February 23, 1871. ] 



JOUENAL OP HOETICULTDKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



147 



the pots with hot tree leaves, liseping the top of the ball several 

 inches from the rim of the pot, earthing-up at times until the 

 pot is full, and earthing the bed over with rich light compost, 

 and allowing the roots to ran over it. List summer and 

 autumn the bed bad, perhaps, about half an inch of rich top- 

 dressing added every month or so. We have found no plan 

 better for keepiuH up a moderate laxurianee and great fertility 

 in little space. Just as the fine large white roots began to ap- 

 pear on the surface, a little fresh rich compost was sprinkled 

 over them, but what was alluded to last week, as to the matter 

 of checks, was carefully attended to. Patting fresh cold soil 

 to a plant in a high temperature is often followed by baneful 

 results. Were the principle involved in sudden and severe 

 checks better understood, there would be less sale for insecti- 

 cides and other destroyers of insect vermin. 



OENAMENTAL DEPAETMENT. 



Here our chief work has been, and will be for some time, 

 ground work and turfing. We shall be anxious to have such 

 work over by the middle of March at farthest, as then we may 

 expect to be little troubled with the turf in summer. There is 

 much trouble in getting extra men, who never took up or laid, 

 a piece of turf in their lives before, to do so at all neatly. 

 Much depends on taking up the turf in equal widths, and at 

 equal depths, and then.witli a line marking the levels it is not 

 so easy to go wrong. Two lads, who had never handled a sod 

 before, turfed a piece very neatly the other day. We hope that 

 in a few weeks general labourers' work will be more plentiful. 



Eeferring to general matters, we will just allude to two things 

 requiring timely attention. Fot soiDlng the seeds of tender and 

 half-hardij plants, a hothouse or a hotbed will be necessary, and 

 a bottom heat of from 80° to 90° for the first, and from 65° to 

 75° for the second. All seeds do best in general in rather light 

 sandy soil, enriched with a little leaf mould that has been well 

 sweetened and aired. A little small charcoal will also be an 

 advantage. With large seeds there need be no difficulty, pro- 

 vided they are covered with about their own diameter in depth 

 of soil. Smaller seeds require more attention, and especially 

 such dust-like seeds as those of the Lobelia and Calceolaria. 

 It is best to use as little water to such seeds as possible. We 

 generally, therefore, drain and fill the pota within an inch or so 

 of the rim, using the roughest soil over the drainage, rough but 

 finer over that, and finer at the surface, pressing moderately 

 down with a board ; and then the soil in the pots is well 

 watered, and allowed to stand from ten to twenty-four hours, 

 so that the surface may become somewhat dry ; on this the 

 seed is scattered, and a little fine silver sand, or silver sand 

 and charcoal dust, sprinkled as thinly as possible over the seed, 

 and gently pressed down. If a square of glass with a piece of 

 paper or cloth is put over the mouth of each pot, there will be 

 next to the certainty of attaining success, keeping the shade on 

 until the seedlings begin to show, and then removing the shade 

 by degrees. The damp in the pots beneath the seed will gene- 

 rally be sufficient to cause germination, without watering, but 

 when watering is necessary it should be given by gently sailing 

 the surface of the soil in the pot all over, and not from the 

 rose of a watering-pot, however fine. Even when seedlings 

 are up this sailing with water, in the case of small seedlings, is 

 of importance. The simplest plan to adopt is to have an 

 oyster shell, or a rounded piece of broken pot, hold it obliquely 

 with the left hand against the inner rim of the pot, and pour 

 the water from the spout of a small watering-pot upon the 

 crock until the water floods the pot without touching the top of 

 the seedlings. Water such tender little seedlings overhead with 

 a fine rose, and if they are at all close together there will be a 

 great risk of their damping or fogging off at the collars. Several 

 have asked how there could be such a difference ? and we were 

 obliged to own here our comparative ignorance. It is one 

 thing to note a fact, and quite another thing to be able to tell 

 all the reasons why. It is a fact that different results will 

 follow from different modes of watering tender seedlings. 

 When glass, as stated above, is not handy, a saucer will answer 

 the same purpose. Many seeds require this protection before 

 they are up as a security from vermin. The advantage of the 

 glass square is that you can regulate light to a nicety. 



We meant to have said something about cuttings, but would 

 now merely remark that the chief point is to keep the cutting 

 growing, so as to suffer as little as possible from its severance 

 from the parent plant. — K. F. 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



Etlmoudeon Brothers, 10, Dame Street, Dubliu. — Spring Cctialoffue 

 of Vegciahh and Flov.-cr Sccds^ Garden Implements, die. 



George White, 3, Moss Street, Paisley.— Select List of Fansies, 

 Piiihs, &c. 



"■Poriable Plant Protectors, and How to use tJteni." — " T7«cs and 

 Ground Vii/crtes." By W, Eclgcumbe Kenclle. London : Simptm, 

 Marshall. & Co. 



W. Clibran & Sod, Millbanlc Nursery, Warrington.— J9(?sc?-ijj£t'fc 

 Ciifalor/uc of Neio and Choice Plants. 



S. Shepperson, ProRpect House, Belper.— Crtfa%;ie of Fansies, d-c. 



B. J. liidwards, •222, Strand, and 35, Bishopsfiate Street Within, 

 Ijondon.—S'jirinj/ Catalogue of Flower and Vegetable Seeds, Ktw 

 Hyhrid Gladioli, d'C. 



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 be addressed solelij to 

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

 Street, London, E.G. 



N.B. — Many questions must remain unanswered until next 

 week. 



Books (Rosa). — There is no 'recent work on Melon cuUure exclu- 

 sively. The fullest and test directions are in nur Nos. 197, 199 201, and 

 283, ■which you can have from our office if you enclose !.>■. 2fi. in postage 

 stamps with your address. (A Younij Gardener). — " Repton's Landscnpe 

 Gardening" by Loudon. We do not know the publishers of the other 

 work you name. 



White Azaleas (J"»f /a) .—Louise Von Baden, Louise JIargottin, Flag 

 of Truce, and Iveryana. 



Mowing Machine (S. F. D.). — Any would answer your purpose. You 

 may see ppecimens at Mr. J. C. Fox's, HorticuUuval Agent, Arcade, Royal 

 Horticultural Society's Garden, South Kensington. 



Barkeria spectabilts Cdltdre (D. M.). — BaTkerias being plants 

 which make thick fle-shy roots, and which enjoy a cool temperature, are 

 easily injured if the rootSftare confined amongst moss or other wet mate- 

 rial. They nevertheless enjoy a copious supply of water during the 

 season of growth, and wa have always found them thrive by far the best 

 when fastened upon blocks of wood, with but very little moss ; the roots 

 will readily adhere to the wood au'l remain tirmly fixed. They may, 

 however, be gi'own in pots if prefen-ed, in which case the pots should be 

 quite filled with moderate-sized pieces of charcoal and potsheris, which 

 for appearance may be slightly covered with living sphnguum. If 

 the roots of your plant show the least sign of decay, remove it to a block 

 of wood or piece of cork before it starts into growth, this method being 

 undoubtedly the best to ensure the well-being of all the species belonging 

 ; to this beautiful genus. 



I Grass Seeds for a LiWN (T. H. r.l.— For your lawn of a quarter of 

 an acre which requires renovating, we should sow Trifollum minus only, 

 I and iJ lbs. would do it well; this Clover, as you any, stands dry weather 

 . well— indeed, with-us better than anything else, and gives a close bottom 

 j sooner than grass seeds. Do not sow before April, and then during the 

 first moist weather, rolling well after sowing. 



Etjcaltptus globulus Leaves Warted (A. .^.).— The small warts or 

 excrescences on the under side of the foliage are very common on the 

 mature leaves, but we thinlt the leaves have been infested with red spider, 

 which may be destroyed by syringing or sponging them with a solntimn 

 of 2 023. of soft soap to the gallon of water, applied at a temperature of 

 140^, or if you sponge the leaves, which is better, use it at 120'^ 



Wiring a Vinery (Crondonio u).~The best plan is to have the wires 

 crossing the rafters, or lengthwise of the house, and 9 inches apart. You 

 will need an angle iron at each end secured to the end timbers, and a 

 piece of ordinary bar-iron, five-eighths of an inch by a quarter of an inch, 

 at every rafter, or 3 to 4 feet, and these will need to be supported by 

 hangers or holders screwed into the rafters, and secured top and bottom 

 by screws to the uprights or rafters. The angle plates and the smaller 

 iron supports will need to have boles drilled 9 inches apart, through 

 which the wires are to be drawn. Each end of the wires should be pre- 

 pax'ed to receive a thumb-screw, by means of which the wires can be 

 tightened. No. 10 wire is commonly used, but we employ Nn. tj. Any 

 of the firms advertising in our columns could supply yon. We cannot 

 name o«e in preference to anothei". The wires should be fixed 14 to 

 16 inches from the glass. 



DEUT^iiA Treatment (Idem).— 'We can only account for your plant 

 being in such a poor plight from the high temperature in which it is 

 kept, and from its being in a bad state before forcing was commenced. 

 Place it in a house with a temperatare of from 45- to 50^, keep it supplied 

 with water, and aSbrd it a light airy position. After flowering, or in 

 April or May, remove it to a cold pit or cool airy bouse, and in May place 

 it out of doors in an open situation. Keep it duly watered in summer, 

 and before severe weather sets iu place it in a sheltered position, the 

 pots plunged iu ashes. About Christmas turn the plant out of the pot, 

 remove any old loose soil, and pot again in a pot large enough to hold 

 the roots. Introduce it into a house with a temperature of from 45^ to 

 50^, and the plant will flower in six or eight weeks. This is all we do to 

 our plants, and we have had them in flower from the beginning of 

 January, they being placed in heat at the end of November. Light turfy 

 loam with a little leaf soil and sand grow them well. 



Pl'A"nting Out Calceolarias (A Condant Subscriber). — The beginning 

 of April is sufficiently early to transplant them into beds from under the 

 hand-glass, and even then* they will require protection at night and in 

 frosty days. If you can allord them protection fromfrost, you may trans- 

 plant them any time after this in mild weather. 



Short Stems of Hyacinths and Tulips (Idem).— The shortness of 

 the spike of the Hyacinth may be owing to the bulb, but the spike may' 

 have plenty of flowers and yet be short, from the plants not having had 

 sufacient heat for their full development. The watering and aoil would 



