November 23, 1371. J 



JOURNAL OF HORTIGUIiTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



403 



and cut b-^ck to a woorl bud or triple bud, whicliis two bloom buds with a 

 wood bud between. We would now thin out and nail- up the branches 

 and shoots, but defer sbortenins the latter until the first mild weather 

 after the middle of February. If the tree3 are much neglected and defi- 

 cient in shoots, the old branches should be cut out and fresh shoots 

 trained in their place. You will rectuire to cut away all the foreright 

 shoots of the Plum trees to the base, and the side shoots to within half 

 an inch of their base. The spurs, which are the short stubby shoots 

 with the buds close together, should be left entire, but if very long they 

 may be cut partially away, and a portion allowed to remain near the main 

 branches for extension; this portion must have one or more spurs with 

 buds, or it will perish. The pruning, also, should be done now. 



Applying- Soot (Weston). —The soot you have used as a dressing of a 

 quarter of an inch thick, will not do any harm, but, on the contrary, Is 

 a most excellent manure. We would not, however, apply it at this 

 season of the year, but in trenching now throw up the soil as roughly as 

 possible, and early in March apply the soot, taking cire that it is dry, 

 and then fork the ground. over. Soot is a good manure, and a very useful 

 preventive against grubs. Its principal fertilising constituent is am- 

 monia, which, if the soot is applied now, must in a great measure be lost 

 before the spring. 



Manuring Geouni> in Winter (M. G.).— We advise the manuring of 

 all ground before digging or trenching for the winter. The manure 

 should be turned in deeply as soon as spread, and the ground thrown up 

 roughly now, and forked over in spring during dry frosty weather, if pos- 

 sible. The grouud intended for Carrots we %voald now manure and 

 trench, and in Blarch fork well over and pulverise. At the close of the 

 same month make the ground quite black with soot, and then quite 

 white with quicklime, point them in with a fork, and sow the seed early 

 in April. Wo have known .this ward off the attacks of the fly and its 

 grub. 



CucuaiBER Seed {H. TT.).— Cox's Voluntieer and Masters's Prolific may 

 be had of the principal seedsmen who advertise in our columns. 



Iris hispanica Culture (Wrekin). — They are very pretty flowering 

 feulbous plants, and should be planted now in an open sunny situation 

 out of doors, planting in good, rich, light soil, and covering about 2 inches 

 deep with light sandy soil. They may be planted half a dozen together 

 about 3 inches apart, putting in a peg to indicate the position. They are 

 quite hardy, and will not require removal for several years. 



Pyramidal Fuchsias [Seiiex). — We presume that you are supplied with 

 fine young plants that were struck this summer, being now in 4.^ or 6 inch 

 pots, and from 15 to 18 inches high. They require to be kept in a light 

 position, and to have a moderate supply of water — in fact, to be kept gently 

 growiag throughout the winter in a temperature cf more than 40^. In 

 February they should be repotted into the same size of pot, removing all 

 the soil that comes away freely from amongst the roots, and placed in a 

 light airy structure near the glasp, with a temperature of 45^ from flre 

 heat. In the course of about three weeks shift into 7-inch pots, and 

 when the roots reach the sides, and before they become much matted, 

 transfer to 9-inch pots, and the final shift may be given to an 11-inch pot 

 at'the end of May or early in June. The drainage in all cases should be 

 good, and the compost may consist of turfy loam two parts, one part 

 leaf soil, half a part old cow du!:g or well-rotted manure, a quarter of a 

 part lump charcoal, and the same proportion of silver sand, the loam 

 chopped up but used rather rough. Pot firmly, and place a neat stake to 

 the leading shoot, which need not be stopped until it show flower, then 

 take out its XJoint. Train in its place the fresh shoot which will result 

 ft.-om the stopping; this will not require stopping unless it grow ex- 

 tremely tall, and then it should be stopped so as to produce side shoots 

 for the furnishing of the upper part of the plant. These will also require 

 stopping, so as to cause them to branch, and should be kept from flower- 

 ing until a good and shapely i>lant is farmed. As you succeed well with 

 pyramid App^e and Pear trees, we do not see why you should not secure 

 fine specimen Fuchsias, Give them abundance of air and light, water- 

 ing only when dry, but before the leaves flag, and giving weak liquid 

 manure after the pots are fall of roots. Continue the stopping until six 

 or seven weeks before you wish the plants to flower. 



Plants for a Cool Stove {Idem). — We only name a dozen, as you 

 wish for but few. Allamauda neriifolii, Burchellia capensis, Franciscea 

 confertiflora variegata. Gardenia radicans major, Ixora acuminata, Lasi- 

 andra macrantha floribunda, Moaochtetum ensiferum, Pentas carnea, 

 Kondeletia speciosa major, Poineettia pulcherrima, Medinilla magnifica, 

 and Imantophyllum miniatum, all of easy culture and cheap. 



Bone Dust por Lawn (ill. A.]. — There is no manure so good for lawns 

 as bone dust, and you may apply it at the rate of sixteen bushels per acre in 

 March. Between now and then we would have the weeds grubbed up, 

 and the lawn well raked with an iron rake before sowing the bone dust, 

 rolling well after the first rain subsequent to manuring. 



Conservatory with Hothouse (F. G. Taylor). —As you seem to have 

 so many doors, we presume your pipes are laid beneath them, or below 

 the floor level, and if so, more piping will be required thau if the pipes 

 were all exposed. As to your not getting so much heat in your hothouse 

 department as in the cool house, we notice that you have three pipes on 

 two sides, or rather on one side and one end, whilst for such a house, 

 14 feet wide, you would require such an amount of piping all round, or 

 at least in proportion. Then you have shut off the greater part of one 

 end as a pit, and thus, so far as the heat of the house is concerned, you 

 have lessened its power to heat the atmosphere fully one-third. We are 

 sorry you have pulled your pit out because it did not heat, as that might 

 arise from such causes as the complete exclusion from air, the too great 

 thickness ,of a covering of stone, or too much cocoa-nut refuse. That 

 substance, when dry, would be more inaccessible to heat and cold passing 

 through it than a secure thick matting. The cool house with four pipes 

 has, on the whole, as much power of heating. Besides, when two divi- 

 sions are thus heated from a boiler separately, it often happens that the 

 flow is more rapid into one than the other, and in that case the valve 

 should be regu'ated so as to give the full flow first where the flow naturally 

 is most sluggish. If there is the least difference in the level of the pipes, 

 the water will go most readily into the highest pipe. The boiler is no 

 doubt a good one. When the fire is banked up, the damper, too, should 

 be judiciously used. We think, then, that the chief deflciency in the 

 hothouse is the need of more piping. 



Insect {W. W.).— The insect found on a rod in a vinery is the chrysalis 

 of the common small white butterfly, which had, probably, fed in the 



caterpillar stite on Nasturtium or Mignonette growing in the neighbour- 

 hood— I. O. W. 

 Name of Fruit {W. H. j17.).— The Stone Pippin. 



NAiiEs OF Plants (W. S. (7.).— We cannot undertake to name varieties 

 of the Chrysanthemum nor of any other florists* flowers. (T. li. J.). — It 

 is the Spindle or Prickwood bush, Euonymus europasus. (G. IF. H, 

 Tillett). — Doubtless your plant will be Echeveria gibbiflora. It is the 

 typical form of the plant, of which what ia usually known in gardens as 

 E. metallica is only a variety merely differing in colour, consequently 

 by botanists called E. gibbiflora var. metallica. They are originally from 

 Mexico. (S. J.). — MasiUaria picta, native of Brazil; 2, Schizostylis 

 coccinea, from South Africa. (C. M. Major). — 1, Pellrea hastata; 3, Adian- 

 tum trapeziforme ; 3. Cyperus alternifoUus. [A. Y. 2.).~Selaginella cau- 

 lescens. Pot your Euonymus in poor soil — any inferior loam to which 

 no manure has ever been added — and allow a good proportion of coarse 

 brown s^nd. Cut away such green shoots or leaves as you can con- 

 veniently spare. (E. H.). — One of the monstrous forms of the Lady-Feru 

 (Athyrium Filix-fcemina), and apparently the one figured in Lowe's 

 "Native Ferns" (vol. ii., page 36), as var. cristum-coronatum. We do 

 not identify your succulent from the material supplied, but take it to be 

 a Sempervivum, allied to S. Paiv^e and S. spathulifolium. 



POULTRY, BEE, AlfD PIGEOIT CHRONICLE. 



OVERWORKING THE JUDGES. 



We have liatened to the statementa of some of the best and 

 unexaggerating judges of our poaltry shows, and have no 

 escape from the oonviotion that at the most extensive of those 

 shows there must be either more judges employed or more 

 time allowed for judging. When we expressed this opinion to 

 a secretary he replied, " This is a novel fancy ; they used to 

 be equal to the occasion." To this reply an unrefutable answer 

 is in the following extract from a letter we have received from 

 one of the ablest of those judges : — 



" I need scarcely say that year by year the competition be- 

 comes more and more general, almost in every class. I mean, 

 that whilst judging we now find, perhaps, fifteen good pens out 

 of every score, whereas about a dozen years back, three or four 

 pens only out of the same number were worthy of a second 

 inspection. So much for the classes in general, and committees 

 now appoint quite as large a number of pens to each judge in 

 his division, as formerly made the aggregate of a whole custom- 

 ary show. It requires no logician to prove that the responsi- 

 bilities of the judges must be fully thrice as heavy ; and as, to 

 save expenses, committees always at large shows give quite as 

 much in each division as occupies the whole day in judging, 

 the arbitrators at these very large meetings rarely see any- 

 thing of those classes to which they are not specially appointed. 

 Hence, for instance, at the Crystal Palace Show, except in a 

 few cases during the judging, when requested by my fellow 

 judges to ' just give them my opinion ' on difficulties cropping 

 up in their allotted tasks, I saw nothing at all of the birds out 

 of my own classes ; yet I worked hard at it incessantly, with- 

 out having even time to eat anything from daybreak until 

 nightfall. Mr. Teebay and myself were 'completely knocked 

 up ;' Mr. Teebay's own words were. ' that when we sat down 

 wa could hardly get up again.' Birmingham will be even 

 worse rather than better." 



The time has now arrived, therefore, when the labour of the 

 judges must be diminished. If this is not done the trust- 

 worthy will shrink from the task, exhibitors will be dissatisfied 

 by hasty decisions, and then the committees will have to smart 

 for diminished receipts. 



LIGHT BRAHMAS. 



I WAS pleased to read the letter of " Cutis " (see page 367), aa 

 real thought about matters of breeding and exhibiting is the 

 right way to succeed in both ; and, perhaps, I shall do best by 

 replying in order to my unknown friend's remarks just as they 

 occur, and as though I were in conversation with him. 



By " colour " in Light Brahmas I mean both black in the 

 proper feathers, as described both by me and "Outis," and 

 also a pure pearly white colour over the body. Many birds 

 lately have been shown quite yellow, with hardly any real white 

 about them at all. But further, while I regard the black in 

 the neck-hackle as very important, indeed essential to a really 

 good bird, black in the saddle is far less so, and is so described 

 by me. Many of the best birds have white saddles, and these 

 are often, as I have said in the work referred to, to be even 

 preferred, while at the same time I do think that a thinly- 

 striped saddle, when to be had, greatly sets ofi a bird. But 

 the pullets also are to be considered. Their hackles lately 

 have been nearly as bad as the cocks, and the brilliant black 



