56 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. [ January 20, 1863. 



Hardy Aquatics (W. Beard).— Yfe cannot say where you can purchase 

 these ; but nurserymen who have not a piece of water generally procure 

 them from some place where they are plentiful. There are usually 

 plenty to he had from most ornamental waters, and we have seen the 

 most of them growing in small rivers and marshy grounds round London. 

 We have no doubt this notice or an advertisement will bring you news of 

 them. To your Calla palustris, Hottonia palustris, Butomus umbellatus, 

 and Nympha2a alba we would add the large-flowering gorgeous Nuphar 

 lutea, Stratiotes aloides, Menyanthes trifoliata, and Aponogeton distachyon. 

 This last-named had better be planted in pots, sunk near the margin, and 

 in severe winters the pots could be raised and set in a tub of water in a 

 ■close shed or greenhouse. 



Centaueea candidissima (A Subscriber).— Centaurea candidissima is 

 not better than Cerastium tomentosum for some edgings, and it is much 

 better for some others than any other plant in cultivation. All depends 

 upon the plants in the bed to be edged. 



Liquid Manure for Vines (An Amateur).— If vour Vines are in-doors, 

 and the roots dry, you may use your water-closet, sewage, much diluted 

 and heated to from 80° to 100°, before starting the Vines. If the roots are 

 out of doors, the roots most likely will be wet enough, and water is not 

 likely to be required until the ground becomes dry and warm— say from 

 June to September. We would even then, however, use such material 

 with great care. It i« almost sure to be too strong, unless much water is 

 added. We once knew fine Vines completely spoiled by using the liquid 

 strong and in a fresh state. 



Bone Dust for Pelargoniums (New Tear).— Give your strong Geraniums 

 no manure water or top-dressing until the flower-buds are formed and 

 iorming. Then, instead of watering, you might put a quarter of an ounce 

 on the surface in each pot, and give as much more again in ten days. 

 Mixed with water, you might use about three ounces to four gallons of 

 water, mixing it up the day before. See answers to correspondents last 

 week. We like to vary the stimulus just on the principle that a person 

 will thrive better on beef and mutton alternately than on either con- 

 tinuously. 



Camellia Flowers imperfectly Opening (S. D. <?., Ireland). — Your 

 Camellia Hawkerii, which both last year and this formed fine large buds, 

 of which a few of the outer petals opened but the centre continued a hard 

 ball and finally fell off, requires the centre of the ball of earth to be 

 wet enough and its drainage perfect. In such dull weather, of which we 

 bave had so much, air would be advisable, even though a brisk fire should 

 be made m the morning and allowed to burn out, using none at night 

 unless frosty. ° 



Apple Trees Mossy and Branches Dying (67. C.).— If your trees are 

 not too far gone they may be, to a certain extent, renovated by a slight 

 not a heavy pruning, and by lime- washing the stems and branches as far 

 as you can, coating them thickly with the lime. On a fine, mild and 

 slightly damp morning in April let a man with a ladder go round and 

 throw some quicklime all amongst the tops. A great part of this will 

 of course, come to the ground ; but it will do no harm there, and what 

 falls amongst the mossy-covered branches will stick to them, and in a 

 great measure destroy the moss. A damp, calm day is best for this work 

 Much good will also be done by manuring the ground; and, if it is in 

 tillage, do not by any means dig it deep. If these remedies fail, it would 

 be better to destroy the trees and plant again elsewhere. Cutting-down 

 and severe pruning rarely answer for above three or four years, unless the 

 trees are young and vigorous, in which case they seldom want this ex- 

 cepting to change the kinds. 



Ventilation op STove and Greenhouse (A Lady).— Tou will see an 

 article in our next Number on this subject, but we may here say that 

 during the dall months 55° may be regarded as the minimum for a plant- 

 stove, and 38" for a greenhouse. Tou may, however, give air freely to the 

 latter ; but the former will require but little until brighter weather set 

 in. The sand in your stove may be kept damp when plants are growing 

 hut when they are at rest keep it dry. Tour further inquiries will he met 

 in the article above alluded to. 



Planting Belladonna Lily (A. S.).~ The depth for planting these was 

 stated to be 6 inches in the article you allude to. Mr. Beaton has always 

 said that all bulbs which remain in pots from year to year are more safe 

 if buried as low as the neck of the bulb ; and when they are not so potted 

 many of them perish from the damp of our hothouses and open-air climate 

 penetrating between the coats of the bulbs when they are at rest. The treat- 

 ment of Eucharis amazonica has been given in every volume of this Journal 

 for the last seven years. The treatment for 1863 is this: To have it always 

 and in all places under-potted— that is, to have the bulbs in smaller pots 

 than Lily bulbs of the 6ame size ; to use nothing this season but the best 

 loam and about one-sixth of the quantity of sand; to give it stove heat 

 from first to last, and, better still, to plunge in a hotbed of 80° bottom 

 Jieat and 70° of top heat from the middle of February to the,end of May ; 

 and to keep it as constantly watered as a pot Pelargonium every day in the 



Pancratium mexicanum (Idem).— You have given the key to your gay- 

 deceiver bulb. Tou say this Pancratium is dreadfully subject to thrips. 

 There never was a more direct libel, for there is no plant the thrips dis- 

 like worse than a Pancratium. Your bulb from Mexico is not a Pancratium 

 nor a stove bulb at all, and you did not give it one-quarter of the quantity 

 of water it requires in the heat of a Geranium-house. Your Pancratium 

 which flowered two months ago was a genuine Hymenocallis. Mexico is 

 full of these, and from almost hardy to stove kinds ; and the whole of the 

 HymenoealliseB of the American continent require saucers of water under the 

 pots from May to November, and the saucers to be kept full of water the 

 whole time. From the want of water, and from too much heat probably, 

 the juicesof your bulb were made so sweet that even the thrips could not 

 resist the temptation of sucking the leaves. Although the bulb is so much 

 like a Pancratium that no man could tell that it was not a Pancratium 

 while itwas in flower, no botanist can tell a Pancratium from a Hymeno- 

 callis without seeing the seeds. But lest your bulb be not so hardy as would 

 seem to be the case, go through with it one more Beason in water in the 

 stove, but nearer to where air is admitted ; and if you see one thrips on it, 

 remove it immediately to a greenhouse. 



Cocoa-nut Fibre Dust (A. J5T.).-One of the best covers over an open 

 tank to let up vapour, and to keep out the dust of the cocoa-nut fibre, is 

 the bristly refuse of the fibre of the nut, or the refuse of the mat and 

 brush makers laid upon a floor of galvanised iron net. 



Magpie Pansy (Idem).— Mr. Salter, of the Versailles Nursery, who 

 raised that beautiful flower, is the most likely person about London to 

 have it on sale. Mr. Beaton said in the article you allude to that he shared 

 it with Mr. Salter. 



Marigold at Kensington (lex).— Marigolds have florets, not petals. 

 That you saw at Kensington has the best name ; it is called Pot Mangold 

 in all the seed-shops, and is one of the best town flowers we have. 



Zinnia Flowers (Idem). — The diameter of double Zinnias, like the 

 diameter of Dahlias and all such flowers, varies very considerably in 

 different varieties; we have seen them from 1 to 3 inches across. All 

 depends upon the variety and on the way the plants are treated. 



Stove without Flue.—" I have always understood that to be in any con- 

 fined place where coke waB burning in a stove or other apparatus, without 

 a flue or pipe to take the smoke and sulphur away, is injurious to the 

 health of those who inhale the fumes of it for any length of time. I should 

 be much obliged by your opinion on the subject. — John Jones, Mure 

 Gardens." 



rsuch fumes are very prejudicial to health. A stove without a flue-pipe 

 is quite as bad as a brazier burning charcoal, which has caused so many 

 deaths to those sleeping in a room where one was placed. The fumes 

 cause headache, oppression of the chest, fainting, and palpitation of the 

 heart. — Eds.] 



Apricots Failing in Orchard-house (A Subscriber). — Mr. Rivers' 

 plan of treating the tree as an out-door one is more likely to insure fruit 

 than when it is in-doors ; but in that case what is the use of the orchard- 

 house ? Apricots have been tried under glass upwards of thirty years ago, 

 and failed then. It is possible that by letting them have almost a super- 

 abundance of air they may set better, and possibly they may swell and do 

 well under glass ; but we have much doubt of it. As a fruit tree the 

 Apricot is more hardy than most others, and requires a cooler and stiffer 

 soil than the Peach ; and if your trees in pots do not furnish fruit this 

 season, we would say plant them out as bushes in the open ground, and 

 report the result If your situation be a dry one, we fear your trees will 

 not be fruitful against a south wall ; or even when they do bear, the fruit 

 will not unlikely ripen and decay on one side before the other side is ripe 

 at all. An east or west aspect is better than the south for the Apricot. 

 We are, however, promised an article on this fruit by one of the con- 

 tributors to our Journal, which will doubtless contain some useful matter 

 bearing on your case; In the meantime, let your gardener prune and 

 regulate your wall trees in the proper way, and if very cold weather occur 

 at the tune they are in blossom, protect them only at night. A close 

 uniform protection of netting, or anything that way, though useful and 

 beneficial to the Peach, is not required by the Apricot, which, with the 

 exception of the Plum, is perhaps the hardiest fruit-blossom we have.— J. B. 



Old Hotbed Dung (M. 3.).— This, and that in the bin you mention, 

 although all exposed for a length of time to the weather, will still be so 

 abounding in fertilising components as to be very useful if applied to your 

 Rose trees. 



Summer-Pruning Dwarf Pyramid Apple Trees (W. ./.).— Your trees, 

 which you say were pruned in summer and have since made shoots 

 10 inches long, have evidently been pruned too soon. It is better not to 

 prune either wall, espalier, or any other trained Apple tree until the young 

 wood begins to harden at the base — say for a couple of joints or so; then 

 there is less fear of its exhausting itself by shooting again. This you 

 should bear in mind another year ; but, in the present season, you must 

 prune-off the half-matured shoots that bave been made since the summer- 

 pruning, leaving, however, a little at the base if the tree should want 

 enlarging. The top will also want shortening accordingly. 



Worn-out Quickset Hedge (Alpha). — You are perfectly right in de - 

 stroying the old worn-out hedge, and replacing the soil it has been grow- 

 ing in for other mould, as no good results from planting the Quick plants 

 in the same soil again. Your mode of planting two rows of Quicksets a 

 little distance apart, and a row of Privet between them, is very good for 

 making a good hedge ; but as the Privet grows much faster than the other, 

 we would put in cuttings of this instead of rooted plants, thus enabling 

 the Quickset to have a start at least equal with the Privet If the two 

 rows of Quicksets were a foot apart, carefully planted on good fresh soil 

 that had either been in tillage or taken from a meadow field, and cuttings 

 of Privet a foot or 15 inches long thrust in between them, say 6 inches 

 apart, you will likely have a good hedge in a short time. We would prefer 

 this to Hornbeam or Beach, which are better adapted for Bhelter than for 

 turning cattle, retaining their old leaves most part of the winter. 



Names of Fruits (H. B.).— Apples.— 1, Striped Russet; 2, Lewis's 

 Incomparable ; 3, Oxnead Pearmain. The Pear is Vicar of Winkfield. 



Names of Plants (A Header). — 1, Coronilla glauca ; 2, Genista racemosa; 

 3, Erica hiemalis ; 4, Hardenbergia monophylla. 



POULTRY, BEE, aM HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE. 



DORKINGS. 

 We cannot resist the temptation of writing a little on 

 Dorkings. We have often done bo before, but it is long since, 

 and the question has re-appeared on the surface. Like many 

 other similar matters, essentials are ignored, and trifles are 

 placed in the front rank. Two points have been greatly and 

 most improperly insisted upon as being of first-rate importance 

 — combs and plumage. Both are ridiculous as essentials. The 

 comb of a Dorking fowl is quite immaterial, and it always was ; 

 but bo much was said about the rose or double combs that they 

 are now but seldom seen ; they were formerly numerous, and 

 were the largest birds. We were more than glad to see Lady 

 Holmesdale show such good rose combs at the Crystal Palace. 

 The most ridiculous attempt was to endeavour to make Dorkings 

 birds of plumage, and it was endeavoured to lay down the rule 



