498 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 10, 1872. 



be obtained froni it all the winter before the frame was set to its 

 ■usual work ; and of all modest, sweet, retiring flowers, perhaps 

 no one is more prized by an invalid than Violets. 



Cut Flowers. — When much in demand, these in this dull 

 weather must be made the most of, for large trusses with more 

 than half of the buds unopened must not be thought of un- 

 less ihey are very plentiful. Cyclamens now come in well for 

 buttonholes and small bouquets, enriched with Maiden-hair and 

 "Violets ; and what is in their favour, though very hardy com- 

 paratively, when the buds show freely, and the pots are full of 

 roots, they will stand a good amount of artificial heat, and bloom 

 well with it. These, Cinerarias, Primulas, Camellias, late 

 Fuchsias, Rhododendrons, Eranthemtvms, Justicias, Euphor- 

 bias, Begonias, Poinsettias, and Hyacinths coming on have had 

 waterings of clear cool manure water. "Wnere it can be had, 

 half -dried sweet cow dung is about the best at this season. 

 Horse dung and sheep droppings, if the sheep -are richly fed, 

 are quite hot enough in this dull weather if not applied very 

 weak. 



Air-giving. — In such dull, cold, uncertain weather we prefer 

 giving less air even to cold frames and pits, and in houses 

 heated artificially we would keep-up the requisite temperature 

 by giving less air, and thus require less artificial heat. Even 

 after such a keen frost as we had this week, and the sun 

 comes out to cheer us, it is better in every way to let the fires 

 down, so as to give comparatively little air, as it is in every 

 way more beneficial to the plants that the temperature should 

 rise 5° or IIP above the daily average by sun heat after a little 

 air is given, than by keeping-up the fire heat to render neces- 

 sary large openings for cold frosty air. 



Watering. — Thousands of plants would expostulate loudly if 

 they could, when, after being more than gorged in this dull 

 weather, down comes a pouring from the watering-pot on them, 

 as a mere matter of course. Indiscriminate watering sends 

 many a fine plant to the rubbish heap. The rule now is not to 

 water until watering is needed. This is easily ascertained by 

 the look of the plant, the ringing of the pot, or even getting a 

 finger down somewhat beneath the surface. The experienced 

 can almost tell at sight whether a plant is dry, or moist, or 

 waterlogged. This latter event is not so likely to happen when 

 the drainage is all right, and done as lately advised, and the pot 

 stands on a wood, slate, or stone shelf or platform ; but if the 

 pot stands on sand, ashes, tan, and different kinds of refuse, it 

 will be necessary to lift the pot frequently and see if the outside 

 of the hole at the bottom is all right, as even with sand we have 

 often found the hole so blocked that water could not pass. — R.F. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



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

 week. 



Coyent Garden Salesmen (Bractcwell). — You will find a list of them in 

 Kelly's " London Post-office Directory." 



Corm ox Gladiolus Bcxb [Octogenarius). — The woody corm at the 

 bottom of the Gladiolus is the remains of the bulb ■which yon planted, and 

 from which the young ones have extracted all the good, and left it utterly 

 worthless. It is about as much worth keeping on as an old Potato set. 



Terra Cotta Stoves (E. L.). — We have had no experience in the use of 

 these. "Write to the maker, he may give yon references. 



Shrubs for Bank (F. S.). — The bank dividing the lawn from the ldtehen 

 garden, if its incline is steep, we should plant with common Laurels, peg 

 down the shoots, and cut them so as to form a sloping bank. If not 

 steep, we should plant with variegated and green-leaved Hollies, having the 

 common Holly on the side next the kitchen garden, and thickly so as to form 

 a hedge. The walls along the sides of your walk-borders would be doll in 

 ■winter if covered with fruit trees. "We should cover them with climbing 

 plants or those shrubs suitable for covering walls. If you have no other place 

 for a display of shrubs, we would take the half-length of the wall and lawn 

 borders, planting the part most distant from the house, reserving the other 

 part for flowers; or you could have shrubs in the wall borders, and flowering 

 plants in the lawn borders. 



Atr-roots ox Heaths and Euphorbias [An Old Subscriber). — The most 

 likely cause is keeping them in much too close and humid an atmosphere ; 

 indeed, it must be saturated with moisture. Give them more air, lessening 

 the supply of water, and especially moisture, considerably. The Euphorbia 

 with " thorns " is E. splendens. 



Black Grapes with Muscats (Idem).— Gvos Colman, Gros Guillaume, Lady 

 Downe's, Alicante, and Mrs. Pince's Black Muscat. The first, second, and 

 fourth have the largest bunches. 



Destroying American Blight (Idem).— Dress the trees now with paraffin 

 oil, applying it with a paint brash, rubbing, or rather brushing, it into every 

 hole and crevice. The thick roots should be pared and dressed with the 

 paraffin. The soil removed should be taken away, the roots covered with rich 

 soil, and the latter mulched with manure. The paraffin should not be put on 

 carelessly and spilled on the ground over the roots, but be used with care, 

 applying it, however, effectually to the stems and thick roots. 



Transplanting Heather (J. P., of York). — The groundnow covered with 

 grass, though surrounded with Heather on all sides, will take many years to 

 become covered. It would be covered much more speedily if you were to have 

 it deeply dug, if you could do so without bringing up bad soil. The grass as 

 it is will overgrow the Heather, but by burying it you will check its growth ; 

 and as the ground has previously had Heather upon it, you will probably 

 have a good growth of seedling Heather in two or three years, which, with 

 the Heaths you plant, will soon cover it. Probably the soil intended for 



Heather is thin, in which case we should merely take off the grass as thinly 

 as possible, knock off all the soil you can, and plant with clumps of Heather. 

 From now up to March, or the Heath beginning to grow, is a good time to plant, 

 but the earlier it is done the better. Take the plants from spots where the 

 Heath is young and has just attained the flowering state ; lift them in clumps 

 of a foot to 2 feet square, with 3 or 4 inches thick of soil ; make holes to suit, 

 and fill up neatly all round, but do not plant deeper than before nor cover 

 the Heath with soil. We pnt in some such clumps three years ago at from 

 4 to 6 feet apart, and. they now nearly meet. We also dotted double Gorse 

 amongst them irregularly at 6 to 12 feet apart, introducing a few Pihododen- 

 drons, which may not suit your hilly spot ; and it is difficult to tell whether 

 the golden colour of the Gorse, the purple of the Khododendron, or the Heath 

 is most beautiful. We like this mode better than having all Heath. 



Strawberry Culture [Old Subscriber). — "We suppose the plants have 

 been cleared of runners, the ground of weeds, and the soil lightly loosened 

 between the rows and about the plants. If not, it should be done at once, 

 and the plants well manured, placing the manure neatly about the plants 

 without covering their crowns or leaves. Cover the whole of the ground about 

 an inch thick if very rotten, or 2 or 3 inches thick if the manure be only 

 partially decomposed, which is best. In March stir the ground lightly with a 

 fork, and the plants will only need watering if the weather be dry after the 

 fruit is set. Some clean straw or slates should be placed round the plants 

 under the fruit to keep it clean. 



Gas Stove for Fernery (M. WilUtt). — If you enclose fourpostagestamps 

 with your address, and order NoJ 341 of this -Journal to be sent, you will there 

 find drawings of various gas stoves, and you may select the most suitable. 

 Any gas stove would keep the frost out of a small structure, but it must have 

 a funnel to carry the products of combustion into the outside air. 



Melon Seeds (J. F.). — Thanks for the Melon seeds. We trust to give it 

 a trial next year, and hope to be able to report satisfactorily of its good 

 qualities, especially of the fruit not being liable to crack. — G. A. 



Pruning Gooseberry Bushes (C. W. Y). — The proper mode of pruning 

 Gooseberries is to dispose the main branches 9 inches to a foot apart, keeping 

 the centre of the bush open; and if they are closer than that, thin them out 

 to as nearly that distance from each other as the condition of your bushes 

 will permit. If yon have not sufficient branches at the required distance, 

 leave the requisite number of shoots, merely taking off their points ; and the 

 extremities of the main shoots should be cut back to 2 or 3 inches if you do 

 not wish for increased size in the bushes, but if you need increase merely 

 take off their points. All shoots of the current year, except those mentioned, 

 should be spurred or cut back to within an inch of their base. The short 

 stubby shoots that will be clustered with buds are not to be shortened, for 

 they are the spurs on which the fruit is for the most port produced. 



Chrysanthemum Treatment {Eve). — Take the cuttings that come from 

 the base of the plant as soon as they are sufficiently long — say 3 inches, pare 

 the base smooth with a sharp knife, remove the leaves halfway up the cut- 

 tings, and insert them that depth in sandy loam, placing three cuttings in a 

 3-inch pot. Put the cuttings in a hotbed of GO- to 65=, and they will soon 

 root if kept close and shaded. They should then be potted-off singly in 3-inch 

 pots and returned to the frame for a few days, and when established remove 

 them to a cold frame, and shift into larger pots as soon as those in which 

 they are growing are filled with roots. They should be kept in the frame 

 until April, or till May if the weather he cold, and then be placed out of doors 

 on ashes in an open but sheltered position, shifting as required, and giving 

 them their blooming pots by the end of June. Nine or 11-inch pots are suit- 

 able for the large-flowering kinds, and S or 9-inch for the Pompons. The 

 soil most suitable for potting is two parts turfy loam, one part leaf soil, one 

 part old cow dung or well-rotted hotbeil manure, and one-sixth part of sharp 

 sand and bone dust, the whole well mixed. The plants should be stopped 

 when 6 inches high, aud again when the resulting shoots are 3 inches long, 

 continuing the stopping up to the middle of "July — not afterwards. Peg and 

 tie-out the shoots so as to form good-shaped plants. Liquid manure may be 

 given at every alternate watering after April until the buds show colour. 

 Never allow them to flag from want of water. Good examples of the Japanese 

 is Dr. Masters and The Sultan; of Quilled, Cry Eang and Quilled Pink; of 

 Large-flowered, Mrs. G. Bundle and Golden Beverley; of Pompon, Fairest of 

 the Fair and James Forsyth ; and of Anemone-flowered, Empress andPrincess 

 Thyra. With those you will be able to tell the different varieties. 



Lasiaxdra macraxtha Management (M. D.).—lt is propagated by cut- 

 tings of the young shoots after they become rather firm, or what is termed • 

 "half ripe," taking off the growing point about 3 inehes long, removing the 

 leaves from the lowest joint, and cutting transversely below them. Insert 

 the cuttings up to the leaves in two parts sandy peat soil, with one part each 

 light loam and silver sand. Drain the pot one-third its depth, fill to within 

 half an inch of the rim with the compost, and to the rim with silver sand. 

 Water gently, let the pot stand a few hours, and then put in the cuttings 

 about an inch apart round the sides. Set the pot in a close frame, or cover 

 with a bell-glass in the stove, keeping shaded from sun. The cuttings will 

 strike more speedily if placed in a hotbed of 75 : to SO-. When rooted pot-off 

 singly and return to the frame for a few days, and then place in the stove. 

 It is decidedly a stove plant, but will succeed in an intermediate house — one 

 having a winter temperature of 50- at night and 55- by day from fire heat. 

 In an ordinary greenhouse with us it does not succeed. The seeds you have 

 will grow freely if sown in light soil and placed in a hotbed, but they will not 

 flower so soon as cuttings : they make the finest plants. The only objection 

 we have to this plant is its irregular bad habit. It grows very freely, and 

 blooms also finely when of good size — we have plants 8 feet high. The only 

 way to keep it in shape or to form specimens is to stop the plant so as to 

 check its upward tendency and cause the production of side branches. In- 

 crease the number of these by stopping. If this be not resorted to, the plant 

 will go up several feet with but few side branches before it flowers, and the 

 lower branches are so weak that no art of man can prune it so as to form it 

 into a good specimen; therefore the plants should be stopped when 6 inches 

 high, and repeatedly, as the fresh growth extends upwards; the lower side 

 shoots being first stopped at 6 inches, and afterwards at 3 inches. By pur- 

 suing this treatment for two or three years we have obtained good plants in 

 as little time as it takes to flower them when allowed to grow naturally. Eeep 

 the plant rather dry in winter, not allowing it to flag. Kepot in spring when 

 beginning to grow, and do not give large shifts. It can hardly have too light 

 and airy a position. It would probably become too much drawn-up in a 

 vinery, but if you can give it a light and airy position it would no doubt 

 succeed if kept dry in winter, but not so dry as to cause the leaves to flag. 



Winter Nelis and Josephixe de M alines Pears (Nelis B.). — The 

 young wood of Josephine de Malines is stronger and the bark fighter in colour 

 than that of Winter Nelis. The shoots are sometimes inclined to droop 



