190 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 8, 1870. 



out this attention, huge plants in September and October may 

 be less productive of fruit in March and April than plants of 

 half their size but thoroughly matured. 



Have our readers noticed that though last year Beech mast 

 was abundant, there is very little to be found this season ? On 

 the other hand we never witnessed such crops of acorns, hips, 

 haws, horse chestnuts, &a. These are generally regarded as 

 the signs of a severe winter. We do not contemplate any 

 scarcity of food, but we fear in many country districts there 

 will be a great scarcity of the means of procuring it, owing to 

 the scarcity of employment, &c, the ensuing winter, partly 

 owing to the shortness of straw, and cbiefly to the general 

 failure of the Turnip crop, as good fields are too much the ex- 

 ception. Food, though cheap, may be very Bcaree if there be 

 little or no wages forthcoming to purchase it. If in such a 

 season some of our chemical coadjutors could hit on a simple 

 plan for removing the astriugency from chestnuts and acorns, 

 they would confer a public advantage. Fowls, pheasants, pigs, 

 deer, &c thrive well on acorns, notwithstanding the astrin- 

 gency. People in time may become used to anything. The 

 other day we saw a man with a branch of Sloes well loaded 

 with fruit, and he was eating them with as great avidity as 

 most of our readers would have partaken of the finest Goose- 

 berries. 



ORNAMENTAL DEPARTMENT. 



We have had several sharp hoar frosts in the last week of 

 August, much earlier than we have been in the habit of wit- 

 nessing. Owing to comparative dryness these did little harm. 

 After a heavy shower in the evening of the 2nd inst. the sky 

 became very bright, and the frost early in the morning told 

 more owing to the flowering plants in beds being wet. A second 

 time our Coleus beds were browned a little, but not so much 

 as they were by the one day of excessive heat. A number of 

 leaves of Perilla were also slightly browned, and a few flowers 

 of gorgeous masses of different-coloured Geraniums had their 

 petals a little bleached. Broad-petalled blooms, as Rubens and 

 Donald Beaton, suffered more than the smaller-petalled Nose- 



ffs. What struck us as a little singular is, that the lighter 

 wers, as Rubens, suffered more than dark ones of the Tom 

 Thumb and Punch varieties. Towards the afternoon the traces 

 of the bleaching by frost were nearly gone. Five lines of 

 Iresine Herbstii were not in the least touched. We have as 

 yet no break in the general gorgeousness, with the exception of 

 some beds of Verbenas, that all at once almost entirely stopped 

 blooming owing to the dryness. We hope they will come on 

 again after the showers, as they form part of a group where 

 their colour is required to make the composition complete. 

 Similar beds rather disappointed U3 in the autumn last year. 

 If we had the prospect of a like scarcity of water we should 

 be inclined to do without Verbenas in beds forming part of a 

 group. The mulching did not save them from the drought, as 

 we believe it saved the moisture -loving Calceolaiias. No such 

 precautions need be considered by those who can apply water 

 as needed. 



Picking faded flowers and petals from beds is a matter of 

 great importance, especially in showery autumns. Wishing to 

 have everything neat, this work has taken up much time. It 

 is not only that these faded blooms look badly when dry, and 

 most wretched when wet, but every shower, if at all continuous, 

 is apt to send the dirty colour of the exhausted flowers over the 

 blooms and leaves that are still perfect, thus greatly disfigur- 

 ing them. Our beds have needed little picking this year, the 

 blooms having stood so well, and the showers having been so 

 gentle as not to disturb them. A number of the oldest required 

 removing so as to give room to the younger and fresher blooms. 

 A correspondent has told us that in his, and some neighbour- 

 ing places, the foliage of the varieties of Scarlet Geraniums, 

 kept getting yellow and dying off. We have had nothing of the 

 ort here as yet, with all the dryness and scarcity of water. We 

 never saw the foliage better, and we like to see good growth as 

 well as plenty of bloom. 



Took the opportunity of the showers to well roll the walk3 and 

 lawns. This will help to keep them smooth and firm for the 

 season. When a lawn is well rolled, it is comparatively easy 

 to keep it neat, either with the machine or scythe. We lately 

 saw a young lady working a 12 -inch machine, and she did it 

 with as much gracefulness as if she were handling a croquet 

 mallet. 



Proceeded with potting Cinerarias, Primulas, Geraniums, 

 Ferns, and stove plants ; with re-arranging corridors, the con- 

 servatory, &e. ; and with propagating for next summer, as 

 lately more fully detailed. 



Comparing Notes. — There has been great diversity of opinion 

 expressed as to the Golden Feverfew. We have been both dis- 

 appointed and delighted with it. We believe the secret of 

 being delighted consists chiefly in using young seedlings in- 

 stead of cuttings or older plants left or divided. We have used 

 it round Coleus, and as the plants were from cuttings and old 

 plants divided, they have disappointed us, as they have not 

 grown so strODgly and regularly as we wished. We have edged a 

 group of six beds round a centre, which was edged with white- 

 leaved Cineraria. The six beds are in pairs, though crossed 

 alike, and these, though the season has been dry, form a fine 

 edging about 7 inches wide, of a rich soft greenish yellow. The 

 plants were raised from seed sown in March under glass, pricked 

 out first, and then planted out when small. We may have to 

 take cuttings, but in our opinion they are not to be compared 

 to seedlings for regular vigorous growth. These six beds have 

 each inside of the Feverfew a blue ring of a dwarf blue Lobelia. 

 One pair of beds particularly pleases us by their soft beauty. 

 These are edged and ringed as stated, then the beds are filled 

 with Mangles's Variegated Geranium, and that is again mixed 

 with the light blue free-growing Lobelia gracilis. This small 

 blue mingling with small pink flowers, and carpeted with the 

 variegated leaves, and edged as stated, is to our eye very beau- 

 tiful. The soft greenish yellow edging made all complete. — 

 R. F. 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



James Carter & Co., 237 and 238, High Holborn, London, W.C.— 

 List of Dutch Bulbs, Fruit Trees, Roses, &c.,for 1870. 



B. S. Williams, Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Upper Holloway, 

 London. N. — General Bulb Catalogue. Catalogue of Fruit Trees, 

 Roses, &c. 



Hooper & Co., Central Avenue, Covent Garden Market, London, 

 W.C. — Genera' Catalogue for 1S70, containing Descriptive Lists of 

 Dutch BuIIjs, d-c. 



Robert Parker. Exotic Nursery, Tooting, Snrrey. — Catalogue of 

 Hyacinths and other Bulbous Roots. 



Wood & Co., S, St. Nicholas Street, Worcester.— Catalogue of 

 Dutch Flomermg Bulbs. 



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 solely to 



The Editors of the Journal of Horticultme, &c, 171, Fleet 



Street, London, E.C. 



Drying Flowers (Miss Ashton).— But few flowers retain their Ml 



colour when dried. To retain it as far as possible place them between 



folds of blotting pnper, press very gently, and change the blotting paper 



for fresh every morning and evening. 



White Excrescence on Behch Tree [Stafford).— It is a parasitic 

 fungus, and all such parasites are injurious in some degree. Scrape it 

 off, and paint the trunk and branches with a mixture of clay and sulphur 

 iu water. 



Fountain (A. Robinson).— That figured was executed in America, bat 

 many of our English founders could supply one similar. 



Ailanthcs glandulosa (F. D.).—So far from being rare it is one of 

 the commonest of trees. Seedlings two years old may be bought by the 

 hundred at about l£d. a-piece, and plants from 1 to 2 feet high for about 

 4s. per dozen. We answered your question last week. 



Stove-heating a Shall Greenhouse (H. A.).— An iron stove 12 to 

 14 inches square would be ample to suit your purpose. So many makers 

 advertise stoves lined with fire-brick, that we cannot with impartiality 

 recommend one. If there is any difficulty in your neighbourhood, buy a 

 stove 1 foot square, and a fire-box 8 inches square to stand in the middle. 

 (H S ) — Sothin" will be so good for your little honse as a small iron 

 stove with the pire through the roof. If you can use gas, a small gas 

 stove either of iron or terra cotta would do, a small gas-pipe from the 

 top into the open air being provided. 



Removing Pine-Apple Suckers {A Constant Header).— The true Ripley 

 Queen Pine Apple has a broad pip. A number of suckers will take 

 strength from the fruit. W,i would have removed a number of yours 

 earlier. If the fruit is swelling it would do as much harm as good to 

 remove the suckers now. When the fruit is cut we would earth them up 

 and take four fruit from a stool. 



Roses on the Manetti Stock (Seybor).— Manetti stocks are pro- 

 pagated from cuttings about 10 inches long, of firm wood, leaving a couple 

 of leaves. The cuttings should be inserted in the earth now. Ihey 

 should bo planted about 5 inches deep, and be trodden in firmly. The dis- 

 tances at the Dorset Nurseries. Blandfoi-a, are 6 inches from plant to 

 plant and 18 inches or 2 feet from row to row. It is not too late to bud 

 Roses on the Manetti stock. If the slice will peel, and the stock run, yon 

 will succeed. Do not bud on the wood of this year, but on the mam 

 stock. Bud as low as you can. Scrape away the earth, as the covered 

 bark of the stock will often run, wben the exposed part will not do so. 

 Now with regard to the 18J feet of sloping bank 6 feot in width, witn a 

 15-inch wall, I should plant against the wall those noble yellow Roses on 



