May 25, 1876. J 



JOUKNAL OF nORTIOULTUr^E AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



417 



Cinerarias and Calceolarias for early flowering should be 

 grown-on without auy check; a good place I'V them is iu a cold 

 frame behind a low north wall; they are impatient of mach 

 sun. Our plants have beeu pricked out ten or twelve in aG-inch 

 pot; they will soon be repotted singly in email pots. The 

 greenhouse is now very gay with Azaleas and the usual soft- 

 wooded plants. It is necessary to look over the plants at least 

 once a-week, to remove those that are looking shabby and to 

 replace them with others coming into flower ; it is also well to 

 damp the paths occasionally, and above all to keep the plants 

 free from insect pests. — J. Douglas. 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



James Dickson &; Sons, Newton Nurseries, Chester.— Catalogue 

 of Bedding-out Plants, Border Plants, d-c. 



John Harrison, Rose Nurseries, Darlington. — ,4 Descriptive 

 Catalogue of New Roses, Dahlias, Clematis, Beddifig Plants, d-c. 



Ad. PolUk, American Agent, Stadt Braunerstrasae 5, Vienna. 

 — Ilhistrated Catalogue of Garden ImplementSj Garden Orna- 

 tncntSj d-c. 



HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 

 Secretaries will oblige ua by informing us of the dates on 

 which exhibitions are to be held. 



Westminster Aquarium. Maj SOth and Slst, July 5th and Gth. 



Undercliff. May iiUt. Mr. T. H. Clough, Hon. Sec. 



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



Kojal Botanic GHrden, Sec. 

 Southampton. June 5th, and Aagiiat the 5th and 7fch. Mr. C. S. Fuidge, 



89, York Street. Sec. 

 SauTH Essex (Levton?). June 13th. Mr. G. E. Cox, 'Wilmot Boad, 



Leyton, Sec. 

 SwAFFHAM. June l-lth and 15th. Mr. T. G. Smith, Hon. Sec. 

 Ipswich.— June 15th, July 6tb, and September 17th. Sec, Mr. W. B. 



Jeffries, Hfruley Road, Ipswich. 

 EDiNBtTRGH ( Scottish Paiisy Society's Show). June 16th. Mr. N.M. Welsh, 



1, Waterloo Place, Edinburgh, Sec. 

 Crystal Palace (Roses). June 16th and 17th. 

 Coventrt. June 19tb. Mr. T. Wilson, 3. Portland Terrace, Sec. 

 Maidstone (Roses). June 21at. Mr. Hubert Bensted. BookstoWi Maid- 

 stone, Sec. 

 Fabeham and South Hampshire. Jane 21st. Mr. H. Smith, Sec. 

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

 Exeter (Roses). June 23rd. Mr. T. W. Gray, Hon. Sec. 

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

 Bcrton-upon-Trent. June 28th. Mr. F. S. Dunwell, Sec. 

 Leeds. June 28th, 29ih, and 30th. Mr. James Birkbeck, Delph Lane, 



Woodhouse, Leefis, Sec. 

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

 West of England (Hereford). Roses. June 29th. Rev. C. H. Bnlmer, 



CredenhiU, See. 

 Feome (Roses). June 29th. Mr. A. R. Baily, Hon. Sec. 

 WiSBEACH (Roses). June 29th. Mr. C. Parker, Hon. Sec. 

 ToRBAY. June 29th and SOth. Mr. W. Fane Tucker, Capt., Braddonj Tor, 



Hod. Sec. 

 Oxford (Roses). June SOth. Mr. C. R. Ridley, 115, Aldate's, Hon. Sec. 

 Brockham (Roses). July let. Rev. A. Cheales and Mr. C. Mortimer, Sees. 



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. 



1875 Index (Amateur). — Yon can have ono. 



Prize Money {A Subscriber Seve7i Years). — Gentlemen usually give all the 

 money to their gardeners. 



Treatment of Vines (Five-years Subscriber). — When you have more 

 than one bunch on a lateral the extra bunches may be removed as soon as 

 you can diflcem which is the best. If the bunches are large, one to every 

 alternate lateral will be enough. Water as it drains from cow sheds would 

 be too strong. It may be diluted with half water for Vines and about four 

 times as much clear water for plants. Sprinkle a little guano on tho surface 

 of the border, and water with clear water for a chan:^e. Tbe fruit ought to 

 be ripe by the end of August. We cannot name plants from leaves only. 



Treatment of Peach Trees (F. H.).— We do not quite see what advice 

 you want. You did wrong to add fresh manure from the stables. If the 

 house ia not close enough to allow of fumigation you must destroy the aphis 

 with soft-soapy water to which some tobacco liquor has been added. Why 

 the fruit did not Pct it is not possible to say, as you do not give the treatment 

 at the time, nor do you say if the house is heated. U the treatment was 

 li^'ht the fruit ought to have set well. 



Removing Strawberry Runners (Miss 0,).— It is especially inexpedient 

 to remove the runners as soon as they appear from newly-ptanted Strawberries 

 growing luxuriantly, for in such case they very usually will produce nothing 

 but more suckers and a profusion of luxuriant leaves. Indeed, we are of 

 opinion that runners should never be removed from a Strawberry plant until 

 its fruit is set, and even then only such as are not rooted. 



Auriculas (G. S.).— We do not know whether Mr. Headly's Auriculas 

 were sold privately or whether they are retained. 



Pansy {J. B. W. Fcrria).— It is very like one called Dux ; bat there is a 

 legion. 



Vine Leaves Yfllow (R. A. TV.). — Defective root-action is probably the 

 cause. Water the Vine liberally with tepid water and weak liquid manure 

 oeoasionally. 



Nitrate of Soda (St. Edmund). — One pound to thirty square yards, 

 applied to the surface of the Potato ground immediatoly after the plants 

 appear above ground. It is well suitt'd to light soil. 



Ne Plus Ultra Pea Sowing [Id'-m].—Sovi at once and again at the end 

 of the mouth iu trenches prepared as for growing Celery. 



Making a Hothed of Tan (St. Edmunds). — The faggots at tha bottom 

 of the bed are quite unnecessary, though if the site be a wet one a layer of 

 them would prevent the tan from being soaked with water and for a distance 

 from the floor or ground thereby made inert. It will not be needful to renew 

 the tan or place fresh around the sides of the bed; the tan will last all the 

 summer. You may advantageously use the mowings of the lawn as linings 

 to the bed each time the lawn is mown. The soil taken from hedgerows will 

 answer, but it would have been better had it been laid up iu a ridge-liko heap 

 since autumn. 



Wood Ashes (Luduvicus). — They will not make a good compost for plants, 

 and ought not to be used in greater proportion than one-six^Ji of the com- 

 post, and in that case only for softwooded plants. They will be valuable ia 

 the kitchen garden, especially for Onions, Carrots, &c. 



Creepers for Rustic Stumps (Lkm). — We should clothe them with 

 Clematis and Ivy, of both which there are several varieties, and of the Ivies 

 many fine variegated forms. The Clematis would have a fine effect in sum- 

 mer, and the Ivies give an evergreen mantle in winter, being no worse for the 

 Clematis rambling over it, but the better for tbe grateful shade. Honey- 

 suckles are very suitable for such work here and there, with Jasminum nudi- 

 florum giving its golden tubes in midwinter. We should also have plants of 

 Berberis Datwinii, Cotoneastor microphylli, and Foraythia suspensa, Ligns- 

 trum japonica planted at the base, adding in summer flowering climbers, as 

 Coba^a scandens, Eccremocarpus scaber, tj remain permanently, with Caly- 

 Btegia fli:ire-pleno aud Convolvulus sepium roseus, both permanent; Trop;e- 

 olum speciosum, T. canariense, Maurandya Barclayana, Lophospermum 

 scandens, Everlasting Pea (Lathjrus grandifiorus), and L, latifolius, not 

 forgetting climbing Roses of the Ayrshire class. 



Heating Surface to Excldee Frost (C. E.).—Your tank of 83 super- 

 ficially heated surface will not be sufficient in an unasaally severe winter to 

 exclude frost from 900 cubic feet of enclosed air. Forty-live feet of heated 

 surface will be necessary, though in an ordinary winttT you may by having 

 the surface at a great heat keep out frost. Better have more heated surface. 



Ten-week Stocks Damping-off (An Amateur). — It is a consequence of 

 the plants being too thick, the soil too wet at the surface, aud the seedlings 

 not having eufiicient air. Admit air more freely, and prick off in pans an 

 inch to 1+ inch apart, shading from bright sun until established. 



Exhibiting Greenhouse Foliage and Flowering Plants in August 

 (Amateur). — Foliage : Draciena australis, Yucca aloifojia variegata, Lomatia 

 elegant isaima, Coprosma Baueriana variegata, or Abutilon Sellowianum mar- 

 moratum. Flowering: Cassia corymbosa, Crowea ealigna major, Erythrina 

 profusa, Kalosanthes coccinea superba, ■'Lapageria rosea, Lcschenaultia Bax- 

 ter! major, Nerium rubrum plenum, 'Plumbago capensis, --Swainsonia Fer- 

 randi, and Witsenia coryrabosa. Those marked with an asterisk will require 

 trellipes, and a few more plants are named than you require in order to 

 enable you to have the better chance of the required number in bloom at 

 the time wanted. 



Azaleas from Cuttings (C E. P.).— They are readily propagated by this 

 method— the top of the shoots being taken when a little firm at the base, but 

 not bard, inserting two-thirds the lengths of the cuttings in pots well 

 drained, tilled to within an inch of the rim with sandy peat, and to the rim 

 with silver sand, keeping moist, covered with a bell-glass, shaded from sun, 

 and in gentle heat until rooted, then gradually harden off. 



Cucumbers not Swelling (C. A ). — We are unable to account for the 

 fruit not swelling, as you say the heat is good both at top and bottom, but 

 we think it arises from the hoase being kept too cold and close. A little 

 more heat, especially bottom heat, would, no doubt, with Ireer air-giviiigt 

 afford a remedy. 



Vine Culture (Shcfield). — We do not remember your letter. If yon 

 require full directions for Vine-culture buy our *'Vine Manual." You can 

 have it free by post if you enclose thirty-two postage stamps with your 

 address. 



Alpine Stravtberries (J. E. L.).— They are usually raised from seed. 

 We cannot tell where you can obtain seed. 



Peaches Failing to Swell (M. R. C. S.). — In the first place we think 

 the flowers have been imperfectly fertilised, and iu the second place that the 

 trees are unhealthy. Are they not mildewed? If so, dust the affected parts 

 with flowers of sulphur. II the trees are weakly, which we suspect, apply a 

 dressing of manure to the surface of the soil, watering copiously. Ventilate 

 freely yet judiciously, not entirely closiug the house at night, and with this 

 course of treatment your tieea will probably be brought into a better state, 

 and you wUI not have a recurrence of the evil of which you complain. 



Destroying Millipedes (A Dublin Subscriber). — The " worm " is one of 

 the snake millipfdes which are often very abundant in old garden soils or 

 those from long cropping containing much decaying matter. The best thing 

 to use against such vermin is gas lime, applying at the time of putting in 

 the crop at the rate of half a peck per square rod (30^ square yards), it will 

 drive them away. Lime is also a first-class application, applying it in March 

 at the rate of half a bushel per rod, and pointing it in, using it in its fresh- 

 slacked state. Nitrate of soda is also good against such things; yon may 

 apply it now at the rate of 1 lb. per rod. Soapsuds, from the amount of soda 

 usually held in solution, would act prejudicially to the pests, and yet you will 

 need to use the soapy fluid with care, as an overdose may do more harm than 

 good. 



Red Spider in Dung Beds (An Amateur).— You have the red spider 

 from keeping the air too hot and dry. Sprinkle the plants overhead in the 

 early part of the afternoon, sUutting-up close, and shade with mats if the 

 sun be powerful. Remove the worst of the leaves, and by keeping the air 

 moister you will have little red spider. 



Green Fly on Calceolarias (Wcjh).— Wc presume they are herbaceous 

 kinds ; if so, fumigate with tobacco, which la the best of all means of destroy- 

 ing these pests. 



Fly on Gooseberry Tree (J. S.). — The fragments we received seem to 

 be parts of the Gooseberry Sawfiy, Nematas Bibesii, which is the parent of 

 the small green caterpillars. 



