July 21, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTCJRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



51 



underneath the mulching and get into the soil, whilst the sur- 

 face of the mulching as a whole will remain dry. These ini- 

 nutiie may be useful where water is scarce. In a kitchen 

 garden rough mulching is all very well, but it should be done 

 neatly in a flower garden.— R. F. 



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 so doing they 

 are subjected to unjustifiable trouble and expense. All 

 communications should therefore be addressed solely to 

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

 Street, London, E.G. 



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

 week. 



Books {A Constant Reader).— Henfrey's " Rudiments of Botany." "We 

 ■cannot name plants from leaves only. 



Florist or Amateur.— Argus asks if a man who grows, advertises, and 

 sells such florist flowers as Pelargoniums, Fucbsins, and Cyclamens, 

 ° n f -l-r e t0 be classed ™ a n amateur at a local show, and allowed to 

 exhibit as such ? Yes, if he does not live chieflv on such sales. A 

 gentleman who breeds, advertises, and sells poultrv is not a dealer, but 

 an amateur. ' 



Storing Potatoes [C. A. G).— A.s von have no shed or other store 

 place, take the Potatoes up immediately the leaves begin to be pirtially 

 yellow; place tho Potatoes siogly in alternate layers with earth, and 

 cover the whole a foot deep with earth. Have the heap on the north side 

 of a wall. The tnbors will keep without sprouting for years at a tempera- 

 ture of not less than S3 3 nor more than 35 ? . 



Grubs^on Pear Leaves (J. T. I'.).— They are tho larvre of the Pear 

 baw-fly, Selandria rethiops. and called bv gardeners the slimy grub. Dust 

 the leaves thoroughly with fresh-slake'd quicklime, and syringe after a 

 •4ay or two. Repeat the process if needed. 



Seedling Pelargoniums (M. C.).— Every petal wns shed nnd the box 

 smashed. It is useless to send full-blown Pelargonium flowers, the petals 

 always fall. 



Roseries or Iron.— "A. Y. Z." wishes to know if anvono can inform 

 him who are the principal makers of roseries of light wiro material. 



Hardy Ferns {J. N. C.).— Two dozen distinct and not expensive kinds 

 are:— AspJemum adiantum nigrum, A. trichonaanes, Athyrium Filix- 

 fcemina, A. Fihx-fceraina plainosa, A. Filix-fcemina Frizellire, Blechnum 

 spicant, E. spicant multifidum, Cystopteris fragilis, Lastrea dilatata, 

 i^. Jjilix-mas, L. Filix-mas cristata, L. oreopteris, Polypodium drvopteris, 

 i. phegoptens, P. vulgaro, Polystichum angulare, P. angulavo pro'lifemm, 

 & u?r% m ' ' loncl - it; - s . P. alpestrc, Scolopendriura officinale, S. vnr. 

 multifidum, Lastrea recurva, and Allostorus crispus. " The Fern Manual " 

 will suit you. It can be had free by post from our office if you send 

 53. 4d. in stamps with your address. 



Gloxinia, Aohoiemes, and Calamus Propagation (R).-Gloxinias 

 are readily propagated from leaves or parts of a leaf, but for general pro- 

 pagation it is well to take the whole of the leaf and a part of tho leaf- 

 stalk, and insert about an inch of it in a compost of equal parts li^ht 

 ,loam, sandy peat, and silver sand. They may be put around the sides of , 

 a pot, and be placed in a house with a gentle heat, or in a hotbed where I 

 tney will form bulbs and be good plants the second year. They should 

 £>e kept moist and shided from bricht sun, and carefully watered. Iu 

 about six weeks they will be established, and should be continued in a 

 stove until autumn, when gradually withhold water, and keep drv, but 

 not oust dry, over the winter. In February pot off the small 'bulbs 

 singly, and m small pots, placing in a hotbed. Thev will give shoots 

 ana flowers next year in due course. Aehimenes are rropagated by 

 division, or properly increase of the roots, which are plentiful in most 

 cases after a year's growth, and also bv cuttings of the young growths, 

 which strike freely in a hotbed, inserted in sandy soil, as described for 

 uioxmias, and m about three weeks they will be well rooted. Outlines 

 ot Aehimenes flower well the first year, and do nearly as well as those 

 Having a start from the root. Caladiums are increased by offsets in 

 spring, they being taken off in spring when the plants are fresh potted. 

 iTloxinias and Aehimenes are cool stove plants, requiring the assistance 

 oi a hotbed to start them in the spring, and then a rather shady position, 

 but near the glass, in a stove or vinery. When flowering they do well in 

 a not-too-airy greenhouse or conservatory, being removed back after 

 nowering to a stove to ripen the growth and mature the roots. None of 

 the oiodes of propagation above named will give new varieties: that 

 must be effected by hybridising and sowing tho seed. Caladiums require 

 a warm, moist stove for their successful cultivation. 



C anna Seed Sowing (Idem).— You may now sow the seed of Canua 

 discolor fionbunda iu a hotbed, and keep the plants in a stove during the 

 winter, with the soil inclining to dryness, but it will not be necessary to 

 dry them off like established plants. They will be strong for next year. 



Turf Bare under Lime Trees {One who Likes the Turf}.— The roots 

 ot lame trees are not more injurious to turf than any others; indeed, 

 tney are not nearly so bad as Ash. The grass being bare, we have no 

 doubt, is due to the roots of the Limes making the ground poor and dry, 

 the foliage depriving the ground of considerable moisture and light. We 

 Should advise you to scratoh the surface well with an iron rake, sprinkling 

 on it some very rotten short manure or rich soil, and then sow over it 

 some grass seeds in moist weather, and of kinds that do under trees, as 

 t^oa nemorahs sempervirens and Festuca duriuscula, and some white 

 Clover. Though September is a good time to sow grass seeds, we should 

 prefer spring, as the ground will then be moist, whilst in September the 

 ground under trees is often little better than duet; but if you have 

 moisture m autumn, by all means sow then. There is no necessitvfor 

 taking up and relaying the turf every year. A few grass seeds is all that 

 is required. 



Orange Trees not Fruiting (H. D.).— Without a greenhouse it is 



difficult to grow the fruit to any sixe ; they generally fall, a3 yours have 

 done in former years, when of the size of peas. The only thing that 

 would cause them to remain and gro*v to full size is more heat; indeed, 

 to have good fruit a heated house is necessary — a warm greenhouse, ia. 

 fact, though they do very well in a vinery, yet to have tho fruit fan- 

 flavoured and juicy thev require a temperature in autumn and early 

 winter of not less than 5 >°. Fruit on trees in a cool bouse formed this 

 year will not ripen until the end of next summer or autumn. 



Lilies of the Valley (A Subscriber).— The plant3 undisturbed flower 

 every year, but they, of course, vary in different years. Sometimes the 

 flowers are more abundant one year than another, but they flower more 

 or less every year. You may secure very good pots by choosing those 

 roots with plump crowus only, and potted pretty closely together they 

 would do well in a gentle heat or in a greenhouse. 



Coleus Losing Colour (Idem).— We apprehend yours is the Coleus 

 Verschaffelti, and that is losiBg colour through being kept in a shady 

 position. Keep it iu a light position, and pot in a compost of two part3 

 fibrous loam, and one part leaf soil or old cow dung, with a free ad- 

 mixture of sharp sand, and good drainage. With that your plants will 

 recover their beautiful dark colour. 



Dalechampia Roezleana rosea Culture ( A Constant. Reader). — This 

 13 one of the most beautiful plants, and requires but little skill in cul- 

 tivation. We have it now in a vinery beautiful, with its bright rosy 

 pink bracts contrasting, as they do, well with deep green, graceful, 

 drooping Oak-like foliage. It is seldom or never out of flower, and the 

 plants bloom when a few inches high. It is readily raised from seed, 

 which ripen freely. Sown when ripe iu sandy peat and loam, and placed 

 in a hotbed, the plants soon attain to a flowering state. It requires a 

 cool Btove^ but will do well in a vinery or even a greenhouse in summer ; 

 indeed, we think it will do in a warm greenhouse in winter, but not 

 having tried it we cannot say positively. We grow it in a compost of 

 equal parts sandy peat, fibrous loam, nnd 'eif soil, with a free admixture 

 of sand, nnd afford good drainage. The potting is done in April; that 

 satisfies its wants until autumn, then we again repot, removing what soil 

 we can without interfering much with the roots, and give a moderate 

 shift, and wo have flowers all winter. In point of moisture it requires 

 the soil moist, good supplies when the soil becomes dry, and a moist 

 atmosphere. With frequent sprinklings overhead it is at home, but as 

 that interferes with the beauty of its bracts, a moist atmosphere is 

 necessary, as it is rather subject to red spider, but that yields readily to 

 a sponging with a solution of soft soap, 2 ox*, to the gallon. Being very 

 onduring of a dry atmosphere, it is ono of the most useful of plants for 

 housedtcoration. Wo cannot name plants fromleaves. Specimens with, 

 both flowers and foliage are necessary. 



Placing Camellias and Azaleas out of Doors (J. B. Boyd).— It is 

 not desirable to place out of doors Camellias and Azaleas that have their 

 bloom buds well set, and have been well hardened off; they are best con- 

 tinued under glass in a cool, airy, slightly shaded house, or one with an 

 eastern aspect will answer very well. They are better under glass, for 

 they are secured a greater uniformity of Btmosphere. Placed out-doors 

 they have to contend against tho change of atmosphere consequent on 

 removal. The weather maybe hot, dry, or its opposite — very wet, and 

 tho plants are scorched by the heat nnd dryness in the one case, and 

 excited to a renewal of growth by the other, and before they are housed 

 they have been deluged with wet it may be; anyhow, they cannot be 

 placed out-doors without dangor of a check, nor removed in-doors without 

 fear of another, hence we consider them best retained under glass. If 

 placed out-d^ors at all they should have a position shaded from tho mid- 

 day sun, and be carefully attended to with rospect to water. They 

 should be housed a,t the close of September. 



Tree Ferns [Idem). — Alsophila excelsa, Cooprri, and australis will 

 succeed in nn ordinary Peach house, but not in that from which frost is 

 not excluded in winter. All do admirably in a vinery ; better there than 

 in a Peach house. , 



Equisetum arvense Eradication (E. R. P.).— From the specimen and 

 later description you give of it we find it is the Com Horse-tail, and not 

 E. fluviatile, as we thought from the former description. It is found on 

 land of a sandy nature or light loam, the subsoil being sand or a layer of 

 that overlying a marly blue clay. The lnnd to all nppearance is dry, at 

 least its surface, from Us snndy nature, soon becomes dry after rain, but 

 upon examination at a depth of 3 or 4 feet it will be seen that the ground 

 is one spring of water; the drain fills soon from tba loose nature of the 

 sand. No land needs draining so much as this. We remember a field that 

 was so poor from the sandy soil, that it was only practical to get Rye and 

 Oat crops off it. It was one mass of Horse tail every year. The land 

 was drained, would-be savans laughing at the idea. At 3 feet there wa3 

 plenty of water, and the Equisetum roots were lower, than that. The 

 result was that the Horse-tails began to srow less every year, and were in 

 a short time reduced to a minimum. Tho land had a good dressing of 

 marl, the under strata of the same field, and it was sown with Wheat and 

 produced a capital crop— over Bixty bushels per acre. We should have 

 said that the drains were only laid 3 feet deep, and with the old horse- 

 shoe tilijs with loose, flat bottoms. Though laid on straw in some places, 

 and the tiles covered with that material or loose, small brushwood, the 

 drains soon filled with the sand, and the Fo:se-tails began to grow 

 thicker and faster. The occupier, by the way, a practical drainer all his 

 life, determined on undoing wb*t he had done, laying-in pipes down into 

 the clay— sequel, death to the Equisetum. The land gave better crops, 

 and he soon had offered him land to rent that the farmers would not 

 have. We say, therefore, Well drain the laud and the Horse-tails will dis- 

 appear. They root deeply, require moisture ; that taken off, they disappear. 

 Frequent cutting-off the tops will tend to weaken them, but we need to 

 strike at the roots. The drains should be about 21 feet apart, and deep — 

 not less than 3 feet 6 inches ; 4 feet and over if you can get an outfall. 



Endurance of Strawberry Beds— Planting (7S. B. P.). — As lately 

 stated in "Doings of tho Last Week," a Strawberry bed will bear well for 

 many years, if the plants are gone over every year, the smaller buds of 

 the plants thinned out, and the le^t left, and the plants well manured 

 between the rows. By the usual plan of p 1 anting and management, from 

 three to four years maybe considered a good time to remain. When 

 runners are used they generally produce fairly the first season after 

 planting, very abundantly the second, not quite so good the third, and 

 moderately the fourth. We seldom keep a 1 e 1 above three years, and that 

 permits rotation of cropping. Wa ar^ now digging down three-year- 



