200 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 9, 1876. 



over the plants about once a-week to remove mouldy leaves, and 

 as 5ot the plants do not require water oftener than this. The 

 frames are aired pretty freely, but the plants are not exposed to 

 high winds. 



Caryiatlons and Picotees have not made much spring growth 

 as yet. The frames are aired even more freely than the 

 Auriculas ; in fine weather the lights are removed altogether. 

 The pottiug material has been made ready. The loam was 

 mixed with half-rotted manure two months ago; to this has 

 now been added leaf mould and sand ; river sand is the best. 

 The plants will be potted as time permits. The end of March 

 or even early in April is time enough. The best growers pot 

 two plants in a 10-inch pot. The object of using pots this size is 

 not altogether for the sake of producing large flowers, but to 

 have plenty of room to layer the grass when the blooming 

 period is over. It is quite aa well to place the pots back into 

 cold frames after repotting ; but if this cannot be done, and it is 

 necessary to place them out of doors, we would then rather 

 delay the potting until the first or even the second week in 

 April. The hoe has been run through Pink beds to loosen the 

 soil, BO that atmospheric influences may have more effect upon it. 



Bedding plants are now being potted-off from the cutting 

 pots. Some of them have been planted in shallow boxes. Zonal 

 Pelargoniums and others of a similar hardy nature are still in 

 heated pits or late vineries ; they will very soon be placed out 

 of doors in turf pits and be sheltered from frosts by canvas 

 shading.— J. Douglas. 



nORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 



Seceetaries will oblige ua by informing us of the dates on 

 which exhibitions are to be held. 



Bristol (Spring Show). March 22nd and 23rd. Mi". G. Webley, Holm 



Wood, Westbury-upon-Trym, Hon. Sec. 

 Glasgow. March 29th, May loth, and September 12th and 13th. Mr. F. 



Glib. Doughall, 16;, Canning Street, Sec. 

 RoTAL Caledonian Hobticultueal Society. Shows April 5th, July 5th, 



and September 13th. 

 Westminster Aquablicm. April 12th and 13th, May 10th and 11th, Maj 



30th and Slat, July 5th and 0th. 

 Tiverton. May 24th and 25th. Messrs. A. Payne and J. Mills, Hon. Sees. 

 Manchester (Grand National). June 2nd to 9th. Mr. Bruce Findlay, 



Royal Botanic Garden, Sec. 

 Southampton. Jane 5th, and August the 5th and 7th. Mr. C. S. Fuidge, 



39, York Street, Sec. 

 Maidstone (Roses). June 21st. Mr. Hubert Bensted, Rockatow, Maid- 

 atone, Sec. 

 Spalding. June 2l8t and 22nd. Mr. G. Kingston, Sec. 

 RiSiQATE (Roses). June 24th. Mr. J. Payne, Treasurer. 

 Leeds. June 28th, 29ih, and 3uth. Mr. James Birkbeck, Delph Lane, 



Woodhouse, Leeds, Sec. 

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

 Fhome (Roeea). June 29th. Mr. A. R. Baily, Hon. Sec. 

 SouTHPORT. July 5th, Gth, 7th, and 8th. Mr. E. Martin, Sec. 

 Helensburgh (Roses). July 12th and 13th. Mr. J. MitcheU, Sec. 

 Wimbledon. July 12th and 13th. Mr. P. Appleby, 5, Linden Cottages 



Hon. Sec. 

 Kilmarnock. Roses, July 18th and 19tb. General Exhibition, September 



14tli. Mr. M. Smith, 11, King Street, Sec. 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



J. Coombs, The Ferns, Enfield, Middlesex. — Catalogue of 

 Cuttings of Geraniuma^ Chrysanthemums, dc. 



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

 Chester. — Catalogue of New and Select Farm Seeds. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 

 *^* All 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 our correspondents, as doing so subjects them to un- 

 justifiable trouble and expense. 

 Books (Delta). — Loudon's edition of Repton's "Landscape Gardening"' 

 will suit you. We do not know the price. 



Back Numbers (A. B., Middlesex). — Yon can have those you mention if 

 you enclose 3(Z., and the "Year-Book" if you enclose Is. \id. They will be 

 sent free by post if you restate what yon need, and your full diiection. 



Prices of Volumes^ vii. and vni. of the Journal of Horticulture 

 (B. K. L.). — The price is Hs. each. 



Seaweed on Aspabagcs Bed (J. W. L.). — The seaweed will not injure 

 the plants. Point it in with a fork about the middle of the present month, 

 not BO deeply as to injure the crowns. 



Azaleas Growing Before Flowering (Idern). — It is not unusual for 

 vigorous plants to start into growth before flowering, and is more pre- 

 valent in Home kinds than in others. It usually arises from the wood not 

 being well ripened, the buds not well developed from the late vigorous 

 growth of the preceding year. The plants occaaionally develope the flower 

 buda along with the new shoots being made, and not unfrequently the flower 

 buda do not expand, but become as yoa Bay bhnd. We cannot account for 

 the ends of the leaves being browned except from syringing, the water 

 hanging fiom the points when tbe sua fell powerfully upon ihem. Keaue's 



*' Indoor Gardening " is a useful book for those who have glass structures, and 

 our "Greenhouse" Manual treats of the culture of A2alea3. Post f rea for 

 1^. 7;d. and lOd. respectively. 



Tubs for Orange Trees (H. S.). — Charring the inside is t be much 

 preferred to either painting it or pitching it. 



Best Bedding Geraniums (A. B. C). — Derp lilac pink are Amaranth 

 and Florence Darand. Deep rich pink: Mrs. Holden, Contessa Qaarto, and 

 Mrs. Fytche. Light pink : Mrs. Lowe. Ro>iC shade : Eose Bradwardine. 



Gladiatoria herra (E. T. M. W.). — No classic author mentions a plant 

 by that name. We think it must be applicable to any plant with sword- 

 shaped leaves, such as the Iris and Gladiolus. 

 Vine Shoot (Z. A. B.). — The brown is natural. Wa detect nothing wrong. 

 Greenhouse Shading {OUbo). — ^If you only require a temporary shade, 

 the best is a roller shade of No. 2 tifCany or floraL shading, and it can be 

 raised or lowered at pleasure. It is only from powerful sun that you will 

 require shade for a majority of flowering plants, but Azaleas, Camellias, ttc, 

 require permanent shade in summer, and in that case you may paint the 

 interior surface of the glass with a wa^h formed of whiting brought to the 

 consistence of thin whitewash with skimmed milk. 



Propagating Clematis and Passiflora (H. B. B.). — Take the young 

 shoots of both when they are about 4 inches long with a heel of the old wojd, 

 making choice of the stubby side shoots, or better those which come from 

 the root, and insert in sandy soil, placing in a bottom heat of 75-, keeping 

 moist, and shaded from bright sun. 



Plants for Conservatory {H. C). — Yoa could not have anything better 

 for the back wall than Camellias, the border being too narrow for Camellias 

 as bushes or pyramids, and they would spoil the wall for climbers. Clematises 

 are not good porraiinent climbers, but grown in pots and trained on trellises 

 are very fine for conservatory decoration. Luculia gratissima and Habro- 

 thamuus fascicularia are fine wall plants, but we should cover the wall with 

 Camellias. For the pillars, Kennedya bimaculata variegata, lihynchosper- 

 mum jasminoides, SoUya linearis, and Jasminum gracUe are suitable. 



Heliotrope for Winter-flowering {An Old Subscriber). — To flower 

 in winter it is necessary that the plants have a genial temperature of 50- to 

 55', the plants being grown-on *hrouf;h the summer and kept from flowering 

 during that period. Without a stove or forcing house your supply of flowers 

 In winter, especially of plants for table decoration, must be limited. The 

 mildew is due to too close, cold, and moist an atmosphere. We should have 

 a house for furnishing winter flowers and plants. 



Seed-saving of Cyclamen persicum (Siourton). — Impregnate the flowers 

 with a camel's-hair pencil, and keep the plants iu a light airy position, duly 

 supplied with water until the seed is ripe, examining the pods daily when 

 they approach maturity, so as to gather them before the seeds are shed. 

 The plants will do well in a light aii-y position in a greenhouse, or one 

 moderately shaded. 



Destroying Woodlice {Idem). — Place a little hay against the wall', and 

 in and beneath the hay the vermin will hide, upon which in the morning 

 may be poured boiling water. The woodlice may be enticed by a boiled potato 

 to places where the pouring of boiling water upon them would not do harm 

 to plants. 



Sowing Grass Seeds, &c. (P. M.). — Pampas Grass, Quaking Grass, Feather 

 Grass, Musk, French Marigold, and dwarf Mimulas requ re to be sown in a 

 compost of tnrfy loam and leaf soil, and placed in a gentle hotbed; the seed- 

 lings to be pricked ofi when lai'ge enough to handle, and planted out, after 

 being hardened off, whore they are to remain. The treatment of no less than 

 six plants are asked for at once, and no particulars of the puriiose for which 

 they are required is given. It may be that some of them are required to be 

 grown iu pots. 



Soil for Araucaria imbricata (Youthful Amateur).— It -preieis a. r&thGX 

 strong deep loam, and to promote free growth a little leaf soil may he added. 

 No stones for drainage are necessary, the ground being free from stagnant 

 water by efficient drains 4 feet deep, having efficient outlets. 



Culture of Selaginella Martensi (/(fern).— We pot ours in rather 

 fibrous peat, with an admixture of silver sand, affording good di-ainage, and 

 grow them in a warm greenhouse or cool stove temperature, keeping moist 

 and shading from bright sun. Probably your plants wiU thrive after the 

 potting is recovered from. 



Euphorbia Butcheri (Jrfcm).^We do not know any plant by the name; 

 but E. splendens is a stove plant, and a very useful one, flowering in the 

 spring and early summer months. 



Chrysanthemums not Thri^-ing (J. H.).— We do not think there is any- 

 thing amiss, only the plants are late, the tendency being in such a case to 

 throw out lateral growths instead of flowering. The only remedy is to take 

 cuttings in November, or as early as they can be had, and winter in a house 

 free from frost, shifting into larger pots as they fill with roots, giving the 

 shift into the blooming pots early in June, so as to have the plants strong 

 and the bloom well advanced before autumn, removing to a light airy house 

 for flowering. The worms will not occasion the evil complained of. 



Plants for Cold Greenhouse [An Old Suhscriher).~-We should devote 

 the house to Tea-scented Roses, covering the ends and the wall wiih the 

 freast-growing kinds. It would, we think, he the best use to which you 

 could "put such a house, especially as you can only attend to it during 

 mornings and evenings. 



Winter Cucumbers Failing {Inquire)-). — la the absence of data we are 

 unable to account for the failure of the Cucumbers, but we presume yon can 

 command a bottom heat of 75^ and a top heat of 65- at night, and 70^ to 75^ 

 by day in any weather, and in such case you will be able to have fruit fit to 

 cut in February by seed sown in early September. The other side of the 

 house may be utilised for the growth of Tomatoes and French Beans. 



Camellias and Azaleas for Early Flowering (A Subscriberl—lXeipot 

 them if required after flowering, and place in a house with a night tempe- 

 rature of 55'^ to 60-, and 65 to 75^ by day, with a rise from sun heat to SG^ or 

 85". and free ventilation, maintaining a moist atmosphere and shading from 

 bright sun, continuing iu heat until the buda are well set, when the plants 

 should be removed to a cool and airy house, and if introduced to gentle heat 

 in autumn they will flower at an early period. A Cucumber house iivill be too 

 hot for the plants to be placed in to make growth. 



Planting Holly Hedge (F. Appleby).— V\&nt during moist weather in 

 April, moving with balls of earth if possible, aad watering if dry weather 

 , f jUow. 



