228 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 21, 1865- 



and perfect dryness, and isolation to the walls. This 

 manure would not be wasted. As regards damp from 

 below there is ho reason why the house should not be made 

 as dry as the floor of nn underground kitchen. The build- 

 ing should run north and south, and the valley roof, as de- 

 signed by Mr. GeyeUn, would admit the sun's rays at all 

 periods of the day. The entrance door should be at the 

 south end, the steps leading down to which should be pro- 

 vided with a trap-door, to be closed at night, and in frosty 

 weather. The wall at the north end should be carried up 

 to the same height as the side walls, forming a sort of 

 parapet across the valley of the roof to protect it from cold 

 winds. A Laurel or Privet hedge carried round three sides 

 of the structure would form an additional screen. Any 

 amount of ventilation may be given by means of the door 

 and sashes. If the latter were double glazed it would be 

 a great advantage, whilst the lowness and accessibility of 

 the roof would at all times facilitate the application of a 

 straw and tarpaulin cover when considered necessary. I 

 really think a plan of this kind quite feasible, and that the 

 temperature within need never be allowed to fall below 40" 

 during the longest frosts. The house, of course, would only 

 be applicable to certain purposes, but if it could be made to 

 answer it would prove a boon to many. — Isle op Wight. 



PEETE^s'TESTG THE GOOSEBEE.ET 

 CATERPILLAE. 

 In " our Journal " of the 22nd of March in last year I 

 stated that I had just laid a thick coating of tan under my 

 Gooseberry bushes, and that I had little doubt that its 

 application for two or three seasons would, as in former 

 instances, prove a "perfect cure" for that terrible pest the 

 Gooseberry caterpillar. The result has thus far completely 

 verified my anticipations. The scourge re-appeared last 

 year, but in such diminished numbers that they were kept 

 completely under by a little hand-picking. My crop was, of 

 course, small, owing to the injury done to the bushes during 

 the previous season, but all ripened well, and the bushes 

 having now recovered their strength, I have every prospect 

 of a good crop, which a second thick coating of tan will 

 doubtless enable to ripen without iniury from the caterpillar. 

 Now is the time for applying the remedy, with which the 

 surface of the beds should be covered to a depth of at least 

 2 inches. If the soil be heavy the tan may be beneficially 

 dug in in the autumn : if light it had perhaps better be 

 collected in a heap and burnt. After a couple of seasons a 

 thin coating is generaUy sufficient to keep the enemy com- 

 pletely at bay. Experto crede. — A Devonshire Bbe-keepek. 



OECflTDS EOE GBEENHOUSE. 



To "W. A. 0.," who requests "a list of Orchids that will 

 flourish in a cool greenhouse," I recommend Mr. Bateman's 

 " Guide to Cool-Orchid Growing," (Reeve, Is.) ; and Messrs. 

 Backhouse & Son's " Catalogue of Greenhouse and Vinei-y 

 Orchids," which he will receive by post on sending sii 

 stamps to them at York. This latter is beyond all com- 

 parison the most valuable treatise on cool Orchids yet pub- 

 lished ; for besides a descriptive and priced list of about 

 240 kinds, it gives details of cultivation, derived from the 

 experiments of those eminent growers, which are of very 

 great practical value. 



This very day twelvemonth (March 17th, 1864), I removed 

 the following species from the coolest end of a stove, where 

 they had passed the previous six weeks with a minimum 

 temperature of 40°, to a cool greenhouse, where, on a shelf 

 close to the glass, the night temperature frequently went as 

 low as 37" and .36°, and once 34°, in the course of March and 

 April ; while, on the other hand, tlio forenoon sun occasion- 

 ally ran up the mercury to H(f and 90*, before I put up tlie 

 summer shading. The interstices between the pots were 

 stnfl'ed with moss, which was kept constantly damp. On this 

 shelf they remained till the end of Novembei-, when, the 

 temperature having descended to 35°, they were removed 

 again to the cool end of the stove. Here they have again 

 passed the winter ; the night temperature ranging mostly 

 between 40° and 50°, never going below the former, nor 

 above 54r°. Most have done well several very well. Calan- 



the vestita failed, made only miserable little bulbs, which 

 did not survive the winter. I remarked a fact (which Back- 

 house takes notice of and explains), that many of the plants 

 showed not the slightest sign of making growth tiU the 

 summer wiis well advanced. After the season's discipline. 

 however, I expect they will be much earlier this spring : in- 

 deed, some of them are starting already. 

 These are the species in question : — 



Calatitba vestita. | 



Cattleja citrioa (block ; made stout ' 

 bulb). 



Skinnerl (made flowering bulbs). 

 CoDlogyne cristata. 

 Cyrtochilum inaculatum. 

 Ctrlia Baueraua (flowered). 

 Dendrobium Bpeciosum. 

 Epidendrum aurantiacum (Bo. bulbs). 



vitellinum. 

 Ltclla albida (made 

 bulbs). 



aficeps. 



furfuracea (!) 



very 



Lycaato cruenta. 

 aromatica. 

 Skinneri. 

 Odontoglossum citrosmum. 

 grande. 



Insleayl (flowered). 

 Oncidinm leucochilum. 



sphacetatnm. 

 Sophronitis Krandiflora (block j 

 flowered finely), 

 strong I Trichopllia suavis. 



Disi Krandiflora (with wetter treat- 

 ment than the rest, flowered 

 1 finely). 



Most of these were small plants, scarcely mature enough 

 to flower. On the whole I feel satisfied with the results, 

 though the trial as to temperature was, perhaps, unwarrant- 

 ably severe. I mean to repeat the treatment with them 

 this season, only giving them a month longer in the cool 

 part of the stove, and removing them to the greenhouse 

 about the middle of April. I shall probably add to the 

 number the following : — 



Calanthe veratrifolia. 

 Cattleya Mossltu. 

 Cypripedium inslgne. 



Tenustum. 

 Dendrobium chrysanthum. 



fimbriatum (oculatum). 



nobllc. 



Kinglanum. 



moniliforme. 



pulchellum. 

 Lxlia Perrinnii, 



purpurata. 

 MaxiUaria Harrisoniae. 



graminea. 



Miltonia Candida. 



spectabilis. 

 Oocidium crispum. 



flexuosum. 



blcallofium. 

 Phajua Tankervillia;. 



albus. 

 Rodriguezia venusta. 



secunda. 



rlgida 

 Trichopilia tortilis. 

 Vanda teres. 

 Zygopetalum Mackayi. 



Thus I have named just half a century of Orchids out of 

 my own small collection, to which I have either applied or 

 mean to apply cool treatment. If your correspondent will 

 accept my counsel and consult Backhouse's list, he wiU 

 possess a far wider scope for selection ; and will find that 

 the genera Cattleya, Dendrobium, Epidendrum, Lajlia, Ly- 

 caste, Onoidium, and, facile pnnceps, the glorious genus 

 Odontoglossum, are profuse in fine species, which will thrive 

 under a greenhouse regimen. May I not add, that you will 

 be glad to learn the results of his experience ? — P. H. GossE» 

 Saiidliurst, Torquay. 



PEESEEVING PEAS FEOM MICE. 

 I HAVE discovered a most efi'ectual method of preventing 

 mice eating sown Peas. It may, perhaps, be useful to some 

 of the readers of your Journal. If the Peas are soaked for 

 about twelve hours in a strong mixture of sulphur and water 

 previous to sowing, not only will the mice be prevented 

 from attacking the seed, but the Peas wiU be stimulated in 

 their growth by the immersion. — C. S. 



CuEions Effect of Grafting. — "We extract the follow- 

 ing from The Naluralist. " Some time ago, in a public 

 garden of this place, a branch of Elm was grafted on an 

 Oak in the expectation of obtaining a tree half of which 

 would be an Elm and half an Oak. Contrary to the ex- 

 pectations of the gardener, however, the following was the 

 result : — The tree commenced budding this spring, and when 

 the leaves appeared it was found that each branch — nay 

 even each twig, liad both Oak loaves and Elm leaves grow- 

 ing upon it, in place of tliore being separate branches, each 

 bciiviug a difFercnt kind of loaf. I will only add th.at the 

 triM; is in full loaf, and 1 liave just obtained a cutting, which 

 I intoud to cullivatc if possible; and I hope next spring 

 to ho able to inform the readers of the Naluralist of tho 

 result of my endoavours. I also enclose a sprig for your 

 examination, and would lilce to ask, Is this a unique phe- 

 nomenon, or has anything of the kind been observed before ? 



