December 2, 1876. ] 



JOUBNAIi OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



493 



can be without cansmg the leaves to come in contact with the 

 glass. It is also arranged in such a manner, that as the season 

 advances and the son's rays become more powerfal the trellis 

 can be lowered without in any way interfering with the plants, 

 which are simply lowered with it. At midsummer the leaves 

 are at the farthest distance that the arrangement of the trellis 

 will allow. In previous numbers the details of management 

 have been given; little can be added, except to iosist on a 

 moderately moist condition of the roots and of the atmosphere. 

 Steaming the pipes has been tried, but it does not benefit the 

 plants, and may even do harm. By steaming is meant wetting 

 the pipes with water from a syringe or fine rose until the house 

 is densely filled with vapour. 



riNE HOUSES. 



In the fruiting house the largest proportion of plants are now 

 throwing up fruits. For the next two months the average 

 minimum temperature will be CO'^, the maximum temperature 

 will not rise higher than an average of 65^. The evaporating 

 troughs are not used in any of the houses during winter, damp- 

 ing the walls and paths about once daily is suflioient for atmo- 

 Bpherio moisture. But very little water is required to the roots 

 of the plants; perhaps twice during the same period will be 

 sufficient. The fruits will ripen in May and up to the middle 

 of June. Other plants in the same house will not throw up 

 until the temperature is increased early in February. Such 

 plants will not be watered at all until that time. It will thus be 

 seen that while one set of plants are swelling their fruits another 

 Bet of them are at rest, and a compromise has to be made in the 

 winter treatment. 



Succession houses do not have quite so high a temperature : 

 55° is the best minimum, and lower than that is not desirable, if 

 indeed it would not be positively injurious to the plants ; and 

 instead of well-shaped fruit, badly-formed worthless examples 

 would be obtained. It is many years since I had charge of a 

 very fine lot of Pines. The plants had been grown under my 

 own care, and so fine were they that the greatest expectations 

 were formed as to the results of their fruiting. Unfortunately 

 the plants had to be removed to a house where the temperature 

 in severe weather could not be raised to 55° at night, and it 

 would oftener be 50°, sometimes as low as 45°. When the fruit 

 showed in the spring it was to me a great disappointment to 

 find the largest proportion of them were miserable abortions. 



Admit air on all favourable occasions ; unless the weather is 

 Tery cold, air ought to be admitted every day. 



PLANT STOVE AND OBCHID HOUSES. 



We are trying a lower temperature in this department this 

 winter ; 65° has usually been our minimum temperature, but for 

 at least two months from this date 00° will be the minimum 

 instead of (55°. The only plants that would be likely to suffer 

 from the lower temperature would be PhaL-enopsis grandiflora 

 and P. amabilis, also the Pitcher-plants, such as P. Rafflesiana. 



Some extended remarks were made in a previous number 

 about the Orchids and other plants in flower, and such as are 

 useful for decorative purposes from the beauty of the foliage 

 alone. To them may be added Poinsettia puloherrima. The 

 plants are now in great beauty, and the lower leaves which add 

 80 much to the effect have been retained more bo than usual. 

 How often does one see this fine plant almost denuded of leaves, 

 the floral bracts stunted and dropping off prematurely ! What 

 is the reason of this ? may be asked. The reason in most cases 

 is this, that the plants are grown-on during summer in an over- 

 high temperature and in hungry soil. The Poinsettia delights 

 in rich substantial turfy loam, and our plants have been watered 

 with guano water almost as strong and quite as frequently as it 

 has been applied to Chrysanthemums. During the summer 

 months the plants were placed in a sheltered position out of 

 doors, and were removed to the stove or Pine houses in Septem- 

 ber. Many stove plants are greatly benefited by being placed 

 out of doors ; and if, as is too often the case, mealy bug is 

 present on them, it will not thrive in the free air and frequently 

 chilly nights of August and September. Gardenia florida is 

 very greatly benefited by this exposure, and we had, perhaps, 

 the best bloom from Dendrobium nobile when it was placed out 

 in front of a south wall freely exposed to the summer's sun. 

 Considerable care is requisite in watering at this season. It is 

 always best if rest can be given to any plants during such dull 

 weather as we have at present. 



FLOWEK GAKDEN AND PLEASDIU: GBODNDS. 



Preparations must now be made for the flower beds next 

 season. Sticks and pegs are made ready during inclement 

 weather. Where there are plantations and an undergrowth of 

 brushwood plenty of material can be obtained for either purpose. 

 The sticks may be cut into convenient lengths and tied-up in 

 bundles. When the sticks are being trimmed pegs may be 

 made of the spray, and the different sizes of each should be 

 bept together. 



We take the first favourable opportunity to mulch the Rose 

 beds, also round the roots of isolated specimens, with short 

 rotted manure. The best time to do this is when the ground 

 is hard with frost. Very few need be told that all wheeling 



with barrows is best done in hard weather, when the barrow 

 wheel runs over the ground as it would along a smooth plank. 

 In fine weather sweep and roll the walks and lawn, and much 

 may be done by looking over the shrubbery, cutting out all dead 

 or decaying wood, and cutting back branches that have grown 

 out of place. Even Coniferous trees are much improved by 

 having any side branches that have taken the lead cut back; 

 this encourages a more even growth. Mulching over the roots 

 of such trees, as also Rhododendron beds, is very beneficial. 

 The savants have given notice of a severe winter, but even with- 

 out any warning it is best to be prepared by having a thick 

 mulching over all tender subjects and protecting material at 

 hand to be used in case of an emergency. — J. Douglas. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Books [A Subtcriber). — We do not know Newton'a pamphlet. 



Removinq Roseb (Briar Cuttin/j). — If the shoota are hard and well 

 ripened you may safely remove the plants now, pruning closely in March, but 

 all that are weakly ahould remain in the cutting btds another year. 



Gas Lime for Debtrqyino Slugs (flf. E. II.).— It may be safely sprinkled 

 thinly ou the Rose beds and also round Carnations, but must not be in con- 

 tact with the plants. 



Planting Strawberries {Caution). — The land would be better trenched 

 two spits deep, half the manure being placed between the top and bottom 

 spits, and the other half upon the surface. Ploughing 7 or 8 inches deep, 

 however, would answer, giving the amount of town manure yon proitose 

 before ploughing, doing the work at once, so as to give the land the b3ue(it 

 of a winter's frost. C juch grass, dock, dandelion, plantain, and other deep- 

 rooted weeds should be thoroughly cleared, as these coming up in the Straw- 

 berry plantations are eitremely troublesome. Plant in rows 2 feet G in jhes 

 apart, and the plants 2 feet asunder in the rows. You may cilcula'e upon 

 a pound weight of fruit per plant in a good season, but an allowance of at 

 least half should be made for loss from adversity of seasons. Planting in 

 March you will not have any fruit worth mentioning the first season, bat a 

 full crop the season following. 



AZALEAS Losing their Leaves (A Subscriber). — It is usual for them at this 

 time of year to lose some leaves, but not to the extent yours are doing. It 

 may be due from the plants after the buds are set being kept in too dry and 

 warm an atmosphere, with probably insufficient watering and exposure to 

 too strong light, or by the plants having been kept moist, shaded, and in 

 strong heat, for the formation of wood and buds. Without, however, having 

 particulars of treatment we can only conjecture the cause of an undue falling 

 of foliage. 



Seed for Sowing a Quarter of an Acre {Anxious). — Long Carrots 

 (the best being Altrincham or Long Surrey, the latter best for house use, or 

 if the soil be shallow. Red Intermediate), 2 lbs. of seed; Parsnip (Hollow- 

 crowded is best), l^lb ; Flat Poll Cabbage, which we presume is the Largo 

 Drumhead, i lb. if transplanted, or if drUled, J lb. 



Early Potatoes (Idim). — The best early kidney Potato for market pur- 

 poses is Myatt's Prolific Ashleaf, and the best very early round is E*rly 

 Coldstream. A better cropper but later is Early Oxford. Do not plant until 

 March, being careful not to remove the first sprouts, and if they have 

 sprouts when planted half to three-quarters of an inch long all the better, 

 planting the third week in March, if without sprouts about three weeks 

 earlier. 



LoMiElA orBBA UNHEALTHY (J. S.).— We do uot think the plant would 

 suffer in so short a time from imperfect drainage. A more likely cause is 

 injury to the fronds from too drying an atmosphere or an attack of insects, 

 probably thrips, which you could have enabled us to determine had part of a 

 dead frond been enclosed to ns. We should not cut away more than the 

 dead part of the fronds, and beyond rectifying the drainage and any sodden 

 and sour soil, replacing with fresh, we should not interfere with the roots; 

 keep the plant in a rather close and moderately moist atmosphere, affording a 

 temperature of 5(F by day, and night 45^ to 40^ during the winter months 

 from fire heat, which will, of course, be higher iu mild weather from natural 

 agency. When the plant commences throwing-up fresh fronds repot, cutting 

 away the old fronds, and encourage growth by a rather higher, closer, and 

 moister atmosphere. 



Evergreens for a S S.W. and E.S.E. Wall (C. T.). — The galvanised 

 wire trellis ought not to he fixed 1^ to 2 inches from the wall, but three- 

 quarters of an inch. 'The following would succeed on either aspect : — Ceanothua 

 azureus, C. floribundus, C. Lobbii, C. integerrimos, Edwardsia microphylia, 

 Embothrium oocomeum, Esoallonia macrontha, E. montevidensis, Garrya 

 elliptica, Ligustrum japonicum. Magnolia grandiflora (Exmouth variety), 

 M. grandiflora floribunda, and Buddlea globosa. Suitable climbers would be 

 Lardizabala bitemata. Jasminnm officinale grandiflonim, Passtflora ca^rulea, 

 Capnfcilium odoratissimum, C. sempervirens floribundum, Berberiiopsia 

 corallina, Bignonia grandiflora, Glycine sinensis, and G. frutescens magnifica, 

 Cydonia japonica, and C. japonica princeps ; but some of these are not ever- 

 green, and are not so good for giving an evergreen clothing to a wall as the 

 first-named. 



Inclining the Surface of Terraces {J. P. of I'ori).— We have two 

 terraces, each about 21 feet wide, with an incline on the flat part of a foot 

 each outward t3 the slope, and no one can tell that the surface is at all in- 

 clining. We should not hesitate to give an 18-feet terrace an incline outward 

 of 9 inches, and the other of 27 feet an incline of 12 to 15 iuches, but be care- 

 ful to have the surface regular, and the slopes of the same height at the euda 

 and throughout their length. An incline in a terrace is the most noticeable 

 and objectionable when it is inwards, but a slight incline outward— i c, from 

 the eye at an elevation, is if anything an improvement, as a.terrace quite level 

 always appears as if inclining inwards. We do not know whether the land- 

 scape gardener you name is still practising. 



Stellaria graminba aurea. — "Onwards" asks if the Golden Feather 

 is to be superseded by this Stellaria. Will some of our friends state their 

 experience ? 



Hot-water Pipes Improperly Varnished {TV. B.).—The fames given off 

 by the pipes when heated causing the leaves of Geraniums to shrivel and fall, 

 will continue to be given off for a long time, especially when highly heated. 

 It would be the most preferable plan to remove the tar varnish with caustic 



