JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 3, 1881. ] 
99 
Frosted Potatoes ( Subscriber ).—If the tubers remain sound and firm they 
will no doubt grow, but if they have turned soft their vitality is destroyed. 
Any which you are doubtful about should be placed in leaf soil in a rather warm 
position, when they will soon show signs of growth if the frost has not destroyed 
them ; they must, however, be kept perfectly cool so long as they remain in a 
frosted state, as the thaw cannot be too slow. 
Camellias ( Hopeville ).—The Camellias you name may be briefly described 
as follows :—Martha, flower large, finely imbricated, and pure white ; Principessa 
Clotilde, handsome flower banded with white and barred with red ; Auguste 
Del fosse, very symmetrical blooms, bright reddish orange, few stripes; Mar¬ 
chioness of Exeter, a very beautiful variety, with soft peach-coloured blooms. 
Incarnata is, we think, a striped variety, and the other we do not know. 
Glass — Heating (C. B.). —We are obliged by your letter. You do not, 
however, give the name of the firm who heated the house in the imperfect 
manner indicated. An estimate should be had for the erection of structures, 
and it can be accepted or not. As to the glass, unless the vendor delivered it 
himself you had in law no claim against him. If it was sent by rail, the rail¬ 
way company become the bailee, and you could have recovered damages from 
them, not from the consigner, who was not “ answerable for breakages," even if 
he had made no such notification as that quoted ; indeed in a case of this kind 
these words were quite superfluous, assuming that the goods were sent by rail or 
some other common carrier. 
Roses for Exhibition (J. B .).—To obtain Rose blooms of exhibition 
quality earlier than the “general run” of the rest of the collection, much may 
be done by early pruning and growing them in a favoured position, but the 
following will be found more precocious than some others :—Madame Victor 
Verdier, Charles Lefebvre, Annie Laxton,'Docteur Andry, Dupuy Jamain, General 
Jacqueminot, Mdlle. Eugdnie Verdier, Marquise de Castellane, Royal Standard, 
Senateur Vaisse, Mdlle. Marie Rady, and Lord Macaulay. Late bloomers are 
Star of Waltham, Emilie Hausberg, Baronne de Rothschild, Due de Rohan, 
Duchesse de Vallombrosa, Madame Charles Wood, Madame Hippolyte Jamain, 
Francois Michelon, Reine du Midi, Sir Garnet AVolseley, Reynolds Hole, and 
Devienne Lamy. Such information as you need respecting the “ classes for 
Cheshunt-raised Roses and similar classes,” can only be obtained from the 
Secretaries of the National Rose Society. If you write to the Rev. H. H. 
D’Ombrain, Westwell Vicarage, Ashford, Kent; or to Edward Mawley, Esq., 
Addiscombe Road, Croydon ; either of them will send you a schedule of prizes 
when ready for distribution. 
Roman Villa at Brading ( C. Waring). — The discovery of the re¬ 
mains of this villa in the Isle of Wight has occasioned many inquiries, which 
are all answered in the following notes.—Statues of the tutelary deities were 
always placed at the garden gates which opened upon a parterre. The walks 
were edged with Box, or with a dwarf Conifer. The lawns had evergreen en¬ 
closures,and some of the evergreens were clipped into the shape of animals, initial 
letters of the owner and gardener. A very full description of a Roman garden 
is given by Mr. Moule in his “Essay on the Roman Villas.” 
Potato for Garden Culture (An Old Subscriber). —In reply to your 
query for the “ best early, dwarf-growing, prolific, disease-resisting, general crop 
Potato for garden planting,” we doubt if any variety- better combines all those 
qualities than Myatt’s Prolific Ashleaf, Rivers’ Royal Ashleaf, or Gloucester¬ 
shire Kidney, for all these, if raised from true stocks, are identical. That it is 
dwarf and prolific is well known, and it is generally ready for digging before 
the disease occurs ; at least this is our experience. We find also that the tubers 
are as good in quality now as they were in the autumn, and they will continue 
good for a long time. We have for some years relied on this variety for our 
early and general crop under garden culture, and it has never failed to answer 
our expectations both by its yield and table quality. Your mode of wide plant¬ 
ing is good, but with this variety the rows may be 6 inches closer than you 
name, and the other crops between the rows will succeed equally well. The 
time and depth of planting should be governed by the state of the seed and 
character of the ground. As a rule early and rather deep planting is the best 
in light, dry, and sandy soils, later and shallow planting in strong loam ; but 
on this point you cannot do better than continue the plan that has proved 
successful. 
Potting Begonias (C. Diamond). —We presume you mean the tuberous 
varieties. It is not too early to pot them provided you have a suitable position 
for starting them into growth, such as a heated pit or propagating house. They 
should be potted in a compost of equal parts of loam, peat, and leaf soil, with a free 
admixture of silver sand, each tuber being surrounded with sand and placed in the 
centre of a small pot. If the pots are plunged in cocoa-nut fibre refuse or saw¬ 
dust of a temperature of 75° to 80°, it will be of great assistance to them, as if 
the plunging material is kept moist it will not be necessary to water the soil in 
the pots—a point of some importance, since, unless the greatest possible care is 
exercised in applying water to the tubers, a number of them will decay. The 
soil should be moderately moist when used, and the temperature of the house 
be kept at about 70°. When growth commences raise the pots and place them 
on the bed for a few days, then remove them to a shelf near the glass, and as 
soon as the roots can be seen protruding through the drainage shift the plants 
into larger pots, and grow them in a light position in a house having a minimum 
temperature of about 60°. When artificial heat cannot be afforded to the extent 
and in the manner indicated, the tubers must not be potted so soon. If they 
have to be started in an ordinary greenhouse, the middle of April will be soon 
enough for potting ; if,, however, they are established in pots in which they 
were grown last year, it will be a safe plan to allow them to start in these pots, 
shaking them out carefully and repotting when the growth is half an inch long. 
A hotbed, such as a Cucumber frame, will then be of considerable assistance in 
the early stages of growth, but they must not remain in such a frame to be 
drawn up weakly. 
Repotting Adiantums (Idem). —The plants should not be potted until 
they have commenced producing young fronds freely. This is usually during 
February or early March, according to the condition of the plants and the 
temperatiwe in which they are placed. Suitable soil is light turfy loam, peat, 
and leaf soil, in equal parts, with a plentiful admixture of broken charcoal and 
silver sand. This is good for young plants, which also will grow freely in peat 
alone; but for strong healthy plants a stronger compost is preferable. We 
never had them so fine as in two-thirds of rough turfy loam and one-third of 
the refuse of a Mushroom bed—old horse manure—with plenty of broken char¬ 
coal, and a handful of soot to a gallon of soil; but for young and delicate plants 
this compost is too strong and rich. 
Cucumbers and Melons (Melon). —Such a house as the one represented 
in the sketch you have enclosed is a very good one for the purpose provided 
you have sufficient top heat, which you do not mention. The provision for 
bottom heat is ample; indeed we should prefer to have some sliding shutters in 
the pit’ wall next the pipes, so that you could regulate the bottom heat as 
desired. You had better place a few inches of clinkers or other rubble on the 
floor of the pit, and cover them with turves or a thin layer of litter or leaves 
before placing in the soil. In the first instance this need only be spread about 
3 inches deep, and at intervals of 2 or 3 feet form hillocks, each containing half 
a bushel or a little more of soil, in which the Cucumbers and Melons are to be 
planted. The first layer may be of ordinary garden soil, the mounds being of 
turfy loam with a fourth of decayed manure, and wood ashes if you have them. 
As the roots protrude through the hillocks they must be covered with warmed 
soil an inch or two at a time as often as is requisite. The soil for the Cucum¬ 
bers as they attain strength should be rough, open, and rich, that for the Melons 
heavier, less rich, and pressed down very firmly. By adding soil as directed 
throughout the season, it is surprising how little is required to produce heavier 
crops with the aid of liquid manure and otherwise good culture. One of the 
finest crops of Cucumbers we ever had was produced from soil only a foot thick, 
but it was good soil, and more would have been required of a less sound and 
fertile compost. The minimum temperature of the house should be 70° for 
raising the seedlings. If you have a frame in the house, or handglasses placed 
on the warmest part of the bed, you will raise the plants more readily, and can 
strike cuttings much more freely than in the open bed. Cucumbers and Melons 
are usually ready for planting out a month after the seed is sown. Great care 
is needed in ventilation and watering, cold currents of air and cold water being 
fatal to the plants. For further details of culture see past issues under the 
heading of “Work for the Week,” and the subject will be alluded to from time 
to time in future issues of this Journal. 
“Butter Nuts” (F. R .).—The nuts you have purchased under the above 
name are produced by a South American tree, known by botanists as Caryocar 
nuciferum, though several other species also bear edible nuts. The tree which 
produces the Souari or Butter Nuts attains the height of 100 feet, the trunks 
rising like columns without branches to the height of 80 feet.. Though it is a 
native of the South American provinces of Essequibo and Berbice it has been 
introduced to some of the West Indian Islands, and it has received especial 
attention in St. Vincents. The kernel is white, soft, and fleshy, with the mild 
flavour of a Sweet Almond, but much softer in texture, melting like butter, and 
is enclosed in an exceedingly hard shell. The wood of C. nuciferum is also em¬ 
ployed in ship-building, and an oil is extracted from the nuts. Owing to the 
great height of the tree the nuts are only procured with considerable difficulty, 
which is partially the cause of their being seldom seen in this country. 
Wooden Hive (Henry F. Fox ).—Your larger sketch gives an ancestor of 
the Stewarton hive and now quite out of date. The smaller sketch is no doubt 
an “ adapting board,” the hinged part to be turned back at the time that glasses 
are placed over the six holes. Both belong to a past school of bee-keeping, and 
we should advise in the interests of economy that neither be used. 
COVENT GARDEN MARKET.—February 2. 
Business remains quiet, with no alteration to quote with the exception of 
Cucumbers, which 
have experienced 
a great fall. 
FRUIT. 
s. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
S. 
d. 
Apples. 
i sieve 
2 
6 to 4 
6 
Melons . 
each 
0 
otoo 
0 
Apricots. 
box 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Nectarines. 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
39- Us. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Oranges . 
If* 100 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Chestnuts. 
bushel 12 
0 
16 
0 
Peaches . 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Figs. 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Pears,kitchen .. 
dozen 
2 
0 
3 
0 
Filberts.. 
K^ft. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
dessert . 
dozen 
0 
4 
0 
Cobs. 
%>■ lb 
2 
0 
0 
0 
Pine Apples .... 
ft 
i 
0 
0 
Gooseberries .... 
£ sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Plums . 
i sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Grapes . 
**■ it 
3 
0 
8 
0 
Walnuts . 
bushel 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
18 
0 
ditto . 
%>■ 160 
0 
0 
0 
0 
VEGETABLES. 
8 
d. 
s. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
9. 
d. 
Artichokes. 
dozen 
2 
0to4 
0 
Mushrooms . 
punnet 
1 
Oto 1 
G 
Asparagus. 
bundle 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Mustard* Cress .. 
punnet 
0 
2 
0 
3 
Beans,Kidney .. .. 
W 100 
1 
0 
l 
6 
Onions . 
bushel 
3 
6 
5 
0 
Beet,Red. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
pickling . 
quart 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Broccoli . 
bundle 
0 
9 
1 
6 
Parsley. doz.bunches 
6 
0 
0 
0 
Brussels Sprouts.. 
i sieve 
0 
9 
i 
3 
Parsnips . 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Cabbage . 
dozen 
0 
6 
i 
0 
Peas . 
quart 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Carrots. 
bunch 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Potatoes . 
bushel 
3 
9 
4 
0 
Capsicums. 
100 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Kidney . 
bushel 
4 
0 
4 
6 
Cauliflowers. 
dozen 
0 
0 
3 
6 
Radishes_ doz .bunches 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Celery. 
bundle 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Rhubarb . 
bundle 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Coleworts_doz. bunches 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Salsafy. 
bundle 
1 
0 
0 
0 
0 
6 
0 
9 
bundle 
1 
6 
0 
0 
Endive. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Seakale . 
basket 
3 
0 
8 
0 
Fennel. 
bunch 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Shallots . 
ft. 
0 
3 
0 
8 
Garlic . 
ft. 
0 
6 
0 
0 
Spinach . 
bushel 
3 
0 
0 
0 
Herbs . 
bunch 
0 
2 
0 
c 
Turnips. 
bunch 
0 
4 
0 
0 
Leeks. 
bunch 
0 
3 
0 
4 
Vegetable Marrows each 0 
0 
0 
0 
POULTRY AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. 
WEEDS OF THE FARM, AND HOW TO DESTROY 
THEM. 
Weeds of the farm are very numerous, and their individual 
names are also various in certain districts. We hope, however, to 
be able to describe most of them under their provincial names, 
so That, together with their habits of growth, colour, &c., they 
may be easily recognised by the home farmers in their respective 
localities. It must be admitted that it is necessary and desirable 
