May 16, 1S65. ] 



JOTJEKiX OF HORTICULTURE AXD COTTAGE GAEDESTER. 



367 



Scale on Oleander {A Donegal Suhscriher).—The leaves sent v^eremyich 

 infested with scale. Disjolve half a pound of sott soap in two callons of 

 hot water, and with this sponge both gides of the leaves, but particularly 

 the under side ; and he sure to dislodge the enemy so firmly seated on the 

 sides of the midribs. Use the solution as hot aa the hand wiil bear it. 

 After the pl.inta become dry, syringe them with witer at a temperature of 

 140*. laying the plants on their side?, and tuminR them, so as to thoroughly 

 wash every part. If the pest still intest the plants, repeat the application ar 

 intervals. The blotched condition of the leaves may be due to the plants 

 being kept in too low a temperature, and to an excess of moisture on the 

 leaves, or allowing- water to stand or drip upon them in too low a tempera- 

 ture. We suspect that they are not constantly supplied with water at the 

 roots. 



PROPAGATisa Drtttzia GRACILIS (Q/jiz).— Cuttincs of the half-ripened 

 shoots, which may he had now from forced pla^ts, each with two or three 

 joints, inserted round the sides of a pot or pan, in a compost of equal part5 

 of loam, leaf mould and sand, will soon root, if plajed in a mild hotbed and 

 shaded from sun. Cuttings of similar shoots, taken from plants in the open 

 air, may be inserted in July under a bell-glass in a shady border. Pot them 

 when well rooted, and plunge, in an open situation, in coal ashes. They will 

 not bloom to any extent in the following season, however well managed. 

 To obtain bli^oraing plants for another year, good-sized branches should be 

 layered into pnts of convenient size, plunged near an old plant, fastening 

 down the shoots with peg?, and covering with sn inch of sail. An incision 

 is not necessary, though it will facilitate the pmcess. It should be made 

 below a j lint, in an upward direction, and about half through the branch. 

 In autumn the layers may be detjched, potted info 4^ or 6-in;h pots, 

 according to the size of the plant-;, and be wintered in a cold frame or 

 sheltered sitnaUon, the pots being plunged in ashes. ShcIi will bloom a 

 little in the following spring, if the plants are strong and the shoots well 

 ripened in autumn. 



SrarKiXG Cbrtsanthemttm Ccttings in Mat fiSow).— Cuttings struck 

 in 3-inch pots in Mav will make small plants, which may be transferred to 

 their blooming-pots in July, stopping them at ihe fifth joint or leaf, and 

 again, if necessarj-, in the middle of July. If the plants are strong and a 

 late bloom is desired, pot them in 9-inch pots early in August, and stop the 

 plants at the same time. To have a good bloom the plants should he struck 

 earlier. ' 



Daphne indicv CuLxrRE (£. S.). — It requires the temperature oT a 

 greenhou5P, a light airy situation, and a compost of turfy peat two-thirds, 

 and loam one-third, with a free admixture of sand. Free drainage, a 

 plentiful sunply of water, and a moist soil when growing, but at other times 

 never very wet nor very riry. are what we have found necessary for its culti- 

 vation. To induce stiff growth and keep the plants bushy we stop the 

 shoots, or cat them in in spring after blooming, and keep near the glass, and 

 neai" to the point where air is admitted. Kept at a distance from th-j glass, 

 in the shade, and in a closa part of the house, it grows fast and weakly, and 

 produces few if any flowers. 



GiSHTRST Compound (C. IT. I.'.).— We do not see how we can improve 

 npon your mode of using Gishurst ompound— 2 ozs. to thi* gallon. It is 

 just another inst.icce that whit wil kiU a plant in one case will not kill it in 

 another. Try tobacco smoke or qnassia water; 4 ozs. to the gallon is strong 

 enough, and use it with a brush over the insects. Were we to sjringe 

 plants with it we would use four or five ga'lons of water. 



Pear Leavfs Diseased (A. S., near Chnrd). —Yonr Pear leaves are 

 encrusted with fungi, generally the result of extra feeding and deficient 

 drainage. Perhaps there has been scarcely enough of air hi the orchard- 

 house. "We attribute the twisted Rose flowers you mention fo extra feediog 

 and deficient veutildtion m the late sunny weather. A little shade would 

 have been useful 



Sowing Veitch's Perfection Peas (J. B., TorA-^^ ire).— This Pea nsnally 

 takes sixteen weeks from the time of sowing to that of turnishing pods well 

 filled with peas. If sown now it would come in about the end of August or 

 beginning of September, varying a fortnight according to the weather. 

 Yorkshire Hero is an esceUent"pea, but not equal to Veitch's Perfection for 

 an exhibition tabie. 



Salvia splendess for Blooming in Aucrsr (Jrffi;j\— Pot the plant now 

 from an eight-inch to a twelve-inch pot, using turfv loam, with a little leaf 

 mould, and stop the shoots if thin. Tie-out the shoots regularly as they 

 grow, and w .ter and syringe well to keep down red spider." Give" plenty of 

 light, keeping near the glass, and abundance of air. It may bloom in 

 August, but there is no certainty of its doing so, its blooming times being 

 autumn and spring, though it may be had in bloom in Augustby forwarding 

 in a house. Stop the Geraniums' now if thin of shoots, and they will not 

 need stopping again to bloom well in August. 



liiPEovrsG Tdrf of Bowling Green {if., Clautjhton^.^.Ks the soil is 

 heavy and the grass poor, we recommend it to be so«n with Suckling 

 (Trifolium rriuus or filiformel, coal ashas to the depth of a ou-irter of an 

 inch to be sifted over it, and tr^en rolled. A watering with lime water occa- 

 sionally will drive away worms and impove the turf. 



Lilium giqantkuji Culture (vt Foor Ir i sh m a n).~vre should he afraid 

 to put such a fine bulb of L. giganteum out in au exposed situation ; the 

 winds would be sure to spoil it if you hive not a nice sheltered nook for it. 

 You had better shift it at once into a larger pot or tux Such a bntb as 

 yours should throw up a spike 10 feet high ; you may stand it out of doors 

 at once. If you keep it in a pot or tub let it remain in the open air in some 

 sheltered corner till it begins to show flower, when it should be taken into 

 the greenhouse. If you have a sheltered place an I wish to niant it out, dig 

 a hole 3 feet deep and 2 feet wide, fill the bottom of the hole with 9 inches 

 or a foot of broken bricks for drainage, ou these place a little moss to pre- 

 T«it the soil from getting down amongst the drainage, then place 2 or 

 3 inches of your prepared soil on the top of the moss. ATter tou have turned 

 your plant out of the pot place it on the hole, and fill the space left arouud 

 the sides wita the soil suitable for Liliums; This, however, should not be 

 sifted fine, but be used just as it is chop oed, in nice pieces of sod about 2 or 

 3 inches square. 



Channel Islands (A. B. C).— At Guernsey yon could do what you pro- 

 pose ; but whether you could pay your man's wages out of the surplus 

 produce of your gardens depends upon circumstances, such as skill, soil, 

 and season. There is but one town on the islan>?i, but tou had better leside 

 near that for the sake of facilities of shipping produce to England, and 

 other conveniences. Tou must go and look for yourself. 



Treatment op Az*lea-* after Blooming lAancf).— As soon a3 your 

 Azaleas have done blooming place them In a close trame or stove for all 

 weekj, supply them well with water, and syringe them two or three limes 

 daily with water. As soon as they have made th^irir new growth put them 

 iito a cool frame or pit for a few days. After they have become a little 

 hardened place them in the open air where the direct rays of the sun cannot 

 strike on them. They may remain in this position till the end of Sep- 

 tember, when they should be taken mto a cold pit or greenhouse, but they 

 must not at any time suffer for want of water. The Camellia may be treated 

 in a similar manner, only it will not take qait«: so long as the Azalea to 

 mature its growth. As soon as you see the young flower-buds formed (the 

 plants should be taken at once to a cooler place. If this is not done Ihey 

 will commence their growth again, which will prevent their flowering the 

 following season. 



Management of Dow.nton Nectarine (G. K, Secenoaks).'~lf your 

 Downton Nectarine w*3 a small tree, such as you would get from a nursery- 

 men, you ought not to have expected any fruit to have remained on it; if 

 any had set it should not have beeu allowed to remain ou the tree the first 

 year alter planting. The wood was not ripe, which was the main cause of 

 the young fruit falling off. It is not by any means unusual for the Nec- 

 tarine tree to set its fruit in clusters in the way you describe, but it would 

 be against all reason to allow them to remain sj. They should be cut 

 out With a. sharp pair of scissors, leaving but one ; this should be left in the 

 be.'t position, where it would not be rubbed by ihe branches of the tree, 

 and where it would have room to swell to its full size. The best shapeu 

 fruit in the cluster should also be left, and not more tliau from ten to eigh- 

 teen fruit shonld be allowed to reinaiu on the tree this year. This should 

 be determined by the strength of the tree. 



Plebosia elegaks Leaves Scorceed (J/. C).— The hotbed was too close 

 for the Pleroma elegans. We should think the rank steam generated in the 

 hotbed spoilt the leaves in the first instance ; it the hotbed was kept 

 rather clo^e, and the snn came out strong, it would be sure to have this 

 effect on the leaves. The Pleroma should receive similar treatment to the 

 Azalea after blooming, lor wtiich see answers to correspondents in this and 

 previous Number* of The Journal of Hoeticclture. 



Zinc Labels (J. Wi's,n), — Ton had better buy a piece of zinc, score it in 

 strips of the size you need by means of an old knife, and write upon them 

 with the ink for wnich wd recently gave the recijje. We will endeavour to 

 publish some notes on the subject next week. 



Reiiovisg Offsets of Acricclas (fl. F )-— R^'tJbing off the offsets will 

 strengthen the plant, but we rather question whether plants which are 

 inclined to throw off offsets will make large trusses. {G. S.). — We do 

 not know of any named collection of hardy sell Auriculas. The florists* 

 varieties are too tender. 



Fowl ilANUEE [Clematis], — We have not had niwih. experience with this 

 manure used alone, except seeing it applied to gr.iss land in places adjacent 

 to poultry-houses, and there it is sometimes administered too thickly, and 

 with only an indifferent result. We should not advise it being applied to 

 Strawberries or Kaspberries, but for other fruit trees it may be beneficial, 

 and to such plants as Geraniums, which require a stimulating rather than 

 a lasting manure, it may do good; liUt we think, it will be bmter in all 

 cases to mix it wi:h five or six times its bulk of suil, and apply it as a top- 

 dressing just before rain. 



Ceeepeks FOE THE StTKNT SiDE OF A HoDSE (IJetn). — If you Want a fast 

 grower, plant Jasminum revolutum, which has also the property of looking 

 well all the year, as likewise does the Evergreen Honeysuckle, or, better 

 ttill, the Yellow and White Banbsian Roses. Cleinatiees having a shabby 

 look for so long a period, can only he advantageously planted in company 

 with something else. A Wistaria chinensis is better, and a Bignonia ca- 

 preolata also quickly occupies a large space. If, however, the space is limited, 

 and the situation good, try Ceanothns azureus and dentatu-, or Magnolia 

 grandiflora ; or foi an exposed one, Pyracanthas louk v^ry well. 



WiTEa Plant for Small Pond Made foe Bees (E. TT.). — Kantm- 

 culns aquatitis looks as well as anything that raer.-ly floats on the water, or 

 if your case be urgent and the water stagnant, ge: !i paillul of Aponogeton 

 distachyan (duck's meat), from a neighbouring pond and place in it. Veronica 

 beccabuoga iBrooklimej, also grows freely in pools not too deep, and the 

 same may be said of Water Cresses and many other plants. We expect the 

 place is too small for a Water Lily, but in toe absence of any of these we 

 would let som.ething hke a basket-lid or two float in the water. It would 

 enable the bees to find a landing place to dry themselves and regain wing. 



Endive {S. Jtf. J., Ireland). — It is a general remark that no one garden 

 in the United Kingdom produces such good vegetables, as a whole, as are 

 sold in Covent Garden. The reason is obvious: years, or rather ages, of 

 practice have found out which locality is best suited for each individual 

 plant, and it is cultivated there. The best Endive we have met with in a 

 growing state was on the banks ot the Thames, where manure by the 

 waggonload was applied almost to excess. The Euaive was grown on in 

 the autumn as long as it was thought safe to allow it to remain outside, 

 and for early winter use some of it was blanched t!ien ; the rest t^ken up 

 with balls, and placed under glass, where it was protected, and brought 

 into market as required. The only points in its cuUure differing from that 

 pursued by every one else, is the extra richness of the soil, and the know- 

 lecige whioh the culti^alion of, perhaps, only some tnree or four different 

 articles enables the grower to attam of the deta'ls of good cultivation in each, 

 which no private inoividual, having a number of objects to attend to, can 

 expect to arrive atj besides which, it must be obsei-ved that everything 

 sent to the London market is sent when at its best, whereas in private 

 families the article is only sent when wanted, which may sometimes be 

 after it has passed its best, or may not have arrived at it. 



Fig Tree not Bearing {John TTiVjo;!).— It is likely that your tree 

 wanted more water during the summer and early autumn months of the 

 last and the preceding year, as the Fig s^ems to require more moisture 

 than any fruit we know of. If you can supply it with liquid manure 

 at times during the summer, it is likely you wiU have more success 

 hereaftei. Perhaps tliis can be done without disturbing the pavement over 

 the roots. Do not give ihe liquid manure strong, and at times give plain 

 water instead. 



Vineries— Salart (Inquirer], — It is quite impcssible to say how many 

 vineries a gardener could manage, and we know of no instance of a gardens 

 having no other employment. From £75 to £100 a-year would not be too 

 high a salary. 



