Angust 18, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



135 



We also request that correspondents will not mix up on the 

 same sheet questions relating to Gardening and those on 

 Poultry and Bee subjects, if they expect to get them an- 

 swered promptly and conveniently, hut write them on 

 separate communications. Also never to send more than 

 two or three questions at once. 



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

 week. 



Books (B. r.).— The "Cottage Gardeners' Dictionary," which yon can 

 have free by post from our office for 75. 2<f. 



r Netting foe Fbuit Tbees (J. P.).— We are sorry we cannot assist 

 you to the address you require. 



Moreton Bay Chestnut (nbilia).— This plant has been introduced 

 to this country as well as some of the fruit. It is not yet common in 

 England, and we are not aware to what extent it has been exposed to 

 our winter climate. If it will do anywhere, the Sussex coast will be 

 as favourable as any. We do not know where the Bunya-Bunya is to be 

 procured. 



Budding Peaches (E. <?.).— Prom now till September is a good time 

 for budding. You must skilfully extract the wood from the Peach buds 

 before inserting them, and you may use the double or triple buds in- 

 discriminately. 



Grapes Mildewed (T. V.).— Your Grapes are severelv attacked by 

 mildew, the remedy for which is flowers of sulphur dusted over all the 

 parts affected. Keep the air of the house dry and well ventilated, and 

 do not allow the Vine to suffer from want of water at the roots. 



Gbapes not Ripening (A. T.).— Your Vines are overcropped, and your 

 border, though inside, does not keep the roots there ; they have evidently 

 got into a soil which is ungenial to them. It is a case which is not 

 unusual. 



Exhibiting Fruit (A Young Gardener).—!, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and either 

 Apricots or Plums according to their quality, the former the more valu- 

 able. Black and White Grapes, and Peaches and Nectarines are of 

 course, distinct varieties, and no judge could disqualify on that account. 

 On the contrary, to have both Black and White Grapes would enhance 

 the merit of a collection. 



The Almond (A. B.).— We have little donbt that the Almond is " the 

 parent of our present race of Peaches." but how or when the hard husk 

 became succulent we cannot tell ; not bv impregnation, certainly but in 

 all probability it arose from certain conditions in which the original 

 abnormal tree was placed, and then culture would probably secure and 

 develope the new form. 



Showing Eoses [Felix Gcnero).— You must show twelve trusses of 

 Roses, a truss being any number of blooms provided they are all "rown 

 on one stalk. You must not tie several blooms together, or you will be 

 disqualified, or ought to be. 



Cineeaeias Diseased [Old Subscriber).— Your Cinerarias appear to be 

 suffering from mildew. Dust them with flowers of sulphur, and give 

 more air. 



Heating a Small Foecing House (W. S.).— The proposed plan will 

 answer if yonr flue is strong and covered with strong tiles or fla»s. We 

 would make the first half of the fine in the chamber at least briok-°on-bed 

 It will not heat so soon, but it will retain heat. You will also need some 

 means for ensuring a moist atmosphere. One ventilator over the door- 

 way will not do. You will want three or four at the apex of the roof 

 however small the openings in winter. The aspect will also be against 

 you unless you make your short hip longer, but for Cucumbers it may do. 



Teansplanting Mulbeeey Tbees (E. M. M.).—We would recommend 

 you to transplant your Mulberries immediately after the fall of the leaves 

 or when they are being shed. As the roots from the stumps may not be 

 very vigorous this season, and tender, try one only, and leave one for 

 next year. 



Stbawbebbies (E. Jones).— We recommend Dr. Hogg as a first-class 

 variety, of vigorous constitution, large size, and of most excellent quality. 



Plum Leaves Injured— Maeie Louise Peab (An Amateur).— Wo be- 

 lieve the leaves of your Plums to be in great part destroyed by some 

 insect, the tissues seeming to be eaten up. Give them a syringing with 

 a decoction of quassia chips, or soft soap and tobacco water. The'Marie 

 Louise Pear will not grow if grafted on the Quince. It must be double- 

 worked on that stock— i.e., some other variety grafted on the Quince first • 

 for instance, Beurre d'Amanlis, and the Marie Louise worked on that. 



Hoya cabnosa Seed Sowing (A Foreigner).— It is not uncommon for 

 the plant to seed in this country, thoush it is rather unusual for it to do 

 so in a greenhouse. The seed should be sown in a sandy peat soil in a 

 pot well drained, the soil being mixed with rather small crocks and silver 

 sand, so as to keep it open. Care should be taaen to just cover the seed 

 with fine soil. Water gently, and place the pot in a bottom heat of about 

 75°. Keep the soil moist, bnt not very wet, otherwise the seeds will 

 perish. Continue in the hotbed until the plants are potted-off and 

 established in small pots, then remove them to a stove or warm green- 

 house. The seedlings you allude to are kept for exchange and for dis- 

 tribution to other botanical gardens. 



Conservatory Plants Infested with Red Spider (T. S. T)— As 

 yon cannot use snlphnr on the hot-water pipes, we would advise'you'to 

 employ one of the insect-destroying compounds you will see advertised 

 m our columns, or yon may dip or syringe the plants in a solution of 

 2 ozs. of soft soap in a gallon of water ; but it must only be applied to 

 plants with smooth, not hairy, leaves. A few good svringings with clear 

 water are as good as anything for the prevention and destruction of red 

 spider. It is not often that Ferns are attacked by red spider, thrips are 

 their great enemy. Fumigation with tobacco is the remedy. 



Various {Idem).— The espalier Cherry and Pear trees which have not 

 shown a leaf this season we fear are beyond recovery. Those which are 

 weak, and have made but little wood, we would manure well or mulch 

 with manure as far as the roots extend, and in spring point it in, not 

 going so deep, however, as to injure the roots. No time should be lost in 

 sowing Calceolaria and Primula seed to produce plants for flowerin» 

 next spring. We sow Primulas in spring for autumn and winter bloom" 



and in July or August for spring flowering. Calceolaria seed we think 

 best sown in July. Pampas Grass after flowering may have the dead 

 flower-3talks cnt away, but the grass should all be left, as it serves to 

 protect the plant. It should not be removed until the plants begin to 

 grow again, or in April. The " Portable Orchard " appeared in Nos. 411, 

 412, 413, 414, 416, 417, 418, 421, 423, 425, 426, and 428. 



SUBPLU3 Fbuit (Constant Reader).— Apply to Mrs. Webber & Co., 

 Central Avenue, Coveut Garden Market, London, W.C. 



Apbicots (Hortus Apricot). — Yonr trees are starved. They are either 

 very old or in very poor soil. Manure them well in the autumn by taking 

 away the soil in which they are now growing, and filling up the space 

 with a mixture of good loam, lime rubbish, and well-rotted manure. 



Ants (Heron). — Mix treacle with arsenic, and spread it thinly on pieces 

 of glass or tiles which lie near their haunts. This will soon rid you of 

 these pests. You had better allow yonr Potatoes to remain in the ground 

 and give the new crop a chance of ripening. You will be no worse off in 

 the end than you are now, and there is no remedy for your present 

 difficulty. 



Name of Insect (G. Egerton).—Yoar caterpillar is that of Sphinx 

 Ligustri. i 



Names of Fbuits (A Reader for Profit)-— 1, Royale Hative ; 2, Standard 

 of England; 3, Fotheringham. (C. Winn). — We cannot determine the 

 name of your Apple. 



POULTRY, BEE, AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. 



POULTRY FEEDING IN FRANCE. 

 We have spoken previously of the large supply and excellent 

 quality of French poultry, in order to show how valuable an 

 article of food it supplies to our neighbours. We are now 

 enabled to relate, from an official report, in what manner, at 

 what cost, and with what profit poultry is fattened in France. 



M. Martin, who resides near the town of Cusset, is the in- 

 ventor of a peculiar method of management of poultry, and 

 has attracted so much attention to his system, that the Agri- 

 cultural Society of AUier appointed a commission to visit and 

 report upon his establishment. 



The feeding-house is a large rotunda, situated in the midst 

 of a park of ten acres in extent, and on the Bummit of a tolerably 

 elevated hill. In it are thrpe octagonal stands which turn on 

 a vertical axis ; each side of the stand has five perches, and 

 each perch receives five birds, or two hundred in all. The 

 fowls are divided off from each other by means of small slabs 

 of wood placed vertically on the perch, and are secured to the 

 latter by means of strips of hide around the feet, leaving their 

 heads and wings at full liberty. The feeding is effected in the 

 following manner: — The operator has a small seat, which he 

 can shift upwards and downwards in order to reach the various 

 cages ; he takes the head of the fowl opposite to him in his left 

 hand, and with his right places in its gullet a small tin nozzle 

 which is attached to a flexible tube communicating with a 

 reservoir containing the food, eo that a touch of the foot on 

 a treadle projects the desired quantity into the fowl's stomach. 

 A graduated dial, with a hand in connection with a piston, 

 serves to regulate the amount of food according to the age and 

 kind of bird, and the degree to which it has been fattened. 

 The feeding is performed with great rapidity, an hour being 

 sufficient for two hundred birds, or one frame, and the fowls 

 seem to enjoy it, looking sharply after any stray drops of food 

 that may have fallen within their reach. This food consists of 

 barley and maize meal mixed with lard, and reduced with milk 

 to almost a liquid state. The fowls are kept scrupulously 

 clean, the droppings falling on sloping boards behind the 

 perches, and thence towards the centre ; every morning cnt 

 straw is thrown upon it, and the whole is swept into a hole 

 near the centre, where it is received in an iron barrow running 

 in a channel beneath the frame. When the fowls are ready for 

 market, they are placed in a dark but well-ventilated apart- 

 ment, and left without food for twenty-four hours ; they are 

 then suspended by the feet, a cloth is passed round them to 

 prevent movement, and a small instrument is introduced into 

 the throat so adroitly that they are killed instantaneously. They 

 are then plucked, washed, drawn, wrapped up in wet cloths to 

 cause them to cool rapidly, and placed on stages that the blood 

 may escape freely. From thirty to forty are sent to market 

 daily. 



The reports speak highly of all the arrangements made by 

 M. Martin, which are the results of many trials, and especially 

 those for the radical destruction of the mites which infest all 

 fowl-houses. M. Martin patented his system in 1867. The 

 fowls fattened under this system have obtained for M. Martin 

 several medals, and the Commission is of opinion that they are 

 amongst the finest sent to market. As regards the economy of 



