August 23, 1864. J 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTTrEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



159 



Bedding Gera-ntoms {Stella), — AU the Geraniums named are best, 

 according to what you require. Glendinning's Scarlet is a strong grower 

 and good. Viyid is also good, and between that and Frogmore Scarlet in 

 height. Than Frogmore -there is no better dwarf free-blooming variety, 

 unless, perhaps, -what -was a sport from it, the Variegated Brilliant. Tren- 

 tham Eose, as you remark, is very fine. In this dry weather it is apt to 

 become a little seedy— that is, the trusses will sooner become trusses of 

 seed. Trentham Scarlet is nearly as strong in babit, a good orange scarlet, 

 and, therefore, quite distinct from Trentham Rose, which is a rose. A good 

 neighbour to Trentham Rose would be Rubens, which is a waxy pinkishrose, 

 and endures hot dry weatherrather better than the Trentham Rose. Baron 

 Ricasoli is very fair for bedding if not too much exposed. As you sign your 

 name " Stella," we presume you appreciate that variety, of which one of our 

 best gardeners, on looking at a fine line of it, said, " It kills everything 

 else." 



Select Fanct Pelargoniums (Wottinghaniensis).— Cloth of Silver, Acm£, 

 Ellen Beck, Roi de Fantaisies, Lady Craven, Undine. 



Select Variegated-leaved Geraniums [Idem)— Mrs. Pollock, Flower 

 of Spring, Bijou, Italia Unita, Cloth of Gold, Shottesham Pet. 



Wistaria sinensis IF. A. C).— The second flowering of this is by no 

 means unusual in hot dry seasons like the present. 



Flower-garden Plan (A Constant Reader).— "We have no doubt the 

 .garden will look very well. We presume there are straight lines at the 

 back as well as at the railing, and that may be the reason for having the 

 square figures at the four corners. That, however, is no reason for 

 making these clumps a mere narrow border, round what, we presume, is a 

 square of grass inside. The narrowness of that border will make the plant- 

 ing insignificant in effect compared with the other clumps. Supposing 

 these squares were left as they are, or made into true squares, we would 

 certainly fill up the centre as well by digging the grass down. Then to 

 work in your plants, and make the desirable variety, 



we would leave 1 as you propose, Tom Thumb 4 5 6 



edged with Gnaphalium ; 2 and 3, White Verbenas, 



with a rim of Heliotrope; 5 and 8, Yellow Caiceo- 3 12 



lana, mixed or centred with Ageratnm ; 4 and 6, 



Scarlet Verbena and Purple King ; 7 and 9, centre 7 8 9 



Gazania, and broad band of Lobelia speciosa. Tour 



garden would then be all of a piece, now your 



4, 6, 7, 9, will look mean beside the others. There Sailings and Street. 

 is nothing artistic in the beds, you would see how a 



small square at Putteridge was laid out and planted, and numbers of 

 other plans have been given. However, your simple plan will look well 

 if well planted. 



Forcing Peaches foe Market {J. D., Exeter).— Grow Royal George 

 and Grosse Mignonne Peaches. 



Belle de Doue Peach (TV. if.).— The Peach which you have under the 

 name of Monstrueuse de T3ou6 is doubtless the same as Belle de Doug 

 which is described intbe "Fruit Manual" as follows :— "Tbis is a fine large 

 melting Peach, an early variety of Bellegarde. It is of first-rate quality 

 with a vinous and richly-flavoured flesh, which separates freely from the 

 stone. Glands round; flowers small. Ripens in the last week of August 

 and beginning of September." 



Stocks for Grafting Vines ( W. M.).—We still think the Black Ham- 

 ourgn is the best stock. The Muscat is often much stronger-growing, but 

 it is more tender. It is as well to graft white kinds on whites, and black on 

 DiacKs, though it does not much signify. In some few cases strange facts 

 nave come to our knowledge of stocks influencing scions, and, in the ease 

 oi Grapes more especially, scions influencing stocks— so strange, that with- 

 out. greater corroboration we decline publishing them. We have never seen 

 any oad effects as to setting from grafting on the Muscat. 



Alpine Strawberries (P. P.).- They require the same treatment as to 

 manuring the ground, and general culture, as Strawberries generallv. They 

 are best raised from seed, which if sown in a pan in any light earth in 

 TZ, I'.t ? ced in tt miid Dott °ns heat,- will come up in a few days, and 

 Should then be removed to a cold frame to harden-off. If due attention be 

 £ ft,™ watering, the plants will grow rapidly, and when of sufficient size 

 to transplant they should be planted out in beds, allowing 1 foot between 

 ',T,t,fm^i 8 ev?ry wa7 - Seed B0wn in ^""S nsnally furnishes plants for late 

 W?*L ™ ns 'l a " i the runners of the previous year planted in March or 

 7if„,,ij 1 al)un oantly early in autumn. The ground in which they grow 

 £»«S„ Tt watereQ i= not dry weather, otherwise they soon cease 

 bear^onstontl 6 W6ak " K mU3t be iept moist in order that the5 " may 



^?^ L f°, T Eos S\(J&>m).— Madame Louise Carique, Souvenir de la Reine 

 QAngleterre, Triomphe d'Angers, Geant des Batailles, and Madame Tru- 

 aeaux, are strong-growing free-blooming varieties. 



flWyTA^" W .1T.).-H is a good plan to spread them rather 

 ni»i!L £ nry place, or airy shed, for a fortnight or three weeks pri-r to 

 SS 8, „ Green ™« them by letting them lie on the soil for some days does 

 with ', <-»„/ P |a H™", an ?, wer ' and 70" may cover them with straw now, 

 rtnnt fe y, s P adesful of so " here and there to prevent the straw blowing 

 ■snout, putting on more soil as the frosty season approaches. 



J^T„ SETTIA ,?^ CHE . IlBmA W°ttinghamensis).-lt may be kept in a con- 

 servatory at 45° in winter when it is blooming, but it cannot be grown in 

 such a house successfully without more heat at the.growing seasonf 



■Golden Fleece Geranium ( Calcaria),— If you take np the plants now 

 you will only spoil the appearance of the bed for the remainder of the 

 season. The plants will droop and lose many of their leaves if taken up 

 and potted now; but if yon leave them alone until the beginning of Oeto- 

 oer, and then pot them, reducing the heads a little, you will find they will 

 do well in a cool greenhouse, only do not give them too much water. 



Bsmoying a Green Gage Plum Tree (P. Q.).— If your tree can be taken 

 np with a good root, with plenty of fibres attached, it may be safely 

 removed, but success greatly depends on the care with which the operation 

 is performed. The tree should be removed when the leaves begin to fall in 

 the autumn, and it should fruit the second j ear after removal, probably 

 the first, but in the latter case it ought not to be allowed to bear much. 



Name of Fecit (T. H. it., Dorset).— We do not know the Pear von sent. 

 It is a very beautiful and a very delicious one, and we should like" to know 

 where you got it from, and any particulars concerning it. 



Guano Waiter [An Amateur Gardener).— From 1 to 2 ozb. of guano to 

 a gallon of water is quite sufficient. 



Nam-rs of Plants (P. St. P., Bickley). — Viburnum lentago. (C. A. M.)< 

 — Xinum grand iflornm var. (W. S. y Eastings). — Phygelius capensis. 

 ( Zfarple).— 1. Vicia hirsuta; 2, Trifolium repens; 3, T. medium; 4, Melam- 

 pyrum pratense. (D. H.).— Physianthus albens. (J. W.).— Veratrum 

 nigrum : a native of Central and Southern Europe, and Siberia eastward to 

 Japan. You will find a good figure of it in Reichenbach's " Icones Flora? 

 GermanicEe," vol. x. — J. W. P., must send a flowering specimen of hiB 

 Justicia. (E. B.). — 1, Beloperone plumbaginifolia, var. angustifolia ; 

 2, Achimenes pedunculata. {Geo. Maples). — Onoclea sensibilis. 



POULTRY, BEE, and HOUSEHOLD CHRONICLE- 



COOKERY AGAJLTST. 

 A good friend of ours, who knows we sometimes rush into 

 print, advises us to advertise our capabilities in the way of 

 producing sleep. He says if they were better known some 

 of our papers would be" a real blessing to bad sleepers. He 

 describes their effect on himself as most soothing and de- 

 lightful ; a dozen lines make him yawn, twenty-four make 

 him nod, and the entire article produces the calmest sleep 

 he ever has. Some good in them at all events. 



It is said " No lady who deals in the finny tribes ever 

 declares those she has are in a state of semi-decomposition," 

 and it therefore stands to reason we like our papers greatly. 

 "We are, however, bound to say there are some we like better ; 

 for instance, those of a " Wiltshiee Eectoe." "We have 

 no doubt he is the head of a happy family. Few things 

 escape him. We liked his paper on " Eooks," but we do 

 not like rook-pie. It may be prejudice, or it may be the 

 foolish idea that they are unclean feeders, but we think it a 

 shame and an insult to good rumpsteak to bake it in such 

 company. We like a chicken pndding ; it is a boon in hot 

 weather, and a resource in the summer ; it is a valuable 

 adjunct at the luncheon and in moderate families where 

 there is but one dinner per diem, and that in the middle of 

 the day. It is a favourite with us. "We are compelled to be 

 practical, and have long since tried to find a profitable side 

 to our hobbies. We breed many chickens, and of course 

 some of them are faulty. We shut our ears to all the en- 

 treaties to keep this one, because it is so funny ; that one, 

 because it eats out of your hand ; and another, because it 

 runs all on one side. We shut our ears to the many " at- 

 tenuating circumstances " the juvenile advocates discover, 

 and when two or three arrive at the size of pheasants we 

 condemn them to the pudding. 



Eecipe. Let the chickens be fasted and killed. At the 

 end of twenty-four hours cut them up. Do it cleverly. Cut 

 off the wings at the first joint from the body. Take a sharp 

 knife, and, beginning at the end of the breastbone, bring it 

 down in one clean cut to the wing joint on each side; this 

 gives two wings. Take off the merrythought ; remove the 

 legs and divide them, giving the thigh and the drumstick. 

 Let the carcase lie sideways on the table, and divide it from 

 end to end, separating the back from the breast ; cut the 

 back in half, crossways, and flatten the two pieces; serve 

 the breast the same. Season according to taste. Take some 

 mild bacon, and cut very thin slices. Make a suet crust, 

 put it in a basin, place your joints of chicken and a few 

 slices of bacon in the basin, tie it up in a cloth, and boil 

 slowly for a long time. Turn it out when done. Chickens 

 that are too small to roast and boil are very nice eaten in 

 this way. To those who like the flavour, the addition of a 

 couple of kidneys is an improvement 



Revenons a nos Boohs. We think we recollect a paper 

 anent them in the Spectator. A good gentleman living in 

 Lincoln's Inn Fields passed much of his time at his window 

 watching them. Observing how frequently they fell to the 

 ground and died, although apparently in perfect health a 

 few minutes before, he was about to read a paper before a 

 learned society, proving that they were very subject to apo- 

 plexy, when making the acquaintance of an idle young 

 fellow on the opposite side of the square, he found he was 

 in the habit of shooting them with an air gun. 



There is something to be learned from everything that is 

 created. Birds are no exception.' A Goose is said to be 

 stupid ; but try your best, and you cannot drive over one, 

 though the road may be full of them. All birds are observers. 

 If you have a large cageful, and are accustomed to go into 

 it every day, they will know you, and see you without fear. 



