168 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 2, 1871. 



soil no more than moist, otherwise the cuttings will damp off. They will 

 make good plants by the end of May. 



SoLANUM CAPSiCASTRuai SOWING {M. G.), — Sow early in March in sandy 

 "turfy loam with a little leaf soil, just covering the seed, and place in a 

 hotbed of 70°. When the plants come up keep them near the glass, and 

 Tvhen the rough leaves appear pot the seedlings singly in small pots, and 

 continue them in the hotbed, shading from bright aun until established ; 

 then harden them off and remove them to a light airy position in a green- 

 Ihoii3e. Shift as the plants fill the x^"ts with roots, stopping the side 

 ■shoots at the third joint, but tiaining the leader erect, and so as to form 

 pyramids. Seedlings do not flower freely, consequently the berries 

 ■during the first two seasons are not numerous. 



Abutilon STRiATrai Sowing (W^'m).— Sow the seeds in sandy loam 

 with a little leaf soil added, and place them in a hotbed, poftiog-off the 

 seedlings when a few inches high, and when they are established reui'>vo 

 them to a greenhouse, repotting as they fill their pots with mots. The 

 plants will not flower this season, therefore in winter keep them rather 

 dry, prune in spring, and repot when the fresh shoots are 2 or 3 inches 

 ilong. 



Pyrus (Cydonia) japonica Sowing (Mfm).— Prepare a pot or pin with 

 ^ood drainage, and fill it to within hall an inch of the rim with light turfy 

 loam. Scatter the seed evenly on the surface, and cover it with fine soil. 

 The pan may be placed in a gentle hotbed until the seedling's appear, and 

 should then be removed to a cold frame. When the seedlings havu two 

 or three rough leaves, plant them out in a sheltered situation in lines 

 6 inches apart, and 3 inches asunder in the rows, shading from bright 

 sun for a few days, and watering as required. 



Geeanicms and Calceolarias for Bedbing (Idcm).—Ooldcn Varie- 

 'Sjated : Mrs. Pollock, Golden Chain, Lady Cullum, Cloth of Gold, Luna, 

 and Sunray. Silver Variegated : Bijou, Brilliant, Queen of Qutiens, Lady 

 Plymouth, and May Queen. Zonal: Beaute de Suresnes (deep rose), 

 Rose Rendatler, Crimson Perfection, Blazer, Little Excellent, Waltham 

 Seedling. Sunliff>tt, Christine Nosegay, Le Grand, Excellent, Queen of 

 Nosegays, and White Perfection, Calceolarias : Aurea floribunda, Am- 

 plexicaulis. Prince of Orange, Prince of Orange (Yellow), Beauty of Mon- 

 treal, Gem, and Sparkler. 



Border Sowing with Annuals {A. C.).—As you do not wish to go to 

 ■any great expense we would sow in lines, and you will have room for 

 -twelve at 1 foot apart. Next the edge we would have — 1, Lobelia speciosa, 

 which will need to be sown in heat, and its growth encouraged, planting 

 out in May; 2, Sweet Alyaaum ; 3. Golden Feather Pyrethrura, 4, Sapo- 

 naria calabrica ; 5, Mignonette ; 6, Nasturtium. Tom Th^^mb Scarlet ; 

 7, Large-flowering Ten-week Stock, violet; 3, Tagetea si^nata pumila; 

 '9, Peril'a nankinensis ; 10, White Branching Larkspur; 11, Blue Branch- 

 ing Larkspur ; 12, Prince's Feather. 



Plant Peopagation (J. L.). — 1, Erica carnea is increased by parting 

 the tufts, though the long shoots root freely if they are detached and in 

 ■the ground, leaving about 3 inches of the growing points outside. 

 2. Winter Aconite is raiaed from seed sown as soon as ripe in any sandy 

 soil, and by ofi^sets as soon as the flowering is past. 3, Melil^tus leu- 

 cantha is raised from seed sown in sandy soil in gentle heat. You give 

 'the popular name of 2, its proper name is Eranthis hyemalis ; 3, is popu- 

 larly known a9 Melilot ; 1 is known as Early-flowering Heath. 



Planting Vines (Idem). — You will not gain anything by now planting 

 young Vines where you intend your new vinery to be. No doubt the 

 Vines would become well-eptablished as regards roots, but the canes 

 would not ripen, so that you would need to cut down and have a year's 

 growth before you could hope for fruit 



Grafting a Vine— Fumigating Peach Trees im Flower (A. B. C.)- 

 —Foster's White Seedling will succeed admirably on the Royal Mus- 

 •cadine- The only effect is in its accelerating the ripening. Fumigation 

 with tobacco will not injure the flowers of Peach or Nectarine trees, care 

 being taken to deliver the sraoke cool, and have the flowers drv. Calceo- 

 larias will flower quite as well if tbey are planted out where they are to 

 •flower, at the close of March or early in April, protection being given 

 them in frosty weather. 



Vines on the Back Wall op a Greenhouse (Poplar).— Yonr Vine 

 ought to have been pruned in December. We would now remove any 

 'loose hark, and wash it with a. solution of soft soap at the rate of 2 ozs. 

 ■to the gallon, adding enough flowers of sulphur to bring it to the con- 

 sistency of paint. You will require but a small quantity for one Vine ; 

 therefore, only use a proportionate part of the soft soap. Apply the mix- 

 ture with a brush. Bring down the cane and train it horizontally at 

 1 foot from the ground, and it will break at almost every eye ; rub ofl^ all 

 except those shoots which are, as nearly as possible, IS inches apart, and 

 -train these upright to produce shoots for fruiting onothflr year. If your 

 cane is planted in the centre of the house, train a shoot from the base for 

 covering the part for which you will not this year have a shoot, and in 

 the autumn you can train it horizontally, and shoots from it will in due 

 time come for covering the other parts of the wall. Do not prune the 

 Vine now, but as sonn as it grows rub away the eyes of the lengths not 

 wanted, and when there are leaves cut away any superfluous length. A 

 icttom heat of 7J^ is suitable for Geranium cuttings. 



Planting Golden Feather Pyrethrum ( Ignoramus). —Vot an edging 

 the plants should be 9 Inches apart. Wo have double rows and plant 

 ouincunx fashion, allowing 6 inches between the rows, but the plants are 

 9 inches apart. Keep the flowers closely picked off. 



Hyacinths in Glasses (Idi'm}.—ThQ flowering being past, your best 

 plan will be to plant them out in a sheltered situation out of doors. They 

 may recover so as to bloom in the out-door borders, whei-e they are very 

 pretty in spring. The bulbs are of no use for growing in water again. 



Annuals for Early Sowing (7'?cm).— Sweet Alyssum, Bdrtonia aurea, 

 Candytuft, crimson or purple, lilac, and white ; Clarkia pulcliella and 

 alba ; C. elegans rosea and pulcherrinia ; CoUinsia b:irtsi!i;folia, C. blcolor. 

 Erysimum Peroffskianum, EschsclioUzia californica. E. crocea, Gilia 

 tricolor, G. tricolor alba. Branching Larkspur, Loptosiphon donsiflorus 

 and its variety albus. Limnanthos Douglaaii, Lupinus nanus. Lupins 

 yellow, rose, white, and blue ; Mignonette, Nemophila insicnis, N. macu- 

 'iata ; Saponaria calabrica and its variety alba, Silene pondula and its 

 'varieties alba and ruberrima, Venus's Looking-glass, Virginian Stock red 

 and white, Viscaria oculata, and Whitlavia grandiflora. 



Orchard-house Cleaning (A Suliscrihcr). — You must not syringe the 

 ■(timber with a solution of soft soap, as it would fall ou the glass and spoil 



it. We would give the house a thorough cleaning, and leave the trees 

 alone now that the buds must be swelling. The solution of soft soap and 

 quassia chips may injure the bloom buds. The whole of the timber we 

 would wash with hot Boft-soap solution, and thoroughly clean the glass 

 with pure water. 



Re-tubbing Tree Fern (H. J/.).— Now ia the best time. In doing so 

 we would not reduce the ball, but merely loosen the sides, and transfer 

 it entire to a larger tub. Be careful to make the drainage good. 



Indifferent Horseradish {A Three-years Suhscriber).~Jnd^ng by 

 the piece you enclosed we should say your ground is poor and too heavy 

 for this root. Could you not lighten the soil by trenchint; it 2 feet deep, 

 and adding sand or ashes? We would make a fresh plantation every 

 year, and use the roots after two years' growth ; they will then be three 

 times the thickness of that enclosed, quite white, and tender. Plant 

 full-sized crowns 18 inches deep, Tliat you sent is very woody and of 

 bad colour. You do quite right in striving to please, but some cooks 

 cannot be pleased, and such as a rule receive far too much encouragement 

 from those who ought to discountenance the grumbling of one servant 

 against another. 



Amaryllis gioantea. — *' W. C." four years ago purchased a bulb of 

 Amaryllis gigantea weighing more than a pound, and it annually makes 

 plenty of growth. It is started and grown in heat, hut will not flower 

 Those having succeeded in flowering it will oblige by stating particu- 

 lars of treatment. 



Heading Plum Trees (Constant Ileader).~The leading shoot, or the 

 central one, should be cut back to within 1 foot of the base of last year's 

 growth to induce the production of shoots for covering the wall, but the 

 terminal shoots of the principal side branches should not be shortened 

 but left at their full length, unless more shoots are required for covering 

 the wall, when it may be necessary to shorten their leaders to obtain 

 shoots where aach are required. 



Orange Trees Casting their Leaves and Flowers (J. L.). — There 

 can be no two opinions as to the cause of this ; it arises from a bad state 

 of the roots, no doubt occasioned by the damp atmosphere and want o£ 

 warmth. You seem to think the roots are all right, but we question that. 

 We think the soil is too wet, and the roots not in a healthy state. Remove 

 the surface soil down to the roots, and top-dress with light, rich, turfy 

 loam, adding a third of fresh horse droppings. The drainage of the border 

 in which the pots are sunk we apprehend is not good. A top-dressing 

 of cocoa-nut refuse will serve as well as the loam, and some think better. 

 Do not overwater at the root, and maintain a temperature of 50'^ at 

 night. The Ferns can have no prejudicial effect, only the rockwork may, 

 if it coramnnioates with the border, render the latter too wet, and be in 

 effdct the evil yoa complain of. See that the drainage of the pots is good. 

 Why not make a good border and plant the trees out ? They do far better 

 than in pots or tubs. 



Lapageria alba from Seed (T. H.).—'The seeds should be sown now 

 in a compost of fibrous peat, coverinK them with fine soil, and after 

 watering gently, place the pots in a hotbed of from 70*^ to 75-. K«ep the 

 soil moiit, and when the plants appear admit air moderately, and place 

 them near the glass. Continue them in the hotbed, or transfer them to 

 another if the heat in the first declines, and when the plants are a few 

 inches high remove them to a cool stove or warm^gpeenhouse. We think 

 it best to sow the seeds singly in S-inch pot^, and transfer the plants to 

 larger when the roots show at the sides. The most suitable compost is 

 tuiify brown peat, torn in pieces with the hand and used rather rough, 

 though for young plants it should be smaller than for established plants. 

 The drainage should be extra good, as the watering must be copious; 

 indeed, it is not possible to overwater if the drainage is efficient. 



Removing Shrubs (A. G.).— You would be acting illegally in removing 

 the trees and shrubs without the consent of the landlord. In taking 

 up the shrubi be careful to preserve all the small roots you can, and if 

 you could lift them with a ball of soil all the better, but any soil falling 

 away freely should be removed, as it would be lost in transit, and increase 

 the weight without doing any corresponding good. Take up the deciduous 

 trees and fruit trees carefully, preserving all the fibres practicable. There 

 i<* no better material in which to wrap-up the roots than dry straw, the 

 roots being placed together and then covered with straw to keep them 

 from the air. The top will need to be secured carefully with bast matting 

 and string to guard against breakage. In addition to covering the roots 

 with straw, they should be wrapped in mats if they are to be transmitted 

 by rail, so as to make neat packages. You may safely move them at this 

 time of year. Could you not remove them in a cart ? You would in that 

 case save much of the trouble of packing, but it is necessary in any case 

 to cover the roots with mats, so as to protect them from the drying in- 

 fluences of sun and wind. 



Plants for the Back Wall of a Greenhouse (Ainatcur).~-'The back 

 wall of a greenhouse is not in general a good place for plants. A good 

 ysllow-flowering plant is Acacia oleifolia elegans, which has been in flower 

 with us since last September. Habrothamuus elegans has deep rose- 

 coloured flowers, and is fine. There is no scarlet-flowering plant that 

 would suit except Camellias, and Monarch, bright scarlet, large, with fine 

 foliage, would suit. The best blue is Heliotrope— Voltaireanum being 

 g«od, and Monsieur Hamaitre fine for winter-flowering. Twelve select 

 greenhouse plants are Acacia armata, Chorozema cordatum splendens, 

 Correa Brilliant, Cytisus racemosus, Nerium rubrum plenum. Pimeloa 

 spectabilis rosea, Polygala Dalmalsiana, Rhododendron jasmloiflorum, 

 Vallota purpurea, Libonia floribunda, Eriostemon linearifoUum, and 

 Eutaxia floribunda. 



Tacsonia Van-Volxemi Going off (T. H. T.).— Wo should attribute 

 the falling of the leaves to the cold, and it may be that the plant ia at 

 rest. Wb should ascertain the state of the wood, and if that is all right 

 we would prune early in March, and encourage growth by keeping rather 

 close and warm for a short time. If the wood is driod-up the plant is 

 dead, and you will have no alternative but to replant. Our plant in a 

 cool greenhouse is now growing freely, and has been growing all the 

 winter, showing flower at every joint. It is planted out in the border in 

 turfy loam with a little leaf soil. It has not had any water since October, 

 except that which drained from the pots on the stage over the border. 



Male Aucdbas (ZrfcHi)-— Both male and female plants aro produced 

 from tho berries. Plants raised from berries of one plant aro partly male 

 plants and the rest female plants. The males are of more slender growth 

 than the females, and the leaves have a tendeiicy to droop, but there ia 

 no certain mode of distinguishing the male from the female plants until 



