3G6 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Octo'ier 25, 188?. 
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 two or three questions at once. All articles in¬ 
tended for insertion should be written on one side of the paper 
only. We cannot reply to questions through the post, and we 
do not undertake to return rejected communications. 
Vine Roots. —We have received a package containing Vine roots and 
foliage, but no letter relative to them. Perhaps the sender will communicate 
with us if he desires any information on the subject of his specimens. 
Pampas Grass ( Denne ).—We cut some spikes last year at this time and 
placed them in vases in a room, and they are as “ feathery ” and about as 
fresh as ever. They should be cut when quite dry, before they assume a 
brown hue, and they will keep well in any dry room. 
Chrysanthemum segetum {W. Rayner ).—This is the name of the plant 
you have sent, and is popularly known as the Corn Marigold. The flowers 
have been fashionable of late, and extensively grown in gardens. In all 
probability if some of the sturdy plants that are showing flower buds so 
freely were taken up carefully and potted they would expand their blooms 
freely in a greenhouse during the winter, and be very bright and acceptable 
Grenadier and Bramley’s Seedling Apples ( IV. I>. Godin). —These come 
under the denomination of large Apples. The measurement and weight 
of one of the best fruits in each dish exhibited at Chiswick are as 
follows :—Grenadier, 3 inches high, 12 inches in circumference, 10 ozs. in 
weight; Bramley’s Seedling, 3 inches high, 11 inches in circumference, and 
12 ozs. in weight. Both are undoubtedly good varieties. Bramley’s Seedling 
we have grown, and know it to be a good grower and bearer of fine fruit. 
Crimson Clove Carnations (J. S. F .).—Our correspondent, Mr. Muir, 
raises his own plants from layers, but not for sale ; besides, he resides some 
300 or 400 miles from you, and you can get half a dozen plants much nearer 
than that. There is scarcely a nurseryman or florist of standing who cannot 
supply plants of this fine old border flower. Try some local dealer, and he 
will no doubt be able to send you what you want; if not, they can be had 
from York. 
Seedling Apple (S . L. S.). —We consider your Apple a promising variety, 
and advise you to send fruits when in the best condition to the Fruit Com¬ 
mittee of the Royal Horticultural Society ; in the meantime we will keep 
those you have sent until they are quite ripe for examination and descrip¬ 
tion, and shall be glad if you will favour us with your name and address in 
case we may require to write you for any further information. The habit 
of growth of the tree though not common is not altogether singular. 
Plunging Bulbs (J. J.). —The pots may be placed anywhere in the open 
air on a layer of ashes or other base impervious to worms, and covered 5 or 
6 inches deep with cocoa-nut fibre refuse. This is the best material, and is 
used by the most successful cultivators of Hyacinths for exhibition ; but 
ashes, leaf soil, or old damp sawdust will answer the purpose very well. The 
pots should remain buried until they are filled with roots and the crowns have 
pushed to the length of from half to three-quarters of an inch. Iu with¬ 
drawing them they should not be at once exposed to the full light, but 
covered with moss or paper funnels for a time till the growths gradually 
assume a green hue ; after this they cannot have too much light. 
Heating Greenhouse {Idem). —The boiler you name will answer very 
well, and you can have pipes attached to it of any length desired. They 
ought at least to go the whole length of a lean-to house, and if across the 
ends all the better, while for heating a span-roof they should go all round 
the structure. The quantity of piping to use depends wholly on the tempe¬ 
rature that is desired to maintain. Your former letter, to which you refer, 
has not reached us. 
Gardeners’ Benefit Society (T. W. T.). — You will perceive that the 
subject of your letter has been anticipated in the first article of our pre¬ 
sent issue. We are quite aware that a great number of persons obtain situa¬ 
tions as gardeners that are no credit to the craft; but the fact remains that 
employers have the right of engaging them if they choose to do so, and no 
amount of writing would prevent them. Whether such persons as you 
allude to are eligible to join the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Society we 
are unable to say ; perhaps the Secretary might inform you if you were to 
write to him, but we doubt if they would find it easy to get a well-known 
nurserymen or gardener to recommend them to the United Horticultural 
Benefit and Provident Society previously referred to. 
American Walnut [A. M .).—The name of the tree to which you refer is 
Juglans nigra, the Black Walnut or Black Hickory Nut. In Loudon’s 
“Encyclopaedia of Trees and Shrubs,” it is stated that the growth of the 
tree is remarkably quick, more so than that of the European Walnut. At 
eight or ten years of age it begins to bear, and age increases its fertility. 
No tree will grow under its shade, and even grass is injured by it. In forty 
years, in good soil, it will attain the height of from 50 to 00 feet. The heart- 
wood, which is black, remains sound for a long period, when exposed to heat 
and moisture ; but the sap wood speedily decays. When properly seasoned 
the wood is strong, tough, and not liable to warp or split. It is never 
attacked by worms, and has a grain sufficiently fine and compact to admit of 
a beautiful polish. The tree is universally raised from the. nut, which after 
being imported, ought to be sown immediately, as it seldom retains its vital 
power more than six months after it has ripened. 
Insects on Melons ( II. Woolton). —Your plants are attacked by an aphis 
similar to that which infests the Hop and other plants. If Melons are grown 
in a house and trained to a trellis overhead the insects may be prevented by 
frequent syringings and the occasional application of an insecticide such as 
quassia water, nicotine soap, or Gishurst compound; but they should 
never be allowed to increase to such an extent as is shown by the leaf you 
have sent to us, as then they can scarcely be destroyed without destroying 
plants that are half-killed already. If the plants are grown in frames and 
cannot be syringed on the under sides of the leaves the case is more difficult. 
In this event the leaves should be carefully sponged once a week with any of 
the above preparations; but the remedy must always be applied on the 
appearance of the first insect. If this is done, and a moist genial atmosphere 
maintained, the plants may be kept clean. We have had experience with 
the same insect, but have grown healthy plants and good crops of Melons 
nevertheless. When we failed it was because we did not apply the remedy 
soon enough, and permitted the insects to cover the leaves thickly : they 
then, and only then, proved the victors. 
Roses for Autumn (Somerset). —To your Hybrid Perpetuals you may add 
the following :—Bessie Johnson, La France, Jules Margottin, Mrs. Baker, 
Ferdinand de Lesseps, and Duke of Edinburgh. To the list of Teas add 
Catherine Mermet, Marie Van Houtte, Souvenir d’Elise, Perle des Jardins, 
Madame Bravy, Madame Lambard, Niphetos, and Anna Ullivier. The crim¬ 
son Perpetual is a variety of the Damask Rose. The blush China is the 
Monthly Rose, and one of the latest of the free bloomers. If you need 
abundance of flowers for cutting at this season you should grow a number 
of plants of it, and an equal number of Souvenir de la Malmaison. The old 
Cabbage Rose is not an autumn bloomer, nor do the Hybrid Perpetuals 
flower with equal freedom every autumn. Much depends on the season; 
but usually with the aid of liquid manure and intelligent summer pruning 
most of them will flower freely in the autumn. The position is suitable for 
Tea Roses. 
Insects in Mushroom Bed (J. IF., Leeds ).—The specimens simply 
enclosed in an envelope arrived in a crushed, dried, and shapeless mass, 
so that it is quite impossible to identify them. If no Mushrooms have 
yet appeared you may sprinkle the surface of the bed with ammoniacal 
liquor, which you can readily obtain from gasworks in your town, diluted 
with six times its volume of water. If Mushrooms have appeared, we 
think if you dissolve 2 ozs. of salt in a gallon of water and apply it at 
a temperature of 120° to 130° it will destroy the insects and not injure 
the bed. You do not say, however, that the insects have done any harm 
to the crop. 
Galls on Pear Leaf {Inquirer). —These woolly excrescences appear to be 
the work of a species of Phytoptus, or gall mite, belonging to a family the 
transformations of which are imperfectly understood. It is considered that 
they are six-legged while young, eight-legged in their mature condition. 
A number of them of different ages may be observed living in the same 
gall upon the “ happy family ” principle. It has been noticed that they will 
infest one tree year after year, while others of the same kind standing close 
remain untouched. Their journeys, whenever they occur, are at night, it is 
believed. No one has suggested any method of checking their propagation, 
except the removal and destruction of infected leaves. 
Commercial Gardening ( Yggdrasil j.—You plan is not practicable. You 
cannot learn the business of florist and seedsman combined with market 
gardening, and gain experience in vineries in any “ first-rate nursery,” what¬ 
ever premium you may be willing to pay. Your object, we perceive, is to 
make yourself competent to manage a small market garden and florist’s 
business combined, and we know of no way in which you could gain the 
requisite information so quickly as in a well-conducted nobleman’s or gentle¬ 
man’s garden. In such a garden vegetable culture and forcing, fruit culture 
and forcing, the propagation of all kinds of popular flowers for in and outdoor 
decoration, and the making of bouquets for various purposes are practised. By 
working two years in a garden where such work is well done (and such gardens 
are plentiful in every county) and observing closely the system of cropping 
and methods of procedure, entering in a book everything that is done, also the 
results whether favourable or otherwise of each operation, an earnest and 
intelligent man of business aptitude might in two years gain knowledge that 
might be turned to good account in a commercial undertaking in a favourable 
locality. By stating your requirements and objects to a good gardener he 
would no doubt, in consideration of a premium, undertake to afford you all 
the facilities in his power, and in the meantime allow you the usual weekly 
wages that are paid to assistants. This is the best advice we can give you, 
and you would not have had a less useful reply if you had sent us your 
proper name and address; and we may observe that your letter would not 
have been answered so fully if we had not known that our remarks are 
calculated to be useful to others who are desirous of obtaining information 
on this subject. 
Primulas Dying {J. A.). —"We have received the Primula, which is in a 
very unhealthy state, in fact irrecoverable, and you ask us to state “ whether 
the plant or yourself are in fault.” While recognising the fact that old 
plants of Primulas are very prone to decay, we are not able to commend your 
method of culture. The plant has not only been much overpotted, but the 
soil last used is too light, soft, and rich. Not a root has penetrated it, and, 
worse than this, those that came in contact with it have died. The plant 
would certainly have been better if it had been allowed to remain in the 
5-inch pot. When once a Primula becomes decidedly root-bound shifting in 
nine cases out of ten is a mistake, and it is much better to let the plant 
remain in the small pot, supporting with weak stimulants. Repotting should 
always be done before the roots coil firmly round the sides of the pot, and 
the soil for the last shift especially should be of a more turfy character than 
that you have employed. At least half of it should be turfy loam, while 
yours appears quite destitute of that material, and resembles sifted leaves and 
decayed manure such as would be suitable for sowing seed in. Very fine 
healthy plants can be grown in 5-inch pots. You must not, however, expect 
old plants to thrive year after year, but raise young ones annually from 
healthy offsets or cuttings, and by exercising care in the selection of soil, 
also in potting and watering, you ought not to have any difficulty in growing 
the plants satisfactorily. You will find an article on double Primulas on 
page 326, vol. vi., our issue of April 19th of the present year. If you do not 
possess the number and require it, it can be had from the publisher in return 
for 3 ?d. in stamps, and quoting the date we have given. 
Apple Trees not Bearing ( Lundy's Lane). —Although you have given 
an excellent description of your Canadian orchard, you have omitted two- 
items of information that have an important bearing on the case. Many 
Apple trees blossom freely yet bear no fruit, while others grow so 
luxuriantly that they produce no blossom. In the absence of information 
on these points we must found our reply on the circumstance you narrate 
of one tree bearing freely that h id been split by ice. This indicates that 
the trees have grown robustly, and that a check is essential for the 
