80 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ January SI, 1884. 
Sometimes in our ungenial climate it is tardy in ripening, and this 
year my Pears were apparently hopeless. Fortunately, a houseful of 
Mardchal Niel Roses just bursting in bloom suggested that the fruit 
should have tbe benefit of the heat. In three days the unripe Pears 
changed into tbe sweet and tender Josephine de Malines. No man can 
desire better.—T. F. Rivers. 
[Specimens accompanying this letter were very delicious.] 
DENDROBIUM MONILIFORME. 
I send for your notice a spike of this beautiful early-flowering 
Orchid. It is a plant that all cultivators of fine-flowering stove 
plants should possess. Our largest plant of it has just had 450 flowers 
upon it, and without any forcing the first blooms opened on Christmas 
day. It is a plant of the easiest culture, requiring the ordinary 
stove treatment. The only point that I have noticed which should 
be avoided is much exposure to the sun in summer ; still no shading 
is necessary when the plants are a little distance from the glass. 
Place them on the surface of well-crocked pans, turfy peat and 
sphagnum being packed round the roots. Young growth is necessary 
to lay the basis for free flowering, and this is insured by providing 
plenty of moisture in the atmosphere in the summer or growing 
season. . This Dendrobe flowers uniformly on the previous year’s 
wood, this year’s growth retaining its foliage, which gives the plant 
a good appearance. In autumn after the growth is made we keep 
the plant quite dry, and in this condition the pseudo-bulbs soon 
become covered with flower buds, and after these have fairly shown 
the plant is placed in a slight heat. This Orchid can be relied upon 
as a first-rate Christmas plant. —Robt. MacKellar. 
[Our correspondent sends us with these notes a portion of a 
healthy pseudo-bulb of Dendrobium moniliforme 9 inches long, and 
bearing twenty-two richly coloured blooms in pairs or triplets, and 
forming quite a wreath of flowers.] 
CULTURE OF HORSE-RADISH. 
As Horse-radish is required in almost every household and at all 
seasons of the year, it is well that the best way of growing it should 
be more generally understood by gardeners in private places than it 
is at present. As a rule the Horse-radish occupies the same ground 
year after year. When a little is wanted it has to be searched for 
all over the bed, and when found is often not fit for use. Until a 
very few years ago I was much puzzled to keep up a supply, still I 
had a large bed devoted to it; at the same time I could see grand 
samples exposed for sale in the shops—long, thick, white roots, in 
every way superior to that grown in gardens. I made inquiries 
among some of the best gardeners of my acquaintance, and also 
consulted all the garden literature at hand. Some advised cutting a 
number of old crowns from the bed, planting them about a foot 
deep in rows ; others recommended planting long thin roots in rows. 
Both plans were followed and answered fairly well, still there were 
drawbacks. First, by these methods Horse-radish takes two or more 
years to grow to a proper size, and is always woody and inclined to 
be black in the centre, while it did not come up to the standard of 
that in the shops. But eventually coming to live near Manchester, 
and in the very district where a large quantity is grown annually 
for market, I was not long in arriving at the right practice, and I 
cannot do better than detail the advice given to me by a very good 
grower. 
About the end of January commence at one end of the old 
bed, and carefully take out every piece of root, large and small. 
Take care of the long, white, thin roots, not less than a foot long 
and the growth of the previous year. Tie them in bundles and bury 
them in damp sand. Select all which you think will be fit for use, 
and bury them in soil or sand. These will do for use while the young 
ones are growing. Clear the refuse off to be burnt, and prepare a 
bed or beds in an open sunny position. Thoroughly trench and 
dress it with decayed manure, which must be well mixed with the 
soil. At the end of February or the beginning of March take the 
young roots or sets out of the sand, and it will then be easy to dis¬ 
tinguish the crown end, as thire will be a number of buds or small 
sprouts round it. Obtain a piece of rough cloth and rub the entire 
length of the set with tbe exception of about an inch at each end, 
the object being to remove all buds which would afterwards become 
roots and disfigure the size of the main root. In planting mark out 
the beds 3 feet wide, leaving as much soil in the alleys as possible. 
Lay the sets 15 inches apart in a horizontal position across the bed, 
the crowns to the walk down both sides of the bed, then cover them 
2 inches deep with soil from the alleys. When the leaves are about 
4 or 5 inches long examine them and take off any roots which may 
have formed at the base of the leaves. As growth advances mulch 
well with good manure, and give periodical waterings with liquid 
manure. Care must be taken during dry weather that they do not 
suffer for want of water, or the crop will be very much injured. By 
the end of October the crop will be ready for use. A sufficient 
number of young roots must be saved for the next year’s sets and 
treated as before. 
It is always well to change the ground every year, for if grown 
in the same position for two years it is apt to become dark in colour 
and wood} r in texture. What is wanted for next summer's supply 
should be taken up and stored in damp sand or soil. I only know 
one variety, but a large grower for market tells me there are two, 
one very much better than the other. —Wm. Plant. 
“SINGLE-HANDED.” 
May I ask all who have so promptly responded to my appeal on 
behalf of a suffering fellow labourer to accept my grateful thanks for 
the aid they have rendered and the manner in which it has been con¬ 
veyed ? The letters I have received form a treasury of sympathy that 
must ever be valued by our friend, if he lives, and his family. As 
typical of these letters I cite from the first that came to hand, and it is 
the more necessary to do so since the writer withheld his Dame and 
address. 
“ I f?lt very grieved to see your sad account of the health of your well- 
known correspondent ‘ Single-handed,’ as, I presume in common with most 
of your subscribers, I experience almost a feeling of personal regard for 
those whose genial and experienced writings give us weekly so much 
pleasure and profitable information. I admire the old motto, ‘ Bis dat qui 
cito dat-,' and though I cannot send Grapes I can send wherewith to 
procure some, and I beg to enclose £2, trusting that I may have the 
pleasure of hearing that it has been of use, and that before long we may 
once more have the gratification of seeing his nom de plume at the bottom 
of an article. With best wishes.— An Old Subscriber.” 
That letter is from certainly a good man, and presumably affluent; 
the other, and the last opened up to the time of writing, is from a 
gardener, and is equally prized. 
“ Let me thank you now for your friendly aid to one who is. I am sure, 
a brother to be beloved. I mean ‘Single-handed.’ I send 2s. 6d. for him. 
You can either send me a packet of seed of Auricula or not. If there are 
others more pressing let them have the seed, but let ‘Single-handed’ have 
the money all the same. I wish I could make it eight times as much. I do 
rejoice to know that he is, even as I am, earnest in the temperance cause. 
May the Great Physician heal him wholly. My warmest blessing he has, 
now and always.—H., Notts." 
Many others have written similarly. There are still a few packets 
of Auricula seed at disposal, which I shall be glad to distribute. It is 
only fair to state that “Single-handed” has not during any part of his 
serious illness been in receipt of wages, his sense of what wa9 right 
impelling him to ask to be suspended from his engagement when he felt 
his incapacity to do his duty. The cause of his present illness is attri¬ 
buted to three night journeys of 400 miles each and the exertion attend¬ 
ing the removal of his family, &c. The sums sent, with any that may 
follow, are urgently needed, and will be applied to meet the actual 
necessities of one of the saddest of cases and the best of men in the 
gardening world. 
The supply of Grapes is at present ample, and those who have 
so generously offered them will be written to as a bunch may be re¬ 
quired, and they are now cordially thanked for their kindness. 
With the object of affording the best information in answer to 
numerous inquiries relative to the condition of “ Single-handed,” I have 
received the following letter from the skilful medical gentleman who 
has attended him so assiduously. 
“ 124, Western Road, Brighton. 
“ January 29th, 1884. 
“Bear Sir, —In accordance with your wish I have pleasure in writing 
to you with regard to your afflicted correspondent. I saw him yesterday, and 
found him decidedly worse. He is suffering from, I fear, a malignant form of 
ulceration of the stomach, and I see no hopes now of his recovery. Ha 
looks blanched and bloodless, and is being slowly, poor fellow, starved to 
death, for scarcely anything keeps down, and I do not think the end can be 
very far off. He bears his trouble with calm heroic resignation, and it is a 
source of keen regret to me that I can do nothing further to help him.— 
Very truly yours, Allen Duke.” 
It is painful to publish this letter, but in no other form can such 
authentic information be conveyed ; and I have only to add that 
“Single-handed’s” copy of this issue of the Journal will be sent to 
his medical attendant.—J. Wright. 
VINES BLEEDING. 
I propose putting Messrs. Muir and Taylor, who, I see from the note 
of “ Comber,” do not believe that Vines are injured by bleeding, to this 
test: I ask them if they will allow me or my deputy to freshly pare the 
bounds of all the pruned shoots, &c., three days before starting the 
Vines in any one of their most important and best vineries about to be 
Darted soon. If the bleeding does no harm the paring of the wounds 
will do no injury, and if their faith is equal to their professions they 
should not hesitate to submit their Vines to the ordeal. If they decline 
the challenge I and others of your readers will no doubt form our own 
opinions about their preaching and practice. I can only account for any 
