August 24, 1S71. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETIGUIiTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



lid 



treat them the same as other crops. The seed is probably cheap enough ; 

 ■certainly few plants furnish it in gi-eater abundance; but we are 

 ■straugers to the mode of harvestiDg the heads, and still more so to 

 secariog a market for them afterwards. 



Various {Horace Bell). — 1. The CampTnula pyramidnlis in 10-iuch x>ots 

 not flowering this year, would flower next season if afforded slight pro- 

 tection in severe weather, the pots being plunged to the rim in coal 

 ashes; or you may plant them out in the borders. If you keep them 

 In pots water well in dry weather, aod nest spring give 13-inch pots. 

 ■2. The specimen Geraniums for out-door decoration will need potting in 

 March, at that time reducing the balls considerably, and returning them 

 ■to the same or a smaller size of pot, and give their blooming-pots early in 

 May. Wnen the plants are housed in autumn you may turn them out of 

 the pots, reduce the balls, and repot in a smaller size of pot so as tn save 

 room, and in that case you will not disroot in spring, but shift into larger 

 pots in April, and at the close of May. S Maiden-bair Ferns are pro- 

 pagated by division of the roots or rhizomes, taken oiJ with roots and 

 fronds tn each division, potting in small pots, or in a size proportionate 

 <;o the size of the divisions. If the pots contain them comfortably they 

 sre large enough. March is the best time to divide tho pbiuts. 4. Pan- 

 ■cratium illyricum bulha just received may be at once planted out where 

 they are to remain. It is necessary that the soil be freed of stagnant 

 water, and be sandy loam enriched with cow dung and fibrous peat. The 

 situation should be warm, and a slight protection given in severe weather. 



Ivr FOR Covering a House (C. H. il/.).— The quickest-growing is, we 

 ^think, the Irish (Hedera canariensis). and that we should plant. We 

 should procure good strong plants in pots, and we have had them with 

 shoots 6 foet long, and otherwise well furnished. They may be planted 

 at any time. The price varies with the size of the plants. For the size 

 named we gave 30i- per dozen, for good well-rooted plants in pots 15.9. 

 per dozeo, and for small but well-iooted 9^. to 12s, Plant at once. The 

 plants will bo well established for a good growth another season. 



Privet for Hedge— QoiCK-ORowrNG Forest Tree (It/cm).— The best 

 Privet for a hedge is the Common Evergreen, but the Oval-leaved has 

 much bolder foliage, and is equally good for hedges as for shrubberies. 

 For an exposed situation no evergreen forest tree equals the Austrian 

 Pine. If you want a deciduous tree, Sycamore will suit. 



Transplanting Gooseberries and Currants {Idem). —Yom maysafely 

 -transplant the bushes, four and five years old, in autumn, as soon as the 

 leaves have fallen. If this be done carefullj', as many fibres as possible 

 'being preserved, they will be more profitable than small young trees. 



Pruning Wall Apple and Pear Trees {J. Hamiltoti).~Yon should 

 Tiow, if not already done, stop all the shoots of this year to within five or 

 ais leaves of their base, excepting always those at the extremities of tho 

 branches, which, being required for extension, should be left entire, and 

 irained-in at their full length. If you have already stopped the shoots, 

 do so again at the beginning of next month, stopping the shoots to two 

 or at most three leaves abovb their origin. The final pruning should 

 n-ot be performed until the leaves have fallen, and the earlier after that 

 ■the better. 



Seedlings in Frame Eaten {Idem).— Tho seedling plants in a bed 

 heated by dung are no doubt eaten off by woodlice. The remedy is to 

 place a little dry hay all round against the inside of the frame, and to 

 pour boiling water down by the sides of the fr^me every morning for a 

 ^6w day?", wetting the hay thoroughly, and replacing it with fresh daily. 

 The water will, of course, destroy any plants or roots it comes in contact 

 with, therefore keep it from those, removing the pots from the sides of 

 'ihe frame. A barrel inverted over an Hydrangea in winter would be a 

 suflacient protection, mulching round the plant with partially-decayed 

 leaves or litter. Use the inverted barrel only in severe weather, removing 

 'it when mild. It will not answer to thus cover the other plants you name 

 except in very severe weather. Tliere is no work treating on what you 

 name, nor, indeed, is one necessary, as flowers and vegetables are not 

 differently grown for competition than for decoration and table. Superior 

 «sample3 are only aimed at, such only having a chance of a prize. 



Leaves of Greenhouse Plants Turning Yellow (A Subscriber).— 

 Had you sent us a specimen we could probably have given you a fuller 

 reply. Without ypecimens or any particulars we can only conclude that 

 ■the plants have not had proper sapplies of water, or are infested with 

 ^hnps or red spider. 



Petunias Going Off {Rather PtizsUng).— The plants being grown on a 

 shelf in the Cucumber house is quite sufficient to accoimt for their 

 gomg off. They are living too fast, and their vital forces are exhausted. 

 The supplies of water would need to be so copious as to cause them to 

 go off at the collar or neck, and that we apprehend has destroyed them. 

 They will not recover. Petunias do not require more than a grpenhouse 

 -afiordmg safety from frost, and in summer cannot have too light and 

 airy a position in a cool house ; indeed, they are better grown in summer 

 mcold pits or frames, drawing off the lights, affording, however, protec- 

 tion from heavy rains, but then affording abundance of air. 



Watcomee Terra-Cotta Company (A Subseriber).— There is a stand 

 of specimens in the Arcade, next the Exhibition road, of the Royal Hor- 

 ticultural Society's Garden at South Kensington. 



:Preserving Dahlia Tubers.— A correspondent. " R. P. E.," says that 

 dry cocoa-nut fibre refuse is most effectual for this purpose ; the tubers 

 to be packed in it. 



Grapes Ckaceing while Colouring iAmateur).~A similar question 

 to yours was answered in the number for August 17th. You do not say 

 what variety is m fault in your case. Rust or mildew on the berries will 

 ^ause them to crack; we also lound the Gros GuiHaume, and Trentham 

 Black, had this fault when a rather moist atmosphere wilh little heat was 

 ^mamtained, while a high temperature and rather dry atmosphere pre- 

 vented it. J L i- 



Heating Ground Vinery (T. T7.).— There is a difficulty in advising 

 you how to heat a ground vinery 13 feet long, 4 feet in width, 30 inches 

 high at back, and 24 inches in front, just because the place is so low and 

 so small. Were gas handy, a small gas stove, with a pipe to take off the 

 burned gas, would be best, or you might have an inch pipe from the stove 

 to go along the front of the little house. A very small iron stove, with a 

 smoke pipe through the roof, and a flat top to the stove to bold water, 

 would also be sufficient, but then you would want an opening to feed and 

 attend to it. A small furnace outside, and a row of earthenware pipes 

 :for a flue, would be more expensive, but would answer well if not made 



too hot. There is nothing so cheap as a little stove inside, but then it 

 involves care and trouble. If your floor had not already been paved 

 with Staffordshire tiles, and your place had been wider, we would have 

 advised at once a small furnace at the east end, and a small flue beneath 

 the floor, say a tile at the bottom, one row of brick-ou-edtje on each side 

 of it, 4i to 5 inches apart, which make the flue, a thin tile over it, and 

 then the tiles of the floor laid in mortar. Three 4-inGh pipes 2 feet in 

 length, at the further end, would do for a chimney. You would thus lose 

 no room, and you would have a nice mellow heat, and avoid all dust, &c., 

 among your plants. In very severe weather it would be safer to put a little 

 protection in the shape of a mat, &c., over the glass than use much fire 

 heat. The plan you propose of taking the Vines out will answer well 

 enough, but if you do not raise your little house higher in winter with 

 fire heat than from 40^ to 45^, the Vines will be safer inside. The very 

 smallness of the place makes the heating and keeping the plants in 

 winter more troublesome, as such a little place is easily heated and 

 quickly cooled. If you did not heat it at all you could keep Lettuces, 

 Endive, &c., over the winter. On the whole, were the place our own, we 

 would put such a little flue beneath the floor and along its middle. The 

 plants that stood over the flue we would place in saucers, as they would 

 dry more than the others. 



Soot and Guano for Roses {Idem). — Mr. Curtis informs us that at 

 the Devon Rosery it is found best to supply soot and guano to the roots 

 of the Roses in a liquid form in the proportion of half a pound of guano 

 to half a peck of soot, mixed in about eight gallons of water, and applied 

 twice a-week early in spring, giving one quart to a tree, more or less, 

 according to the size of the tree. The y^ung shoots and -foliage may 

 also be watered with the mixture, syringing it off the day following with 

 clear water. 



Sugar Beet (E. R. P.).— We cannot detail the mode of manufacturing 

 sugar from it. 



Stephanotis Losing its Leaves (S. W.). — No doubt the plant has 

 lost its leaves owing to the cold. A cool greenhouse is unsuitable. It is 

 a stove plant, and must have a temperature of 50^ in winter, or that 

 which it will have in your greenhouse in summer in dull weather. 



Perennials for Beds (S»?t«y).— There are very few perennials that 

 would serve your purpose in a satisfactory manner. The majority are 

 too tall, or, if dwarf, are not continuous-flowering. You will find a 

 detailed list of herbaceous plants in vol. i.. New Heries, page 274. It 

 gives names, height, colour, and the usual time of flowering. "Flower 

 Garden Plans 'V would suit you. It may be h^d free by post from our 

 office for 53. 2d. 



Ivy for Border {Idem) —The cuttings recently put in will strike this 

 autumn, and may be taken up next March and planted where they are 

 to renifiin, but they would be better left until autumn. For speedily 

 covering the ground they should be planted about 1^ foot apart every way. 

 Peg the shoots down so as to keep them from twisting about with the 

 wind. 



Table Decorations at the Crystal Palace— In page 105, first 

 column, twenty-first line of third paragraph, for " Stocks " read sticks. 



Blighted Apple Tree (Probo). — It is a very severe attack of American 

 blight. See what was directed on page 109 of our number published on 

 the 10th inst., and page 129 of the succeeding number. 



Ribbon Border of Verbenas {L. R. Elm). — We have tried them both 

 mixed and of the same variety, and are inclined to think that Verbenas 

 judiciously mixed produce the bett effect. Small beds of one kind, and 

 edged, produce a fine effect. Scarlets : Brillante de Vaisse, Defiance, 

 Geant des Batailles. Mrs. Woodroffe, and Lord Raglan ; Whites, Smith's 

 Queen and Mrs. Holford ; Rosy Purple, Victory; Piiik, Magnificent; and 

 Purples, Andre and Purple King— the latter is by far the best. If you buy 

 our " Garden Plans " you will see designs of ribbon borders, how to plant 

 them, and how to cultivate this flower. You can have the volume post 

 free from our office if you enclose 5s. 2d. with your address. 



Various {An Amateur). — The Roses on the Manetti stock and their own 

 roots should not be removed until the beginning of November, but yea 

 may lift them in a fortnight, if you do so carefully, covering the roots 

 from the sun and air. Shade for a few days from bright sun, and water 

 so as to keep the soil moist. We do not consider it good practice to re- 

 move any but the old leaves from bedding Geraniums. It no doubt 

 causes weakness of growth, and increases the amount of bloom, but the 

 flowers must be small as compared to those that are supported by good 

 foliage. Dr. Hogg Strawberry, like many others, has been unusually pale 

 this season from the dull sunless weather, and the excessive growth of 

 foliage that has kept the light from the fruit. The planting in February 

 would not cause the fruit to become white. Of the Geraniums you 

 name we should prefer Charlie Casbon, on account of its dwarf free 

 habit, but the others have fine trusses of bloom, and are good. 



Glazing without Outside Putty (T. M. U.). — As you are already 

 glazing your orchard house we can hardly tell you how you can dispense 

 with outside putty now. The best mode is that of Beard, where the glass 

 rests on non-conducting material, as soft pasteboard, the same covering 

 it, and a coping is then fixed over to hold the glass tightly, room being 

 left for the glass to expand laterally. With rebates cut in the usual way 

 we do not think it would be well to do without outside putty. The best 

 way for common purposes is to fix the squares of glass in grooves deep 

 enough to allow of the expansion of the glass, and pack the squares on 

 the underside firmly with putty, or list, or india-rubber— anything that 

 will keep the glass firm. In painting outside, the brush may also just 

 come over the edge of the glass. 



Arrangements of a Glazed House {A Young Gardener).— Yon may 

 concrete or asphalt the walking space of vour little house, but your chief 

 remedies against damp will be to use the flue a little more in dull weather, 

 to give more air, and to water carefully, especially in winter, so as not to 

 spill a drop on the ground nor to run over the rims of the pots. Your 

 proposed frame or small pit in front will do very well. In a 12-feet length 

 we would have at least four openings with slides a foot long, and say 

 from 6 inches deep. With only one small flue along the front of the 

 house we do not thmk you could do any good with Cucumbers in winter. 

 To grow them at that season you would require a rather large flue and 

 a strong heat. You misht bring on Strawberries with a mild heat, and 

 fruit them in April, at the end of March, or earlier if the heat were suffi- 

 cient. For cut flowers in winter, once you had the. plants, the best paying 

 would bo Camellias, Epacrises, and a few Azaleas. For plants of your 



