December 27, 1877. ] 



JOUENAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



499 



the chances of a crop of fruit the following season; but the trees 

 will be made sightly, and by good management they can very 

 speedily be brought into a bearing condition. 



It is not wise to train the horizontal growths too near each 

 other ; 9 inches apart is a good distance, and when the walls 

 are of brick it is easy to train the growths along the seams. 

 When the wall iB quite furnished the only attention required 

 for such trees is to keep the spurs close to the main branches. 

 Fan-trained trees are rather more difficult to keep in order as 

 the trees get old. The fruitful portions are to be found more 

 and more at the outer verge of the branches, and when the old 

 trunks become almost destitute of buds it is best to cut them 

 quite back and to train up young wood that will ultimately bear 

 freely. 



Those who are furnishing new walls with trees will have 

 done well if they followed our instructions and- selected their 

 trees in the nursery early in the season. If well-trained four- 

 year-old trees are planted they will come into bearing the second 

 year after planting. It is the practice with many gardeners to 

 ■cut back the young growths of last year very severely. If the 

 trees are healthy and. well furnished with rootB this is not a 

 wise plan. The youog wood should be cat back to two-thirds 

 of its length only, and the branches must not be nailed to the 

 walls until the ground where the trees are planted has subsided. 

 Peaches and Nectarines are usually the last to be nailed. If 

 the youn* wood has been attacked by aphis or Bcale it should be 

 well washed with strong soapy water. All planting should be 

 finished as speedily as possible. Gooseberry, Currant, and 

 Raspberry bushes should be planted, and the ground mulched 

 to keep frost from the roots. If the canes aod busheB are planted 

 jn an exposed situation it is well to place a stout stick tj them 

 to keep them steady in high galeB of wind. 



PINE HOUSES. 



The time is^now drawing nigh when the succession plants 

 must be started.- About the first week in January we move all 

 the plants out of the tan bed, where the roots have been dry, 

 and in a temperature of not more than 75° or 80°. We either 

 use fresh tan entirely or sift the old stuff to separate the dust 

 from the rougher portion. After mixing the rough portion that 

 is left with any that has been obtained fresh from the tan pits 

 level it down and then plunge the pots to half their depth, if 

 deeper excessive heat may injure the roots. In six weeks or 

 more the heat and tan subsides together. A portion of fresh tan 

 anay be added to the Burface, -which will increase the heat again. 

 The plantB ought not to want for water after they are started, 

 aod the temperature of the house, which ranged from 55° to 60°, 

 should not fall below 65°. The home should be damped twice 

 a-day, and the surface of the beds may be occasionally syringed. 

 In the houses whttre fruit i* approaching the ripening stage, and 

 others having fruit in various stages of development, the atmo- 

 sphere must «tlso be rather moist, and as yet much care must be 

 exercised aa to watering; if the compost becomes too dry the 

 stem of the fruit shrivels, which causes premature ripeness and 

 deficiency of flavour. If too much water is applied there is a 

 probability of the fruit becoming black at the core. This mis- 

 chief is also caused by giving too much manure water. We 

 always apply manure wa'er with caution to Pines, and especially 

 so in the winter. The house whore the young suckers are kept 

 will not have more heat than 55° or 60° until the first week in 

 February, when the temperature may be advanced to 65° as a 

 minimum. After keening up thi* temperature until the middle 

 or third week in February the Pines may be potted. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



We have been tying out and placing sticks to plants of various 

 Janus, and it is well to push for »ard all work of this kind when 

 time can be spared for it. Stage Pelargoniums that were potted 

 a few weeks ago have now taken hold of the fresh compost and 

 are making sturdy growths; the plants are not large, else it 

 would have been necessary to place a stout wire rouud the pots 

 at the outer limit of the branches; this can easily be done by 

 placing sticks across the rims of the pots and making them fast. 

 In our case it was only necessary to fasten a piece of rope yarn 

 under the rim and to tie down the shoots to this, thinning them 

 out where they were crowded. Some care is necessary in bend- 

 ing tnem down not to pull the shoots too much, else they are 

 likely to snap off. We just give sufficient water to keep the soil 

 mojot and not to allow it to become too dry. If too dry the older 

 leaves are likely to become yellow and must be picked off, and 

 too much moisture eausi-s spot. Fumigate to destroy green 

 fly. Cinerarias are growing vigorously, and must be kept in a 

 house close to the glass ; air must be admitted freely, but the 

 plants are much injured if they are placed in a draughty place. 

 A dry atmosphere is not suitable for them. Give weak liquid 

 manure water occasionally if the pots are filled with roots. That 

 made from cow manure is the most suitable. Coronilla glauca 

 and Cytisus racemosus are valuable for producing flowers now 

 and onwards uutil other flowering plants are more plentiful. 

 The bright yellow fl ,wers are very striking, and the plants are 

 -very easily grown. Heaths and Epacrises that flower at this 

 season must be taken care of. The withered and mouldy 



flowers must be removed, as they have a tendency to produce 

 decay. 



The first batch of Hyacinths, Tulips, and Polyanthus Nar- 

 oissus have been placed in gentle heat, and they are growing 

 freely. Other spring-flo^eriug plants, such as Deutsias, Spiraea 

 japonica, and other hardy-flowering shrubs may be placed in 

 heat, also a few Roses; a very gentle bottom heat with a tem- 

 perature of 55° will cause the plants to grow freely. But we 

 find that the growths are weak and flowers are not freely pro- 

 duced unlesB the plants are kept rather close to the glass. It is 

 not wi6e so early in the season as this to place plants in the 

 house to force, that have not been properly prepared. They 

 are prepared by being established in the pots some time before 

 they are forced, bo that when they are excited to grow the roots 

 are ready to supply sap. 



By judicious management and very little expense a few Tea 

 Roses may be in flower now. The plants should be placed in 

 an airy house with a ni>;ht temperature of about 55°, and air 

 should be admitted as freely as may be deemed desirable. The 

 outer petals are apt to become mouldy if the temperature is not 

 high enough and the air about the plants is stagnant. Some of 

 the Teas are bad openers, and some are not so useful for cutting 

 as others. NiphetoB and Safrs.no are the two most employed by 

 the bouquetists in Covent Garden. Beautiful bu'Is of thoBe 

 two may now be seen in the windows with sprays of Euphor- 

 bia jacquiniraflora, the small Rornau Hyacinths, and other neat 

 little, flowers; indeed, many of the smu.ll barton-hole bouquets- 

 are rather overdone with these small flowers. A neat fresh 

 Rose bud with its own bright glossy green leaves would be more 

 esteemed by a person of taste. 



FLORIST FLOWERS. 



Little can be Baid about these at this time, except that Auri- 

 culns require to be looked over to remove nil the decaying leaves, 

 and to scratch over the surface of the pots if moss is growing. 

 Whether or not, it does good just to scritch the surface each 

 time the plants are picked over. There are few frames where 

 drip is not to be found, and we have had valuable specimens 

 quite sodden at midwinter through being placed under the place 

 where water has dripped into the pot in wet weather. Carna- 

 tions and Picotees also require looking over in the same manner. 

 We have not thought it necessary to protect the Tulip beds 

 from wet ; there seems no reaBon to do this in our district. In 

 wet heavy soils the growers have iron hoops bent over the beds, 

 and some' sort of canvaB is hung over them to throw off the 

 rains and protect the plants coming through the ground from 

 frosts. — J. Douglas. 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



Sutton & Sons, Reading. — Amateurs' Guide in Horticulture, 

 and Ge leral Catalogue of Vegetable and Flower Seeds, Potatoes, 

 &c. (highly illustrated). 



James Carter & Co., High Holborn, London. — Vade Meeum 

 and General Catalogue of Vegetable and Flower Seeds, Potatoes, 

 So., (highly illustrated). 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*,* All correspondence should bo 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, s.s doing so subjects them to un- 

 justifiable trouble and expense. 



Books (Fantail). — Leighton's " Lichen Flora," and Berkeley's " British 

 Mosses." (A Constant Reader). — The two dictionaries are one and the same. 

 (Cuskin). — " Outioor Gardening" and u Indoor Gardening." You can have 

 them by post if you enclose 3s. 3d. in postage stamps. 



Begonia (G. F.). — We cannot name florists' varieties, they are too nume- 

 rous aod nearly alike. 



Vines for Cool House (E. A. P.). — BlacJc : Black Champion, Black 

 Hamburgh, Mill Hill Hamburgh, aod Black Frontignan. White : Buckland 

 Sweetwater, Foster's Seedling, Dr. Hogg, Boyal Muscadine. We did not 

 receive youriormer letter, Maoy letters have recently been wrongly delivered, 

 and it is only by the coartesy of our neighbours that we have received im- 

 portant communications which have be*n addressed to us. Replies to corre- 

 spondents are usually given in about a week alter the questions are received. 



Violets (22. L. P.). — The correspondent you name is not a dealer. 



Grub (A. Wilson). — It was entirely smashed. Probably it is the grub of 

 the Daddy-longlegs. 



Heat in Vinery at Eest (Amateur). — You may keep the house as a 

 warm greenhouse. Do not let the temperature fall below 45" or rise over 50° 

 during the wiuter. Begonias and many species of Ferns would be safe in 

 such a house. Roses will be quite safe in a eold frame until spring. 



Cropping Vines (Idem). — Old Vines that have been forced and heavily 

 cropped for twenty years will be well nigh exhausted. As the roots have 

 gone down 8 feet below the surface you might try what effect raisiog them 

 nearer the surface would have. They witl never succeed so well as young 

 Vines. 



Double Primulas (Idem). — If you iotend to grow double Primulas for 

 exhibition it will bB necessary for you to obtain all the varieties that you 



