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JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ January 27, 187G. 



cut, and notwithstanding the rival claims of Excelsior we do 

 not lilse to part with good old friends. Carter's Green Gage 

 will also be tried this year. 



The Seakale has bcea planted for forcing next season, and 

 seeds will be sown about the first week in March. Rhubarb has 

 also been planted out, and Horseradish ; it has been found 

 better not to plant the crowns of the latter so deeply as for- 

 merly. The ground is well worked, and manure is placed about 

 18 inches deep, and the crowns are placed 3 inches below the 

 surface. 



Those who have no command of forcing-houses or even frames 

 will have to adopt some scheming at this season to obtain early 

 salads and vegetables. Carrots and Radishes may be sown to- 

 gether in a sheltered corner and under walls. Lettuces and 

 Caulitlowers may be sown ; advantage must be taken of fine 

 days for this work. Mustard and Cress or any other small 

 salads may be sown also. For winter salads the common Chi- 

 cory is not so much used as it ought to be. A few rows sown in 

 'he garden and grown to be a good size during summer may be 

 lifted, and successive batches taken into any forcing-house from 

 November onwards will yield a constant supply. 



Seeds of an improved Chicory, or at least a nearly allied 

 plant, ia being distributed this season. It has been known on 

 the Continent for many years, and is there termed " Witloof," 

 or, in plain English, " White Leaf." We have tasted this salad, 

 and can unhesitatiogly recommend it. The leaves are blanched 

 by forcing the plant in a dark place. 



PINE HOUSES. 



The plants in fruiting-houses are carefully attended to as 

 regards watering. The soil is much compressed in the pots, 

 and owing to their being plunged the under portion retains 

 water when that nearer the surface becomes dry, and this dry- 

 ness at the surface is still further promoted by those in charge 

 of the plants; they move the surface with a label or something 

 which loosens it. This ought cot to be done if the surface is 

 quite loose, for by frequent stirring it is not possible to know 

 when to water, as the loose mould becomes so dry that water 

 passes away into the more solid parts, leaving the surfare still 

 dry. The attentive Pine-grower will soon become acquainted 

 with the wants of each of his plants, and will know how much 

 water to apply merely by looking at the surface of the mould. 

 As the Pines are cut we turn the plants out of the pots, and 

 by the state of the soil are guided as to the treatment of the 

 others still swelling or ripening off. Generally, no more water 

 is required at the roots after the fruit shows signs of colouring. 

 All the roots of our plants, from the smallest suckers to the 

 flutters, are retained in a healthy state through the winter 

 months, and all of them have a season of as complete rest as it 

 is possible to give them. We have a great advantage over the 

 old groweia who obtained all their bottom heat from deep beds 

 of tan, whereas in these latter days the bottom heat can be regu- 

 lated almost as easily as the temperature of the house by shallow 

 tels over hot-water pipes. 



The Pine house is also one of the best structures for bringing 

 on Dwarf Kidney Beans early. This vegetable is prized at any 

 season, but most of all in early spring when the Covent Garden 

 price is 5s. for a hundred pods. We grow the plants— as has 

 already been described in previous numbers — in 7-inch pots ; 

 and if the plmts are kept healthy, and the pods are picked as 

 soon as ready, a long succession may be had. 



Strawberry plants do very well in the same house. The tem- 

 perature of 65' is rather too high for them, but the plants, if 

 kept near the glass and ventilators, and arc well supplied with 

 water at the roots, take no harm. Black Prince is the sort most 

 to be depended upon. A few plants of Keens' Seedling will be 

 placed in heat this week. 



Young plants in the Cucumber house make but little progress 

 6S jet, and until the middle of February we do not care to have a 

 higher night temperature than 05°; after that time, with 70° at 

 tight and a proportionate increase by day, the plants make good 

 progress. 



TLAXT STOVE AND ORCHID HOUSES. 



The temperature is not yet materially increased, but advan- 

 tage is taken of fine weather to range the houses a few degrees 

 higher than they were a few weeks ago, the atmosphere being 

 only moderately charged with moisture. Stove plants, and 

 notably Orchids, must have a season of rest during the winter 

 month?, and this is best attained by keeping them as dry at the 

 roots i.nd in as low a temperature as may be deemed safe. 

 Stieaming the houses we do not approve of; this practice was 

 common at a time when plant-culture was not so well under- 

 stood as it is now. Mr. Macintosh says, " Steaming the stove 

 during winter is a material feature in the best management of 

 such plants, and should be scrupulously attended to, both to 

 soften the atmosphere of the house as well as to prevent the 

 increase of insects, particularly red spider, which is sure to 

 make its appearance in a high and dry atmosphere. The most 

 eligible time for steaming ia in the evening, when the flues are 

 hottest, and it is performed by pouring water on them, which 

 generates steam readily," &:o. We have given up steaming 



altogether, as having a tendency to weaken the constitution of 

 the plants. Our plants are pretty free from insect pests; but 

 those who have mealy bug, thrips, red spider, or scale in their 

 houses should now make a vigorous onslaught against them. 

 Patient washing with soapy water is the best way to destroy all 

 of them ; the leaves of many stove plants are tender, and in 

 careless hands are frequently much injured. 



Many stove plants are greatly benefited by a little bottom 

 heat at this season, and those gardeners who have not the com- 

 mand of a tan bed cannot compete equally with those who have 

 this advantage. Young plants of various stove plants have been 

 repotted ; the pots were well filled with healthy roots. Such as 

 these would start much better in bottom fieat, but we have not 

 this advantage. 



Some Orchids require repotting in cool and other houses. 

 The best time to do this is when the plants begin to make 

 fresh roots, and this may happen any month in the year. With 

 six or eight plants a succession of flowers of Dendrobium nobUe 

 may be obtained from November until June, the plants at rest 

 being kept in the greenhouse, and a plant should be placed in 

 heat every three or four weeks. No other Orchid will stand 

 such rough treatment as this. If it is not possible to remove 

 Orchids in flower to a show house specially prepared for them, 

 where the flowers would be longer retained in beauty in a cooler 

 and drier place, they should be kept as dry as possible, and no 

 water should be allowed to fall on the flowers. 



Important additions are being annually made to our stock of 

 winter flowering Orchids. What in the whole range of winter 

 flowers can surpass the glowing colour of Masdevallia Veitchii 

 and Sophronitis grandiflora, or the chaste form of Odontoglossum 

 Alexandras, or the purity of Ca?logyn6 cristata and many others ? 

 The leaves of our plants had become dusty, which tends to dis- 

 ease. They were washed clean with a sponge and soapy water. 

 — J. Douglas. 



HOETICDLTUEAL EXHIBITIONS. 

 Secretaries will oblige us by informing us of the dates on 

 which exhibitions are to be held. 



BaisTOL (Spring Show). Marcli 22nd and 23rd. Mr. G. Webley, Holm 

 Wood, Westbiiry-upon-Trym, Hod. Sec. 



Royal Caledonian Horticdltural Society. Shows April 5th, July 5th, 

 and September 13th. 



Westminster Aquarium. April I2th and 13th, May 10th and 11th, May 

 30th and Slet, July 5th and 6lh, Octottr 1th and 0th. 



Maidstone (Hoses). June 2l9t. Mr. Hubert Bensted, Rockatow, Maid- 

 stone, Sec. 



Spalding. June 21st. Mr. G. Kingston, Sec. 



Richmond. June 29th. Mr. A. Chancellor, Hon. Sec. 



SouTHPoRT. July 6th, 7th, and 8th. Mr. E. Martin, Sec. 



Helensburgh (Rnses). July 12th and 18th. Mr. J. Mitche'I. Sec. 



Brighouse. July 29th. Messrs. C. Jessop & E. Rawusley, Hon. Sees. 



Seaton Burn. August 26th. Mr. R. Richardsou and Mr. W. Ellott, Sees. 



Dundee (luternational). September 7th, 8th, and 9th. Mr. W. R. McKelvie, 

 26, Euclid Crescent, Sec. 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



Charles Turner, The Royal Nurseries, Slongh.— Catalogue of 

 Seeds for the Kitchen Garden^ Flower Garde7i, and the Farin. 



William Bull, King's Rnad, Chelsea, London, S.W. — General 

 Catalogue of Flower and Vegetnhle Seeds. 



Dick Radclyffe & Co., 129, High Holborn, London.— Z»;(S- 

 trated Catalogue of Seeds and, Garden Requisites. 



Waite, Burnell, Huggins, & Co., 79, Southwark Street, London, 

 ^.l?j.— Spring Catalogue of Flower, Vegetable, and Farm Seeds. 



James Dickson & Sons, 108, Eastsate Street, and "Newton" 

 Nurseries, Chester. — Catalogue of Vegetable and Flower Seeds, 

 Iinple7nents, d-c. 



R. B. Matthews, 65&67, Victoria Street, Belfast. — Descriptive 

 Seed Catalogue and Cultural Guide. 



Ant. Roozen & Sod, Overveen, Haarlem, Holland. — Liil of 

 Gladioli, Dahlias, Liliums, Cannas, d-e. 



J. Baumann, Nouvelle-Promenade, Ghent, Belgium. — Price 

 Current for 1876 of Bhododendrons, Azaleas, Camelliaa, d-c. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*,* AH correspondence should be directed either to " The 

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

 Mr. Johnson or Dr. Hogg often remain unopened unavoid- 

 ably. We request that no one will write privately to any 

 of oar correspondents, as doing so subjects them to un- 

 justifiable trouble and expense. 



Correppondents 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 

 cannot reply to questions through the post. 



INCBEASING A LAUREL'S VARIEGATION {D. /).).— Your Laurel bush, the 

 one b&lf of which is variei,'ated, if yon take a scion of the Tariegated part 



