Febraary 7. 1865.3 JOTTEXAL OF HORTICULTURE A^D COTTAGE GARBEXEU. 



117 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*^* We request that no one \riil write pi*ivately to the de- 

 partmental writers of the " Journal of Horticulture, 

 Cottage Graxdener, and Conntrj Gentleman." By so 

 doing they are subjected to unjustifiable trouble an-l 

 expense. All communications should therefore be ad- 

 dressed so^^Zy to The Editors of the Journal of Horticul- 

 ture, 4'c., 171, Fleet Street, London, E.C. 

 We also request that correspondents will not mis up on the 

 same sheet questions relating^ to Gardening and those 

 on Poultry and Bee subjects, if they expect to get them 

 answered promptly and conveniently, but write them 

 on separate communications. Also never to send more 

 than two or three questions at once. 

 N.B. — Many questions must remain unanswered untU nest 

 week. 

 Flora will find an answer at page 15 of onr Jonmal issned on January 3rd" 

 DwASF Celise Rose ^^tocks (J. B.).—^lr. W. Paul, Norsery, Waltham 

 Cross, can give you the inior nation you require. 



Edelweiss (\f. A. X.).— Will some of onr readers tell us wh^t is the 

 botanical came of the Alpine Diane which has the above local name ? 



FAiLniE OF Crops tE. Feazey). — On a sandy s^il, havinq' a sandy subsoil, 

 full of conch prass and 0"her w'=e^s. and unmanure'l for ninp yeirs, no 

 crop can be profitably croarn. If there is chalk or clay to he bad in your 

 neighbourho'^d one hundred ooe-h -rse-load^of them per acre should be added 

 to injproTe the staple. Sare all your house se\rage, aud water your crops 

 with it. Boy some cnano, and put 2oz(«. of it to each gallon of water, and 

 apply that to your crop?. It will in your case be the best mode of manur- 

 ing. No variety of Potato fs soecialiv- adapted to such a soil — one will do 

 as well as another, and any will do badly unless yon apply plentifully one or 

 other of the liquid manures we have named. The same observation will 

 apply to Peas. Carrots might succeed on such a soil if trenched two spades 

 deep, a little manure turned in with the bottom poit, and liquid manure 

 poured between the rows during the growth of the Carrots. 



SIussctt's Hot-tvates Apfar.\tcs.— I am sorry to siy I can get no satis- 

 faction with it ; as yet I have not been able to wami the water. Have any 

 of yoar correspondents succeeded with it ! if so, I should be glad to know 

 how they mana^re. — M. 



Celery— Crcc>rBEiis i>- Fewe (W, 5.).— A good red Celery for main 

 crops is Cole's Defiance, aud there is no better white than Incomparable. 

 Cole's White is also good. Laing's Mammoth is a good keeping Celery. 

 As a rnie red kinds of Celery keep better than white, being hardier, and 

 not so liable t3 bolt— that i?. to run to seed. About the Ia?t week in 

 February mske a bed of horseduog. or s'ahle litter that has been turned 

 over cnce or twice to sweeten i', or get rid of its rankness. Let the bed be 

 1 foot wider than the framp all round, -fj feet high at back, and -i feet ia 

 front ; shake the hot dung, and beat it down with the back of the fork. On ' 

 this place the frame, and put on the lights. In a week or ten days the ' 

 greatest hed.t wil he attained. A te^t stick, placed in the bed, will enable 

 yon to tell when to scil the bed. the proper time being when you can hear ; 

 the stick in your hand without esperiencing any sense of burning. When : 

 this is the cass level the surface of the bed, and place about 3 inches of soil ] 

 all over it. also half a birrowful under each light, exactly in the centre, in i 

 the form of a cone with a flattened top. The soil should be moderately ; 

 strong turfy loam, but any kind of fresh loam will do, if not verr strong. | 

 In about three days the bed wi:l he ready for the plants: but where are ■ 

 they to come from! Perhaps ^ome neighbouring gardener will be able to ■ 

 let you have a couple of p'.auta, or accommodate a couple of pots in his I 

 frame, the s?ed being sown on or about the 5:h of February. The sort we j 

 wonid grow for table use is Sion House or Carter's Champion, both very ' 

 prolific and excellent Cucumbers for table. If you want size, Kirklee's 

 Hall Defiduce, or Lynch's Star of the West, are large, fine-looking, and , 

 good for use. The p'antsheineat hand, anl havms been stopped at the : 

 second leaf, plant them on the cone, and leave the top a little hollow, in \ 

 order that the plants may he watered at planting. ^Vater with tepid water, 

 and always keep the soil moist: but do not give much at first, and, before 

 May, always early in the morninr. Aamit a little air at back bv tilting I 

 the lights there on fine days, and if you have a thermometer in the frame 

 you may regulate the lemperature lo a nicetr. In the morning, for the I 

 Srst fortnight, it should be from G5=» to TO^'j'and when it sinks below i 

 the former degree, cover at night with mats, taking them off in the i 

 morning. Admit air at SO", and ckse at the same, or a"^litt]e higher rather i 

 IhEm lower. After the plants become established, air mav be given at 75° 

 and the frame shut up at SO^'. When the roots come through the sides of 

 the hills cover th-m with soil, leaving some in the frame twentv-four hours 

 previously to be warmed ; and as fast as thev come through add more, until 

 there^is, all over tae bed, 10 inches or a foot thick of soil. Stop the plants 

 about a week after planting out, w hich will induce shoots, and spread tbe^e 

 out evenly rdl over the surface of the bed. Wh.n thev sho^v froit, j-top the 

 Shoots onejomt above the fruit, and this throushout the season, thinning- 

 out any shoots tbat have dnne bearing, and such as crowd those bearing'' 

 « hen the he-t begins to decline, line the bed wiih fr^sh dune, and if yen 

 manage well yon win have fruit in il.v, and onwards through^he summer 

 summer they will require water about everv orher dav ; and in Jnlv. if 

 you add a little fresh soil, and lav some of the voun? shoots into the soil, thev 

 wui do all the bc-tter. If you cannot obtain plants we would not make the 

 Deatuitilthemiddleof March, and then sow the seeds insmallp.-ts,plungintr 

 them in the bed alter covering it with a few inches of soil, but not placing 

 ^y in the centre just tben. In a few days the seeds will be up, and when 

 ine rough leaver appear p.t the young plants in 'arger pots, wateringcare- 

 muy, otherwise they will damp o^f. When thev havi made two roncli 

 leaves mp out the Rrowmg p^tnt, and then is the time to place some soil in 

 the centre of each Ushi, ;in.1 in a fe^r days afterwards plant on the biUs 

 fif^"^'^!^"*^ ^**'" ^"°- ^^^ ^^'' ^'''^ ^^ increased, and the fruit will not he 

 produced so soon by three weeks or a month. If you have convenience to 

 make up a seed bed, and rai.^e the plants, a bed 3 feet hi^h will co, and. vou 

 may sow the seed early in February, and so time the fraitiug-bea tha£ it 

 ■will he ready for them when St to plant out, & «* »- 



Select Gunroci (F. i.).-The following twenty are showy and moderate 

 in price— viz,. Adorns, Berenice, Breochleyensis, C'^res, Ciemt'nce. Due de 

 Malakoff, La Quintinie, Lord Raglan. Madame Biidtr, Mada^oe Haquin, 

 Mathilde de Landevotsin. >'apoleon III., Neptune, Oracle, Ophir, Penelope, 

 Rebecca, Rembrandt, Vesta, Vulcain. 



Covers {J\e7iteri an).— You can have a cover for the volume free by post 

 from our ofiice if you enciose fourteen postage stamps with your direction. 

 A. binder will charge \s. for pottiog it on. 



WALTOSIA.N Case.— "A. C. C. H/* wishes to know where he can obtain 

 one. 



Pkotectisq Wall-tree Blossoms (/. E. IT.).— Ton will have seen what 

 we replied at page 93. ToSiacce smoke will not injure Camellia huds. You 

 keep the air of your greenhouse too dry. 



Hot-water He^t:ng (TT'. Hoicard). — Tour proposed hou«e for Cucttm- 

 bers and stove plants has some of the features of a house we cave a Fection 

 of in our second volume {first series), onb' tlie Cucumber- bouse, or small 

 stove, wa-; heated by a tank without pipes, and the back house, separated 

 from it by a glass partition, was a greenhouse in'*teud of a stove. We 

 instance the difference hecLiuse, though the division of gl.iss did well for 

 ventilating rhe stove and Cucumher-hou'-e, it would not be fqu^illy effectual 

 when the back hou«e nlso was kept at a stove heat. We mention this 

 beciuse you do not speak of or shosv any separate me.ins for ventilating the 

 Cucumber-house. Nei'her do you mention the size of the two houses that 

 form the general width of -0 feet; but we presume tlie Cucumber-house 

 will he 8 feet, and the stove 12 feet in width, and we will ^ct on this sup- 

 position in answering your questions. 1st, The dip of the flow-pipe through 

 the runk will affect tbe circulation, unless there is an aii--pine fixed there 

 at the lowest point, and that lower part or bend is above the height of the 

 I rop of the boiler. Even then, if from an open cistern we loTyred the pipe 

 ! to the tjnk. we would not raise it at the firther enfi, hn' return it in the 

 i tank, and thonce to the boiler: but there need be little ciifS-vulty if the bend 

 j in the tank is above the top of the boiler. i!.id, You will n^ed two pipes 

 I in the tank for eaily Cucumbers. Of cour.=e the openings at ihe sides, to 

 I let out steam, must be under control- 3rd, ForwmterCa um hers you would 

 need three y'm'^f for atmuspheric heat. To have them itbont May two pipes 

 I would do. 4th, You would need at least four rows of lipes in the sttvei 

 If you wanted it above 5-5- or eo^" in winter, five pipes would be sa.fer aud 

 j better. If you coniempUted having bintom heat under the stage yon 

 1 would require still more, and then the pipes mu~t be nearer the stage or 

 j platform, ar.d not so near the ground as the section shows. Is not your 

 I platform fcr such a house too" high \ >eendngly 4 teet 6 inches from the 

 i ground. This w^U pl;ice the plants mostly abreast of the eye. We should 

 think from 2 to 3 feet would be better. 5th, Two pipe? would be sufficient 

 for the Peath-hi'use, alona front and one end. if it wus deemed necessary that 

 the Peaches should come in towards the middle and end of June; but to 

 have them much earlier it would be advi5able to have a third pipe, especially 

 along the front. 6th, The two pipes would do very well for a late vinery. 



Roses in- Pots ( TT" 5 >.— Roses maybe grown in no's plunged in the open 

 ground. Dr:un the pots well. Use a compost of turfy rich Inacn, and keep 

 the pots plnn?ed in coal ashes, in a sheltered yet open t-itnation. They 

 should be watered copiously when ero^ving, and syringed overheid, except 

 when blooming, in dry weather. In after years pot them in the latter part 

 of September, or in October. andprnneinSlarch, cutting well in. Koisettes 

 are too vigorous for pot culture generally, and very few Teas will do in 

 your climate. T^a-saentei : Gloire de Dijon, Abrieoie, Bnugere, Hombre, 

 ilelanie Oger, and Sonibrenil. Bourhons : Souvenir de Malnaison. Queen 

 of the BonrboDS, S.mcbet, Coupe d'Hcbe. Charles Lawson, ani Paul Ricaut, 

 Hybrid China: General Jacqueminot. China: Mrs. Bosanqut^t, \Iadame 

 Breon, Madame Bureau Cramoisie Supii-ieure. Fue^ae Be.uinamais, Mar- 

 jolin du LuveTibour;^-. JIo'is : Common, Reine Blanche, Vandael. Frederick 

 Soulie, Princess Alice, and Unique deProvencf. Hybrid P'rpetunls : Geant 

 des Batailles, Duchess of Norfolk, Comte de Nanteuil, Jules fllargottin. 

 Lord Raglan, and Madame Vidot. 



Hedge Plaxt— Ivy for Wall (JJem).— You are richHy informed- 

 nothing will grow so fast as Eller ; but as a feoce it is worth ess. nothing 

 is so good OS Thorn or Quicks ; aud you may have a fence in four years or 

 so by plantinc strong Q licks. Ivy is best propagated by layers. and is also 

 in creased by cuttings. Stronj: plarts would cover a Wtill 4 feet high in about 

 three years, if planted a yard or so apart. 



SrANi>Aiu) Roses (ir. j\'. B., ,Yo7-^7iaf?erfon).— Geant des Batailles, 

 Msdime Frntado, .Urtdame Chirles Wood. Madame Vidot, Senateur Yaisse, 

 William GriiSdLs Wiliam Paul, Jules Margottin. Marech:il YailUnt, Comte 

 de NanteuU, Chr.iles Lstebvre, and Caroline de Sansal. The nbove are all 

 Hybrid Perpetual-^. Tour proposed planting is good, only riis them ouc 

 deeply, and be liberal with manure. Too many plants in thee rclesare bad. 

 Justice ia not done th^^ Roses. We do not undertake to furnish plans; we 

 only criticise tho-^e sent sent to us. We will, however, see if we cannotm.ake 

 one to suit; but you ought to have told us whad you proposed putting in 

 the beds. 



Stocks foe Peach -grafting {Idem). — We never met with Peaches on 

 Ch'rrry stocks that \*e recollect. For poor light soils it may ai limes be an 

 advantage to graft or bud on the Ahi'ond or wild Peach ; hut that will not, 

 in our opinion, conduce to the longevity of the tree. We shouid, for all out- 

 door work, prefer the Plum stock, -Lind the one that made flie most mop-like 

 fibres we should like the best. We would not advise following the proposed 

 plan except in the way of experiment. We would rather precc-r common 

 trees, and fresh rather poor toil. Owing to mislaying yuur leter for a few 

 day.^, the bit of plant was mnch sIiriTelled ; hut'we th'Ek it must be the 

 Genista triqnetra from your I'escription. The pit for Vires will do very 

 well, if the boards, coated over with tar. are so thoroughly dried and 

 sweetened that no tar fames are given off in the sun. If they are so 

 given off. farewell ^o the health of jour Vines. On this account we seldom 

 use tar inside; even pitch would he better.- Secondly, The pit will answer 

 if it is not so deep a= to keep the action of the sun from the roots. We do 

 not, however, see the ut-e rf the chamber below the slate floor !.s tending to 

 spcure or hu^bsnd sun heat. This it will do but to a small extent, whilst 

 the open space will tend to keep the roots cool, wh l>t the tops are exposed 

 to the greatest heat. Snch a pit would do better if nearly all abovu the 

 grmnd level, instead of being so much sunk. We are obliged by the explan- 

 ations you have given of the proposed pit, and the one now exi>ting. 



Heating CccrMBER-HoceE (T.Z.). — For tuch a honse, for winter pro- 

 duce, you will need about donb e the piping. The quantity of fruit must 

 depend on the cultivator. 



