126 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Februiry 11, 1875. 



amateurs fail with it, and its being so desirable a plant for bedding 

 purposes. — Tnon.vs Eecohd. 



DOINGS OF THE LA.ST AND PRESENT WEEKS. 



HABDY PHUIT GABDEN. 



At.l the planting, pruning, and digging amongst the trees 

 have now been finished, and the buds are rapidly swelling ; 

 they are not very forward this year, and at present the nights 

 are frosty and the days cold, so that but little progress is made, 

 and a3 late blossoms are more likely to escape the frosts than 

 early, the chances are in favour of a good crop. We are not 

 troubled with feathered songsters eating the buds, but the house 

 sparrows are a continual source of annoyance ; their object does 

 not seem to be so much to make a daily meal off the buds, but 

 to pick them off and drop them on the ground. They put us to 

 a considerable expense for wire protectors (something like a 

 shilling a-yard), without which no Peas could be obtained. The 

 flowers of Crocuses, Snowdrops, and Primroses are objects of 

 their special attention; as soon as the flowers show signs of open- 

 ing the birds pick them off and strew them around the plants. 

 On the other hand, it is said that the good they do more than 

 compensates for the mischief ; but it is not so at Losford, and it 

 is quite necessary in self-defence to destroy as many of the birds 

 as we can, and to demolish all the nests before the eggs are 

 hatched. An amateur friend residing at Ilford was very much 

 annoyed with their eating the buds of his Gooseberry bushes. 

 He tried catching them with steel traps, which he thought was 

 cruel, neither was it effectual. The next plan was successful, 

 and it is now always adopted when the buds are bursting ; it is 

 a plan, moreover, that commends itself to amateurs. He treats 

 the birds kindly Ijy feeding them with bread crumbs after break- 

 fast, and placing water for them to drink; the sparrows appre- 

 ciate this treatment, and leave the buds alone. The small 

 maggot that bores into the Apples and occasionally attacks the 

 Pear has been very troublesome; it has been considerably re- 

 duced in numbers during the last two or three years, but has 

 not quite been eradicated. The most certain way to destroy it 

 is to gather all Apples attacked, and to destroy them at once; 

 but dusting the trees at this season with dry lime has been 

 tried, and we fancied with good result. A calm dry day is the 

 best time to do it. The branches must first be made wet by 

 syringing with soapy water, and immediately after apply the 

 lime by throwing it on with the hand. The Gooseberry cater- 

 pillar has been quite destroyed, not by the sparrows, nor by 

 picking, or dusting the trees with poison, but by removing the 

 Burface-mould from under the trees, and trenching it deep in 

 the garden quarters, and filling its place with loam free from 

 larvffi. Another desperate enemy to the trees is the immense 

 larvie of the goat moth, which has killed many of our trees. 

 When once a colony of them has become established on a tree — 

 or rather in, for they penetrate the hardest wood and tunnel it 

 in all directions — the chances are that the tree will be destroyed. 

 Should any of the trees become cankered, the eggs are deposited 

 there in preference to a healthy tree. 



FHCIT .ISD FORCING HOUSES. 



Vineries. — The earliest houses are progressing favourably, and 

 the growing shoots require almost daily attention, tying them 

 down, stopping, and thinning-out where crowded. The Vines 

 are trained on the short-spur system, and a young rod or two 

 are trained-up annually to replace those which have become 

 unsightly by long spurs. The rod should not be allowed to 

 grow to the top of the house in one season, but be stopped 

 when it has grown 8 or 9 feet, and at pruning time this length 

 is reduced to 4 or 6 feet. Stopping the rod at 3 or 4 feet has 

 been tried, and causing the main bud to start again ; but this 

 is not the best way, as the buds immediately above the place 

 where the growth was stopped do not always start well. All 

 such young growths should be freely exposed to the light. We 

 have just cut the Lady Downe's Grapes in the latest house, 

 pruned the Vines, and are washing and dressing them as well 

 as surticing tho borders. The bunches have been cut with a 

 good length of cane, the end of which has been inserted in 

 bottles of water. 



Gucmnber Houses. — The plants are now growing freely, but 

 the leaves have been formed in a high temperature and almost 

 without the aid of sunshine. It has therefore been necessary 

 to dull the glass when the sun shone out powerfully for a few 

 days, as the leaves suffered. Smoked the house to destroy aphides 

 and thrips. It is quite necessary to maintain a minimum tem- 

 perature of 05", and the atmospheric conditions should be such 

 that continuous healthy growth may bo kept up. The plants 

 will grow freely in a steaming atmosphere with a high tempe- 

 rature, but the leaves are such that they will not resist the dry 

 hot dayj we have in March. Evaporating troughs are provided 

 in the house at Loxford, but it was found that the plants suc- 

 ceeded by far the best when only half the quantity was kept 

 filled with water. The surface of the border in which the Cu- 

 cumbers are growing is damped over once every day ; the paths, 

 walls, &e., twice or three times. 



Peach Mouses. — The weather has been unfavourable for 

 Peaches, especially those that are setting, and it is very undesir- 

 able to maintain a high night temperature it it necessitates 

 overheating the hot-water pipes ; 55° is quite high enough. 

 Thinning the fruit and superfluous shoots is attended to at the 

 same time. As soon as the fruit is fairly set it ought to be well 

 thinned out, leaving about twice as much as will ultimately be 

 allowed to remain. The young wood must also be removed with 

 an unsparing hand. Two more growths besides the leader will 

 be quite sufficient. The side growth nearest the base should 

 remain, and one on the opposite side a little higher up the shoot. 

 If there are any aphides on the growths it must be destroyed at 

 once by fumigating. Syringing will hold red spider in check, 

 rendering its attacks harmless, but the Peach aphis must be 

 destroyed in its earliest stages. Decoctions of quassia chips, 

 soft soap, tobacco water, and insecticides innumerable have 

 been recommended to destroy this pest on Peach trees. This 

 most of them will do if all the fly can be reached, but in a large 

 house with the most careful syringing it cannot be done, as the 

 leaves curl up as soon as they are attacked, and thus shelter the 

 aphis ; but tobacco smoke penetrates everywhere, and is certain 

 death to them. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



Owing to some mistake of the punctuation in last week's 

 " Doings," Phalsnopsis grandiflora is said to flower all through 

 the winter in a minimum temperature of 50' to 55' ; it ought to 

 be 60° to 05°, the lower temperature given is for Coslogyne 

 cristata. Both species are the very cream of what Mr. Bate- 

 man styled bridal Orchids, and everybody ought to know 

 that they can be grown as easily as Zonal Pelargoniums if they 

 have the right treatment. Now that plants from the forcing 

 houses are being removed to the conservatory, the plants must 

 not be so freely exposed on cold days, as the opening flower 

 buds receive a check which oft-times prevents their unfolding 

 altogether. Tying and placing sticks to tree or perpetual-flower- 

 ing Carnations. Any flower buds where the pods are likely to 

 burst, are tied with a strip of soft matting or small gutta-percha 

 rings. 



Potting Stage Pelargoniums. These are not grown to make 

 exhibition specimens, but for the flower trusses ; and both for 

 decorative purposes and for cutting, small plants in 5 and 6-inch 

 pots are the best, the flower trusses from such are not only 

 larger but the flowers are of better quality. Exhibition plants 

 require much attention at this time as regards tying-out the 

 growths. These project over the pots to a considerable extent, 

 and cannot be effectually trained-out to a fastening round the 

 rim of the pot. Two stout sticks must be laid on the pot at 

 right angles to each other and be tied-down to the rim. They 

 ought to project as far as the outer branches. A stout wire 

 ring is then tied to the outer ends of the sticks, to this ring the 

 ties can be fastened. Cinerarias intended to flower late as 

 specimen plants, require to be trained in the same way as Pelar- 

 goniums, but it is not usual to do more than to place a wire 

 ring under the rim of the pot, to which the growths are brought 

 down. This must be done with care, as the succulent growths 

 are very easily broken off. Cyclamens are very useful in this 

 respect, that they do not require any tying or training of the 

 growths; and all the attention, except watering, required at 

 present is to remove mouldy flowers and leaves at once. This 

 matter has been noticed in previous numbers, but it is so im- 

 portant that unless the mould is speedily removed the best 

 plants might be destroyed by it. Now is the time to get rid of 

 green fly ; fumigating must be kept-up until not one remains. 

 With the lengthening days the insect breeds more rapidly, and 

 it is but seldom that any houses are quite free from it. If any 

 should be supposed to be, it is better to fumigate as a pre- 

 ventive. — J. Douglas. 



PROVINCIAL HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 

 Seobetabibs will oblige us by informing us of the dates on 

 which exhibitions are to be held. 



TRADE CATALOQUES RECEIVED, 



E. B. Matthews, 06, Victoria Street, Belfast.— Secii and 

 Nursery Catalogue. 



Daniel Bros., Noimch, -^ Illustrated Guide for Amateur 

 Gardeners. 



T. S. Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham.— Spj-jHj Cata- 

 loqne of Hf/brids. 



J. & B. Marsh, Market Place, Kingaton-on-Thamea.— Ca(a- 

 lopue of Seeds, 



J. Harrison, North of England Rose Nuraery, Darlington.— 

 Descriptive Seed Catalogue. 



W. Barron & Sons, Elvaston Nursery, Borrowash, near Derby. 

 — Descriptive Catalogue of Hoses, £c. 



T. Straohan, 4, High Street, Wrexham.— CateJojita of Garden 

 and other Seeds. 



