October 28, 1875. I 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEE. 



N 



383 



studied or valued plants, have taught many most valuable 

 lessons. Hia death makes a blank no Uviuf! orcbidist can fill. 

 In private life the charms of hia conversation, assisted by his 

 wonderful memory and quickness of thought, his unvarying 

 kindness of disposition, and quiet and unostentatious readi- 

 ness to help with kind offices or charity, made him beloved 

 alike by rich and poor. — G. P. W." 



STRAWBERRIES PRODUCING TWO CROPS 

 ANNUALLY. 



A I'liiHNU of mine had last year some Strawberry plants that 

 had a very good crop in June, and fruited again abundantly 

 in October and November. I saw them, and the fruit in the 

 autumn was really very abundant on every plant. lie gave 

 me some lunners, and they had a good crop in June, and 

 have now fruit and bloom. I gathered some last week nicely 

 ripe; but the weather is so unfavourable I cannot expect 

 many now. 



I thought if I prevented them fruiting in June, perhaps they 

 would fruit a month earlier or so, and then the weather would 

 ripen them. Would you be kind enough to say what you 

 think in the Journal ? Of course they are in the open air (no 

 protection). — G. C, Bramley IIUl, Groijdon. 



[You can obtain inch bones from any of the manure dealers.] 



A PLAGUE OF ANTS. 



A LVDV, who resides in South Kensington near the Horticul- 

 tural Gardens, writes that " a perfect plague of small white 

 ants have invaded the lower part of this house — kitchen, 

 pantry, etc., and we are making fierce war upon them by 

 stopping up all holes with putty and repainting the woodwork. 

 I hope this may be efiectual without more poisonous remedies. 

 Are white ants natives of London, or have they emanated 

 from the Indian Exhibition at the International ? — C. M." 



1 1 presume that the small white ante mentioned in the ac- 

 companying letter are not what are ordinarily known as white 

 ants — that is, a species of the very destructive genus Termes, 

 but the too common domestic ant, which appears now to have 

 become domiciled in various parts of England, and especially 

 in London. If my supposition be correct, there are two plans 

 which may be advantageously adopted for their destruction. 

 If the entrance to their nest in the brickwork of the walla of 

 the house can be discovered, rags dipped in turpentine thrust 

 into the mouth of the hole will kill them. If this cannot be 

 discovered, bits of raw meat should be laid in their tracks ; 

 this will attract them by hundreds, and the meat should then 

 be dipped suddenly in boiling water. — I. 0. W.] 



NOTES ON VILLA and SUBURBAN GARDENING. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



T.iRE every favourable opportunity to finish earthing the late 

 rows of Celery ; through so much wet the soil of that which 

 was previously done will have settled down so much as to need 

 more earth. Our plants were at one time much affected by the 

 maggot in the leaf, which threatened to destroy some of the 

 plants. A regular course of hand-picking has pretty well cleared 

 them off it, and during the past three weeks the plants have 

 grown with great vigour, and more earth than usual ia this year 

 necessary. We have a row growing by the side of an Apple 

 tree, the leaves of which have been affected aerioualy with a 

 kind of spot which fell early upon the Celery and communicated 

 the disease to the plants, which nearly killed most of them at 

 that spot, but not elsewhere. This being an early crop it was 

 dug-up before the Celery was quite useless. 



In dry days also earth-up Coleworts and late-planted Kales, 

 and plant-out Red Cabbage plants adjoining the winter or spring 

 bed. If this cannot be done now defer it till the spring. There 

 is this fact to be remembered— that autumn plants produce the 

 largest heads, which is a consideration with some growers. Aspa- 

 ragus tops should now be cut off, and the beds cleaned and 

 dressed— that is, by first putting a thin layer of rotten manure 

 on the beds, and then covering that with a layer of earth taken 

 from the alleys between them ; then cut down the sides to 

 their proper width, and leave them for the winter. In the 

 spring much of this covering of earth must be raked off, but if 

 possible the manure should be left to benefit the plants during 

 summer. 



Veitch's Autumn Cauliflower from late planting will now be 

 coming in well; these must be cut before being injured by 

 frost, as the flavour is much impaired by too low a temperature. 



My plan is to pull or dig each plant up by tho root, and take 

 them to the root shed, and lay them in earth, where they keep 

 well, and if the season is favourable Cauliflowers may be had 

 up to the time when Broccoli is ready for use. All vacant 

 ground should now be cleared, and manures be in readiness to 

 wheel on at the first opportunity, ready for trenching-in when 

 the leaves have mostly fallen. 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



With me many sorts of Apples are not keeping well, but Pears 

 keep better and are larger than usual ; therefore it will be 

 necessary to frequently look over tho stock and pick out those 

 affected for immediate use. It ia time to think about planting 

 fresh trees of any sorts that may be required. I advocate early 

 planting — that is, plant as soon as the wood is properly ripened, 

 so that after planting it will not shrivel through the operation. 

 Some sorts of Pears do not ripen-off so early as Apples, and 

 should be left longer in consequence of their making more 

 fleshy wood ; however, the stations for them may be prepared, 

 so that the planting may be done more expeditiously. The 

 places should be dug up at least 2 feet deep, and if there is a 

 clayey subsoil sufficient of it should be removed in order to put 

 in a little drainage and replace the clay, if possible, with better 

 soil. It is not advisable to make the soil too rich at first, for, as 

 a rule, young trees make a sufficiently vigorous growth without 

 a stimulant for the first year or two. In most cases it is better 

 to trench-in fresh soil or manure after the tree has arrived at 

 the fruiting state. 



Strawberry beds should now be cleaned, and have a wiuter- 

 dresaing of manure ; but young plants put out this year will 

 not need this treatment. Those in pots for forcing ought to be 

 induced to ripen-off a little before laying them up for the 

 winter, by placing them on a dry bottom, and taking care that 

 they do not root through the pots, and keep all bad foUago and 

 runners cut off. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



Delay no longer the work of putting in cuttings of Calceo- 

 larias, as frost may set in and destroy the plants. It is, how- 

 ever, just the time for the work, so that the cuttings may be 

 rooted before the end of the year. They will bear a little cold 

 and damp, consequently they do well if rooted in a cold frame. 

 The work is done in this way : The frame is first placed on the 

 ground and two-thirds filled with any rough material, such as 

 sittings of soil, then a little layer of garden soil broken-up fine, 

 and on this a mixture of common soil and sand sifted fine. 

 This should be made firm, and the frame should be filled up to 

 within 6 or 8 inches of the glass. The cuttings should be in- 

 serted 2 inches apart, affixing each one firmly. After all are in, 

 water well, and afterwards keep the frame nearly closed night 

 and day. They must not flag from the sun, or the chances are 

 they will die. Sprinkle them occasionally and protect from 

 frost, and they are about the surest thing to strike root that I 

 know of. Gazanias, Pansies, Alyssum variegatum, and the scarlet 

 Melindres Verbena root well, and also keep well during the 

 winter in the same way. — Thomas Record. 



MR. THOMAS APPLEBY. 



This veteran gardener died on the 20th inst., in his 80th 

 year, at his residence, Park Avenue, Longsight, Manchester. 



When this Journal was first published we sought the aid of 

 one specially skilled in floriculture, and we obtained that aid 

 from Mr. Appleby. To our first number, and for many years 

 subsequently, he contributed " The Week's Flower Gardening." 

 In the first of those contributions he wrote this sentence — 

 "We have tasted its pleasures for nearly half a century, and 

 are desirous to increase in others the taste. If we can 

 make the culture of flowers more general, and the practice 

 more easy, our object will be accomplished, and we shall think 

 our attempt will have been a mite cast into tho treasury of 

 human happiness." That he did succeed our correspondent 

 columns bore testimony, and the desire for information which 

 he promoted ho had there to satisfy. He was then manager 

 of the Pine Apple Nursery at St. John's Wood. Previously he 

 had been gardener to T. Brocklehurst, Esq., near Macclesfield, 

 Cheshire, in the care of whose collection of Orchids he im- 

 proved his knowledge of their culture so as to enable him to 

 furnish that excellent series of communications to our columns 

 which we have pubUshed since in the volume entitled " The 

 Orchid Manual." 



Mr. Appleby only ceased from being on our staff when his 

 business engagements and declining health rendered his with- 

 drawal imperative. 



ODONTOGLOSSUM HASTATUM. 

 The Odontoglossums are the princes of the cool Orchid 

 house — that is, a large proportion of the genus succeeds in 



