282 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



L April 2, 1874. 



We also request that no one mU. writo privately to any of our 

 correspondents, as doing so subjects them to unjustifiable 

 trouble and expense. 



Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions 

 relating to Gardening and those on Poultry and Bee sub- 

 jects, and should never send more than two or three 

 questions at once. All articles intended for insertion 

 should be written on one side of the paper only. 



Books {Miss F. K.). — Oar "Kitchen Gardening for the Many" may suit 

 you. You can have it free by post if you enclose five postage stamps with 

 your address. (A. E.). — Our " Greenhouses " will suit you. It may be had by 

 post from our office for lOd. (D. W.). — Sutherland's " Hardy Herbaceous and 

 AJpine Flowere " may suit you. 



Brazilian Orchid {^. ff.).— Your Orchid from Brazil appears to be Epi- 

 dendrum paniculatum. It is fully developed, and certainly is not worth aa 

 amateur's attention when there are so many showy kinds which require no 

 more room nor attention. 



Garden Overflo^'ed by Sea (Maritlma). — Instead of injuring your fruit 

 and vegetable garden the salt water will probably benefit the crops. We 

 knew a garden at Ipswich where the Asparagus beds were greatly improved 

 by being overflowed by the sea. 



Wall-tree Bl<issoms Frosted (F. T.). — We cannot aid you. If you had 

 adopted our advice promptly the mischief would not have happened. 

 *'If you wait on thesau rising 



Till the evening's turning grey, 

 Do not think that it's surprising 

 ^Vhen you find you've lost a day." 

 Box FOR Exhibiting Roses (H. T. P.)— 



Length. Breadth. Height. 



For 24 Koees . . 4 f t. . . 1 ft. 6 ins. . . 6 ins. back, 4 ins. front. 

 „ 18 „ ..3 ft. .. ditto ,. ditto 



„ 12 „ .. 2 ft. 2 ins. ditto .. ditto 



„ 6 „ .. 1ft. 6 ins. ditto .. ditto 



Moss is still the best material to use for setting the Roses on. The tubes 

 should be made of zinc about 4 to 4^ inches long; 2 inches wide at the top, 

 and tapering to 1 inch wide in the middle, having a moveable top through 

 which the Rose is placed previous to its being put into the tube. An, indiau- 

 rubber top pierced for the stem is an improvement. 



Planting Potatoes. — ** Lancaster Aviateur" &%ks oi" H. E. W. Ouihlford" 

 who sets ail Potatoes by the 28th February, how he protects them from the 

 weather, or whether he sets them deeply, so aa not to appear before the severe 

 weather is over ; and does he take them out ripe or not by the 18th of August ? 

 Sawdust and Straw Manure {W. P. J?.).— Your query is very indefinite- 

 Either thoroughly incorporated with the excrements of horses, &c., and well 

 decayed, would be equally good for your farm. 



Bedding Plants in Greenhouse— Vines (Pest). — Remove the drawn 

 bedding plants to a pit or frame where they will have more light, and be kept 

 cooler and near the glass. If you have not a greenhouse, your only plan 

 will be to keep them where they are until May, in the meantime cattiug 

 them back so as to induce low growth, and in May they may be removed to a 

 warm situation, and protected with mats by day when the sun is powerful, 

 and at night if frosty. The Vines just coming into bloom will require a tem- 

 perature much too high for bedding plants, and they ought by all raeanR to be 

 removed to a cooler and lighter place. The Vines in flower should have a 

 temperature of over 60'^ at night. Being very weak we should not allow 

 tbem to carry more than a bunch to every 18 inches of rod or rafter; for 

 instance, if the length of Vine furnished with shoots for bearing is 18 feet, it 

 would not be allowed to carry more than twelve bunches. 



Camellia Leaves Spotted (J. FT.}.— The leaves are spotted in conse- 

 quence of the sun's rays striking powerfully on them. The only remedy is to 

 afford the plants slight shade from the time they commence growth until it is 

 fully matured, or throughout the summer until October. Keeping the leaver 

 constantly wet will also produce the same result; yours have the appearance 

 of water having stood on them and dripped from the edges. 



Peat {T. N.). — The specimen yon enclosed is not fit for potting purposes. 

 The peat or Heath mould used for potting is nearly all siliceous sand, with 

 line fibrous roots of Heath, Ac, intermixed. 



Apple Tree Bark (H. A. IT.).— We do not think the appearance you 

 describe indicative of disease. Scrub the places with a hai-d brush dipped 

 into a strong brine of common salt. 



Calceolaria Cuttings Failing— Pinks Transplanting — Forming Leaf 

 Mould (A. E.).—Yonr Calceolarias are suffering from the drying-up of the 

 stem commonly known as canker or disease, for which there isi no known 

 remedy ; but we think that in your case the cuttings which have failed were 

 taken from the ripe flowering parts of the plant, those rooting and giowing 

 freely being taken from the soft, growing parts. Plant them out at the 

 beginniug of this month in trenches manured as for Celery, and shade and 

 protect with mats on sticks laid across the trenches until established; they 

 may be moved with good balls to their blooming quarters in May. The Pinks 

 should be moved at once, and the layers, not pipings, be detached if rooted, 

 which they ought to be if layered last season. They should be duly wat-red at 

 planting, and occasionally until growing, but do not saturate the soil — merely 

 make it moist. They should be carefully moved, preserving about the roots 

 all the soil practicable. Leaf soil is most quickly made by digging a shallow 

 hole m the ground, and saturating the leaves with water or liquid manure, 

 and turning them over after three months every six weeks. 



Vinery as a Greenhouse {A Constant Jtiader).— Your house, having no 

 sun in the afternoon, will answer bettor as a greenhouse than as a vinery, 

 and will be useful for growing plants for the conservatory. It will need but 

 little in the way of alteration. The Vines will have to be taken out and stages 

 provided. We suppose it is heated aufliciently to exclude frost. 



Heating with Hot Water (H.).~The house will be efficiently heated 

 liy two rows of Sinch pipes, a flow and return along both sides of the hoose 

 and across one end, which would be a better arrangement than having them 

 along one side of the house only, as shown in your sketch, which would have 

 answered well for a loan-to, and will do in your present case, only the pipoa 

 all round would give a more uniform warmth throucrhout the structure. We 

 should have a frame made and enclose a portion of the pipes with brickwork, 

 raising it about 9 inches above the pipes, which may be covered with slates or 



have rubble placed over them to a depth of G inches; then put in about the 

 same depth of plunging material. This will give you sufficient bottom heat 

 for propagating most kinds of plants. The frame will enable you to keep the 

 cuttings close and moist without interfering with the other occnpants of the 

 house. An elliptic boiler would no doubt answer ; but take care to have one 

 that will not from its smallness require to be hard driven to give the requisite 

 heat to the pipes, for the waste of fuel is then enormous. 



Garden-watering Engine {Foreman). — The engine not throwing water bo 

 far as it did last year may arise from a cause easily overlooked. Capttuu 

 Shaw, Superintendent of the London Fire Brigade, states that a scratch in 

 the nozzle of a fire-engine delivery pipe, which an ordinai-y workman might 

 overlook, will reduce its throwing power from 200 feet to 150 feet. 



Hyacinths, Tulips, and Scillas after Forcing {A. G.). — They should 

 be kept in a cool house or pit in a light airy position until they are well 

 hardened off and the weather is more settled ; or about the middle of this 

 month they may be planted out about 2 inches deep in light rich soil in a 

 warm border. The Hyacinths and Scillas may remain there permanently, but 

 the Tulips should he taken up when the tops become yellow, and after taking 

 off these and the roots, place the bulbs in a dry cool place until November, 

 when they may be planted in the border. They are not worth forcing a 

 second time, but are good for borders. 



Orchid Culture (/(Jem). — Of the two stmctures the better will be the 

 Fern house, assigning them the lightest position, and keeping them there 

 until the growth is complete, when we should remove them to the greenhouse, 

 affording them the warmest position, but near the glass, and shading for a 

 time from bright sun. Diminifih the supply of moisture, and withdraw shade 

 as the growths mature; keep the plants dry in winter, but not so much so as 

 to cause the pseudobulbs to shrivel. They ought to be repotted at once. 



Placing Camellias and Azaleas Out of Boors {Irffm).— They should 

 be kept in moist heat until they have made fresh growth, and then have more 

 light and air ; when well hardened off and the buds set, they may be placed 

 outside in a position sheltered from winds and shaded from the sun, but not 

 by overhanging trees. A cool house with an east aspect is much better to 

 keep the plants in after the buds are set than placing them out of doors. The 

 Eucharis amazonica should at once be repotted, and grown in brisk heat with 

 moisture. Use a compost of two parts turfy loam, and one part leaf soil, with, 

 a half part of sandy peat and a sixth of silver sand, chopping up rather fine, 

 but not sifting ; and afford good drainage. 



Hoya carnosa and Cham.erops excelsa Repotting {H.F.F.). — Repot 

 now, using for the Hoya a compost of equal parts of fibrous loam and sandy 

 peat (the cocoa-nut fibre refuse will do), and old cow dung, charcoal in lumps 

 between the sizes of hazel nuts and wsdnuts, broken bricks or crocks, and old 

 lime rubbish, vrith good drainage. Place in the hot vinery until the growth is 

 complete, and then afford alight airy position in the conservatory, and no 

 more water than sufficient to keep the plants from shrivelling. The Chamre- 

 rops does best in a compost of saudy fibrous peat torn up roughly, three 

 parts, and one part fibrous loam, with a half part in equal proportions of old 

 diy cow dung, silver sand, and pieces of charcoal. The cocoa-nut refuse may 

 be substituted for peat, adding a fourth of silver sand to it. It will succeed 

 in the cool conservatory, being hardy in sheltered positions. 



Amaryllis and Gentian (Dtthlin). — We have no idea what the Amaryllis 

 and Gentian can be with such monstrous bulbs and roots as you describe, but 

 as they are growing freely in the open ground it is likely they arc hardy, and 

 only require the treatment of hardy bulbous plants, which is to keep clear 

 of weeds and to mulch all round ; and if they die down, cover them in winter 

 with leaf soil or short litter, pointing it in in spring. 



Plants for North-aspect Border (F. I.).— As the border abuts on a 

 lawn laid out in beds filled with beddiug plants, wa should have something 

 of the same kind of thing for the border, covering the wall in the first 

 instance with Ivy — say Rfegner's, and allowing it to spread on the ground, 

 forming a band a foot wide at the base of the wall, and disposing of the re- 

 mainder of the border in the usual way with bedding plants. We do nob 

 suggest arrangements, hut are always ready to criticise proposed plantings. 



Pear and Apple Trees Surface-rooting {Idem). — It is an excellent 

 sign. Do not cover them with soil, or very lightly, but mulch around the 

 trees 16 inches or 2 feet from the stem with some rich compost or well-rotted 

 manure, putting it on about half to three-quarters of an inch thick. We give 

 ours fresh short manure, which we advise if the trees are not very vigorous 

 and are bearing freely, applying it just after the bloom is past, and repeating 

 the dressing at the beginniug of July. 



Plants for Trellis (Welbn).— The best enbjects are the Clematis, and 

 of these we should have C. Jackmauni and C. montana major. If you wish 

 for an evergreen, we know of none more suitable than Ivy. Roses of the 

 Multiflora race, as Laure Davoust, and Russelliaua, and Ayrshire Roses 

 Dundee Rambler and Queen would also suit. The Ivies and Clematises as- 

 sociate well together, but the Roses should be grown alone. 



Draining Garden— Mossy Orchard (ldnn).—Thoagh. the subsoil is 

 sandy loam, it may, nevertheless, require draining. Examine the ground by 

 digging a hole to a depth of 4 feet, and if you find water drain to a depth of 

 3 feet 6 inches to 4 feet. The soil of the mossy orchard is both wet and poor. 

 Drain, and dress with a compost of one ton of lime mixed with ten of soil 

 or refuse, applying it in March or now. 



Destroying Slugs {J. f'.).— Apply nitrate of soda to the ground at the 

 rate of 1 lb. to 30 square yards, but before putting in the crops. We have no 

 great difticulty with slugs, as we dress the groxmd with salt at the rate of 

 twenty bushels per acre in March, or before cropping, and upon any appear- 

 ance of the slugs we sprinkle the plants and soil about them with quicklime 

 early in the morning or at dusk, repeating the sprinkhng as the lime is 

 washed away by rains, or the slugs continue their depredations. 



Insects Destroying Vines {Subscriber).— The insect is a weevil, Cur- 

 culio pioipes, which is very injurious in a vinery. Spread a sheet beneath the 

 Vine at night, and shako the Vioc rod sharply, when the weevils will fall on 

 the sheet, and may bo destroyed. This repeated a few times will thin their 

 numbers. We presume the Vines were stripped of their loose bark, and after- 

 wards dressed in the usual manner, the walls being thoroughly whitewashed. 

 Any holes or crevices in the wall should be stopped with cement. We cannot 

 laytoo much stress on your taking the weevils; every one you destroy will 

 help to prevent egg-laying. The tobacco juice of the manufacturer diluted 

 with six times its bulk of water is useful, applying it through a rosed water- 

 ing pot; also the following: — 4ozs. quassia chips, boiled ten minutes in a 

 gallon of soft water, dissolving in it 4 ozs. soft soap. Wet the surface of the 

 whole house with this two or three times, especially near the walls, just after 

 dusk, and the following day water the whole bouse with tepid water. Neither 



