February 17, 1863.] JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



141 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*»• We request that no one will write privately to the depart- 

 mental writers of the " Journal of Horticulture, Cottage 

 Gardener, and Country Gentleman." By so doing they 

 are subjected to unjustifiable trouble and expense. All 

 communications should therefore be addressed solely to The 

 Editors of the "Journal of Horticulture, Sfc." 162, Fleet 

 Street, London, E.C. 

 We also request that correspondents will not mix up on the 

 same sheet questions relating to Gardening and those on 

 Poultry and Bee subjects, if they expect to get them answered 

 promptly and conveniently, but write them on separate 

 communications. Also never to send more than two or 

 three questions at once. 

 We cannot reply privately to any communication unless under 

 very special circumstances. 

 Do ocr Soils Decrease is Fertility? (W. W. S.)— We have shown 

 vour letter to "J.," and the following is an extract from his reply:— 

 *' Though I wrote anonymously my statements are no more justly charged 

 with irreverence (!', and great presumption than the statements in the 

 Times to which they are a reply, and which were also anonymous. If 

 • W. W. S.'will refer to "Thomson's Vegetable Chemistry,' he will find 

 that the saps of many plants have been analysed, but apotheme was never 

 found in any one." 



Clipping Wall-fruit Trf.es (J. Smith).— You cannot be serious. No 

 sane gardener would order his subordinates to " prune wall trees, such as 

 Peaches and Cherries, with the garden shears." 



Preventing Gooseberry Caterpillars (^1 iVM<> Subscriber).— Try 

 covering the entire surface of the soil with spent tanner's bark 2 inches 

 -deep. i)o any of our readers know the effect of this or any other mode of 

 prevention ! 



East Wall {Mrs. ('.).— Situated at Sidmouth, and the wall only 6 feet high, 

 you nii<rht grow against it Apricots, Peaches, and Nectarines ; but, as profit 

 is an object with you, we should prefer Morello Cherries. They rarely fail 

 in producing a good crop, and realise a fair price and ready sale. Against 

 the east end of your cottage you may have a Marie Luuise Pear. 



Lime Water {S. <?. S.).— For killing worms, a peck of lime to forty 

 gallons of water are the proper proportions. 



Colouring a Garden Wall Black (JSmicus). — We once coloured a 

 wall a sort of slate colour, or rather a lead colour, by a mixture of ordinary 

 whitewash and lamp black, to which a little yellow ochre was added to give 

 it a more cheerful tint. We have also given some wooden and iron work 

 a tolerably good chocolate colour by an admixture ol yellow ochre and coal 

 ■tar. The'latter, we know, makes a good black alone ; but unless black be 

 especially wanted there are many objections to its use. for it fades fast 

 on being exposed to hot sun, and if some dark grey or slate colour would 

 do, the above mixture might answer your purpose. Of course an oil paint 

 would he better, but will be much more expensive. 



Peach-house Trees in Blossom (A Young Gardener).— We fear, if 

 you have been giving your trees "five or six waterpots full of water each 

 twice a-day," that the roots must he completely soddened. If so, for the 

 future merely damp the paths and all the other parts of the house 

 frequently while the trees are in bloom ; and when they begin to grow, 

 and tile ground is a little drier, another good watering may be given, 

 using rain water at all times. If your heating apparatus is a flue, occa- 

 sionally wetting it will be of service; but too much moisture at this time 

 is hurtful. 



Vines in a Greenhouse (JE. T. B.).—As your house is a span-roofed 

 one, aDd the Vines planted at one end, it would be easier to stretch the 

 wires crossways to the lights, and if about a loot apart and somewhat less 

 than that from the glass (not so far from the rafter, of course), by this 

 means the rod might be pruned spur fashion, and, itself occupying one wire, 

 its side shoots which bear the fruit might occupy the wires aojoining on each 

 side. Tou must not, however, occupy the whole roof with the Grape 

 Vines or your plants underneath will suffer. W r e have trained Grape 

 Vines in all directions, and have had them planted inside against the back 

 wall and trained down the ratter. If the root be right, the top will bear 

 -almost any amount of distortion without injury. 



Plants for Conservatory Pillars (67. JJ.).- Somewhat herbaceous in 

 character — Coboea scandens, Eccremocarpus scaber, Lophospermum scan- 

 dens, llhodochiton volubile, Maurandya Barclayana, Maurandya antirrhini- 

 flora. More shrubby, but strong — Passittora ccerulea, Fassifiora raceuiosa, 

 Bignonia Chirere, Bignonia jasniinoides, Kennedya Marryatta?, Jasminum 

 volubile. Grapes— Lady Downe's, West's St.' Peters; the first best where 

 there is little heat. 



Paint for Glass as a Shade {Idem).— Milk and whiting will make a 

 good shade; perhaps a better is the following : — Heat a quart of jelly size 

 near to boiling, add half a quartern or gill of turpentine, and the same of 

 oil, and the size of a walnut of whiting reduced to powder ; mix well, 

 chcose a sunny day, and put on with a brush while the material is hot, 

 as thinly as possible ; follow with a dry brush and daub, and it will resemble 

 ground glass. 



C'ovent Garden Stocks (JE. B.). — The market-gardeners' variety of 

 scarlet Intermediate Stock, if sown now, will bloom in July; if sown in 

 autumn they bloom early in the summer iollowing. The drawing and 

 description you obligingly offer will be very acceptable rf both are of the 

 requisite standard. 



Gloxinias in Thume-pots (Nora).— We suspect these little pots are 

 now full of roots. Shift the plants into 60's, and in five weeks shift again 

 into 4S's or 32's, giving the plants rich light soil, and a temperature of 

 from 60" to 65°. 



Cocoa-nut Fibre Dust {Charlotte Faulkner). — For Ferns and other 

 potted plants, by measure one-third of the dust to two-thirds of loam is a 

 good proportion. To mix with the soil of your flower-borders put it one 

 inch thick on the surface, and fork it in.- If the soil is clayey twice that 

 quanuty will not be too much. 



Jaskindm grandiplorum (Silvia).— This Jasminum would do for tUo 

 rafter of your greenhouse if the roots and stems out of doors were pro- 

 tected. The best plan would be to have a small three-sided box with a top 

 against the wall, and the stem surrounded with sawdust. Seed3 would 

 need to be protected from bantams until they were up, and after that, 30 

 far as we have seen, the bantams would do little harm. 



Orchids in a Conservatory (/. £. 3.).— Every Orchid except hardy 

 ones and those from the very warmest tropical positions may be grown in 

 a heat of 65°. The tradesmen who advertise in onr columns will give y.,u 

 the price in their priced lists, keeping in mind that the cheapest plants may 

 be the dearest, as almost everything will depend on size. For a small houte 

 the following would be likely to suit you :— In Pots.— brides odoratum, 

 roseum ; Angrascum caudaturu ; Catasetuin cristatum ; Caltleya crispa, 

 Lodigesli, Mosstaj, labiata ; Cymbid:um aloifolium ; Dendrobium nobile ; 

 calceolaria, moniliforme, Farmeri ; Epidendrum macrochilutn ; Miltonia 

 spectabilis; Odontoglossum grande ; Oncidium flexuosum, papilio ; Sacco- 

 labium Blumei; Zygopetalon crinituni, Mackayl. Baskets.— Cymbidium 

 Devonianum ; Dendrobium Pierardi, inacranthum, pulchellum ; Gongora 

 atropurpurea ; Stanhopeainsignis, Devoniensis. tigrina, oculata. On Blocks. 

 — Laslia acuminata ; Caltleya citriua ; Oncidium pulchellum ; Sophronitis 

 granditlora ; Oncidium ciliatum, &c. 



Heating by a Flue (Inquisitor).— Having flues, in one case round the 

 house, and in the other round the front and ends, we cannot see what you 

 want with stoves in the house besides, if the flues are Bound and draw well, 

 as with them any necessary heat could be obtained, and the dryness coun- 

 teracted by evaporating-pans. However, if yon wish a brick stove in the 

 house the matter is simple enough, and any bricklayer would put one up 

 from the description given at the page you allude to in "Greenhouses for 

 the Many." Sections are also given in Rivers' "Orchard-House." It you 

 wanted a great deal of heat we would make it 30 inches square outside 

 measure, and 3J feet in height, and cover with an iron plate, and a course 

 of tiles above, with an evaporating-trough on the top. The stove may 

 stand against the back wall, or a little distance from it ; but one secret of 

 success is the shortness of the horizontal pipe that takes the smoke. Sec, 

 to an upright pipe outside. It should not be more than 2 or 3 feet, though 

 we have had them longer ; but it is best to err on the side of shortness. 

 The other secret is to have a block in front of the smoke-opening, and 

 several inches— say 2 or 3 inches— from it, so that the heat shall be thrown 

 back on the sides and the fire, instead of passing too easily out ; or you may 

 have a small damper, either inside or outside, to regulate draught, and to 

 give only a small egress for smoke and heated air after the fire 13 esta- 

 blished. It would be the easiest plan for you to make the hack wall of the 

 house the back of the stove, and the ashpit and fuel doors inside ; and 

 then you would need to make only one hole for the smoke-pipe, which 

 should be Irom 5 to 6 inches in diameter. Without a little care you may 

 have dust and a little smoke at times, but very little if due care is taken, 

 and nice dry fuel used for lighting. If these, however, are objectionable 

 vou could have these necessarv openings behind the wall, but at the ex- 

 pense of more trouble and labour. We look upon the Arnott brick stove as 

 the most economical of all modes for heating single houses, especially 

 where no extraordinary heat is required Irom them. They are just so 

 much better than iron that they heat and cool more slowly, and there is 

 little danger of the air being burned. 



Small Birds and Gooseberry Buds (» '!.— Tou have conferred a boon 

 on the amateur class of gardeners, in discovering that small birds wul not 

 penetrate througn a series of black cotton threads stretched over the tops 

 and amongst the boughs of the trees. We know for a certainty that white 

 thread does not frighten them more than one or two days ; neither does 

 red coloured worsted; and we much suspect they will m time become 

 acquainted with your black strings. We are, however, obliged to you tor 

 reporting it ; and hope some other correspondent will try it and report the 

 result Tcu will perceive that however useful your plan may be on a small 

 scale, it can hardly be carried into effect where, perhaps, a plantation of 

 ten acres has to be attended to. 



Chrysanthemum (S. £".).— The north of India and China is the natural 

 home of this flower, but it is only found wild on the mountain regions ot 

 the former country. In the latter it has long been cultivated, and the 

 doub'e varieties we now admire so much were originated in that country, 

 and there cultivated to a higher degree of perfection than we can hope to 

 attain. It is purely an autumn-flowering plant, and the earliest period we 

 have seen it in bloom was in the middle of August. It is, however, possible 

 that earlier varieties may be obtained hereafter, and also later-flowering 

 ones, for both are sought after, and no doubt time and perseverance wul 

 accomplish both objects. 



Solfaterre Rose (B. 0. B.).— Tour Rose, which you say was budded 

 last year and is now 10 feet long, has made excellent use of its time. It 

 would hardly, therefore, be proper to cut it much back, as it must have a 

 well-established stock. If it be planted against a wall it would be best to 

 hand it down and train it hsrizontally backwards and forwards at the 

 bottom of the wall, not even cutting off the end. By this means you will 

 have yoor wall well furnished, for shoots will rise abundantly from all 

 parts of the horizontal stem, while they ore far from certain to do so on 

 the upright one. Solfaterre is far from being a free-blooming Rose, but 

 the above is likely to induce it to flower better than severe knile work 



Manaoement of Cape Bulbs (>■ «).— Tou are quite right m potting 

 your recentlv-received bulbs in sandy loam, and do not give much water 

 until thev begin to grow, after which increase both water and heat ; and 

 it is possible a very robust one may want a shift into a larger pot, but this 

 is not likely. After flowering, gradually withhold water, so as to ripen 

 and give the bulbs a rest, but while thev are in a growing state heat and 

 moisture are requisite. We have seen bulbs of the kind we imagine yours 

 must he weighing 1 lb. each. If they start to grow at once there is a good 

 chance of their flowering ; but when later, autumn sets in beiore they do so, 

 and then onlv bloom imperfectly. . , '. tl 



Camellias" (/. B. £.).— Too must send fresh specimens, for the others, 

 under the circumstances, were passed aside. _ . 



Names of Plants (C. T.).—ll is Asplenium marinum in a luxuriant 

 condition. There is no such thing as Asplenium letitia, hut a plant, like 

 yours has been miscalled A. tetum. (C. 5. 2V.).— The Gymnogramma is 

 one of the sulphurescent sports occasionally met with in hothouses. It 

 has no particular interest, nor anvthing striking in its appejrance. Gyrn- 

 nogrammas are well known to he sportive. (M. £.).— Your shrub is 

 Garrya elliptica. (Hersham).— The leaf is like that of Agnostus, but we 

 cannot be sure without seeing a flower. 



