586 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTtJRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 80, 1876. 



touched with the water ; bat this cannot always be done, and 

 we know that frequent fumigations at this season will destroy 

 the pest. Mealy bug is equally troublesome ; tobacco smoke 

 does not annoy it much. The only sure way to rid the house of 

 it is to watch the plants every day or two, and destroy every 

 iusect that can be found, either by washing, or if the plants are 

 not much infested with it, the bug may be picked-oS by hand. 



FLO'WER GARDEN. 



Since the snow with the accompanying frosts have disappeared, 

 the ground has been so wet that it has not been possible to 

 wheel barrows over the walks or to tread on borders with the 

 feet. As soon as the surface is a little hardened by frost the 

 Roses will be mulched with rotted manure. The lawn is swept 

 and rolled about once a week or ten days. The grass has a roujih 

 uneven appearance in winter when this is not done. It should 

 neither be rolled nor swept during frosty weather. If a roller 

 is passed over grass when it is crisp with frost the blades of 

 the grass are broken, and when the thaw comes the decaying 

 grass is very unsightly. 



Bedding plants are looked over occasionally, and all decay- 

 ing leaves picked otf. Zonal Pelargoniums of the tricolor and 

 variegated section were potted-off in September and October. 

 The more hardy green-leaved sorts will now be potted as soon 

 aa possible. Auriculas are looked over about once a week ; 

 the leaves are decaying rapidly, and have frequently to be re- 

 moved. They cause mould and decay in the stems sometimes 

 if their removal ia neglected. Carnations and Picotees in frames 

 are remarkably strong and healthy this year. The lights are 

 removed entirely on fine days, and they require but little water 

 at the roots. Pinks have to be pressed into the ground aiter 

 frost, by applying the lingers of each hand round the roots. — 

 J. Douglas. 



HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 



Secretaries will oblige us by informing us of the dates on 

 which exhibitions are to be held. 



Westminster Aquarium. April 12th and 13tb, May 10th and 11th, May 

 30th and 31st, July 5th and 6th, October 4th and 5th. 



Maidstone (Roses). June 21st. Mr. Hubert Bensted, Eockstow, Maid- 

 stone, Sec. 



Spalding. June 21st. Mr. G. Kingston, Sec. 



SouTHPORT. July 6th, 7th, and 8th. Mr. E. Martin, Sec. 



Helensburgh (Roses). July 12th and 13th. Mr. J. Mitchell, Sec. 



Dundee (International). September 7th, 8th, and 9th. Mr. W. E. McKelvie, 

 26, Euclid Crescent, Sec. 



TEADE CATALOGUES EECEIVED. 



James Veitch & Sons, Royal Exotic Nursery, King's Road, 

 Chelsea. — Catalogue of Kitchen Garden and Flower Seeds, 

 Implernents, d-c. 



Sutton & Sons, Reading. — Illustrated Amateur^s Guide and 

 Sj)ring Catalogue. 



James Carter & Co., 237 and 238, High Holborn, London.— 

 Illustrated Vade Mecum and General Seed Catalogue. 



William Paul & Son, Waltham CroBB, London, N.— General 

 Seed Catalogue. 



James Vick, Dorchester, N.Y. — Illustrated Floral Guide and 

 General Seed Catalogue. 



Dicksons & Co., 1, Waterloo Place, 'EdmhuTgh.—Descri/ptive 

 List of Gladioli. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*^* AH correspondence should be directed either to "The 

 Editors," or to *' The Publieher." 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 up on 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. 



Books (A. W.). — " Keane's In-door Gardening "' may be had from our ofiQce 

 if you encloBe twenty postage stamps and address. 



American Blioht (S. S.).— The Rev. Mr. Eadelyffe states :— " The qnantity 

 of salt is not of particular congtquence; a couple of double hamUuls in a 

 stable bucket of fresh slaked limewash would be Bufficient. I believe the 

 lime without the salt would destroy the blight. Lichens or moss on the 

 trees greatly favours the blight and also stops-uji the stomata of the skin. 

 Lime-and-falt wash will destroy them aLd cleanse the trees." 



Oyster Shells (IK., AV;i«f»(7/tm).— Whether calcined or bruised they must 

 be prepared at home. In a furnace they are easily burned, and inachemist'a 

 large iron mortar they are easily pounded. 



Continuous Cropping (Jtf. A. U. B. L.),— Lettuce sown in March or early 

 in April would be off early in July ; but as that is too late for sowing Veilch's 

 Petlection Pea, you may at the early part of June remove every fourth row 



of Lettuce, they being in rows a foot apart, and sow the Peas in the place of 

 the Lettuce. The Peas will be ready in September, and may be cleared off 

 by the first or second week iu October, when you could plant Lettuce to stand 

 the winter in the ground after the Peas, the Lettuce being sown the third 

 week in August. Lettuce and Eadish may be followed by Celery, but the 

 Celery would not be off in time to be again followed by Lettuce. Cabbage 

 planted after the Lettuce and Radish would be off at the end of September 

 or early iu October, and might be followed by Lettuce transplanted. The 

 befit summer Lettuce is Paris White Cos; Hick's Hardy White Cos is also 

 excellent. 



Annuals for Cut Flowers {Idem). — ^Ageratum Imperial Dwarf, Chry- 

 eanthemum carinatum IJunnettii flore-pleno,C. carinatum Dunnettii, double 

 golden; Centaurea cyanus major, 'Delphiniuius French hybrids (if sown 

 early tbey will flower the same season though they are perennials); Heli- 

 chryenm monsfrosum varieties, pnrticularly useful for dried flowers for 

 winter bouquets; Leptosiphon dcnsiflorus albus. Mignonette Large-flowered 

 pyramidal, Sweet Pea in various colours, Scabious dwarf, Sweet Sultan, 

 purple, white, and yellow; ^Ten-week Stocks, *Pbloi l>rummondii vars., 

 *Aster Dwarf Bouquet. Those marked with an asterisk require to be sown 

 in a hotbed in March, and the plants pricked off an inch apart in pans or 

 boxes when large enough to handle, and grown-on in gentle heat, hardening 

 well off and planting out in May. 



Piping Required for Warm Stove ['Nut., Heading). — One-foot run of 

 4-inch ])ipe, or 1-Ioot superficial of heated surface, is not suflicient tu heat 

 and maintain 15 cubic feet of air to a stove temperature; 2 feet should be 

 the minimum of piping to heat to a warm stove temperature 15 cubic feet of 

 air, and with double glazing this amount of piping will be sufficient, as the 

 temperature will be less liable to cool than is the case with single glazing. 

 It is a great mistake to restrict the piping, for when that is the case the 

 heated surface requires to be kept at a high temperature, and the furnace to 

 maintain it needs to have in it a fire in a high state of combustion, and the 

 greater the fire the greater will be the velocity of the heat in the direction of 

 the chimney, more fuel being required and a greater proportion of the heat 

 generated escaping by the chimney. 



Liquid Manure for Azaleas {Amateur). — These and other hardwooded 

 plants ^'rowing in peat soil do not require liquid manure, or only in a very 

 weak state, and the best for them is one peck of soot and fresh cow dung 

 mixed with sixty gallons of water, and applied twice a-week during growth, 

 or when the plants are advancing for flowering, the pots being full of roots. 

 Except in experienced hands the application of liquid manure to hardwooded 

 plauts is best omitted, as its injudiuious use is often attendediwith disastrous 

 consequences. 



Ammoniacal Liquor fob Destroying Weeds on Walks (J. IJ.). — It 

 will certainly kill most of the weeds when applied at full strength, or cause 

 them to be very much browned, yet from the high fertilising character of the 

 liquid the weeds will grow considerably stronger the following season. Be- 

 sides, it ia a great waste of manure, the ammoniacal liquor being valuable 

 for watering during growth diluted with sixteen parts of water, especially 

 vegetable crops; and applied at half the dilution, or one pint to a gallon of 

 water, at the time of sowing or planting, it is a good preventive of insect 

 pests and a valuable fertiliser for the crops. If you apply it for destroying 

 weeds, do so in dry weather in April. A better remedy for weeds on walks 

 is to dissolve lib. of powdered arsenic in three gallons of cold water, boil, 

 and keep stirring ; then add seven gallons of cold water and 2 lbs. of crushed 

 soda ; stir the whole well whilst boiling, and with a rose watering-pot apply 

 to the walks in dry weather, from March to May inclusive being the best time. 

 The above quantity will be enough for 25 square yards. An inclining board 

 should be placed at the sides of the walks or grass to keep off the hot hquid. 



Destp.oying Ants on Lawn (TT. S. B.). —We were once greatly troubled 

 ■with acts, but now are remarkably free of these troublesome pests. For the 

 past three seasons we have had penned near the lawn hens, foster parents to 

 young pheasants, and it is certain the ants have become very scarce. A hen 

 in a coop with a brood of chickens would uo doubt answer as well, the coop 

 being placed near the nests or haunts of the ants, moving it as circum- 

 stances require. Guano sprinkled over the nests will drive the ants away, 

 and arsenic mixed with treacle and smeared on pieces of tile or slate will 

 destroy all that piirtake of it, but great care ia required to be taken in the 

 use of this virulent poison. 



Eajsing Plants from Seed for Rockwork [hUvi). — Alyssum sfixatile 

 coin pactum, Antennaria dioica minor, Arabis alpina, Aubrietia grtcca, A. pur- 

 purea grandiflora, Campanula tarpatica, C. carpatica alba, Diantbus neglectus, 

 Erinus alpinus, Saxifraga aizoon minor, S. Cymbalaria, S. longifolia, Silene 

 caucasica, S. Schafta, and Yeronica saxatilis and Y. prostrata are suitable. 

 Seed should be sown in April in pots or pans well drained, and filled with a 

 compost of tui-fy loam and sandy peat in equal proportions, with a fourth 

 each of leaf soil and silver sand, the compost sifted, and the surface of the 

 pots or pans made very fine and smooth, and well watered, standing for a few 

 hom's, then water again, and when the water is soaked in scatter the seed 

 evenly over the surface and just cover it vfith very fine soil. The pots or pans 

 abauld be placed in a sheltered position, and so that the sun does not fall 

 upon thfm from 8 A.M. to 5 p.m., or shade from the sun for that period, the 

 main point being to keep moist without having to resort to frequent water- 

 ings. When the young plants are large enough to handle prick out in pans 

 prepared as for the seedlings about an inch apart, treating similarly, and 

 before they become crowded plant in the rockwork, shading until established. 

 Seeds of rock plants are not in given kinds always prncurable, hence we advise 

 you to procure a collection of half a dozen or a dozen kinds as you may wish, 

 stipulating for good free-growing hardy kinds. 



Gesnera exoniensis Flowers Losing Colour {A. B.).— The loss of 

 colour is the result of the plants being grown at a distance from the glass, 

 and not having light suflicieut to bring out the high colour, with probably a 

 deficiency of heat and moiwture during the growing season. Afford a position 

 near the glass, and a moiater atmosphere and brisker heat, with partial shade 

 iu very bright weather during grjwth, but full exposure after August. A 

 temperature of 65^, rising tD 80° or more from sun, is desirable when in 

 growth, and G0° to 65' from fire heat when coming into bloom. A compost 

 of turfy loam, sandy fibrous peat, and leaf soil, in equal parts, with a sixth 

 each of silver saml and old cow duug, the whole well mixed, broken up rather 

 small, but not sifted, will grow them well. W'ater moderately, not allowing 

 the foliage to flag for lack of it, nor the soil to be soddened by too frequent 

 waterings. 



Heating a Small Greenhouse {C. E. P.).— Had you been certain of a 

 proper supply of gas we should, in preference to any other mode of heating — 

 you having httle time to spore— have advised you to have a gas-heated boiler 



