358 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ May i8, 1871. 



affected with thrips may soon spread the evil, and cause much 

 trouble. From a email Azalea plant thrips once spread to 

 Vines, and it took ns the greater part of two years to get rid of 

 it. Though we had not seen a mealy bug for a quarter of a 

 century, we got that on some Vines by merely placing a newly- 

 brought-home softwooded stove plant among them. It is well 

 to smoke Azaleas if there is the leapt sign of thrips, but in a 

 bouse by thempelvep, warm water and a close atmosphere soon 

 put an end to the insect. — E. F. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*it* "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 

 commumcations should therefore be addressed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, ttc, 171, Fleet 

 Street, London, E.G. 



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



Books (A Half-pay Sea Dog).~" The Cottage Gardeners' Dictionary" 

 and "Smith's Introdnction to Botany," edited by Macgillivray, will 

 ■qualify you to be a garden admiral. 



Indian and Amrricam Seedsmen {Glasgow). — We do not know where 

 you could obtain lists of them. 



Seedling Pansies (W. Gain).— The dark purple selfs are very fine 

 The others are like many already in our borders. 



Medicated Tobacco Paper (H. T.J. —We have several similar letters 

 testifying to the superiority of other preparations, and ara obliged to 

 ■decline inserting any of them. 



Culture of Plants ( Monmouth). —TheTe is not one of the names yoa 

 mention known as applied to plants. 



"Who is a Cottager?" (J Leech.).~Vfa might reply as lucidly as 

 Tvas once replied by a contemporary to the query, "Who is a lodger?" 

 "" One who lodges." So a cottager is *' one who lives in a cottage." Your 

 eighth rule ought to prevent any doubt. " Any cottager at a rental of less 

 than £10 a-year (for house and carden). not being either a market or 

 jobbing gardeaer, will be allowed to exhibit in the cottagers' class with- 

 out an entrance fee." A market gardener is one who lives by s'-Uinggardsn 

 produce, and a jobbing gardener is one who lives by being hired by the 

 ^3ay or othpr short time to cultivate the gardens of various people ; conse- 

 quently, anv one else living in a house for which and its garden he pays 

 less than £10 a-year comes within your rule. 



STeppiNft Fruit Trees (A Netc Subscriber). — The spurs are those short 

 •stubby shoots that have clusters of leaves at their pointi in the case of 

 Pear trees, and much closer together in the case of Plums On the old 

 stumps there will be spurs as well as growing shoots ; the latter are to be 

 -stopped. In thinning Apric its you should calculate the whole extent of 

 surface covered, and allow the tree to carry a crop proportionate to the 

 whole. There is no reason why they should be more closely together in 

 ■one part than another. Thinning should commence at once, going ovei 

 them two or three tiraea, thinning partially each time. Thinning may 

 "take place at intervals of three weeks. 



Harbsfoot Fern not Thriving (Kate). — You do not inform ua whether 

 "the plant is in a pot or not, but we surmise that it is in a greenhouse. If 

 so, pot it now, removing all the old soil that can be readily taken away 

 without injury to the roots, and place it in a pot sufficiently large to hold 

 the rhizomes, using a compoat of two parts sandy peat, one part light 

 'fibrous loam, and one part sandstone, in pieces from the siz-^ of a pea to 

 ■that of a hazel nut. Good drainage is necessary. Place it in a rather 

 shady position, keep the soil moist enough, and sprinkle it overhead 

 occasionally, particularly in the evening. 



Grapes on Vine the First Yeah (J. R. G.). — You may, if the Vine 

 IB strong, allow two bunches to remain this year, but if it is weak do not 

 leave any. The Vine will not be injured by carrying a couple of bunches, 

 ^)ut all depends on its health and vigour. 



Vine Leaves Spotted (E. J.). — The keeping of the bedding plants 

 Tias nothing to do with the sad appearance of the Vine leaves, though the 

 damp in the house might. The leaves are both burned and scalded, and 

 ■we presume from the same cause, the neglect of early air-giving. As 

 you kept the bedding plants there all the winter, you must have some 

 mode of heating. Give a little more heat at night, leave half an inch 

 of air along the top of your house, and give more air early in the morn- 

 "ing, so as to get rid of all confined hot vapour before the buu becomes 

 ^owerfal. It is the early air, and not tbe quantity, on which you must 

 depend ; opening a door, or pulling down a sash freely whtn the house 

 "was st'.aming with hot vapour, would only incr-ease the evil. All suddea 

 •changes mu'^t be avoided. Some amateurs tbat we know, who liked their 

 beds too well in the morning to be fir-t-rfite gardeners, saved, at length, 

 Ttheir Vines and other pet plants from scilding by simply leaving a little 

 air on at the highest point of the roof all night. 



Some Vine Buds Breaking too Early (A Subscriber).~ln such a 

 ■case, if we wished the bulk of the latent buds on the Vines to start fairly, 

 ■we would have rubbed off the few tbat started prematurely in Novpmber. 

 as these, if allowed to take the lead, would mc-t likely prevent tbe rest 

 istarting at all. Of course, we do not know what caused the Vines to start 

 a few buds thus unexpectedly, and circumstances would greatly regulate 

 onr decision. 



Vine Leaves Small (D M. BlacA-man).—'We should say that under 

 ■the circumstances the Vine is naturally weak find unhealthy. Such things 

 will happen, and they are just as inexplicable as the f;ict that of children 

 of the same parents, some are sickly and puny, and otheis healthy and 

 robust. The puny child must be nurtured, if possible, into robustness, 

 ■but when a plant defies the efforts of years, it is generally best to get rid 

 of it and try another. 



Oyster Shells for Vine Soil (J. M.). — Oyster shells are very well ; 

 partly burned they help to keep tbe ground open, and so they do in their 



natural state. On the whole we should prefer to them old brick and 

 mortar rubbish. We should not object to use them, but we think they 

 have been too mxich lauded. 



Greenhouse and Vinery CoarMUNiCATiSG (W. Eoberts). — As your 

 ground suits, you can hardly better your arrangement, only that your 

 s^pAU-roofed greenhouse in front will shade your vinery a little, hut not 

 so much, as the span-roof will be all glass. The position of your boiler is 

 good, and we certainly would divide the vinery into two, and heat each 

 sii'parately. A flow and return carried across the vinery at the division 

 will enable you by means of a throttle valve to let heat in, or keep it off 

 the greenhouse at pleasure. The late and early vinery will answer well, 

 though with the same incline of roof. An angle of 45° will do well for 

 both where there is little or no front glass, but where there is front glass 

 of 3 or 4 or more fe=t, the roof glass may be much flitter. The position 

 of your boiler could not be improved. 



Auriculas, Polyanthuses, and Chrysanthemums (Sunny). — Every 

 particular you ask for, and much more, is in " Florists' Flowers," which 

 you can have from our office if you enclose five postage stamps with your 

 address. The details are too long for publication in onr correspondence 

 columns. 



Madame Vaucheb Pelabgonium Weak (TT. F.).— The weak flowering 

 is no doubt due to want of support. Young plants, as a rule, produce 

 larger flowers than old plants, but are not so free in flowering. Repot 

 them, and give a compost of turfy loam two parts, one part leaf soil or 

 old manure, and one-sixth of sharp sand. When the plants have taken 

 freely to the fre?h soil, as you may know by the growth, water alternately 

 with weak liquid manure, give plenty of air, and affjrd abundance of 

 light. 



Plants not Flowering (F. a.).—Philesia buxi/olia requires to be kept 

 moist, and when growing very moist. It should have a cool house, with 

 plenty of air and light. A compost of equal parts of psat and loam suits 

 it. In sheltered positions it is hardy. The plants require to be strong 

 before they flower, and starving a plant to flower we do not commend ; 

 but determine the potting by the state of the roots, keeping the plants 

 under rather than over-potted. Fuchtia spectabilis will now be growing 

 freely, and should be shaken out of the pot and repotted, putting the 

 plants into a size just sufficient to contain the roots comfortably; keep 

 them rather close and shaded for a few days, and than afford a light 

 airy position, shifting them into a larger pnt by the middle of June. It 

 ougbt to flower at tbe end of summer. Fuchsia macrantha should be 

 kept at rest up to Jnly, and then be repotted ; only we should cut it back 

 and not pot until the new shoots are a few inches long, repot it in Sep- 

 tember, and keep it growing during the winter in a temperature of 45**. 

 Dtsfontainia spinosa requires a cool house, and a compost of two parts 

 loam aud one part past, with good drainage, and to be kept moist when 

 growing. The potting should only be moderate. It flowera freely with us 

 in a caol hou3e. Bignonia jatminoides spiend^ns requires to be planted oat 

 in a greenhouse or conservatory border, and with patience — for it takes 

 sometime to CBtabliab itself— it ia very ornamental. It does little good 

 as a pot plant. PeaoJiia corcllina, wa presume you have planted out in 

 the garden in a compost of sandy loam. The situation should be open, 

 and it should have a top-dresting of decayed leaves in autumn. We do 

 not know that it requires any particular treatment to induce flowering. 

 Rhododendron Nuttalli requires a cold house, should be well supplied 

 with water, and must have every encouragement to make vigorous growth ; 

 then keep it airy anii cool — indeed, it can never have too much air. The 

 potting should be moderate. 



Apple-tree Leaves Withering {A Comtant B«ad«r).— The leaves of 

 the Apple appear to have been wetted with some compound, which may 

 have been too strong, and so have deatroved the tissuea, otherwifie -we 

 are unable to account for their falling. We thiak the insect enclosed is 

 the caterpillar of the small Ermine Apple math (Yponomeuta malivorella), 

 which de,voura the leaves in spring and early summer. The only remedy 

 is to destroy the caterpillars, which yiu may do by hand-picking. Yoa 

 will fiad them in the folded leaves, and at night you may take them feed- 

 ing, examining the trees with a lantern. A solution of 2 ozs. ofeoft soap 

 to the gallon of water will also destroy them, the foliage being made quite 

 wet with the solution. 



Utilising Bones {E. B).— Employing in the garden the bones from the 

 house is a good idea. If this were done at every establishment, and their 

 application to the kitchen garden were jadicioas, finer vegetables would 

 follow. Tbe bones would be best made into superphosphate, for which pur- 

 pose they sh ^nld be broken or bruised with a hammer on a hard substance 

 BO as to make them lie close together, and they cannot be made too small. 

 For disaolving the bones you will need sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol), and 

 of that not more than half nor less than one-third the weight of the 

 bones, or for five stones of bones three of vitriol. The bones must first 

 be sprinkled with water equal to one-half the weight of the acid to be 

 used, and pour over them the sulphuric acid. When dissolved, which 

 will depend on the quantity of sulphuric acid used, they may be mixed 

 with fine a'hes. which we consider the best mode of application to kitchen- 

 garden ground. The superphosphate may be applied to every d-scription 

 of vegetable crop. Eigbt bushels of dissolved bones with the acid in 

 proportion are a sufficient dressing for an acre of ground. Mixed with 

 ashes or soil, this riiinare should be spread on the surface previous to 

 sowing or planting, just pointing the ground over with a fork after the 

 application, and so as to mix it *vith the soil. Tbe dissolved bones may 

 also be diluted with fifty times the weight of the acid employed, calcu- 

 lating a gallon of water to weigh 10 lbs. This liquid may be poured be- 

 tween the rows of all vegetable crops, especia'ly Peas, Cauliflowers, all 

 the Cabbage tribe, Strawberries, Asparagus, &o. 



Melons in Pots {G. C.).— You can grow Melons in pots successfully in 

 the pit house you specify. A good size is from 15 to 18 inches, though 

 we have had good fruit from a 1'2-inch pot. Sweet loam, rather stiff than 

 pandy, will answer best, and use little manure, and tbat sweet and rotten. 

 We would rather depend on manure waterings when the fruit is set. In 

 addition to the white-foliaged plants you name. Cineraria marit ma is 

 good either from cuttings or the second year from seeds. Arabis albida 

 vriegata is also eood as a low plant. Stachy.>^ lanata and Gnaphaliuni 

 margaritaceum are good as rough hardy plants. One of the sweetest 

 variegated plants — white, yellowish, and ureeu— is Polomonium cteruleum 

 variegatum. The leaves are light aud feithtry, and stand long when cut 

 if placed in water. 

 Blight on Currant Trees (5. F.),— We have been making inqalries 



