January 22, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
79 
deodorisers. It may be applied all over the surface to the extent of an 
inch thick in its fresh or undecomposed state, and if incorporated with 
loam, as above indicated, 2 or 3 inches thick, as a top-dressing, it is a first- 
rate dressing for fruit trees, and indeed every description of crop needing 
support, and, in the proportion of one part to six of soil, is more powerful 
and enduring than manure. 
Camellia Buds Falling ( A Constant Header). —We have examined the 
shoot of Camellia you sent for our inspection and found the flower buds 
perfectly healthy, but the wood not sufficiently ripened. There can be little 
doubt that the falling of the buds is due to the unripened condition of the 
wood. You cannot expect your tree to unfold its buds and perfect flowers, 
the wood being so green as the sample supplied to us. The growths when 
ripe should be of a dark brown colour up to the terminal bud, and unless 
this is accomplished your tree will continue to cast its flower buds. The 
unripened condition of the wood may be due to overshading, or to some 
extent to the very luxuriant growth of the tree itself. We would advise 
you to start this tree into growth somewhat earlier than those of a less 
luxuriant nature, so as to give it a better chance of maturing its wood earlier 
in the season, when it will have the benefit of light and sunshine, which are 
essential for this purpose. 
Vines and Plants ( G. C. B.). —There is no reason whatever that you 
should not succeed in your object. As you will not have room for more 
than five Vines we should have three of them Black Hamburghs, and you 
might try one Madresfield Court and one Foster’s Seedling. In a cool 
mixed house the others you name are less certain to give satisfaction. If 
Madresfield Court does well you can easily take up another rod from it, 
while if it fails by the berries splitting you can cut it out and train an 
additional row of either the Black Hamburgh or Foster’s White Seedling 
in its place, as one Vine will support two rods as well as one only. You had 
better procure the Vines and shorten them at once to the height required 
for them to reach the base of the rafters, when planted keeping them quite 
cool until the buds commence swelling in spring, then plant. Borders 
8 feet wide and 2 feet deep will suffice the first year, and they may be com¬ 
posed as described by Mr. Abbey in another column. 
Asphalt Walks (H. P.). —The walks oh the Thames Embankment 
Gardens are made of asphalt with a good proportion of gravel m its com¬ 
position. We do not know the exact proportion of the ingredients. We 
cite a3 follows from the “ Gardener’s Year Book” on preparing and using 
asphalt:—“ 1, Take two parts of very dry lime rubbish and one part coal 
ashes, also very dry, and both sifted fine. In a dry place on a dry day mix 
them, and leave a hole in the middle of the heap, as bricklayers do when 
making mortar. Into this pour boiling hot coal tar ; mix, and when as 
stiff as mortar put it down 3 inches thick to form the walk. The ground 
should be dry and beaten smooth. Sprinkle over it coarse sand: when 
cold pass a light roller over it, and in a few days the walk will be solid and 
waterproof. 2, An old gravel path will only require to be swept clean ; a 
new-made one to be well beaten and rolled. Choose a warm day (the 
warmer the better); let the tar be boiling hot; use the common, long- 
handled, iron-bound tar brush, and iron kettle, holding about a gallon, for 
the purpose of taking only so much tar from the boiler at one time as can 
be used in about a quarter of an hour, and paint over with a good coat. Let 
a lad follow with dry sifted sand, throwing over enough to prevent the tar 
sticking to his feet, and then go over with the roller. Two men tarring 
will employ a lad to follow with the sand, and another to attend the fire 
and supply the tar as fast as used. This repeated every three years the 
surface will become quite hard, and the paths will always be perfectly dry 
and pleasant to walk upon even in the worst of weather.” No doubt if one 
part of gravel was substituted for a corresponding part of lime rubbish that 
the composition would be good; and very fine gravel might be used for sur¬ 
facing instead of sand, rolling it in before the composition is cold. In 
Finsbury Park a layer about an inch thick of calcined gravel is spread on 
the tar mixture, and all rolled down together, making firm, smooth, and neat 
walks. 
Cropping a Kitchen Garden (A. IF.).—Although we have plenty of ground 
we follow the double system of cropping, which is very good in some 
respects, but is not applicable to every description of crop, especially root 
crops, as Onions, Carrots, Beet, &c .; and Broad Beans are best kept to 
themselves, although a few dibbled in the rows of Potatoes do no harm, and 
are serviceable, as they come in before or by the Potatoes are lifted, even if 
the Potatoes are early kinds. To give you some idea of the system we may 
state that we never retain any ground for summer Spinach, Lettuce, 
Radishes, Celery or Cauliflower, Broccoli, and winter Greens. These are 
what we may term go-between crops, and as examples—Early Peas have a 
row of Spinach between each two rows of Peas, or Radishes broadcast about 
a foot wide, and these are off in time for throwing out trenches for early 
Celery; indeed all the Celery is grown between all the rows of Peas, and we 
grow about 3000 heads, the Spinach and Radishes being taken before the 
Celery. Then Lettuces are grown in the alleys of the Onions and other 
root crops ; early Cauliflowers are planted in the alleys of the Asparagus 
beds, successional crops between the rows of early Potatoes, and the 
Broccoli, Savoy, Borecole, and other winter Greens are planted between the 
rows of second early Potatoes. Then the spaces between the rows of 
Runner Beans are utilised for Dwarf or French Beans, or Vegetable Marrows. 
There are a few matters that occur to us upon the spur of the moment, and 
are in reality carried much further—for instance, we were asked to have 
Mushrooms in summer, and we filled the spaces between the rows of 
Rhubarb with dry littery manure, taking out the soil a little or sufficient to 
cover the manure 3 or 4 inches thick, and inserted the spawn in the beds, 
wrapped in a little dry hay, in the manure about 3 inches deep, and we had 
more Mushrooms than we knew what to do with from July to frost. It is 
astonishing what th>e ground will yield when treated well and skilfully. 
Culture of Zygopetalum Mackayi ( II. K.). —The following particulars 
respecting the culture of this plant by two experienced Orchid growers 
answer all your questions, and should enable you to succeed with the plants. 
They do not require frequent potting, and a slight rest after the completion 
of the growth is beneficial, reducing the supply of water, but never attempt 
to dry them as is practised with some plants. “ It is easily grown. Although 
Brazilian it makes grand growth in a cool airy house during summer. The 
largest growths we ever saw were made in a cool, moist, airy, and partially 
shaded Odontoglossum house. Everyone admired them, but, alas ! they did 
not flower, and one’s employer is apt to fancy “nothing but leaves”—no 
return for cultural expenses. The Mexican-house temperature was next 
tried : 90° on hot days, no shade, no fire heat at night, when the temperature 
fell to 45° or 50° very often. So grown the bulbs were smaller, the leaves 
shorter, and almost yellow rather than green, but the growths were sturdy 
and vigorous. Some gave two spikes, each spike bearing seven to nine 
flowers. A compost of fibrous peat, sphagnum, and broken crocks is most 
suitable, and abundance of water when growing should be the rule.” Another 
cultivator remarks as follows :—“ Ours are grown amongst Cattleyas, but it 
succeeds if managed like an ordinary cool stove plant. It is not particular 
as to compost, as we have it growing in peat, loam, and a mixture of both. 
Breaks on plants in all three kinds of compost or soils are producing a couple 
of spikes each. It is a free-rooting plant and requires plenty of root-space. 
A strong plant with one or two breaks should have a 9 or 10-inch pot. 
When the pots are too small for the plants one spike from each break is 
the rule, and very seldom more than one break is produced from a lead, 
while under liberal treatment more spikes and breaks are common.” 
Tuberous Begonias (J. W. 8.). —We are well aware that some of the 
named varieties that produce “grand flowers” are destitute of constitution, 
and that it is not easy to increase them rapidly, hence the rather high 
prices that are charged ; but there are, nevertheless, plenty of sorts that are 
both vigorous and good, these giving cultivators the greatest satisfaction. 
Seedlings usually grow freely, but some of them naturally more strongly 
than others. We have described both the soil and temperature in which 
the plants flourish when they are properly attended to in a suitable struc¬ 
ture. Your house is no doubt too hot and dry in summer, but what the 
temperature is now and onwards through the spring you leave us to guess. 
For raising the seedlings and growing the plants in their early stages we 
should have a frame or case inside the house; if over hot-water pipes, so 
much the better, and in thi 3 place G inches or so of cocoa-nut fibre refuse 
to be kept moist. With care in watering and ventilating, and maintaining 
a temperature of 65°, falling to G0°, the plants would grow, as freely as 
Calceolarias in the hands of a good cultivator. When established in small 
pots and ready for shifting into larger they must be gradually prepared to 
endure the drier air of the house by increasing the ventilation of the frame 
more and more till the lights can be withdrawn without the leaves of the 
plants changing. When stood in the house they will be far better on a 
layer of cocoa-nut fibre refuse or anything of a moisture-holding nature 
than on dry open shelves, and if these are of latticework the dry air rising 
upwards and acting on the under surfaces of the leaves extracts the mois¬ 
ture from them and the plants collapse. Still, if they must be stood on 
boards, these and the pots must be syringed as often as is required for 
keeping them damp. The house, too, every part of it—walls, paths, stages, 
floors, especially under the pipes—must be well syringed twice a day in hot 
weather, and the floor damped even more frequently for maintaining a 
genial atmosphere like that during a dull day after a heavy shower in June. 
We do not like ventilating by throwing open the doors of a house, as this 
dries the air too much ; and if a structure cannot be efficiently ventilated 
otherwise it is certainly defective. During the summer the plants grow like 
Rhubarb, with the pots partially plunged in cocoa-nut fibre in pits and 
frames that receive no heat except from the sun ; but a system of very early 
and gradually increased ventilation is adopted, and good judgment exercised 
in watering at all times. Is there anything more we can tell you to assist 
you in your object ? 
Names of Fruits ( Cranston & Co.). —1, Borsddrffer ; 2, not known. 
Names of Plants (IF. IF. IF.).—Scolopendrium vulgare var. crispum. 
( F. A. P.).— The Yanda Cathcarti is a fine variety, and appears distinct 
from the one referred to. The Odontoglossum Alexandra is large, but we 
have seen better formed flowers, Zygopetalum intermedium is an excel¬ 
lent variety superior to most forms, but we cannot say whether it is the 
original form described. The other Orchid we consider is a variation ot 
Tiichopilia tortilis, with which it corresponds in colour and form, except 
that the sepals and petals are become flattened instead of twisted. (G- 
Finlay).— There is nothing remarkable in the Phalsenopsis Schulenana 
flower, either in size or colour ; it is good, but there are many equally nne. 
The other Orchid is an Epidendrum, but it was not recognisable in the state 
in which it arrived. 
COYENT GARDEN MARKET.—January 21st. 
Samples of Grapes firmer all round, best at an advance. Supplies generally good. 
Trade dull. 
FRUIT. 
Apples.. 
1 sieve 
8. 
2 
d. 8. 
6 to 3 
d. 
6 
Oranges. 
.. 100 
Chestnuts 
bushel 16 
0 
0 
0 
Peaches . 
perdoz. 
Cobs, Kent .. per 
100 lbs. 
55 
0 
0 
0 
Pears, kitchen .. 
dozen 
J sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
,, dessert 
dozen 
„ Black .. 
J sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Pine Apples English., id. 
Figs . 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Plums . 
$ sieve 
Grapes . 
Lemons • • • • *. 
.. lb. 
2 
0 
5 
0 
Strawberries.. .. 
•, case 
10 
0 
15 
0 
St. Michael Pines 
. .each 
s. d. s. d. 
4 0 to 6 0 
0 0 0 0 
10 3 0 
2 0 6 0 
16 2 0 
0 0 0 0 
0 0 0 0 
3 0 7 0 
Artichokes .. 
.. dozen 
Beans, Kidney 
lb. 
Beet, Red 
.. dozen 
Broccoli .. .. 
Brussels Sprouts 
.. £ sieve 
Cabbage .. .. 
Capsicums .. 
100 
Carrots .. .. 
Cauliflowers .. 
.. dozen 
Celery .. .. 
Coleworts dcz. bunches 
Cucumbers 
.. each 
Endive .. 
Herbs .. .. 
Leeks .. .. 
Lettuce .. .. 
VEGETABLES. 
s. d. 
9. 
d. 
8. 
d. 
8. 
d. 
2 
0 
to 4 
0 
Mushrooms .. 
..punnet 
0 
0 
to 1 
0 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Mustard and Cress punnet 
0 
2 
0 
0 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Ouions .. .. 
0 
3 
0 
4 
0 
9 
1 
0 
Parsley .. dozen bunches 
2 
0 
s 
0 
2 
6 
3 
0 
Parsnips .. .. 
1 
0 
2 
0 
0 
0 
1 
0 
Potatoes .. .. 
4 
0 
5 
0 
1 
6 
2 
0 
,, Kidney 
.. cwt. 
4 
0 
5 
0 
0 
3 
0 
4 
Rhubarb.. 
0 
4 
0 
0 
2 
0 
3 
0 
Salsafy .. .. 
1 
0 
0 
6 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Scorzonera 
.. bundle 
1 
6 
0 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Seakale .. 
per basket 
2 
0 
2 
6 
0 
4 
1 
0 
Shallots .. .. 
.. .. lb . 
0 
S 
0 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Spinach .. .. 
2 
0 
4 
0 
0 
2 
0 
0 
Tomatoes 
0 
6 
1 
0 
0 
1 
Turnips .. .. 
0 
4 
0 
