March 21, 1865. ] 



JOTTKlSrAL OF HOETfCULTURE ATSTD COTTAGE GARDENER. 



239 



Chaiicoai, as a Manure {0. S.).—\Vq cannot answer you better than by 

 giving the following:— Charcoal is a most efficient manure to all cultivated 

 plants, especially to those under gLiss. He:Uh>', Rhodoclen-ironB. Cucunibev- 

 Onions, Rosea, orchidaceous plants, Hydrang-eas, Camellias, Melon-, ami 

 Pine Apples, hav^ been the subjects of oxtenHivo aiid nioHt succo'^sful expert- 

 mentB. We think no cultivated plant would bo unbentliied by having char' 

 coal applied to the soil in vphich it i;^ rooted. It should be broken into small 

 pieces abont the size of a nut, and, for potted planis. may be mixed In the 

 proportions of one part charcoal to twenty parts earth. If applied to the 

 open ground, one-fourth of a bushel may be sown over u square rod or perch, 

 and dug-in just befora insertinp; the crop. Tbe rea'^on of charcoal being so 

 useful as a manure is very apparent. MM. Sennobiei'. Sausaura, and others, 

 have deraonHtrated th:it plants are rendered .nuch more luxuriant and pro- 

 ductive by having carbonic acid applied to tUeir rootf^, than other plants to 

 whoee roota no such application was made. Now ch;ircoal kept moist, as 

 when buried in tb^; soil, slowly combines witli oxygen, and emits carbonic 

 acid— in fact it slowly dissolves. For drainage in tJower-pots none better 

 can be employed than 2 inches in depth of pieces of charcoal about tho liizd 

 of a filbert. 



Cutting Exhibttion FnniT (Jc^em). —Tlie judges always cut Melons, as 

 well as Apples and Pears, if needful to ascertain their ripeness and quality. 



Strawberry Foecino (A Poor Amateur).— 1, The shelves shown at 

 page 165 (Fig. 2), and styled Strawberry shelves in vinery, were intended 

 to show the kind of bouse suitable for fixing tbe shelves, it not being 

 intended to occupy the house with Vines and Strawberrins at tbe same 

 time— it is, indeed, impracticable ; hut if you do not start the Vines until 

 April, you might havo the Vines so contrived as to taUe out, and use it as a, 

 Strawberry-bouse from December to April, the shelves being put up in 

 December, and taken down in April, after the crop has been gathered, and 

 the Vines introduced, retaining a shelf, however, at hack and front for more 

 Strawberries. 2, The stage at back, benr'ath the sb'*lves, is of no use for 

 Strawberries, though useful to get at the shelves, and for plants after the 

 shelves are taken down. 3, The earliest of all Strav/berries is May Queen, 

 it being ten days or a fortnight earlier than Elaek Prince under the same 

 conditions; but it is a small fruit, though a great bearer. B'ack Prince, 

 Undoubtedly, would be the better for market. Perhaps tbe earliest and 

 best for market is Keens' Seedling, which comes in about ten days after 

 Black Prince, the fruit being large, and the plant a good forcer. The 

 old "WellinKton is a very prolific and certain forcer, though the fruit is only 

 small. 



Tbrp for Vine-border (Idcm).—WQ laid up a heap of turf for a Yine- 

 horder in June, 1858, and turned It over twice, adding a bushel of soot and 

 fresh lime to each cartload, and formed the border in autumn of three cart- 

 loads of chopped turf, one of brick and old mortar rubbish, and six bushels 

 of boiled half-inch bones, thoroughly mixing the whole togethr^r. Un- 

 expectedly we had two more borders to make ready by March and we cut 

 the sods 2 inches thick, and ui^ed them fresh, merely chopping them as 

 they were brought, adding the old brick and mortar rubbish, and tbe same 

 quantity of charcoal and half-inch bones. All the Vines were planted on 

 one day, and there was no difference whatever in their growth. We have 

 since used the turf a year old, but we find the older it is the worse for a 

 Vine-border, which cannot be make too open, considering the length of 

 time it has to remain undisturbed. Fresh sod:^, cut at a dry time, and 

 roughly chopped, we like besf, planting" the Vines in a little fine rich com- 

 post, and making the border 9 inches or a foot higber than the required 

 depth, to allow for setttinii. 



All Sorts or Plants in one House {S. IF.).— From the first part of 

 your letter we thought you were going to give us an example of keeping 

 everything in its proper pl-ice, and allowing nothing else to interfere with 

 it in the way of the cramming that manv of us have to resort to ; but as we 

 read on we found that, if ynu do keep flowers to themselves, you are not to 

 be behind any one as rer^pects cramming for fruit, when you speak of 

 Strawberries, Vines, Peaches, fruit in pots, and Melons iSrc., in the same bouse. 

 Now, all you propose doing may be done, and is done often; but com- 

 promises have to be made, and one crop must suffer frequently from 

 attending to the wants of others. The great point is to get your Peaches in 

 bloom, and set, before the Vines are scarcely broken, and then the increase 

 of temperature that win suit the Vines when in bloom, will just suit the 

 swelling Peaches. As the Peaches approach maturity, the greater quantity 

 of air required for fiavour will be too much for the Grapes, so that, 

 though the Grapes will be very good and sweet, they will not likely be so 

 large as if grown in a house by themselves. Our first advice, then, would 

 he to keep one house for Vines and another for Peaches. You might plant 

 Vines against the back wall; but neither they nor Peaches will do much 

 good there, unless your stems of Vines, up the rafters, are at least 5 feet 

 apart— that is if the Vines reach the top of the rafters. Then you might 

 grow any sort of fruit, as Peaches, Fi^Sj &c, in pots on the floor of the 

 houae, and move them so as to get what light and air and temperature 

 would suit them best. By this plan you may grow any sort of Vines, giving 

 Muscats the warmest end. Our second advice would be, if you will have 

 Peaches in your early vinery, to confine them to the back wall, as there the 

 greatest amount of air can reach them from the top ventilators; and to 

 grow only the earliest and hardiest Grapes, as the Black Hamburgh, Buck- 

 land Sweetwater, and Royal Mu^cadnie, and, for Muscat flavour, the White 

 Frontignan. Bear in mind that the Peaches will thrive only as you keep 

 the roof of the house thin of Vines. Or- third advice would be, if ther^i 

 must be mixture, to confine the Peaches cniefiy to the late house, and have 

 some early ones in pots, which could be moved from the vinery. In this 

 case we would have a trellis in front, and trees against tlie back wall, and 

 keep the Vines thm up the rafter— say from 4 to 6 feet apart. For this late 

 Louse the same hardy Vines may be used, or, if you contemplate keeping 

 them late, a plant or two of Lady Downes' may be plauted at the warmest 

 end. Before the trellis, and the raftera are filled, you may grow any of the 

 fruits alluded to on the floor of the house, and Melons will do well in pots 

 over the hot-water pipes. Ir. will be as well if the pots do not touch the 

 pipes. Your description of the position ia unfavourable. Everything else 

 can be done under glass except giving the command of light; and if you 

 ^nnot have the health-giving rays of the sun the south aspect will be of 

 llUle avail. The arrangement of tbe houses seems to be very good. 



I>MsiE6 ON Lawn (A Subscriber).— There is no other mode of extirpating 

 them vhan by having them grubbed out by the aid of a knife, and putting 

 ^fTj 'i'^cklime into the hole thus made. A little light soil should then be 

 Bitted over ^be surface, a sprinkling of Suckling seed sown, and then the 

 roller passed over it. 



VfioETABLE Sekds FOR Barbadoes {C. J., Nottingham). — In th^ mountain 

 districts any of our English kitchen vegetables might be cultivated if the 

 cultivator had a moderate amount of judgment. On the low grounds 

 Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kidney Beans, and Cucumbers, would be likely to 

 endui-'i the climate; but why not try all our usual kitchen vegetables? If 

 they fail the loss will not be heavy. 



Exportino Strawherrt Plants— Vibes for Succession (R. 7?.).— Tie 

 the plants In bundles as you propose, plunge the root ends in cocoa-nut fibre 

 refuse, put morts over its surface, and lace it down firmly with string. We 

 should put the whole in a box and use wire net instead of a lid, and have 

 the box in a cabin or on deck. Use zinc labels, and write on them with the 

 appropriate ink. There is no Grape more marketable, or less liable to 

 failure, than the Black Hamburgh, and it will keep up the succession you 

 mention. 



Silver Tree {M.n. B.).— This native of the Cape of Good Hope is found 

 thiire only on the eastern slope of Table Mountain. The Dutch colonists 

 call it Wittchoom, and botanists name it Leucodendron argenteum. It 

 requires a greenhouse or conservatory for its shelter. Soil two parts heath 

 mould and one part sandy loam, chopped together, but not broken fine; 

 drain the pot well, and mix some pieces of charcoal with the soil. Keep it 

 cool and the air dry. never syringe it nor put it out of doors in summer. 

 Let the soil b':- moderately moist, but excess of water and dryness are equally 

 fatal to the roots. 



LiLiuM AURATUiT [An Old Subscriber).— Any moderately rich lightish loam 

 suits it. It is hardy, and the bulbs left in the border during winter require 

 no other protection than 2 or 3 inches depth of leaves or cocoa-nut fibre 

 refuse to be placed over them. 



Hygrometer (iff:r).— Catgut is sensitive enough in showing the dryness 

 and moistness of the air, but this is useless unle-s affiiied to a graduated 

 scale, whereby a comparison and estimate of the amount of moisture may 

 be ascertained . The seed was lost; but the " Desert Pea " of Australia we 

 believe to be Cliantlms puniceus, and the cultivation is given in all gardening 

 books. 



Carnations (G. 72.).— You can have "Florists' Flowers for the Many" 

 free by post if you send five postage stamps to our office, with your direction. 

 We give this answer because you will find in that book far fuller informa- 

 tion than we can here find space for. 



Pears for a S.S.W. Aspect (A Siibscriber).— AW the Pears you have 

 planted will do on the aspect of your wall except Glou Morceau, and we 

 would recommend in its stead either Thompson's or Red Doyenne- Marie 

 Louise we should prefer to Ne Plus Meuris, and Fondants d'Automne or 

 Urbaniste to Jersey Gratioli. However, you have not seriously erred. The 

 S.S.W. aspect is just the place for Winter Nelis, and we anticipate you will 

 have some very fine fruit from it. In speaking of walls use the term 

 '* aspect," and then no mistake can arise. 



Teichomanes epEciosuM Fronds Browned (A Constant Reader).— Juiz- 

 ing from the appearance of the fronds sent, we think the case in which 

 the plant is grown is not kept sufiQciently moist. The atmosphere should 

 be kept constantly humid. The compost should never be allowed to become 

 dry ; and if water were constantly dripping on it, free drainage being 

 afforded, the plant would have a greater length of frond. Tour keering 

 the atmosphere so dry accounts for the occasional appearance of the small 

 black insects, which assuredly are thrips. These will be best got rid of by 

 keeping the case more moist, sprinkling it with soft water, which has been 

 exposed to the air, once or twice daily, or as often as may be required, in 

 order to maintain a uniformly humid atmosphere, A slight fumigation 

 with shag tobacco will assist in destroying this pest; but the fronds should 

 have no water standing on them: and care must be taken that the smoke is 

 not too strong, and that it is cool when it reaches the fronds. This Fern 

 requires a very humid atmosphere, a tair amount of light, a little of the 

 morning or evening sun, and iresh air, the fronds dying off' in a close 

 atmosphere. It should, therefore, have air by opening the case a little, not 

 much, otherwise the dry air of the room will dry the atmosphere of the case 

 too much, and be equally pernicious, and the condensed water on the glass 

 should be wiped off in the morning; this will tend to Iceep the atmosphere 

 of the case pure, and lessen the necessity for air-giving, 



PiNUS MARITIMA AND P. AUSTRIACA ON THE CoAST [BlacIcpOol). — ThCEe 



Pinuses do very fairly on land by the sea, and withstand tbe sea breezes 

 better than any trees we know of. Tours is a very bad situation; but we 

 would advise your giviag the above-named a trial, planting more exten- 

 sively if they succeed. They do so in many places, and are extensively 

 planted on the east and west coasts. 



Ink for Zinc Labels (A.B).— Try that which we gave a recipe for at 

 page 163 of our Number published Feb. 21. 



Lonicera aueeq-reticdlata {A Regular Subscriber, Pcckham). — Tour 

 plant is all right. The young leaves are always like those you enclosed, 

 somewhat oak-leaf shaped and green. The plant strikes readily from cuttings. 



Espalier Apple and Fear Trees {A. W.).—ll the shoots be rampant 

 and gross they may be cut back to half their length, but if of medium 

 growth they need not be cut in so much. Some regard to the shape of the 

 tree ought to regulate the pruning, and in espaliers, trained horizontally, it 

 is better always to allow the bottom branches to be the longest. There is 

 no difficulty in getting the upper ones to eloLgate, which they sometimes do 

 to the detriment of the lower ones. Being planted only last year, it is not 

 likely they will want severe cutting-in this season ; but another season they 

 may possibly want checking a little at root and top ; but when they once 

 get into a bearing condition grossness of growth is more rare. 



Bedding Geraniums Suitable for Planting Together (iV. C.)-— We 

 are sori-y we are not acquainted with all the varieties you mention, but we 

 hope they will fiower with you before planting-out time, and enable yon to 

 judge of their colour. Of the kinds we are acquainted with in your list. 

 Spitfire, Stella, Glowworm, Sir W. Wallace, and Admiration might go pretty 

 well together as scarlets; the last-named one, being the strongest grower, 

 might be in the middle of the bed. Rubens is a dull rose, but good bloouaer. 

 Kosy Morn is somewhat brighter. Carmine Nosegay is a crimson, and is a 

 great favourite in many places. Bishop of Exeter and Ossian are strangers 

 to us. If you want to increase your stock, cuttings may be put in for some 

 time yet, and these may still be tidy plants to turn out in May If they be 

 kept warm, but there is no doubt but they would be better and larger if 

 not cut. Usually the requirements of the case determine whether propa- 

 gation should gp on or not. 



