August 2, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



103 



should appear on the paendobulbe see that it is at once washed 

 off, as it npeeclily causes the leaves to become yellow and 

 seriously interferes with the health of the plants. Admit as 

 much air as possible, but do not allow the winds to blow directly 

 on the plants. A canvas Bcreen over the ventilators is a wise 

 precaution. — J. Douglas, 



TBADE CATALOGUES EECEIVED. 

 Vilmorin-Andrieus & Cie, 4, Quai de la Megisserie, a Paris.- 

 Catalogues of Flower Seeds, Bulbs, and Strawberries. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



%* All correspondence should be directed either to "The 

 Editors," or to " The Publisher." Letters addressed to 

 Mr. Johnson or Dr. Hogg often remain unopened unavoid- 

 ably. Wh request that no one will write privately to any 

 of our correspondents, as doing so subjects them to un- 

 justifiable trouble and expense. 



Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet ques- 

 tions relating to Gardening and those on Poultry and Bee 

 subjects, and should never send more than two or three 

 questions at once. All articles intended for insertion should 

 be written on one side of the paper only. We cannot 

 reply to questions through the post. 



Exhibiting Asters and Gladioli (Giles). — The best wav to exhibit 

 Asters is in a stand, with a neat white card placed under each flower. Gla- 

 dioli should be exhibited in stands. Those made by Chapman of Gloucester 

 are the best. 



Culinary Vegetable (G. C). — The Cucumber is certainly a culinary 

 vegetable, for it is cooked in various ways, and consequently is a kitchen 

 vegetable. 



Melon Plant Failing (T. R. O.J. — The plant seems to have ceased pro- 

 ducing fibrous roots. The cause we cannot tell. The watering with, cold 

 ■water during a hot day may have been the cause. 



American Periodical (A. 8. J.). — Write to Messrs. Sampson Low & Co., 

 Booksellers, Fleet Street. 



Want of Blue in Gardens. — " A Lady Gardener " observes that we 

 want more blue in our flower gardens. She saw this spring the Red Campion 

 of our hedges made to grow as a compaot garden flower, and she wants to 

 know if the same could not he done with the blue- flowered Cichorium Intybus 

 (wild Chicory or Succory). 



Kleinia repens (J. B.). — Send your address to Mr. C. Chisholm, SOO, 

 lung's Boad, Chelsea. 



Cinerarias (Amateur).— Sow the seed now on light soil previously 

 moistened, and cover very slightly with very fine soil; place in a frame or 

 shady position in the garden, covering the seed pot or pan with a square of 

 glass, and place the pan in a saucer containing a little water. The soil must 

 never became dry, and the seedlings will Foon appear and be ready for 

 pricking-off or potting. As slugs ate your first lot of seedlings you must 

 take special care of the second. Sometimes when a pan is placed in water 

 the soil becomes too wet, but your plants will be equally secure against slugs 

 if you invert a flower pot in a deep saucer of water and place the seed pan 

 on the inverted pot. 



Boses (George). — We cannot name varieties. (Turkey). — We cannot tell 

 the name of the grubs unless we Baw live specimens. Dusting with lime 

 might destroy them, and syringing the tree3 the next day would remove the 

 whiteness. 



Fungus on Lawn (A Fery Old Subscriber), — Sprinkle common salt over 

 the places where the fungus grows. We should remove the fungi before 

 using the mowing machine. 



Boses for a Town Garden (Stephen). — Yos, yon may use charcoal 

 advantageously, but remember plenty of rich manure is the mainspring of 

 success. In your somewhat unfavourable position for Bose culture it will be 

 beBt to confine yourself to varieties of robust growth. Here are a dozen such 

 — Gloire de Dijon, John Hopper, Paul Neron, Boule de Neige, Madame C. 

 Joimeaux, Baronne de Bothsehild, Charles Lawson, Paul Verdier, Anna 

 Alexieff, Gabriel de Peyronny, Countess of Oxford, Charles Lefebvre, and 

 Seine du Midi, to which add the old Cabbage Bose, very pretty and very 

 sweet-scented. November is the best month for planting. Consult your 

 own taste as to what form of trees you plant, dwarfs and balf- standards 

 beiDg quite upon a par as regards freedom of growth and production of 

 bloom. 



Bose Leaves Insect-eaten (j. E. Coleby).— They are attacked by the 

 grubs of a small moth called Microsetia centifoliella. 



Wireworm Infesting Corn Crops and Potatoes (Sigma). — Gas lime, of 

 which you have been advised, is a capital application. It may be applied in 

 March at the rate of twenty bushels per acre, or in autumn at the rate of 

 thirty bushels. If applied in autcmn it maybe ploughed under, but if in 

 spring it should remain on the surface until after rain, the ground being 

 then worked prior to sowing or planting. Grain crops may have a dressing 

 ■of nitrate of soda when the crop is well up, at the rate of 1 cwt. per acre, or 

 twenty buBhels of salt, but the nitrate of soda is the most powerful agent 

 in the destruction of vermin. 



Water Lily Planting (H. B.).— The best time to plant is in spring from 

 March until May, so that the plants may become well established before 

 winter. The roots should be in not less than 1 foot depth of water, and not 

 ■exceeding 3 feet. If the bottom be soft a stone or half brick may be secured 

 to the root-stem with wire, and the plants be dropped or thrown into the 

 water where required ; but should the bottom be hard the plants should be 

 planted in Btrong loam in Bhallow wicker baskets. The plants will be 

 ■established before or by the time the basket decays. They must be secured 

 to the bottom by some means to prevent them floating. Thsre are a number 



of kinds of Water Lilies — viz., Nyniphiea alb a, common white Water Lily ; 

 N. odorata, very sweet, and a variety of it, N.odorata minor. N. candidissima 

 is noted for its pearly whiteness, N. pygmcea for its smallness of growth, 

 and N. tuberosa for ils large root-stems. The yellow Water Lily is Nuphar 

 lutea, another good kind being Nuphar advena, and a very dwarf kind, 

 Nuphar pumila minima. One of the sweetest of aquatics is Aponogeton 

 distachyon, which with its small form minor is also very suitable for growing 

 in a pan in the greenhouse. 



Mildew on Gooseberry Bushes (Idem). — It is probably due to dryness 

 of the soil, and the remedy will be a more liberal dressing of manure 

 annually, or copious applications of water with liquid manure in dry weather. 

 Syringe the trees with a solution of soft soap, 2 ozs. to the gallon of 

 water. 



Geranium Leaves Perforated (.4. Boyle). — The leaf is perforated by 

 some insect, probably a weevil or beetle, which usually commit their depre- 

 dations at night. We should place a white cloth on the ground and shake 

 the plants over it after dark, when the pests may fall on to the cloth. We 

 should also water the plants overhead with paraffin water just after dark, 

 allowing a wiueglaspful of the oil to three gallons of wa'er, stirring well up 

 and letting it stand twenty-four hours, then skim off the oil rising to the 

 surface, and then use the water, taking care to thoroughly clear it of the oil 

 before use. 



Strawberries for Forcing (C. MX — The best varieties are Keens' Seed 

 ling, President, Sir Charles Napier, and Sir Joseph Paxton. It is not desir- 

 able to keep the plants very dry in the winter — just sufficient to keep the 

 roots in a healthy growing condition. If the small rootlets suffer from over- 

 dryness the crop of fruit will be jeopardised. 



Propagating Boses from Cuttings (Flora). — October is perhaps the 

 best neonth for this, but they may be put in at any time when the wood is 

 firm. The cuttings ought to be taken off at the base with what gardeners 

 term a heel, if a quantity of cuttings have to be inserted we would place 

 some suitable seil in the frame and then plant out the cuttings in it. Keep 

 the lights cloee until they are rooted. When inserting the cuttings press 

 the hoil (which ought to be two parts loam, one leaf soil, and one of sand) 

 firmly round the base of tho cuttings. Some sand should be placed on the 

 surface before inserting them. 



Vines Attacked by Phylloxera vastatrix (C. T. D.). — There is no 

 remedy for this disease, and no one ought to tamper with it. The wisest 

 plan is to root the Vines out and burn them, removing the soil to a safe dis- 

 tance from any Vines. Not a single bit of root ought to remain in the 

 ground. . 



Sowtng Cabbage Seed (GF. #.£.).— The Fulham or Early Battersea, Non- 

 pareil, and Atkins' Matchless are as good as any. A sowing should be made 

 about the 2lst of July for final planting-out early in September many plants 

 of which will be turning in between Michaelmas and Christmas and in ea^ly 

 spring. The second and most g metal time of sowing, to raise plants for 

 almost the whole year's supp'y, and of any kind, including the Bed Dutch 

 and its varieties, is from the otu to the 12th of August, and the seedlings 

 may remain in the seed bed all the winter if not too thick, or any number 

 may be finally planted in the open quarters from Oetober to November, or 

 pricked-out into nursery beds, banks, &c., no as to have a good stock of plants 

 for final planting-out whenever favourable opportunities offer. The soil 

 should be soaked with water twelve hours bef jre the seed is sown, for after 

 raking and forking it is thus rendered less liable t > become hard and surface- 

 bound. The seed should also fee soaked twelve hours previously to sowing in 

 dry weather. In hot dry weather the evening is always the best time to sow, 

 not covering the seed more than a quarter of an inch ; and the seed beds 

 should be slightly shaded with boughs, straw, or any other article of a similar 

 description, until the young plants are just appearing above the surface, 

 when the covering must ba removed. A slight sprinkling of water must then 

 be applied and a top-dressing of charcoal dust, so that it may adhere to tho 

 young plants while moisr, which will not only prevent the attacks of the fly 

 but pi-omote growth. When about 3 inches high thin the seedlings to 

 4 inohes apart, and prick out those removed into beds prepared as for the 

 seed bed, planting them 4 inches apart. We never make but two plantings 

 in the year: one from the 21st of July sowiQg, which planting is made 

 during the first fortnight of September, and the second planting is made in 

 the spring, towards the end of February or bsginning of March. Plant in 

 rows from 1£ to 2£ feet asunder eaoh way, the smaller earlier kinds being 

 planted the closest. 



Squirrels (A. 0. WX — The gun is your only resource to preserve your 

 nuts from squirrels. 



Sooly qua Cucumber, (South Wales).— We do not know of its being eaten 

 raw, but we do know of its being boiled and eaten with rice, melted butter, &c. 

 Fuchsia Sunray. — "B.C." wishes to know if this is "an intermediate 

 variety or a self." 



Boses (P. B. CX— The small pink Bose is Manetti. The white is very 

 common and useful, but we never heard it named. 



Grapes Cracking (Clericus). — The Chasselas Musque and Madresfield 

 Court are very liable to have their berries crack. Allow the Vine to have a 

 full crop, keep the roots rather dry when the fruit is ripening, and, if the 

 berries still crack, cut a notch in the branch below each bunch to reduce the 

 supply of sap to it. 



Hop Plant Dying (J. Huish). — Examine the roots ; something has 

 probably destroyed them, as the other Hop plants are healthy. 



Aquilegias. — "J.B.J." asks, "Where can I get plants of the Aquilegias 

 mentioned by your correspondent Mr. Addison ? The A. glandulosa flowers 

 very freely here, and is beautiful. The soil requires to be very rich." 



Six Different Kind3 of Fruit (J.F.). — Two varieties of Grapes ought 

 not to be admitted in the class so restricted. 



Names of Plants (J. AX— The Bog Pimpernel (Anagallis tenella)* 

 (Somerset). — 1, Geranium sangnineum ; S, G. sylvaticum ; 2, Veronica spi" 

 cata (white-flowered varie'y); 4, Santolina Chamacyparissus ; 5, Hemer" 

 ocallis fnlva; 6, Lilium martagon. (A.H.S.). — 1, Catasetum deltoideum(?|; 

 2, Eulophia sp. (a Novice). — The shrub is commonly called Southernwood) 

 Astemisia abrotanum. The fleshy-leaved plant is Sedum azoideum varie- 

 gatum. {R. T.). — The Fern is Adiantum trapeziforme. (D. G. jB.). — 1, Oxalis 

 sp.; 2, Yarrow (Achillea millefolium); 3, Centaury (Erethrasa Ceutaurium); 

 4, Heracleum Sphondylium; 5, Chserophyllum temurum; 6, Tradescantia vir- 

 ginica. (F. T.).—l, The Acer seems to us only A. -pseudo- Plat anus ; 2, Tri- 

 folium proenmbens; 3, Lathyrus pratensis. (Helena).— We cannot name 

 florists' varieties. No. 1 has no fructification. 



