16 



JdUENAL OF HORTiCl)LftjSE ANt) COTTAGE GARDENEK. 



[ January 1, 1874. 



Btanco and unhealthy. Dni-ing the late spring and summer 

 months the trouRhs may always be supplied with water. 



Mushroom, beds should be in full bearing now, and to keep-up 

 a supply other beds should be in progress. We fancy the best 

 Mushrooms are produced when, say, a fourth part of cow manure 

 is added to that from the stables. It should be thrown together 

 and allowed to heat until the rank steam is thrown off. The 

 manure must be sheltered from the rains, which at this season 

 would be injurious. If it should become too wet it will be im- 

 proved by being spread-out about !) inches deep on the floor of 

 an open shed before throwing it up in a heap. The manure 

 ought to be moderately moist at the time the bed is made-up, 

 and should be rammed down quite firmly, which prevents over- 

 heating. The spawn may be inserted when it is found the tem- 

 perature of the bed will not exceed 85° or 90°. It is not de- 

 sirable to water the bed until the Mushrooms appear, when a 

 moderate watering of tepid water should be applied. In all 

 cases 2 iuches of maiden loam should be placed over the surface 

 of the bed and beaten down firmly with the back of a spade. 

 Fifty-five degrees is the best temperature at which the house 

 should be maintained. 



Dwarf Kidney Beans in pots where the temperature is G5°, 

 unless due precautions are taken, will become infested with red 

 spider. To keep this pest in check syringe the under sides of 

 the leaves every morning, and do not allow the soil in the pots 

 to become dry. 



Asparagus Forcing.— "Waese there are heated pits no diffi- 

 culty should be experienced in keeping-up a supply of this vege- 

 table. Shallow beds with two or three rows of pipes for hot 

 water in the bottom are well adapted to maintain the tem- 

 perature of the beds ; about 18 inches of stable manure and 

 leaves should bo placed over the pipes, and when the heat has 

 declined to 8.5°, the clumps of Asparagus roots should be planted 

 on the bed. The temperature of the house may be 50° at first, 

 rising, as the crowns show signs of moving, to a minimum of 00°. 



When dung beds are used for forcing this vegetable there is 

 always much danger of the roots being damaged by too much 

 heat ; and when the first heat declines applying linings of fer- 

 menting manure often involves considerable labour. 



STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 



Stove. — There is now a paucity of flowers. Bouvardias of sorts 

 are invaluable for cutting ; they require a cool stove. If the plants 

 are removed to a greenhouse when in flower, they must not 

 remain there too long, as the young branches die-off with the 

 cold. Urceolina aurea is a very distinct stove plant ; its clusters 

 of drooping yellow flowers are very ornamental, and the effect is 

 much enhanced if they are grouped with specimens of Aphe- 

 landras. But perhaps the most useful of all winter-flowering 

 plants is Dendrobium nobile. A set of plants of this are kept 

 in a cool house— a late viuery where the atmosphere is dry suits 

 them best^aud at intervals of two weeks remove a few plants to 

 the stove, and in this way a succe.SBion of bloom may be kept up 

 from December until June. 



Greenhouse. — The most valuable subjects at present are 

 the different varieties of the Camellia; the large handsome 

 flowers of different shades standing out against the bold glossy 

 dark green foliage cannot be surpassed. When cultivated in 

 pots there is always danger of the plants becoming unhealthy, 

 or the complaint is made that the buds drop-off. The most 

 frequent causes of these evils are over-dryness at the roots or 

 in the atmosphere of the house, or stagnant water at the bage 

 of the roots, caused by the drainage being choked. The fleshy 

 roots of the Camellia are easily injured, and the first signs of 

 anything being wrong is the flower-buds dropping off. If any 

 of the plants are infested with scale the leaves will be dirty ; 

 they should then be washed with soap and water. 



Epacrises and the winter-flowering species of Cape Heaths 

 are very valuable for cutting ; they require to be well attended 

 to as regards the root-supply of water, the ball should be tho- 

 roughly moistened when water is required. Sometimes a plant 

 standing near a flue or hot-water pipes will be over-dry, and the 

 ball will part from the sides of the pot; when this is the case 

 the ball should be rammed-in rather firmly, and the pot soaked 

 in water for half an hour. 



Specimen plants of Stage and Fancy Pelargoniums must now 

 have the shoots trained regularly over the plant ; those intended 

 to flower late shoiild be stopped. Smoke the house it only one 

 green fly is to be seen, water cautiously at the roots. The 

 variegated section require very little water during the present 

 month. Allusion has lately been made to the mould or damp 

 on Chinese Primulas. Ours are very badly affected. The only 

 way to save the plant is to remove the fungoid growth with the 

 fingers, and apply fresh-slaked lime to the injured part. Prompt 

 action is necessary. 



FLOWER G.tBDEN AND bHRUDBBRY. 



No better weather could he desired to forward all operations 

 in this department. All shrubs, especially evergi-eens, should 

 have been planted by this time. If any work of this sort 

 remains yet to be done no delay should be made. It is highly 

 desirable that the plants be established before frosts come. A 



mulching of rotted manure over the roots is of much use in 

 warding-off frosts. Roses ought also to be planted-out before 

 the new year comes in. — J. Douglas. 



TRADE CATALOGUES EECEIVED. 



J. Hill, Spot Acre, Stone, Staffordshire. — Catalogue of Forest 

 Trees, Shruhs, Bases, Fruit Trees, <(-e. 



J. Carter & Co., 237 and 238, High Holborn, London.— Career's 

 Vade-Mecim, 1874. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*.* We request that no one will write privately to any of the 

 correspondents of the " Journal of Horticulture, Cottage 

 Gardener, and Country Gentleman." By so doing they 

 are subjected to unjustifiable trouble and expense. All 

 communications should therefore be addressed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, cOc, 171, Fleet 

 Street, London, E.G. 



We also request that correspondents will not mix up on the 

 same sheet questions relating to Gardening and those ou 

 Poultry and Bee subjects, if they expect to get them 

 answered promptly and conveniently, but write them on 

 separate communications. Also never to send more than 

 two or three questions at once. 



N.B. — Many questions must remain unanswered until next 

 week. 



Books (B, W.). — It you need only the names and short descriptiong of 

 plants and the orders they belong to, Loudon's " Hortus Britannicus " will 

 suit you. 



Supplement (F. H. K ), — "When we give extra pages we call it a snpple- 

 ment. You have mentioned goldfinches and buU&nches, bat have not 

 finished your query. 



Encroaching Trees (Welby). — The courteous mode of proceeding is to 

 ask your neighbour to lop-off the brandies overhanging your garden. If he 

 refuse to do so, you may lop them. As to the roots, you may cut them off 

 as far- as they penetrate your soil, but no further. 



Climbers for Various Pcrposf.s (i?o?fi).— The Bougainvilleas will do in 

 a winter temperature of 45°, or occasionally 40 \ if kept dry at the roots. 

 Clitubers for covering the chains which support a 40-feet polo are Jasminum 

 nudifiornm, Caprifohum Periclymonum, Clematis Vitalba, and climbing Eoscs 

 Dundee Ivambler, Amadis, and Rampanto. Some of the best Clematises are 

 Alexandra, Ilenryi, lanuginosa nivea, Lucie Lemoine, Mrs. James Bateman, 

 Star of India, Jackmanni, and mbro-violacea. A few climbers for a greenhouse 

 — Bignonia iasmiuMides splendida, Kennedya biraaculata variegata, K. ino- 

 phylla floribunda, K. Marryattie, Lapageria rosea, Mandevilia suaveolens, 

 Passitlora Countess Nesselrode, Ithyuchospermum jasminoides, Jasminum 

 graudiflorum, Tacsonia Van-Volxemi, Hoya carnosa, and Sollya linearis. A 

 few climbers for a hothouse or store — Aliamanda cathartica, A. Hendersoui, 

 Ciasus discolor, Clerodeudron Balfourii, Dipladenla crassinoda magnifica, 

 Ipomrea Hor-sfallire, Passidora Decaisneana, P. princeps, aud Stepbanotis flo- 

 ribunda. Flowering stove plants — Anthurium Schorzeiiauvim, Apbelandra 

 aui'antiaca Eoezli, liurcbellia capensis, Centropogon Lnceanus, Dalechampia 

 Koezliaua rosea, Erauthemum pulchellum, Eucharis amazonica, Franciscea 

 calycina major. Gardenia radicans major, Ixora acuminata, I. cocciuea superha, 

 Lasiandra macrautha floribunda, Medinilla magnifica, Pentas carnea, Bond?- 

 letia sppciosa major, Thyrsacanthus rutilans. Euphorbia jacquiniteflora, and 

 Poinsettia pulcherrima. 



Trees and Siirucs for Exposed Position (E. ^L P.). — The best trees 

 for an exposed position are the Sycamore, and the Corsican and Austrian 

 Pine, Mountain Ash, Bird Cherry (Corasus Padus), and common Elder. With 

 these as nurses or as a screen yon may ao break the violence of the winds 

 from the west as to grow to the east of them, and under the shelter of the 

 above, a great variety of shrubs ; but in the absence of particulars we are 

 unable to advise. 



CiiRYSANTHEMujia AFTER Flowerino (Idsm). — Cut away all the old shoots 

 clo.se to the ground, and take the cuttings when 3 or 4 inches long, and pot 

 them singly in small pots, and keep them in a cool house until rooted, and 

 then remove them to a cold frame until April, when they may be shifted into 

 larger pots, and in May may be placed out of doors in an open sunny spot. 



Camellias for Cool Houses iF. T., Dublin). — The lean-to houses which 

 you propose to construct against your existing houses, and which when 

 finished will have northei-n aspects, wUl not, if unhcated, be suitable for Ca- 

 mellias, but if heated they would answer admirably. Without beat we fear 

 you would not be able to give the needed stimulus for a good growth and 

 thorough ripening of the wood. On the front stages of such a house you 

 would bo able to grow Azaleas and a majority of greenhouse foliage plants. 

 Unheated, your houses would suit the hardy kinds uf Ferns, which in their 

 mnltifid forms are very fine. If you cannot heat the proposed structures, any 

 nnsightlinoss of the walls might he overcome by covering them with Ivy. 



Pruning Pyramid Pear and Apple Trees (K.).— The "lateral fine 

 spray growing out of the various main branches and loaders " should be cut 

 back to two eyes, and the shoots produced in consequence next season should 

 be stopped at the third leaf, and afterwards to one leaf, unless they are 

 wanted for extension; then they should be allowed to make six or moro 

 leaves before being stopped, stoppmg again at the third leaf. Had the shoots 

 been stopped to thi-oe leaves tboy would not now have needed cutting-back. 

 Pinch them well in summer, and little or no winter pruning will be necessary. 



Arranging Staging of Greenhouse (3f. B.). — Yitnr house being a lean-to 

 5 feet wide, with a Peach tree against the back wall, you will only be able to 

 have staging in front of the house, and that, to do justice to the Poach tree, 

 should not be more than 2 feet G inches wide, and Hat. There may also bo at 

 the back of the house a shelf about 1 foot 9 inches wide, 2 feet 3 inches or so 

 from the floor, formed of laths, so that it can be removed as required for 

 top-dressing the soil about the Peach tree. The plants on the stage should 



