56 



JOTIRNAIi OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 19, 1364. 



Musheooh-beds Making <7T. W.).— We will be glad to give particulars 

 ■when we have information as to circumstances and materials at hand. In 

 the meantime see an article on the subject at page 447 in our Number for 

 June 2 1 st. 



Planting Tomatoes (Idem}.— It is of little use planting Tomatoes out of 

 doors until the middle of June; but the seeds should be sown in March or 

 April— that is, for cold positions north of London. We are glad you have 

 noticed what we said about thinning them. It should have been referred 

 chiefly to the foli3ge. As soon as the bunches of fruit show we stop the 

 shoots above them, and the foliage grows so fast that we frequently thin it 

 and shorten it, so as to expose the fruit more to the sun. The stems are so 

 succulent that, like Nasturtiums, they will bear a good deal of disleafing 

 and be the better of it— that is, if the roots have rich, materials to grow in. 

 In large clusters we have frequently removed the smaller fruit, but the 

 thinning has reference chiefly to the foliage. We are glad the mistake has 

 been alluded to. Those who know how most gardeners have to exercise 

 mind and body at this season, will only be surprised that such mistakes are 

 not more frequent. 



Frttit Trees for Peach-house (II. U.). — We would haveVioletteHative 

 and Vanguard Peaches, and Elruge Nectarine, with Barrington and Belle- 

 garde Peaches for riders. Would it not be well to place the riders on the 

 back wall ? Any application of a paiut to the Pear trees will be useful in 

 spring. You can do little now except pick off the maggots, and syringe 

 with clear lime water. 



Thrips on Balsam Leaves [An Inquirer).— We found traces of thrips 

 which nothing will remove but smoking, and then well syringing the plants 

 when laid down on a cloth. The rusty appearance on the leaves is chiefly 

 caused by the sun shining on the leaves when moist, from air not being 

 given early. If kept too moist in rich compost they will also be thus 

 affected. . 



Azalea Grafting (W. S.).— There is no work specially devoted to so 

 slight a topic. Side-grafting is best; grafts not more than li inch long, 

 fastened to the stock with worsted. Best season for the process, early spring. 

 The grafted plants to be kept in gentle heat in a close frame, or under hand- 

 glasses in a propaeating-house. The best time for Vine-grafting is early 

 spring. The stcck should be in a more advanced stage of growth, than 

 the scion. 



Muscat Grapes (CD.).— They are very severely affected with what 

 gardeners call the "spot." It may arise from want of moisture and warmth 

 at the root, as you suggest; but we cannot give a decisive opinion, not 

 knowing the temperature of the house, nor whether the Vines are planted 

 inside or outside. 



Lawn— Greenhouse {Agnes).— Most probably a little thoroughly decayed 

 stable-manure and earth spread over your mossy lawn would renovate it ; 

 but you tell us nothing about the nature of the soil, whether heavy or light. 

 To heat your small greenhouse opening into 1 he drawing-room, no plan 

 would be more simple and manageable than a hot-water pipe passing round 

 it, supplied from a gas-heated boiler. But not having a plan of the green- 

 house, nor any other particular?, we can only give this general suggestioa 



Sulphur [A. B.).— Stone sulphur is not more powerful than flowers of 

 sulphur. 



Evaporating Liquid Manure (67. J*.).— Mr. D. Thomson and other 

 practical men have testified to the benefit derived by plants in heated 

 structures from having liquid ammoniacal manures put into the evaporatiug- 

 pans. The ammonia is mingled with the air and stimulates the plants, A 

 little of the ammoniacal liquor from the gas-works mixed with water and 

 put into the evaporating-paus would probably be equally beneficial. 



New Pea {A. B. C.).— It is impossible to judge comparatively of aPea 

 without seeing it growing. From the appearance of the pods you sent us 

 we should consider it belonging to the Early Green Marrow class, and, in 

 that case, nearly related to Prizetaker, which is only eight days later than 

 Sangster's No. 1, and, like yours, grows about 6 feet high. We should like 

 to see the two growing together. 



Spotted Grapes {An Inquirer, R. A.).~ The Grapes you describe as 

 "damped," are what gardeners call "spotted," and yours are so very 

 severely. You were wrong to syringe the Grapes after they had begun to 

 colour. You could banish the thrips by fumigation, and keeping the air of 

 the house moist by frequently watering the path and syringing the brick- 

 work. If the roots are outside water them, put mulch over them at night, 

 but remove the mulch during the day if fine and warm. It may be, whether 

 inside or outside, that the roots have descended too deeply. In that case, 

 lifting the roots in autumn to nearer the surface will be your only remedy. 



POULTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE. 



POULTRY SHOWS. 



July 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd. Newcasti.e-iipon.Ttne. Sees., Mr. Wm. 

 Trotter, Bywell, and Mr. J. Shorthose, Shieldfield Green, Newcastle- 

 upon-Tyne. Entries close July 2nd. 



August 2nd. Newmillekdam. Sea., Mr. J. Turner, Walton, and Mr. W. 

 Pashley, Newmillerdam. 



August 13th. Wakefield akd West Riding. Sec.. Mr. J. Cro6land, Jan. 

 Thome's Lane, Wakefield. Entries close August 4th. 



August 17th. Cottingham. Sec., Mr. Joseph Brittaln. 



August 18th. Burnley. Sec., Mr. R. Whittam. Entries close Aug. 6th . 



August 22nd, 23rd, 24th, and 25th. Alexandra Park. Poultry, Pigeon?, 

 and Babbits. Sec, Mr. William Houghton. Entries close July 23rd. 



August 27th. Halifax and Calder Vale, Sec, Mr. W. Irvine, Holm- 

 field, Ovenden, near Halifax. 



August 30th. Pocklington. See., Mr. T. Grant. Entries close Aug. 22nd. 



August 31st Dewsbury. Sec, Mr. F. Aked. 



November 28th, 29lh, 30th, and December 1st. Birminohah. Sec, Mr. 

 J. B. Lythall, 13, Temple Street. Entries close November 1st. 



RULES FOR JUDGING POULTRY. 

 I hate been, much surprised several times at articles in 

 The Poultry Chronicle ridiculing the idea of judging poultry by 



rules ; and still more surprised that such articles apparently 

 received, not your sanction only, but approval. I cannot 

 understand how any one can for a moment seriously argue 

 that poultry cannot be judged by rule. 



It must be conceded thatcertain characteristics are essential 

 to certain varieties of poultry. For instance: the Spanish 

 fowl must have a white face and black plumage ; the Polish 

 a crest and so on. Put in other words, it is a rule that a fowl, 

 to pass as a Spanish fowl, must have a white face; to pass 

 as a Polish, a crest. 



Does your correspondent who most persistently ridicules 

 rules mean to say that he judges haphazard, and that no rules 

 guide him ? Surely he must have in his head some rules by 

 which he determines which pens shall receive the prizes ; and 

 if so, what possible objection can there be to these rules, if 

 correct, being reduced to writing and forming a code for 

 poultry judging. I am surprised at Mr. Hewitt being opposed 

 to written rules, for he evidently judges by rules. I know of 

 no higher praise I can bestow on a judge, and can have no 

 kind of reason for objecting to rules being written. — P. 



[That Dorkings must have five claws, Spanish white faces, 

 Polands crests, and so on.no one denies; those are the essential 

 distinctive characteristics of the varieties, and no one sug- 

 gests that their absence ought not to disqualify a bird ; but 

 when rules are attempted as to non-essentials, then we con- 

 sider them objectionable. When condition has to be balanced 

 against better uniformity in size, or when any one excellence 

 has to be weighed against other excellencies in competing 

 pens, then we say rules are objectionable, and the decision 

 should be left to the judgment of the awarder.] 



JUDGES AT THE APPROACHING ISLINGTON 

 POULTRY SHOW. 



The correspondence of Mr. Tudman on the appointment 

 of judges to the forthcoming Islington Poultry Show having 

 left the matter in anything but a satisfactory position, I feel 

 that some further explanation is due to exhibitors who are 

 not members of the Club; and as one belonging to that 

 class, I wish to be informed in the first place, whether Mr. 

 Tudman acts from his own responsibility in such appoint- 

 ments, or under the direction of a Committee ? I ask this 

 not only because it does not appear that any other parties 

 were associated with Mr. Tudman in the recent appoint- 

 ment ; but further, because at the TTlverston Show, which, 

 if I am correctly informed, was under the auspices of the 

 Club, after the appointment of the judge had been made 

 public, a member of the Committee wrote in the public 

 papers to inquire by whose authority such appointment had 

 been made, as he had not only not been consulted on the 

 matter, but was altogether ignorant of any proceedings of 

 the Club in connection with it. 



A second point which requires clearing up is the state- 

 ment of Mr. Tudman, that no judge was appointed; when, 

 as it now appears, Mr. Hewitt had been engaged for the 

 office. To say that the communication to that gentleman: 

 was a private one is no explanation of a statement which, 

 as it now stands, is at direct issue with the fact. Besides, 

 what possible objection could there be to the appointment 

 being known ? On the contrary, one would have thought 

 that the interests of the Club would have been promoted by 

 the fact of the Club having secured the services of that 

 gentleman being made public. I am strongly impressed 

 that the cause of Mr. Tudman's quarrel with you is not the 

 publication of the circumstance of the appointment, but of 

 the fact that the Club's rules for judging have broken down r 

 showing as it does, that to secure the services of any one in 

 whom the exhibitors have confidence, the rules they have 

 elaborated have had to be sacrificed. But if the rules are 

 to be suspended in Mr. Hewitt's case, under what arrange- 

 ment are his colleagues to judge ? and if the latter are to 

 judge by the rules of the Society, how are their decisions to 

 harmonise with his ? Or, is Mr. Hewitt to judge certain 

 classes only ? If so, the exhibitors ought to know which 

 those are. 



In looking over the regulations, I find in No. 4 certain 

 conditions prescribed according to which prizes are to be 

 accorded. Can you inform me who are the parties who- 

 framed this rule ? or whether it has emanated from the 



