366 



JOUENAIi OF HOBTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENEE. 



J November 9, 1871. 



Amott's brick stove still better, but witb such a fluo rounii the honse we 

 should consider any stove quite unnecessary. 



Heating with Hot Watee (A. B. C.).— We should deceive you if we 

 said yea could heat your new house, which you say ia 10 feet below the 

 top of the boiler. If it had been all that higher, it would have been 

 different. The same sort of boiler, or a conical or saddle-back, or even a 

 flue, would do for the new orchard house, as you do not want much heat. 

 We have no faith in the present boiler doing the work, owing to the 

 level. 



Heating a Geeekhodsb (G. A. H.).— "We can hardly see how a gas 

 stove placed in your dwelling house, supplied with a boiler and pipes, 

 should allow gas fumes to escape among your plants. These thines, how- 

 ever, all require care and management. We have no faith in the close 

 stoves you allude to, in whatever way the fuel is prepared. Amongst 

 plants in large open halls the matter is quite different, but such a stove 

 would do well enough if lined with fire-brick inside, and if even a 2-inch 

 pipe were used to carry off the products of combastion through the roof. 

 A small iron stove, say a foot or 15 inches square, lined with fire-brick at 

 the fireplace, would be the simplest for such a house, but a little care is 

 wanted to avoid dust inside the house, by damping the ashes before taking 

 them out of the stove. If in such small houses a stove of this description 

 could be placed cloeeto a wall, or a brick stove 2 feet square and 30 inches 

 high should be so placed as to be fed and attended to from the outside, all 

 dust and smoke when lighting would bo avoided. An evaporating-pan 

 on the top would give moisture enough. For all such small houses 

 nothing will equal a small stove for economy. We judge it will require 

 about one-third of the fuel of a furnace and flue, and from one-sisth to 

 one-eighth of what would be wanted by hot water. 



Gbapes (A. B.). — Your Black Hamburghs are producing abortive berries, 

 and this is, doubtless, caused by the roots being in a border which is 

 "very damp, low, and cold." The only remedy is to drain the border, 

 and renew the soil if it has become sodden. Vines will do with any 

 quantity of water so long as it is not stagnant. 



PnuxiNG Peach Trees, &c. {I. H. S.).— All snperfluous shoots should 

 be removed from your Peach trees in summer, and the other yonng 

 shoots which will carry the fruit next year should be trained-in to the 

 wall. This will expose the fruit to the influence of the sun, and it will 

 not only be more highly coloured, but of better quality. It is not the 

 black ant which is the cause of blight on your orchard-house trees, but 

 the aphis, which is most effectually destroyed by fumigating with 

 tobacco smoke. Washing the trees with a solution of Gishurat com- 

 pound, 3 0Z3. to the gallon, will also destroy them. 



Fettit Trees foe a SoriH Wall (G/gyum).— We would not occupy 

 a south wall with a llorello Cherry, as this tree succeeds well on a wall 

 with a north aspect, or planted in the open ground as pyramids. Plant a 

 iiloorpark Apricot and a Marie Louise Pear. You can purchase standard- 

 trained trees with clean stems of 6 feet in the nurseries ; plant them at 

 once. 



Planting a Tin-eet {A Suhscriber).~V]&nt Mill Hill Hamburgh by all 

 means ; it colours well, the berries are large, round, and equal in quality 

 to Black Hamburgh. Inarch Golden Champion on Black Hamburgh. 

 When well grown it is the best white Grape for a cool house. We would 

 substitute Madresfield Court Black Muscat for Mrs. Pince. 



List of Feujt Teees (T.).— A wall facing the east is not a good 

 position for Peach and Nectarine trees. You do not say how many 

 varieties you require. Peaches. — Early York, Poyal George, Stirling 

 Castle, and Violette Hative. Nectarines. — Rivera's Orange, Elruge, 

 Yiolette Hative, and Pine Apple. Pears.— Jargonelle, Madame Treyve, 

 Marie Lonise, Beurre Hardy, Ganael's Bergamot, Beurre Bosc, Glou 

 Morijeau, Easter Beurre, and Bergamotte Esperen. Gooseberries. — Golden 

 Drop, Green Gage, Pitmaston Green Gage. Eed Champagne or Iron- 

 monger (of Scotland), Yellow Champagne, Whitesmith, Broom Girl. Crown 

 Bob, and Warrington. CurranU.—V*' h\te Dutch, Knight's Early Red, 

 Red Dutch, and Victoria. Itaspberries. — Red Antwerp, Fastolf, and 

 Yellow Antwerp. 



Inaechisg Vines (B. W. 5fanni«).— Black Alicante is a magnificent 

 Grape. We would graft or inarch it on Canon Hall. Mrs. Pince's Black 

 Muscat has not the Muscat flavour fully developed under all circum- 

 stances, though we have it very fine this year. It is a good Grape, but 

 like your Canon Hall, uncertain. 



Peaches akd CAiiELLiAS tjndeh Vises (A Young Essayist). — We do 

 not think Peach trees in pots will succeed in such position. If you 

 wish to give them a trial, get the trees as near the glass as possible, and 

 train your Vine rods up at a distance of 5 feet apart. Camellias would 

 do pretty well in the shade, but we think it w^ould be more profitable as 

 well as more satisfactory if you were to sacrifice the Peach trees. 



TJTiLisrKG A Laege House (X. Y. Z.).—For such a bouse so wide and 

 lofty, and 320 feet long, we would advise heating— not a tenth, but a fifth, 

 or a third, as the heated portion will be the most valuable. In this we 

 would plant Vines, and have tables for plants and shelves for Straw- 

 berries or Dwarf Kidney Beans. Part next this, a cool house, we would 

 plant with Vines of the hardier kinds, as Black Hamburgh and Royal 

 Muscadine, and part with Peaches and Nectarines. The floor of these 

 houses might be covered with vegetables in winter, as Cauliflowers, 

 Endive, Lettuces, or great quantities of Violets, Wallflowers, and hardy 

 Primroses if in demand. We think such a house would pay best if 

 enough of iron piping were used to keep out frost in severe weather. 

 For the part heated, for a 40-feet-wide house, 15 feet at the centre, and 

 8 feet at the sidee, four pipes, as you propose, round two sides and one 

 end, will answer if you do not commence forcing until towards February. 

 The house may be filled with flowering plants all the winter, but until 

 the extra heat is given to the Vines the temperature should not exceed 

 45° bv fire heat. 



Small Geeenhouse (E. C, Oakham). — Under the circomstances a 

 lean-to house would be the most economical, and with ventilators at the 

 top of the back wall, all the roof might be fixed. A small saddle-back or 

 conical boiler would answer, and the 4-inch pipes along the front and 

 round each end would be safficient. For such a house. ii4 feet by 12, we 

 would prefer a small flue beneath the pathway, and the t.p of the flue 

 would form part of the pathway. Witb a half span or hip at the back, 

 you would have a loftier house and more command of iight, but you 

 would need more heat. A couple of ventilators in the hip, with an open- 

 ing at each end under the apex, would do. If you decide on a lean-to, 



and desire more height, you may raise the wall from 9 to 12 inches, and 

 place 6-inch board ventilators most of the way. These, being on pivots, 

 would be easily managed. 



Heating a Vineey xsi> Greenhouse (T.).— Your simplest plan would 

 have been to have heated the two houses by a boiler placed behind where 

 the two houses meet. By sinking the boiler sufficiently you could bring 

 the flow and return pipe beneath the pathway, and then raise it in the 

 house. A T'flow pipe would enab'e you to take a flow pipe into each 

 house, joined then to the numb»:r of pipes you might t hink proper, by 

 syphon joints. A socket valve on each of these flow pipes would enable 

 you to regulate the heat in the vinery and the greenhouse at will, and to 

 give heat to one and keep the heat from the other as desirable. In the 

 position you propose for your boiler at the end of the range you must 

 heat the vinery before you can heat the greenhouse at any time, and you 

 must have the circulation complete in the vinery. Having secured that 

 circulation you could take one pips joined to a two-pipe syphon, with a. 

 valve to regulate the circulation, in the greenhouse. Were we obliged to 

 have the boiler where you propose, we would have two flow pipes from 

 the boiler, one in the usual way for the vinery, and the other a 1 or 2-inch 

 strong pipe passing through the vinery, with a valve or tap, and joined 

 to the flow pipes in the other house by cap joints. All the returns would 

 join. 



LiUTisi AtrsATUir Tbeatiient (W. M.). — As it is now in a resting state 

 it should have no more water than will be sufficient to keep the soil 

 moist, and if not already potted we should pot it at once. Turn the 

 plant out of the pot, and remove as much soil as you can without injur- 

 ing the roots. As the bulbs are small, 7-inch pots will be sufficiently- 

 large. Drain them well, and use a compost of two parts hght turfy loam, 

 cue part sandy peat, and one part leaf soil or old cow dung, with a free 

 admixture of sharp sand. Pot so that the crown of the bulb may be about 

 an inch below the rim of the pot, and when the plant has made a shoot 

 a few inches high top-dress with rich compost. Keep the plants safe 

 from frost, and the soil only just moist, but when the plant is growing 

 freely and flowering water copiously. It cannot have too light or airy a. 

 position. 



Variegated Holly (E. TFooZZ^t:).— We have seen others with marbled 

 leaves, but when propagated from and cultivated in other soils and 

 seasons, the variegation gradually departed. If yours remains permanent 

 it will be a desirable variety. 



Emigeation {A Gardener). — We cannot venture to advise you. Some 

 of our readers Biay be able to answer your query — " Which ia the best part 

 of AustraUa for a gardener to emigrate to ?" 



Vegetable Mocld for Potting (Groovibridge\ — The mould from 

 decomposed vegetable matter as Pea haulm. Cabbage stalks, Ac, mixed 

 with lime is good to mix with other materials as a compost for potting, 

 hut it must be thoroughly decomposed. We prefer leaf soil. 



Haediness of Richardia (Jalla) 3:thiopica, Dicksonia, and Also- 

 phtla {A Subscriber). — Ihe Richardia thrives in a tank in the green- 

 house, but it should have abundance of light. Place some loam in the 

 tank, and put a few stones over the roots. It does better with us as a. 

 pot plant, and without aquatic treatment. Dicksonia antarctica and 

 squarrosa, and Alsophila australis, succeed in a house from which frost 

 is excluded. 



Cactuses not Floweeing (J, F. B.). — The cause of these not flowering 

 is no doubt the want of light, and the distance from the glass. We would 

 advise you to have them potted, and after being established a year we 

 would turn them out of doors early in July in front of a south wall, and 

 not bouse them until the close of September. Keep them dry during the 

 winter, but not so much so as to cause the stems to shrivel. We think 

 they will flower in the following April. For growing beneath Vines yoa 

 might have Camallias, Azaleas, and variegated-leaved Begonias ; indeed 

 you might succeed with most greenhouse softwooded plants, placing 

 them out of doors in summer. 



Na3IES of Feuits {J. Taylor). — 1, Flower of Kent; 2, Cellini ; 3, Bar- 

 celona Pearmain ; 4, Red Wine: 5, Nonpareil; 7, Card's Seedling; 

 10, Tower of Glamis; 11, Northern Greening; 12, Pearson's Plate; 

 13, Achan ; 14, Dunroore. {Mrs. Miller). — The large Pear is Beurre Clatr- 

 geau, and the two smaller ones White Doyenne. 



NAiTES OF Plants (C. F.). — We succeed in identifying your leaves. 

 "So. 1 belongs to Banhinia purpurea, L., a well-know-n and widely distri- 

 buted plant in India ; No. 2, a young spray of Eucalyptus obliqua, L'Her., 

 one of the Stringy-bark trees of Australian colonists, abundant in Vic- 

 toria and Tasmania, but not, as you suppose, a native of New Zealand, 

 {Camjee).—The Strawberry Spinach, Blitum virgatum, native of India, 

 Persia, and the East. (J. B).— Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, var. granaiflorus. 

 (Cenfunoni.— In all probability your plant is Calandrinia umbellata, bat 

 we are not absolutely certain. We have no doubt as to the genus, but 

 your specimen is scarcely sufficient to make sure of the species, (ff. 

 i>avies). — 1, Nephrolepis exaltata ; 2, Polypodiumcambricum; 3, Avariety 

 of Polystichum aculeatum ; 4, Adiantum hispidulum; 5, Selaginella 

 Brauniana (S. pubescens of gardens ; 6, Pteri* crenata ; 7, Microlepia 

 novffi-zelandise. (A.E.A). — Your Fern is quite correctly named Hypo- 

 lepisrepens. You certainly must afford it protection against cold, as it 

 is a native of the tropics." {G. McA.).— Your Fern is, without a doubt» 

 the Hymenophyllum tunbridgense. You appear to have thought it to be 

 H- Wiisoni, otherwise H. unilaterale, which it is not ; both are scarce, the 

 latter the more so. (M. H.).—'2, Salvia verticillata. The Stachys (No. 1> 

 is Stachys recta, L., native of central Europe. (G. B.). — 1, Is Asclepias 

 corassavica, L. Wild in the West Indies, but very generally cultivated 

 as a garden plant all over the civilised world. Known in Jamaica as 

 Wild Ipecacuanha, in other places as Swallow-wort. 2, Is Gomphocarpus 

 fruticosus, B. Br,, from the Cape of Good Hope ; also known as Ascle- 

 pias fruticosa, or A. salicifolia. Both are among the oldest and best 

 known of stove plants, but may be placed in a greenhouse wnen in 

 bloom. (T. B. TT''.).— Your Ferns are — 1, Pteris flabellata; 3, Nephro- 

 dium sparsum ; 3, Onychium japonicum; 4, Litobrochia pedata ; 5, 

 Cbeilanthes iendigera; 6, Polypodinm vulgare. The Lycopods are — 

 1, Selaginella Martensii; 2, S. Brauniana (S. pubescens); 3, S. Kraus- 

 siana (S. hortensis). ( -. 3/. J/ajor).— Your Fern is Blechnum occidentale. 

 As to Polvpodium dilitatum of Liibmann, it is a synonym of Nephro- 

 dium fffasum. See Hooker " Synopsis Filicum," *2S7. {W. B. B-).~The 

 Canary Grass, Phalaris canariensij, Z/. {J. W. B.).— Common Spurrey, 

 Spergiila arvensis. {An Old Subscriber). — The Spindle Tree, Euonymua 

 enropEBUS. (0. W.).—l, Cnpheaplatycentra ; 2, HeUohrysum bracteatum, 



