240 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



( March 21, 1865. 



Ckkkpprs im Stove over Feri*s and Oacuins {Orchi'iophi{ti$).~iVG 

 think you hare put in more wires than ar^ needed, but you are not com- 

 pelled to use them all. Creepera with Mroas laree foliage, hke Ipomcca 

 Hor^faUia? and Pa«*lflor* ediilis or P. quadrangn'.ari^, occupy more apace 

 than most of the Jasmiooms or Hoyas. litt they cin be triined to any ren- 

 souible condition. There i4 no question but Orchids aTid Ferns will thrive 

 very well under such shade ; the grreat roiot beinfi to prevent the creepers 

 darkeoiDf the house too much Ute in the summer when the Orchids want a 

 little more enn. This yon must remedy bv thinnirjr. BftueainriUaja does 

 Sesc in a p<^t, tbe plant being exposed to the full bun. Let us know bow 

 Mr. Bewlej*s mode of elazinp answers with yon. 



Grape Vink Bi'nciik^ becoming ABORxn'E or TRNDRtt-LiKE (Suhscrihcr 

 •if Some Vf art). ~-Th\s is not an unusual occurrence, and is attributed to 

 two canses— the imperfect ripeninff of the fruit-bud the prpcedinp autuTnnt 

 and the abfence cf fun&hine to assist nature in her up-hill work of makine 

 the most of ench bunches as are not entirely blind. We have liltie hope of 

 any treatment now preventinp the evil; but we mav say tha*. allowinsr the 

 fruit to hang long after being: ripe tends to weaken the Vine, as also does 

 pruning too soon or too late, or a too-heavy crop, or perhaps the border 

 lacked moisture, or had too much of it. AH the'.e and some other excesses 

 tend to check the dne development of the plant, and a failure i-* the result. 

 Tour present manaeement seems all that can be done, and brighter weather 

 will, we hope, assist in saving what is now left. 



Aksangemo't of Plants and Fillikg Stone Vases 'A Constant Sub- 

 icribfr), — Arrancinir plants for effect on a ereenhouse stace is a matter 

 difficalt to understand, unless the operation w.^9 performed in tl>.e presence 

 of the person wantine such information. Of late years plants with re- 

 markable foliage have entered largely into plant arrangement, and fresh 

 ones are added every year, and as we do not know your particular wants 

 we may say. that in "the staging of plants, alloiviog one now and then to 

 rise above its fellows is a good plan, providing always that such as show 



themselves above the level are well grown and handsome. The flUmg of 

 large stone vases mtiy vary each time thn plants are changed, which, we 

 presume, is pretty often for in-door purponert ; as the pUuLs may simply be 

 plunged, pots and all. and covered with moss, in our case we often, 

 have creepers prepared for the purpose of hauging over the edges, and 

 tall and medium-sized plants for the centre. A. trailing Tradescantia 

 is one of our greatest favourttci' for .-\ marble vane, but Isolepis gracilis 

 and several Ferns are used occ^^ionilly. Possibly one of our contributors 

 may give us a list of plants available. 



Gaedesino near the Seashobe (Marine) —If your situation be a 

 favoured one, and not likely to be reached hy the spray from a cold bois- 

 terous qiurter, you may itliint neveni! kinds of shrubs, with a fair 

 prospetr of success. LaurustinusRs thrive well in such places— better than 

 common Laurel; then there Ir the 'I'atnarix. Finns Sluglin, double Gorso, 

 and even Sycamore will endure a strong sea air. In fruits the Peach 

 thrives well, as likewise do Strawberries; and amnngst vegetables Potatoes, 

 and the whole of the Cabbaee and Broccoli tribe do well, as is shown in the 

 large qunrtities feot to the London F-arket from Cornwall, where they are 

 crown mostly within a mile of the shore, and often within a stone's throw 

 of it. 



Names OP Fncixs (Rer. R. TT.).— The two omall red Apples are Scarlet 



Nonpariel, and the large paler one is Dumelow'e Seedling. 



Names op Plants {S. F. J/.).— We do not recognise the Bcrap"you sent. 



I (iVooiVe).— Chondrus crisiius. A common pocket lens will answer your 



; purpose. It may be had of any optician. {Cof. Z>.). — Apoarently an 



I Arbutus, but we cannot be sure without seeing the flower. {R. P. B.). — 



! Your Mos>es are — 1, Bryum hornum ; 2, Dicranura scoparium ; 3. Poly- 



! tricham piliferum; 4, Hookeria lucens ; 5. Hyonum mvosuroides; 6, Tortula 



muralis; 7, Bryum nutans; 8, Funaria hygrometrico ; 9, ^Yei34ia coatroversa 



1 (or W. trichodes ?) ; 10, Hypnum proliferum. 



:METEOEOLOG-IC-\Ji OBSERVATIONS in the Suburbs of London for tlic Week ending Marcli IStli. 



Date. 



Ban. 12 



jMon. 13 



TnesL 14 



' Wed. 15 



Thors. 16 



. Fri. 17 



I Sat. 18 



! Mean 



THEEMOMETEE. 



BAnOUCTEB. 



Air. 



Mas. 



Min. 



30.024 

 29.953 

 29.923 

 30.010 

 30.025 

 29 924 

 29.970 



30.011 

 29 709 

 29.814 

 29.984 



29.949 

 29.906 

 29.927 



45 

 48 

 42 

 40 

 44 

 45 



Min. i 1 ft deep. 2 ft. deep. 



27 

 30 

 30 

 29 

 23 

 21 

 32 



T 



42 



42i 



42i 



42 



42^ 



42* 



42 

 42 



42 

 42 

 44 

 42 



42 



29.975 



29.900 



27.86 



42.21 





Bain 



Wind. 



in 





inches. 



N.E. 



.00 



X. 



.00 



N.E. 



.01 



N.E. 



.00 



NE. 



.00 



E. 



.00 



E. 



.00 





0.01 



Gehebal Remaucs. 



Overcast ; cloudy and cold ; overcast ; slight frost at night. 



Overcast ; cloudy ; overcast at night. 



Cloudy and cold; a few snow-flakes; overcast [ frostatnjght 



Frosty drizzle, like very small hail; cold and cloudy; slight 



Overcast throughout; frost at night. 



Overcast: dry smoky liaze; cloudy; frosty. 



Foggy; overcast ; cold and sunless; overuaat at night. 



POULTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE. 



POULTRT-KEEPIXG FROM A COMMERCIAL 

 POI^'T OF riEVi-. 



It is for Englishmen to determine whether England is 

 capable of profitably supplying eggs and poultry for her own I 

 consumption, but I am painfully surprised to notice how very j 

 few seem to take an, interest in the subject, which you have ; 

 been pleased to bring before your numerous readers with 

 laudable zeal and perseverance. When I had the honour of ' 

 addressing you in No. 204 I was in total ignorance of the 

 highly interesting discussion raised by Mr. Geyelin, whose 

 ability and industry entitle him to public sympathy and i 

 support, at least to the extent of faii-ly trying if it be com- j 

 mercially possible for England to feed her own people. He ! 

 goes very fully into figures to show this may be profitably i 

 done. Some few, and I regret to say but very few, of your I 

 numerous correspondents seem to notice his remarks, | 

 though none can doubt their importance. This is not very | 

 creditable to the poultry amateurs of England, who are ever 

 ready to discuss most zealously and learnedly about the 

 breeds of fowls, or the proper colours of cock's legs and tails, 

 but who eeem to ignore such practical dry business details as 

 the produce of hens and the cost of feeding them. 



These are mere questions of detail, and resolve them- , 

 selves into a matter of X. ». d., but the success of Mr. i 

 Geyelin's project depends entirely on the amount and cost ; 

 of production and the market value of the produce. | 



It is not for me to interfere between Mr. Geyelin and 

 " C. S. J.," go I leave them to settle as they can, for it is 1 

 evident both mean well though differing considerably iu their 

 views. I must, however, notice two correspondents in No. 20G, 

 one "An Old Subbcribeb," on the wholesale price of eggs, 

 the other " Babxdooe," on poultry food and annual egg pro- 

 duce. Both are apparently adverse to Mr. Geyelin's figures, 

 but in point of fact neither seems to affect him in any way. 



His scheme only refers to London prices, and to the pro- 

 ductive powers of hens fed and lodged so as to stimulate the 

 utmost powers of production. It is but fail- to Mr. Geyelin and 

 the public to use the utmost candour and sincerity so as to 

 put the case faiiiy. He fixes the produce of hens fed on his 

 plan at 180, whQe "Baendook" writes, " Cochins, Brahmas, 

 &c., should lay 120 eggs in a year." True, but how many 

 more may be reasonably expected? Does "Babndoob" 

 give this as the actual result of his own experience ? If so, 

 will he say how the hens were treated, their ages, &c. ? I 

 admit the mere opinion of one man, or even his practical 

 experience, can carry but very little weight ; I can, however, 

 quote some well-known authorities which fully sustain Mr. 

 Geyelin's calculations about tbe produce of hens, while but 

 one goes so low as 120, the figure of " Babndoob," for the 

 best known egg-producing breeds. Cobbett says eleven hens 

 should give 2000 eggs and 100 chickens, if well fed, iu one 

 year, and aUows eighteen bushels of barley to feed them 

 with one cock. Eiohardson relates that three Polish pullets 

 laid 524, cost 16s. Gd. Baxter records that four hens laid 

 710 eggs one yeai- at a cost of .£1 2s. Ud., and oOl the next 

 year at 15s. 95d. In the work called " Farming for Ladies " 

 we read, " Hens lay nearly all the year round, except when 

 moulting and in the depth of winter, but generally speaking 

 at least ten to twelve or fourteen dozen eggs a-year may be 

 counted on." I dare say the experience of most of your 

 readers will differ quite as much as that of those writers, so 

 much depends on the peculiar circumstances of each case. In 

 my opinion a fair average can be taken only by the actual 

 results obtained by a hirgo number of the most careful 

 breeders, who keep their poultry in the best and cheapest 

 way. I am in candour bouud to add that in " Chambers' 

 Information for the People " it is broadly laid down that no 

 hens will pay for their food if it is all purchased. 



This question is strictly a national one, for it is most 

 important to ascertain by actual experiment if eggs o^ 

 poultry may be produced by ourselves as cheaply af "J 

 various nations immeasurably behind us in ovwything 

 relating to agriculture. If Mr. Goyolin can succeed in teach- 



