JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 8, 1870. 



been described. We never let them have a pot. We prick 

 them out in fresh sandy loam in rows 2 inches apart, and 1 inch 

 from each other in the row. We like them best to root little 

 until after Christmas, and by the middle of March we trans- 

 plant into earth pits from 4 to 9 inches apart, where they can 

 receive a little protection when necessary, and then we lift them 

 with balls as fine strong plants in May. The plants growing in 

 the beds, we do not require to plant them so early merely to get 

 room or avoid watering. Amplesicaalis will not stand so much 

 cold and damp as the others ; in fact, unlike most other things, 

 Calceolarias for beds seldom feel the effects of damp. A cool 

 moist soil and a bright sun are their delight. Notwithstanding 

 the dry summer, Calceolarias succeeded almost as well with ns 

 as Geraniums. That waB greatly owing to mulching, which 

 kept the roots cool. Even now (October 29th), many plants are 

 pretty full cf bloom. For cuttings we prefer small side shoots 

 about 2 inches in length. — R. F. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 

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

 week. 



The Rev. W. F. Radclyffe requests us to say that his direction is Oke- 

 iord Fitzpaine, near Shillingstone, and not near Blandford. 



Medicinal Qualities of British Plants (D. H.).— Dr. Thornton's 

 " Family Herbal " contains the information yon seek. 



Paek and Garden (Latent).— It is impossible to suggest the propor- 

 tions the park, lawn, flower garden, kitchen garden, and shrubberies 

 should occupy in forty acres, without knowing the tastes, requirements, 

 and pecuniary means of the family. 



Advice Ashed (A Youthful Jspirant). — The little Manuals published at 

 our office are useful. In addition to them we would advise you to obtain 

 the "Science and Practice of Gardening," price 3s. When you have 

 mastered these obtain " The Cottage Gardener's Dictionary," and when 

 yon can spare the money, " The Gardener's Assistant," by Robert Thomp- 

 son, which is 31s. 6d. By the time you have studied the smaller of these 

 works you would Ve able to ascertain better the bent of your own mind- 

 As you are only nineteen, you would not find much difficulty in getting 

 in aB under gardener to a large garden, more especially if your employer 

 would recommend you to one of our large nurserymen. As, however, 

 you have done well in a small place, we should hardly like to advise you 

 how to act, as with prudence you may work your way from your present 

 place to a larger one, and then to one larger still. Though by thus acting 

 your wages ultimately maybe much less than those holding the best 

 places, you must reoollect that all along you would be getting much 

 better pay than a mere improving young gardener could hope to expect. 

 In most small good places the gardener is paid for his work. Improving 

 young gardeners (we say nothing in defence of the system, but merely 

 look at it as it is) must ever consider the means of improvement as a 

 part of their pay. 



Transplanting Large Pampas Grass (W. T.).— The best time in our 

 opinion to move the large Pampas Grass would be at the eni of March 

 next year. It might be moved now if you could make sure of a good ball, 

 on which depends the success of the operation now or in spring. The 

 grass should not be cat away if the plant is moved at this season. It 

 ought to remain until the beginning of April. 



Repotting Roses (Idem). — Pot them now, and place them in a cold 

 pit, giving plenty of air. As they have not been potted off two years you 

 could not do worse than give them a lirge shift. We advise a moderate 

 shift, removing as much of the old soil as can well be done, care being 

 taken of the roots. The plants will flower in March in the greenhouse. 



French Pelargoniums to Flower at Easter (Idem).— The plants 

 should at once be shifted into 4^-inch pots, and have a light airy position 

 in a house with a temperature of from 40° to 45° from fire heat, and at 

 the end of December they should have their blooming pots (6-inch). They 

 should not be stopped after this, and after February they should have a 

 temperature of from 50° to 55° from fire heat, affording them abundance 

 of air and light, and keeping the shoots regulated. 



Cutting out the Wood of Robes (E. F. W.). — We approve of your 

 now cutting out the old, weak, useless wood, and also thinning the shoots, 

 deferring the principal pruning until February or as soon after as the 

 weather is mild. You may, however, do all in spring. 



Abbutds procera Transplanting (J. JR.)- — This is a good time to 

 remove evergreen Bhrubs; but as vou are thinning out, perhaps you will 

 remove it to a more open situation, in which case the plants, from 

 losing the shelter they had when close together, are liable to be somewhat 

 injured by the wind and severe frosts after planting. We consider the 

 beginning of March a good time to move the Arbutus, and better than 

 late in autumn. The best time of all is the end of summer or early in 

 autumn, as soon as tbe ground becomes moist and the growth of the 

 plants is completed and the wood firm. 



Plants for a North Border (Mrs. B).— There is little hope of getting 

 anything to grow where Ivy does not; but we have found Cotoneaster 

 microphylla do well on a north border, and the Spurge Laurel, Alexan- 

 drian Laurel, Butcher's Broom, Berberis dulcis, Vincas major and minor, 

 and the gold and Bilver varieties of the last ; V elegantissima being very 

 fine, and doing well almost everywhere. Skimmia japonic* will grow in a 

 shaded border, and is finer there than in a sunny one Aucuba japoni'ja 

 ifl also good. We have no doubt if you give the above a fair amount 

 of soil, and tolerably rich, that they would do well. 



Potato-growing for the London Market (A Novice). — You do not 

 Bay whether you intend growing early or second early sorts, but we pre- 

 sume both. Ashleaf and Myatt's Prolific we advise for early cropB, and 

 Lapstone and Early Oxford as second early sorts. The first three are 

 kidneys, and the last a round kind. They are good croppers, and of 

 excellent quality. The Potatoes would be best sent to market in hampers 



— indeed that is the only suitable way of sending the eariy and second 

 early sorts before they are ripe or have the skins fixed. Apply to a dealer 

 in the Borough Market. 



Early Peas and Potatoes for Market (A Subscriber).— Sangster'a: 

 No. 1 or Daniel O'Rourke is the best early Pea ; but Emperor or Morning 

 Star is preferred by many on account of its free bearing, though it is not 

 more so than the former. A pint will sow a row 20 yards long, and if the 

 rows are 8 feet apart you will require about 3h bnshe!s per acre. The 

 best early Potato for the open ground is Myatt's Prolific Ashleaf ; but the 

 old Ashleaf comes in about a week or ten days earlier. 



Wintering Fancy Pelargoniums (An Amateur, Halifax). — Without a 

 greenhouse it is difficult to winter these plants. Your only plan will ba 

 to keep them dry. not giving them any water beyond that needed to keep 

 the leaves from flagging, and you cannot keep them too near the glass aS 

 long as they are safe from frost. We think the plants have gone off 

 through damp. For mixing with blood to apply to Apple and Cherry 

 trees, we know of nothing better than dry soil. 



Brick Dost foe Upland Pasture (East Norfolk). — If made very fine 

 it may be of some benefit, but we question very much its utility unless 

 the soil is heavy Upland pastures are generally too d>-y already, without 

 adding anything of a nature calculated to burn in dry hot periods. 



Grapes not Keeping (H. P.). — Many would be quite satisfied with 

 such fine Grapes up to this time, from starting in March, though they 

 would not keep until January. The good keeping depends on the 

 Grapes getting ripe, but not over-ripe, in autumn, giving them plenty of 

 air of a temperate character, and keeping them dry, but not parched. 

 When fire heat is applied, air should also be given to prevent any resting 

 of moisture on the berries Your taking out all the plants, and keeping 

 the house diy, would almost lead us to conclude that the damping and 

 going-off are partly owing to over-ripeness after such a bright summer, 

 but chiefly owing to the damp that you say enters the house, we pre- 

 sume from broken or cracked squares, or exhausted puttying. Seepage 

 326 on these matters. If dews or rains get in over the bunches, it is next 

 to impossible to keep them fresh. 



Vines in a Greenhouse (Henri, Lisburn, Ireland). — For your green- 

 house vinery we would not have more than four Vines — viz ,two of Black 

 Hamburgh, one Buokland Sweetwater, and one Muscat Hamburgh or 

 Royal Muscadine. The border forthe Vines we wouldmake either chiefly 

 or altogether on the surface of the present soil, and nothiDgis better 

 than fresh loam from the top of a paRture which has been well exposed 

 to the air, enriched with broken bones, and kept open with a little 

 charcoal and rough lime rubbish. If we knew the circumstances and the 

 position of the border we might say more. See the '- Vine Manual,'' 

 which you may have by post from our office for 2s. Hd. 



Pot Vines (A. B. Q.).— The Vines you intend for fruiting next year 

 ought to be potted now if they are in leas pots than those 11 inches in 

 diameter ; and in potting, the roots should not be disturbed, merely loosen- 

 ing the sides of the ball, and removing any loose soil ; 13 or 15-inch pots 

 are not too large. We think potting after they showed fruit would pre- 

 vent its swelling, and planting in an outside border and fruiting the 

 Vines the same season, we think would not prove successful. If you 

 plant them out, their roots should be disentangled and spread out, and 

 thev should not be allowed to bear fruit the first season. 



Keeping Berberries on the Stems (Berberry). — Is it the common 

 Berberry you mean? The fruit is apt to fall, but we have known it kept 

 for a long time by cutting the twigs before the fruit was quite ripe, and 

 setting them in sand in a dry, cool place, and when the leaves decayed 

 taking them off, and running weak gum arabic along the base of the 

 fruit. The splendid winter plant, Cratasgus Pyracantha, can generally 

 be obtained without any trouble, as birds seldom meddle with it. The 

 dark purple berries of the evergreen Berberry, Berberis Aquifolium, often 

 stand well through the winter. 



Beds on Turf [Bector, Dorset) —We approve generally of the proposed 

 mode of arrangement. Your blank wall of the school-house would look 

 well if covered with Cotoneaster microphylla, or Crataegus Pyracantha. 

 We fear that Picea Pinsapo would be too large for the position No 6, but 

 if you have an Irish Yew at No. 2, you might have the fame or a Juniper 

 at No. 6. Then we would make 4 and 8 Cupressus Lawsoniana. No. 5, 

 we would bring nearer to the walk to harmonise with 10, and if you had 

 Cotoneaster against the wall, then 5 and 10 might be alike. We like the 

 idea of the open space of lawn in the centre, and before the shrubs grew 

 you might have little beds for flowers Dlose to the walks. 



Roots of Fig Trees (B. B.).~ It is not absolutely necessary to brick 

 in the roots of Fig trees, but if the roots have free scope, they will be 

 apt to grow too much, and the shoots will become too luxuriant for free 

 bearing. We have seen Fig trees ringed with great propriety to check 

 luxuriance. We have seen one half of a tree as distinguished for fertility 

 as the other half was for barren luxuriance, because the one half had 

 been nibbled with mice. Eighteen inches in depth, and from 3 to 4 feet 

 in width, we consider space enough for a good-sized Fig tree. We have 

 seen fine crops with no more width of soil than 30 inches. This, how- 

 ever, must be kept in mind— the less the space enclosed the greater the 

 care required in watering. If the soil becomes dry at critical times the 

 fruit will drop to a certainty. 



Veronica (Jonas).— Several of the Veronicas are now used for bedding 

 purposes, and as we do not know whether you allude to the flowers or the 

 fci age, we are at a loss as to what the variety is respecting which yott 

 wish for instructions. It may be one of the small shrubby kinds, mostly 

 with blue flowers, and increased by cuttings of the growing parts inserted 

 in s*nd in a gentle hotbed, except in July and August, when a close cold 

 frame will do. There is a variety with "grey" or silver foliage— viz., 

 V. Candida, which is incresed by division, and by cuttings or slips 

 early in summer. Send us a specimen. 



Craig's Prolific Early Cucumber (J. C.).— We received a brace grow- 

 ing from one brancblet. They were nearly of similar length, 14 inches — 

 tbe most serviceable of sizes. They were short-necked, blossom adhering, 

 white-spined, quite straight and regular in form, flavour good. 



Forming a Pond (G. B. M.).— The bottom aad sides of the excavation 

 should be taken out or down to a good bard b ttom, and. before putting 

 in any clay, ram firmly. We would then put in a thin la\er of dry clay 

 and ram it firm, and this first layer should not exceed S inches thick. 

 We would on it place about 2 inches deep of gravel and ram well down, 

 then put on a layer of clay, adding water so as to make it ram well among 



