MoToh 9, 1876. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



201 



Pine Apples with Tall Crowns (X. X.I.— A chief rauso is too close and 

 moist an atmosphere with a want of light for the plants, they heiug at too 

 ftreat a distance from the glaes and too crowded iu the hed. Give them 

 more room, so as to induce a stiff sturdy f^rowth, admitting air freely. 

 \ou may require both top and front ventilation, but the latter i6 not to be 

 used except to keep the temperature from rising too high. Your plants have 

 too much bottom heat by '20'\ whilst the top heat in too little, which will 

 enable you to give but little air, and the plants from the cloae atmosphere 

 will be tall and weak. 85- to 90° is a proper bottom heat. 



Starting Amaryllises to Flowi:r in Jdne [W. TI'.).— Repot the plants 

 and place them in heat at the close of the present month, alfurdlng bottom 

 heat 80 as to have a good root action by the time tho plants start into growth. 

 i'oQ will need to use some judgment in having the plants in tlower at the 

 proper time, retardmg, if hkely to be too early, by keeping them in a lower 

 temperature, or forwarding in a higher if not coming on quickly euongh ; but 

 a rather slow steady growth will give you the finest flowers. 



SxopprNQ Allamandas iIthm).—Do not stop them, but allow them to 

 grow, unless the plants are badly furnished, when they may be stopped to 

 induce the production of more shoots. If estopped it phould be done at 

 once, but we do not advise it unless absolutely necessary. Tho same remarks 

 apply to these as to the AmarylUses in retarding or forwarding the bloom as 

 may be necessary. 



Early -FLO WE RING Rhododendhohs (TT. O. C). — Scarlet: Grand Arab, 

 Altaolarense, and Ignescens. White: Blanc Superb, Empx-ess Kugenie, and 

 Gloire de Gaud. Pink : Vavium, Limbatum, and Sir Walter Scott. Besides 

 these you mifiht take dauiicum, yielding a succession of its pale purple or 

 mauve-colonred flowers from January to May, with the brighter purple 

 danricum atruvireus flowering at; the snnie time, caucasicum opening its 

 pretty pale pink trusses in April, the rosy crimson Broughtoni, and thebright 

 ac4Lrlet Soliel d'Ansterlitz. Most of the vaiieties of catawbienae may also 

 take rank as early kinds. They range through many shades of colour, such as 

 white, lilac, blush, rose, crimson, and purple. 



Old Pasture Field for Hay (Ardkenii-D.—Thete is nothing to prevent 

 your having a good crop of bay from a field that has been several years used 

 as a pasture ; but as you say it is rather uneven, it would be batter to lower 

 some of the little hillocks as soon as possible, especially if it be intended to 

 use the hay-cutting machioe at the proper cutting time. It would also no 

 doubt improve the crop a good deal if the field had a dressing of manure or 

 compost free from stones, as the latter would have to be picked-off before the 

 grass stoi-ted to grow much. The fact of the grass being coarse is more likely 

 to arise from fre(iuent mowing than from being fed off, as the latter, especi- 

 ally if fed off with sheep, tends to improvelthe character of the herbage. A 

 friend of ours who had a field much over-run with the Os-eye Daisy — which, 

 although a pretty object in itself, is very offensive amongst hay — after 

 trying various means to extirpate it by digging-np, itc-, had the field closely 

 fe<\ off with sheep one year, and all but completely extirpated the pest. We 

 may, however, remark that where sheep are grazed along with cows and 

 other cattle, it is not so well for the latter; the sheep, eating bo much closer 

 to the ground than the cattle can do, get all the finest grass. If the land be 

 good tmd the season a favourable one you may confidently expect a good crop 

 of hay that has been pasture for so many years, provided it has justice done 

 it, and nothing turned out upon it after the Ist of March. 



Baree di Capucin (J. E. B.). — It is only the common'Chicory blanched. 

 The mode of culture is in ail gardening dictionaries. The yellow-balled 

 fiower is Acacia dealbata. 



Flower Garden (B. HoWiom). — No one cau direct how to plant a gaiden 

 which he has not seen. All we undertake ia jto criticise proposed planting. 



Fowls' Dung (J. W. S.).— It, like all other escrementitious manures, may 

 be appUed beneficiaUy to any outdoor growing plant. To your Roses you may 

 apply it; but in what quantity must depend upon whether your bushes are 

 weakly or vigorous. 



Roses on own Roots.— A correspondent, G. W. Jessop, would be obliged 

 by '* R. B. P." naming the Roses that do not succeed on theii- own roots. 



Winter Spinach {K. T.).— Stir up the soil with a knife ou each side of the 

 row, to ascertain if grubs are preying on the roots. 



Roses Grafted on Briar Boots (B. E. Ii.).— The Roses grafted on Briar 

 roots in a cold frame 6mches apart, we should harden well off by the middle of 

 May, and then lift very carefully, and transfer to pots if you wish them for 

 pot culture, shading for a time until established, or plant out at more than 

 double the distance they are apart in the bed, and four times the distance 

 between the rows. If shaded and duly watered they will soon recover the 

 removal. If left in the cold frame until autumn they will be Injured by 

 gi'owing too closely together. 



Sowing Peas for Succession (A. D.).— William I, and Alpha should be 

 sown at once, they will succeed each other; following with Nelson's A'anguard 

 early in April, Champion of England the third week in April, Maclean's 

 B.28t of All the first week in .May, Veitch's Perfection the third week in 

 that month, G. F. Wilson the first week in June, and Omega iu the third 

 week of that month ; you will be likely to have a good succession, but we 

 should add another sowing of Ne Plus Ultra the fijst week in July. 



Laeoi'r Required foe Garden (Wishing Iiiijht).— FoT the two acres of 

 garden, one acre of kitchen garden, an acre of pleasure ground, and a quarter 

 of an acre of beddiug-ont, with greenhouse and three frames, a gardener, a 

 labourer or assistant gardener, and a boy or woman in summer, would be 

 sufficient to keep it in good order and high cultivation. 



Destroying Ants in Hothouse (M. F, W.). — Place honey in saucers in 

 places which the ants frequent, removing after a few days, and then mix 

 arsenic with honey, again placing it in their haunts, but be careful to keep it 

 from doing injury otherwise than to the ants. 



Soil for Camellias (Idem). — We use a compost of three [parts very 

 fibrous light loam, the top inch of a pasture where the soil is a rich sandy 

 loam chopped-up rather finely, with a fourth part of sandy peat. For large 

 plants tha peat is omitted, and we top-dress with dried cowdung. 



Geranium Leaves Injured (Edgbastonl—The leaves are injured by 

 some noxious vapour, probably the fumes escaping from the stove or its 

 chimney or smoke-pipe, or the flue may have had its surface overheated. 



New Mode of Growing Grapes (A, A.). — We regret we have no recol- 

 lection of your letter, or that which you refer to. When we receive further 

 notes on the mode they will be pubUshed. 



Destroying Moles (R. E. 4.).— Trapping ia the best means ofrriddance. 

 It is said that the Dwarf Elder (Sambucus ebulus) leaves placed in their 



runs will drive them away, as also the leaves of the common Elder (S. nigra), 

 they being used in a fresh state. But these only drive them to make a fresh 

 burrow. A correspondont in the Neti' York Trihuw states that he has com- 

 pltrtely banished the moles from his corn fields, &c., his " method being to first 

 soak tsome corn in water, pour the water off and stir-in some strychnine. 

 Drop in some grains in the runs of the moles, and soon the corn will be 

 missed and the moles too." 



Names of Fruits (D)tcter (£■ So/j).— Downton Pippin. (Connauffht Sub- 

 scriber).—! and 3, Not known; 2, Brabant Bellefleur. (J. P. Eldwire).— 

 Fondante de Charneu. 



Names of Plants (Cojistant Reader).— I, a Fourcroya, apparently; ?. 

 Salvia coccinea. (A Suhscriber].-!, Asplonium flaccidum, F(^r,■.^; 2, Pteris 

 flabellata, Thunh.; 3, Nephrodium moUe, Desv. ; 4, Asplennm bulbifermu, 

 For^t. ; 5, Aspidium falcatum probably, but cannot say without fruit ; 6, 

 Onychium japonicum. 



POULTET, BEE, AM PIGEON OHEONIOLE. 



DUBBING GAME COCKS. 



I DO not think " Sdrbey Parson " can have kept Game fowls, 

 or he would never call dubbing eenBeleas. It is impoEsible 

 always to provide a run for each cock, and unless that is done 

 you cannot be sure that the two will never fight. I should have 

 lost valuable birds before now had they not been dubbed. For- 

 tunately, being so, they have only been brought to me iu a 

 shocking mess, from which they have recovered in about a week. 

 Like " FiTZ," I should dub if I never exhibited. If Mr. Crook 

 ia sure that we dub our birds iu order to qualify them for the 

 pit he can strike the most effectual blow at the practice by 

 getting up prizes for " stilty " birds. Whenever there has been 

 trouble in my poultry yards I have always found the shorter- 

 legged birds had the best of it. 



I very much doubt if the Crystal Palace Show wonld succeed 

 in abolishing dubbing by following " Sureey Pabson's " advice; 

 they would be more likely to abolish their Game entries. I 

 I have the honour to be acquainted with a considerable number 

 of Game breeders, and I think I may say that there is a growing 

 feeling amongst them that Game fowls, as a rule, do not have 

 enough time given to the judging of these classes. If the 

 Palace, then, was alone in insisting upon undubbed birds they 

 would get few entries. If other shows followed their example 

 I believe it would simply end iu Game breeders getting up their 

 own shows. 



I fear " Wiltshire Rector " mistakes a postulate for an 

 axiom when he says, " Let it be clearly understood that apologies 

 for dubbing are in reality apologies for cock-iighting. Stamp 

 out the one you stamp out the other." He begs the whole 

 question. I deny the first sentence, and I daresay experience 

 would prove the fallacy of the second. I have no doubt that 

 my Game cocks, were I to let them try, would bring their 

 Quarrels to a conclusion as soon as other breeds, but without 

 their combs and wattles they are much less likely to be dis- 

 figured and injured than with them, and I am therefore thankful 

 for a custom which renders their accidental encontres much 

 less injurious than they would otherwise be. 



As for talking about the cruelty of dubbing, it really is rather 

 " straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel " when we pride 

 ourselves on our hunting, fishing, coursing, and shooting. — 



F. G. DUTTON. 



THE ALMOND TUMBLER. 



[We extract the following from the address of C. Merck, Esq., 

 President of the National Peristeronic Society.] 



I WOULD advise those gentlemen who have had little or no 

 experience in this particular variety not to be over-sanguine of 

 reaching the goal of perfection without great care and patience. 

 Their best judgment is needed in crossing the hard and soft- 

 feathered Almonds, the Splashes, the Whole-Feathered, the 

 Agates, and the Kites, all of these being at times necessary_ to 

 produce a properly marked bird. Now, let me caU the attention 

 of our younger members to this fact, that to breed an Almond 

 Pigeon is one thing, and to breed an Almond Tumbler Pigeon 

 is quite another thing. The plumage constitutes the first, 

 which is pretty well known to most of you. The ground colour 

 of the bird should be of a soft yet bright tint, similar to the 

 almond nut-shell, evenly broken all over witli black of the jettest 

 colour; on the head there should be fine stencillings gradually 

 increasing in quantity and size as the hackle is approached, 

 there assuming a rich metaUic lustre ; on the body they should 

 become larger, and give the feather that spangled appearance 

 which ia so characteriatic of an Almond. The more positive 

 and marked the spangles are, the handsomer it will prove. 

 The flight and tail feathers should each be marked with three 

 colours — viz., almond, black, and white, these as distinct and 

 varied as poasible, by which I mean they should not be cut as 

 it were by a bar uniformly across them. So much for this 

 property of feather, and as the bird uuquestionably derives its 

 title from it, I have always considered and atiU maintain that 

 this is its first and chief property; but whether the bird be then 



