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JOTJEISTAL OF HORTICULTURE AXD COTTAGE GARDENER. [ October 11, 1861 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*#* We request that no one mil write privately to the de- 

 partmental writers of the " Journal of Horticulture, 

 Cottage Gardener, and Country Gentleman." By so 

 doing they are subjected to unjustifiable trouble and 

 expense. All communications should therefore be ad- 

 dressed solely to The Editors of the Journal of Horticul- 

 ture, $rc, 171, Meet Street, London, KC. 

 "We also request that correspondents will not mix up on the 

 same sheet questions relating to Gardening and those 

 on Poultry and Bee subjects, if they expect to get them 

 answered promptly and conveniently, but write them 

 on separate communications. Also never to send more 

 than two or three Questions at once. 

 N.B. — 3Iany questions must remain unanswered until next 

 week. 



Latit Downes' Vises [F. B. L.). — The large leaf belongs to a true 

 Lady Dowries' Vine ; but after a careful comparison with several Yine3 of 

 that variety the small leaves appear to belong' to quite another sort, they 

 being differently lobed and rounder. 



Heating ev Gas.— "Will " S. J. E.," who described the apparatus he 

 employs, oblige us by informing A. Maples, Esq., Spalding, Lincolnshire, 

 where the apparatus can be purchased 1 



Amartllids [James Cumdey, Adelaide). —The Amaryllids you refer to 

 can be suDplied at from three to five guineas a-dozen. Mr. Anderson asks 

 us to refer you to Mr. "Williams, Paradise .Nursery, Holloway. 



Bowling Green Patchy (E. Tweedy) —Leave it until the spring. Early 

 in March sift over it a sufficiency of fresh, moderately fertile earth to barely 

 cover the grass, say half an inch in depth ; then sow over the half acre 

 2 lbs. of Suckling seed (Trifolium minus), and roll it in with a light roller. 

 No raking is needed, except to make the earth sifted on level before sowing. 



Sou, and Temperature foe Plants [A. W. A.).— Aristolochia cymbi- 

 fera requires a compost of equal parts of turfy peat, turfy loam, and leaf 

 mould, with a free admixture of silver sand. It is a st07e plant, doing well 

 when subjected to ordinary stove management. Patestonia crenata we do 

 not know. Pbiladelphus mexicanus is hardy, and will grow in any soil, 

 lightish loam being preferable. 



"Worms in Pots (Ruby). — "We have repeatedly stated how to expel them 

 from pots. Mix 14 lbs. of lime with thirty gallons-of water, stir well, and 

 forty-eight hours afterwards flood the pots with the clear liquid, having pre- 

 viously-stopped the holes with clay or cork. The worms will come to the 

 surface, when they are easilv destroyed. After an hour or two let the 

 drainage act. If this is not effectual repeat the dose. To make a bottom 

 impervious to worms, mix boiling coal tar with ashes, form a floor 4 inches 

 thick, lay an inch of small gravel on the surface, and ram firm. Another 

 way is to place a layer of lime riddlings an inch thick, ram firm, add two 

 more layers, and then sufficient coal ashes for plunging purposes. To pre- 

 vent worms coming from the outside have edgings of boards 3 inches above 

 the surface, and paint them with boiling gas tar. "We will answer for them 

 not troubling you afterwards if you take care not to place whole families in i 

 the pots along with the compost. There are plants with white flowers named ' 

 Ageratum latifolium, A. angustifolium, A. album, and A. conspicuum, the 

 last two of which come true from seed. Any seedsman can supply seed ; 

 but we believe the first two cannot be had from seed, it not being obtain- 

 able. 



Mushroom-red in Frame (TV. JI. Xeicland).— You made your bed all 

 right, but you should have waited until it had heated, and ascertained the 

 degree of heat before spawning. As it is you have spawned it, and the heat 

 may probably be too much for the spawn. "Whether it will heat or not 

 depends of course on the thickness of the dung, and as to that you leave 

 us in ignorance. It was wrong to place the spawn on the surface and 

 cover it with soil. It should have been covered with an inch of droppings, 

 and then with soil. You have done wrong again to water the bed, for mois- 

 ture at this early stage tends to prevent the spawn running, dryness being 

 essential for that. As you have made the bed and spawned it. we would 

 advise you to wait for about six weeks and see what the result will be. Toa 

 may water lightly a month hence, but give none until then, and afterwards 

 cover the surface with an inch or two of hay or dry litter. The soil at this 

 season in an unheated place will not require much, if any watering. 

 - Preparing Rose-eeds (A Ticehe-years Subscriber". — In the first place 

 it will be necessary to dig the beds out to a depth of 2 feet and remove the 

 subsoil, laying the surface soil on one side, for it will do to mix with the new 

 soil, which may consist of turfy loam, neither strong nor light, two-thirds, 

 leaf mould one-third, 6 inches of well rotted manure being worked in at the 

 time of planting. If the ground is well drained no stones will be needed at 

 the bottom of the beds, nor are they of any value unless there be drains to 

 take the water from them, for digging holes and placing rubble at the bottom 

 is only making drains without outlets. If the ground is drained, 6 inches 

 of brickbats or broken stones at the bottom of each bed will be serviceable. 

 On this place a layer of turves, grass side downwards, and after mixing the 

 old surface soil with the new compost lay it in the trench, and do not tread 

 it more than can be helped. This done, put on 6 inches of well rotted 

 manure, and fork it neatly into the soil. The beds should be made at once, 

 and rather above the level of the surrounding surface, to allow for the soil 

 settling before the Roses are planted in the beginning of November. The 

 Roses rlanted five years should be taken up carefully, and the old long roots 

 pruned to about one-half their length, but the fibres and small roots should 

 not be cut, except to remove injured parts. Closer pruning than usual will 

 be necessary, and it should be deferred until March. Dwarf Roses planted 

 at the foot of standards will, to a certain extent, hide the bare stems ; but if 

 these are considered unsightly why not plant dwarfs only? No Roses will 

 do well under the heads of standards, and they cannot be grown to perfec- 

 tion when their roots are intruded upon by other plants. It is best to grow 

 one thing in a place and have it good. 

 Seedling Geraniums (W. I. TT.l.— Send specimens in flower to the 



Floral Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society. If the Committee 



commend them you can then offer them to some of our leading florists. 



Old Cotton Cake as a Manure (J. G. S.). — We presume that you mean 

 the refuse after the oil has been expressed from the Cotton seed. Like all 

 other vegetable refuse, it is useful as a manure. We should spread it over 

 the surface just previously to the last digging or ploughing before inserting 

 the crop. It would benefit pasture land sown thinly on the surface early in 

 the spring. 



Upas Tree {An Old Subscriber). — It is the Antiaristoxicaria of botanists, 

 and is included in the natural order Urticae, and Polygamia Dioeeia of 

 Linneeus. It is a native of Java, Macassar, and Borneo, and is a tree having 

 an abundant milky juice ; it attains a height of 90 or more feet ; leaves not 

 unlike those of some of the Magnolias in substance and pale green colour,, 

 but slightly heart-shaped, and the sides not quite equal in size. In Hogg's 

 " Vegetable Kingdom " it is stated that according to the analysis of Pelletier 

 and Caventon, Upas antiaria contains an elastic resin having the appearance 

 of caoutchouc, but differing in its qualities ; a gummy matter ; and a bitter: 

 substance, soluble in water and alcohol, in which resides the deleterious 

 properties of the juice, and which appears to contain a new vegetable alkali. 

 Strychnine has never been discovered in it. This poison leaves no trace 

 behind it in the bodies of the animals that have died by its action ; the blood- 

 vessels are only filled with a blackish blood, as in asphyxia. Introduced 

 into the veins, death is even far more rapid than when applied by a wound ; 

 eight drops injected into the jugular of a horse killed him in a minute and 

 a half in a tetanic state. The fle;h of animals killed by this poison may be 

 eaten with impunity. So virulent does this tree appear to be, that even 

 linen made from its fibre, insufficiently prepared, is so acrid as to cause the 

 most distressing itching. But though thus virulent, the statements that it 

 is death-fraught to rest under its shade are superlative exaggerations. 

 There was, and probably is now, a large specimen in the Botanic Garden at 

 Calcutta, and we have been under its shade, handled its bark, and gathered 

 leaves from it with impunity. 



Flower Garden Plan (A, W., Woolley Park). — The Editors never 

 supply plans; they only criticise those submitted to them. In •* Flower 

 Gardening for the Many," whioh can be had free by post from our office for 

 five postage stamps, there are several plans and how to plant them ; and a 

 great number of other plans are distributed through previous volumes, of 

 this Journal. 



Millet's Mignoxne Peach (A Dartford Reader).— It is the same as 

 the Royal George, a very good Peach, and thrives well in a Peach-house. 



Fruit Trees for. New Zealand (B. Wells, Woolwich).— A letter was 

 forwarded to you on this subject, and is returned by the post office, marked 

 "Not known in Woolwich." Send us a stamped envelope with your fall 

 address. 



Htdropuxt (An Old Subscriber). — "We believe that it is of American 

 origin, and not patented in this country, but we are not certain- At all- 

 events there are two or three makers of them in England. 



Heating Greenhouse from Kitchen Boiler. (A. G. T.). — There will 

 be a difficulty in heating your greenhouse from the kitchen boiler, owing to 

 that boiler being 3 feet above the floor of the greenhouse. The lid being 

 moveable and open, you cannot take the pipes in the house higher than the 

 height of the water in the boiler, and the circulation would be impeded if 

 you had the pipes inside the house lower than the water in the boiler. If 

 you took your pipes round the house you would need to have the pipes that 

 height, which would spoil your doorway from the passage and the doorway 

 into the garden. With a close lid you could take the pipes up over the 

 doorway, but in no case must they fall more than 3 feet from the floor. If 

 your boiler had been S feet below the level of the greenhouse floor you 

 could have taken pipes round three sides of your little house on the floor 

 leveL The simplest plan for you would be to have an iron or slate tank, or 

 a stand of water-pipes of any shape most desirable, but on tbe same level as 

 the boiler, placed anywhere between the two doors, which would be quite 

 sufficient to keep out frost— that is, presuming you must heat from the 

 boiler. The simplest plan in the circumstances would be a small iron stove 

 inside the house, with flat top for an evaporating-pan to be cavereJ with a> 

 lid when much moisture was not wanted. 



Notice to Quit Service (A. P.).— Probably you would be able to compel 

 your employer to give you a full month's notice, or an equivalent in money ; 

 but the legal expenses, loss of time, and the disinclination to engage any 

 one who has sued his master, would more than outweigh the value of the 

 few shillings overplus. Ton had better stats fairly to your master your 

 willingness to leave at the time he wishes, but that you are entitled to a. 

 week's wages in addition ; and, unless he is unreasonable, or there is some 

 fact of which we are ignorant, he will give you your full due. 



Datura arborea Cutttng-back {M. F.). — You may cut the plant back, 

 when you like ; but we should prefer, if you keep the plant in a low tem- 

 perature in winter, just secure from frost, to cut it back about March, and 

 then, as the heat increased, it would break vigorously; &nd if the wood was 

 well ripened every fresh shoot would produce flowers. No plant wi. 1 better 

 stand pruning or cutting-in. We prefer plant3 6 feet high to those Z f°et m 

 height, when we can give them room, as the huge flowers look best ^hen 

 you can look up to rhem hanging down, or at least look to them on ihe 

 level of the eye. At 3 or 4 feet high, you only see the backs of the flowers. 



Heating asd Glass for Greenhouse (J. J.).— We bslieve Musseif s- 

 apparatus answers very well. "We should prefer either clear or rough, 

 glass to green, for a greenhouse, though we have little doubt but green 

 would do. Light blue, or sky blue, does welL 



Preserving Walnuts. — " Can any of your correspondents inform me whaS 

 will prevent Walnuts getting mouldy, when gathered and laid by 1 One of 

 your correspondents mentions they may be kept moist by being placed in 

 jars and kept in a cellar; but this will not prevent their getting mouldy* 

 which they do first outside the shell, then inside the shell ; the skin that 

 covers the kernel becomes mouldy, and afterwards black, and soon the nut 

 decays. — A. G. L." ["We shall be obliged by information on this point. "We 

 wash them thoroughly, and then keep them in jars in a cold cellar, without 

 their becomming mouldy.] 



Propagating "Winter Cherry {A Subscriber). — The fruit Is that of the 

 Winter Cherry (Physalis alkekengi), a hardy herbaceous plant, readily 

 increased by seed sown in spring. It is best removedin March, and the roots 

 divided, which is a ready moae of propagating it. It will grow almost 

 anywhere, but prefers light sandy loamy soil. 



Books (R. V.).— In about a fortnight the work on Tine culture will be 

 published. It will be advertised in our next Number. The " Cottage Gar- 

 deners 1 Dictionary *' can be had from our office free by post for as. 8rf. 



