406 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t November 4, 1875. 



from hot- water pipes underneath. Many gardeners fancy a light 

 compost is preferable for Cucumbers, and use large quantities 

 of leaf mould or peat in the soil. But no one could grow better 

 Cucumbers than Mr. Monro of Potter's Bar, his new variety 

 Duke of Edinburgh having been repeatedly admired at the 

 meetings at South Kensington during the winter months. The 

 compost he uses to produce such excellent results is stiij clayey 

 loam from the bottom of a pond. His success seems to arise 

 from keeping up a high temperature— 70' at night; and this, 

 which would be thought much too high by some, does not injure 

 the constitution of the plants. 



PLANT ST0\-E AND OECHrD HOUSES. 



It is now a good time when work is not pressing to look over 

 any plants that may be infested with bug or scale. There is 

 no better way to destroy either of these pests than to use rather 

 warm moderately strong soapy water, and washing carefully by 

 hand, UEing a soft sponge. Such work must be done very 

 carefully. It is better to clean only one plant thoroughly than to 

 run over half a dozen and leave the axils of leaves and branches 

 full of larvsB. The same plauts ought to be looked over a week 

 hence, and any bug or scale that may have been missed at the 

 first washing can be removed. As the growth of most plants, 

 Orchids included, have by this time become matured, it is not 

 so dangerous to fumigate. This may be done cautiously as a 

 deterrent to thrips and aphis of sorts. Thrips are the most 

 difficult to destroy; but they cannot do much mischief if fumi- 

 gation is persisted in. 



At this season flowering plants are not very plentiful, and 

 the facility with which Palms, Dracenas, Crotons, and other 

 high-coloured foliage plants can be grown, and which last so very 

 much longer in beauty than flowering plants, causes gardeners 

 to be rather careless in the culture of those plauts which last 

 in perfection for a very short time only. Still no plant stove 

 should be without flowering plants at any season; and they are 

 now especially valuable when the " cheerless night of desola- 

 tion reigns supreme " out of doors. Aphelandra aurantiaca and 

 the variety Roezlii are exceedingly useful at this season. 

 Eucharis amazonica, though it is now very common, cannot 

 be dispensed with. It is now in full flower with us ; the flowers 

 are in great abundance, even more so than usual. The reason 

 of this may be that the plants have taken a very long rest since 

 they last flowered. The plants had been kept in a cooler house, 

 and we were enabled to keep them much drier at the roots. 

 Then what a beautiful contrast to the brUliant-coloured and 

 pure white flowers are the handsome clusters of the mauve- 

 caloured bracts of the Bougainvillea glabra. This is now in 

 fall beauty, and when the flowering period is over it will be 

 removed to the greenhouse to rest, preparatory to a fresh start 

 in March next year. AUamauda Schottii is also very nicely in 

 flower. The plant has been encouraged to make a quantity of 

 young wood since August, and the young growths are flowering 

 freely. Ixoras can also be had very finely in flower at this 

 season, or indeed at any time. The trusses of flowers are formed 

 shortly after the growth is made, and if the minimum tem- 

 perature is kept up at Co', with a little bottom heat for the 

 plants, the flowers are perfected even at midwinter. Other 

 flowering plants may be named which may be induced to 

 flower at this time, even if this is not the usual time for their 

 flowering. 



Amongst Orchids the Calanthes are now in flower, and these 

 beautiful plants are so easily grown that no collection of stove 

 plants should be without them. The most useful plants for us 

 are those that are grown in small pots. Three bulbs are planted 

 in .5 inch pots, the staple material being rich turfy loam, a little 

 rotted manure and sand is added. We have pots this year in 

 which the bulbs produced almost, if not quite, weigh as much 

 as the compost in which they are grown. During the growing 

 seasuQ they require plenty of water, but after flowering no 

 more water is required until the bulbs start into growth late 

 in February or early in March, when they are shaken out of 

 the pots and repotted. Some persons pot a score or more bulbs 

 in large pans, which is a matter of taste, or as better meeting 

 the requirements of the owner. 



Dendrobium nobile has been placed in heat, so that the plants 

 may be in flower about Christmas. This useful and easily grown 

 Orchid will succeed either in a high or low temperature; but 

 being a native of China it does not require the heat of an East 

 India house, and during the winter a temperature of 55' is sufli- 

 ciently high. Those plants that are being kept back for late 

 flowering are placed in the greenhouse, and they do not receive 

 any water unless the growths show signs of shrivelling, when 

 water is applied to prevent this. Dendrobiums such as D. Far- 

 mer!, D. densiflorum, D. thyrsitlorum, and others of this section 

 having made their growth in the East India house, are now 

 removed to a house where the minimum temperature ranges 

 froni 50' to 55°. These are also kept as dry at the roots as 

 possible without allowing the growths to shrink in the least. 

 In all houses where a hi"h night temperature is kept up it is 

 quite necessary to sprinkle water on the atages and paths to 

 obtain atmospheric moisture ; but it ia not desirable to syringe 



the plants after this unless an isolated specimen should become 

 infested with red spider, when the plant should belaid on its side 

 and thoroughly syringed. Let air be admitted daily and freely 

 on all favourable occasions. Many of the best Orchid growers 

 admit air night and day both in the summer and winter months. 



— J. DODGLAS. 



HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 

 Secretaries will oblige us by informing us of the dates on 

 which exhibitions are to be held. 



Jersey (ChrjEanthemams). — November 10th. Major Howell, Spring Grove, 



St. Lawreucc, Hod. Sec. 

 LouoBcoRQUGH.— November 15th and 16th. Mr. W. PaUett, 55, Baxtergate, 



Sec. 

 NoiiTHAJiPTON (Chrysanthemums).— November 16th and 17lb. Mr. N. 



Gutteridge, 51, Denmark Eoail Sec. 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED, 



Ewing it Co., Eaton and Cringleford, 'Sotwich.—Catahguc of 

 Bases and General Nursery Catalogue. 



Ch. Huber & Cie. a Hyeres (var) France. — General Autumn 

 and Sj}riiij Catalogue of Seeds and Plants. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



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

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

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

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

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

 justifiable trouble and expense. 



Correspondents 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. We 

 cannot reply to questions through the post. 



Potting Soil (T. C.).— The mixtare of cow dung and cement, which i3 

 now crumbly, would do for mixing with other materials to form a potting 

 compost for plants not objecting to calcareous matter. 



FRriT Trees is Pots (T. B. C.).— Pearson's " Hints on Orchard Houses" 

 will aid you. You can have it free by post If you enclose nineteen postage 

 stamps. 



Kitchen Gareen Paths {E. B.).—lt made of the following composition 

 they arc always diy and free from weeds : — Take two parts of very dry lime 

 nibbi.'^li, and one part coal ashes, also very dry, and both sifted fine. In a dry 

 place, on a dry day, mix them, and leave a hole in the middle of the heap as 

 bricklnyers do when making mortar. Into this pour boiling hot coal tar, 

 mix, and when as stiff as mortar put it 3 inches thick where the walk is to be. 

 Tho ground should be dry and beaten smooth. Sprinkle over it coarse sand. 

 When cold pass a light roller over it, and in a few days the walk will be sohd 

 and waterproof. 



Scarlet Primulas iA. L. M.).— The flowers ore bright and good, but they 

 should have been packed in damp moss to preserve them unwithcred. 



Frl-its for Hot South Wall (C. W. F.).— You cannot have more worthy 

 fruits than Peaches, Nectai'ines, and Apricots. 



Pears {T. M., SurbitoiiK — They must have been very dissimilar for us to 

 conclude they wore sis varieties. Are not more than one variety grafted on 

 the stock ? Send us other specimens, and put a note with them to recall 

 our attention. 



Back Numbers (H. Webb). — If you enclose twenty-one postage stamps, 

 restate tho numbers you need, and send your address, they will be posted 

 to you. 



.Jersey Horticultural Society's Rule.— "-4u(ft Alteram Paytevi" in- 

 forms us that the rule 8 only applies to plants grown in pots, and he encloses 

 a printed form which Mr. D. De Faye signed ; that form has this clause:— 

 " I hereby certify that all tho objects above described (fruits) and continued 

 on the other side are of ray growth." This disqualifiee Mr. Dc Faye's 

 specimens. 



Mealy Bug on Camelllas (B.).— The spray seit is slightly infested with 

 both mealy bug and white scale. Dissolve 3 ozs. of soft soap in a gallon cf 

 water, and brush the solution carefnUy round the buds with a hard toott* 

 brush, using also a pointed stick to loosen the scale. The solution should to 

 used at a temperature of 100 \ 



Oval Bed {Ignoiamus). — Mark out two circles to form the ends of the 

 oval of the size jou need ; then fix on one side a peg exactly opposite the 

 middle of the space between the two circles, and at such a distance as that 

 with a piece of string fixed to the peg and a nail at the other end of the 

 string you can mark the side cf the oval. Then move the peg to the same 

 position on the opposite side, and with the same length of string mark the 

 other side of the oval. 



Gooseberries.— ''If Mr. W. Taylor, Longleat, will grow White Warrington 

 Gooseberries, he will find them exactly the same in everything but colour aa 

 the old Red Warrington.— Yours truly, J. Maceen/.ie, M.D." 



Pear Leaves Bronze-coloured {8. P.). — ffhe roots have descended into 

 the cold clay subsoil, and do not supply suflicient sap either to the leaves or 

 fruit, conecqueully the loaves ai*e discoloured and the frnit cracks. The 

 descending roots must be cut away, some of the clay subsoil burned and 

 mixed with the soil of the surface, a little well-decayed manure added, and 

 the surface kept mulched to induce the roots to remain there. 



HosE-iN-HosE Polyanthus [Olri-fa.^hiotied Folks'*. — Yon are not old- 

 fashioned gardeners, or you would know that the " Hose-in-Hose " is OQO 



