242 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 20, 1877. 



Trees for Seashore (M. Horlon). — Evergreen Oak, Pinus insignia, P. La- 

 ricio, with Sycamore and Turkey Oak, are what we advise of trees ; and of 

 shrubs Tamarisk, Alatemns, Brooms, doable Gorse, Euonyraas, Escalionia 

 macrantha, Hollies, Elders, Sea Buckthorn, and Guelder Rose. 



Kose (H. E. Holdaway). — The specimen was a mass of dead leaves at- 

 tached to a dried and witherad stalk. It oaght to have been sent in a bos 

 wrapped in damp moss. The naming mast ba a matter of conjecture. It 

 may be Jean Cherpin, and we think it is. 



Beech Nuts and Acorns. — " W. L." writes that the Beech nuts are very 

 abundant near Bromsgrove, but that acorns are very scarce. He asks if 

 Beech nuts are plentiful in other parts of England. 



Cineraria Leaf Diseased (R. E. Penson). — It is mildewed, and the cause 

 is too much moisture and too little ventilation. 



Watson's Lawn Sand (C. If.).— Not having tried it we cannot give an 

 opinion. 



Turf for Vine Borders {Nemo).— The best material for "Vine borders 

 when turf cannot be obtained, is to take as good soil as you can get, to eight 

 barrowloads of it add one of lime ruboish, one of rotted manure, a peck of 

 charcoal, and the same quantity of inch bones, turn it over twice, and use it 

 at once. 



New Zealand Flax frohi Seed (J. S. W.).— You may bow the seeds 

 now in light soil, place the pots in heat, and do not give much water — just 

 sufficient to keep the soil moist. The seeds take a good while to germinate, 

 but those sent are good. When the young plants have grown a little prick 

 them off, about nine in a 6-inch pot. 



Araucaria Seedless (J. it. W.).— You are correctly informed. This tree is 

 dioecious. 



Glass-covered Wall for Peach Tree (E. B.). — As you have provided 

 a coping would it not be as well to wait until your trees are old enough to 

 bear, and see whether you cannot obtain a crop without any glass protection ? 

 Should you determine to have glass, we advise a simple lean-to, with ven- 

 tilation provided at the top by moveable lights to lift up by an iron rod. 

 The front ventilation should be provided by shutters to open outwards under 

 a plate on which the base of the rafters should rest. The shutters may be 

 about 12 inches wide. You say the trees are against the north wall; we 

 presume, of course, that the wall faces south. 



Hydrangeas Imperfectly Developed (H. C. P.). — We cannot account 

 for this in any way, if the plants are healthy and growing strongly, except 

 that it may be owing to the unfavourable weather we have experienced- The 

 plants like generous treatment, and when the flower-trusses are forming to 

 be exposed to light and air. 



Vines not Starting into Growth {J. A.).— We do not quite understand 

 what you mean by saying "the Vines made several attempts to break but 

 failed." How were the attempts made ? It they have not made any growth 

 during the season they must be pronounced to be dead, and others should be 

 planted in their place. 



Pot Culture of LiLrtj^i auratdii (Ightham). — We agree with Mr. Wood 

 in thinking the present time of year the best for repotting, bat we do not 

 attribute his success solely to doing so, and have no doubt that you may 

 obtain equally satisfactory results if your balbs are as large as his ; size of 

 bulb has much influence in the matter. Shake out the three bulbs which 

 you have ia a 10-inch pot and repot them singly in 8 inch pots, placing the 

 tops of the bulbs quite 2 inches below the surface. Plunge the pots in coal 

 aBhes in the open air, and when the leaves of the nest season's growth ap- 

 pear give plenty of sewage or other liquid manure. 



Stephanotis florlbunda Fruiting (A Constant Reader).— Old plants of 

 Stephanotis occasionally bear fruit, but it is unusual for fruit to be borne 

 annually, or with any periodical regularity, upon the same plant. 



Leaky Greenhouse Roof (Ten-years Subscriber). — Scrape away the old 

 putty from the faulty places, cleanse well with a dusting brush, give one coat 

 of paint, then stop thoroughly with putty and follow with three more coats 

 of paint. A leaky roof is a sure indication of neglect. Why does your patty 

 perish so soon? Simply because you have not applied the annual coat of 

 paint which the woodwork and putty of every glazed structure should have. 



Figs (E. F.). — You may plant against your west wall the Brown Turkey 

 and the Brunswick. 



Witloof (21. 6.). — The leaves are eaten as Seakale and uncooked as a 

 salad. There are fall particulars and a drawing of the plant in the number 

 of this Journal published January 27th of last year. 



Analyses of Flowers (G. N. T.).— There are many published in Dr. 

 Thomson's " Organic Chemistry — Vegetables." 



Names of Fruits (Elm).—1, Magnum Bonum; 2, Victoria; 3, Fothering- 

 ham; 4, Lucombe's Nonsuch; 5, Winesour; 6, Orleans. 



Names of Plants (G. T.). — 2, Euonymn3 europseus ; 3, Coraus sanguinea ; 

 4, Aear campestre; 5, Polemonium cairuleum variegatam. (W. W.). — Inula 

 heleniam. The root is tonic. There is no mode of destroying it bat by 

 spudding it out, or paring and burning the top spit of the field. (J. C. 0.). — 

 It is the Gras3 of Parnassus, Parnassia palustris. (A. H. S.). — 1, Cattleya, 

 probably C. Loddigesii; 2, Lycaste macrophylla. (Mrs. St. John). — Eupa- 

 torium Wendlandiaoum. (Ifac). — Potentilla fruticosa. (H. Dunning). — 

 Specimens unsatisfactory. 1, Onoclea sensibilis; 2, Pteris (?) cretica; 3 and 



4, Adiantam sp. (Q. CJiUholm). — Probably a Cissus, but specimen insuffi- 

 cient. (Jf. P., Sorsham). — 1, Solidago lanceolata; 2, Hibiscus syriacus; 



5, Clethra arborea. (W. D. H.).— Euphrasia (Bartsia) odontites. „ 



POULTEY, BEE, AND PIGEON dHEONIOLE. 



THE ISLINGTON AND ALEXANDRA PALACE 

 SCHEDULES. 



Both these schedules are to hand, and on both we have some 

 few remarks to make. We extremely regret that the three A's 

 — Aquarium, Alexandra, Agricultural Hall — have not in their 

 own interests arranged their dates better. "With the Sydenham 

 meeting in prospect the London Bhows will surely suffer ; and 

 we verily believe, had any one of them lowered their en!ry fee 



to 6s. inBtead of 7s. 6a!., that the one so doing would have been 

 the successful meeting. In bygone days when the great metro- 

 polis only had the Crystal Palace Show it was all very well to 

 charge so high a rate of entry fees ; but now that four of them 

 have come into existence, and when there is even a prospect of 

 a fifth, " Icha'iod " may be cried over the prestige of winning in 

 London, and the fees should surely be lessened in consequence 

 if a number of entries is desired. In the face of these thickly 

 coming shows we think Mr. Nicholls has been wise as well as 

 the Islington Committee to have their classes for pairs of birds 

 in most of the breeds. "We know fully well that for chickens it 

 is disadvantageous to show them in pairs, but we believe the 

 outlay of money to form a double set of prizes for cockerels and 

 pullets would not be recouped in a sufficiently satisfactory way 

 to justify the expenditure in this time of glut of metropolitan 

 shows. 



We will speak of the Dairy Show first, as that is the first to 

 come off. The prizes are liberal, £6 being divided in most 

 classes in four prizes. In DorkiDgs, Silvers, Whites, and C ackoos 

 all have to compete together. Minorcas and Audalusians have 

 a class together. Brahmas and Game have separate classes for 

 the sexes, cf which Brahmas have four and Game six. Polands 

 have two classes, in one of which Whites, Chamois, &c , may 

 appear. Hamburghs and Cochins have a good provision made 

 for them. For the Variety class are left La Fleche, Sultans, 

 Silkies, Cuckoo Cochins, Frizzles, &c. The Waterfowl are well 

 cared for; besides the ordinary clisses Cayugas, Pekins, East 

 Indians, Mmdarins, and Carolinas are all provided for. There 

 are no Pigeon classes. The Selling divisions, however, will 

 contain, we suppose, some good birds, for the entry fee is only 

 5s., and in each class £8 is given in prizes. The Bantam classi- 

 fication is odd ; for as the classes read we should conclude 

 Class 47 was for Black Game Bantams, whereas Black Eose- 

 combs we suppose are intended to be entered here. All the 

 other variety Bantams are jumbled up in Class 50. There are 

 optional champion sweepstake prizes ; medals are to be awarded 

 for incubators, appliances, and poultry foods. There are also 

 special prizes offered by the manufacturers of various foods for 

 the best birds fed upon their compounds, which prizes will 

 probably give the Jadge3 much trouble and be of no real benefit 

 to the poultry cause. Mr. F. Wilson, late of the Crystal Palace, 

 is the Secretary, and Mr. E. E. Fowler is not this year to be the 

 Steward we learn. We have only three more things to mention 

 in connection with this schedule — the one that the cups and 

 special prizes are to be given in addition to the money prizes, 

 and that the birds exhibited will have to be away from home at 

 least eight days, and in some cases probably more where the 

 distance is great, which fact iu the case of chickens of the year 

 must surely lessen considerably the number of entries; and 

 that the Judges are Messrs. Hewitt, Leno, Martin, Nicholls, 

 Smith, and Teebay ; but as the classes in which each gentleman 

 will award the prizes are not named this piece of information 

 could as well have been omitted for all the good it can do. 



Among the rules and regulations of the Alexandra Palace we 

 find one which tells us that only appeals from the Judges' 

 decisions will be entertained when fraudulent practices have 

 subsequently been discovered, in which case the prizes will be 

 withheld. We read, too, that the prices of birds may be reduced 

 on the second and third days of the Show; bat a wise addition 

 has been made to the ordinary words — viz., " Upon the pro- 

 duction of the receipt for entry fees." We are sorry, however, 

 to see, that though the Judges' names are announced, their 

 individual classes are not named. We see Mr. Mathews is down 

 in conjunction with Messrs. Hewitt and Teebay for poultry; 

 while Messrs. Esquilant, Heaton, and Tegetmeier take the 

 Pigeons. The poultry have twenty cups and Pigeons twenty- 

 one, varying in value from £10 10s. to £3 3s., some of which are 

 presented and some subscribed for. Langshans have a cup and 

 a class, the former given by the Club. Black Cuckoo and White 

 Cochins have to compete together. We should have felt inclined 

 to have made the classification larger and left out the £5 5s. 

 sale classes, as there are now so many other opportunities of 

 buying birds at a moderat9 price. Brahmas have classes for 

 cockerels and pullets, two £5 os. classes, twenty-four prizes and 

 four cups, one of the value of £10 10s. ; but we are certain the 

 display of Darks has not of late been sufficiently good in quality 

 or quantity to necessitate such a bountiful prize list. There are 

 classes for Pile Game, Malays, three sorts of Polish, Silkies and 

 Andalusians. There are nine £2 sale classes and four prizes in 

 each class, and this department will probably be remunerative, 

 though we doubt if the French require two of the divisions to 

 themselves when Dorkings, Cochins, and Brahmas have only 

 three between them. The Bintam classification is excellent, 

 and the display should be good. 



The Pigeons follow. Ponters, Carriers, Dragoons and Tum- 

 blers should come in swarms ; all colours, varieties, and ages 

 have rare chances of showing the quality of the fancy, while 

 Jacobins, Owls and Turbits are handsomely seen to. We are 

 glad to see separate classes for Fantail cooks and hens, and that 

 Blacks and Blues have a class to themselves. Nuns, Truni- 



