56 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ January 15, 1885. 
Fotlieringham & Wallace, Corn Exchange, Dumfries .—Catalogue of 
Vegetable and Flower Seeds and List of Trees. 
%* All correspondence should be directed either to “The Editok” 
or to “ The Publisher. 1 ' Letters addressed to Dr. Hogg or 
members of the staff often remain unopened unavoidably. We 
request that no one will write privately to any of our correspon¬ 
dents, as doing so subjects them to unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions relat¬ 
ing to Gardening and those on Bee subjects, and should never 
send more than tw T o or three questions at once. All articles in¬ 
tended for insertion should be written on one side of the paper 
onty. We cannot reply to questions through the post, and we 
do not undertake to return rejected communications. 
Books (A .).—The “ Rosarian’s Year Book ” is published by Messrs. 
Bemrose & Sons, 23, Old Bailey, London. The price is not stated in the 
book, but it can be had from the publishers, or Rev. H. H. D’Ombrain, 
West well Vicarage, Ashford, Kent. 
Address (Inquirer ).—We think you will gain all the information you re¬ 
quire by writing to Mr. P. Nicolls, 277, Goldhawk Road, Hammersmith. 
Scolopendrium (IF. IF. TP.).—We have no recollection of receiving the 
specimen to which you refer. Please send another, and it shall have our 
attention. 
Vines Unhealthy—Compost for Border ( II. H. S.). — We fail to see any 
evidence of the attacks of the phylloxera on the Vine roots you have sent; 
but there are signs of the presence of some corroding matter in the soil. 
You had better clear out the border, and plant in fresh sweet loam mixed 
with lime rubbish, wood ashes, a little soot, and bones if you can obtain 
them, in the proportions that have been recommended in the Journal. A 
very good formula for a Vine border is given by Mr. Ward in page 480, last 
volume, November 27, 1884. We say it is good, because we have seen the 
Vines at Longford Castle, and their admirable condition and excellent crops 
of fine fruit showed that the right kind of soil was used for the borders. 
Alpine Auriculas (R. C.). —Alpine Auriculas need a well-drained sitei 
good loamy soil a foot deep, and not a hot sunny position. They usually 
succeed well on mounds in which a few stones are embedded, and show to 
advantage in that way, but mounds are not essential. If the bed is in a 
position that is shaded from the sun at midday no better site can be desired, 
but we grow them quite in the open on soil that is naturally well drained. 
If it were of a wet nature we should raise the beds 9 inches or a foot above 
the level of the ground, supporting the soil with slates, bricks, or whatever 
we found the most convenient. A good time for planting is just as growth 
is starting. When plants are large and need dividing, it is best done after 
flowering, in showery weather. 
Late Rhododendrons (0. C.). —The following are eighteen good late 
hardy reliable varieties, as selected from Mr. McIntosh’s great collection at 
Duneevan; but the position in which they are grown makes a considerable 
difference as to the season of flowering :—Apology, Alexander Adie, Charles 
Nasmyth, Countess of Clancarty, Concessum, Francis Dickson, Hogarth, 
John Spencer, Lady Falmouth, Lady Annette de Trafford, Lalla Rookh, 
Mrs. Mendel, Mrs. John Kelk, Mrs. John Clutton, Sir William Armstrong, 
Sydney Herbert, Sunshine, and Tintoretto. 
Vines and Camellias (TP. J. C.). —We know of no plants more suitable 
for permanently covering the back walls of vineries than are Camellias. The 
tem H a ture requisite for the Vines suits the plants admirably, and they 
enjo 1 a ther than otherwise the shade during the summer. Until the Vines 
cove! he roof a little artificial shade may be needed by the plants. We 
have seen the back wall of a vinery covered with white Camellias, and 
the blooms gathered from the wall realised about as much money as the 
Grapes did from the roof. Camellias do not like lime, and if you plant 
them it will be well to exclude lime rubbish from the soil to a width of 2 or 
3 feet from the wall. They grow admirably in a mixture of sandy loam and 
crushedbones, top-dressing with soot as may be needed. Healthy Vines six 
years old may be successfully transplanted if the work is carefully done, 
but any removed this spring should be started gently and borne lightly in 
the summer, the main object being the production of strong growth, to be 
well ripened for bearing another year. 
Potatoes in Poor Soil (-7. H.). —Some burned clay, of which you appear 
to have plenty, spread in the trenches with the sets would be of great 
service. The finest crop of Potatoes that came under our notice last year 
was on light land. At the time of planting, kainite at the rate of 8 cwt. per 
acre was spread in the drills with the sets, and when the Potatoes were nearly 
ready for earthing a top-dressing of sulphate of ammonia, at the rate of 
3 cwt. per acre, was given on a showery day, and the horse hoe run through 
the land. This dressing induced quick and strong top growth, and a corre¬ 
sponding root-extension for the appropriation of the potassic manure 
applied in the drills. The yield considerably exceeded 10 tons of marketable 
tubers per acre of the first quality. This has reference to farm culture 
practised on an extensive scale by a thoughtful practical man, who could 
only make Potato-growing profitable by this generous outlay in manures 
We repeat the land was light, as such a quantity of sulphate of ammonia 
would not be justifiable in strong and naturally fertile soil. 
Blackening Garden Walls (Inquirer ).—It is well known that bodies 
coloured black absorb the sun’s rays, and consequently radiate the heat 
they have absorbed, while bodies coloured white reflect the rays. From 
this it has been deduced that walls coloured black are more favourable to 
the ripening of the fruits of trees trained to them than those that from 
their colour reflect the rays of the sun. In situations where the greatest 
advantage is to be taken to absorb solar heat, the following will be 
a useful means of colouring the walls :—To every gallon of coal tar add 
5 lbs. of sifted hot lime, 2 lbs. ot pitch, well boiled together. Apply it hot 
with brushes. It must not be applied to the branches of the trees. In the 
case of a wall facing the north and receiving no sun, we found the advantage 
of limewashing the wall, the additional light thereby obtained greatly 
benefiting the trees. 
Wash for Trees and Walls (F.). —We believe all the recipes are re 
tained in the “ Gardeners’ Year Book,” which will be ready in a few days- 
Do you mean the following ?—‘‘ During the dormant months of winter every 
means should be resorted to for destroying the eggs and larvae of insects 
that are injurious to the trees during the period when vegetation is most 
active; and as these always harbour on the bark and in its crevices, there 
is no season of the year when their haunts can be so easily invaded and the 
enemy dislodged as now. For this purpose, then, remove all filth and 
excescences from the surface of the bark, such as the old scales, moss, and 
lichens, with a blunt scraper, such as an old knife or a piece of hoop iron, 
for it is on these that the pests mainly harbour; then wash the stem and 
branches well with a mixture of brine and softsoap, applying it with an 
old painter’s brush, and rubbing it well into the crevices. Walls also, and 
particularly old ones, are capital harbours for insects. Where they are so 
old as to require fresh pointing, this should be done without delay, and all 
walls that are not absolutely new, or which in any way afford shelter to 
insects, should also receive a thorough washing of the same mixture as the 
trees. In some of the washes lime is recommended, but where the walls 
are of brick, or even of nice clean stone, those whitened patches always 
look unsightly in a garden, and we do not attach so much importance to 
the efficacy of the action of the lime as to consider it an essential ingredient. 
Softsoap and brine are both sufficiently injurious to insect life, and after 
their application they leave no unsightly effects behind ths-m.” Y r ou may 
dissolve 4 ozs. of softsoap in a gallon of water, and apply at a temperature 
of 130° ; washing with clear water is not needed afterwards, but it is 
advisable an hour after you have applied tobacco water, &c., to greenhoiise 
plants. We find I oz. of quassia chips per gallon sufficient for using with 
tobacco water. 
Wall Protection (Sigma ).—We should not add anything to the pro¬ 
jecting eaves in the shape of coping of an opaque description, but continue 
the roof out, say 4 or 6 inches more, which will give you a case well on to 
6 feet wide, or it may be any width desired. The continuation of the roof 
should be of glass, and it ought to be so contrived as to be moveable. The 
side or front may be of glass, having lights that can be opened so as to allow 
of ventilation, and they are best when sliding past each other, having a 
wood plate at bottom with parting laths to guide the lights, and they should 
be so contrived that they can be removed at will, for from early June until 
September the trees will be improved by full exposure, also again in December 
after the house is cleared of Chrysanthemums until the blossom buds are 
swelling and commence showing colour in February or March. It would 
not injure the trees to enclose the front with glass, but on the contrary 
would be a great aid in protecting the blossom and embryo fruit from spring 
frosts, also in late summer in ripening the wood should the weather then 
be cold and wet. Chrysanthemums introduced in October would not injure 
the Peach trees in the least if you admit air on all favourable occasions, and 
do not employ more heat than is absolutely necessary to exclude frost, 
which is all the protection Chrysanthemums need to have them preserved 
in perfection as long as possible. Fire heat, or means of affording it in spring, 
would be a great help to the Peach blossom should the weather prove dull 
and cold, as well as to save them from injury by frost in severe weather. 
We are glad to hear of your success with Grapes, but the Vines were 
probably somewhat overcropped. 
Apricot Culture in Pots (7. H . W.). —Apricots succeed quite as well as 
other descriptions of fruit trees in pots. The chief point in their cultivation 
under glass is to give them plenty of air, and allow them unobstructed light. 
They succeed when forced under the treatment given to Cherries and Plums, 
with the difference that after the fruit is stoned they require a temperature 
somewhat higher, or about 5° more than is accorded Cherries. Messrs. 
Rivers, Sawbridgeworth, Herts, we believe still supply fruiting trees in 
pots, both as pyramids and bushes. If you procure maiden trees we. should 
train them as pyramids. They should be potted so soon as received in 
10-inch pots, using good turfy loam, with a sixth of old mortar rubbish 
added, a fifth of well-decayed manure, and a twentieth of crushed bones. 
Drain the pots efficiently, and ram the compost as firm as possible. The 
trees must be grown under glass right away, although after the wood is 
ripe and the foliage falling they may be plunged outdoors, and remain until 
the middle or January or early February. Unless the growths are strong 
and long they need not be shortened, or at least only have the unripe points 
cut back to firm ripe wood; but in order to form a good pyramid they 
should be headed back to 13 inches, a leader taken up, and the side growths 
stopped at 6 inches of growth, and this repeated for about three years, when 
the trees will be in a bearing state. This will insure the trees being fur¬ 
nished to the base, yet we think upright cordons quite as good as pyramids, 
and bushes are equally eligible. Abundance of light, plenty of air, and 
maintaining a somewhat drier atmosphere when the trees are in blossom 
than would be considered advisable for other fruit trees are the chief essentials, 
forcing very gently in the early stages, and not beginning until early 
December, in order to have ripe fruit in May and early June. The best 
kinds for pot culture are Oullins Early Peach, Large Early, Early Moorpark, 
Kaisha, St. Ambroise, Moorpark, and Peach. 
Tuberous Begonias (7. TF.).—You must excuse us if we are unable t° 
accept your “ fact ” that these plants are “ losing popularity from the diffi¬ 
culty of inducing free growth.” Some of the varieties grow more freely 
than others, no doubt, but the fact remains that thousands of persons have 
