493 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 6,188S. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
V. Ingegn'oli, Mailan, Italy. —List of Seeds. 
John Fowler & Co., Leeds. —Illustrated Catalogue of Steam Ploughs for 
Continental Vineyards. 
B. W. Warhurst, 33, Ilighgate Road, Kentish Town, London, N.W.— 
Illustrated Lists of Boilers. 
%* All correspondence should be directed either to “The Editor” 
or to “ The Publisher.” 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 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. 
Chrysanthemum Blooms (A Subscriber). —If well grown probably the 
variety, of which blooms were sent, would be admissible in a stand of 
Japanese varieties, but we do not recognise it. Could you not give us any 
information as to where it was obtained ? 
Scale on Arbutus (J. IF., Deal). —The leaves sent are seriously infested 
with the sc lie insect, and we know of no better nor more ready means of 
destroying it than by syringing the shrub with the solution of petroleum 
made as described in answer to a correspondent on page 473 last week, 
bending down the branches so that the insecticide can be applied to the 
under sides of the leaves where the insect abounds. It will be well to choose 
a dull day for the work, as petroleum applied to plants in the sun not 
unfrequently results in injury to the foliage. 
Growing Watercress ( Watercress ).—If the current of your stream is 
not strong you will have no difficulty in growing Watercress. All you 
have to do is to level the bottom and insert portions of plants about 
G inches apart, the same as if dibbling them in your garden, and they 
will grow and spread with rapidity. In properly made Watercress beds 
there is only a steady run of water which does not displace the young 
plants. If the rush of water is somewhat strong, you would find it 
advantageous to place large plants near the sides of the stream and fix 
them with stones. A few inches of soil or mud is only needed for holding 
the plants. 
Flowers on a Wall (Beggar). —Unless the wall be old flowers will not 
answer upon it without pockets of brickwork or stone upon or near the top 
to contain soil. Even then you would not obtain a growth sufficfently dense 
or durable for a screen at the top of the wall. Far better will it be to plant 
Ivy Raegneriana now in rich soil at the foot of the wall and, with a little 
care in.training and watering, it will soon cover a wall of 10 to 20 feet high. 
Yours is probably a low wall which may be covered with Ivy growth next 
year if extra strong plants are planted ; and a trellis of wood or wire upon 
the top of the wall would, when covered with Ivy, form a permanent screen. 
Plants for Rockery (Idem). —Do not confine your plants to those of a 
“ creeping character,” but mingle with them others of a dwarf compact or 
spreading growth, and the efiEect will be much more satisfactory. Among 
those which we find to answer are Erica carnea, Azalea amcena, Kalmia nana, 
Erica Foxii, Phlox frondosa, P. Nelsoni, P. verna, P. setacea, Plumbago 
Larpentae, Thymus lanuginosus, Silene maritima, Hypericum patulum, 
Lithospermum prostratum, Rhododendron ferrugineum, Andromeda flori- 
bunda, A. Catesboei, and Gaultheria procumbens. 
Grafting Cherries (Cambrian ).—If the trees are very large and vigorous, 
we doubt if it would be wise to head them closely down in the ordinary 
manner for grafting; a safer plan would be to shorten all the branches to 
where they are about 2 inches in diameter, thin out the young growths 
that would follow, and in these insert buds about August. If these should 
fail then you might engraft early in the spring on the same wood just when 
growth commences, but the scions should be taken off long before, and kept 
in a dormant yet fresh state by being placed in moist soil or cocoa-nut fibre 
refuse in a cool position. The success of budding and grafting such trees 
as yours depends greatly on the judgment and manipulative skill of the 
operator. . It would be well, perhaps, for you to invite some competent 
person to inspect the trees and take his advice on the subject. 
Vine Roots Corroded (G. T .).—We have examined carefully the roots 
you have sent, and find no traces of the pi'esence of the phylloxera ; 
but we have seldom seen Vine roots in a worse condition. The bark 
is quite decayed, and there is some ingredient in the soil that is affecting 
them injuriously. Is there an excess of iron in the loam that has been 
used ? The Vines have done well for a time because the border was 
rich, and because there had not been time for the corroding agent to 
eat into the roots. We should lift the Vines at once, cut off some of 
the worst affected portions of the roots, remove as much of the decayed 
matter as possible from the others, wash them well, and place them in 
fresh soil containing a large admixture of charred refuse, which with sand 
and other gritty matter placed round them would incite the emission of 
fibres, and these, having suitable soil, would speedily effect an improvement 
in the Vines. The border should not be too light and rich, and should be 
mulched in the summer to attract the roots near the surface, and by frequent 
top-dressings, with constant moisture, they could easily be kept there ; then 
shorter-jointed wood with comparatively little pith would follow, also 
excellent Grapes. The wood you have sent is strong, but contains too much 
pith, this leading us to infer that your border has been fully too rich, and 
not sufficiently firm for producing well-constitutioned and long-lasting 
fruitful Vines. 
Fixing Hot-water Pipes (F .).—As you appear to be aware that the 
pipes should rise gently from the boiler, it seem3 a little strange that you 
should have had them fixed quite level. We have had them quite level, and 
the circulation of the water has been good. They have been, however, 
distinctly above the level of the boiler, which is important. A steady rise 
of say an inch in 10 feet is what we prefer, and if you can elevate the pipes 
2 inches at the end of the house, the greatest distance from the boiler, 
you will probably find the change advantageous. Are you sure there is not 
air in the pipes that impedes the movement of the water ? The night 
temperature for a greenhouse should be about 45°, but 402 will suffice in 
severe weather, when the pipes have to be made hot, and there should be an 
increase of 5° in the day without sun. To your question regarding the 
plants you mention, our reply is in the affirmative. 
Violas (J. IF.).—If you examine the plants you will in all probability 
find a number of fresh green short-jointed shoots an inch or two long, 
several of which when drawn out will have white rootlets bristling 
from the base. These “rooted cuttings,” inserted at once in light rich 
gritty soil, will make fine plants. If you want a mass of flowers as early in 
the year as possible you may divide the plants, inserting well-rooted tufts 
of the healthy portions, or you may cut off the long stems and top-dress the 
bed with decayed manure and fresh loam in equal parts. On this matter 
you must exercise your judgment, as it is not possible we can comprehend 
the exact condition of your plants. You can take cuttings without destroying 
the parent plants if you choose to do so, but inserted thus late they will not 
produce masses of flowers early, yet when the flowers are produced, they will, 
or ought to be, finer than on the old plants. 
Maggots in Mushroom Bed (Leeds). —We fear the manure has not been 
well prepared and purified, and on this account we should have some doubt 
of the mycelium spreading freely. If the manure is really sweet, and 
the proper temperature is maintained, we do not apprehend that a few 
maggots would do much injury, but it would be better if there were none 
in the bed. If they are mixed with the manure, and this made up 
in a bed in which spawn is inserted, it is doubtful if you can destroy 
them without injuring the mycelium. If the manure is not made up, 
violent fermentation for a day or two might destroy the maggots. 
Roses and Vines (A Young Beginner). —The Roses will be quite right in 
a cool light greenhouse, and if they are strong, well rooted, and have good 
attention, they will no doubt succeed. You have made no very great mistake 
about them, if a mistake at all. The best time, however, for repotting Roses 
is soon after they have flowered. You appear to have gone far back for 
information, though cultural notes equally good appeared only a few weeks 
ago. We fear you are either a very young or not a very attentive reader of 
the Journal, or you would not have planted your Vines at this season, since 
over and over again, and quite recently, spring planting has been recom¬ 
mended just when the Vines were starting growth. They may, however, da 
very well; and assuming they are young canes, you had better shorten them 
to half their length inside the house, and do it at once, dressing the ends 
with painters’ knotting as a preventive of possible bleeding in spring ; but 
there is very little danger to be apprehended on that score. 
Raising Asli Trees from Seed (E. II. _Z3., Norfolk). —Raising the trees 
from seeds appears to be a much slower process than you imagine, and 
they must be prepared in a very different manner from that indicated 
in your letter. Sowing on land infested with twitch would result in 
failure, especially as the seed is long in germinating the twitch would 
inevitably gain the ascendancy over the seedlings. In Brown’s “ Forester 
the following instructions are given on this subject :—“ The seeds of the 
Ash are enclosed in what is termed samaras or keys, which are generally 
ripe for gathering about the end of October. When gathered for the purpose 
of sowing, the seeds should be mixed with a quantity of dry sand or light 
dry earth, in which they should be kept for eighteen months, in order to rot 
off the outer coat; and in order the more effectually to insure this, the whole 
mass of seeds and sand should be turned every three months. This mass of 
sand and seed should not be much over 1 foot in depth, as, if more, it will be 
liable to heat, and in consequence the vitality of the seed would be injured. 
In the second March after they are gathered the seeds should be sown in 
rows rather thinly, and upon any moderately well-pulverised soil. They are 
sure to come up thickly and confine one another if not sown thin, and the 
covering of earth should not exceed three-quarters of an inch. In the 
following spring the plants will be roach for being transplanted into the 
nursery rows, which may be 15 inch s one from another, and 4 inches plant 
from plant in the rows. Wh:n the plants have stood two years in the 
nursery rows they may be removed and transplanted into the forest ground y 
but if wanted of a larger size they may be left a year longer.” Would it 
not be better to purchase the requisite numler of trees of different kinds for 
planting? This is the usual custom, unless time is of little moment. In 
any case you will find it advantageous to have the land thoroughly cleaned, 
then if the ground is planted, a crop of Potatoes might be grown between 
the trees for a year or two, which would partially defray the cost of the 
work, and the working oE the ground in planting and digging up the crops 
would be favourable to the growth of the trees and prevent the luxuriant 
growth of twitch. We have established plantations very much larger than 
that you contemplate in the manner alluded to, and the results were 
perfectly satisfactory. 
Sparmannia africana ( Pen and Inlc ).—This plant is a native of the Cape 
of Good Hope, and has been introduced nearly 100 years. We gave an 
illustration of the plant in this Journal, page 91, January 31st, 1878, when 
the following cultural directions were given :—“ For the decoration of con- 
