-4S0 



JOT"F>'AL OF HORTTCrrLTTRF ANT> Cf TT \GF. G \F.D~N T ER. 



[ De:;mber 20, 'STY. 



■Sry digging it two spits deep, placing two layers cf half-decayed 

 doable manure in trie trench, one layer at the bottom, and the 



-other afctr the firet spit has been placed over it. If this is done 

 now, so that the weather can act upon the surface for two or 

 three months, the ground may be brought into excellent order 

 for cropping; it will merely be necessary to fork over the surface 

 to a depth of 3 inches. Half-decayed leaves are useful for keeping 

 the soil porous. Road scrapings are also useful for this purpose. 

 Of course the very opposite treatment is pursued with regard 

 to light soil ; and heavy loam, if it can be obtained readily, may 

 be laid on the surface to the depth of 6 inches or more, and be 

 dug in. We advise seeds to be sown rather thickly on heavy 

 soil, as on such soil they are likely to be injured. The plants 

 ■will not grow so freely at first, but they will do so much better 



.afterwards, especially if the weather is dry. 



Young Cabbage plants are blown about by the high gales we 

 have had, so much so that the plants work round in a basin 

 formed by the swaying of the stem. This is easily set right by 

 drawing the soil round the stem with a hoe. Slugs are also 

 troublesome, but we kill them by dusting the plants with quiek- 



-lime at night. Lettuces suffer most from their attacks. 



CUCUMBER HOUSE. 



The plants are making very little growth, but they produce 

 as many fruits as we require. We still hold to Tender-and-True 

 to produce fruit both in summer and winter. "We lost our old 

 •stock, but the seedlings obtained from seed sent by Messrs. 

 "Veitch vary but little from the original stock. Mr. C. Turner of 

 Slough sent a single seed of a variety that promises well for 

 winter work. We have propagated it by cuttings, and it has 

 borne fruit earlier than any other sort planted with it. This 

 may be owing to the difference in size of the plants when they 

 were put out ; still it is very free in bearing. It resembles 

 Telegraph in the size and shape of the fruit, but it is darker in 

 -the skin than that sort, and has black spines. Every year 

 there are numbers of Cucumbers reputed to be new exhibited 

 at South Kensington. A large proportion of them are merely 

 variations of Telegraph ; but this good old sort has stood the 

 test of many years' trial, and if by careful selection it can be 

 improved or kept up to its own standard we shall not be in 

 want of a good winter Cucumber. Small fruit about 9 inches 

 or a foot long are the most useful for winter, as two may be 

 produced instead of one. Thrips are very troublesome when 

 the house has to be kept close and the leave3 dry. We do not 

 -know any better way to destroy this pest than by fumigating 

 with tobacco smoke. This must be done with great caution, as 

 the young tender leaves are very ant to softer from the effects 

 of it when it is applied too strong. Red spider, another terrible 

 enemy, can only be removed by syringing. 



VINEKIES. 



The temperature in the early house started last week has not 

 been increased beyond 45° during cold nights. Our object is 

 .gradually to increase the heat until in two weeks more it is 

 about 50', and not going higher than 55° until the buds are 

 started. When they have pushed a few inches the temperature 

 may be run up a few degrees higher. We do not syringe at all 

 after the buds are fairly started. Before this the stems are 

 merely kept moist by gently dewing them with a very fine 

 arose. If the water is applied with force it washes off the 

 mixture, which is not desirable. We keep up the moisture by 

 fermenting material, and that best adapted for this purpose is 

 composed of equal parts of leaves and fresh stable manure. A 

 bed of this will throw off a large quantity of steam, and its 

 jrankneBS will have gone by the time any buds are started. The 

 steam from fresh manure even in a small quantity is dangerous 

 to the tender young leaves. We cannot obtain leaves, but we 

 "use manure in small quantities, adding about two barrowloads 

 -at_ a time to keep up the heat when it shows symptoms of de- 

 clining. We also place some fermenting material on the outside 

 Borders, and cover it with Bhutters to keep the wet and frost 

 from it. For early forcing the shutters are indispensable, not 

 only to retain the heat in the fermenting material, but to keep 

 the autumn rains from saturating the soil before forcing is 

 commenced. 



We have cut all the Grapes in one of the late houses, and 

 placed the stems removed with the bunches in bottles of water 

 in the fruit room. They are not cut from the house containing 

 .Lady Downe's, but from a Muscat house where Muscat of 

 Alexandria, Gros Guillaume, and Mrs. Pince are cultivated. 



PLANT STOVE. 



In one of our houses there is a bed filled with tan. Some of 

 the plants are merely placed on the surface of the bed and others 

 are plunged in the tan. This is according to the character of 

 the plants. If they are healthy and the pots well filled with 

 roots we do not plunge, but a little bottom heat excites root- 

 action in plants that are newly potted or that do not start 

 freely. In a few weeks we shall sift the spent tan, retaining the 

 rough portion and wheeling out the fine, mixing the rough with 

 .some new material. The heat from tan is the most lastiog ; it 

 daes not heat very strongly, so that it does not wear out so 

 rapidly as the more violent heat of stable manure. Oak leaves, 



if they can be obtained in quantity sufficient for the purpose, 

 are excellent for bottom heat. 



Clerodendron Balfourii is certainly one of the most useful 

 plants we have either for training up to cover the rafters or 

 back stage of the stove or as large or small specimen plants. 

 It can be recommended, too, for another reason : While some 

 other climbing plants are very subject to the attacks of red 

 spider, thrips, or mealy bug— the last the most dreaded enemy 

 gardeners have to contend with in the stove — the Clerodendron 

 is never attacked ; insect pests cannot live on it. Our summer- 

 flowering plants have now thoroughly completed their growth 

 and we shall remove them into a cool house. Stephanotis fiori- 

 bunda has also made very good growth. The plants in pots 

 will be kept rather dry at the roots ; they will have just enough 

 water to prevent their flagging. There is no need to sing the 

 praises of Dipladenias as useful decorative plants. The large 

 showy flowers of D. Brearleyana are es f e^med by everyone. 

 D. boliviensis, purs white with yellow throat, is very useful for 

 cutting, and its freedom in producing flowers is not the least 

 point in its favour. Our plants are at present making vigorous 

 growth. We have tried them by allowing them a season of 

 rest all through the winter months, resting them in a tempe- 

 rature of 55° and keeping the soil rather dry, in fact not giving 

 them any water for six weeks at midwinter; but they do not 

 succeed so well with this treatment. They have now a tempe- 

 rature of 65°, and we water them carefully, as Bipladenias do 

 not require very large supplies. They should not receive any 

 water at the roots, especially in winter, until the soil in the pots 

 is drier than most plants would like it. These plants, as well 

 as the Stephanotis, are subject to the attacks of mealy bug, and 

 if this pest is not destroyed now by careful handwashing it is 

 unlikely that the plants will do well in summer. Ixoras should 

 also be carefully examined and all trace i of hug be removed. 

 Specimen plants intended to flower in June should now be cut 

 down and be kept in a heat of 65 J as a minimnm, increasing it 

 to 70° in six weeks from now. It will be difficult to keep up 

 a supply of flowering plants in the stove without Orchids, but 

 we have on previous occasions alluded to the easy manner in 

 which some of the different species may be grown, and the low 

 price at which Calanthes and 6ome others may be purchased 

 permits no excuse to be without them. — J. Boug-las. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*„* All correspondence should ba directed either to "The 

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

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

 ably. We 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. 



Notice of Leaving (A Gardener).— The most correct mode of proceeding 

 is to give notice of your intention before seeking for another place. 



Removing Rose Trees (0. ZX — Legally a tenant has no right ta remove 

 the trees he has planted, unless he has the landlord's permission to remove 

 them. 



Stove is Plant House (E. S.).— We know of no stove that has no chimney 

 to carry the smoke or gases emitted into the open air which is not injurious 

 to the plants in the house. 



Blace Manuee (J. ZJari-s.l — Not knowing of what it is composed we can- 

 not give an opinion. Quicklime dissolved ia water and applied by a brush 

 will kill the moss on the trunks of trees. 



Apples (H. S. Fraier).— Write to Messrs. Webber, Central Avenae, Covent 

 Garden Market, for the information. 



Eveegeeen Sheubs Newlt Planted (H. B.). — Manure spread on the 

 surface would not injure them. 



Green on Wall (A. Braid). — The green on the greenhouse wall is caused 

 by the damp air. Quicklime and water applied with a brush will remove it. 



Peach Teees for Orchard House (IF. R. E.). — We odIv know one of 

 the three you name— viz., Double Montague. It may do for the orchard 

 house, bnt we have not tried it, as there are so many better. Malth.ese (Malta '?J 

 is a good Peach and succeeds in an orchard house. 



Fobcing Rhubarb (F. J.). — Place the Rhubarb roots in the bottom of the 

 barrels with the crowns upwards, adding sufficient soil just to cover the 

 crowns, that is all. Dress your border of herbaceous plants with decayed 

 manure, and let the rains wash it in. 



RooT-pRUNrNG Fruit Trees (Inquisitive). — Dig a half-circle round the 

 trees at the distance of 8 or 6 feet from the stem, according to the size of 

 trees. The largest trees require the greatest dist ince to be allowed. Cut all 

 the roots by digging a trench 2 or 8 feet deep, then work towards the tree 

 with a fork and lift the roots up, catting off all that descend. Yon must not 

 remove the tree entirely, as it will receive too great a check. Place some 

 fresh loam amongst the roots. 



Heating Greenhouse (D. H. W.). — As it is not convenient to place the 

 pipes aide by side, place one above another. It is of no consequence which 

 way in your case. We cannot recommend the valves of one firm more than 



