yet seen it in priut. and having tried it successfully on 

 several species of Ficus, I thought probably it might prove of 

 nse to some of your subscribers. — E. H. Lee, Pri>jia;;o(c<r, 

 liattcrsca I'ark. 



plorations in the South Seas and Australia ; and to observe 

 that he and his brother, Mr. Harry ,1. Veitch, have been re- 

 ceived as partners into tlie extensive nursery and seed esta- 

 blishments at Chelsea and Coombe Wood, which will in future 

 be conducted imder the designation of James Veitch & Soni. 

 i'lortant .' 



Mk. J. Gould Veitch. — We have the pleasure to announce 

 the safe return of Mr. J. Gould Veitch from his botanical ex- 



ROYAL HOUTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



FinsT Spring Show. — The first of the Rpecial shows for theBeaaon 

 WHK held fiQ Thurfilftv laRt, the ir>th iiut., m ihv iaitU>m coDfi«rrfttorj 

 arcade, and uotwilhRtnndiuf; the ktcn wmd aud un^t-niul Ujmperatare, 

 wliic-h iiu doubt had the (;fTect of diterrmKniany <-\h])»itors from comixif; 

 forward, and of kt'CpiiiR owuy a lar;^'e mimtit-r of Tisitorn, there was au 

 I xctllcut iittendanci- of both. The diajday altofietbfr was ono of the 

 btkt that have been seen of late years so early in the Beason ; not only 

 did tlie Hyatiuths present au impoRiuR array mo>*t brilliant and varied 

 in colour, but there were g^y Tnlips in abnndanre, long lines of 

 Croonses, beantiful Kobc-s, and a good number of stove and grecuhoofie 

 j)lants, forced Bhrabu, Arc. 



Hyacintlis have certniuly never been seen iu ^renter perfection, if, 

 indeed, tht-y have been equalled at any previous bbow ; and tboagh. 

 Mr. ^'illiant Paul and Messrs. Cnthntsh were, \\n usual, pre*eDiincnt. 

 other eihibitors came forward ; and that which is not so asoal, their 

 productiouB, though falling short of those from the above veteran 

 growers, were of conf-idcrabk- merit. 



Iu Clafis 1, for eighteen distinct varietioR from nnrneryinen, two splen- 

 did collections were shown. That from Mr. Williani Paul, to which was 

 awarded the first prize, contained spikes which for size, aud for freeh- 

 ness and brightness of colour, even surpassed his prerious efforts. 

 There was an air of nobility about the spikes thot it is difticnlt to de- 

 scribe, but which was most striking. Foremost auioug the single blue 

 class in this collection was King of the iJlues, and a maguifieent Epike 

 it was ; the others were Grand Lilas, Charles Dickens, and Marie. 

 Double varieties of the same colour consisted of Van Speyk. Garrick, 

 und Laurens Koster; and the very dark shades approaching to black, 

 were represented by Feruck Khan and General Havelock. Of reds — ■ 

 Garibaldi. Von Schiller. Solfaterre. Koh-i-Noor, and Macaulay. were 

 most brilliant, and the spikes ven,- tine ; and so, too. was that of Lord 

 Wellington, double pale blush, seizing as a connecting link with the 

 white class, of which there were Mont Blanc and Alba maxima, tlic 

 latter remarkably fine. Ida, the best of the yellows, completes the list, 

 Messrs. Cutbush, as already remarked, had also a splendid set of 

 eighteen, but some of the llowcrs had nut reached tbatperfei-tion which 

 they would evidently have attained a week later. This collection re- 

 ceived the second prize. It consisted of blues — Charles Dickens, Bleo 

 Aimable. Marie, Grand Lilas, Baron Von Tuyll. and Laurens Koster; 

 reds — Von Schiller. Solfaterre, and Macaulay, very brilliant ; Howard, 

 Florence Nightingale, Princess Clothilde. and Cavaignae ; Itobert 

 Fortune, mauve ; Grandeur :i Meneille. ]>ale bln^h. a splendid spike; 

 La Vestale aud Mont Blanc, wliite ; and au excellent spike of Ida, 

 yellow. 



Mr. Kirtlaud, Albion Kursery, Stoke Xewingtou, came third with a 

 very good coUectiou, in which the most noticeable wore Oroudatcs, Von 

 Scliiller, Sultau's Favoxirite, Charles Dickens, Van Si>cyk, Mont 

 Blanc, Gigautea, and Mimosa. 



The next class was for twelve Hyacinths, of six kinds, amateurs only. 

 The competitors were Mr. Young, gardener to K. Barclay, Ksq.. High- 

 gate, and Mr. Bartlett, Shaftesbury Koad, Hammersmith, who were 

 awarded the first aud second prizes respectively ; and it is worthy of 

 remark that their collections, both iu tlus aud other classes, were much 

 superior to those generally shown iu previous years by amateurs. 

 Among the kinds shown were — Queen of the Netherlauds, Sultan's 

 Favourite, Vou Scluller, Mout Blanc, Kiuirod, Mimosa, Chaxlee 

 Dickens, Ac. 



Class .*t was for six Hyacinths, and open to nnrserymen and ama- 

 teurs. Here, again. Mr. \V. Paul was first, witli splendid spikes of King 

 of the Blues, Van SjH-yk, Macaulay, Koh-i-Noor, Alba maxima, and 

 Ida. Messrs. Cutbush aud Mr. Kirtland were eijual second, and Mr. 

 Young third. 



Of Hvacinths grown in pots and glasses in windows, the best came 

 from Mr Bartlett. and were in pots. Mrs. L. Young. Kentish Town,. 

 Hud Mr. Beach, gardener to W. Rogers, Esq., Bedhill, were respec- 

 tively second and third. 



New Hyacinths were shown by Mr. W. Paul. Me.^sr«;. Cutbush, and 

 Mr. Young. Tliose from Mr. Paul, who took the first prize, were 

 \'unxba.'ik, a brilliant scarlet crimson, which, as well as Priicess Mary 

 of Cambridge, lilac, appeared to be decided acquisitions ; Sir Henry 

 Havelock, pnrjilish plum ; Adeliua Patti. like Robert Fortune in 

 colour; Bird of Paradise, resembling Ida m colour; and SirE. Land- 

 seer, a sho-ny rosy crimson. Messrs. Cutbush, who were second, had 

 Arnold's Princen, purplish plum, a desirable colour : Grand Vainqueur, 

 pale rose strijied with pink ; Oriou, violet, with good-sized bells ; Au- 

 ricula •; Oog. purplish violet with a white eye ; Hogarth, a pleasing 

 rose piiik : and Mrs. .lames Cutbush, wliite, iu the way of Snowball, 

 but with a lai-ger truss. From Mr. Young came Sir E. liandseer, 

 deep mauve, good spike ; General Pelissicr. porcelain blue ; Mary, a 

 promising white ; Annie Lisle, rosy red ; aud OmpUale, blush. A 

 third prize was awarded for thefie. 



