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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. C September 13, 1864. 



Fungus in Tan (G. R.).— See an answer to a correspondent in last -week's 

 Number, page 198. 



Stocks (Mouse). — If it is Brompton Stocks you mean, it is now too late to 

 sow them ; but if you mean Intermediate Stocks tow them forthwith in a 

 cold frame, and, when of sufficient size to handle, prick them off singly into 

 small pots, or insert two or three in a 48-pot. Keep in a cold frame, with 

 air daily in mild weather, protecting them with mats from severe frosts. 

 Bepot in spring if they are desired to bloom in pots, employing 24's for 

 single plants and lS's for three's. A compost of good loam, with a little 

 leaf mould added, suits them well. They should be sparingly supplied with 

 water during the winter; but when brighter weather, and the plants are 

 growing freely, water proportionately* They may be planted out- doors in 

 the latter part of April where they are to bloom. 



Moss Hoses Over-luxuriant (/. K. D.), — Moss Roses are seldom over- 

 luxuriant. Probably the soil is too rich and deep, and the wood is, therefore, 

 not well riperjed in the autumn. We should try moving them in the begin- 

 ning of November, and see what effect that would have upon them ; and 

 Keep them rather close pruned. Almost all hardy annuals would, we should 

 think, do well with you, especially Candytufts, Larkspurs, Virginian Stocks, 

 Venus's Looking-glass, ColliDsias, Clarkias, Lupines, Nasturtiums, Bar- 

 toniae, &c. ; and in the greenhouse all the half-hardy annuals would do 

 ■well. "We shall have something to say about annuals in pots when the time 

 shall arrive. 



Drain for Melon-pit— Easter Beurre Pear (A. Q.). — Unless the soil 

 be spongy and wet a drain is not necessary; but if water drain into the pit 

 from adjoining ground a drain should be provided to take such water away, 

 or it will quench the fermentation of the dung. The Easter Beurre" Pear is 

 rather a shy bearer ; but we have a fire crop this year on an espalier, and 

 free from rust. "We have it on a wall, and it does fairly, though not equal 

 to many. As a rule, this year our trees on walls are not bearing so well as 

 those on espaliers. Try the tree a little longer, root-pruning it if you think 

 it is too vigorous, but mulching round it to the extent of the roots with 

 naif an inch of short manure if it be weak. It is a good Pear. 



Carolina Allspice. Propagating (Q. Q.).— 1, It is best increased by 

 layers, operating upon them in early spring (March). 2, Cuttings taken 

 from anything out of character are liuble to return to the original state. 

 In taking cuttings of variegated Geraniums make choice of those parts 

 showing the variety in character. It is seldom that entirely white leaves of 

 Geraniums can be perpetuated by cuttings. 3, The Verbena has done very 

 indifferently with us this season ; the finer kinds have barely existed. We 

 think this is due to the season ; out, as this does not bear on your case, we 

 know of nothing beyond what you have tried likely to get them to do better 

 than to change the stock. We have found this successful when other 

 remedies have failed. 4, Seeds of French Marigolds are usually perfected 

 in England, and so are those of Tagetes pumila ; but whether they are worth 

 saving or not depends on the doubleness of the flowers of the former. The 

 seed of badly-formed, badly-coloured, and semi-double flowers is not worth 

 saving. Tagetes pumila is generally gcod, though occasionally it is not 

 sufficiently ripened, and the seeds do not germinate. 



Mlmulus cuprkus and Tropjeolum speciosum Culture (Hester), — 

 Miinulus cupreus is a half-hardy perennial, and will not, therefore, do out- 

 side except in very favourable situations. Keep it in a pot in a cool part of 

 the greenhouse, on a shelf near the glass, and water moderately during the 

 winter, but do not dry it off. Sufficient water to keep it fresh is necessary. 

 If you want stock take cuttings when the plant commences growing in the 

 spring, these will root freely in a little heat ; or you may take away rooted 

 offsets now, or in the spring, and pot them at once. The Tropteolum 

 epeciosum should be rather sparingly supplied with water in winter, but it 

 ' muBt not be allowed to become dust dry, or it will suffer, if not perish. It 

 does well in a compost of light turfy loam two-thirds, leaf mould one-third, 

 ■with a free admixture of silver sand. It winters safely in a greenhouse, 

 but does not like damp. A light airy situation is the most suitable. 



Dressing a Meadow on Heavy Clay Soil (An Amateur). —The best way 

 to apply lime to such a soil is to mix it with four or five times its bulk of 

 mould— say the turfy lumps from the sides of ditches, or any coarse soil that 

 does not contain too many Btones. This mixture ought, however, to be 

 prepared a few months before laying it on ; but lime quickly destroys vege- 

 tation, and assimilates itself with the soil with which it is mixed. A good 

 coating of a mixture of this kind—say twenty or twenty-five loads to the 

 acre— laid on in November, and brushed In with a thorn harrow in March, 

 would be better than the blood manure; but, as it may be too late to prepare 

 this mixture, we would advise you to lay on rough stable-manure as soon as 

 you like, allowing the rain to wa^ in its nutritive matters during the 

 winter, and in March rake off with a hay rake all rough strawy matter, and 

 apply the dressing of blood manure. The latter ought to be given just 

 before rain, if it can be managed so. 



Gladiolus Bulbs Taking up (Pond-dhu). — In general these are better 

 taken up when properly ripened. In a dry sandy soil they may be left in 

 the ground, as we have done with tolerable success ; but in that which is of 

 a damp or clayey nature they are so liable to decay, or fall a prey to slugs or 

 other enemies, that it is better to take them up. 



Petunia, Phlox Drummondi, and Saponaria Growing too Large 

 (Idem). — It is difficult to keep these to the dimensions of Tom Thumbs, 

 Lobelia speciosa. &c. Petunias may, however, be cut so as to be kept pretty 

 low ; bat Phlox Drummondi will show very little flower unless allowed free 

 growth ; and the Saponaria can only be rendered dwarf by poor soil. If, 

 however, you are anxious to have beds of uniform height, you had better 

 only use Verbenas, dwarf Calceolarias, Geraniums of the various kinds, 

 Lobelias, Cerastiums, and other plants which either grow about the same in 

 height, or allow of being cut to that standard, and plant the larger and 

 more uncertain kinds in outside beds or borders of a mired character. 

 Saponaria, however, is generally dwarf and compact enough, and we should 

 have thought that the present dry summer would have kept it more so. 

 Trimming this cannot well be effected. Thinning the plants, however, early 

 in the season, may do good. 



Seedling Rhododendrons (B. Dolson),— It is now time the plants were 

 ■ceasing their growth. Better, therefore, gradually harden them off by more 

 air, and withhold water to a certain degree. As the plants are so small, we 

 ■would not prick them out until March, keeping the seed-pan or boxes in 

 some cool place, secure from front and damp. The latter is more especially 

 fatal to the kinds partaking of the Sikkim breed, whose rough leaves seem 

 to invite more moisture than the plant can endure in our damp -winter 

 climate. 



Vine-border Renovating (T. W. V. 21.). — If your Vines be in good con- 

 dition, -we wonld not advise you to meddle with them ; but, if becoming bad, 

 we would recommend their being entirely taken up, and the border remade, 

 as advised by Messrs. Fish and Thomson in some of their papers on the 

 subject. If, however, a sort of half measure be advisable, we would say 

 examine the points of the roots, and, if the ground be bad, remove it, and 

 replace with a more suitable compost. We have known plenty of Vine- 

 borders not wider than 10 feet, and yet do well ; but if the roots seem dis- 

 posed to travel farther, then by all means allow tbem. Of late years an 

 open porous soil is thought the best for the Vine — one that will allow 

 quantities of liquid manure being supplied without creating sourness. Lime 

 in some way is an essential ingredient in the compost, but the kind called 

 magnesian lime is improper. We have seen good results from using car- 

 bonate of lime, sea (hells in liberal quantities, old mortar rubbish, stone 

 shatter, and many other things, avoiding too much manure, which, after a 

 time, seems to sicken the Vine, and it rarely succeeds well. If you are in . 

 that state we should say. Take them up as soon as ever the wood is ripe, 

 carefully preserve all roots, plant these near the surface in the new border, 

 and success will be certain. "We have even known a tolerably good crop in 

 the first year of the change; but this is not always to be expected if the 

 Vines have been bad before. Partially lifting them may do good if they are 

 not so far gone, and, the roots being enticed into a new medium, great 

 improvement may be expected. 



Laurel Cuttings (An Old Subscriber). —Well-ripened shiots of the 

 current year, with just a little heel of the old wood at their base, and about 

 a foot long, may be put in by the end of September, or sooner, if the ground 

 be moist ; and," if buried more than half their length in the ground, they 

 will nearly all grow. Trimming off the leaves that would be buried under- 

 ground should be done, but a little branchinesa of top is of no consequence. 

 In a lot we put in last j ear in this way, we find several of thtm have grown 

 sufficiently to be transplanted in the present autumn, and not more than 

 two per cent, have failed. 



Stove for Small Greenhouse (J. D).—It is questionable if the stove 

 that you have would not suit you well enough, if you burned broken coke in 

 it, and had a small chimney of sheet iron from it. No stove without a 

 chimney is safe either for you or the plants, if the latter are tender and 

 growing. A small iron flue, for about 35s. or 40s., would suit your purpose. 

 The chimney may go through the roof, by taking out a square of glass, and 

 substituting a square of sheet iron, with a hole in the middle. 



Eibbon-border PLANTING (F. J. C.).— Straight or serpentine lines in a 

 ribbon-border are purely a matter of taste. The straight lines are best, when 

 seen from each end, in our opinion. The use of Cerastium in the circular 

 beds, we would have better determined if we had known the size and the 

 arrangement of the beds. For a row of Cerastium it should be planted in 

 lines. If cuttings are put in next month, or this month (say 3 inches apart\ 

 they will make a derse row. if looked after, of 3 to 5 inches broad, next 

 season. If to be mixed with Fome low-growing thing, the Cerastium may 

 be planted much thinner. In your border we would place your plants 

 thus:— Trentham Rose, Perllla, yellow Calceolaria, Scarlet Geranium. 



Heating Pits (C. G.).— For a house or pits the size you speak of, you 

 will want two four-inch pines for top heat, and the same for bottom heat. 

 One of each might do for the front pipe, but two three-inch pipes, above and 

 below, would be better. "We presume you have valves to shut off the front 

 or cooler pit when you choose. We perceive, also, that you mean to heat 

 one of the early pits for Cucumbers by itself, and of course that will require 

 valves. Mr. Fish has no difficulty in heating each range separately, though 

 each range has several divisions, as the air-giving makes the difference in 

 temperature in the different divisions, and valves are dispensed with, which, 

 if numerous, become expensive. If you can feed from the top of the 

 boiler, then a cylinder or tubular boiler would be best for wood, as you 

 could put in pieces nearlv the height of the boiler. To do the work you 

 speak of the boiler had better be 16 inches wide, inside measure, at bottom, 

 and 3t> inches in depth. The wood, if dry, will burn all the better, and 

 give more heat; the cinders will do for banking up with at night. For a 

 saddle-back it should be the above width and length, for wood at least; and 

 the furnace-door should be larger than for coal— say 12 by 15 inches. If a 

 saddle-back is used, and there will be little difference in the result, the 

 boiler should stand as much as three or four bricks above the furnace-bars, 

 so as to give more room for the wood. If you cannot well feed the boiler 

 from the top, the saddle-back will be the easiest managed. If you can so 

 feed the tire, the cylinder will be the easiest managed. In either case, 

 instead of setting the" boiler on bricks, though fire ones, it will be better to 

 Bet the boiler on fire lumps of the suitable height, as bricks are sooner 

 injured by wood than by coals. When you are laying down your pipes, do 

 not stint the quantity. There can be no more false economy than being 

 forced to keep up heat bv heating the pipes nearly to toiling-point. The 

 consumption of fuel, and the extra trouble, will soon cost more than the 

 extra piping ; and nothing will thrive so well with pipes very hot as when 

 these are rarely warmer than you can put your hand on tbem. We would 

 like more explicit information as to the ice, mode of ventilating, &o. 



Orchard-house Pkaches Spotted (Ramsgate).— We suspect that the red 

 spots are owing to the attack of insects when the fruit was young— green 

 fly or brown beetle. The other appearance, of imperfect stones, is owing to 

 imperfect fecundation; but if the fruit is ot good fair size, that is of less 

 importance. It is caused by keeping the house too close and moist when 

 the trees are in bloom, or just setting their fruit. If carried too far the 

 fruit is sure to drop prematurely. * 



Heating Vinery and Cucumber-house (A.— A. P.).— If you stop the 

 flow-pipes for bottom heat by valves, you need not trouble yourself 

 about the return-pipes. The simplest plan, as you have not yet done the 

 work, would have been to place the boiler between the Cucumber-house and 

 the vinery, and then take the heating pipes right or left, furnishing the 

 flow of each with a valve. A simpler plan still would be thus to place the 

 boiler, take the flow-pipe into a small cistern in the vinery, 18 inches above 

 the highest heating pipe; let that cistern have three ether holes for pipes 

 besides the flow-pipe; let one of these join the flow-pipo in the vinery, a 

 second the flow-pipe for top heat in the Cucumber-house, a third for flow- 

 pipe for bottom heat ; and thns, by meana of three wooden plugs, you coa 

 heat where you like. 



Verbenas (S. C.).— Too faded and destroyed by post-stamper to be dis- 

 tinguished ; but even if fresh very few could be recognised from a truss of 

 flowers, the varieties are so numerous, and bo approach one another in 

 colour and form. 



