Ootobw 16, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
863 
character can be fixed the variety -will be useful for decorative purposes. 
Preserve the roots and grow the varieties another year. You will then 
ascertain 'whether they produce similar flowers, these plants being very 
sportive. 
Sowing Orchid Seed {G. H .).—Experience has shown that there is no 
method equal to scattering the seed on the sphagnmn in which a plant is 
growing freely and receives proper attention in watering, so that the 
sphagnum is kept fresh. No attempt must be made to cover the seed, and 
it must not be displaced by watering. The seed maybe sown as soon as 
ripe, or in early spring. It is delicate work raising Orchids from seed, 
then establishing the plants, and only experts or very careful cultivators 
can hope to succeed. If j'ou succeed in raising plants you must be pre¬ 
pared to give them the best attention for aboirt ten years before they will 
flower. Some seedlings are fifteen years before flowers are produced, and 
then the varieties may not be superior, but, on the other hand, some may 
prove of value. 
Orchids (IF. S .).—The Cypripediums and Cattleyas can be ■well grown 
and flowered in the temperature you name, as also may the Vandas, if care 
be exercised in assigning them the best position in the house. Dr. Pater¬ 
son of Bridge of Allan grows flowers, all the Orchids you name, and many 
more, in a lower minimxim temperature than 60°, and as you reside in 
Scotland you might probably derive instruction from a visit to the Bridge 
of Allan. If that is convenient to you we feel sure Dr. Paterson would 
readily allow you to inspect his plants. 
Box Edgflng {Litlio ).—That known as the Dwarf Dutch Box is the kind 
to order. It is kept in stock by many nurserymen, and may be planted at 
once, or any time when the weather and soil are favourable throughout the 
winter. The ground should be made firm and level, and a trench taken out, 
one side of which is quite upright like a wall. Along this the plants are 
arranged, with their tops quite level an inch or two above the soil, being held 
in position by one hand, while earth is drawn to the roots and beaten down 
with the other. The soil is then levelled in with a spade and trodden firmly, 
taking care that the plants are quite straight and level in the row. Slips of 
Box 3 or 4 inches long packed firmly in trenches now to within an inch of 
the tips of the shoots will emit roots, and the plants will be ready for planting 
next autumn. Your plants of G-olden Feather may live through the winter, 
but will flower early next year, and be of dwarf yellow lines or edgings. For 
this purpose seedlings are best, and are readily raised in the spring. 
Pears for September (L. 1. K.). —Williams’ Bon Chretien, Beurrb 
Superfin, and Comte da Lamy are three excellent varieties. Pitmaston 
Duchesse would succeed well in the open, but Josephine de Malines, we fear, 
would not do so, but it is a delicious Pear, and we should try one tree. After 
the trees are planted, mulch well—that is, cover the ground over the roots 
with short manure to encourage them to the surface, and at the end of the 
second season after planting replant the trees, using some of your best 
yellow loam about the roots. This, with annual rich surface dressings, should 
keep them to the surface and prevent them penetrating into the subsoil. We 
have replanted young fruit trees three times with very beneficial results. 
With moist and fertile surface soil the roots seldom penetrate the subsoil to 
any great extent, they only do so in search of moisture in the summer, hence 
the importance of manurial mulchings. 
Mushroom Bed not Heating {II. H., Manchester ).—The bulk of manure 
is altogether insufficient to enable you to maintain the requisite heat in 
cold weather in the open air. As is stated on page 18 of the work to which 
you refer, a length of 5 yards of bed is suggested as the minimum. All you 
can do is to cover your small heap very thickly with long stable manure or 
straw, and if by this means you cannot raise the tempera'ture to 75° you had 
better not waste spawn by inserting it. A thickness of 2 feet of covering 
we imagine would be needed to keep the heat in such a small heap, and 
even that might fail to do so. 
Marechal Niel Rose {J. Palk ).—You must keep the house in which your 
llarechal Niel Rose is growing as cool as possible until the end of Decem¬ 
ber, so as to ripen the wood and^bring the growth to a complete standstill. 
Early in January keep the house closer, say 45° to 50° at night, with a rise 
of 5° or 10° by day by closing early in the day while the sun is upon it, and 
on fine days syringe the jrlant gently until it shows signs of bursting into 
growth. As soon as this stage is reached the temperature may be raised 
gradually 5° or 10° by night, as the young shoots that will bear the flowers 
lengthen out. Never should a higher temperature than 60° be main¬ 
tained at night, and this only when very mild externally. Nothing is 
gained by a high temperature in forcing Roses into bloom, and it is much 
better to allow the tempeiature to fall to 50° by morning than keep it at 
the highest point given when the weather is very cold and frosty. Take 
every advantage of the sun to close the house early in the afternoon, for no 
harm will be done if the temperature increases, say to 80° or 85° for a few 
hours by sun heat alone. Be careful to avoid cold draughts striking directly 
upon the young tender foliage, for nothing will cause an attack of mildew 
sooner. You had better allow the temperature of the house to run rrp con¬ 
siderably than admit cold currents of air to the tender growths of your 
Rose tree. If you follow the directions given wo do not think you will fail 
to have Rose blooms early in March. 
Lawn Mossy {E. Middleton ).—From February to the end of March, in 
mild weather, have the lawn well scratched with a new iron rake so as to 
bring up and remove the moss. The more you remove the better; clear it ofi:. 
In March give a good dressing of decayed manure or rich compost, spreading 
it evenly, and not more than half an inch thick. In April rake again well with 
the iron rake, removing any rough and unsightly portions of the manure and 
any stones, and with an early pro-pect of rain sow over it evenly 8 tbs. Festuca 
duriuscula, 12 tbs. Cynosurus criatatus, 8 tbs. Festuca tenuifolia, 8 tbs. Poa 
nemoralis sempervirens, 8 lbs. Trifolium repens, and 4 lbs. Trifolium minus, in 
mixture for 1 acre. If you are troubled with birds rake lightly with a 
wooden rake after sowing ; if not, simply roll well; rolling should also follow 
the raking. Let the grass grow until the middle or end of May, then mow 
with a scythe, and afterwards keep under with the mowing machine. If the 
lawn is wet the moss would be subdued by draining. A correspondent who 
has had lawns almost completely taken possession of by a thick carpet of 
moss, which has well nigh obliterated every trace of, the grassy turf, after 
experimenting with every imaginable remedy, he found nothing so certain as 
a good dressing of wood ashes. The effect is not immediate, but during the 
following summer the moss disappears, and a thick turf of fine grass with a 
profusion of White Dutch Clover succeeds. In some parts of the country, 
where wood is not used as fuel, it is sometimes difficult to obtain wood 
ashes. In this case the simplest way of procuring them is to collect all the 
prunings of hedges, shrubs, rough bushes, and other waste materials of a 
similar character that are to be found about most places, and burn them 
in a heap. Enough ashes will generally be got to supply the needs of 
the place. 
Corrosive Sublimate and Slugs {T. TF. G .).— No doubt the solution to 
which you refer will destroy slugs; but as we have not tried it of the 
strength named in the “recipe” you send from an Australian paper we 
are not prepared to state that the solution may be safely given to plants. 
AVhy not try a few experiments on plants you can afford to destroy and 
favour us with the results ? Other persons of an “ experimental turn of 
mind ” might try it also. Hence we publish the citation ;—“ Take 1 oz. 
corrosive sublimate and dissolve it in a close vessel, in a quart of boiling 
water. When thoroughly dissolved add to it six gallons of cold water, and 
with a rose watering-pot apply it to the places infested. It will have still 
more effect if every ounce of sublimate is made into only four gallons of 
mixture and the ground gone over the day after with a second watering of 
pure water, which will carry the destructive power deeper into the ground. 
This plan not only destroys the perfect slug, but the eggs, larvse, and pupa 
of everything which it reaches.” We advise the cautious use of this 
powerful slug-destroyer. We know that 1 oz. of the corrosive sublimate 
(bichloride of mercury) dissolved in fifteen gallons of water and poured 
into the soil will cause worms to come to the surface, but care must be 
taken that fowls do not eat them, otherwise they may be j)oisoned. 
Old English Codlin Apple {Lieut.-Col. Walker). —The Apple of -which 
you send section is no doubt the variety named, and 'which is described and 
referred to as follows in the new edition of Dr. Hogg’s “ Fruit Manual,” this 
being one of many additions to the work :—“ Fruit large, 3^ inches wide, 
and 3 inches high ; ovate or short conical, wdde at the base, generally taller 
on one side of the eye than the other, and frequently with a snouted apex 
terminated in ridges round the eye. Skin lemon yellow, marked with patches 
and broad veins of russet, especially about the apex and in the cavity of the 
stalk ; sometimes it has a thin red cheek on the side next the sun. Eye 
closed, with long pointed segments, set on one side of the axis in a deep, 
angular, and furrowed basin. Stamens basal; tube conical. Stalk short, 
quite within the deep uneven cavity. Flesh firm, brisk, and with a pleasant 
perfume. Cells obovate, abaxile. A fine old English cooking Apple ; in 
use from August to October. The trees are excellent bearers, but in most 
orchards they are generally found unhealthy, being cankered and full of 
woolly aphis, which Mr. Bindley attributes to their being grown from suckers 
and truncheons stuck into the ground. He says—‘ Healthy, robust, and sub¬ 
stantial trees are only to be obtained by grafting on stocks of the real Sour 
Hedge Crab ; they then grow freely, erect, and form very handsome heads, 
yielding fruit as superior to those of our old orchards as the old and at 
present deteriorated Codlin is to the Crab itself.’ This circumstance was 
noticed by Worlidge 200 years ago—‘You may graft them on stocks as you 
do other fruit, which will accelerate and augment their bearing ; but you 
may save that labour and trouble if you plant the cions, slips, or cuttings of 
them in the spring time, a little before their budding ; by which means they 
will prosper very well, and soon become trees ; but these are more subject to 
the canker than those that are grafted.’ This is one of our oldest English 
Apples, and still deserving of wider cultivation than it at present has. For¬ 
merly it was an ingredient in one of the national dishes of English cookery 
in the form of ‘Codlins and cream.’ Ray says, ‘ Crudum vix tditur ob 
duritiem et aciditatem, sed coclum vel cum cremore lactis, vel cum aqua 
rosacea et saccharo comestum inter laudatissima fercula habetur.’ The name 
is derived from coddle, to parboil.” 
Dividing Vallotas (IF. TF. T .).—If you wish to increase the number of 
your plants the small bulbs may be separated from the others and potted just 
when the plants commence growing in the spring. For producing large 
brilliant masses of this fine autumn plant dividing is not necessary, but 
larger pots or rich top-dressings may be given as required to insure s-trong 
healthy growth. Potfuls of bulbs producing from fifty to 100 trusses are 
highly effective. Two rows of Roses will be ample for your bed, planting 
2 feet apart in the rows, the plants in each row not opposite each other. 
Shrubs for Shaded Border (R. 8.). —Common Laurels will no doubt 
succeed the best in such a position as that j'ou describe, and the greatest 
portion of the border should be planted with them. In addition, to^diversify 
the appearance, a few plants of the following might be employed -Euonymus 
europmus, Leycesteria formosa, Mahonia aquifolia, Berberis Darwinii, Ruscus 
aculeatus, Symphoricarpus racemosus, and for the fore part of the border 
Hypericum calycinum will succeed well. 
Names of Plants {M. H.).— As we have many times stated we do not 
name varieties of florists’ flowers ; there at e far too many so closely re¬ 
sembling each other for anyone to do so without actual comparison -with 
others in a large collection. The florist who supiplied the plant_ might 
possibly be able to give its name if a specimen were sent to him. It is very 
bright and good. 
COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— October 15th. 
We have no alterations to make from last -week. 
FRUIT. 
8. 
d. 
a. 
d. 
Apples. 
i sieve 
3 
6 
to S 
6 
Chestnuts .. .. 
bushel 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Cobs, Kent .. per 
100 lbs. 
50 
0 
55 
0 
Currants, Red 
J sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
„ Black .. 
1 sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Pigs . 
dozen 
0 
6 
1 
0 
Grapes. 
0 
6 
4 
0 
Lemoua. 
• • case 
15 
0 
21 
0 
s. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
Oranges. 
.. 100 
8 
0 to 12 
0 
Peaches . 
per doz. 
3 
0 
8 
0 
Pears, kitchen 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
.. dessert 
dozen 
1 
0 
3 
0 
Pine Apples English., lb. 
4 
0 
6 
0 
Plums . 
A aieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Strawberries.. 
.. ft). 
0 
0 
0 
0 
St. Michael Pines 
. .each 
4 
0 
r 
0 
