82 



JOOENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t Jauuaiy 22, 1874. 



or stages one above another, with an outer edging to each to 

 prevent the fruit from falling-off. The staging in the fruit- 

 room at Loxford Hall is 3 feet wide, one stage being placed 

 above another ; the distance between is 1 foot 9 inches. The 

 staging is of white pine, and is formed of laths made of inch 

 deals; the laths are 1 J -inch wide, a space of 1 inch being 

 allowed between each. The stages are easily fixed. Upright 

 posts of deal, 2^ inches sijnare, reaching from floor to ceiling, 

 are ranged in line ; 3 feet from the wall cross-bearers, 1} inch 

 square, with one end in the wall and the other fixed to the 

 upright posts, are placed at the proper distances, the laths 

 being nailed to these cross-bearers. If the house is wide 

 enough a table may be iixed in the centre, on the same principle 

 as the side stages. The fruit keeps best if laid-out on these 

 stages not more than two deep, all the better if only one deep. 



Iruit intended to be kept in good condition after February 

 should be packed in barrels or boxes amongst dry sand, each 

 specimen being wrapped-up separately in soft paper. I have 

 also kept fruit with straw laid under and over it, also laid out 

 on cloths, but the above is what I consider the best. Of course, 

 although it is recommended to build the fruit-room on the 

 shady side of the wall, it does not foUow that no other position 

 will answer; facing east would be next best, then west, and 

 south worst of all. A fireplace should be built in the room, 

 though it will not be necessary to use it often. It will require 

 to be lighted should very severe frost set in, as should the 

 fruit become frozen it will soon decay. 



Where the garden is but small, and only a small quantity of 

 fruit to be kept, it may be stored in the dwelling-house in 

 any convenient and suitable place, the main essential being 

 that all fruit should be laid in an airy place for two or three 

 weeks after it is gathered, all decaying fruit being removed as 

 soon as it is perceived. Amateurs and others who have been 

 successful in keeping fruit well under adverse circumstances 

 would confer a great favour on many readers if they would 

 publish through the columns of this Journal the means used. 

 — J. Douglas. 



[The accompanying are drawings of a fmit-room, in which the 

 later varieties of Pears in particular were kept in extraordinary 

 condition till an advanced period of the season. Fii). 1 is a 

 view of the interior,//;. 2 the ground plan, /i;/. 3 the longitu- 

 dinal section. The reference letters are in all cases the same.] 



NOTES ON VILLA and SUBUEBAN GARDENING. 



Insects and Diseases of Plants. — Plants in rooms, especi- 

 ally Geraniums and Rosea, are very liable to be attacked by 

 aphides. These may be removed by tobacco smoke or tobacco 

 water, and, where the smell is not offensive, smoke blown from 

 a common tobacco-pipe is as effectual as any other method. 

 Camphorated water may be used by those who dislike the smell 

 of tobacco. Mildew occasionally, though rarely, attacks house 

 plants, and its appearance shows that the plant has been in im- 

 pure air, or otherwise improperly treated. Sulphur or camphor 

 will effectually remove the mildew ; and a scaly insect of the 

 coccus tribe, which appears occasionally on Oranges, Camellias, 

 and similar plants, may be removed by a sponge and water. 



Plants and Flowers in Piooms. — Many persons have a dis- 

 like to jjlauts in houses as being unhealthy, and as their dislike 

 is in a great measure groundless, I may notice it. Dr. Priestley 

 •was the first to show that the leaves of plants absorb carbonic 

 acid gas by their upper surfaces, and give out oxygen by their 

 under ones, thereby tending to purify the air in as far as animal 

 life is concerned, because carbonic acid gas is pernicious to 

 animals, and oxygen is what that Ufe requires. It is in the light, 

 however, that these operations are carried on, for in the dark 

 plants give out carbonic acid, and this may be one reason why 

 plants grown in the dark have little or uo charcoal in their sub- 

 stance. It does not appear, however, that any of the scentless 

 products given out by plants are injurious to human beings, be- 

 cause those who live among accumulated plants are not less 

 healthy than others, though many persons feel dislike, and even 

 pain, from the odours of particular plants in a way not very 

 easily accounted for. 



On the Continent in general, and in France and Germany in 

 particular, flowers of all sorts, but particularly the most fragrant, 

 are admitted into the saloons, chambers, and even bedrooms 

 of people of all classes, and they, rather than complain of auy 

 ill effects arising from their presence, complain more of the 

 (lifliculty of procuring them in sufficient abundance. The 

 flowers most in demand for the chambers of the French and 

 Germans are Oranges, .Jasmine, Carnations, Honeysuckle, Mig- 

 nonette, Olive, Rocket, Rose, Violet, Wallflower, Rosemary, 

 Stock, Lavender, Savory, Oleander, Hyacinth, LUac, Syringa, 

 Heliotrope, Narcissus, &c. — all sweet-smelling flowers, and these 



they indulge in to a very considerable extent. We may safely 

 conclude, then, that plants admitted into rooms to the extent 

 they are in general can produce no effect injurious to the health 

 of the majority of people, but, on the contrary, will afford 

 amusement to the mimd and exercise to the body. The mind 

 will be agreeably exercised in contemplating the beauty of the 

 flowers, but much more so still if the study of their respective 

 parts, nature, and structure, in a botanical and physiological 

 point of view, be at the same time attended to. An agreeable 

 and rational exercise will be provided for the body if the pro- 

 prietor, particularly if of the softer sex, take the entire manage- 

 ment of the little window garden. 



Plants in rooms turn not only their leaves but their branches 

 to the window by which the light entered, and a plant may, by 

 turning it at intervals, be made to bend successively to all sides ; 

 but such bendings weaken the plant, and thus it is an excessive 

 or unnatural action. This turning of the plant to the light is 

 always, of course, in proportion to the brightness of that light 

 as compared with the other sides of the plant. Flowers, too, open 

 their petals to the light and close them in the dark, or in some 

 cases, as in that of the Crocus, when a cloud passes over the 

 sun. The same flower, and also some others, will open their 

 petals to the light of a lamp or candle, and close them again 

 when that is withdrawn. 



It follows, as a necessary consequence, that in rooms plants 

 should be placed as near the window as possible, that the window 

 should have a south aspect, and that they should be as seldom 

 as possible shaded with blinds or otherwise. If placed at a dis- 

 tance from the windows, plants should be frequently changed, 

 and to place them on tables or mantel-shelves is bad manage- 

 ment. As the weather has been very changeable lately, parti- 

 cular attention is required for protecting everything that is 

 likely to be injured by frost. When the nights are sharp and 

 cold all the plants should be drawn back from the window, or 

 set down on the floor of the room. Pelargoniums, owing to the 

 late mild weather, will now be nice plants if they have been 

 well treated, and must be carefully watered. If they incline to 

 grow-up weak and spindly the points of the shoots may be 

 nipped-off; they should be watered sparingly, and allowed to 

 have plenty of air every fine day. 



Vegetaeles. — If not done last week, a sowing of Radishes 

 may be made on a warm border if the weather is favourable, 

 but the beds must be carefully covered in severe weather, as 

 directed last week. Vacant ground, if any, may be dug, and 

 everything that will forward the spring work should now be 

 done before that busy time arrives. 



FaniT. — If any fruit trees remain not pruned it is not yet too 

 late to perform that operation. Gooseberry and Currant-pruning 

 must be completed as soon as possible. After pruning it is well 

 to top-dress the bushes a little. To accomplish this, draw a 

 little of the surface soil away with a hoe, then apply the manure, 

 and finally soil the whole over about 2 inches deep. 



Flowers. — This changeable weather is very unfavourable to 

 flowers, and they will require much attention. If severe frosts 

 set in, China Roses, &c., trained on the cottage trellis should 

 have some protection, for, being in a forward state, they will be 

 injured. Spring flowers, as Anemones, Tulips, Crocuses, ti*c., if 

 any, must also be looked after and protected with fern or straw. 



i?LANTS PEoi'ER FOR WiNDOw CuLTUBE. — As the Situation of 

 these plants is different from what they occupy in their natural 

 state, it becomes necessary to select such as are capable of 

 accommodating themselves to circumstances; and as the un- 

 favourable circumstances of house plants are chiefly want of 

 free and pure air and of light, and in those species which are 

 accustomed to long seasons of repose in the winter, the want of 

 a uniform temperature, these circumstances must be kept in 

 mind in the selection. Rooms, especially in crowded cities, 

 are the most unnatural, and on that account the worst situa- 

 tions in which plants can be placed, and therefore, if heal thy 

 plants, and an abundance of bloom are sought, variety must be 

 sacrificed. Plants which will continue healthy for a long time 

 in the confined air of rooms are generally those which have a 

 pecuhar surface or texture in the foUage, such as many of the 

 Aloes, Cactuses, and Mesembryanthemums, among what are 

 called succulent plants. — W. Keane. 



LOCAL PLANTS. 



Many years have passed since in a far distant land tho 

 writer of this delivered, among other botanical lectures, one 

 on " Local Plants." He referred to Primula imperialis, on!;/ 

 found on Pangerango Mountain in Java, in the damp shade of 

 thickets at an elevation of 9000 feet. He referred to thu Ker- 

 guelau Cabbage, which a naval friend said was found nowhere 

 except on that island. 



The Sea Pink and Scurvy Grass are found otilij on the sea- 

 shore and summits of our Highland mountains — evidence that 

 these were once islands enclosed by the sea. 



Saxifraga cernua is found nowhere in Britain except on the 



