133 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



[ August 15, 1872. 



of the bos; will be sufficient, and it may be filled with any kind of dry material, 

 light, of course. The Filmy Ferns may be packed in the same way, using wet 

 moss, and giving the roots and substances adhering to them a thorough soak- 

 ing in water before placing them in the wet moss. It is well to put about 

 3 inches of dry moss in the box, then the wet as before described, and a like 

 thickness of dry moss on the top. The tree Ferns should have the fronds 

 cut off to within a foot of their base, and be taken up with about a foot 

 square of roots; the stems as well as the root parts ought to be enveloped 

 in damp moss and secured with string, then place the plants in a packing- 

 case, well surrounding them with dry material, as straw. The best time to 

 send them is when the plants have ceased growing ; and the seasons at the 

 Antipodes being the reverse of ours, March or April will be a suitable time. 

 The tubs in which tree Ferns are to be placed should not be tarred inside ; 

 the tar would act injuriously on the roots. 



LrLimi atjkattjm aftee Flowering (A Subscriber). —Your plant should 

 be continued in a cold house, or it may be placed out of doors until October, 

 then wintered in a house from which frost is excluded. Keep it moderately 

 supplied with water, and when the stem turns yellow cut it away and repot, 

 keeping it no more than moist until the shoots are pushing freely, then 

 water in proportion to the growth, avoiding overwatering at any time. We 

 should not remove the offsets unless increase were particularly desired, when 

 you may pot each offset separately. If you do not want more plants, but a 

 good-sized specimen, pot with all the offsets, removing whatever soil may 

 come away freely, clearing it out down to the crown of the bulbs, and cover 

 these with silver sand. If there are few roots, so that soil may be removed to 

 the bulb, in potting surround the bulb with silver sand. Pot with the crown 

 about 3 inches below the rim of the pot, and cover the crown about an inch. 

 The plant will continue to improve both in size and number of blooms for 

 years. 



Gathering and Drying Everlastings and Grasses (E.). — The proper 

 fc'me to gather Everlasting flowers is when they are full-sized, or a day or two 

 after they are expanded. They may, however, be cut before the flowers open, 

 and we then think them the prettiest, hut the larger their size the more 

 durable they are. We gather largely both kinds at noon on a fine day, tie 

 them in small bundles, and hang them up in a dry airy room. They dry well, 

 and do better than when dried out of doors in the sun- The flowers dry best 

 in a house where Peaches or Grapes are ripening. The Grasses should be 

 gathered as soon as they are fully developed, and there is no better plan of 

 drying them than that described for the Everlastings. We like to gather 

 them about a week after flowering. 



Striking Rose Cuttings {F.). — The most successful plan we have ever 

 tried with regard to striking Roses, is to put the cuttings into sandy soil in 

 6-inch pots, about five or six cuttings to a pot, plunge the pots in a moderate 

 hotbed, shade from direct sun, and give air, especially at night, but always 

 leaving a certain amount of air, so as to prevent damping-off. The cuttings 

 should be kept moist, but not too damp. More depends on the kind of 

 cuttings used than on the treatment. The best cuttings are taken from 

 flowering shoots as soon as the flowers are over, taking the shoots off with a 

 piece of the older wood or heel left on, and taking care that the wood is sound 

 and well ripened. Any soft succulent wood is almost sure to damp off. Rose 

 cuttings are impatient of too much heat, hut in order to strike them quickly 

 they should have a moderate bottom heat. After four or five weeks the 

 cuttings will be struck and ready to pot off. Put them into 4-inch pots filled 

 with moderately rich and light soil, containing a good proportion of decayed 

 leaf soil. Plunge the pots for a time in a=hes over a moderate hotbed, harden- 

 off when the roots are re-established, and keep them in well-ventilated cold 

 i.-ames during the winter. 



Grape Vines {True Blue). — All the varieties you namewill thrive together 

 in the same temperatures. The Black Champion is a superior kind of Black 

 Hamburgh. The Alicante is a good black variety, ripens late, and keeps well 

 The Coleus leaves are very inferior. 



Leaf of Bed Oak (A. B.). — Theleaf sent is large, but not much larger than 

 is usual on the variety from which it was taken, Quercus rubra latifolia, or 

 Champion Oak. 



Tine Leaves Unhealthy (A. B.). — An insufficient supply of water at the 

 roots would cause the leaves to assume the appearance of those sent. You 

 could ascertain this hy examining the border, as too n: uch water would have a 

 similar effect ; it would destroy the rootlets, and thus check the flow of sap. 

 We do not believe it is caused by insufficient ventilation. 



Treatment of Potted Vines (B. C). — As you intend to start them in 

 November, they should have been in their fruiting pots by July, and be kept in 

 a growing temperature until September. If your Vines require repotting we 

 would pot them at once, and if the leaves are still green, place the plants in 

 heat until they assume a yellow tinge. Apples, Pears, and Plums will ripen 

 their wood out of doors. Allow the Peach trees to remain in the orchard 

 house, and give them plenty of room. Fruit-buds will not be freely produced 

 jf either the branches or the trees are crowded. 



Perfecting Cucumber Seeds (A Young Beginner). — If your Cucumbers 

 are grown in rich soil they will not produce seeds freely — indeed, some of the 

 best exhibition varieties produce seeds but sparingly under any circumstances. 

 Those plants which you intend should produce seeds must be planted in soil 

 without any manure in it. If you have a Cucumber house you could grow a 

 plant or two in pots. Place them in a position fully exposed to the sun and 

 near the glass. You may get seeds in that way, but it is too late in the season 

 now to attempt it. 



Pears Cracked and Deformed (L. 7. K.). — The roots of the trees have 

 descended too deep. Open a trench on one side of each, and cut underneath 

 through all the descending roots ; drain the soil, and keep the surface mulched 

 throughout the summer to induce the roots to remain near the surface. 

 "Elm Bleeding [A Subscriber). — Apply a red-hot iron to the wound, and 

 when the surface is charred apply carpenters' red knotting. 



Galeopsis Tetrahtt (P. D.). — Your specimen is Galeopsis Tetrahit, and 

 it certainly has fifteen ribs in the calyx. Some botanists give five nerves, 

 and others five to ten as the generic character of Galeopsis. 



Cuttings {J. C. M.). — You will see advertisements in our columns stating 

 where they can be had. The distinctive markings of Hamburgh fowls are 

 in " Poultry Book for the Many," which you can have free by post from our 

 office if you enclose seven postage stamps with your address. 



Eew Gardens [Fred.). — Write to Mr. Smith, the curator, and tell him 

 what yon wish. 



Insects {Nicol). — The larger beetle is the notorious Hylobius Abietis, very 

 destructive to Fir trees; and the smaller one is Strophosomus Coryli, hitherto 



reputed a harmless species. Are you sure that the latter gets inside the twigs 

 and eats the whole of the pith ? If so, would you be so good as to send 

 specimens of twigs so eaten, with the insects, to Professor Westwood, Oxford. 

 —I. 0. W. 



Names of Fruits (Bradney Manor). — Orangefield Tomato. (A. Jones). — 

 Brailbrook Seedling. 



Names of Plants (B.). — Delphinium pictum. (East Sussex). — We mnst 

 compliment you on your admirable specimens. 1, Cattleya Loddigesii, Lindl. 

 (C. Harrisonife, Paxt.) ; 2, Lantana aculeata; 3, L. nivea ; 4, Eucalyptus sp. : 

 5, Cotula coronopif olia ; 6, Peperomia, near Saundersii (Bot. Mag., 5634), and 

 arifolia; 7, Impatiens parviflora; 8, Epidendrum oncidioides; 9. Hartwegia 

 comosa. (T.B. W.).—l, Indeterminable; 2, Celsia Arcturus. (C.G.).— Aspe- 

 rula ciliaris. (B. B. S.).—l, Verbascum phceniceum; 2, Celsia Arcturus; 

 3, Russelia juncea. (J. P. B.).— 1, A Spiraea, perhaps a fragment of S. Arun- 

 cus; 2, S. Fortune!; 3, Escallonia macrantha; 4, Indeterminable ; are leaf 

 and pod from the same plant ? (J. <?.). — We cannot name your Begonias, nor 

 any florists' varieties. They are too numerous and difficult to distinguish. 



POULTEY, "BEE. AMD PIGEON CHEOUICLE, 



PRIZES FOR BANTAMS. 

 In April and May last it was suggested in our Journal that 

 subscription cups should he ofiered for each of the above classes 

 at the coming Ips-n-ich Show, when I promised to do what I 

 could to assist so laudable an object, but am sorry a severe 

 illness prevented my then giving much attention thereto. I am 

 happy to announce Mr. E. H. Ashton, Mottram, Manchester, 

 has guaranteed the £3 3s. cup for Blacks, and I trust not only 

 those who promised to subscribe (as per the Journal of May 2nd), 

 but others, will now send their subscriptions to Mr. Ashton, and 

 if more than the 63s. be collected the surplus will be applied in 

 creating a fourth and in increasing the second and third prizes. 

 I am sorry the Brown Bed Game and the "Whites have not 

 more supporters, hut we must hope the success of the Blacks 

 will be such as to warrant not only the Committee of the Ips- 

 wich Show, but others also for the future making separate 

 classes for each. — W. B. Jeffries, Secretary. 



COMPARATIVE EXPENSE AND PRODUCE OF 

 VARIOUS FOWLS. 



Isaac Lynde, of Ohio, in the Poultry World, describes an ex- 

 periment tried by him last season. At the 1st of September 

 he took ten pullets each of five breeds, each within a week of 

 being six months old, and placed them in yards 40 feet square, 

 with comfortable houses. For the next six months he kept an 

 account of their food and egg-production with the following- 

 results: — 



The Dark Brahmas ate 369* quarts of corn, oats, and wheat 

 screenings, laid 605 eggs, and weighed 70 lbs. 



The Buff Cochins ate 406 quarts, laid 691 eggs, and weighed 

 73 lbs. , . , , 



The Grey Dorkings ate 309i quarts, lard 524 eggs, and weighed 



591 lbs. ., . , , 



The Houdans ate 214J quarts, laid 783 eggs, and weighed 

 451 lbs. , 



The Leghorns ate 231* quarts, laid 807 eggs, and weighed - 

 36* lbs. 



All the eggs were sold at 18 cents a-dozen. The Leghorns ate 

 less corn than the Houdans, so their food cost less, and the 

 receipts, deducting cost of food, was largest from them. It 

 would have been interesting to have had the weight of the eggs 

 laid by the hens of each breed. The difference in value of the 

 light and heavy fowls should also be taken into consideration. — 

 (Canada Farmer.) 



ORMSKERK AND SOUTHPORT POULTRY SHOW. 



This Show, held in connection with the Southport and Orms- 

 kirk Agricultural Show, was held on the 6th and 7th of August 

 in a well-appointed field adjacent to the railway station of this 

 so-called Montpellier of the north, and was a great success both 

 as regards the quality of the birds and the number of visitors ; 

 the latter could be counted by thousands on both days. A better 

 working Committee we do not wish to meet, and they well deserve 

 the support of our principal exhibitors. 



In poultry, the Mayor's cup for the best pen in the Show went 

 to a capital pen of Partridge Cochins. In Dorkings the Whites 

 do not make that progress we should like, and their coloured 

 brethren were represented by some good old birds, but out of 

 feather; the chickens, however, were most noticed by the 

 Judge. Cochins were also a good lot, more especially the prize 

 Partridge Cochin chickens, to which, as before stated, the 

 Mayor's cup went. Of Brahmas many birds that have won 

 before were in the prize list. Spanish were not in good con- 

 dition, and not so good as usual for this district. Samburghs 

 were not a large show, but Mr. Beldon took all the first prizes 

 with capital birds. Game Bantams were very good. 



