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JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



( Angnst 6, 1876. 



Zonals comprise old favourites that have done good service for 

 many years. One often hears of the excellent qualities of the 

 new varieties, but they come in such crowds that it is quite im- 

 possible to purchase all, and according to the vendor's description 

 all of them have superior qualities. We still grow Amy Hogg 

 and Christine for pink, Vesuvius for scarlet, and of crimson 

 shades Stella and Wellington. It is not a long list, but they 

 answer our purpose very well. 



Phloxes are now in fine flower, the spikes are very strong; 

 they are from two-year-old plants, the delicious perfume is 

 wafted a considerable distance from the beds. A rich soil and 

 plenty of water during the growing season is all the treatment 

 they require beyond tying the spikes to a stout stick. Have 

 been layering Carnations and Picotees. Nearly all our collection 

 has been grown in pots, and as the flowers open they are re- 

 moved to the greenhouse to protect them from the weather, but 

 as soon as the flowers are over it is best to remove the plants 

 outside again, as the " grass " becomes drawn up weakly ; the 

 surface soil in the pots is removed, and some sandy loam put in 

 its place, in which the layers are pegged down. We have also 

 tried to propagate some of the sorts from cuttings, but to be 

 successful with them they ought to be put in about the latter 

 end of June. It is then necessary to mark them with a corre- 

 sponding mark on the plant from which they have been taken, 

 as the flowers may be " run," when the plants from it would be 

 worthless. Pipings strike best in a close frame under a north 

 wall. 



Auriculas are now starting into growth, and it is necessary to 

 remove all decaying leaves, wbicla if allowed to remain some- 

 times taint the stem and lay the seeds of decay. Our plants 

 were potted in June, but those who have not yet repotted their 

 plants should lose no time in doing so. Pinks have rooted freely 

 in boxes, and will be planted-out in some fine soil some time 

 during this month to be transferred to the beds in October. 



We are also budding Eoses : this is interesting work for 

 amateurs, and unless the weather be dull it is best performed 

 in the cool of the evening. If the Manetti stock is used 

 the buds should be inserted close to the ground. The same 

 advice may be followed with the seedling Briar. Standards are 

 budded on the young shoots that spring from the stem ; the 

 buds ought to be inserted quite close to the base. A spud ought 

 to be always at hand to remove all suckers as soon as they are 

 perceived ; it is sometimes necessary to remove the soil so that 

 the sucker may be wrenched out at the heel. Manetti suckers 

 are not uufrequently mistaken by the inexperienced for growths 

 from the Eose, and these are pruned and treated as the stems of 

 the Eose itself. When this is the case the Eose will die out in 

 two years, and nothing but Manetti remain. This we have seen 

 where half a dozen young gardeners were kept. — J. Douglas. 



TEADE CATALOGUE BECEIVED. 



Louis Van Houtte, Eoyal Nurseries, Ghent, Belgium. — Cata- 

 logue of Bulbs and other Flower Moots. 



HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 

 Secretaries will oblige na by informing us of the dates on 

 which exhibitions are to be held. 



Otlet. — AugTiBt 7th. Mr. Jno. Lee, Hon.-Sec. 

 Bossendale—Newchttbch.— August 7th. Mr. M. J. Lonsdale, Newchurch, 



Sec. 

 LiTTLEOVER (near Derhyl.— August 7th. Mr. B. Toft, Hon.-Sec. 

 Canterbury. — August i2th. 

 National Carnation and Picotee Society. — August 13th and 14th, in 



Manchester Botanic Gardens. Kev. F. D. Horner, Eirkby Malzeai-d, 



Hon.-Sec. 

 BURNOPFIELD. — August 14th. Mr. J. Hood, Sec. 

 Idle.— August 14th. Mr. H. N. Illingworth, Sec. 



Cabtmel, North Lancashire.— August I4th. Mr. W. Cragg, Hon.-Sec. 

 Coventry (at Coombe Abbey).- August 17th. Mr. T. Wigston, 3, Portland 



Terrace, Sec. 

 Dover.- August 18th- 



NoRTHLEACH.— August 18th. Mr. J. Walker, Hon.-Sec. 

 Chard.— August 18th. Mr, T. L. Brown, Hon.-Sec. 

 EASrBotiRNE— in the Devonshire Park. — August 19feh. H. A. E. Rumble, 



Esq., 26, Hyde Gardens, Sec. 

 Glastonbury. — August 19th. Kev. E. Handley, Hon.-Sec. 

 PoNTTFOOL. — August 19th. Mr. Ernest Deacon, Hou.-Sec. 

 TTlverston. — Auguht 2 Jth. Mr. Geo. Higham, Hon.-Sec. 

 CoNisTON.- August 24th. Mr. Jas. Dickicson, Hon. Sec. 

 Hartlepool — August 24th. Mr. Councillor H. Magoris, Hon.-Sec. 

 Newbory. — Augunt 24th. Mr. H. Seymour, Hon.-Sec. 

 Burton-on-Trent.— August 25th. Mr. W. Shave, t-cc. 

 Isle of Thanet (St. Peters).— August 25th. 

 Bamsgate.— August 25th. C. D. Smith, Esq., 8, Marine Terrace, Margate, 



Hon.-Sec. 

 Dundee.— August 26tb, 27th, and 23th. Mr. R. McKelvie, 51, Reform Street, 



Sec. 

 Wakefield. —August 28th. Mr. A. Holmes (Parish Clerk), Sec. 

 Chippenham.— August Slat. RFr. Alfred Wright, Sec. 

 Deal and Walmer.— August Slst. 



Bath. — September Ist and 2nd. Mr. B. Pearson, 13, Milsom Street, Sec. 

 Great Yarmouth.- September 2nd. Mr. S. Aldred, Hon.-Sec. 

 Niton and Whit well.— September 2nd. Mr. E, W. Berry, HoB.-Sec. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*,• All correspondence should be directed either to ** The 

 Editors," or to *' The Publisher." Letters addressed to 

 Mr. Johnson or Br. Hogg often remain unopened unavoid- 

 ably. "We request that no one will write privately to any 

 of our correspondents, as doing bo subjects them to un- 

 justifiable trouble and expense. 



Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions 

 relating to G-ardeniug 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. We 

 cannot reply to questions through the post. 



Heating by Paraffin Oil {R. F.).— We do not see that your mode differs 

 from others in which gas has been employed for heating. When you have 

 proved that a paraffin lamp -Kill give out sufficient heat to exclude frost we 

 shall be pleased to hear from yon again. 



Begonia Seedlings {Inquirer). — The flowera were quite withered. 



Potatoes Beginning to be Diseased (H. B. E.). — Take the crop np im- 

 mediately, and store them in a cold dry outhouse in layers alternately with 

 sand. II you had taken them up in mid-July they would not have been 

 diseased. 



Saponaria calarrica Failing {J. H.).— We are unable in the absence of 

 any particulars to assign a cause or remedy, it probably having been destroyed 

 by the " white " grub jou have found at the roots. 



Keeping Cucu3ibers and Vegetable Marrows (F. J.). — Beyond keep- 

 ing Cucumbers in a pickled state, and Vegetable Marrows in the ripe form, 

 we d:; not know of a mode of preserving them for a few months in a useable 

 state. 



Seedling Fig (J. H.). — The leaf ia very deeply Icbed and dissimilar in 

 formarion from any we are acquainted with. It is likely the tree would fruit 

 were it planted-out against a south wall, or more certainly were it grown in a 

 large put arjd under glass, especially as it is now showing fruit at "every 

 poiut." By fill means ascertain what the fruit is before yoa disoard it or 

 increase it. 



Cdtting-back Laurel Hedge (H. T.).— Defer the cuttiog-in until the 

 close of March or the early part of April, and you may then cut-in the 

 branches, old or young, to the eitent required with every chance of their 

 putting-out young shoots freely. Go over the growths early in August, and 

 cut-in any irregularities. 



Thrips on Platyloma cordipolia {Constant Reader) — The frond sent 

 us is infested with thrips, which causes the whiteness of which you compiain 

 by the insects destroying the tissues. This Fern and the other you name — 

 viz., Cyrtomium falcatum, are very subject to attacks of thrips. Fumigation 

 with tobacco is the best remedy, which to be effectual should be repeated on 

 two consecutive evenings, and again in a week, aud agaiu whenever an iusect 

 is seen. If only these plants are infested the plants may be freed by a wet 

 sponge, or the fronds immersed in tobacco water, which may he made by 

 pouring boiling water upon the strongest shag tobacco — 1 oz. to every halJt 

 gallon of water. When cool it is fit for use. Excepting young plants and 

 those in'very small pots growing freely we do not advise Ferns to be potted 

 at this time of the year, though it may be done satisfactorily with pot-bound 

 plants. 



Constructing Forcing Pit {Amateur).— A low span-roofed one is most 

 suitable for a majority of plants, and having a walk up the centre with about 

 4 feet width on both sides for plants. Oue side we should have a bed with 

 bot-\rater pipes — i c, two 4-inch pipes in the 4-feet width for affording 

 bottom heat to such plants as may require it, for striking cuttings or for afford- 

 ing bottom heat to Cucumbers or Melons, whichever you may use the pit for 

 when not employed for forcing. The walls we should have 4 feet high, and 

 you may have 2-feet side lights, and the pit about 10 feet high in the centre 

 from the floor to the ridge. The side lights should be made to open the 

 entire length on one side, or better every other light en opposite sides, and 

 lights of 2-feet width the entire length of the pit on one side of the ridge, 

 and to open by cranks and lever, also the side lights. In addition to the two 

 pipes for bottom heat you will require two on the same side for top heat, and 

 also two on the opposite side, which we should have beueath the shelf on that 

 side. Over the walk you may have a shelf, which will be very useful for dwarf 

 plants or Strawberries, and under the stage you may force Seakale and 

 Rhubarb, the former being covered-up so as to blanch the growths. The 

 leugth of the pit may be what you wish. 



LiLiuMS FOB Outdoor Culture (An Amateur). — The culture of Lilinms 

 in the open border is very simple, they only requiring to be planted about 

 4 inches deep in rich, deep, well-drained soil, adding to the soil peat or leaf 

 soil or both, with a liberal dressing of dung and saud, the latter in goodly 

 quantity if the soil be heavy. A few kinds suitable fur the open borders are 

 — L. Browni, bulbiferum, candidum, colchicum. cbalced^'uicum, lougiflorum, 

 martagon, pulchellum, superbum, tenuiflorum, ti^iinum, and tigrinum 

 splendens. Both L. auratum and L. lancilolium vars. succeed well outdoors 

 in all but very cold situations. 



Good and Cheap Gladioli (Idem).— Oracle, Flavia, Queen Victoria, 

 Emile, Eurydice, Felicien David, t^ir William Hooker, Le Titien, MUton, 

 Racine, Lord Byron, and Stephenson. 



Vines Unfruitful {Old Subscriber). — The time you name, 9 o'clock, for 

 giving air, is not early enough, and is sufficient to account for the scorched 

 leaf sent us. A little air should be left on all night whatever the weather 

 may be, ajd it should be increased when the thermometer indicates 75*^, 

 which certainly will be attained before nine, and air admitted as occasion 

 requires to prevent the temperature rising above 80^ to 85^ without full air, 

 and it should be reduced at SO", and at 75- the house closed, with the excep- 

 tion of little air left on constantly, which will prevoat scorching of the 

 leaves or scalding of the berries. The side shoots, if so thick as yon describe, 

 will bo sufficient to account for the unfruitfulness; reduce them at once to 

 16 inches apart on each side of the rod. Stop the shoots at the sixth leaf, 

 which will keep the shoots and leaves from overlapping ; no leaves other than 

 those removed by stopping or removing laterals to be interfered with. The 

 charred refuse may be obtained by maJiing a fire and placing upon it any 

 refuse you may have at command, as garden refuse, trimmings of trees, 

 rough tufts of grass with Home soil adhering, taking core that it only 



