September 3 0, 1869. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



269 



GHAFTniG Vines (J. TF.).— Graft the Vines by all means ; all the White 

 kinds will do well on them, such as Muscats and Foster's White Seedling. 



Vine Leaves Spotted {Mrs. Ecathcote)— The Vine leaves are blotched 

 and scalded. The remedy is either to give air all night at the top of the 

 house, or to give air early in the morning before the sun strikes on the 

 house. 



Vine Border Ferstenttng (An AmaUur).— Yon must not plant Vines 

 until the heat of the soil, arisinj; from the turf fermenting, f:ill to 75^ 

 or 80-\ WateriDR such turfy matter, unless you inundate it, would be of 

 questionable benefit. Better turn part of the material out until it cool. 



Fruiting Vises in Pots (Reader).— Between repotting now and re- 

 potting nest March, there is no comparison; repot at once by all means, 

 merely disentangling the outside roots a little, and potting firmly. If the 

 Vines are in good-sized pots— say 15 inches or more in diameter, we would 

 remove the surface soil carefully, replace it with rich compost, and not 

 repot at all. We wonll even place a rim on the pot in preference to 

 repotting. We do not tliink that you need despair of the Frontignan 

 Vine. 



Vines, Strawberries, &c. (A Subscriber). — If yon refer to our adver- 

 tising columns you will see where they can bo obtained. It would be 

 unfair for us to select tradesmen. Messrs. Webbfr, Covent Garden 

 Market, could give you information relative to the sale of fruit. 



Frontignan Grapes Shanking [Readcr).~Front\snnn Grapes are more 

 liable to shank than moat others, and occasionally shanking appears in 

 its worst form— viz , the main stalk of the bunch withering. We have 

 not noticed the peculiarities you name when the Vines are grown in a 

 heated border ; the foliage does not brown, nor do the Grapes shank. 

 We think the Frontignan Vine requires a warmer, drier, and poorer soil 

 than many other varieties; a large proportion of the soil of the border 

 ought to be stones so as to imitite as nearly as possible the soil required 

 by all Vines, and especially this class of them— namely, a free, open soiJ, 

 and warm, stony, or rocky ground. In our climate we hive not suffici^^nt 

 heat to ripen the wood properly, and the roots in outside borders have not 

 the warmth necessary for a healthy action. It is wel' to encourage more 

 foliage than we would otherwise do, and by that means keep up root 

 action ; but the Vine ought to have as great a temperature for its roots 

 as its branches. 



Grafting Vines {A part Subscriber).— 1o all your questions we answer 

 No. 



Seedling Pear {W. T. C.).— Unfortunately the Pears were so bruised 

 and decayed we c )uld not f^rm a correct judgment on them. We found 

 nntainted by the acco-npaoying decay a little bit which was very nice, 

 but not sufficient to furm a decided opinion. 



Show Gooseberries (An Opfrative). — Three of the best of each colour 

 are — Red: Guido, London, and Hopley's Companion. White: Sheba's 

 Queen, Tallyho, and Wandering Girl. Green : Conquerine Hero, Thumper, 

 and Wistaston H*-ro. YeHotv : Husbandman, Broom Girl, and Marigold. 

 If you wish for size only, then London, Thnmper, Hero of the Nile, and 

 Leader. They should have a situation not shaded by trees or buildings. 

 The best soil is a rather strong loam, and if from fresh turf i' could not 

 be better. Thp ground ought to be trenched 2 feet deep. Nothing is 

 better than stable manure, or that of horses, cows, or pigs well reduced ; 

 it should be applied in autumn before planting, mixing it well with the 

 soil. 



Twin CuctriiBERS (Q. R. C C). — A fine pair, but we have seen the same 

 occurrence several times. The cause is the union of two ovaries. 



Planting MnsHROOM Spawn— Strawberries {The Hermltnrie). — Your 

 planting the 2-inch-pquiro pieces of Mushroom spawn in a Cucumber bed 

 will succeed according to the slate of the bed. Placing the spawn 3 inches 

 from the surface is all right enough it that distance brings you near the 

 dung of the bed. As stated lately, we have planted spawn in the open 

 ground and had fair success, bnt if we had used the Cucumber bed after 

 the Cucumbers were ^one, we would have taken off the soil, turned up the 

 dung a little, beat it down, inserted the spawn at double the distance you 

 have done, covered with 2 inches of soil, and beat down, nnd if fresh aU 

 the better. If there were a little heat left in the bed we should expect to 

 gather in two months. If the soil were somewhat damp, little or no water- 

 ing would be needed in winter. The ground for your first-class Straw- 

 berries we would trench and manure heavily, incorpriratiug the manure 

 with the soil. Turn out the stmng plants in rows 15 inches apart, and 

 2 feet from row to row, and mulch the ground after planting. 



Heating a Conservatory from a Kitchen Boiler (T. H. T.).— There 

 will be no difficulty m taking a side flow and return pipe to heat your 

 conservatory, situated as it is. the kitchen boiler now supplying hot water 

 to the top of the house. Of course, the more piping you beat the greater 

 will be the demand on the boiltr, but there will bo no likelihood of a 

 deficiency of heat at the top of the majsion. With plenty of fire and 

 command in the boiler, you might take pipes over every separate storey if 

 you liked. At first you may liave to curtail the flow to the top of the 

 mansion to make the water flow freely into the pipes in the conserva- 

 tory, but that is not often required. Hot water is sometimes skittish 

 and peculiar. We have had half a dozen pipes pi"oceeding from the 

 same level in an open cititern, and some of these would not take their 

 right quantity of heit unless some more fortunate pipes were plugged 

 a little, so as to make the flow all over more equal. As to your pro- 

 posed house and pit, more especially as you mean to plant Vines, and 

 these houses are to b« lean to's, we would advise you to make the height 

 at back 10 feet instend of R feet, and have them from 5 to 6feet in front, 

 and 10 feet in width. This will enable you to have a platform on each 

 side of a path down the middle of the plant house, and the same with 

 one or two pits in the other, and building all above ground will give you 

 most pleasure. For such a hou«e, hot water would be best, but flues 

 would do very well. It wonld, however, be best to have a flue for each 

 house. In the propagating part take the flue round the houae under 

 the floor level, so as to be in the centre of the pit, atovo which have a 

 chamber covered over, and slides in the chamber to let the heat into 

 the air of the hoiis<'. Witli one pit and the flue exposed on the other 

 Bide, you would not need these hot-air openings. The best trees we 

 know of for the hfn.-^ido are the Pinus Pinaster, the Evergreen Oak, 

 and the Maple; and the best climbers the Virginian Creeper, Ivy, and 

 Clematis. ^ I 



Heating a Oreenhocse (fferoTi).— The proposed arrangements will j 

 answer if your Ferns are not tender, and yon do not wish your warm 



greenhouse to be above from 45° to 50° in severe weather. The pipinf; in 

 the cool greenhouse will enable you to exclude frost in severe weather, 

 and to keep the house at from 34^ to 40^. You will perceive that you will 

 only have one flow and one return through the Fern house, and when all 

 the pipes are at work, the return will be rather cool before the water 

 reaches there. We approve of the stoppage at H, between the two houses, 

 but to make sure we would recommend you to have, by a T-joint, two 

 flows in the Fern house as far as the partition, and if you wish for a 

 good heat in the warm greenhouse, we would have two flows and one 

 return as far as h. For your purpose a small conical or saddle-back 

 boiler would behest. The terminal saddle-back is better than the com- 

 mon one. A boiler costing from 50s. to 60s. ought to suit your purpose. 



Arnott's Stove [Constant Subscriber). — A moveable iron stove with a 

 square top for water, would best suit your purpose — say, a stove 1 foot 

 square, 2 feet high, with fire-brick round the fireplace inside. The 

 square top will do for a vessel of water. A small brick stove would 

 answer better, but then it would he fixed. See what was stated to corre- 

 spondents lately as to smoke-pipes and their position. You might have 

 a brick stove fed from the outside like the furnace for a flue, but only a 

 smoke-pipe from it instead of a flue. Much has lately been said on re- 

 guhitiug draught from the ash-pit door. 



Plant Case (J. D.). — We have no doubt that you would succeed as 

 well with the larger case as with the smaller one, and be as snccessfol 

 with cuttings as you have been with seeds. There will be no doubt of 

 your succeedine with cuttings sent by post, as advertised by dealers in 

 our columns; the post has an advantage in quickness of transit. Any 

 small Ferns, as the Adiantums or Maiden-hairs, and the smaller of the 

 hardy Ferns, will do admirably in such a case, and so would small plants 

 of Coleos, but though they will succeed separately, they will not suc- 

 ceed so well together, as the moist atmosphere that would suit the Ferns 

 will be apt to damp the Coleuses, or cause them to grow too freely. A 

 Somewhat dry atmosphere, and a temperature of from 55" to 60*^ suits 

 them best in winter, when it is desirable to keep them in little space. 

 They grow freely enough in spring and summer, but in a close moist at- 

 mosphere and a temperature of from 45' to 50- in winter tbey will damp 

 off to a certainty. Dryness is their safety in a low temperature. You can 

 have covers forVols. XV. and XVI., free' by post, if you enclose 2s. Sd. in 

 postage stamps with your direction. 



Asparagus not Succeeding (.4 Sit6?crift^r).— We think the failure is 

 entirely owing to the soapy condition of the soil about the crowns, com- 

 bined with heavy dressings of salt, which tend to make the surface soil 

 still more moist. We would remove the surface soil down to the crowns 

 when the haulm becomes yellow, and replace it with a compost of sandy 

 loam, leaf soil, and river or sharp sand in equal parts, not covering 

 deeper than 3 inches, and then putting on 3 inches of manure, not cover- 

 ing it with soil, as is usually done. In spring point over the beds lightly, 

 and sow the seed early in April, three rows in a bed, and thin out the 

 seedlings in June to 6 inches apart. Dress with salt in ilarch, but not 

 next year. 1 lb. per square yard is sufficient. 



Conifers for a Lawn (Idem). — You confine us to dwarf kinds, none to 

 exceed 10 feet in height when full grown. You may plant the following: — 

 Abies rubra cserulea, A. elegans ; Juniperus macrocarpa, J. communis 

 pendula ; Retinospora ericoides, Taxas adpressa, and Thuja plicata 

 cauca^iica. 



Fruit-growing for Profit (W.M.). — Growing Peaches in the open 

 air in this country, however good the crops realised, seldom pays. Good 

 winter Pears are far more profitable ; or, why not cover your wall with 

 glass, and then Peaches would in your climate come in pretty early, and 

 secure a good price before the great glut of the season could compete 

 with them ? 



Charcoal for Potting (A. B. C.).— Any wood answers well. The 

 shavings you mention would make a powdery charcoal, that would do 

 for mixing with the soil, and the lumps of Sycamore would do for drain- 

 age if not larger than walnut*, nor smaller than peas. 



Fancy Pelargonium Leaves Turning Yellow [Anxious Inquirer). — 

 There is nothing wrong with the leaves. Their office is at an end, and 

 they turn yellow and would fall if you did not pick them off. You should 

 have cut the plants down after flowering to within three or four eyes ot 

 the old wool, or each shoot to within two or three eyes of its base, keep- 

 ing the plants dry until they began growing, and then watering as re- 

 quired. You should have potted the plants when they had made shoots 

 about an inch long, and you would now have had fresh green leaves. 

 Cut them back now, and do not keep the eoU more than moist. If green 

 fly again appear fumigate with tobacco. 



Pentstemon Propagation (Idem).— Take the side shoots that como 

 from near the root, slip them off, and pare the bottom smooth with a 

 sharp knife; or cut them immediately below a joint. Trim ';fi' the leaves 

 halfway up thecutiing?:, insert the latter that depth in sandy soil in a warm 

 situation, and cover with a hand-glass. Keep the soil moist but not very 

 wet, and shade from bright sun. Keep the lisht over the cuttings close 

 for a month, then give air by tilting it. Cuttings may be put in now, 

 but the end of August is, perhaps, the beat time. They strike freely in 

 spring and summer. 



Digging Between Strawberry and Raspberry Rows (Idem) — 

 Nothing is more injurious than deep digging between plants. The 

 ground should be cleaned and loosened a little, but not so deeply as to 

 interfere with the roots, and the surface mulched with manure. It does 

 not dry at this season as in summer, and the rains of autumn and winter 

 will carry down to the roots its nutritive principles. 



Caterpillars (G. 31. D.).— They were the larvse of some one of the 

 Hawk moths ; but without a full description of the colours of the body 

 and bom. we cannot say which. We cannot publish what you write 

 about the Pansies. 



Insects— Fruit [T. E. 6f.).— The insects attacking your Plums are 

 hornets. The Pear is Beadnell's Seedling, but the Apple we do not 

 recognise. 



Names or Fbuits (I. C.).— 1, Winter Hawthomden ; 2, Bedfordshire 

 Foundling; 3, Wyken Pippin ; 4. Brougham. iCol. Eookf}.—V,'e had to 

 pay 6d. for vour box. 3, Golden Reinette ; 4. Margil ; 8, Pearson's Plate ; 

 13, Feam's Pippin ; 15, Beurre d'Aremberg. The others are all cyder and 

 perry fruits, of which we have no means of knowing the names. (Jf, 

 Thompson).— The Apple from Devonshire is Scarlet Pearmain. Though 

 an ornamental and handsome Apple we do not know that it has ever 



