September 26, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



255 



Cabbages reared as before stated. Among Cabbages for suc- 

 cession we like Veitch's, Atkins' Matchless, and Little Pixie, a 

 sweet early kind. They should be planted in runs 15 inches 

 apart, and in rows removed from each other some 10 or 

 12 inches. In every one of the three crops which each yields, 

 the produce is plentiful, particularly that of the first men- 

 tioned. We plant larger sorts 2 feet apart in the rows, and 

 allow 15 inches between plant and plant. These produce large 

 full heads for the kitchen, but the smaller kinds are decidedly 

 most useful for the parlour and cottage-gardens of limited 

 extent. 



This Vanack or Atkins' Matchless, improved by Messrs. 

 Veitch, can be grown well a foot apart, and from it vast 

 quantities of Cabbages and Sprouts can be cut in the season. 

 We plant Coleworts less than a foot apart. From them we 

 obtain nice little heads from this time onwards, which some 

 people like better than offsets from Cabbages. For a small 

 garden we know nothing more profitable than the small 

 compact Matchless, as after the first Cabbage is cut it will 

 soon produce three or four more, and go on producing more 

 and more small young Cabbages through the winter and 

 spring. If such a close plantation received lots of house 

 sewage, soapsuds, &c, during the summer and early autumn, 

 there is no calculating the amount of produce they will yield. 

 Now is the time for planting Cabbages on ground previously 

 occupied by Onions ; but it should not, if already well pre- 

 pared, be again manured, as this will be apt to make the plants 

 grow too luxuriantly and be nipped with frost. Several times 

 when our Cabbage plants became rather strong, we have gone 

 along the rows, raised the plants a little with a fork just so as 

 to snap the stronger roots, and then trodden the ground round 

 the plants again, afterwards roughening the surface to prevent 

 the frost acting too freely on it. We have thus saved fine 

 rows of Cabbages when other luxuriant rows left alone suffered 

 irom the severity of the winter. It is better to apply some 

 manure as top-dressing in spring when plentiful crops are 

 l-equired. If, however, plants are expected to bear heavily in 

 the two ensuing springs, a lot of rich material from the rub- 

 bish heap should be dug down in layers from 15 to 18 inches 

 irom the surface. Ground thus heavily cropped we generally 

 renew again by taking the Cabbage stumps away and ridging 

 -and bedding for Peas and Celery. 



FRUIT DEPARTMENT. 



Gathered the ripest fruit carefully, placing the Peaches on 

 fine paper, with wadding or fine dried short grass beneath it. 

 A clean soft hand is the best of all for gathering. A practised 

 gatherer knows almost without touching the fruit whether it 

 is ready. Backward though the season has been in certain 

 respects, some fruits are earlier than usual. For instance, we 

 have had some fine Marie Louise Pears, though generally they 

 -are not ripe until a fortnight later. 



ORNAMENTAL DEPARTMENT. 



We have been obliged against our wishes to water the most 

 ■of our flower-beds heavily, and especially all edgings. On 

 ■the 20th we picked the flower-beds over and watered them 

 moderately. By so doing the roots were encouraged to support 

 the dense masses of bloom which would not then have been 

 Jiurt by any shower that might have come soon afterwards. 

 Had we allowed the soil around the roots to remain dry, a 

 shower of rain arriving before these were able to exert their 

 influence, would have washed-ofi bushels of flowers. It is in- 

 teresting, after a shower, to observe the difference between the 

 appearance of plants which have been treated after the former 

 fashion, and those abandoned to the latter condition. Pecks 

 of Calceolaria blooms would often be saved on the plants if 

 the roots were moistened before heavy rains. A dull day 

 before rain is expected is often the best time to apply pure 

 water, or sewage and manure water. 



Got on with cuttings, and will now have a busy time in 

 arranging and fresh supplying corridors, conservatory, &c, and 

 repotting Cinerarias, Primulas, Pelargoniums, late Balsams, 

 and dividing and potting Ferns, and showy-foliaged plants. 

 The Coleus in huge masses comes in well in warm corridors, 

 as the more direct light they have the richer and better are 

 the colours. The least shade injures their brilliancy. The 

 best thing of all for compost is turf, bristling with hard needle- 

 like grass, cut some 2 or 3 inches deep. This will be found so 

 tough and full of fibres, that it requires an effort to pull it 

 asunder. The simplest mode of bringing such turf into a 

 useful compost for potting, is to build it neatly into stacks 

 from 3 feet in width, and finishing it with a span-roof, by 

 drawing the turf to a point. Run open drain-tiles every foot 



or so through the stack, or some rough branches of wood, so 

 that the air may permeate and sweeten the mass, and yet the 

 rains be excluded. In less than a twelvemonth such sods will 

 have lost all their vitality and be as sweet as sweet can be. 

 When we cannot wait for the natural sweetening of such turf, 

 a good plan is to light a fire with any rubbish and then place 

 the sods around it to kill and char the grass. Such sods 

 freely exposed for a fortnight will make good potting com- 

 post.— R. F. 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



W. Paul, Waltham Cross, London, N. — Base Catalogue, 

 1872-1873. 



E. G. Henderson & Son, Wellington Road, St. John's Wood, 

 London, N.W. — Catalogue of Bulbs and Flower Boots. 



J. Dickson & Sons, Newton Nurseries, and 102 and 103, East- 

 gate Street, Chester. — Select Boses — Catalogue of Bulbous 

 Flower Boots — List of Grape Vines — List of Strawberries. 



T. S. Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham. — Catalogue of 

 Spring Flowers, Hardy Bulbs, &c. 



D. Gold McKay, Market Hill, Sudbury, Suffolk.— Catalogue 

 of Dutch Flower Boots, Boses, Trees, Shrubs, &o. 



Harrison & Sons, Seed Growers, Merchants, and Nurserymen, 

 Market Place, Leicester. — Butch and other Bulbs. 



George Such, South Amboy, New Jersey, America. — Stove 

 and Greenhouse Plants. 



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. A^ 1 

 communications should therefore be addressed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, dc, 171, Fleet 

 Street, London, E.C. 



We also request that correspondents will not mix up on the 

 same sheet questions relating to Gardening and those oh 

 Poultry and Bee subjects, if they expect to get them 

 answered promptly and conveniently, but write them on 

 separate communications. Also never to send more than 

 two or three questions at once. 



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

 week. - 



What Constitutes a Bicolor Geranium ? (J.D.). — The otliemames by 

 which Bicolor Pelargoniums are known sufficiently indicate the reply to this 

 — viz , " Gold and Bronze," therefore they must have a yellow edge. — D. 



Seedling Scarlet Geranium (C Hart). — The truss is very large and 

 the colour good, but no opinion can be formed of its worth for gardening 

 purposes without seeing an entire plant. Send one to the Floral Committee 

 of the Eoyal Horticultural Society. 



Roses on Trellis (H. F.). — The varieties "you mention will require no 

 winter protection at West Brompton. 



Rose Leaves Cut in Circles {Centurion). — The cuts are made by the 

 leaf-cutter bee. We know of no remedy but catching the assailants. There 

 are notes on the insect in our twenty-first volume, pages 356, 357. 



Passage of Heat, &c. {J. H.). — We cannot insert more on the subject. 



Elder Cuttings [Sambucns). — We never knew rabbits touch the Elder, 

 nor do we think they would as long as any other plant could be got at. " The 

 Fern Manual " includes the greenhouse species and their culture. 



Fruit Trees for West Wall (E. W. S.).— Elruge Nectarine. Hems- 

 kirk, Shipley, and Moorpark Apricots. Beurre Bosc, Passe Colmar, and 

 Winter Nelis Pears. Early Mirabelle, Drap d'Or, Green Gage, Jefferson, 

 Coe's Golden Drop, and Late Rivers Plums. 



Climbers to Cover a House in Yorkshire (R. G.). — We fear that a 

 smooth-dressed stone wall will not present inequalities enough to enable Ivy 

 to cling when its growth projects outwards much ; but it may cling for a few 

 years, and then wires might be placed before it as needed, and if led along 

 beneath the foliage would not be seen. With the exception of Borne kinds of 

 Ampelopsis and Bignonia capreolata we do not know of anyt hin g that, without 

 artificial support, clings sufficiently to a smooth wall. Presuming, therefore, 

 that you give the preference to Ivy, there are several varieties of this all good. 

 The Irish is the quickest grower, but not the best climber. Hedera Rasgneri- 

 ana is very good, so are the Heart-leaved and H. palmata. The Silver and 

 Gold-edged look pretty, but are of slow growth ; a blotch-leaved variety grows 

 faster. Amongst other evergreen climbers, the Pyracanthas and others of 

 the Crataegus family are useful, and the berries of several are highly orna- 

 mental. Cotoneaster microphylla may be tried, and we have seen C. Sim- 

 mondsii look exceedingly well in autumn and winter when loaded with its 

 rich orange- coloured berries; it is half-evergreen. Perhaps the fastest-grow- 

 ing of all evergreen climbers is the Evergreen Honeysuckle, while amongst 

 those of half-evergreen habit may be mentioned Periploca grseca, Jasrninum 

 revolutum, and Roses of endless variety. Some deciduous climbers may be 

 added for their ornamental foliage or showing flower. Of the latter class 

 Jasminum nudiflorum produces its handsome yellow flowers at Christmas, 

 Forsythia viridissima early in spring, Wistaria sinensis a little later, and the 

 Clematis family during the summer. The departing foliage of the Virginian 

 Creeper gives a rich tint to the scenery in autumn. The noble foliage of the 

 Aristolochia ought not to be forgotten with its singularly-formed flowers con- 

 cealed beneath a mass of foliage. We cannot recommend Ceanothuses, Passi- 

 floras, and some other plants for Yorkshire. We give the preference to Ivy 

 and Roses, which we would plant in greater abundance than anything else, 

 adding Jasminum nudiflorum if appearance in midwinter is important. 



