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JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ October 19, 1871. 



aa respects some of the latest Pears. Thotigh bard as flints, 

 a great many dropped lately quite prematurely, and if you 

 touched them they seemed to have no hold of their footstalks. 

 We attribute the fact to a chill which they received during the 

 continued cold rains. We should be glad to know if such pre- 

 mature dropping has happened elsewhere. This has taken 

 place more with late Pears than with Apples, and has chiefly 

 been confined to the latest kinds that keep well on to spring. 

 The fruit seem perfectly sound. 



• Strawlerry Plants. — The dry weather made us water the 

 pots, contrary to our wishes; but they were becoming too dry, 

 almost so much as to impoverish the bud. Too great dryness 

 is not desirable even in winter. Cleared the plants of weeds 

 and small runners that made their appearance. The sooner 

 such plants can be brought under shelter the better, but we 

 can rarely accomplish such work early. Even when the plants 

 have been placed in earth-pits and protected by old sashes, we 

 often lose many of them by the incursions of mice and rats, 

 which eat the buds they would not touch when exposed. When 

 frost is apprehended, however, we like to have some bundles of 

 straw or litter to throw over the plants, of which a small 

 quantity will be sufficient. Such protection will not keep out 

 much wet, in which case the pots may be laid on their sides. 

 A cool, dry place, however, under glass, is the best of all places 

 for them, as when they are somewhat dry a sharp frost will 

 not injure the roots much. 



Flantiiig. — As soon as the leaves begin to fade, though still 

 retaining a good amount of green, is the best time for replant- 

 ing and fresh planting. For the modes of doing so we must 

 refer back to previous notices and volumes. For dwarf fruit 

 trees in the open air the simplest mode is station-planting on 

 little raised mounds, and encouraging the roots to keep near 

 the surface by surface-mulching. Such a mode will involve the 

 least trouble as regards replanting, root-pruning, or shoot-and- 

 branch-pruning. Get a good crop from a tree almost as large 

 as you want it, and under the above treatment you will have 

 enough of strength for fertile buds, without any great need of 

 the knife either above or below ground. 



OEKAltENTAIi DEPABTIEENT. 



With a sharp frost every morning, and bright sun every day, 

 the air was so dry that nothing has suffered out of doors, ex- 

 cept the Coleus, which is considerably injured. Even Helio- 

 tropes up to the 14th have been little injured. With the 

 change of the moon we expect that we shall have less frost in 

 the morning for some time to come, and if so, but for falling 

 leaves the flower garden will be interesting a little while longer, 

 as it has even now a good deal of bright bloom. 



Leaves driving over a lawn tell us, however, what is coming ; 

 and however beautiful the colour of these leaves while on the 

 trees, they sadly spoil the beauty of a smooth green lawn. 

 When only few in number, it is the most expeditious plan to 

 pick them up by the hand and place them in an apron or basket. 

 Some hundreds of leaves scattered over a lawn may thus be 

 quickly removed, when the attempt to sweep them would re- 

 quire much time and labour. When the grass needs mow- 

 ing, and the leaves are on it, the mowing machine will take 

 them out of sight. There could be no better autumn weather 

 for using the machine all over, as the grass will grow slowly 

 after such frosty mornings. Of course, when, by-and-by, fallen 

 leaves are thick, the rake and the broom must be used, but 

 when there are only a few, hand-picking will be the most 

 efficient plan. 



Cuttings for Flower Garden. — Our earliest-struck have had 

 plenty of air during the day. Our latest that were put in cool 

 places under glass, in order to give them a better chance, have 

 had a little air at night, and scarcely any during the day. We 

 want the sun with its heat to incite fresh growth and rooting. 

 There is little chance of drawing cuttings by mere sun heat, 

 and very little air will prevent any accumulalion of moist 

 vapour. Much may be done by thus economising sun heat, 

 but it cannot be done when air is given as a mere matter of 

 course, and the cuttings of a week ago or of yesterday and 

 those inserted a month or six weeks since are treated alike as 

 to air-giving. Bather than give fresh cuttings much air or 

 shading, we would rather slightly sprinkle or bedew them with 

 water once or twice during the hottest part of a sunny day, 

 and thus lessen evaporation, whilst giving them the greatest 

 amount of light they could bear. It would be well if the 

 simple principle were acted upon — that every bit of shading 

 not absolutely wanted impedes and hinders the rooting pro- 

 cess. How often does shading, applied when really necessary, 

 remain on for hours when it is doing injury. All needless 



shading, it should be remembered, only tends to deprive a 

 plant of its vigour. 



Calceolaria Cuttings. — The inquiries about these remind ua 

 that the tiihe for putting them in is approaching. We never 

 saw the plants better supplied with young shoots suitable for 

 the purpose. We generally put them in about the end of the 

 month in a cold pit, as frequently mentioned. We have no 

 place to spare for them as yet, but if we have no severe frost, 

 a few days later or earlier will make little difierence. We find, 

 however, that the cuttings give least trouble, and on the whole 

 do rather better, when they keep plump and root but little 

 until the days lengthen. 



Where much is done with bulbs in the flower garden, and it 

 is desirable to keep the bedding plants as long as possible, it is 

 a good plan to set the bulbs on a bed of rough loam and leaf 

 mould, cover them over, lift, and plant them with balls. Fine, 

 strong, early growth is thus secured. 



Besides routine, cleaning and watering, and getting plants 

 in pots at all tender under, or ready to go under, protection, 

 there has been much potting of Primulas, Cinerarias, and top- 

 dressing Poinsettias, Euphorbias, Cypripediums, &c., for winter 

 blooming. Eivina humiUs is now lovely with its long racemes 

 of scarlet berries, and from these berries young plants may be 

 had in myriads. — E. F. 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



Charles Turner, Koyal Norserieg, Slongb. — Catalogue of Bases, 

 Fndt Trees, Hardy Trees and Shrubs, die. 



Jean Verschaffelt, Fanbonrg de Brn^elles, 1S4, Ghent, Belgium. — 

 Catalogue des Plantes — Prix-courard pour I'Auiomne, 1S71, etPiintemps 

 ct Etc. 1872. 



Godwin & Sons, Ashbonme, Derbyshire, and ABf^el Koad, Edmon- 

 ton, London. — Ahrulged Catalogue of the Best Poses, 1871-72. 



Stuart & Mein, Kelso. — List of Select Gladioli. 

 : W. Chater, Saffron y7a.lien.— Catalogue of BoUyhoclcs and Roses. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



* » * We request that no one will write privately to any of the 

 correspondents of the " Journal of Horticulture, Cottage 

 Gardener, and Country Gentleman." By doing so they 

 are subjected to unjustifiable trouble and expense. All 

 communications should therefore he addressed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, do., 171, Fleet 

 Street, London, E.C. 



Notice. — We have declined receiving three packages of fmits, &c., sent 

 ns to be named, as they were not carriage paid. 



AsPAEAGiTs Spikach (IT.). — It is all that Spinach can be expected to 

 be, but the flavour hardly justifies the nauie. 



" Bbitish Wild Flowees " C^. L.).—Oi the sixth volume, twenty num- 

 bers have been issued, and sis numbers of the seventh. 



Flowebing Shkubs iJU. E. K.). — We know of no work devoted to them 

 exclusively. Glenny's " Handbook of the Flower Garden and Green- 

 house " includes them, and so does the " Cottage Gardeners' Dictionary.*^ 

 Each is cheap. 



Peuxesg GoosEEERErEs {J. B. D.). — Your Gooseberry plants are pro- 

 bably two years old, in which case you ought to thin out the young 

 shoots if they are crowded, cuttiug the others hack to h.alf their length. 

 The bushes will require to be pruned once a-year in winter, merely thin- 

 ning out all superfluous shoots, and cutting an inch or two from the points 

 of those which remain. Always study to obtain a compact, well-propor- 

 tioned hush, and avoid crowding in the centre. 



Vines (James IHc!.enson).—Adi Black Damascus and Trebbiano to your 

 list. The Muscats you mention are distinct. 



OvEECROPPmG VrxEs [An Ajixious Learner). — Yonr young Vines have 

 done remarkably well ; and the reason that the Grapes have not coloured 

 this year is that yon have evercropped the Vines. Ton should only have 

 taken two or three bunches from each rod the first year of their fruiting, 

 and from 8 to 12 lbs. of Grapes the following season. As the young wood 

 is strong and well ripened the Vines are all right, but you must be con- 

 tent with a very light crop from them nest year. 



SnurACE-BEESsixG Inside Vine Bordees (B. W. C.).— The best time 

 to surface-dress Vine borders is immediately after the Vines are pruned, 

 and the glass and woodwork of the house have received a thorough 

 washing. As you used fresh horse droppings, no doubt it was Mushroom 

 spawn that appeared in your borders. It would not injure the Vines, but 

 it exhausts the compost, and we should prefer the border to be free from 

 it. We surface-dress onr Vine borders with the following compost an- 

 nually, after removing 3 or 4 inches of the old material from the surface : 

 — Equal quantities of fresh cow and stable manure, as free from straw as 

 possible, are thrown together in a heap : it will soon heat violently, but 

 we turn it over daily until it is pretty well decayed ; it is then mixed 

 with an equal quantity of turfy loam, when it is ready for use. 



Black Muscat Grapes Ceaceed {E. S.). — Some varieties of Grapes 

 are more liable to crack than others, and various causes may be assigned 

 for their doing so. As your Grapes are well coloured and have a fine 

 bloom on the berries, mildew would not e the cause. We think in your 

 case the cause is too much moisture in the atmosphere of the house. Be 

 careful when watering the plants not to spill any water: and in damp 

 weather you should make up a fire in the^forenoon when the ventilators 



