August l;5, 1874. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURR AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



151 



forked over twice before planting. The blae clay requires ai-rating and break- 

 ing-up before it is good for Roses. AVe should recommend lloees on the 

 Manetti or Heeiling Briar. The time is not far distant when standards will 

 be things of the past, at least for permanent plantin;?, as the blooms, except 

 in very ciceptioual cases, deteriorate each year after the lirstor second season. 

 There is no reason why you should not t^row exhibitiou Rosed. Tho worst 

 soils under proper care will produce good blooms. Witness tho success of the 

 Rev. J. B. M. Camm,of Monktou Wyld, whose soil naturally is about the worst 

 for RoBe-growiuR that could be found. We could have given, perhaps, more 

 accurate advice if you had stated what was the natui-e of your upper soil, but 

 ■we conclude from its being over the irony subsoil, that it is somewhat light 

 and gravelly. As a broad rale theDog-Rose stock succeeds best in strong soils, 

 with uuctuinis clay, &c. ; the Manet ti on good garden soils and light ground; 

 and stronj^-growing kinds, as Gloire do I>ijon, Gcn<-'ral Jacqueminot, John 

 Hopper, and MarLchal Niel on their own roots. 



Seeds not Germ[nating (IF". G. M.). — If the seed has been in a pot eight 

 montbs and is jet sound, it may yet vegetate. You cannot "make"teeda 

 vegetate before their time. Broken sea shells can be obtained from any of 

 the principal nurserymen, or from dealers in sand, loam, tfcc. 



Kemophila iSprinrj Garden). — Nemophila insiguis will, no doubt, stand 

 the winter iu County Armagh. It does so in England, or, at least, the seeds 

 which are iu the ground grow very eai'ly in spring, and the plants are gay in 

 the spring garden. 



Anthurium regale (J. L. IF.). — This may be shown either as a flower- 

 ing or as a fine-foUaged plant. If it is in flower, of course it may be sho^vu 

 as a flowering plant, but it would not help the collection much. 



Twelve Tea Roses (Tea ijo.'^f).— The best are Souvenir a'Elise, Souvenir 

 d'on Ami, Niphetos, Devoniensis, ("atheiine Mermet, ilarie Van Houtte, 

 Madame Jules Mart;ottin, JIadamo Wiilermoz, La Belle Lyonnaise, Comtesse 

 de Nadaillac, Madame ."-ertot, Peile de Lyon. 



Noisette Roses {Idem). — America, Celine Forestier, Marechal Niel, 

 Triomphe de Rennes. 



Pear Anna Nelis {F. C.).— This Pear is not worth growing. 



Plums (Jofin Ftrme).—'Ihe only way we know of for drying Plums is to 

 place them in a slack oven after the bread has been withdi-awn, and gently 

 dry them; tiike them out, and repeat the process tiD the fruit is well 

 ahrivelled. They will then keep for some time. 



Tine Lra%'es (G. L. fl".).— Your- Vines are infested with thrips. Fumigate 

 immediately with tobacco smoke. The best remedy to destroy brown scale 

 on Peach trees is to wash them in water when the leaves are off with a strong 

 solution of Gishurst compound, 8 ozs. to the gallon of water. 



Vines in Greenhotse [A. L.). — Grapes can very well be grown in such a 

 house as yon specify. If you can place it in a position for the lights on one 

 side to slope to the sorth, all the better ; but if not, the west will do. 



Grapes and Peaches Diseased (J. Bryan). — There can be no doubt that 

 the roots both of the Vines and the Peaches have got into ungenial soil. Is 

 your soil hea\7 and not thoroughly drained? The fruit has every indication 

 of this being the case. 



Vine for Cool Greenhouse (Fhjcatc}t£r).~As & companion to your 

 Black Hamburgh you may bare Black Prince, or, if you preftr a white Grape, 

 "White Mur.cadine. Cat down the Gorse in the winter time, not now. 



Grapes {F. Stanford, J un.).-~1he Grapes you sent appear to he Muscat 

 Hamburgh, a very excellent variety. There is no special cultivation for it, 

 but it requires a little more heat than the Black Hamburgh does when grown 

 in a cool vinery. If you give a little heat at blooming- time, and till the 

 berries are well set, you will succeed. 



Seedling Carnations (IT. B. J.).— Your Carnation does not differ from 

 many others which we have seen. Seedlings bloom much more freely than 

 plants propagated by layers, and you T.iil probably iind on propagating 

 your seedling in this way that it will to some estent lose its free-blooming 

 habit. 



Greenhouse Lamp (A New Subscriber).— The lamp you mention will not 

 he iijjuriouB to plants, provided jou have ventilation in the house. We pre- 

 sume the laps of the glass are open. If such is the case there will bo escape 

 enough for any fumes that could cause injury. 



Facing Old Brick W^all (D. Brigid).— As you say it will cost you £m 

 to face your old brick wall, and you are averse to incur that expense, the best 

 thing you can do is to fill up the defects with cement, and wire the walls, to 

 which you can then fasten the fruit trees. As regards your Peach trees, cut 

 out all the gross shoots now, so that the wound may heal over this season, 

 and so prevent gumming. It is not they which produce the fruit. 



Common Brake as Cover (J. TJoz/crs).— The only way to introduce the 

 common Brake into grass land to serve as cover, is to transplant it in masses. 

 It will soon spread. 



Fruit-room IB. F. B.).— We should prefer the dark room for fruit. You 

 ought to have some means of ventilation; if you have not, you must use the 

 room^ with a wind-w, which you can board or otherwise cover-up, reserving 

 sufficient for ventilation. 



Building a FiiUiT-ROOM (Cornuftfa).— The walls should be of bricks or 

 stone, and not less then 14 inches thick. In a house 15 feet by 12, one window 

 will be necessaiy, which should be made to open, and so serve the purposes 

 of ventilation. The best internal arraogemeat is a staging of laths, one tier 

 above another, the f;ta;jing to be 3 feet wide, and 1 foot 9 inches apart. If 

 your house were wide enough, as it would be if 15 feet wide, there might also 

 be a staging in the centre that would be 4 feet wide, which would give 6 feet 

 for the two side stages, 4 feet for the centre one, and 2^ feet for a path all 

 round. Drawers would be an extra expense, and are not necessary. Auy 

 builder in your neighbourhood would be glad to give an estimate for it. You 

 will find a long aiticle on the subject at page 80 of the number for January 

 22nd of the present year. 



Caterpillars on Plums (Mootee).—l!h6 only way to get rid of them is 

 hand-picking. 



Spider in Vinery (D. Jl/.).— The spider is not uncommon in England. It 

 will do no harm to either the Vines or the fruit, as it feeds on other insects. 



Names of PLANTs(Fran7i: Cor&cfO.— AchillseaMillefolium. (Britannicus). 

 -~1, Abies Smithiaoa; 2, Abiestxcelsa; 3, Abies Douglasii; 4, Welliogtonia 

 gigantea. {SeU;i Hillk — Hypericum colycinum. {A. /'i.f?i<'r).— Opuntia Sal- 

 miana, P<irm. Brazil. W^ants repotting and more water. (Amrr). — Buddlea 

 Lindleyana {Bot. Beg. 33, (. 4.). (L. C, Ntw .46bcy;.— Cystopteris fragilis, var. 

 dentftta, Hook, 



POULTEY, BEE, AND PIGEON OKRONIOLE. 



DORKINGS AT BUCKINGHAM SHOW— POULTKY 



MISFORTUNES— CRYSTAL PALACE SHOW. 



I AVAs very mucli amused on turning to the Journal of Thurs- 

 day last, to find that your correspondent from Buckingham had 

 pilloried me for sending certain birds to the Show there which, 

 according to his account, displayed signs of over-exhibition. 

 Now, I do not iu the least object to your correspondent's good- 

 humoured remarks, but I should like to set him right, as well 

 as myself, before your readers. My birds were not in such good 

 condition as I could have wished, not because they had been 

 over-exhibited, but because they had begun to moult. The 

 moult this year has come on so suddenly that the interval be- 

 tween the last day of entry and the Show has been enough to de- 

 stroy the chances of otherwise good birds. That my pen ought 

 to have had some chance of success, if in proper trim, is clear 

 from the fact the cock was a winner at the Crystal Palace, aud 

 one of the hens was first at Birmingham. I must, however, admit 

 the justice of the award, and compliment Mr. Jeffries on his 

 firmness in declining to give a cup to birds that were not, when 

 exhibited, worthy of such a prize. As it was, I doubted after I 

 had seen the pair selected for the Show whether I should send 

 at all, and decided in the affirmative only because Buckingham 

 was near, and the entries apparently few. It is no easy matter 

 to select a good pair of Dorking hens even from a large yard, in 

 the months of August and September, and if the Buckingham 

 Committee will be content next time with a single hen, I will 

 endeavour to send one that shall be neither " tattered," moult- 

 ing, nor " over-exhibited." 



It affords, I believe, pleasure to some folks to hear of the mis- 

 fortunes of others, and I daresay a few of my friendly rivals will 

 not be sorry to learn that I have had rather a disastrous tims 

 of it this spring. First of all, the best hen I ever bred fell ill 

 of cancer iu the throat. After she was dead I discovered that 

 some infallible recipe had been found iu America, and if I mis- 

 take not, this was given in the Journal not very long since. I 

 applied, or rather my man applied, for I have very little tim& 

 to attend to such things, caustic again and again to the sore, 

 but in vain. The disease at last made its way outside, and closed 

 one of the eyes, whereupon the case was abandoned as hopeless. 

 Next, her sister showed indications of something being wrong: 

 with one of her feet, and is now, alas ! a confirmed gouty sub- 

 ject. I see, unfortunately, signs of gout in other good birds, 

 and there is no anti-gout sherry or other such specific that will 

 either remove, alleviate, or prevent this hideous complaint. 

 Moreover, the heavier your birds are, the more liable they are 

 to it! 



In my simplicity I could only hope that my early chickens 

 would make-up for my losses — a delusion. Although we keep- 

 our places as clean, I think, as is possible, our youngsters con- 

 trived to catch roup. I had never seen the disease in chickens 

 before, and, indeed, did not recognise it at first. A friendly 

 voice from Rochdale at length warned me of what was likely to 

 happen, but unfortunately too late, and so I have been com- 

 pelled to sacrifice my hopes and slay not a few of my most pro- 

 mising birds. Some, however, survive, I trust to avenge the 

 memory of those who have passed so prematurely away ! Verily^ 

 "he who dabbleth in Dorkings dealeth in disappointment." 



As I am writing to the Journal I should be glad of permissiori 

 to touch on one or two other topics. Can any of your readers re- 

 commend a good incubator ? I sprinkle the eggs before hatch- 

 ing, put them in water, and yet fail as much as ever. My mac 

 sometimes announces eight or ten chickens the day before 

 hatching, and only one or two come out alive. This is par- 

 ticularly the case when the sitting hens are heavy ; they seem 

 with their weight to crush the chickens just as they are hatch- 

 ing. I feel disposed to try an incub.ator in such cases for forty- 

 eight hours, and then place what chickens there are under the 

 hen that has been sitting. 



And now a word on the Crystal Palace Show. I venture to 

 hope that this year we shall have pairs of puUets instead of the 

 cock and hen class, at all events among the Dorkings. The 

 single-bird system is now being carried out usque ad nauseam ; 

 and a class for pairs of puUets would, I believe, bring as many 

 or more entries than the class referred to, and would to my 

 mind be more interesting. To breed a pair of good birds must 

 require more skill than a single one, aud the fortunate possessor 

 of one good bird ought not to be rewarded as much as be who 

 has two that are not only good, but uniform in goodness. In 

 fact, I believe the system of showing pairs tends to encourage 

 the bond fide breeder rather than the man who buys-np a few 

 good birds and then shows them singly all round the kingdom. 



May I also suggest to the same Committee that it would be 

 very advisable to station a man at the Clapham Junction Station 

 on the days of the arrival and of the departure of the birds ? I 

 have heard from several quarters strange stories of the Banner 



