August 20, 1874. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDE .SER. 



171 



thoagh the elass falls to G5'' occasionally no harm will be done. 

 Seeds should now be sown for the winter plants. It cannot be 

 expected that plants which have been giviot^ a supply of fruit all 

 the summer, will continue to do so satisfactorily all the winter 

 as well. They will bear all through if overcropping has been 

 avoided, but it is short-sighted policy to trust to them. Our 

 own plants are kept up by cuttinp;8 struck twice a-year, so that 

 one set of plants will bear a succession of Cucumbers for six 

 months. Melon houses, where the fruit is ripening, require a 

 dry atmosphere, and, as the year goes on, increasing watchful- 

 ness is necessary to develop© the flavour of the fruit. 



PLANT STOVE. 



Sammer-flowering Cattleyas, such as C. Mossia) and C. War- 

 neri, are now starting into growth. Most of the planta required 

 repotting, and this has been done. The pots are filled nearly 

 three parts full of crocks, using the rougher portion at the 

 bottom and the finer at the top. Equal parts of very fibrous 

 peat, chopped sphagnum, and potsherds are the beat material 

 for the roots to work into. Cattleyas and other species of 

 Orchids have been sent to us when the potting material has 

 been peat and decayed sphagnum, firmly compressed into the 

 pot to three parts of its depth, and the result was that all 

 the roots that penetrated into it died ; a live root or two may be 

 found at the bottom nf the pot amongst the drainage, the life of 

 the plants being sustained by roots rambling over the surface 

 and twining their way down the outer surface of the pot. In 

 fact, no Orchidaceous plant will thrive if potted in a mass of 

 sphagnum and peat in too large a body, and without any ad- 

 mixture of broken pots to keep it open ; sooner or later, accord- 

 ing to the fibrous uature of the peat, the mass consolidates, owing 

 to the decay of the fibre, and the roots perish. 



Potting Ferns and fine-foliaged plants. The leaves being 

 kept in health and free from dirt constitutes the beauty of these ; 

 they must therefore be kept growing freely, and should the house 

 become crowded it is better to throw some of the plants away 

 than to spoil the beauty of individual specimens. Insect pests 

 also more readily attack root-bound plants than they do those 

 growing more freely. Proper potting material and a moist atmo- 

 sphere, with a free use of the syringe when necessary, will 

 maintain any plant in good health. Of course there are some 

 Ferns, and fine-foliaged plants likewise, that never ought to be 

 syringed, but these the cultivator will soon ascertain for himself. 

 — J. Douglas. 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



Dickson & Robinson, 23, Market Place, Manchester. — Cata- 

 logue of Hyacinths, Tulips, Narcissus, Crocus, d-c. 



A. M. C. Jongkindt Coninck, Tottenham Nurseries, Dedems- 

 vaart, near ZwoUe, Netherlands. — Wholesale Trade List of 

 Nurscr// Stock. 



Robert Parker, Exotic Nursery, Tooting, Surrey. — Catalogue 

 of Alpine a)id Herbaceous Plants, Bulbous Boots, Fruit Trees, 

 d-c. 



James Veitch & Sons, Royal Exotic Nursery, King's Road, 

 Chelsea, S.W. — Catalogue of Hijacinths and other Bulbous 

 Boots. 



"W. Cntbnsh & Son, Highgate, London, H^i.—Bulb Catalogue. 



B. S. Williams, Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Upper Hollo- 

 way, London, N. — General Bulb Catalogue, Fruit Trees, Boses, 

 d-c. 



Francis & Arthur Dickson & Sons, 106, Eastgate Street, 

 Chester. — Catalogue of Dutch and other Flower Boots. 



Lawson Seed & Nursery Company, Southwark Street, Loudon, 

 S.E., and 1, George IV. Bridge, Edinburgh. — Caia^o^we of 

 Dutch Flower Boots, c(-c. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*,* It is particularly requested that no commnnication be 

 addressed privately to either of the Editors of this 

 Journal. All correspondence should be directed either to 

 " The Editors," or to "The Publisher." Letters ad- 

 dressed to Mr. Johnson orDr, 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. 

 Situation fB. T. S. /.).— Write to Mr. Smith, Corator, Botanic Gardens, 



Kew, and to Mr. Sowerby, Royal Botanic Garden, Regent's Park. They will 



answer yon. 



The Welsh for Hyacinth.—'* T. G." obligingly writes as follows :— " In 

 your correspon'lent * G.'s' interesting paper headei, ' In and Out of Aberyst- 

 with. — No. 3,' Ao^et 13th, he eays that the Hyacinth, Cenin y brain, means 

 The Leek of Dignity, or King of Leeks ! The proper translation of brain 



would be * Crow's.* King would be Bronin, an entirely different word, Cenin 

 y brain means, therefore, Crow's Leek." In reply, " Q.' ' aayn that in SpnrreU's 

 Welsh Dictionary, " braint" is translated " dignity," and " Bran" is a "crow." 

 "<f." thinks it much more likely that tho first title was applied to a flower 

 of beauty. 



Hand Bouquets.— "Ex/t^&i(or " wiahos to know at what show a five- 

 giiiooa cup is offered for the best-arrauged bonquet for the hand, and the 

 aecrotary's address. 



Aap.on's Beard ( ). — This is a popular name of the Large- flowered 



Tutsan or St. John's Wort, Hypericum oaiyciuum. The Bearded St. John's 

 Wort, H. barbatum, is totally different. 



Improvimg a Heathy Pasture (A Trn-yrara SuMcrihrr).— Ab yon do not 

 wish the turf disturbed, and under ordinary circumstances it would not be 

 advisable to do so, wo should recommend the heath to be cut off a little below 

 the surface by a sharp spade, or, what i^ better, a half-mattock hoe made 

 tolerably sharp, taking care to cut away as Uttio of the turf as possible. After 

 removing the heath a few hay seeds may be sown on the bare places, and if 

 a little tine soil can be had cover them with it. We like the beginning of 

 September as well as any time for sowing grass seeds, as they will come np 

 and form a good covering during the autumn, and the whole' of the ground 

 minht have a good dressing of manure or compost during the autumn or 

 winter. If the turf is mossy, or is of a harsh unpalatable kind, a good harrow- 

 ing before the compost is put on will do good, as it will break up the tongh 

 decayed herbage and encourage fresh. All such dressings yhould be free of 

 stones, or contain as few a^ possible ; and if of a rough kind tlie earlier in the 

 autumn they are put on the better, so as to mellow-down by tho frost during 

 winter. It is hardly necessary to say that after the compost or dung has 

 been on the ground some time it will require to be more finely broken either 

 with a chdin-h arrow, or with what is called a brnsh-harrow, which is a frame 

 of some kind about the size of an ordinary gate, interwoven with suitable 

 pieces of Hawthorn or other hard-wooded tree, and then drawn over the 

 laud with a horse. If the land is poor you may apply from thirty to forty 

 one-horse loads of manure to the acre, the latter quantity being as much as 

 turf will bear without destroying it in places, which it is not advisable to do. 



Pot Plant {N. B. W. S.).— You could 'not interpret "a pot of Lilies" as 

 a pot plant, unless the pot contained a single bulb only. " A pot plant " is a 

 single plant in a pot when the term is used in connection with an exhibition 

 sche3ule, and the same rule ought to be applied to Lilies as to any other plant 

 when this term is used. If it is desired to have as Kood a show as possible of 

 a Lily in a eiogle pot, then the term " a pot of Lilies " ought to be used in 

 the same way as is done in the case of Lily of the Valley or any other plant 

 which is reproduced by rhizomes and bulbs. 



Seedling Briar (P.). — "I know of no one who sells them. Certainly Mr. 

 Prince cannot spare any of big. I do not know of any other nurseryman 

 who cultivates the seeiling Briar. What your correspondent had better do 

 is to save his own Briar seed, and have patience, for it will require a precions 

 lot of this virtue to cultivate the seedling. It never occurred to me that any- 

 one would think of purchasing the seedling Briar stock. What I recom- 

 mended was the purchase of a certain number of Roses worked on the seed- 

 ling Briar. Of these your correspondent can obtain any number of Mr. 

 George Prince, Market Street, Osford.— John B. M. Camm." [See also what 

 Mr. Mayo says in a previous page.] 



MarPchal Niel or Gloire de Di.ton Rose for Stove {Marlow), — 

 Neither will succeed in a stove, especially as they would be planted in a wet 

 border and shaded by plants on a stage in front. The best plant for such a 

 position in a stove is Cissus discolor, but it requires to have the soil rather 

 di-y in winter when it is leafless. An evergreen covering f .>r such a wall would 

 be Ficus elastica, the most accommodating plant known. 



Bottle-brush Plant not Flowering {Idem). — Give it a light and airy 

 positionin the greenhouse, repotting in spring when it begins to grow, water- 

 ing copiously when in free gro-^h, and only moderately when the growth is 

 complete, and it will flower when it is sufficiently strong. The pruning 

 should be confined to the removal of irregularities of growth. 



Cotting-down Lavender Hedge {H. G. M.). — If your hedge has become 

 bare of young wood at the bottom, having no young shoots, it is likely if it 

 were cut back to the old brown wood that it would not shoot again, but die. 

 We lost a great many hushes by such a proceeding a few years ago, and we 

 have since cut back only to within an inch or two of the old wood. 



Seedling Cyclamen persicdji Treatment {H. N. O.).— Pot them off 

 singly at once in rMuch pots, and place in a frame, keeping close, moist, and 

 shaded until established, then admit aii- and light. When the pots become 

 full of roots shift the plants into 4^-inch pots, aud remove them to shelves in 

 the greenhouse, keeping moist. They will hardly be suflieiently strong for 

 flowering next spring, though some may do so, aud most would were they 

 wintered in a stove or warm greenhouse, so as to keep them in freer growth. 

 Place in a fx'ame after May, and water moderately, only just keeping the soil 

 moist. In August they will again be gi'owing, and should be shifted into 6 or 

 7-inch pots, and removed to the greenhouse in September. They will flower 

 well in the following winter and spring. 



Northern Spy Apple Grafting (/(Z-m).— The trees of this we presume 

 are not on their own roots, but worked on the Crab or Paradise stock. la 

 either case you may graft upon them any kind of Apple you wish, with every 

 prospect of success. The Northern Spy being a late grower will not injuriously 

 affect the growth of the kinds worked upon it. 



Tacsonia Van-Volxemi not Flowering (Idem).— Your plant does nob 

 flower because it is not sufficiently advanced in growth. Could you not plant 

 it out, or give it more root space ? It would grow more freely ; and the shoots 

 being trained out at full length, and about 4 to 6 inches apart, and 9 inches 

 from the gla33, ought to flower freely. With us it flowers most of the year, 

 but principally late in summer, autumn, and during the winter. 



Viola cohnuta alra and Blue Perfection in Border (T. F. P.). — 

 You may keep the plants where they are for another year, cutting away the 

 flowering parts in autumn, and top-dressing with rich soil. Shoots will com« 

 from the base, which should be preserved, but cut off any straggling growths 

 so as to give a neat appearance. We should put in cuttings now, in a shady 

 border of light soil, to be kept moist. The cuttings ought to he of the shoots 

 which come from the base of the plants. They will be nice plants for plant- 

 ing by October, and will be available for next spring and summer bloom. 



Propagating Variegated Arabis {Idem). — Now or early next month slip 

 off the shoots, f ach separately, from the stem it originates from, and insert 

 them about 2 inches apart in rows 3 inches asunder, in light, moderately rich 

 soil, in a shady border, and up to the leaves, keeping moist. They will be 

 well rooted by spring, and may be moved to where they are to remain. 



