474 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUIiE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ JuQo 11, 1874. 



best place for these plants to make their growth, and in July 

 and Angust they may be arranpied on a bed of ashes in a shel- 

 tered position out of doors with advantage. Thyrsacauthus 

 rutilana has flowered splendidly with us this year, a succession 

 has been kept-up for at least three months. The cuttings of 

 these are struck in the same way as Eranthemum. and require 

 similar treatment. Green fly has been troublesome, and fumi- 

 gating with tobacco smoke is dangerous at this season when 

 Orchids, Ferns, and other tender subjects are making young 

 growths. On plants that it is not desirable to syringe, the 

 aphis has been brushed off with a small camel-hair brush, and 

 in other instances they have been washed off. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



' In our soils Roses used to suffer much during continued dry 

 weather; the soil has little holding power, and the roots can get 

 no sustenance in the dry subsoil of gravel or loose sand. In one 

 instance the substratum of poor soil and gravel has been re- 

 moved, some loam of a more clayey character and rotted ma- 

 nure added. Another the bed intended for the plants was as 

 deeply trenched as the nature of the soil would admit of ; a 

 layer of manure was laid in the bottom of the trench, some soil 

 placed over this, then another layer of manure, and about 

 3 inches of soil on the top. This treatment causes a luxuriant 

 andhealthy growth, with more freedom from insects. The plants 

 are flowering strongly, and a good soaking of water, mulching 

 the ground afterwards with rotted manure, would be beneficial. 

 ■Gladiolus are growing very strongly, the soil has been prepared 

 ior them in a similar manner to the Rose beds. The roots that 

 were planted early have been watered, the later-plauted have not 

 <is yet required atay. Hollyhocks showed signs of distress last 

 week, but time could not be spared to attend either to them or 

 the Phloxes, although scarcely any class of plants are so much 

 benefited by copious waterings as these are. "We were truly glad 

 to receive a good shower of rain on Saturday night. Rather 

 more than half an inch fell, which will save them for the time. 

 Placed sticks to them after thiuning-out superfluous growths, 

 the Phloxes to four or five growths, and the Hollyhocks to two 

 or three. The best Hollyhock spikes are obtained from young 

 plants raised from cuttings or grafts early in the year, and if 

 tbey are intended for exhibition it is quite necessary that 

 they be managed in this way; but for decorative purposes two- 

 year-old plants with three stems are the best. "We had watered 

 the beds in the flower garden and dressed the surface with rotted 

 manure, and this, with the rain, will cause Verbenas, Calceo- 

 larias, and other subjects that suffer from drought to start into 

 free growth, — J. Douglas. 



PROVINCIAL HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 



[Secretaries will oblige us by informing us of the dates on 

 which exhibitions are to be held. Although we cannot report 

 them fully, we shall readily note anything especially excellent, 

 and we wish for information on such specialities to be sent 

 to us.] 



JUNE. 



liBeds 10, 11, and 12 



Gloucester and Cheltenham 11 



Eoyal Oxfordshire 16 



Gosport 17 



Chertsey 17 



Bnrton- on. Trent 17 



Thorns 17 



Jersey 17 



Guildford 17 



York 17,18,andl9 



Fermoy 18 



JUNF. 



Brockham (Kose) li:j 



Stamford 23 and 24 



Nottingham 24 



R.H.S. of Ireland 25 



Cambridgeshire 25 



Thetford 25 



Ipswich and E. of Enf^land 25 and 26 

 Kingston and Surbiton ... .25 and 26 



Boston 30 and July 1 



Stratford 30, and July 1 uud 2 



Devon and Exeter (Roses) S 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*^* It is particularly requested that no communication be ad- 

 dressed privately to either of the Editors of this Journal. 

 All correspondence should be directed either to " The 

 Editors," or to " The Publisher." Great delay often arises 

 when this rule is departed from. 



CJorrespondents should not mix upon 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 (A iJcarfrr).— The "Vine Manual" will suit you. It may be had 

 from our office, free by post, for 2s. l\d. 



Lelium giganteuu fJ. B.). — From your description we think it is that 

 Xily. Dr. Wallich found it near the Himalayah Monntaina. sent it to England, 

 and it bloomed here for the first time in 1852. When it has commenced 

 "blooramg it does so annually. You could obtain it from any of the florists 

 who advertise in our columns. 



Bois iMMORTEL (H. Q.). — We cannot tell what tree Waterton intended, 

 and it is useless to speculate upon that or any other writer's meaning. We 

 know that Erythrina coral Indendrou is called T><nn imniortel, and we know if is 

 called Biicare in the Carracas, wliere. in Trinidad and other places, it i>^ planted 

 toiahade the Theobroma Cacao, or Chocolate-nut, yet that species only attains 



a height of 20 feet; in fact, that stature la best for shading the Chocolate 

 plants. Erythriua glauca is also called Bois immortel. E. indica, we see, is 

 spoken of aa TArbre immortel. We have now told all we caji find on the 

 subject. 



SnsrjiER House for AtrniCTn,AS (A. C. S.I.— This does not sound as a 

 fitting place to put Auriculas in ; if high up it would be too much exposed, 

 and unless the light is moveable the plants would get too much scorched. 

 Why not put them into a small fiaoie in the ground ? They would be happy 

 there, but I doubt it in the position you name. — D., Deal. 



Insects Attacking Fruit Trees { ).— The larger species of weevil 



sent, which feeds on the wood and eyes of the trees by night, hiding under 

 the aoil during the day, is the well-known Otiorhyuchus puactatus; and the 

 smaller brighter-coloured species which feeds by day on the foliage ia the 

 weevil, Nemoicns oblongua. Shading the trees over a sheet at the time when 

 the insects are at work and then destToying the weevils by immersion in 

 scalding water is the only available remedy.— I. O. W. 



Mildew on Roses (Amateur Scof).— You had better write to the pro- 

 prietor of the composition for the information you require. 



Name of Orange (M. S.).— It is Citrus vulgaris myrtifolia, Myrtle-leaved 

 Orani^-e. It i^ a native of India, iutroJucfi'd a^ lou'j since as 1594 by Sir Francis 

 Carew, and cultivated in his orangery at Beddington, in Surrey. 



Greenhouse Plants Mealy-bugged (J. W. L.).— Your house must have 

 a temperature more like that of a stove than greenhouse for the plants to be 

 infested as you describe with mealy bug. From October to March the tempe- 

 rature from fii-e heat should not exceed 45"" by day, and air ought to be given 

 at that temperature. From February onward 50^ ehiuld be the maximum 

 from fire heat, air being given at that, and taken off at 5iJ- ; and whenever 

 the temperature can be maintained at 50°, all air being given, or sufficient 

 not to let it fall lower than 50^, you cannot give too much air, always reducing 

 it as occasion requires, so as to maintain a temperature without artificial 

 heat of 50-. Full ventilation should be given when the temperature reaches 

 55'=', and not reduced until it fall to 55^. We fear your temperatures very 

 much exceed the above, and we are not surprised at the advance of the mealy 

 bug. With a lower temperature it would not make su -h rapid progress. The 

 plants should be laid on their sides and syringed forcibly with water, turning 

 them round so as to dislodge and wash off the bug, and they should be 

 placed in their proper position after they have stood to dry and been again 

 washed. They would be best operated on outside the house, which must be 

 thoroughly cleaned. They should be frequently looked over, and any mealy 

 bug in the angles and crevices may be rf moved with a brush, and, where 

 comeatable, with the hand, syringing the plants thoroughly with water as 

 before described, the pots laid on their sides, and the insects washed off. 

 This is a troublesome process, but an effectual mode of freeing pot plants of 

 mealybug. We should advise painting the house when the plants can ba 

 moved to a sheltered shady spot outside. 



HoTEiA jAPoNici AFTER FLOWERING (Iiicni). — We presume the plants are 

 in pots, in which case, if they have flowered under glass, they should be 

 planted out in rich light soil in the open ground, and be abundantly supplied 

 with water. The leaves fall in autumn, as this species is an herbaceous 

 perennial. The plants may be taken up after the fall of the leaves, be 

 divided if too large, and potted, plunging them in ashes in a cold pit, from 

 which they may be drafted at intervals into the houses fur forcing. 



Pears not Setting (Julius, Kidwelltj). — Probably the border ia dry. 

 When the tree is coming into flower we should make holes a foot deep and 

 about a foot apart with a crowbar, throw the border into furrows, so as to 

 hold water, fill them with water, and after sett)ing-in repeat two or three 

 times, finally levelling, and mulch with short manui-<3. In autumn we should 

 take out a trench at about 3 feet from the stem, cut off any roots that are 

 thicker than a quill, and fill up again firmly with fresh moderately rich soil. 

 The root- pruning will not be necessary if the growths during summer do not 

 exceed 6 to 9 inches; and if root-pruning be practised, it will only be neces- 

 sary to make holes in the undisturbed part next the stem prior to watering. 



Liquid Manure for Vegetables (Idem). — Twice a-week is, in dry 

 weather, often enough to water vegetables with liquid manure, and once 

 a-week in moist weather; whilst, if very wet. manure watering is not necessary, 

 it being better to sprinkle the dry guano between the rows of plants. One 

 ounce of guano to a gallon of water is sufficiently powerful to apply twice 

 a-week, and 2 ozs. to the gallon when the waterings are at intervals of a week 

 or ten days. The wall trees may in dry weather be watered every ten days or 

 a fortnight. 



Vine Border Watering (Bf. D.).— The border should have a thorongh 

 watering every ten days or a fortnight, and at the mte of one gallon per 

 square foot, which is equal to abuut 2 inches of rainiall. 



Peach-house Arrangement (A Constant Reader) — We should have the 

 front part of the house trellised at about 16 inches from the glass, and to 

 within 2 feet of the ground, taking the trellis up to within 5 feet of the top, 

 which will allow light to the trees on the back wall. You may have two trees 

 against the latter, and two on the front trellis. What would be the good of 

 trees on the back wall if they were trained up and down the roof-trellis as 

 you propose ? 



Thinning Pears (T. J. H.), — It is not, hut ought to be, customary to thin 

 the fruit of Pears when a heavy crop. It is best to do so gradually, re- 

 moving the smallest fruit, and especially the ill-formed, taking them off close 

 with a knife, and not half the fruit at a time, as you p^opo^6. Three or four 

 fruit to every square foot of surface are better than a greater number, and in 

 moat instances a sufficiently heavy crop. Have them all thinned by the time 

 the fruit is fairly the size of a broad bean. 



Grapes Swelling Irregularly (Idem). — The small berries have no 

 doubt not seeded, owing to imperfect fertilisation of the flowers, and not to 

 any chuck afterwards. The only remedy is to maintain a good temperature 

 at flowering time, and to go over the bunches when in full flower with a soft 

 brush, and bo assist the distribution of the pollen. The hand gently drawn 

 down the bunches when in flower will also answer. 



CacuMBER Diseased (J. W. B.).— The fruit forwarded na was damped at 

 the end, and, of course, decayed, while the leaf was dying off, the evil in both 

 cases arising from defective ro it-action combined with excessive moisture in 

 the atmosphere, the soil being also wet, cold, and rich. The plants may 

 recover if you give them an increase of bottom heat, and shade from bright 

 sun, encouraging fresh growth, removing the old leaves as young ones are 

 produced, and top-dressing with moderately rich soil, removing a little of the 

 "id surface soil. Water moderately, and keep a moist, well-ventilated atmo- 

 sphere, sprinkliLg lightly at shutting-up time. 



