291 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 10, 1372. 



Elcoine Brothers, 7, Esplanade, Ealing. — Catalogue of Flower 

 Hoots, Dried Natural Flowers, &c. 

 "W. Knight, Hailsham. — General Catalogue. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 

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

 week. 

 Orange Blossoms (C. Lee). — Yoax question was answered at the time. 

 See page 440, vol. xxii. 



A Green Grape (Green Grape). — In your greenhouse, unheated after 

 March, you may cultivate the Buckland Sweetwater. 



Garden Plan (E. Shuter). — It may he of any size you please, provided 

 yon are careful to have each bed in proportions similar to those of the plan. 

 There is no work such as you mention, hut there are eleven communications 

 and drawings giving full directions in our nineteenth volume. 



Fruits for Surrey Orchard (IF.). — We cannot advise, as we do not 

 know the size of the ground to he planted. 



Gas Lehe (H. C.).— We have applied it at all seasons to destroy grubs and 

 slugs. We sprinkle enough to whiten the surface. Tou will see our reply on 

 the subject to another correspondent last week. 



Vine Leaves Scorched (An Old Subscriber). — The sun has "taken 

 hold" of the Vine leaves; it may be caused by bad places in the glass, or by 

 insufficient ventilation. 



Late-keeping Grapes (Amateur). — Lady Downe's and Alicante are the 

 best late-keeping black Grapes. The former is liable to scald, hut this can be 

 prevented by giving plenty of ventilation just before the Grapes begin to 

 colour. Calabrian Raisin and White Tokay are both good late-keeping white 

 Grapes. We cannot recommend the other white variety you name. West's 

 St. Peter's is a good late Grape. You might try a Vine of Gros Colman; it is 

 a noble-lookiLg variety. 



Pruning Fig Trees (H.). — The best time to prune your Fig trees will be 

 March, when you must cut away some of the old wood, and nail-in the young 

 fruitful shoots, but do not shorten them. If a portion of the wood had 

 bsen cut away in August, the young shoots would not now have been so 

 crowded, and would have ripened better. We approve of summer pruning 

 and training for all sorts of fruit tiees. Bear in mind that the Fig bears only 

 on the young wood, and if this is cut away the crop will be lost. 



Red Spider ox Peach Trees (F. G. Sykes). — Do not remove the leaves 

 from the trees before they fall naturally. You may assist nature by drawing 

 your hand or a broom gently up the shoots, not downwards, as you would then 

 injure the buds. Brush up, and remove the leaves as they fall off. If you 

 allow the red spider to establish itself too firmly, it is then difficult to dis- 

 lodge. Wash the trees well with clear water on the first appearance of the 

 pest ; this should be applied every morning with a garden engine. You will 

 not require any nostrums if this be done effectually. We never winter-dress 

 the trees in any way,. hut we never allow red spider to get a hold of them in 

 summer. 



Brick-lined Stove (W. B. Alford). — In our No. 354, page 28, is a draw- 

 ing oi one. You could fit in the bricks yourself if you purchased the iron stove. 

 Propagating Centaurea CANDLDissniA (H. F. S.). — It is best propagated 

 in March by cuttings. Old plants may be taken up now, potted, and wintered 

 in a house safe from frost, giving them no more water than is sufficient to 

 keep them fresh, and removing the old leaves as they die off. If such plants 

 are introduced into a heat of 50° or 55° in February, they will soon produce a 

 number of cuttings, which should be taken or rather slipped off, the heel 

 pared smooth, and the leaves removed as far as they are to be inserted in 

 the soil — namely 1 to Ik inch, and if the cuttings have the same length of 

 stem they are long enough. Insert them singly in 3-inch pots, usins very 

 sandy soil, with a little sand round the base. Place them in a gentle bottom 

 heat of 70° to 75°. Keep them shaded and moist, but not very wet, and they 

 will soon root. The cuttings do not strike so readily at other seasons, though 

 they will do so if similar means be adopted. 



Tricolor Pelargoniums (Idem\ — Winter them in a temperature of 45° 

 from fire heat, and in spring 50- will be quite sufficient. After May they are 

 best in cold pits. They can hardly be kept too near the glass, and should 

 never he watered until the soil is dry. Liquid manure may be applied at every 

 alternate watering after March, but only when the pots are full of roots. 

 One pound of guano and a peck of soot to thirty gallons of water make a good 

 liquid manure; stir well up before use. 



Koof for Ice House (A. S. C). — As the rats have made holes in your 

 thatch roof, thatch it with heath instead of straw. It is, perhaps, equal to 

 straw.' Could you not poison them ? We do not think roofing felt would 

 serve you, but it might do so if placed under and over the thatch, and coated 

 with gas tar, which rats avoid; it would also assist in preserving the ice. It 

 should he so put on that the rats cannot enter the thatch without eating 

 through it. 



Roses in Pots (J. W. L.). — We should at once turn the Roses out of the 

 pots, remove all the soil that comes away freely from the roots, and pot in fresh 

 soil. Eight or 9-inch pots for the size of the plants you describe will answer 

 very well. After potting they should be placed in a cold pit, or be plunged 

 over the rim in coal ashes in a sheltered position, affording protection in 

 severe weather. Pruning may be done in November, or be deferred until the 

 plants are introduced to the house, which, for flowering in April, should be 

 in January. The pyramidal form we consider the best for pot Roses. 



Pruning Marechal Niel Rose on Wall (Idem). — The Rose treehaving 

 become bare at the bottom of the wall, we should advise you to cut out the old 

 shoots to within a few inches of their base, leaving sufficient young shoots 

 for covering the wall, an! as they have all formed at the top of the wall we 

 should bring them down, taking care not to break them in turning. The 

 shoots cut down will most likely each give you one or more shoots, and that 

 being the case you will have little difficulty in covering the lower part of the 

 wall. We should nail-in what we could of the foreright shoots, only removing 

 the unripe points of these and the long shoots. The very weak wood is of no 

 use, and may be cut clean out. 



Peach Trees on a South Wall (Idem). — The subsoil being a cold, wet, 

 aid heavy "brick clay," we approve of your paving the bottom, and we should 

 run it afterwards with t hin mortar, which we should allow to dry or set before 

 pitting in the compost that you name. Fibrous loam and a little old manure 



will answer well. Holes 4 feet wide are not so large as we should wish, but we 

 presume you will enlarge them as the trees grow, and the old trees can be re- 

 duced to make way for the young ones. 



Pear Leaves Black in Orchard House (A. A.).— The Pear tree leaves 

 from the orchard house seem as if the sun had shone "powerfully on them 

 and browned them, most likely when wet or under some spots in the glass. 

 This season, however, if the buds are all right we should think nothing of the 

 browning ot the leaves. We have had a few leaves on Apple and Pear trees 

 out of doors that were similarly marked in summer, after the hail and sleet 

 late in spring. There has not been the usual health in the leaves of fruit 

 trees generally this year, but the buds for nest year seem to be in good con- 

 dition. 



Uses of a Forcing Pit (Excelsior). — As it is, your pit cannot profitably 

 he used for both Cucumbers and Melons, as the two do not succeed well 

 together. You could have a division put in, and then use one half of the pit 

 for Cucumbers and the other for Melons. We presume you have not yet sown 

 the seed of the Cucumber. For a winter supply it should have been sown the 

 first week in September; but you may still sow the seed, and the plants will 

 fruit very early in the new year, or you may defer sowing until January, and 

 the plants will fruit in April. In this latter case your pit will be available 

 for forcing up to January; and if you have a small frame made for raising 

 the plants, Rhubarb, Sea-kale, and Asparagus may be forced in the pit, and 

 in January you may sow in pots. Yon may sow Dwarf Kidney Beans, 

 which will come in at the close of February or early in March, and without 

 injury to the Cucumbers. The other division you can employ for a similar 

 purpose until it is required for the Melons, but after they and the Cucumbers 

 are planted you ought not to grow any subjects that will interfere with the 

 main object to which the house is applied. There is no work separately on 

 forcing, but it is treated of in " In-door Gardening," which may be had post 

 free from our office for Is. !$d. You will also see what is to be done in Work 

 for the Week and Doings of the Last Week. A saceharometer, as described 

 by Mr. Fenn, may be had of any philosophical instrument maker. 



Nepeta. salyleflora (Kittle). — It is a pretty purple free-flowering plant' 

 but of its value as a bedding plant we have no experience. N. teucrifolia is a 

 good subject for the purpose. Plant out the N. salviaaflora ; when you see its 

 growth and bloom nest year yon will be able to judge of its suitability for 

 your purpose. It is hardy, and requires a light and well-dra in ed soil. Sem- 

 pervivum californicum is quite hardy except in a wet heavy soil. We do not 

 know of a Sedum that would suit your requirements. 



Cereus McDonaxdi not Flowering (W. F. H. S.).— We think you keep 

 the plant much too moist, and that it has not sufficient light, as the roof of 

 your house is covered with climbers. If the cause is not too much shade, it 

 may be the shoots being trained against the wall instead of on an iran trellis, 

 the wall being probably damp, and therefore inducing constant growth, and 

 it is likewise not unlikely that the plant is too moist at the root. From the 

 present time up to March we should keep it without water at the root, and 

 we should say it will flower next year. We do not know what more you can 

 do, unless you plant it out in a border IS inches or so wide and 2 feet deep, 

 draining well, and forming the border of a compost of one-half fibrous loam, 

 one-fourth old lime rubbish, and one-fourth broken bricks and charcoal, the 

 whole well mixed. The main points, however, are to keep the plant dry from 

 October to March, and to secure a good growth in summer. 



Cahellia Border (A Lady Subscriber). — Apprehending injury to the 

 border from the roots of adjoining Elm trees, we advise you to have the sides 

 of the border walled round and the bottom concreted. For this you will need 

 the border to be 2 feet 6 inches deep, and we should place 3 inch.es of broken 

 bricks, stones, or gravel at the bottom, ram this material hard, and then put 

 on 2 inches of the same materials but smaller, inclining from the centre to 

 the sides of the bed, so that the water may run in that direction. A very 

 slight fall is sufficient, one inch in a yard will do. The rubble should then be 

 cemented with equal parts of Portland cement and very fine gravel brought 

 to the consistency of mortar with water ; put it on half to three-quarters of 

 an inch thick, and give a smooth surface with a trowel. You may employ 

 lime instead of cement, using with it two parts sharp sand, forming it into 

 thin mortar, and running it on to the stones or broken bricks at the bottom 

 so as to be quite level with their surface, and allow it to remain until hard 

 then add about half an inch more, and smooth all over with a trowel. The 

 cemented bottom is vastly superior to the lime: we advise the former. You 

 will need a drain to carry off the water, therefore have a hole left in the wall 

 and introduce a drain-pipe ; socket-pipes are best, and with the joints cemented 

 there will be no fear of the Elm roots getting into the drain and choking it 

 up. We should have a drain laid all round the bed joined to the drain outside 

 the bed. Make them of common drain tiles. At the bottom of the bed place 

 6 inches of rubble, rough at the bottom and finer at top. The rubble should 

 be laid on and around the drain tiles. You have now a foundation and 

 18 inches left for soil. The best soil you can have is the top of a pasture 

 where the soil is a light sandy loam taken off with its turf, and we should 

 cover the bottom all over with the turf grass side downwards. This will keep 

 the drainage free. Of this soil use three parts chopped up in pieces about 

 2 inches square, and one part sandy fibrous peat. A half part each of old 

 cow dung and sharp sand may be added advantageously, also charcoal; the 

 whole should be well mixed and put in firm, therefore the material should be 

 rather dry when used. Make the bed fully 6 inches higher than the intended 

 level, for," however well made, the compost will settle. Plant out next spring 

 immediately after the flowering, and do not shake the soil off the roots, but 

 loosen the s'ides of the ball and plant with it entire, taking care to keep the 

 neck or collar of the plant rather high. 



Primula sinensis fijtbrlata ( W. S.).— We should allow the fine plants 

 to flower, as they are more valuable during the dull autumn and winter 

 months than in spring. As you particularly wish the plants to flower in 

 spring, you may now pinch out the trusses of bloom, and the plants will con- 

 tinue°growing ; if all trusses of bloom be cut off up to Christmas they will 

 flower in spring. We would only cut out the trusses of the weakest plants 

 up to the middle of January, and they will succeed the flowering stock, con- 

 tinuing the blooming period till early summer. It is not legal to manufacture 

 English-grown tobacco for personal use. 



GTiiNOGRAiniA CHRYSOPHTLLA Culture (P. J.).— The botanical name of 

 the Golden-leaved Fern is that given above. It is a stove Fern, requiring a 

 temperature in winter of 55" 1 to 60" 1 at nighc, and 65° to 70^ by day. Grow it 

 in a compost of two parts sandy peat, and one part fibrous light loam, with a 

 sixth part each of silver sand and sandstone in pieces between the size of 

 peas and hazel nuts, the whole well mixed. Drain the pot well, but do not 

 repot until early in March. Keep the plant rather dry during winter, but not 

 so much so as to cause the fronds to flag. Cut off the withered fronds. Do 



