December SO, 18€9. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTIOULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



527 



if you did so, then the boiler would scarcely have power cDongh. There 

 will be no difficulty iu heating nil your bouses by one boiler, if the boiler 

 be placed iu the lowest position, nnd, as you sttite, the lowest heating 

 pipe is a foot or more above the top of the boiler. (>ne of the easiest 

 modes to do this is to lake one main flow and return from the boiler to 

 the farthest house, rising all the way a little, and then take otT, by valves, 

 others to each bouse to heal as you wish. Wo have no doubt that placing} 

 two 30-iuch saddle boilers together in one furnace, and connectiugtheir 

 flows and returns, would give you ample power for what you want ; but 

 still, keeping in view what is stated above, instead of placing these 

 boilers end to end, we would place them side by side, and thus have two 

 furnaces instead of one, with one chimney; the pipes connected as you 

 suggest, but with the means of shutting off or putting on the circulation 

 flt pleasure. Then in ordinary weather one boiler would bo enough, but 

 when wanted you could use both, and having two you would be much 

 safer. Where anything like forcing early, or a high temperature is re- 

 quired, wo should not like your 8d-ineh saddle-back to do more than boat 

 from 500 to Coo feet of piping ; but the lower the boiler, and the higher 

 to the farthest house, the more work it will do. 



Herbaceous Plants {Hnbticf'on'!).—OI the list of plants you forward, 

 Bome of them are incorrectly named, and the spelling of some very bad. 

 All are perfectly hardy, and suitable for a mixed border in the flower 

 garden. The soil, we apprehend, is not very heavy, but, on the contrary, 

 inclined to be sandy, and well drained. If the soil were heavy thoy 

 would probably not succeed. Dianthus may mean a Pink, Carnation, or 

 Picotee, but which we cannot say. Iberis Tenoreana, white, April and 

 May, 1 foot. "Libtus" is, perhaps, intended for Lotus corniculatus 

 fiore-pleno, yellow, June and July, 1 foot. Spirajo japonica, white, June 

 and July, 1 to 1 foot 6 inches. Linum flavum, yellow, 1 foot, June and 

 July, requii-es protection in cold situations, and a well-drained soil. 

 Saxifraga ceratopbylla may be the " horned Saxifraga," white. 9 inches. 

 May. Aubrietia deltuidea variegata, bluish lilac or pale purple, March 

 and April. Cheiranthus Marsballi, orange, 1 foot, March, or earlier if 

 mild weather. Allium variegatum, white, inches, June. Statice 

 Gmelini, blu#, 1 foot, July. Primula cortusoides, deep rose, 6 to 9 inches, 

 May and June. Physostcgia speciosa, pink, li foot, July. 



Cdcuiubers Unfruitfdl (K. K.).—li is remarkable that the plants have 

 not shown fruit before this. Some plants unstopped grow a great length 

 before fruit is shown. Something must be radically wrong, for though 

 the stopping would have induced fruit at an earlier stage, allowing the 

 shoots to grow unchecked would not necessarily bring on the sickly state 

 of the plants. We have known plants do well under the treatment you 

 describe, but we should not like to trust to unstopped plants for fruit. 

 Is the soil sweet? If the plants are heaUhy, cut them back to near the 

 bottom of the trellis ; but whether or no, we should cut them down, and 

 at the same time raise plants. When you see the result of the cutting- 

 back, you will be able to detarmine whether it will be better to retain the 

 old plants, or remove them and plant fresh. 



Old Kitchen Garden Seeds {A Subscriber).— Old seeds arc so un- 

 certain of germination, that we do not advise them to be used. The 

 seeds which you have by you of last year's stock will almost all to a 

 certainty grow if they were new, or of the preceding year's growth, when 

 yon had them. As you do not know how old they are, we cannot tell you 

 which seeds will and which will not grow ; but wo advise you to tako a 

 dozen seeds out of each packet and sow them in pots, placing thorn 

 where there is a gentle heat, and when the plants appear you will know 

 ■which are good, and you can frame your seed list or order accordingly. 



Sloping Bane (B. £.)■— To mow it easily with a scjrthe, or for two per- 

 sons to moT it with a machine, to look well, and not burn in hot weather, 

 the perpendicular height, a to b, being '<i feet, b to c, the base, should be 

 6 feet. Slopes are generally made much more steep than that, but thoy 

 neither look well, nor are well suited for the growth of the grass. 



LiLiDM AUEATuai PoTTiNG (M. ff.).— The beet time to pot is when the 

 stems decay. In potting, take care not to injure the roots, picking away 

 the old soil as far as possible without breaking the roots. Potting miiy 

 be done now, but better a couple of mouths earlier. It should not bo 

 deferred until the plants are beginning to grow, as the roots are then 

 active, and there is a risk of their being needlessly injured ; still you may 

 pot at any other time if care be taken. 



Ink for Zinc Labels {Idem). — One drachm each of sal ammoniac 

 powder and verdigris, half a drachm of lampblack, and ten drachms of 

 water, make an indelible ink for zinc labels. 



Glass for Frames {Clericiis).—2l-oz. sheet glass is not too thick 

 for garden frames, it is the most suitable for the purpose ; the third 

 quality would not bum the plants. 



Specimen Chrysanthemums (/</'■ */i).— We shall presume that you are 

 in possession of well-rooted cuttings in March, with single stems only, 

 and take out the point when 8 inches high. Pot them at first in pots 

 4i inches in diiimeter, and when these are full of roots, and before they 

 become very much matted, transfer the plants to7-iuoh and then to 9-incb 

 pots, or, if very large specimens are wanted, to 11-inch pots. Allow no 

 suckers until the flower buds show, and stop the laterals when they have 

 grown 6 org inches, repeating it again in July. The pots should be set 



on ashes iu an open situation, and bo well supplied with water, not allow- 

 ing them to flag from want of it. When the pots into which they are last 

 put booomo filled with roots, watef twice weekly with liquid nuiuuro, and 

 gradually increase the frequency of its application till it is given ovo^ 

 day. The shoots, as they advance, should be tied out as far apart as 

 possible, to admit air and keep tho plants well furnished. Upon the 

 tying depends much of tho beauty and size of tho plants. It should bo 

 frequently attended to, and be contiuuej until tho plants show for flower, 

 and then you can dispose of tho shoots with regularity. Take care that 

 the plants do not root through tho hole in the pot. Allow them plenty 

 of room to keep them from becomiug drawn to one side. Use a compost 

 of rich turfy loam two parts, and one piirt old cow dung or well-rotted 

 manure, and to every pock add a quart of bone dust. Good drainage is 

 necessary. Do not water with liquid manure after tho flower buds aro 

 as large as a sixpence. Sprinkle the plants with water overhead 

 every evening, and after the buds show, night and morning until those 

 expand. 



Snowberry (T/y >■->).— This hardy wbito-bcrriod shrub common in olJ- 

 fashioued gardens is Symphorioarpus vulgarir^, a native of North America. 

 Camellia Culture {Ciimcllii').—li is not advisable to repot and cat-in 

 the head at the same time. Wore tho pot full of good roots wo woald 

 advise an opposite course; but as the soil is bad, the plants so uverpottod, 

 and the roots in bad condition, first lake away all tho old soil pos- 

 sible, saving every piece of good root, aud then repot in the smallest pot 

 the roots, iVc, will go into, draining well, and using equal parts of 

 sandy llbrous loam and heath soil with about a third of silver sand, the 

 object being to obtain good roots. Plunge these pots into a sweet hotbed 

 that will give a bottom heat of 80 and a top beat in tho house of from 

 50"' to &i) , the first object being to secure good aud fresh roots, and for 

 this purpose the head should be kept rather cool and syringed to encou- 

 rage tho rooting. When you find tho roots growing frooly and strongly, 

 and reaching the sides of tlio pots, then prune in tho top likewise, and 

 gradually raise the atmospheric temporaturo to 70 or 75 , with atmo- 

 spheric moisture in proportion. The mode you propose for taking water 

 by means of a tap and small pipe into a gutter will answer, only if you wish 

 the water to circulate in the gutter the return pipe at tho farther end 

 should communicate with the rnturn pipe and not tho flow. The gutter 

 must bo properly arrau;»ed for the purpose, or it will overflow if the tap 

 he not nicely regulated. I-'rom the position of youi* pipo yon might easily 

 fill the gutter from the one pipe, and then shut the tap. Of course you 

 would thus have hot water in your gutter at once, but so much cold water 

 mnst be added to the main pipes and boiler. With gutters fixed on tho 

 warm pipes yon will have plenty of evaporation by merely keeping thorn 

 supplied with water. 



Vise Shoots {AWorkiitff Mechanic).— VJe see nothing tho matter with 

 the wood, unless having rather too much pith. The wood is not large, 

 but still it would bear well, as it seems firm, though wo like to see littlo 

 pith. The joints being without buds is a difl'erent thing, and that ami 

 the pith are most likely to arise from one of two things— want of drainage 

 in the border, or want of moistuj'o in a dry summer. With such a light 

 border it would bo well to mulch with something rich in summer, and if 

 secure of drainage give the requisite moisture. You can havo any back 

 numbers free by post for 4(1. If many were wanted you could order 

 them through a bookseller, or liave them sent by rail. Wo can recom- 

 mend the " Vine Manual," which you can havo from our ofllce for 2*. 8d. 

 in stamps. 



Cherries for South or Scotland (.'/ Poor LaJv).— Tho two stan- 

 dards should be Black Hearts, the pyramid Belle d'Orleana, and the wall 

 tree Black Tartarian. 



Names of Fruits (H. J»(i(c;i(!,s).— Your Pear is Arbre CourbO. (T.R.).~ 

 Your Pear is the Croft Castle, {C. C. £.J.— 2001, Dumelow's Seedling; 

 2001. Russet Sweeting; 2005, Federal Pearmain ; 2006, Holland Pippin ; 

 2009, Rymer; 2010, Royal Codlin; 2011, Tower of Glamis. Olhers un- 

 known and in bad condition. 



Names of Plants (Forfiruvr).~Th6 Conifer is Finns Smithoana. 

 There is a plant called Grislinia Uttoralis, but we cannot identify it with- 

 out seeing a flower. (Subscriber, Southampton).— ChimonauihuH fragraOB. 

 (Uocfor).— Zygopetalura Mackayi. {A. B. .-f.).— We believe your supposed 

 Fern to be Pedicularis sylvatica. Are not your supposed spore-cases 

 so many patches of a small parasitical fungus V (D. il/.).— Adiantum 

 pedatum, Doodia Innulata, a Polypodium (send us a better frond). 

 Davallia novic-zealnndio.' does well underlgreenhonse treatment, whilst 

 among others to suit you may lie named I), canariensis aud pulchella. 

 The plants known as Leucostcgia immersa and L. pulchra, now included 

 in the genus Dayallia, are very beautiful and do well in a greenhouse. 

 Ferns mature their spores at difi'erent seasons, each according to its 

 species. Collect the spores as soon as matured, and sow immediately 

 afterwards. {TTot. S|.— 1, Catasetnm tridentatum ; 2, appears to be^Epi- 

 dendrum dichromum ; and !i. E. aciculare. (FiliCis).—!, Solaginella 

 Braunii ; 2, Pteris cretica albo-Uneata ; 8, Polypodium areolatum ; 4, Hy- 

 polepis tenuifolia; 5, Pteris erotica (typical form); C, Nephrolopis 

 exaltata. (J. i?.).— We take your Cattleyu to be a very fine form of 

 C. granulosa. 



METEOPiOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS in the Subm-bs of London for the week ending December 28th. 



General Remarks, 



Cloudy nnd cold ; densely overcast ; overcast. 

 Overcast ; very fine ; deusoly overcast and cold. 

 Overcast ; very tine ; clear and line at night. 

 Overcast, sharp frost ; fine ; clear nnd frosty. 

 Sharp frost ; clear aud frosty ; clear and cold. 

 Frosty fog ; overcast, snow : clear and lino. 

 Sharp frost ; very line ; clear and very frosty. 



