238 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 19, 1872. 



B. J. Edwards, 222, Strand, and 25, Bishopsgate St. "Within, 

 E.C. — Catalogue of Hyacinths, Dutch and Cape Bulbs, Sc. 



Dick RadclySe & Co., 129, High Holborn, London, ~W.C.— 

 List of Dried Natural Flowers, Horticultural Decorations, d.c. 



Drummond Brothers, 52, George St., Edinburgh. — Select List 

 of Hyacinths, Early Tulips, &c. 



Sutton & Sons, Reading. — Catalogue of Bulbous Flower 

 Boots, Plants, Seeds, &c. 



W. Bull, King's Road, Chelsea, London, S.W. — Betail List of 

 Bulbs and Tuberous-rooted Plants. 



R. Dean, Ealing, London, W. — Catalogue of Hyacinths, &c. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



~%* We request that no one will write privately to any of the 

 correspondents of the " Journal of Horticulture, Cottage 

 Gardener, and Country Gentleman." By so doing they 

 are subjected to unjustifiable trouble and expense. All 

 communications should therefore be addressed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, <&c, 171, Fleet 

 Street, London, E.C. 



"N.B. — Many questions must remain unanswered until next 

 week. 



Books {J. Sturge). — Thomson on the " Pine Apple," published by Black- 

 wood, will give you every information on the subject. 



George's Calorigen Stove (M. C). — We have had no experience of 

 George's Calorigen stove, and consequently we cannot speak with any 

 ^authority upon its merits or mode of working. 



Select Hyacinths (0. P. Q.) — The following are a dozen good non-expen- 

 sive single kinds— viz., Red: Madame Hodgson, Bobert Steiger, Solfaterre, 

 •Sultan's Favourite, Amy, L'Ami du Cceur. White: Grandeur a Merveille, 

 Madame Van der Hoop, Queen of the Netherlands. Blue : Baron Von 

 Tuyll, Charles Dickens, General Lauriston. Of double varieties you may 

 Jiave Duke of Wellington, La Tour d'Auvergne, Van Speyk, Eegina Victoria, 

 Prince of Waterloo, Grootvoorst, and Laurens Koster. If you want early 

 ■bloom, pot this month ; if not, pot in October or November. Keep the puts 

 in the dark about six weeks, but the time must be regulated by the growth, 

 which you must not allow to become drawn up. You can hardly fail if you 

 :have good bulbs to begin with, an equable temperature, and gradually expose 

 to light when the spikes begin to appeal - . 



Achillea Millefolium:. — A Constant Subscriber wishes to know if there 

 ■is anything that will destroy common Yarrow. He says, " I have had children 

 working on the lawn for weeks grubbing it up, and I think it has come worse 

 ^han ever. For two years I have used Watson's lawn sand to destroy daisies 

 and dandelions, andlfear it has greatly increased the growth of the Achillea." 

 Protecting Chrysanthemums out of Doors (Alfred). — We cannot ad- 

 vise you further than to adopt the canvas covering you propose. Arrange it 

 -so as to throw off the wet. If you can keep them dry the flowers will endure 

 a considerable amount of frost. We presume you will have sides to your 

 covering. The covering should be ready in October, but only employ it in 

 severe weather. In mild weather they cannot be too fully exposed. In very 

 .severe frosts you may put on mats or other material. We suppose, of course, 

 that the plants are in a sheltered position. 



Sarracenia Culture (L. M. E.).— Drain the pots or pans well, and fil 1 

 hem with a compost of fibrous brown peat two-thirds, one-third chopped 

 sphagnum, and a sixth part each of crocks broken small and silver sand. Do 

 not pot bard, but let the material lie loosely, so that the water may pass 

 ■away freely. Water well after potting, and then twice a-week throughout the 

 winter. From February to October, not inclusive, they will require water 

 daily. Set the pots on rough shelves that will absorb the water passing 

 rom the pots; unpainted deal will do. The moist comer of a house, where 

 no air is admitted in the immediate neighbourhood, is found the most suit- 

 able position. From October to February afford a temperature of 50° at 

 night, with a rise of 5° or 10° by day, and at other times 60° by night, with 

 ^65° to 75° by day. Plenty of moisture in the atmosphere, with a very thin 

 shade in sunny weather, are the other essentials to success. For further 

 particulars of successful treatment see what Mr. Barnes says in this Journal 

 of May 9th, 1872, page 382. He is the most successful cultivator of these 

 plants. 



Manure for Poor Sandy Soil (J. W. B.). — Good farmyard manure is 

 the best you can use ; we should apply it in November before digging for the 

 winter. Twenty tons per acre will be a good, but not too heavy, dressing. 

 As the Broccoli will follow some other crop, the ground need not be ma- 

 nured for it, though under the circumstances a dressing of well-rotted 

 manure dug in would he more beneficial than otherwise. Artificial manures 

 are not nearly so good for your soil as farmyard manure, especially when it 

 ds mostly cow dung, which, from its lasting character, is best for a light soil. 

 In spring we should give the Onion ground a further dressing of old manure, 

 pointing it in with a fork lightly ; and you may still further benefit the whole 

 of the ground, as well as that intended for Onions, by dressing with lime and 

 soot in equal parts, with half a part of salt, the whole well mixed and applied 

 at the rate of one peck to 30 square yards. A mixture of guano and salt is 

 an excellent manure for all kitchen-garden crops, and should be applied to 

 -them in moist weather. 



Club Boot in Cabbages (S. W.). — Clubbing is very frequent in old 

 garden ground. Frequently change the positions of the crops; dig, trench, 

 and expose the soil well to frost ; lime it, or point-in a dressing of soot. As 

 regards the plants, transplant them frequently, rejecting all that exhibit pro- 

 tuberances on the roots. A little wood ashes or soot dropped into the holes 

 at planting may also prove beneficial as a preventive ; but when once a plant 

 is fairly affected, the best thing to do is to burn it; even if the protuberance 

 is removed the plant rarely comes to much. 



Sowing Apple and Pear Pips {P. W.). — Apple pips should be sown 

 moderately thickly in autumn in beds of good light soil, and covered 

 with an inch of fine soil. They will come up in spring. The Pear pips 

 should be sown in February after being washed from the pulp in autumn 

 when the fruit is fully ripe, drying and preserving them in the same way as 

 other seeds. The seedlings will come up in the year of sowing. The Dog 

 Itose heps should be gathered in November, be kept in dry sand until Feb- 



ruary, and the mass should then be broken to pieces with the fingers, and 

 sown at the end of that month or early in March in good rich soil, covering 

 with about half an inch deep of soil. Some of the plants will appear in 

 May, but very often the seed does not germinate until the second spring. 

 You vvill need to be on the look-out for mice. They are very fond of all the 

 seeds. 



Tulips and Narcissus for Pot Culture (J. F. K.).— Tulips : Belle 

 Alliance, Bride of Haarlem, Chrysolora, Eeizer Kroon, Le Matelas, Proser- 

 pine, Vermilion Brillant, White Pottehakker, Bose Aplatie ; these are single 

 varieties. Double varieties are ImperatorBubrorum, Princess Alexandra, and 

 Tournesol. Narcissus: Bathurst, Bazelman major, Queen of the Nether- 

 lands, Golden Era, General Wyndham, and Lord Canning. 



Boiler {Berry). — A saddle-back boiler IS to 20 inches in length would be 

 ample for such a place, and about 50 feet of 3-inch piping. We prefer 3-inch, 

 pipes for a house of such small size, as they will soon heat, and only occa- 

 sional fires will be wanted. We always consider hot water the most expensive 

 means of heating such small places. 



Greenhouse Arrangement (A Novice). — We have looked over your letter 

 and sketch, and hardly see the particulars you want. Your flow-and-retum 

 pipe under the stage will keep out frost in a 12-feet-wide house, but it will 

 scarcely do more in severe weather. To keep flowering plants in winter — 

 not to be under 45° — would require an extra pipe, unless your two pipes were 

 very hot. The earth you could lighten with well-aired, dried, rotten dung, 

 lime rubbish, and sandy loam. In the earth border we should plant Vines 

 from 4 to 5 feet apart, chiefly Black Hamburghs. A shelf could cover the 

 border for plants. Your most serviceable plants will be Camellias, Epacrises, 

 Cinerarias, and Chinese Primulas for winter and spring, with the addition of 

 some Cytisuses and Sweet Daphnes. Pelargoniums of the scarlet section and 

 Fuchsias would do well in summer, and tender annuals if the Vines did not 

 shade them too much. 



Vines in Greenhouse (A Constant Reader). — You are acting quite right 

 in applying a little fire heat during the day, letting the fire go out or keeping 

 it very low at night, and giving air day and night. The fire heat is very 

 necessary in such a dull, wet, and late summer as the present. The covering 

 of the border with Melon-frame lights will, by throwing off the rain, assist in 

 the ripening of the wood through the dryness checking growth; and the 

 heating of the border by the flue will contribute to the same result. The 

 border will be rendered drier by it, and that will tend to make the Vines rest. 



Thrips on Fuchsias (A.Z.). — The leaves you sent us were devoured by 

 thrips, of which the white is the young, the black the old state. No speci- 

 mens reached us with any numbers on them. In addition to the thrips, there 

 were on the leaves vast numbers of their eggs ; and as these will become 

 thrips, first white, then black, you will need to pursue a lengthened course of 

 treatment for their destruction. The plants will be going out of flower, and 

 will soon be at rest. We should at once lay them on their sides and syringe 

 them with a solution of 2 ozs. of soft soap to a gallon of tobacco water. This 

 may be made by pouring boiling water on the strongest shag tobacco, covering 

 up until cool, and then straining. Two ounces of tobacco are sufficient for a 

 gallon, along with two ounces of soft soap. Apply with a syringe, turning the 

 plants round so as to thoroughly wet the under sides of the leaves — in fact 

 every part of the plants. Repeating the application in about ten days will be 

 sufficient for this season ; and if the thrips reappear next year fill the house 

 with tobacco smoke on the first appearance, and. whenever one is seen repeat 

 the fumigation. The house should be so filled with smoke that not a plant 

 can be seen through the glass. 



Mesembryanthemum cordifolium vareegatum, Alternanthera, and 

 Echeveria secunda glauca Propagation (G. F. R.). — You may raise the 

 Mesembryanthemum and Alternantheras by cuttings, which should be put in 

 now, the former in very sandy loamy soil, and those of the Alternantheras in 

 a compost of two parts loam and one part each leaf soil, sandy peat, and silver 

 sand. Place them in a mild sweet hotbed of 70° to 75 : ; shade them from 

 bright sun, and keep them close, though air must be given if they are likely 

 to damp off from an excess of moisture. When rooted remove them to a 

 house with a temperature of 45° to 50°, giving only water enough to keep them 

 fresh. In March they should be potted-off singly, and grown on in gentle 

 heat. If there are cuttings they may be put in, and they will make nice 

 plants by planting-out time. They should be well hardened-off before plant- 

 ing out. The plants should have richer soil when potted-off, increasing the 

 proportion of leaf soil, or one part of well-decayed manure may be added. 

 The Echeveria may be raised from seed, which should be sown early in March 

 in pots well drained, and filled with a compost of equal parts light fibrous 

 loam, leaf soil, and silver sand ; press firmly, water, scatter the seed, and then 

 sprinkle very lightly with silver sand. Place in a hotbed of 70 g to 75°, just 

 keeping moist. When the plants are up keep them near the glass, and admit 

 air moderately. When large enough to handle pot them off singly in tho 

 smallest size of pot, using the same compost as for the seed. Return them 

 to the hotbed, and keep them no more than sufficiently moist, but shaded 

 from bright sun until established ; then admit air freely, and remove them to 

 a cold frame when they are growing. The plants will be small the first year 

 — in fact they are hardly of a planting-out size until the second season. 



Horticultural Bullders (T. Bignell). — We do not know of any horti- 

 cultural builders in the immediate neighbourhood of Walton-on-Thames, but 

 there are several at Chelsea, whose names you will find in our advertising 

 columns, who will no doubt deliver any buildings you may commission of 

 them, on terms nearly as advantageous as if they lived nearer Walton-on- 

 Thames. 



Various (G. A. J.). — Seedling Apples, to insure your having good fruit, 

 should be grafted with scions of some known variety. You may winter 

 Geraniums by covering them with hoops and a thick coating of litter or 

 straw. We have not noticed Holkham Hall yet. We will attend to your 

 other suggestion. 



Planting Filberts (A Regular Subscriber). — We have not raised the Fil- 

 bert from seed, but, like most fruits of an improved kind, seedlings will be 

 liable to degenerate, though occasionally there will be amongst them one 

 better. Generally the stock for planting is obtained either from suckers or 

 cuttings. If you only want a small quantity you had better go to some 

 respectable nurseryman, and he will supply you. With regard to your other 

 inquiry, we expect an article on the subject. 



Fumigator {Tobacco).— W e have never seen the fumigator you refer to, 

 sold by Messrs. Barr & Sugdcn; but we have used Dreschler's, and found it 

 effective. 



Treatment of Young Vines (ilf. P., Balham). — Your Vines have done 

 well. The buds towards the tops are generally the most prominent, but 



