432 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 28, 1872. 



to keep off the mice is coating the bulbs -with red lead. "Wet the bulbs, and 

 then roll them in the red lead, so as to coat them all over. Could you not 

 thin the ranis of the mice by trapping ? 



Ranunculus Culture (Idem). — Ranunculuses grow from 9 inches to a 

 foot high. The bed should be well and deeply dug, working-in plenty of de- 

 composed manure ; turn over the ground in dry and frosty weather, and 

 plant for an early bloom now, for a late bloom in February. The soil should 

 be well pulverised. Draw drills 5 inches apart and 2 inches deep, sprinkle 

 some silver sand at the bottom of the drills, and plant the tubers 4 inches 

 apart, pressing the "claws" gently down in the sand to about half their 

 length. Cover the roots just over the crown with fine sand, and then with 

 soil from the drills make the surface quite even. Cover with, from one-half 

 to three-quarters of an inch of three parts decayed leaves. Watering with 

 weak liquid manure may be practised after they begin to button. Take up 

 •when the leaves turn yellow. 



Latest Dish of Peas this Tear (E. Ennis). — Out last dish of Peas 

 was sent in on November 7th. Owing to the frosts and wet, Peas in some 

 places, cannot be had out-doors after September. Ours is a good Pea soil. "We 

 have gathered Peas on the 17th of December in Yorkshire. — G. A. 



Cutting Down Furze (A. E. F. C.).—lt is best done at the end of March, 

 and the plants maybe cut down to within a few inches of the root. If they are 

 very old some of them may not again grow. There is a limit to the life of 

 even these plants. 



Cucumber and Propagating-pit Construction (A Subscriber). — "We 

 advise you to have front as well as top ventilation. We would have four 

 small shutter ventilators in the front wall. The two 3-inch pipes will not be 

 sufficient for top beat. Tou should have four— two in front of the house over 

 the bed, and two in the pathway, as shown in your sketch ; and instead of two 

 we should have had three under the bed, or, if they are returns, four 3-inch 

 pipes. "We would further suggest that you have the pipes in a chamber under 

 the bed, leaving a foot to 15-inch space over it for drainage, soil, or plunging 

 material. Let there be small shutters in the side wall of the chamber next 

 the path to allow of the escape of any excess of beat, or to regulate the heat to 

 the required degree. 



Guano "Water for Adiantums [Longlands). — "We should not advise guano 

 water for Adiantums and other Ferns. The only beneficial liquid manure we 

 have known given to these plants was cow dung and soot in equal proportions, 

 adding thirty gallons of water to one peck, and stirring well up before each 

 application. 



Laying Down a Fowl-run with Grass (Sergeant). — If you can procure 

 turf, dig the ground, level the surface, and lay it with turf cut about lj inch 

 thick. Do this any time in mild weather by April. If you cannot obtain the 

 turf, dig and level the ground, let it so remain till April, then rake fine, make 

 firm, and sow in calm weather when there is a prospect of rain. 1 lb. Poa 

 nemoralis, 2 lbs. Poa trivialis, 3 lbs. Poa pratensis, 12 lbs. Lolium perenne, 

 6 lbs. Festuca duriuscula, 2 lbs. Festuca rubra, 8 lbs. Cynosurus cristatus, 

 1 lb. Arena flavescens, 1 lb. Anthosanthuni odoratum, 6 lbs. Lolium perenne 

 Paceyanum, 8 lbs. Trifolium repens, and 4 lbs. Trifolium minus. The above 

 quantity for one acre. Roll well after sowing, and keep the fowls from it for 

 six weeks. 



Forming Standard Geraniums [Idem)'.— Train them up with a single 

 stem to the height required, cutting off all side shoots. Put in a stake to keep 

 the stem erect. "When the shoot is as high as you require, take out its point 

 and stop the side shoots when they have grown 3 inches, and those result- 

 ing from the stopping at the third "or fourth, leaf. Continue stopping until 

 you nave a compact symmetrical head. 



Pruning Gooseberry and Currant Bushes (J. C. B. ST.).— The knife is 

 preferable to the shears ; it makes a clean cut, whilst shears make a bruising 

 cut. Besides, with the knife only the part desired need be cut off, whilst with 

 the sbears many parts which it is not desirable to remove are cut off. 



Cucumbers Failing- (flbofc).— We cannot account for the failing of your 

 plants, but from the description you give, we should say they are suffering 

 from the Cucumber disease, for which we know no cure. The best plan for 

 you under the circumstances is to renew tbe soil and plants. 



Hardiness of Desfontaxnea spinosa (J. S., York). — We have not seen 

 this thriving out of doors as far north as York, but in the western counties 

 -we have seen it do well in a well-drained soil of light loam with one-third 

 peat added. We are inclined to think it would prove hardy with you. Why 

 not try it? 



Sparrows Destroying Gooseberry Buds (E. £.).-We have found a 

 mixture of lime and soot made into a thin paint obnoxious to the birds £if 

 applied to the shoots with a brusb. We have advantageously used soft soap at 

 the rate of 4ozs. to tbe gallon. The best remedy, however, is to cover tbe trees 

 with nets. Black worsted strung from branch to brancb so as to form 2-incb 

 meshes scares them, and so do pieces of glass suspended so that they may 

 strike together. 



Jerusalem Artichoke Flower (A. B.\ — The flowering of this species of 

 tbe Sunflower genus is not uncommon. A plant of it may be made to flower 

 by removing its tubers without disturbing tbe fibrous roots. 



Yard of Gravel IT. Cramp).— A cubic yard of gravel is 3 feet high, broad, 

 and long— 27 cubic feet, and weighs about one and a half ton. 



Removing an Old Vine and Plum Tree (Herbert).— Y?e de not advise 

 you to save the old Tine; a young one would succeed much better and would 

 soon cover its allotted space. You may save the Plum tree. The way to lift 

 it is this— Dig a trench 2 feet deep at the distance of 5 feet from the hole of the 

 tree, then with a digging-fork work under the roots and clear away a large 

 proportion of the mould, saving all the small roots.lift the tree out, and plant 

 it somewhere until the site is ready for it. 



Early Peaches and Nectarines (T. A. C.). — The best early Necta- 

 rines named in tbe order of ripening are— Hunt's Tawny, Lord Napier, 

 Murrey, Balgowan, and Rivera's Orange. Pea ches.— Early Beatrice, Early 

 York, Early Grosse Mignonne, Noblesse, Royal George, and Grosse Mignonne. 

 Ihe trees should not— indeed will not— bear much fruit next year. Turfy 

 loam which contains a good proportion of clay is tbe best material for a Peach 

 border. The border ought to be 20 inches deep, and if tbe subsoil is not 

 naturally dry it should be drained. The Tines planted at 4 feet will shade 

 the trees underneath to an injurious extent. From twelve to eigbteen heads 

 of Sea-kale go to a bundle in Covent Garden. 



Pruning Pyrus japonica (W. G. D.).— Tbe best time to prune it is now, 

 or as soon as the leaves have fallen. In pruning, it will be necessary to train- 

 in shoots about 6 inches apart, se as to cover the wall, and then cut all other 



shoots to within an incb of their base, leaving, however, any shoots that may 

 be close to tbe wall, and which do not give an untidy appearance. The flowers 

 are produced on tbe wood of this year, or tbe growths this'year are those 

 which flower next, therefore train-in a sufficient number of sboots for 

 flowering. 



Holly (JR. S. S.). — Tbe leaf sent is larger than usual, but seedlings some- 

 times vary both in tbe size and the formation of tbe leaf. Yours is not a new 

 variety ; it can best be described as a robust form of tbe common Holly (Hex 

 Aquifolium). 



Trenching and Double-digging (H. C.).— Trencbing is digging two 

 spades deep, and sboveUing out the crumbs at the bottom of the second 

 spit. Double- digging is digging two spades deep and not removing tbe 

 crumbs. 



Palms for Greenhouse [A Subscriber). — Palms do not require strong 

 light and sunshine, but they need more light and air than most Ferns. The 

 Palms will, however, succeed. A dozen suitable for a greenhouse are Chamse- 

 rops excelsa, Charmedorea glauca, Livistonia australis, Cocos coronata, 

 Pbcenix reclinata, P. dactylifera, Seaforthia elegans, Thrinax parviflora, Cba- 

 mjerops Palmetto, Juba?a spectabilis, Latania borbonica, and Cbamsrops 

 Fortune!. 



Charcoal for Ferns (Idem). — Charcoal is as good as any ingredient in 

 the compost for Ferns, but should be used to a greater extent than one- 

 fourth. It should be broken-up for small plants, and used from about tbe 

 size of a pea to that of a hazel or walnut, increasing the size of the pieces in 

 proportion to the size of the plants. 



Diplopappus chrysophylla. — Several correspondents are anxious to know 

 where this plant can be procured. 



Temperature of Greenhouse (A Consta?it Reader). — As you bave a 

 mixed collection, place the hardiest and tbose that need most air in front of 

 the house, and the most tender subjects in the warmest part, where less air 

 is admitted. The temperature may be 40° to 45° at night, and. 45° to 50° by 

 day from fire heat up to April. Take advantage of mild weather to admit air 

 freely. On rainy days it is well, if mild, to admit a little air if it can be done 

 without letting wet into the bouse. In foggy weather it is best to admit very 

 little air, or, if the fog be dense, none. 



Pruning Peach Trees (A Constant Reader). — In pruning Peach trees it 

 is well to cut out as many as you can of tbe old, long, bare sboots, leaving 

 young shoots to take their place, and then to go over these and cut out the 

 weakest, leaving, however, enough of young shoots for nailing-in. They 

 should be about 1 foot apart along the main branches, which should be 

 12 to 15 inches apart. As the young shoots will be left on both sides, they 

 will be about 6 inches apart. Tbe young shoots, or tbe bearing wood of next 

 year, should be cut back to a wood bud or a triple bud — that is, to two flower- 

 buds with a wood bud between them, and be left about 10 inches long. If tbe 

 sboots are weak, and have no wood buds except at tbe base and point, then they 

 must be trained- in their full length. The time for pnining Peach trees is 

 early in spring, about February, or when tbe buds have begun to swell, so as 

 to distinguish the bloom from the wood buds. 



Hydrangea in Open Ground (Amateur). — As the plants have not 

 flowered, we conclude tbey were not in a flowering state when planted out ; 

 and as Hydrangeas are liable to be cut off to tbe ground in severe weather, 

 and especially after such a season as the present, when the wood must be 

 very unripe, we advise you to take them up carefully and place them in 

 pots not very large. Winter them in a cold pit, with the pots plunged to tbe 

 r im in ashes, or keep them in a cool house safe from frost, giving no more 

 water than sufficient to keep the wood plump. Good rich loam, with a little 

 leaf soil and sand, will make a suitable compost. 



Camellia with too many Buds — Liquid Manure (Idem). — We should 

 tMn-out the buds on the plant not more than 12 inches high to one on each 

 shoot. Too many flowers on so young a plant would weaken it. We should 

 prefer a temperature of 35° to 40- to one of from oO^ 1 to 55-. For flowering, 

 Camellias require a temperature of 45°. Tbe best liquid manure for Camellias 

 is probably one peck of sheep's droppings to thirty gallons of water, adding 

 half a peck of soot. Stir well up, let the whole stand a day or two, and stir 

 up at each application, which may be once a-week. Let the liquid manure 

 be heated to the temperature of the bouse in which the plants are growing. 



Names of Plants (J. G.). — Adiantum enneatum, Wedge-pinnaed Maiden- 

 hair Fern. (Spei-o). — The leaves are those of the Silver Tree, Leucadendron 

 argenteum. (J. S. S.). — It is Euonymus europasus, or Spindle Tree. (S.). — 

 The plant from Italy is a variety of Zinnia elegans. (Artliur). — 1, Trades- 

 cantia virginica; 2, Leaves only. (W. C). — 1, Apparently a Clethra, but tbe 

 specimen is too immature ; 2, A Torenia, probably T. asiatica. (J. G.). — 

 1, Blecbnum occidentale; 2, Cystopteris fragilis; 3, Doodia caudata; 4, As- 

 plenium viviparum ; 5, A.fontanum; 6, Pteris serrulata. (Mac). — 1, Atrichum 

 undulatum; 2, Bryum (?) sp. ; 3, Hypnum rutabulum; 4, Dicranum majus; 

 5, D. scoparium; 6, Pogonatum aloides. (J. Wade). — -3, Cystopteris fragilis; 

 4, Polystichum angulare; also two unnumbered Ferns, one of which is Poly- 

 podium vulgare. (H. G., Oldham). — It is Hedera Rasgneriana, Rsgner's Ivy, 

 one of the best for covering a surface with green leaves. (Up field Green). — 

 The time needed for naming plants is as much as can be spared, even with 

 the best aid that inquirers can give us. Numbering the specimens saves 

 much writing. We are always glad to give the information asked for; it is 

 part of our duty. 



P0TJLTKY, BEE, ATO PIGEON CHR0MCLE. 



CRYSTAL PALACE POULTRY SHOW 

 ARRANGEMENTS. 



I exhibited some Yaluable Pigeons at the late Great London 

 Poultry Show, and being very anxious to remove my birds from 

 there as early as possible after the Show, I sent my man and 

 trap many miles from_ my residence for them. He waited at 

 the building from 7 p.m. until 8, and returned home with the 

 pleasing intelligence that the Committee had decided at the 

 eleventh hour that they would not deliver a bird until Friday 

 morning, although I was told by the Secretary I could have my 

 birds after seven o'clock. Now, I find upon making inquiry 

 that the whole task of delivery in the Pigeon department of this 

 immense Show devolved upon one committeeman, and that 



