166 



JOUKNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August 23, 1877. 



plants have ceased flowering they are not watered except to prevent the 

 foliage flagging, and when that decays it is removed, no water being given, 

 hut tbe pots receive some moisture consequent upon sprinkling the house two 

 or three times a-day. Shortly after the foliage decays the tubers are care- 

 fully removed from the soil. The pots are cleaned inside and oat, drained a 

 fourth of their depth, an inch of the rough of the compost is placed over 

 the drainage, and they are filled to within an inch of the rim with compost, 

 consisting of two parts of light fibrous loam, one part each of leaf soil or 

 old dry cow dung and Bandy peat, with a half part of silver sand, the whole 

 broken up fine and well mised. The bulbs are placed about 3 inches apart 

 all around the sides of the pots, and so that the growing end is about an 

 inch therefrom, and covered an inch deep. Only the largest tubers are used. 

 No water is given. They are placed in the stove. The soil is kept more or 

 le3s moist through syringing, but no water from the pot is givea until the 

 plants are an inch above the surface, then it is given in moderate quantity, 

 avoiding making the soil sodden. The plants when growing are sprinkled 

 overhead twice daily, and slightly shaded from bright sun in summer. A 

 suitable summer temperature is 65° at night from fire heat, 7CP to 75° by day, 

 np to 8ji or 90° with sun. "When tbe flower heads show weak liquid manure 

 is given once a-week. The plants with us commence flowering in November 

 or December, and are often fine until February. 



Planting Onions for Seed (A. B. <?.).— Select the largest and best- 

 formed bulbs, and plant them in February in an open situation, but if 

 possible sheltered from wind. Drills may be drawn 3 or 4 inches deep, plant- 

 ing so tbat the crown is just covered with soil ; or the bulbs may be planted 

 with a blunt-ended dibble. The rows should be 1 foot apart and the bulbs 

 6 inches asunder, leaving a path 2 feet wide between every four rows. Keep 

 clear of weeds, and when in flower stakes should be driven in, and tarred 

 cords stretched horizontally on each side of the row of stems a few inches 

 below the heads, to Berve as a support and prevent their being broken down. 

 In August the seed will be ripe, which is intimated by the husks becoming 

 brownish ; the stalks should be cut off near the ground, laid on a cloth in 

 the open air for a few days to dry, but during that time they must not be 

 exposed to rain. When dry the seeds may be rubbed out, cleaned of the 

 chaff, and stored. 



Sowing Broad Beans foe Seed (Idem),— The seed should be sown the 

 end oi February or beginning of March. Early Mazagan and Longpods may 

 be sown in November, but all the sorts will ripen seed perfectly if sown at the 

 time named. 



Gbapes not Colouring (H. 0.). — As your Vines are old and have only 

 Email bunches we should attribute the deficiency of colour to weakness, 

 which may probably be remedied by allowing more foliage — lateral growth, 

 especially so as to maintain active root-action until the fruit is perfectly 

 ripened. The flower was too much smashed for identification. 



Raspberries (Subscriber).— Carter's Prolific and Fastolf are good red 

 sorts. Those and the Sweet Yellow Antwerp will be likely to suit yon. 



Seedling Gloxinia (H. £.).— The flower sent is very good. It is of 

 great Eubstance, and the colourB — exterior of the tubes very pale rose, with 

 crimson lobes edged with pinkish white — contrast effectively. Messrs. 

 Veitch, however, frequently exhibit flowers of equally good quality. 



Lilies Dying from Wireworm (D. C.).— Place slices of carrot on sticks 

 and bury them a few inches underground, examine them daily and destroy 

 the wireworms found attached to them. If the ground is damp you must 

 drain it. 



List of Hoses. (Id£m),— "Real" pink, Duchess of Edinburgh (Bennett), 

 Lyonnaise, and Mdlle. Therese Levet; dark red, Alfred Colomb, Marechal 

 Yaillant, and Senateur Yaiase; good pink for forcing, Princess Beatrice, 

 Duchess of Edinburgh, and Lyonnaise, or La France may be substituted, 

 but it is a pale peach colour. 



Boiler (Winter Garden). — No one could recommend anyone confidently 

 without seeing the places to be heated. Consult some gardener who has 

 houses like your own. 



Insects (Lancashire Old Subscriber). — They are familiarly called " Ruby- 

 tailed Flie3" of the family Chalcidiche, the species being, we think, C. ignita- 

 Though designated "flies" they are in the order Hymenoptera, and are 

 parasitic in habit, the larvas being deposited in the nests of solitary bees and 

 wasps. The abdomen is famished with a peculiar ovipositor, which is also 

 'stated to have the power of stinging. In the garden it is neither injurious 

 nor beneficial. (J. H.). — Those accused of attacking the Gladioli are not 

 properly insects, but a species of Julus or Millipede. Like others of that family 

 it is difficult to deal with. We know of no better remedy than careful hand- 

 picking. The hardness of the integuments probably would defy the effects of 

 a solution of ammonia, which is often found so successfal in the case of 

 worms and other subterranean feeders. Guano round the bulbs might 

 banish the vermin. 



Name of Fruit (Connaught Subscriber). — Your Plum"; is Belle de 

 Lou vain. 



Names of Plants (Three-years Subscriber).— Hoya bella. (W, W. A.).— 

 Apparently Dendrobium transparens, but material very scanty. (A. C. iJ.). — 



1, Specimen insufficient; 2, Rhuscotinus; 3,Spmeaopulifolia. (J. G.). — 1 aud 



2, Lastrea Filix-mas ; 3, Polypodium vulgare ; 4, Spirsea salicifolia. (F, T. F.). 

 Lucern (Medicago sativa). (Constant Reader). — 1, Liatris spicata ; 2, 

 Achillea ptarmica; 3, Antennaria margaritacea ; 4, Catananche cserulea. 

 (D. G. E.). — 1, Pulicaria dysenterica; 2,Butomus umbellatus; 3, Ranunculus 

 Flammula; 4, Scrophularia nodosa; 5, Lysimachia ciliata; 6, Senecio 

 aquaticus. You should get some book on British plants, (ft. P.). — 1, Pteris 

 serrulata; 2, i?othochlcena distans; 3, La-trea Filix-mas, crested variety; 4, 

 Adiantum hispidulum; 5, Pellcea hastata; 6, 7, Pteris tremula; S, Asple- 

 nium tricbomanes. (Constant Header). — 1, Adiantum formosum; 2, Pteris 

 incisa; 3, Aspidium coriaceum. {Lady C. Tumour). — 1, Aspidium acro- 

 stichoides; 2, Nephrodium marginale; 3, N. noveboracense ; 4,N. dilatatum 

 var. intermedium. 



POULTEY, BEE, AND PIGEON CHPONIOLE. 



COTTAGERS' POULTRY SHOWS. 



Theee are in many districts in the present day local cottage- 

 garden shows, and there is hardly a village that has not some 

 annual gala — a fair, a club, or a friendly society's meeting. We 



should like to see attached to some such annual festivity, of 

 whatever kind it may be, some classes for table poultry, Ducks, 

 and Rabbits belonging to cottagers only. "Where possible, Buch 

 classes would be best if they could be added to a cottage-garden 

 show, so that at one time the various exhibits from the cottages 

 of the district could be on view. We have long thought such 

 little shows confined to some certain number of villages would 

 prove of much value and interest. We believe they would tend 

 to excite our humbler friends to cultivate poultry, which we 

 never believe our present system of poultry exhibitions will do ; 

 in fact, the shows of prize fowls which are now weekly taking 

 place do not in the remotest degree help to increase the cultiva- 

 tion of poultry as food. There maybe isolated cases to the con- 

 trary, but the breeders of prize poultry for exhibition do not, we 

 believe, think of their fowls in any way as articles of food, and 

 the cottagers who have not the means, or opportunities, of breed- 

 ing very high-class stock are consequently quite debarred from 

 the pleasure and usefulness of exhibiting. We know of several 

 villages where the cottagers keep three or four hens each, and 

 by the sale of their eggs and the produce of a brood or two_ of 

 chiokens are enabled to have many little extra comforts which 

 they would otherwise have to go without. Again, we know of 

 some villages where a brook or stream of water runs through 

 the place. The cottagers here keep two or three Ducks and ob- 

 tain good prices for their ducklings. Such people want en- 

 couragement, and what one village can do many more can also 

 perform. Poultry fit for the table will always command a 

 remunerative price, and chickens and ducklings in all localities 

 will always find a ready sale, while eggs are frequently sought 

 for through the autumn and winter months in vain. We 

 should all try to help the small incomes of a labourer's family 

 in an honest way, and we verily believe some classes for their 

 poultry and Ducks tacked on to the district cottagers' show 

 if there is one, or held in some neighbouring barn or shed 

 at the time of the annual village festival, would soon effect 

 much good. 



For the classification of such a little meeting we would have 

 the simplest titles. We would have no particular breeds : we 

 should recommend that the classes should be something like 

 the following— (1) for the whitest skinned and legged pair of 

 chickens : (2) for the heaviest pair of ditto ; (3) for the most 

 useful-looking cock and hen; (4) for the ditto drake and Duck; 

 (5) for the heaviest pair of ducklings ; (6) for the largest buck 

 or doe Rabbbit; (7) for the heaviest pair of young Rabbits: 

 (8) for tbe heaviest dozen of single-yolked eggs. 



One, two, three, or more prizes could be offered in each class, 

 and other similar classes could be added at pleasure. Such 

 classification would surely place all cottagerB on the same foot- 

 ing, and would make them keep a large and useful breed of 

 fowls, which would give them so much the more chance of a 

 prize. The prizes need not be large ; a 5s. first prize, 3s. second 

 ditto, and Is. third would answer most purposes, and the honour 

 of the prize and the better sale of chickens which would con- 

 sequently be obtained would have nearly as much effect as the 

 money prize itself. We would have no classes whatever for 

 Bantams or fancy breeds, for though they may be very inter- 

 esting to some home circles and be made great pets of, they 

 have nothing to do with our present object — viz., of encouraging 

 cottagers to keep poultry for profit and to increase the supply 

 of wholesome food. 



We have had to do with two such little meetings this summer. 

 The one we judged, and for the other we acted as honorary 

 secretary, and we do not hesitate to say for first shows the success 

 and the interest taken in them fairly surprised us. Excellent 

 white-legged chickens were on view, well-grown ducklings, and 

 largo RabbitB ; bat perhaps the most satisfactory part of all 

 waB to hear the cottagers' remarks and to note their earnest 

 attention to what the Judge in future required, such as white 

 skins and straight breasts, and, where possible, uniformity of 

 colour in a pair of birds. Repeatedly we h'eard one remark 

 to the other that they should try another year, for what the 

 next-door neighbour achieved they concluded they could also 

 perform. 



We have seen in some schedules a class " for cottagers only;" 

 but such are really quite useless, for the schedules never fall 

 into the hands of the desired people, and, if they did by any 

 chance, such would not have the money to risk in entrance fees 

 and carriage, or have proper baskets to send their birds in by 

 rail. Neither do we think that a class for "cross-bred table 

 fowls " is of the slightest use, for exhibitors in general do not 

 care to have to do with such classes, and farmers but very rarely 

 hear of them. We trust that those who have the interest of 

 their villagers at heart will try to establish some such system 

 and give the shows a fair trial of two or three years, for we venture 

 to think a most unlooked-for resnlt will crown their efforts. We 

 do not speak so much of the northern counties, for many villages 

 in Lancashire and Yorkshire have an annual show on a much 

 larger scale, where the people would laugh at the simple classes 

 which we propose ; but in the southern and western counties we 

 believe there is a good opening, and that there are scores of 



