December 14, 1371. J 



JOURNAIi OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



473 



point of union 2 or 3 inches with soil. They will require to bo mulched 

 in winter and summer to defend the young rootlets. In p.dditionto those 

 in my list, if you need more you may bay of *Tea JJoses— Adam, Souvenir 

 d'un Ami, M;idam6 Margottin, Adrienne Christophle, Madame Trifle, 

 Marie Sisley, Madame Hippolyte Jamain, and Sombreuil. Eybrid Per- 

 jjff»fl/s— Souvenir de Dr. Jamain, John Keynes, Fisher Holmes, Madame 

 Clemence Joigueaus, Baronne Prevost, Comte de Nanteiiil, Duke of Wel- 

 lington, Barones^i Rothschild, Gloire de Vitry, Baron Adolphe de Roths- 

 child, Madame Charles Verdier, Madame Charles Wood, Madame Knorr, 

 Madame Jacquier, Comtesse d'Oxford, and Dupuy Jamain. Bourbons— 

 Acidalie, Baron Gonella, Sir J. Paston. The thirty-sis named, and these, 

 are all good growers aad free bloomers.— W. F. Radclyffe. 



Diseased Horse Chestnut {W. B'nr/nu^).— The only remedy we can 

 suggest for your tree is to scrape off all diseased bark and coat the inj ured 

 parts with a. mixture of slacked lime and soot of the consistency of thick 

 paint. A mixture of tar and train oil has been recommended to destroy 

 the larvfB of insects in forest trees. We would use Stockholm tar, as gas 

 tar is injurious if not fatal to plant life. 



Small Fruits for Wet Ground (An Old Siibscriher).~-B\ac'k Currants 

 and Raspberries are the most suitable fruits for such ground. Celery 

 would be the beet vegetable. 



Propagating Vines (St. Asaph).~lf you have a glass frame and can 

 make a hotbed of leaves and stable manure so as to obtain a gentle 

 bottom heat, that would be the best place to start your Vine eyes. If you 

 have not a frame you should raise them in the greenhouse ; better plants 

 are obtained from single eyes than from-cuttings. 



Syringing Azaleas (Julia).~At this season, or from the time the buds 

 are set until after flowering, it is not desirable to syringe Azaleas, though 

 syringing may occasionally be practised to free the leaves from duat. 

 The plants should be supplied with water when the soil is dry, before the 

 foliage becomes limp, and' then enough should be given to show itself 

 at the drainage. 



Old Garden-wall Pointing (G. H.)— The best thing you could do 

 would be to have all the loose old mortar picked out, and to repoint, 

 filling up the face of the bricks, where broken, with Portland cement. 

 Damp the brickwork or joints before pointing, which must be done in 

 mild weather. Two parts of sand, one of lime, and one of Portland 

 cement make a very good pointing material. The lime and sand should 

 be made into mortar in the usual way, and the cement added and wrought 

 up as required for use. To preserve the wall from destruction by nailing 

 after the pointing, it would be well to have it wired, so as to dispense with 

 nails and shreds. 



Cosmos bipinnatus atko-puepueeus not Flowering (M. ^.)-— The 

 cause is probably the dull, wet, cold summer, and yet we do not remem- 

 ber seeing these plants in better foliage. Your treatment was quite right. 

 The seeds require to be sown, and the seedlings forwarded, in gentle heat, 

 and planted out in summer. ■ 



Pegging-down Goese (J. N. P., of ForA:).— The clump of Gorse having 

 grown very tall and struggling you may peg down the shoots, layering 

 them in the soil, and they will root if not very old. If they are old, and 

 there is any difficulty in layering them, we should cut the plant down 

 to within 6 inches of the ground, and it will push again strongly from the 

 root. This is the way we treat ours, raised Irom seed and young shoots, 

 and we have a fine dense mass in a year or two. The best time to cut 

 Gorse is just after cold weather in March and up to April. Have you 

 tried the double-flowered Gorse planttd out from pots? We plant out 

 ours at from 3 to 4 feet apart, and they meet in about three years ; rabbits 

 do not touch them. We plant in February or March. 



PoiNSETTiA PULCHEREIMA Bracts IMPERFECT [A LimcTicJc Gardener). 

 —We presume they are twisted and curled — very often a result cf bring- 

 ing the plants forward too rapidly, and not afi'ording sufticient aii', with a 

 light position, a moderate degree of moisture, and a temperature of 50° 

 to 55° at night. If you have a little patience we think yom" plants will 

 do better than you anticipate. 



Cottage Gardeners' Society Rules (T. T.).— If you enclose four 

 postage stamps with your address, and order No. 538 of this Journal to 

 be sent, you will find a detail of rules, &c. A small stove with a funnel 

 would warm your aviary. 



Morris's Nonpareil Russet.— " W. K." wishes to know where he can 

 procure trees of this Apple. 



The Best Roses (G. S., Bosarian, d-c). — Several correspondents have 

 written to inquire what is implied by the descriptive word " best," and 

 we can perceive no difficulty in explaining it. The desirable qualities in 

 a Rose are vigorous growth, free and successive production of flowers in 

 the plant ; fine form, size, fragrance, colour, and strength of petal in the 

 flowers. Those Roses which possess all or the most of these qualities in 

 the highest degree are " the best." Mr. Peach's list conrtjiniog the testi- 

 mony of many rosariims in widely-separated localities is by much the 

 most reliahle, for flowers commended by all those rosarians may most 

 justly be expected to succeed in the garden of an intending purchaser. 

 A great mistake is made by an amateur who concludes because a Rose is 

 exceDent in his garden that it will be equally excellent everywhere. We 

 have seen Jules Margottin in Devonshire unsurpassable by any variety, 

 and in a lighter soil in the east of England we have known it a miserable 

 object which no ffulture would invigorate. 



Seedling Geranium (J. H. £.).— Your seedling having the foliage of 

 Golcten Chain and double crimson-scarlet flowers is worth preserving 

 and testing. We know of none like it. 



Covering an Outside Vine Border (J. JBooi/t).- As a rule we do not 

 approve of covering outside Vine borders with glass ; but in your case, if 

 yon had moveable lights to take off in summer, the enclosed space, if 

 heated, would be useful for wintering bedding plants. More attention 

 will be necessary in watering the Vines. Your Grapes are aflected by 

 mildew ; this ought to be destroyed at an early stage of its development 

 by painting the hot-water pipes or flue with flowers of sulphur, brought 

 with water to the consistency of paint, taking care not to overheat the 

 flue or pipes. When the disease has made much progress dust the 

 bunches with sulphur, but we think then the cure is as bad as the 

 disease. 



Pruning Fruit Trees— Planting Asparagus, &c. (A tonstant Header), 

 — Your trained fruit trees newly planted should be pruned in spring as 

 soon as the buds begin to move. Cut the young shoots back to two- 



thirds of their length ; any weakly trees may be pruned-in closer. For a 

 north-east aspect Morello Cherries would be the best, and only the hardy 

 sorts of Pears and Plums. The beginning of April, generally speaking, 

 is the best time to plant Asparagus, Sea-kale, and Globe Artichokes. 

 They require light rich soil, well trenched, and thoroughly drained. Aspa- 

 ragus requires a large quantity of stable manure ; as much ought to be 

 trenched in as would cover the ground to the depth of 9 inches. If the 

 ground will admit of it, trench it 3 feet deep, placing a good layer of 

 manure at the bottom of the trench. Lay the ground out in 4-feet beds, 

 with 2-feet alleys between. Plant in April one-year-old plants, at a dis- 

 tance of IS inches from plant to plant. For Sea-kale the soil ought to 

 be light and rich, but it does not require so much manure as Asparagus, 

 nor does the ground require to be so deeply trenched. Plant in rows 

 20 inches apart, and 12 inches between the plants March is a good 

 month to plant in ; one-year-old plants are the best. Globe Artichokes- 

 are propagated by suckers, taken off with a portion of roots attached. 

 Plant them 3 feet between the rows, and 2 feet apart in the rows. They 

 are rather tender, and some rough litter should be placed round them 

 as a protection in winter. 



Saddle Boiler's Heating Power {W. JI/.).— The boiler 20 inches long, 

 16 wide, and 14 deep, would heat from 150 to 20O feet of 4-inch piping, 

 but we would never beat pipes to near the boiling point. You had better 

 have more piping, and never keep the pipes above 17Q°. The proposed 

 boiler will do all you require, if well set and well managed. 



Stove for Orangery {R. D. Long). — We have used open charcoal 

 stoves in emergencies, but always to the injury of everything at all 

 tender. Why not have an iron or brick stove, shut up in the usual 

 manner, with a pipe to take ofi" the fumes, and then you may burn char- 

 coal, coke, or cinders with safety ? 



Heating Pits (Camjec).— Much has been said in recent numbers, and 

 also in the present on the subject. If we knew exactly what you wanted 

 it for, we could advise better. In a small pit, a stove fed from the outside 

 would keep out frost, and be cheaper than a flue. It will be an advaniag© 

 if you can take the flue into the chimney of the greenhouse. All books 

 with coloured plates are costly. 



Boiler for 2000 Feet of Piping (A. B.).— As you find a saddle-back 

 boiler answer so well, we would take that as a hint, and for the 2O0O feet 

 of piping have one of wrought iron 5 feet long. If you want much moro 

 piping heated the boiler should be larger. If you do not want all the 

 20i30 feet well heated at once, then a 4 or a 4^-feet boiler might be suffi- 

 cient—we should say 5 feet. Smaller boilers, up to 8 feet in length, we 

 prefer to be of cast iron ; when about 5 feet long we prefer wrought iron; 



Pit and Flue (B., Knowle). — If you want your pit for propagating, the 

 arrangement with sand over the flue would be best, with the side of the flue 

 next the pathway. If for strong plants, tho other would be best, without 

 ashes between the flues. For such a narrow house- 7 feet wide— for 

 growing plants, we should have a pathway in the middle, a platform 

 ou each side, and a 6-inch-wide flue beneath the centre of the pathway* 

 Tkat would be quite sufficient to keep out frost. We are saying this in 

 the belief that you can walk through your pit. If not, then the arrange- 

 ment of a flue round close to the sides, with ^ floor all over then^j. 

 would be better. If so, a flue 5 inches wide, inside measure, would 

 enable you to keep up what heat you wanted. Merely to keep out frosty 

 a flue 5 inches wide inside, once through the house, would be sufficient,, 

 but it is always well to have the command of heat, whether it be wanted 

 often or not. For general purposes, the larger and wider the flue the less 

 will it require to be heated. A flue retains heat so long, that, except in 

 severe continuous frosts, a constant fire will not bo required. 



Heating a Boiler by an Oven (Amateur).— li you have a boiler in 

 your kitchen range you could heat your honse better from that than 

 from your oven. We presume you made the hole in the oven close to tho 

 top; if not, it should be as near the top as possible, and a 2-inch pipe 

 would not be too large. Even that would not do well, unless you had 

 another hole and pipe entering close to the bottom of the oven ; and 

 whilsttheupper pipe was turned upwards at the point.thelower one should 

 be turned downwards. We should then expect a free circulation of air 

 from the oven, the cold air of the house going in at the bottom of the 

 oven, and the hot air going out at the top. That air will be dry. In 

 similar cases we have seen every purpose answered by taking out part of 

 the wall opposite the kitchen range, and fixing an iron plate 33 inches or 

 so square. In all such cases the heat will be dry. When heat is wanted 

 in the oven and not in the house, plug up the pipes on the greenhouse 

 side. Let us know the result. 



Utilising Sashes (Subsci-iher). — To make a small house of your- 

 sashes you will require a plate for the back and front wall ; the back wall 

 7:- feet in height, and the front one 3 feet ; a narrow walk at back, and a 

 platform in front. We would, under the circumstances, plant the Vines 

 against the back wall and train downwards. When once the Vines reach 

 to the roof you could have four or five shelves against the back wall in 

 winter. The rafters should be 3;^ inches by 2 inches to support the 

 Fashes. We would have ventilators in the front and back wall, A small 

 flue along the front would keep all secure. We would have no front 

 sashes, but if you raised the walls higher they would be necessary : ia 

 that case the house also should be wider to be at all economical. 



Newtown Pippin (South Wales), — You can obtain a tree of this variety 

 of Apple from any of the large nurserymen who advertise in our columns,^ 



Ferns not Growing (A Lover of Ferris). — We are surprised you cannot- 

 make these plants flourish in a stove heated with hot water. Of course 

 your plants are in pots, though you do not say so. The compost should 

 be three parts fibrous peat full of fine white sand, one part light turfy 

 loam, one pirt sandstone broken up rather small, and half a part of silver 

 sand, the peat and, loam broken up small, and the whole well mixed. The 

 pots must be well drained. If the Ferns are growing in soil of this de- 

 scription they will not require to be repotted till the beginning of March ; 

 at that time remove from the roots nny compost that comes away freely, 

 and place them in pots of sufficient size to admit the fingers all round. 

 Pot rather firmly, keep the soil in a healthy state of moisture, giving a 

 good supply of water when it is required. Sprinkle the floors, walls, and 

 other suifaces with water morning and evening, and in very hot weather 

 the plants may be lightly sprinkled overhead morning and evening, ex- 

 cept Gymnogrammas, NothochIa?nas, and Cheilantbes. Maintain a tem- 

 perature of 60° to 65"^ at night from April to October, and 55° to 60° from 

 October to April, allowing a rise in summer to 75° and 80°, and to 65° oP 

 70° in winter. Shade from sun from March to October. 



