July 30, 1871. ] 



JOURNAIi OF HORTICOLTURB AND OOTTAGB GARDENER. 



103 



ripeness should be placet! together. A little air should also be 

 kept on at the highest part of the house all night. 



It will now be seen how necessary it is to have the trees 

 thoroughly free from insect pests. Red spider increases with 

 the most amazing rapidity as soon as they can obtain a dry foot- 

 ing on the leaves. "When the fruit is ripening-off, the trees must 

 be looked over once at least every day, and the fruit carefully 

 gathered and placed upon coltou wadding, one deep, in the 

 bottom of a flat-bottomed basket or box. 



Cucumber and Melon Houses. — At one time we used greatly 

 to prefer dung-frames for growing Cucumbers in summer, but 

 we would only use frames now if the supply from the Cucumber 

 house were not equal to the demand. When the plants are 

 making rapid growth it is necessary to look over them once 

 every week to cut out any exhausted old growths, and to tie-in 

 the young bearing shoots in their place. But little heat is 

 necessary from the heating apparatus, unless very fine specimens 

 are required for exhibition purposes. Syringe the plants in the 

 morning at 7 a.:^i., and in the afternoon when Va& house is shut up. 



It has been recommended to take a second crop of Melons from 

 the plants that were raised in January, and which bore a crop of 

 ripe fruit in June. The plants are watered, some of the old 

 leaves cut off, and the young growths trained to the wires. If 

 the plants are sound at the neck, which is not always the case, 

 a number of female lilossoms will be produced, and the second 

 crop seta more freely than the first. This method of procedure 

 involves less labour than clearing out all the old soil from the 

 house, and replacing it with fresh in order to turn out young 

 seedling plants. Whichever system is adopted, it will not be 

 necessary to resort to the heating apparatus either for bottom 

 or top heat. The house should be shut-up in the afternoon, 

 and otherwise treat the plants the same as Cucumbers. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



At this season the good old-fashioned Fuchsia, and, what is 

 even more useful for decorative purposes, the Zonal Pelargo- 

 niums, single and double, are usually the occupants of our green- 

 houses. Few plants are more easily grown, and few more tho- 

 roughly repay the little trouble required to train them into 

 handsome decorative specimens; bat however useful and beau- 

 tiful they may be, we may have too much of them, and their 

 free-growing properties may be injurious to more slow-growing 

 and tender exotics placed amongst them. Indeed, a very large 

 proportion of the New Holland and Cape hardwooded plants are 

 spoiled if it is necessary to grow them in the same house with 

 rapid-growing succulent-leaved plants. 



A plant which is now in flower with us, and which may be 

 recommended for its colour and otherwise distinct character, 

 is LisiantJius liussellianus. This is a good old biennial, and 

 well worth all the care necessary to bring it to perfection. Some 

 instructions were given as to the culture of it in No. 692. Pos- 

 sibly the greatest difficulty will be to obtain seeds of it. Nearly 

 all the principal seedsmen can supply it, but either from being 

 imperfectly ripened or some other cause, it very seldom vege- 

 tates. It may be that the fault has not always been with the 

 dealer, but that the grower was to blame. It requires great 

 watchfulness from the time the seeds are sowu until the plants 

 are ready to pot-off. The same treatment that applies to Cal- 

 ceolaria seeds will answer for those of Lisianthus. 



Repotted Auriculas and placed the plants in a shady position 

 where they will remain until the end of September, when a 

 frame facing south will be the best place for them. We do not 

 use large pots for any of the plants, the largest being 4 and 

 5-inch, and for smaller plants 3-inch pots are sufficient. Moved 

 pots of Carnations and Picoteea out of doors. The sooner they 

 are removed-out after flowering the better. The grass becomes 

 drawn and the future plants much weakened, if they are kept too 

 long in the house before they are layered. — J. Douglas. 



PROVINCIAL HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 



[Secretaries will oblige us by informing us of the dates on 

 which exhibitions are to be held. Although we cannot report 

 them fully, we shall readily note anything especially excellent, 

 and we wish for information on such specialities to be sent 

 to us.] 



AUGUST. 



Earleheaton and Chicberley 1 



Heywood 1. 2, and 3 



Soutbamptoa 1 and 3 



Wobarn 3 



Whitwick 4 



Ilkestoa and Shipley 5 and 6 



Felton 6 



East Neuk of Fife 7 



Atdborongh and Borough bridge.. 7 



Hornin^low 8 



Clay Cross 11 



Hartlepool 11 



Meldruna 11 



Weston- super- Mare 11 



Ellon 13 



Eoyal Hort. Sooiety of Ireland 13 



AUGUST. 



Tannton Deane 13 



Malmesbuiy I'i 



Birmingham 14 and 1:> 



Ryhope IS 



KeevU, Wilts 19 



Eckioston 19 



Cardiff (Glamorf;anshire) 19 



Deal and Wa'.mer 20 



Haverfordwest 20 



Reading 20 



Belfast 20 and 21 



Eastboui-ne 21 



Keishley 21 and 22 



Todmorden 22 



Shotley Bridge 22 



Wakefield 22 



AUGUST. 



Warkworth 24 



Wotton-ander-Edge 25 



Bauhnry 25 



Dudley ( Worcestershire) 25, 26, and 27 



St. .\ndrew8 26 



Sherborne 26 



Kempsey 27 



Cirencester 27 



AUGUST 



Tynemouth and S. Northumber- 

 land 26 and 27 



Skircoat (Yorkshire) 28 



Perth 28 



Chailey 28 



Falkirk 28 



Bishop Auckland 28 



Kilmuu, btroue, and Blamore .... 29 



TRADE CATALOGUE RECEIVED. 



W. Henderson, 86, Hamilton Street, Birkenhead. — Select 

 Catalogue of DtUch and other Flower Boots. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 

 *^* It is particularly requested that no communication be ad- 

 dressed privately to either of thejEditors of this JournaK 

 All correspondence should be directed either to *' The 

 Editors," or to "The Publisher." Letters addressed 

 to Mr. Johnson or Dr. Hogg often remain unopened 

 unavoidably. 

 Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions 

 relating to Gardening and those on Poultry and Bee sub- 

 jects, and should never send more than two or three 

 questions at once. All articles intended for insertion 

 should be written on one side of the paper only. 

 We also request that no one will write privately to any of our 

 correspondents, as doing so subjects them to unjustifiable 

 trouble and expense. 



Books (IF. J. Gcrnon).— The 7u:w editioa of "The Greenhouse," in th^ 

 series of " Manuals fur the Many." is the book you require. Ir. treats exclu- 

 sively of the plants and their culture, and the constructive part which was in 

 the former editioa has been discontinued. Price 9d. ( IV. P.).— W. Paul'a 

 " Shilling Book on Roses." Any bookseller can supply you with it. 



Mercury for Cooking (An Old Sjihacriber).— The leaf you enclosed is o£ 

 the right kind, Chenopodium Eonus-Henricus. 



Larv.t: on Pear Leaves {F. E. jR.}.— Dusting -with quicklime is tha 

 effectual remedy. The larva is popularly called '* The Slimy Grub." It is 

 produced by the Tenthredo adumbrata. a four-winged fly. Drawings and fall 

 relative notes are in our No. 638, published June 19ih, lt)73. 



American Bligiit on Apple Trees {Ah Old Subscriber).— V^e have 

 pretty well got nd of this pest on our trees by using boiled oil. This is 

 applied to the affected parts with a painter's brush, rubbing it well into the 

 cracks. 



Grapes Attacked ey a Maggot (F. H.).— This is rather an uncommon 

 occurrence, and no other remedy can be suggested than to pick out the 

 maggots and destroy them. 



Leaf Mould (H. J.).— Judging by the sample you have sent it will do very- 

 well mixed with silver sand to strike cuttings in to stand the winter. 



LiLiuii AURATDSi OFFSETS {Co. vff(frim).— The plants should be repotted 

 when they die down, turning them out of the pots, removing the old soil ovej 

 the bulbs, and picking the soil from amongst the roots. Preserve the healthy 

 roots, with any portions of soil occupied by them, and after removing the 

 offsets repot in fresh clean pots, which may be three times the diameter of 

 the bulbs, and place these so that when just covered with soil the pot will be 

 little mora than tluee parts full. The olTsets may be potted singly in 5, 6, or 

 7-inch pots, according to their size, and in the same way as the larger bulbs, 

 only just covering theni with soil, make firm around them, and leave a 

 ?pacc of an inch or two below the lim for top-dressing. Good drainage must 

 be provided, and a little of the rougher parts of the compost should be placed 

 over it, the compost not being sifted, but well mixed and brokcn-up fine. It 

 may consist of two parts hbrons light loam, one part each leaf soil and sandy 

 peat, half a part well-rotled manure, and half a part in equal proportions of 

 silver sand and nodules of charcoal. The potted bulbs should be wintered in 

 a light airy position in a cool house or pit safe from frost, and suflicient 

 water given round the sides of the pot to keep the soil moi&t. Fill the pots 

 wilh soil to the rim, allowing for watering, when roots .show from the stem 

 just over the bulbs. The amount of water should be increased with the 

 growth and lessened after flowering. 



Melon Plants Dying (X Y. Z.).—From the stem enclosed to us we con- 

 sider you have the disease attacking the Cucumber and Melon, for which 

 neither cause nor remedy has been found. The plants will most likely die. 

 The only thing we have found of service is to keep up a good brisk heat by 

 lining the bed, which encourages root-action; admit air freely, securing the 

 requisite temperature, and water only to keep the foliage fresh, shading from 

 bright sun if the leaves are disposed to flag. Attacked as yours are, tho 

 ulantB rarely recover. 



Covering for Fbttit Wall {C. F.).— Your border being so narrow wo 

 should not advise your going to the expense of upright sashes. "We should 

 raise the wall to say 9 feet, and have a lean-to house of about 7 feet G inches 

 wide. If you could not conveiaiently raise the wall, we should have the width 

 7 feet 6 inches, and the front of the hou.^e part wood and glass— i.e., 2 feet of 

 boards, the upper one being huiged and opening outwards the entire length 

 of the house, and 2 feet of glass fixed. For the front you will need posts of 

 yellow deal 5 inches by 3 inches, which should be let into the ground 2 fee*, 

 they being 6 ftet long. The part placedinthe ground should be first charred, 

 and" then coated with boiling gas or coal tar. The posts may be 4 feet apart, 

 and firmly fixed upright. At the height of the boarding, or 2 feet from the 

 ground, you will need a sill 5 inches by Ih inch thick, grooved on the under 

 Bide half' an inch from the edge, and fixed between the posts with a half-inch 

 incline outwards to allow of the water ruuniug vS, the groove preventing the 

 water running down the face of the boards. Upon the posts have a plate 

 4 inches by 3 inches, on which the rafters ai-e to rest, the plate being nailed 

 on to the posts. The back wall will need to have a plate or board 1^ inch 

 thick, secured to the wall with nails, the wall plugged bo as to admit the 



