Febraary 12, 1871. I 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



153 



Eeadiug, when it was sent ont for the first time, and has since 

 then beau annually grown at Loxford Hall by the acre, so that 

 there has been ample opportunity to test it. Its freedom from 

 disease is remarkable. This year a diseased tuber may be found 

 here and there, but they are not worth notice when from one- 

 half to two-thirds of the entire crop of Regents is diseased. It 

 is considered a profitable investment to obtain a supply of seed 

 Potatoes from Scotland annually. 



Sow early Turnips on a warm border. The main crop of 

 Onions may also be sown ; White Spanish, Brown Globe, and 

 James's Keeping are our selection. 



ynniT and fobcinq houses. 



Pineries. — We shall, if possible, renew the Pine beds this 

 week, and will make a trial of what is to us a new plunging 

 material. It is difficult to obtain tan, and when this is used an 

 anxious time follows in case the bed should become overheated, 

 and thus destroy the roots of the plants. The only way to be 

 safe is to stand the pots on the surface until the heat subsides 

 to 90'^, and when it declines to 85° this temperature can be main- 

 tained by the aid of the heating apparatus. It is not necessary 

 that the bottom heat should rise above 85°, nor should it fall 

 many degrees below it. We use cocoa-nut fibre refuse for 

 plunging pots in cool houses, and out of doors this material, 

 when fresh, throws out a gentle heat, and will probably, with 

 the aid of the hot-water pipes, give out enough for the Pines ; 

 it is also a much better material in which to plunge pots, and 

 there will be no danger from overheating. During the present 

 severe weather, rather than overheat the pipes, let the night 

 temperature faU to 65° ; in mUd weather it may be maintained 

 at 7(1". Utilise all the sun heat possible by shutting-up early in 

 the afternoon. 



Melons that were sown in the first week of January will now 

 be ready to plant ont. The compost should be prepared as re- 

 commended in a previous number, and taken into the house a 

 few days before putting out the plants. The glass should be 

 perfectly clean outside and inside of the house, and all internal 

 woodwork should be washed with water in which a little soft 

 Boap has been dissolved. Coat the brickwork with limewash, 

 and if a pound of sulphur be added to each pailful of the wash 

 all the better. 



Cucumhers are improving; the young leaves that are now 

 forming are thicker in texture, and the growths are strong. A 

 night temperature of 70° suits them best, while 65° is a good 

 minimum for the Melon house. 



Orange House. — Very few establishments have a house entirely 

 devoted to the culture of the different varieties of dessert 

 Oranges, and it is not generally known that fruit of the most 

 delicious flavour, far superior to any imported, can be grown in 

 England. The few trees we have are now in flower, and are 

 growing in a house where the night temperature is about 60°. 

 Tangerine, St. Michael's, and Maltese Blood are the most desir- 

 »ble sorts to grow. The fruit generally sets freely, but the 

 atmosphere ought to be moderately dry wheu the blossoms are 

 expanding. 



Fig trees in pots are also starting into growth. It is well not 

 to have the plants in a house with a high night temperature, 

 and especially where there is not much circulation of air during 

 the day, as such treatment causes a weak growth, and the fruit 

 will probably drop off. Our trees are potted annually in October 

 or November, and surface-dressed as soon as they are in active 

 growth. It is best to have a house entirely devoted to their 

 culture, and they should not be far removed from the glass. A 

 temperature of 60° is quite high enough at night, and better let 

 it fall a few degrees below this than rise above it in cold weather. 

 The pots are not plunged with us, and the fruit is generally of 

 excellent flavour. Shut the house up early in the afternoon, 

 and syringe the plants at the same time. Figs luxuriate in the 

 moist atmosphere produced by such management. Fig trees 

 also require to be watered carefully. When in full growth they 

 take a large supply, and if manure is added to it at each alternate 

 watering so much the better ; but if they receive an excess of 

 water signs of distress will be soon apparent, deep green leaves 

 will assume a yellowish green colour, and when this is the case 

 no after-treatment wUl cause them to produce good fruit that 

 season. Liberal drainage is essential in this as in the case of 

 all trees or plants requiring a large supply of water. 



STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 



No class of plants wiU better keep-up a supply of flowers at 

 this season than the Orchid family. Take two species only — 

 Dendrobium nobile and Lycaste Skinneri. Where in the whole 

 range of exotic plants can two others be found that are so 

 easily cultivated, and will at the same time continue to pro- 

 duce such a lavish profusion of beautiful flowers '? The Chinese 

 Dendrobe should be kept in stove heat when making its growth, 

 but the plants during autumn and winter can be placed in a 

 greenhouse or cool vinery. Peach house at rest, &c., and be 

 removed to the stove when required. Lycaste Skinneri is a 

 cool-house Orchid ; also in the cool house, Odontoglosaum cris- 

 pum and Crelogyne cristata furnish abundant supplies of the 

 most lovely flowers. The atmosphere of the cool house should 



only be moderately moist, otherwise the flowers are liable to 

 spot. The temperature at present is 45° to 50° at night. The 

 above Orchids are as easily grown as any other greenhouse 

 plants ; indeed, much more easily to the uninitiated than Heatha 

 and many other Cape plants. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



AU the beds and borders planted with spring flowers shoulfl 

 be free from weeds and have a neat and orderly appearance. 

 Hyacinths, Tulips, and all other bulbous-rooted plants are 

 through the ground ; our beds were dressed over the surface with 

 fresh soil, which improves the appearance and is beneficial to 

 the plants. We are also busily engaged propagating and potting- 

 off bedding plants. Owing to want of space we did not pot-off 

 the Zonal Pelargoniums in autumn ; now that the late vineries 

 are cleared of Grapes, there will be plenty of accommodation for 

 them. Pruning Roses, manuring and digging the beds. If 

 herbaceous borders have not been lightly forked over this ought 

 to be done at once, as many of the early-flowering plants are in 

 a forward state. — J. Douglas. 



TRADE CATALOGUES EEOEIVED. 



B. E. Davis, Middle Street, Yeovil. — Catalogue of Vegetable, 

 Flowery and Agricultural Seeds, tic. 



F. & A. Dickson & Sons, lOG, Eaatgate Street, Chester.— Coia- 

 logue of Vegetable and Flower Seeds, d'C. 



Butler & McCuUoch, Covent Garden Market, London, W.C.^ 

 Spring Catalogue of Seeds. 



Harrison & Sons, Royal Midland Seed Warehouse, Leicester. 

 — Seed Catalogue. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*,* We request that no one wiU 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. AU 

 communications should therefore be addressed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, <£c., 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 on 

 Poultry and Bee subjects, if they expect to get them 

 answered promptly and conveniently, but write them ou 

 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 (C. Waghom).—" Kitchen Gardenmg for the Many " will suit yon. 

 You can have it free by post if you enclose iiTe postage stamps with yoor 

 fall direction. 



Plum Shoots {E. TValpoU). — The parasites are the Tine scale, Coccua vitis 

 Brush oyer them with a creamy mixture of soft soap and spirit of turpentine* 



Potato Disease (B. S.).— Wo shall readily insert a detail of results in 

 practice, but your theoretical conclusions seem to be refuted by the fact that 

 tubers of the Potato imported from its native country produced diseased 

 plants the first year. 



Poultry Dono (T. W. T.).— In moderation it may be used for any crop. 

 The addition of lime is no Improvement. We should store it in layers, alter- 

 nating with layers of earth. 



Cabpet Beds m Battehsea Pabe (T7. If.).— Tout recollections of the 

 bedding are too general to answer your question definitely. A groundwork of 

 Feverfew, with Alternanthera fdling-in the pattorus, was most prevalent in 

 the carpet beds last year. In a few iustauces both Ckild and hilver-leaved 

 Geraniums were used as a groundwork for Coleus Verschaffelti and re- 

 fulgens. The colour of the latter Coleus resembles, and might be mistaken 

 for PeriUa. Chama>puce diacautba aud Alteruanthera maguilica as ground- 

 work were also used, as were Ceutaurea caudidiBsima and Iresino Lindeni. 

 There was no Cineraria maritima used lant year. Feverfew, Stachys lanata, 

 Cerastium, yantolina, and Verouica iucaua as hardy plants might answer your 

 purpose. The only dark-leaved hardy plants that we know are Ajuga reptans 

 rubra and the purple Trefoil, neither of which, wo fear, would give satisfaction 

 as summer carpet- bedding plants. 



Pelargonium Bowkeri.— " J. S." wishes to know where he could find the 

 true Pelargonium Bowkeri said to have a yellow flower '.' 



Pine Apples (S. W. S.).— For summer we should advise Queen, and for 

 winter Black Jamaica and Smooth-leaved Cayenne. In your case we should 

 prefer to plant-out in the bed instead of shifting into fruiting pots, and after 

 the fruit is cut a sucker may be encouraged and left to the old stool, the old 

 plant being cut away. Thus by top-dressing you may keep the bed furnished 

 with plants for some years without the trouble of repottmg, &c. Very nice 

 fruit have been grown in this way, but our best cultivators produce their 

 finest fruit on plants in pots. 



Obatellino Cabeiaqe Dbive (G. B.).— Wo should remove as much of 

 the old gravel as is reduced to a muddy state, have the walk picked-up as you 

 propose, and the surface made regular. We should then put on a thickness 

 of the rough building-stone chippings, which we fear are soft, putting them 

 on so as to give the centre of the drive a rise of 7 inches above the Bides, 

 which should be 2 inches below the edge or grass verge. We should put on 

 2 inches of chippings that are so small as to have a neat appearance, and 

 admit of the drive being cleaned, without giving it when raked a rough 

 aspect, and making it necessary to remove the larger portions of stone 

 repeatedly. The only matter we have a donbt about is the stone. If ordinoiy 



