Jane 8, IB^S. 1 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



457 



WniBLEDON. July 12th and 13fch. Mr. P. Appleby. 5, Linden Cnf.tageB, Hon. Soo. 

 HiOHOATE. July 13th. Mr. W. M Biirck, 6, North Road, Uighgate. Sec. 

 Clifton, Bristol (Robcs aud Strawbei-rics). July 13tb. Mr. J. T. Jaokson, 



See. 

 Leek (Rosea). July 18th. Mr. S. Cartwrigbt, Sheep Market, Leek, Stafford- 

 shire, Hod. Sec. 

 Kilmarnock. Rosas, Jn!y 18th and 19th. General Exhibition, September 

 14th. Mr. M. Smith, 11, King Street, Seo. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



•^* All correspondence shonld be directed either to *' The 

 Editors," or to *' The Pablisher." Letters addressed to 

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

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

 of oar correspondents, aa doing so eubjeots them to un- 

 justifiable trouble and expense. 

 PELARaoNiust Culture (F. G.). — Bay our "Window Gardening," by 



R. Fish. You can have it by post if you enclose the ten postage stamps with 



yonr address. 



Labottr Power (L. D.). — Under ordinary eircnmstinces to keep snch a 

 garden as you describe in good order it would require a head gardener, a fore- 

 man, ten men, and two or three boyn. Many oircumstances might arise, or 

 may actually exist now, that would render more asHiBtants neceHsary — such 

 as in the flower department having to meet excesBive demands for plants or 

 cut flowers, elaborate dinner-table decorations, aud similar " extras;" in the 

 vegetable department a poor uukiudly soil reqairiuj; much extra culture, 

 diiiiculties in obtaining manure, or two gardens lying far apart; in the 

 pleasure gronnda and drives very high keeping, especially in spring and 

 autumn; and in all an indifferent wa'er supply, difiQcuIt of access, and with- 

 out proper facilities for its distribation. These and a host of similar local 

 matters, trivial in themselves, but of much importance in the aggregate, 

 ought always to be well considered. Ignorance of such in your case prevents 

 our speaking more definitely now. 



Strawberries Decaiino (L. R. L., jun.).— Defective root-action is pro- 

 bably the cause. Less watering and weak liquid manure once a-week would 

 prevent the berries decaying probably. 



Peach Leaves Blistered (TV. rhipps).—ThQ easterly winds and frosty 

 nights have blistered and blotobed the leaves. Protection would have pre- 

 Tented the injury. We have not received the Grapes. 



Vine Leates Decayed (3fr«. C. FT.).— The leafstalks are shanked— that 

 is, decayed, intimating that there is not a sufficient supply of sap to sustain 

 the growth. Water with tepid water liberally, and once a-week with weak 

 liquid mannre. 



Tomato Failure (Idem). — The osual cause is the soil being too rich and 

 kept too wet. Try a poorer soil and less moisture. 



Manures (H. C). — Guano and some of the artificial manures, such as are 

 BuppUed by the London Manure Company, will eufQce for your garden 

 crops without stable manure. 



Cucumbers Diseased (Louth). — We are informed by one of our con- 

 tributors to whom we sent yonr letter, that though he has had thirty years' 

 experience as a gardener his plants have never been attacked by disease. He 

 is particular only in nsing soil of a moiium-textnred loamy character, taken 

 off with its turf about 3 inches thick, and laid up in a ridge for not less than 

 three months, employing it after that time up to three and four years old, 

 chopping-up rather finely before nse. Heed is never paved, but is had aonually 

 from the seedsman in the usual way. He states that your plants are affected 

 by gangreae, caused by eitravasated pap, a result of the plauts being grows 

 in too rich soil, the atmosphere being close, moist, and cold. A brisker 

 heat and freer air- giving ought to rid you of the latter evil. It is also likely 

 that the disease proper is a consequence of eztravasated sap closing the 

 plants' tissues, the roots often being in a healthy state when the leaves and 

 stems are dried up. We should be obliged by information on this. [perplexing 

 subject. 



Cesspool Manure {E. C. 0.).— Grease is a manure, and as applicable as 

 soap. The cesspool's contents may be applied moderately to your Rose 

 trees now whether on their roots or on Briar stocks, and to the Cabbages 

 abundantly, also to Strawberries in the autumn, but diluted. 



Cocoa-nut Fibre for Ferns (West Bromwicki. — If your specimens are 

 healthy we should be loth to change their soil. Cncoa-nut fibre refuse is 

 good for mixing with loam and peat for Ferns, but it cannot be held to soper- 

 Bede peat. It would be easy to purchase a small quantity of the fibre, and 

 thus enable your gardener to give you proof of its tfficacy by applying it to 

 a few plants. It is very useful to have in a garden for propagating and 

 plunging purposes. 



Strawberries (B.).— Keens' SeedUne-, British Queen, Sir Harry, and Dr. 

 Hogg ought to succeed in your Devonshire rich loam. 



SEED3 ( A. B. G.}.— Under the title " Indian Seeds " (St. Vincent), on p. 437, 

 we gave an answer. 



Rose Exhibitions.— i Committeeman asks that the writer of the practical 

 article in our last Juamal signed " H. C." will state what number of boxes 

 and length of table it would require to exhibit the seventy-two threes in on 

 the plan he proposes. 



Summer Pruninq (F. J.).— Yes, the shoot which yon sent is a "pretty 

 stout " one, in perfect condition for pruning. 



Salt Brine (J. 5.).^ThiH impregnated with the blood, &c., of herrings is 

 Bgocdmamre. Mised with five times its measure of water it may be ap- 

 plied ber.weei the rows of any of the Cabbage tritDe, and to Rhubarb, Beet- 

 root, and Articibokes. 



WiNTEK-FLOWERiNa ANNUALS FOR A GREENHOUSE (J. F. C.) —Not many 

 BO-called annuals are to be depended upon for this purpose. The Peruvian 

 Tropffii)lumB, of which we have now so many charming varieties, are really 

 excellent; if sown during the present month they form good plants by 

 autumn, and yield abundant flowers throughout winter. Sow the seed either 

 in pans or an open border, trauRplanting the seedlings into puts, growing 

 them in a cold frame for a time, and afterwards pl'iuying the pots in an open 

 afhbed when the plants gain size, ^c■mophila insiguis also flowers well in 

 winter if sown in 5-inch pots about the last week of June. Dwarf Ten- week 

 Stocks, Phlox Drummondii, Portulaca Thellusonii, Balsams, and Celosiaa are 



all useful for the autumn and early winter months, and all may be treated 

 in a Himilar manner to the Tropieoluras except the Celosias, which should 

 have a place in a cold pit or frame. You are probably already aware of the 

 grtat value of Mignonette. Cinerarias, Primula sineusi-, and herbaceous Cal- 

 ceolarias for conservatory decoration in winter and Hprii){,'. There is still 

 time for a la^o butch of the three last, and Mignonette may bo sown in suc- 

 oesaion from the middle of July till the end of August. 



Names of Fruits (Charles Eve).—lt is the Winter Greening, which pos- 

 sesses all the valuable qualities which yon have diecovered in it. 



Names of Plants (JJ. G.). — Dodecatheon Meadia, American Cowslip. 

 (i7. W. L.).— We cannot name either florists' flowers, nor flowers from leaves 

 only. 



POULTKY, BEE, AM) PIGEOlf OHEONIOLE. 



BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND SOCIETY'S 



SHOW OP POULTRY AT HEEEFOKD. 



There are many aclvantages derived from the peripatetic 

 habita of agricultural Bocietiee. The natives of many places see 

 what prize beasts and poultry are and should be, and with- 

 out the aid of the enthusiastic and often derided fancier, few 

 breeders for mere use and profit would ever materially improve 

 any stock, either four-footed or feathered. Local fanciers, too, 

 are tempted to exhibit " this once," and perhaps, if successful, 

 often try their luck again ; and not the least boon is it to those 

 who attend these meetings regularly to be brought from time to 

 time to fresh places with fresh attractions. In winter we are 

 well content to gaze year after year down the same long alleys 

 of pens at the Crystal Palace, bright even in November, or to 

 peer into the same dark corners at Birmingham ; but June is of 

 all others a month in which we can enjoy an expedition, and 

 in which we are able to carry away special recollections of a 

 pleasure associated with the particular meeting. Assuredly the 

 Bath and West of England Society has taken ns to pleasant 

 places, to none more delightful than the old town of Hereford. 

 We can almost forgive the Society for keeping our birds unpro- 

 fitably in their pens from Saturday till Monday, and for bring- 

 ing us with them by a series of ill-arranged trains, all crowded, 

 all confused, all late, as they are wont to be on the eve of the 

 great holiday, when it leads us to pass a Sunday in so exquisite 

 a place, with its cathedral a model of restoration and repara- 

 tion, and its winding Wye and deep meadows of luxariant rich- 

 ness around. Many, however, cannot come to enjoy these 

 charms — certainly the birds do not, and we must comment 

 seriously as we have done before upon this needlessly tiresome 

 arrangement. For six days and nights are the unfortunate 

 birds penned up; add to this a day, or often two, taken up with 

 travelling each way, and probably at least two more of confine- 

 ment before the start to accustom them to the pen and to clean 

 their feathers, and we have ten or twelve days during which 

 for this one Show they are kept off their runs I This is not aU. 

 Here as elsewhere we are told, and properly too, that one of the 

 chief tests of merit is " beauty of plumage." In white or light- 

 coloured birds this necessarily means its purity and cleanness j 

 but when birds have been thirty-six hours or perhaps forty-eight 

 in a pen before the Jadge sees them, how can he possibly tell 

 which came clean and which dirty— in fact, which are " well 

 shown ? " We have before ns schedules of agricultural shows 

 at which the poultry are only shown one day, the rest of the 

 exhibits remaining two. Why could not this Foci sty follow in 

 a modified way this good example ? It has been rumoured that 

 the poultry might be given up at these meetings. We should 

 much regret to see this done, and trust that an experiment may 

 first be made of a shortened time of exhibition. We believe 

 the entries would be nearly doubled. 



Hereford is of course e«/f<e. The Show looks much as it has 

 in other years and other places, and covers thirty acres. The 

 poultry judging seemed to take an unusually long time. At 

 12.30 we were admitted to part of the tent, and no cards wero 

 up before 1 p.m. As of old, first on the list comes the Spanish. 

 Mr. Jones is quite to the fore. The cup goes to one of his four 

 cocks barely a year old, we believe; long, smooth in face, in 

 blooming cindition and with faultless carriage. Why his other 

 yearling bird ia left out we cannot conceive, unless it be that 

 the Judge objected to his somewhat abnormal development of 

 face towards the throat. The second-prize bird is an antique 

 fellow with enormous face. The first-prize hens are as good as 

 we have ever seen, in excellent condition and plumage. One of 

 them can scarcely be beaten in a single-hen class. The second- 

 prize pair are remarkably smooth in face, and we cannot say 

 much more for them. On the whole, for the time of year, 

 Spanish are in good trim. 



Dorkings, as far as the Dark-coloured birds go, are not up to 

 last year's standard. The first prize cock is a big bird but blind 

 with one eye. Second is a well-shaped bird and good in feet. 

 He seemed suffering from cold in the ?yes. We admired 

 Miss Eadcljffe'fl bird — a thorough Dorking all over. In hens 

 a rich-coloured pair are first; one a little gouty, but both large. 

 Second a fair pair all round. Silver-Greys are not many, but 



