Joae IS, laee. j 



JOUBNAIi OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABI>BNER. 



*>1 



turned easily, and do not cut the grass or destroy the turf 

 ' jn turning. The best of all the rollers that I have tried are 

 ' those with rounded edges and having a division in the centre. 

 ■ If the grass is thin a few pounds of seeds should be sown 

 previous to rolling, selecting those suitable for the soil and 

 Situation, and one-sixth of the quantities required for sowing 

 an acre. Of the Clovers, however, full quantities should bo 

 sown if the situation is open, only one-half if the plot is to bo 

 used as a croquet ground or for a promenade, and they should 

 be left out altogether if the situation is shaded. The rolling 

 will &x the seeds in the soil, and they will grow without any 

 lurther trouble should the weather prove showery. 



Perhaps the best of implements for paring the sod is that 

 •Known as a turfplough, common in districts where peat is 



ToTfing-spadc. 

 used for fnel ; failing this, one can easily be made ont of an 

 old hay knife, the handle or socket being bent upwards, and 

 furnished with a strong shaft and cross-handle to push the 

 implement. Before using it the turf is cut with an edging- 

 knife into strips an inch less in breadth than the width of the 



Edging-knife, 

 tnrf-parer, and crosswise at every i feet ; and in raising the 

 turf one man pushes the parer, and another rolls up the turf 

 as cut, grass side inwards, and lays it on the cleared ground ; 

 but a better plan is to have a barrow at hand, in which the rolls 

 of turf can be placed, and taken out of the way at once, instead of 

 their being laid on one side and lifted again. These rolls should 

 be laid on their ends in a shady place, and not more than two 

 or three tiers high, for if laid too high one above the other they 

 are liable to heat and become destroyed in a short time. Turf 

 cut and rolled up in this manner will keep fresh for three 

 weeks or a month in September, October, March, or April ; in 

 the winter months it will keep for a month or six weeks, and 

 all the time it remains frozen, whilst from April to September 

 from ten days to a fortnight is about as long as I have found 

 the sods retain moisture sufficient to keep the grass fresh. 

 The sooner the turf is laid after being cut the better. This, 

 however, cannot always be done, therefore the above data may 

 be of service. 



In forming a lawn for a croquet ground or bowling-green, the 

 chief points to be attained are to secure a level surface, a firm, 

 close, fine turf, and as dry as possible consistent with a verdant 

 lawn. The size of a croquet ground depends on that of the 

 place, for it may be either ornamental or out of character, just 

 as it is large or small in proportion to the size of the grounds. 

 I have seen such lawns as small as 12 yards square, which 

 is mnch too small for properly playing the game, double that 

 space being required. A lawn 30 yards by 20, and either 

 rectangular or oval, forms an excellent croquet ground, and so 

 does a square of 25 yards on the side, or a circle with a cor- 

 responding diameter, but the ground may be of any size or 

 shape, and simply a lawn, or accompanied with decorations of 

 Tarious kinds. Some croquet grounds are sunk and have a 

 terrace round them with corresponding slopes, others are sur- 

 rounded by banks or borders of shrubs, others by borders and 

 beds of flowering plants, they beiug the ugliest of all. 



There is no finer object in ornamental gardening than a fine 

 lawn, whether it is in one broad unbroken expanse, ur forming 

 the groundwork for the artistic arrangement of beds, or the 

 display of plants, shrubs, and trees. — G. Abbey. 



I/EEDB Horticultural Show. — This took place on the 6th and 

 7th inst. The prizes were on the most liberal scale, and the 

 Sbhibition, especially of fruit, very superior. |,, A letter infprm| 



us, that owing to the unfavourable weather the visitoiB were 

 comparatively few, aud that, consequently, "the expenditure 

 was £iOO over the receipts." We hope that so wealthy a 

 locality as Leeds and its vicinity will not allow this loss to {all 

 upon the Committee. 



PRINCESS MAIiVS WEDDING BOUQUET. 

 Ever since the marriage of the Princess Royal, Mr. Veitch, of 

 the Eoyal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, has enjoyed the privilege of 

 presenting the members of the Royal Family with their wedding 

 bouquets. That honour and privilege have on the recent mar- 

 riage of the Princess Marj' of Cambridge been again accorded 

 to that establishment, and Jlessrs. Veitch .t Sons by special 

 permission presented the Princess with a splendid bouquet, 

 which consisted of Orange blossoms, PhaliPnopsis, Odonto- 

 glossum pulchellum, Calanthe, Burlingtonias, Stephanotis, 

 white Koses, frc, the garniture being of Honiton lace. We 

 believe Her Koyal Highness was graciously pleased to accept it 

 personally from the hands of Mr. Harry J. Veitch. 



MILDEW ON APPLE TREES IN TASMANIA. 



I ENCLOSE a twig and leaves of a diseased Apple tree for your 

 inspection, with tlie view of eliciting from you an opinion as 

 to what the disease really is, and the remedies you would re- 

 commend for its extirpation. Tliis disease has become general 

 in Tasmania, and many trees in large orchards are entirely 

 ruined by it. The Stone and New York Pippins are very sus- 

 ceptible of its attacks ; in fact, more so than any other -va- 

 rieties that I could name. Can you explain the reason why 

 such is the case ? 



I have seen a plantation of Stone Pippih trees in on orchard 

 near Hobart Town, quite destroyed by this plague. The ap- 

 pearance of these trees (in the summer of 1854), was as if they 

 had been scorched by fire, and by gently rubbing the foliage be- 

 tween the hands it was reduced to dry dust. A microscopic ex- 

 amination of several diseased leaves, leads me to believe that 

 this disease is nothing less than a form of Erysiphe communis, 

 or mildew. However, this needs confirming by some of the 

 sai-ans in horticulture at home, or, if you will have it so, of the 

 mother country. — Jon.v Oseorne, Jun., The Nurseries, PiHf 

 Aijple Place, Hobart 2'uun. 



[The leaves sent are very intensely mildewed, and we think 

 the fungus is not an Erysiphe (certainly not Eiysiphe com- 

 munis), but Sporotrichum macrosporum. Sulphur does not 

 seem to check it much, but a washiug of the trees when at rest 

 with a brine of 8 ozs. of salt to the gallon of water acts as a pre- 

 ventive ; and if the mildew appears when the trees are in leaf, a 

 good syringing with lime water made by pouring thirty gallons 

 of water on 14 lbs. of fresh lime, stirring the mixture well, and 

 allowing it to stand forty-eight hours, and then using the clear 

 water, checks the spreading of the fungus. Something, how- 

 ever, should be done to prevent the mildew occurring ; and for 

 this purpose we recommend the surface of the soil over the 

 roots to be mulched, and other means adopted to keep the roots 

 near the surface. We think the mildew would not be 60 in- 

 tense if a more vigorous root-action were maintained.] 



PRESERVING SOA\T^ SEEDS. 



The destruction of seeds by birds and mice being a snbjeot 

 of very considerable importance to gardeners, I submit the 

 following for insertion in your columns. I noticed in a late 

 Number of the Journal, among the " Doings of the Last Week," 

 by " R. F.," that he complains of birds eating his Radisih 

 seeds ; and I have Uttle doubt that, at times, also, he finds they 

 eat other seeds belonging to the natural orders Brassicaceaj and 

 Fabaceie. He also complains that nets are not sufficient pro- 

 tection. Therefore for his information, and that of others who 

 suffer from these garden pests, as I used to do, I can recom- 

 mend them to try the foUowiug plan, having tested it in variong 

 ways, and constantly practised it here for the last five years; 

 and I now never have to use a net or any other protection, 

 when formerly I could scarcely keep even a crop of Turnips 

 safe from birds or Peas from mice. 



My practice is in spring to jiurchase 2 lbs. of dry red lead, 

 which lasts me for the season for all the seeds of a large kitchen 

 garden, and costs Sd. Before sowing, I put the seeds into a 

 basin, and syrinUe just a fe^jf .drops of water— sufficient only 



