September 8, 1870. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



191 



short stocks, so as to utilise the wall— namely, Gloire de Dijon, Marshal 

 Niel, Crime Forestier, Triomphe de Rennes, Solfaterre, and Lamarqne. 

 1 should allow each Rose ample room to ramble in single file, espalier 

 fashion— that is, a single branch on each side of the stock. As you have 

 some good Briar Roses, I should use them, by planting them at the top of 

 the slope 6 feet apart, and the Manetti-stocked Roses 3 feet apart each 

 way, planting the strongest growers nest in rank to the standards, and 

 the dwarfer plants lowest. I do not understand whether the wall is at 



Jk rp P the slope or at tlie Dottom ' Dut in an y c ^se I should use it for 

 tne ren-scented yellow Noisettes, which are, for beauty and perform- 

 ances, the best in the Rose kingdom. My garden now groans with these 

 one yellow Roses. Lamarque and solfaterre are not here, I regret to say. 

 As to the description of Roses, there can be no question that Hybrid 

 ferpetuals, with Baron Gonella, Marguerite Bonnet, and Souvenir de Mal- 

 maison. Bourbons, and beautiful Mrs. Bosanquet, China, are the best to 

 have. In my opinion, Teas, Tea-scented yellow Noisettes, and Hybrid 

 ^ er P e * ualB j ar e the Roses to have. If you wish variegated Ro3es, you 

 must have summer Roses— namely, CEillet Parfait, Tricolore de Flandre, 

 Madeline, called also Emmeline, and Double-margined Hip. They are 

 all beautiful. The first is tender, but the best ; and the other two are 

 vigorous and hardy.— W. F. Radclyffe. 



EraNTNG Sulphur to Destroy Red Spider (E. H.).—If you had con- 

 sulted the repeated statements made in our pages you would never have 

 burned sulphur in your viDery to get rid of red spider or anything else, 

 -burning sulphur in a confined place is likely to kill everything that is 

 green. It makes little or noimpression on well-ripened hard wood of deci- 

 duous trees when the leaves are gone ; but even if the leaves are fallon 

 it will mjure wood that is net well ripened. Sulphur fumes, so distaste- 

 tul to red spider and other insects, cannot be safely liberated at a tempe- 

 rature bjgber than from 160° to 170° among growing plants. We are 

 not surprised that the foliage and Grapes have suffered. If, as you say, 

 tne wood was ripening at the base, wo should not be so much afraid of 

 nest year s crop, more especially if you encourage some offset shoots 

 with young leaves on them, to maintain the root-action, reducing first 

 and then removing them in the autumn. This will help to remedy the 

 great error. J 



n I K ItJ 2 I LANCIF0Lr ^M RtiBBtni atter Flowering (R. H. F.).— Let the 

 sou be kept moist, but by no means give so much water as when the 

 plants are growing and flowering, and when the stalks decay turn the 

 plants out of the pots and remove the old loose soil, but no more than 

 can be done without injury to the roots; remove the small offsets and 

 repot, using a compost of two parts turfy loam, one part peat, and one 

 part of old cow dung or leaf soil, with a free admisture of sand. Drain 

 tne pots,_and pot low enough to afford room for a top-drepsing of rich 

 compost m spring. If the crowns of the bulbs are just covered with soil 

 at the potting that is sufficient. Set the pots in a cool house, and keep 

 i so * 1 1 moderftt ely moist. They will winter safely in a cold pit or 

 orcnard house, the pots being plunged eo as to protect the roots from frost. 



Selecting Vegetables and Fruit for Exhibition [Taffy).— Ot the 

 Vegetables you mention— viz., Potatoes, Peas, Runner Beaus, Celery, 

 Unions, Cauliflower, Carrots, Turnips, Maize, and Globe Artichokes, we 

 should select the first eight as being the most useful, and to such the 

 prize should be given rather than to novelty, the specimens being well 

 cultivated. Peaches, Pears, Plums, Apples, and Melons would, we con- 

 s ! aer ^ e a better collection of five fruits (Pines and Grapes being ex- 

 cluded), than your showing Nectarines in place of the Plums; but you 

 must look closely to the wording of the schedule, for we think the prize 

 will be offered for five out-door fruit, and in that case vou must exclude 

 the i Melon, and show Nectarines instead. Show a Melon if you can 

 without infringing the rules. 



Spirjea japonica and S. palmata Treatment (Glasscutter).— The 

 best way to grow them is to plant them out in an open situation, and in 

 a soil well drained and enriched with cow dnng or leaf soil. If the 

 situation be shaded from the direct midday sun all the better. Water 

 freely when growing and flowering. The Meadow Sweets delight in a 

 moist soil. If you wish to grow the plants in pots, plunge them now in 

 a situation such as we have described, and let them remain until Novem- 

 ber, when you may place them on a shelf in a light airy greenhouse. The 

 plants will flower early in spring, and are among the finest of forced 

 plants. After flowering continue them under glass for a time, and then 

 P la iit them out in the open ground. In autumn take them up, pot them, 

 and place them in a cold frame until required for forcing, or in the green- 



-li 8 *? wliere toe y wil1 come on more slowly than; in a forcing house, but 

 will flower as well if not better. They are hardy herbaceous plants and 

 °? i V° b - e m ever 5 r g ai "den. If left in the open ground give a mulching 

 of leaf soil to the plants every autumn, when the foliage decays, and 

 before severe weather sets in. 



yiNERT Building over a Vine (Inquirer).— We have no doubt that 

 raising a light house against your warm Tine wall would be of great 

 service, even though you put it up in March and remove it in October 

 + y °? l? e n ° artincial neat tne Vine would not suffer in winter, for you 

 protect the roots. All moveable houses are expensive — that is, if made 

 in sashes, and not merely glazed in grooves to be easily removed. The 

 cheapest houses are fixtures, with large squares and strong sash bars 

 instead of rafters. In such a case, without any fire in winter, there is 

 little danger of glass breaking if not glazed too tightly, and such a cold 

 house is useful for many things in winter. 



Superior Heliotropes [Hatfield).— For "prettiness of flower, com- 

 pactness of habit, and constitution," Beauty of the Boudoir; but if you 

 want one for winter-flowering, Monsieur Hamaitre is excellent. 



Taking up Gladiolus Bulbs and Potting (Idem).— There is no doubt 

 that many of the evils which beset this splendid flower are due to the 

 drying the bulbs during the season of rest. We do not think it wise to 

 take up the bulbs, dry them to the extent they frequently are, and then 

 plant in wet soil. We like your plan best— namely, taking up the bulbs 

 soon after ripening, potting them, plunging and covering them in ashes, 

 and then setting them on shelves in a cold house. There is bnt one 

 objection, and that is, unless you can ward off heavy rains the soil is 

 rendered too wet to be of benefit to the plants, but that can he guarded 

 against by a waterproof covering during wet weather. The situation 

 selected for plunging should be dry and well drained. With us the Gla- 

 diolus grows and blooms finely in the shrubbery borders, and with no 

 more care than the shrubs and other plants, weeds being kept down, and 

 the surface occasionally stirred. It is not nearly so tender as many 

 suppose. 



Heating a Pit (E. W. F.).— Sometime ago Mr. Fish described how to 

 make the most of such a pit as yours, 5 feet high in front, 7£ feet high at 

 back, and 5A feet in width, with it pathway along the backhand a brick- 

 on- bed wall to separate the path from the bed. In his case the pit was 

 sunk below the ground level nearly 3 feet, a matter of importance so far 

 as heating was concerned, as 3-inch pipes .would be about as effectual 

 as 4-inch pipes if the walls were exposed to the atmosphere. With the 

 mode of giving air in front and also at the back we are satisfied, only 

 for early forcing it would have been as well if tbe ventilators had 

 beeu lower down, so that the air given in front should go over the pipes 

 before passing into the house. Now, we have repeatedly stated that the 

 cheapest mode of heating such a pit or house for propagating Cucumbers, 

 Melons, &c., would be to take a strong flue made of brick-on-bed, and 

 strong covering through the chamber b, under the bed, and having 

 openings into the passage to let up top heat. We could command any 

 amount of moisture from such a flue by giving plenty of moisture round 

 it, not on it. Hot water, however, is more easily managed and requires 

 less care. For winter Cucumbers in such a house, you would require two 

 4-inch pipes for bottom heat in the chamber b, and two for top heat near 

 the ventilators in front. If you were satisfied with spring forcing, 3-inch 

 pipes would do. The price of the pipes would be proportional, the larger 

 ones about 2s. 6d. a-yard, with more for elbows and turns. A small 

 saddle-back or conical boiler costing from .£3 to £1 would suit your pur- 

 pose. We decline to recommend tradesmen, as we believe all who ad- 

 vertise in our columns are to he trusted, and that disappointments and 

 misconceptions are more owing to the whims and changes of opinions of 

 the employers, than to any wish to take advantage in the case of the 

 employed. Hence, when a plan is adoped and a fair estimate given, it is 

 to the benefit of all parties to adhere to tbe plan and keep out all extras, 

 which, in general, are anything but an advantage to either party. Now, 

 to some of the specific questions :— First, if you are resolved to have a 

 chamber beneath your bed, with pipes for bottom heat, then strong slate 

 will be the best covering, the pipes running through the chamber and 

 having the means of giving bottom heat and top heat as you like, by 

 having the top of the boiler lower than the lowest pipo in the chamber. 

 If you resolve on such a chamber, it will be all the better to have a few 

 slits from the passage at the bottom of the chamber to admit air, as the 

 want of this is a fertile source of the pipes for bottom heat not acting. 

 Above the slate you should have at least a 2-feet space for drainage and 

 soil, say from 4 to 6 inches of the former, which should consist of rough 

 rubble. We would have upright drain-pipes in each light, and by pouring 

 down water among the rubble we could have moist bottom heat, and 

 moist top heat at will. The latter could be also obtained by evaporating- 

 pans placed on the top [pipes. Whatever space you leave between the 

 earth-bed and the trellis for the Cucumbers, the trellis should be at least 

 15 inches from the glass. We have no fault to find with heated chambers 

 provided with the air-slits before referred to ; but we would never think 

 of one in such a pit as yours. Having fixed on the position of our pipes, 

 by taking into account the trellis, depth of soil, and depth of covering of 

 pipes, we would concrete and roughly cement the bottom of the smaller 

 enclosed pit for soil. On that we would place our pipes, and pack be- 

 tween them and over them as loosely as possible to the depth of 4 inches, 

 with brick-bats, clinkers, stones, flints, &c, finishing at the top with a 

 layer of clean-washed gravel stones, say from 5 and not more than 

 6 inches from the pipes. On this place the soil, which can always be 

 removed easily without at all disarranging the covering. A common 

 drain-tile set upwards in the back or front of the pit, the bottom and just 

 a little above the concrete will enable you to give a moist bottom heat at 

 will; we have had such in use many years, and never found anything 

 cheaper or better. When we renew our beds, we brush the soil as clean 

 as possible out from the small clean gravel. We think this mode rather 

 more effectual and far cheaper than chambering for all narrow pits. One 

 question remains — " Would it add much to the expense to have the pit 

 divided, and the heating apparatus so arranged as to heat one or both 

 halves as desired ?" Yes, it would add to the expense. The cheapest 

 mode of heating such a 29-feet pit would be to place the boiler at one end, 

 and let the bottom and top heat go right through. We have done so with 

 some pits much larger than yours, and we divide each pit as we like with 

 moveable wooden partitions, easily lifted out and in, and we keep a high 

 temperature and a comparatively low one, merely by giving little or 

 abundance of air. There is always much expense connected with valves, 

 &c. The cheapest way you could regulate your pit, so as to have one 

 half well heated, and the other heated only a little, or none at all. would 

 be to place the boiler in the centre, take the flow-pipe to a receiving-box, 

 and In that have two pipes for a flow both ways, one of which you could 

 wholly or partially plug up as you like. You would thus escape the 

 expense and trouble of valves, which are very good in their way, but the 

 best of them are apt to go wrong. 



Lawn Weedy [T. H. T.).— We should weed the lawn at once, cutting - 

 up the weeds by the roots — that is, as far down as you can, removing as 

 much of the root as possible, and this we would continue to do all the 

 autumn, and early in March we would well rake the lawn with an iron 

 rake, and then apply to it a good dressing of very rotten manure ; early 

 in April we would rake it well, sow some grass seeds, and roll well. 



Mrs. Pollock Geranium not Thriving (Idem).— Your plants are 

 probably in a dry situation and are suffering from that. We should pot 

 them at once in a rich turfy loam, and place them in a light airy part of 

 the greenhouse, where, we have no doubt, they will recover. 



Treatment of Bamboo after Growth (Idem).— We should'leave the 

 plant entire, and in spring after growth commences we would cut away all 

 the injured and dead parts. Mulch round the plant in winter with 

 decayed leaves. The leaf and flower sent us appear to belong to some 

 herbaceous Phlox. If so, the plant should be grown in an open situation 

 in good, light, loamy soil. The Willow must have had its stem or roots 

 injured, the bark probably gnawed off the stem, perhaps by water rats. 



Wiring a Fruit Wall (X, Sidmouth).— The most suitable wire is that 

 known as No. 10. For Peach, Plum, and similar fruit trees the wires 

 should be 6 inches apart. For the Peach and Apricot we like them in 

 every course of brick, or 3£ inches apart ; but for Apples and Pears 

 10 inches will be a good distance. The Morello Cherry requires them the 

 same distance as the Apricot. We have our wires 4$ inches apart, and 

 make that do for all kinds of fruit trees. They ought not to be more 

 than three-quarters of an inch from the wall, the nearer the better. The 

 directing eyes may be 6 feet apart, but we prefer them half that,_ or 

 as near as we can get them to suit the openings in the wall for driving 



