54 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 20, 1871. 



changes, and the long periods of damp foggy weather. Some 

 persons who have escaped this infliction are rather priding 

 themselves that the favourable result ia owing to their own 

 good and peculiar management. This may be the case, though 

 we believe that in the long run it will be found that the peculiar 

 management had nothing to do with it. We have lived to S£e 

 fine Peach trees that one would have thought nothing could 

 injure nest to killed after they had borne heavy crops for years, 

 and this has taken place three times at least on trees on the 

 same wall. The age of the tree often makes it more liable to 

 such serious inflictions. "We recollect a case in point. A 

 friend who had planted his trees three years after ours were 

 planted, as much as insinuated that we had ourselves to blame 

 for the state of the trees. Two years afterwards what were his 

 fine trees previously were made a wreck, and then he, too, had 

 cause for grumbling. 



OHNAMENTAL DEPARTMENT. 



Put walks and lawns in good order, and hope the former will 

 give little more trouble for the season. Hollyhocks, Dahlias, 

 and strong herbaceous plants need to be well supported, and, 

 all things considered, one stake is better than many, the side 

 shoots being looped easily, so as to hang gracefulJy without 

 anything like a bundle being made. Some plants are tied so 

 stiffly as to resemble the lint on the rock or distafi our grand- 

 mothers used for their spinning-wheels. We should like to see 

 a general sweeping reprobation passed on a forest of sticks, and 

 whittled ones too, for supporting separately any twig and shoot 

 of a plant. 



Oat of doors here our flower beds would have been nowhere 

 during the strong winds and battering rains but for the little 

 bushy twigs and sticks stuck in and hidden slightly among Cal- 

 ceolarias, Geraniums, Ageratums. &c. These bushy sticks 

 hold the plants firmly, and yet not so firmly but that they yield 

 a little to the wind without the chance of breaking or of being 

 pulled up by the roots, and now there is scarcely the point of 

 a twig to be seen. 



No time should be lost in having little shoots of Pinks, Male 

 Pinks of various colours, Pausies, and many herbaceous plants 

 inserted as cuttings. They will do well in sandy soil in a 

 shady place ; better still if the soil has been moved to the 

 depth of 4 inches, rough stuff placed beneath, and covered with 

 fresh sandy soil, with sand covering the mere surface, and then 

 a hand-light placed over the cuttings. These will strike more 

 rapidly still if a little bottom heat be given to them.— R. F. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



K.B. — Many questions must remain unanswered until next 

 week. 



Books (^ JRcctt^fr).— Forinatrnction in vegetable physiology, pnrchase 

 Henfrey'a " Introductory Lectures on Botany," edited by i>r. Masters. 

 The price is 12s., we believe. {J. ^.).— There is no separate work on the 

 culture of the genus Erica. There is along descriptive list of the species 

 and their culture in the "Cottage Gardeners' Dictionary,"' under the 

 titles Erica and Heaths. 



Weights of Pine Apples {Amicus).— ki the Royal Horticultural 

 Society's Exhibition at Nottingham, the heaviest Pine Apple was a Pro- 

 vidence. It weighed H lbs. 5 oz3. The heaviest Queen Pine Apple 

 weighed 5f lbs. 



CovENT Garden Monopolists {R. G. Hf.).— Tour case is one of private 

 d«bt, and not suitable for publication, as you have your remedy in the 

 County Court. 



Jekusalem Artichoees [H. S.). — If yoa want good-sized tubers you 

 must let the plants grow. 



Bouquet [A. O.). — Bouquet is a French word, syuonyraoas with nose- 

 gay. It may be either large or small, for holding in the hand or for 

 decorating a vaae. In whatever sense the English word nosegay is used, 

 tlte same is applicable to bouquet. 



Japanese Honeysuckle {A, JJyZand).— The Tartarian Honpysuckle 

 belongs to the Xylosteum or Fly Honeysuckle section of the genus 

 Lonicera, and is, consequently, quite distinct from the Japanese, 



Behberis (C. H. p.). — It is impossible to name it without having a 

 specimen. 



Staging for a Greenhouse (A Constant Subscriher).~*I!o make the 

 moBt of such a house as yours with the least possible trouble, we would 

 have a level platform of 2 feet in front, a pathway of 2^ feet, and a raised 

 stage behind. It would be more picturesque to have Tour circular stages 

 with raised shelves, terminating in a place for a large plant, separate 

 these all round by 2-feet paths, and have a narrow shelf in front, and a 

 narrow border behind for plants to cover the back wall ; but this will 

 Involve a much larger outlay, and on the whole will not give more plants 

 justice. 



Royal Botanic Societv'sIShow (G. TT.).— The Messrs. Brown you refer 

 to, were of 24, High Street, Marylebone, who had a number of garden 

 engines, tools, &c., and an improved step chair. 



Painting Greenhouse Stage {Welshpool). ~Vfe should paint it light 



btOWQ. 



Seedling Pansies {A. Ciarfc).— They are the darkest we have seen. 

 Send plants to the Floral Committee of the Koyal Horticultural So- 

 ciety. 



OvER-LUXuniANT Shoots OF KosEs {H.).—YoTi do not say whether the 

 " gourmand Hose shoots " are of Koses on a Briar stock, or on a Manetti 

 stock. If it is on a Briar and the head requires no regulation, cut the 

 f-'ourmands away altogether, or, if you please, you may greatly shorten 

 them, and cause them to break and flower. If the Eoses are on a Manetti 

 stock, let the gourmands grow to the fall height of the tree, and then cut 

 ofl" the tops. Xhey will make good repairers of the bush next year, and 

 probably bloom this autumn. — W. F. Kadcltffe. 



Dark Rose for a Conservatory {J. Mackenzie) . — I cannot name any 

 red Rose that gives single flower buds. The best two for your purpose, 

 and both beautiful, are Charles Lefebvre and Due de Cazes ; the former 

 is rich, variable, crimson ; and the latter purple crimson. There is no 

 crimson Rose equal to Charles Lefebvre. Maurice Bernardin, vermilion, 

 is also one of the very l)est Roses — W. F. Radclyffe. 



Surfaces of Rose Leaves Eaten (K. S.).— There are two insects 

 which thus attack the foliage of the Rose— the Antler Saw-fly, and the 

 Saw-fly of the Rose. You will see in Cranston's " Rose Book" a de- 

 scription of both. I believe that the leaves sent have been attacked by 

 the latter. He recommends syringing with a solution of soot and quick- 

 lime, also shaking the trees over a cloth. The caterpillar of the Antler 

 is bright green with hairs, and with a dark line down the back, and one 

 much darker on each side. It is half an inch long. The Rose Saw-fly 

 caterpillar is also half an inch loag with orange-coloured head, with 

 small black spots on each side. It descends into the earth in the autumn. 

 It causes the leaves to look as if scorched by fire. I advise the sufi"erer 

 to fork fresh-slaked lime into the ground beneath the trees in the 

 autumn. — W. F. Radclyffe. 



Pelargonium and Geranium (T/ioumasfes).— We fully sympathise 

 with you now you find that flowers you have always called Geraniums 

 are named Pelargoniums, and we persist, botanically heretically, in 

 calling all the Scarlet and other bedding-out varieties Geraniums. Yet 

 there is no ddubt that there is a great difl'erence between the Storksbill and 

 Cranesbill— they constitute two difi'erent genera ; but there ia no very great 

 difl'erence between what are commonly called the Geraniums used for 

 bedding purposes, and the Pelargoniums used for in-door flowering. Both 

 are Pelargoniums. Pelargonium is characterised by having usually seven 

 stamens, and unequal-sized petals; Geranium, by having ten stamens, 

 and equal-sized petals ; and Erodium, by having five fertile anthers 

 usually. The three genera are nearly allied. 



Stems of Vines Decaying (Gf. B.).— As the stems of your Vines have 

 the appearance of being bruised and bitten, probably some animal has 

 done it. We have seen fungus destroy the roots and permanently injure 

 the Vine. It attacked the roots of one Vine in our early house last year, 

 and again this season. We removed all roots affected, and every portion 

 of mould having any trace of spawn, replacing with fresh loam. All 

 Grape-growers should look out f^-r the attack of the new Vine disease ; it 

 is first discerned by the appearance of warty excrescences on the back of 

 the leaves. We had it in a house of new Vines last year, and were obliged 

 to root out every pU\nt and burn it, at the same time removing all the 

 soil half a mile from the garden. We have seen no trace of the terrible 

 enemy since. In the case of this disease the Vines die off suddenly, and 

 on examining the roots they will all be found to be dead. Imperfect 

 drainage may He the cause of your Vines being unhealthy. If the border 

 is all right, the roots healthy to the extremities, and the leaves kept 

 free from red spider and mildew, they will recover. 



Grapes Diseased (P. J.). — It is a clear case of Oidium, and your only 

 remedy is flowers of sulphur, not pounded sulphur. 



Grapes in a Ground Vinery {J. D.). — From your description we con- 

 sider your Grapes are spotted, and that chiefly arises from the supply of 

 sap being deficient, and in your case we think it is caused by the cold- 

 ness of the pround rendering the root-action sluggish. The evil might 

 have been prevented if you had given air proportionate to the heat, or a 

 sliebt shade for a few hours in the early part of the day. In this duU, 

 cloudless season there is no necessity to whiten the glass, nor, indeed, at 

 any season for Grapes in a ground vinery, as success mainly depends on 

 the sun heat. Your crop is too heavy; that is why the berries are so 

 small. Remove the smallest berries; they are stoneless, and will not 

 swell off well. All the buuchos should have been thinned as soon as 

 they were fairly set. You will have small berries, and wedged together, 

 and if the season should continue cold and wet the bunches may lose 

 more berries from decay than you need have removed in thinning. We 

 would thin even yet, and tie up the shoulders of the bunches. 



Rhubarb for Early Spring Use {Idem).— It is now too late to sow 

 seed, and that mode of raisingthe plants is not desirable for your purpose 

 We advise you to procure roots, and to plant them in November or early 

 in spring, but November is preferable. The ground should be deeply 

 trenched and heavily manured, well mixing the manure with the soU 

 as the trenching proceeds. The soil should be light rather than heavy, 

 and the situation open. Plant in rows 4 feet apart, and place the plants 

 3 feet apart in the rows. Cover the crown about 2 inches. After plant- 

 ing mulch the ground with stable litter. All the care the plants will 

 need the first year is to keep them clear of weeds, and water them as 

 often as you like after the middle of May with liquid manure up to the 

 close of July. No leaves ought to be removed the first year, but in the 

 second the supply will be good. For market purposes we advise Royal 

 Albert, Linnpeus, and Victoria, which last comes in about a fortnight 

 after the others. If you only require one kind for early use, we should 

 prefer Linnceus. 



Dr. Hogg and President Strawberries— Forming Cordons— Wall- 

 trained Peach Trees — Plums Cracking {Amateur). — The roundish 

 high-coloured fruit is President, the other is Dr. Hogg. Cut one-third of 

 the length of your cordon trees, and pinch the point out of the growing 

 shoot once or twice in a season. After the wood of the side shoots is 

 somewhat firm, cut them over at the fourth or fifth leaf; pinch back all 

 after-growths. Your Plums cracking and the gum exuding from them, 

 is the result of the wet season ; it generally happens immediately after 

 " stoning," when the fruit is rapidly increasing in size. We have Rivera's 

 Early with scarcely a sound fruit on the tree. You can do nothing to 

 your tree to prevent it. In a dry season they would be all right. Do not 

 allow the shoots of your Peach and Nectarine trees to ran into and cross 



