14 



JOUKI^'AL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[ January 5, 1871. 



Orchaed-house Pots Frozen {An Old Subscriber). — A little frost will 

 do no injnry to tbe roots of fruit trees in puts in an orcbard house. If 

 the soil lit the surface is rather dry. frost will do still less harm ; but it is 

 well to protect from severe frost with a little litter or moss over the pot. 



Strawberries in Geoukd Vi^-e^t [Idem]. — To grow Strawberries in 

 ground vineries, the simplest plan would be to grow them in such a place 

 without the glass the previous year, so as to be well established. If you 

 grow them in pots you will be able to remove an unfruitful pot and 

 replace it by another. When so grown the pots should be plunged in the 

 autumn. It matters but little what the material may be — eartli, ashes, 

 -cocoa-nut fibre, &c., but if in pots we would place a bttle rich soil be- 

 neath the bottom of tbe pots ^ hen the plants showed their flower trusses. 

 Each mode— namely, the planting out and the growing in pots— has it^ 

 advantages and disadvantages, tbe first costing least trouble, the second 

 enabling one to make the most of the euclosed space, and, on the whole, 

 getting a rather better return, but with increased labour and nicety in 

 attending to the wants of the plmts. 



Vines as Bushes (Idem)- — We do not think that Alicante, Lady 

 Downe's, or Foster's White Seedling Vines will succeed well as bushes in 

 ■pots in an unheated orchard house, unless the season happen to be 

 ■brighter and warmer than usual, as was the case last summer. 



Glazed Protectors (Idem) —Either of the two systems referred to 

 for protecting winter salads, &c., we think is good. Where a higb 

 temperature is an advantage in summer, we would prefer brick to wood. 

 '\Ve are doubtful of any ndvantnge in winter from the brick walls of such 

 little places. Merely for keeping: out frost, we have almost as much faith 

 in a 2-inch board as in ?. 9-inch wall. 



Vines in Pots {Sui-icrlhcr for TiL-fntij yt;nr5).— There is less dependant 

 on the age of the cane of a Vine than on its size, and ripened wood and 

 buds. For instance, you may insert single buds now in sm»ll pots in a 

 "brisk hotbed, repot as soon as the little pot is full of roots, and continue 

 rei'otting until you have tbe plant in a 15-inch pot, giving it always j 

 bottom heat and a growing top heat until you have the pot full of ro'>ts, 

 find the stem strong and well browned by Septen:.ber. Th^n you might > 

 iplane the plaut full in the sun against a fence with a south aspect for a 1 

 month, and then against a north aspect for a month or six weeks to rest j 

 it, even by darkness, if the leaves are all off. You could start that plant I 

 again, and get pood fruit from it in from twelve to sixteen months from i 

 the time of inserting the buds. To do this there must be no neglect, no 

 want of nourishment, &c. Fine fruiting canes may be obtained mf^re ' 

 easily, but with nearly double the expenditure of time, by not giving the | 

 plants so much attention the first year, getting them well ripened in 6 or | 

 S-ioch pots, keeping them over the winter, cutting tbe plants down to a ' 

 bud, and then starting them early, and putting them into their fruiting I 

 pots in time, so as to have the wood well ripened early in autumn. Were j 

 jve short of labour power, and meant to do much with pot Vines, we j 

 would resort to the latter mode. The first moiie will succeed, perhaps, as 

 well, but the attention and care required will be gi-eater. The size of , 

 pot we have already alluded to— frnm 13 ti IS-ioch pots, will ripen a nice 

 -cane, that would produce from six to nine bunches of fruit, though fewer 

 ■would be better, and after that the plant would have done all it could, so 

 that fresh plants would be required. Bear in mind the plant must be 

 thoroughly established in the pot early in the previous autumn. There ' 

 must be no repotting when you force or grow for fruit, but there may be 

 ■plenty of rich top-dressing. There is no soil better than fresh fibrous i 

 loam from rotten turf that has lain long enough to become sweet. To | 

 this add about one-eighth of old lime and brick rubbish, and a little , 

 more if the lofim is at all stifi", and about as much of boiled bones, broken : 

 io the size of small beans. In potting, and especially at the last potting, ! 

 a small handful of such bones may be placed over the drainage. A little 

 sweet rotten dung may be added, as horse droppings sweet and dry. But , 

 more will depend on a rather open compost, firm potting, rich watering, 

 and top-dressing, than on the soil itself being clog:;ed with manure. 



Melons Sclphuretted- Pears Expe (^ Co7ii/a?ii ^iYtiier). —Why will 

 not a Melon plant stand sulphur on the hot pipes as well as a Cucumber, 

 they being both of the same family? Why indeed? It is very easy to 

 put a simple question, which the greatest philosopher would be powerless 

 to solve. We speak of the family of man; but how varied in colour, 

 habits, likes, and dislikes ! How true is the old proverb, '• What is one 

 man's meat is another man's poison !" Setting aside all mere affectation, 

 we find that one lady will rejoice in the odour of certain flowers, whilst 

 the same odour would at once induce giddiness and fainting in another 

 lady. We have known this in the case of sisters, which is rather a 

 closer family alliance than that between tbe Cucumber and the Melon. 

 W"eare afraid when we inquire into such causes we shall be forced to own 

 "*' such things are, just because they are." Our cirrespondent, however, 

 has alluded to a fact well worth noting, that the leaves of Melon plants 

 will not stand sulphur fumes so hot as Cucumbers will do. Both will I 

 suffer if the fumes are too hot. In the case of Melons the pipes should 

 not be more than about 160- in temperature. If a little more, there 

 should be a little air left on. When an injury takes place, it is very 

 often from sun beat meeting tbe sulphur heat from the pipes before there 

 is a sufficiency of air given. Cucumbers wilt suflVr easily from the same 

 cause, but they will stand fumes from 5' to 10- hotter than Melons. Tbe 

 snore robust the plants, the more they will stand, but it is best to err on 

 the safe side. In the case of Pears, after they have become about ripe, the 

 flavour will be improved by their being placed for a few hours in a 

 warmer place. There is nothing "fantastic'* in the idea. Sach fruit 

 will not keep long afterwards. 



Various iVicar). — To strike cuttings, raise seeds of tender plants, and 

 grow Melons and Cucumbers, you ought to be able to command a bottom 

 heat of from 75- to 85'^, and a top heat of from 65- to 70-. W'ith a higher 

 temperature, what you gain in time yon will generally lose in robustness. 

 We are not calculating on sun heat, when, if the sua is bright and a 

 little air is given early, there aaay be a gradual rise of from 5' to 15^. 

 For the house referred to— 5 feet wide. 7 feet high at back, and 5 feet 9 

 inches in front— two -i-inch pipes will do for bottom he it, but you will need 

 as much for top heat. In a partly-sunk similar house we have two S-iuch 

 pipes below, and two above, but they are not enough in cold weather 

 without covering. Tbe damp that is troubling you in tho new pits, 

 heated by two 3-inch pipes in a chamber below, with a platform of boards, 

 on which the plants stand near the glass, may bo owing to the damp 

 remaining in the new walls, to a damp floor in the chamber beneath, to 

 usingrathertoomucb water, find to letting it ro from the hoards to tbe floor 

 to be raised again by evaporation. The simplest remedy would be to use 



more heat in the pipes during the day, and give more air in consequence, 

 and in mild weather tilting the sash a little in front as well as at the back. 

 In frosty weather a very small quantity of air at the back will prevent 

 the condensation of moisture on the glass, and thus prevent the moisture 

 falling on the plants. In cold weather a covering on the outside of 

 the glass at night would also remedy the evil. As palliatives, if the floor 

 beneath the flue is wet, remove the wettest, anl cover with very dry 

 ashes, better still with lime slacked, and not too fresh. Oa the hoards 

 themselves place a thin layer of dry ashos, and give no more water than 

 is absolutely necessary ; and, nntil you get rid of the damp, lift the pots 

 out that need watering, and replace after tbe extra moisture has drained 

 away. Most likely some of these hints may be useful, but in a pit kept 

 at from ^'r' to 45-. the simplest remedy would be more heat and air during 

 the day, and less heat at night. 



iSAiiEs OF Fruit (TF. H. S.). — 1, Beurre Diel; 2, Greenup's Pippin; 

 3, Ravelston Pippin; 4, Hnnthouse. {T. E.).—l, Winter Franc Keal ; 2, 

 Spanish Bon Chretien ; 3, Uvedale's St. Germain; 4, Flemish Bon Chre- 

 tien. We do not know the other Apples. 



POTJLTEY, BEE. A2JD PIGEON CHSOJIICLE. 



THE POULTRY LORE OF ISTC. 



We are thankfal that we have been spared another year to 

 review the past as regards poultry, and truly grateful in these 

 days of war and bloodshed that we have to do only with things 

 of peace. 



Although poultry plays but a small part, and enters for little 

 in the food of a people, yet it is not without its importance, 

 and if it were developed to the full scope of which it is capable, 

 it would assume an importance which is hardly deemed possible. 

 The contempt for cookery that makes a pound of meat in 

 England do less for the support of a family than half the 

 quantity does in France, and the Britannic craving for roasted 

 and boiled masses, banish poultry from many tables where it 

 might often appear as a bonne boiiche : and the two chickens 

 that now serve meagrely to dine three of a family of eight, 

 wonld form the foundation of a savoury and wholesome dish 

 sufficient to dine all. In the course of our remarks we shall 

 have to note a wonderful increase in many breeds, but we shall 

 never get them large enough to supersede the leg of mutton or 

 the sirloin. Our purpose would be fully answered if we cotild 

 by any labour or remarks of ours introduce them to tables 

 where they ai-o now only seen on very rare occasions, as 

 weddings, christenings, and the like. 



We have no increase to note in Dorkings ; indeed, we do not 

 see how it is possible we should have. They have almost 

 attained their limit. Cocks of 12 lbs. and hens of from 8 to 

 10, would almost justify us in thinking the breeders of these 

 birds have been trying to qualify them for becoming joints. 

 We have been glad to see many new names among the prize- 

 tikers, and this not to the exclusion of time-honoured exhi- 

 bitors, but as recipients of the extra prizes called for by the 

 numbers of entries. 



There is no progress to call for special mention among the 

 Spanish. They are not so numerous as they were some years 

 since ; and although, taken as a class, they are of superior 

 average merit, yet we do not think the most distinguished 

 among them are equal to those that held the same high rank 

 ten years ago. We should be sorry to see them decline. They 

 have a rare merit, inasmuch as they may be kept in health 

 where others would die, and their plumage enables them to 

 live in towns without losing beauty. 



Oar old friends the Cochin-Chiuas hold their own : Buff and 

 Cinnamon, Grouse and Partridge, and the White. We have 

 bad most excellent birds of all these commonly shown in 1870. 

 If we were asked to name the colour in which there has been 

 most progress, we should be disposed to give the palm to the 

 Grouse. They have been largely exhibited at all the leading 

 shows, but are seldom found at the purely agricultural meetings. 

 They are kept by dwellers in towns, and at the suburban villas, 

 but they find no favour with the farming interest. 



Brahmas now form one of the largest classes, so large, in- 

 deed, that it has been necessary to divide them; and instead 

 of the one or two pens of Light birds seeming out of place 

 among their Dark brethren, they form a large item in every 

 show. There has been wonderful progress in these birds ; im- 

 mense weight and perfect plumage are attained. Those who 

 are familiar with our ideas know we are not lovers of crosses ; 

 but if any cross is useful, we believe it is one between the 

 Dorkings and Erahmaa. The latter take somewhat from the 

 delicacy of the flesh of the former, but make ample amends 

 by the strength of constitution they infuse. 



We have been very pleased to see an increase in the entries 



