September 14, 1882 . ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 259 
on their condition. One part to six o£ water will be quite strong enough for 
summer use, but in the resting period it may be given as strong again, but only, 
we repeat, if the Vines need it; if otherwise, the application would do harm 
instead of good. It is not possible for anyone to give precise instructions on 
this matter without a knowledge of the condition of the Vines and the border, 
and this is not easily conveyed except by one who has practised in Vine culture 
and is a skilled cultivator. You will find useful information on the application 
of sewage in our “Manures for the Many.” If you do not possess this manual 
you can have it in return for 4\d. in stamps sent to the publisher. 
Fertilising Moss (Anxious). —Some surprising results have been reported 
concerning the effects of the substance you mention, but we have not had an 
opportunity of testing its efficacy as a substitute for soil. 
Polyanthus Narcissuses (J. E. 0.).—The plants in the borders will re¬ 
quire no further care, but will grow and flower annually. The bulbs in pots 
in all probability had better be planted out, as unless the plants had good at¬ 
tention after flowering, the foliage having been kept fresh and healthy as long 
as possible, they will not give a satisfactory return if forced another season. 
For this purpose you had better obtain fresh bulbs and pot them at once in a 
mixture of loam, leaf soil, decayed manure, and sand, burying the pots 6 inches 
deep in cocoa-nut fibre, ashes, or other light material until the plants have 
grown an inch long; then afford them a light position in a cool house. Hollies 
may be pruned now—at once. 
Window Fern Case (J/. E. IF.).—As the case is to be outside all the 
year you will not be able to employ any Palms, but any of the following hardy 
Ferns would be suitable, as they are of moderate growth :—Adiantum Capillus- 
Veneris, Asplenium Adiantum nigrum, Asplenium marinum, Asplenium Ruta- 
muraria, and Ceterach officinarum. For climbers the small green and varie¬ 
gated Ivies might be employed with Ficus repens. Some of the deciduous 
Ferns, such as the Cystopterises, might be grown in pots and placed in the case 
in summer, and they would improve its appearance considerably. 
Lifting Dahlia Tubers (II. I. J.). —When the leaves and growths are 
blackened by frost the stems should be cut off and the tubers lifted, exposing 
them for a day or two to partially dry, and then store them in a dry position 
quite secure from frost, either in soil, sand, or any similar material. Keep 
them dry until it is necessary to start them early in spring, when if cuttings 
are required the tubers should be placed in a warm frame and supplied with 
water. You do not state definitely what kind of book you desire to obtain. Is 
it a work on British plants, or one devoted to botany generally that you purpose 
studying ? 
Cigarettes for Fumigating (II. Watson ).—Perhaps the “ paragraph” 
which you have read and forgotten was written by Mr. Keane. “Provide a 
strong solution of nitre in water, in which soak some sheets of strong brown 
paper, and afterwards dry it slowly and cut it into lengths of convenient size, 
the largest 18 inches by 12 inches ; then get some strong tobacco and strew it 
thinly over the paper, and with a coarse pepper box dredge-in a good coat of 
common Cayenne pepper, wrap the whole up loosely like a cigarette, paste the 
end over, and when dry it is fit for use. Two or three of these suspended by a 
wire under a greenhouse stage, and lighted at each end, will quickly settle the 
accounts of the green fly and thrips, and that with comparatively little trouble ; 
indeed, if a quantity of these cigarettes be kept ready made a few plants may 
be put into a pit or small room and be cleaned, at least have their insect 
pests destroyed, in a very short time. By using Cayenne much less tobacco is 
required, and the effect of the two combined is most deadly ; for, as the ciga¬ 
rettes will burn for a considerable time, say an hour or more, it is impossible 
for insects to live in an atmosphere so thoroughly suffocating.” 
Wintering Potatoes (IF. IF. X.).—We prefer the Potatoes placed in thin 
heaps on the level of the ground rather than in excavations or pits below it, but 
by the former plan greater care is requisite in protecting the tubers from frost. 
The site should be dry and firm, from 3 to 4 feet wide, the tubers being neatly 
piled so as to form a sharp ridge or apex. They should be perfectly dry when 
placed in the heap, not one diseased tuber being admitted. A covering at least 
6 inches in thickness of very dry and straight straw should next be given, then 
with the spade commence digging a foot from the straw all round, and continue 
that thickness of soil over the entire heap. For ventilation 3-inch drain pipes 
may be placed on end at intervals of 3 or 4 feet, their ends being just, and only 
just, above the soil at the apex of the ridge. These ventilators must be securely 
closed during wet and frosty weather. With thin heaps of perfectly dry sound 
tubers carefully covered as directed we do not find ventilators necessary in 
wintering Potatoes. When several tons of Potatoes are stored in very large 
heaps drain pipes are often conducted quite through the centres of the heaps 
and out of the tops, and if the tubers are damp when stored the practice is a 
good one. Such ventilators, however, must have attention, or they do as much 
harm as good. 
Charred Garden. Refuse (E. Elmdon). —It is valuable for gardens, and 
maybe prepared as described in our manual on manures, from which we cite the 
following :—“ To char turfy soil the best method is to cut it into sods of about 
a spade’s width and 2 or 3 inches thick when the soil is not over-saturated with 
moisture. Burning any kind of material, and allowing it to be consumed, pro¬ 
ducing nothing but smoke and ashes, is a real waste of valuable substance 
which could be turned to beneficial account for the culture of the soil. Com¬ 
mence by placing a small quantity of combustible material, such as dry weeds, 
hedge-trimmings, furze, heath, shavings, brushwood or bushes, or any kind of 
dry vegetable refuse the place produces near at hand ; then commence packing 
the sods, no matter how or what thickness, as any thickness may be charred by 
placing amongst them as the heap or kiln is proceeded with, some one of the 
before-mentioned materials, or old tan or sawdust, just to keep the materials 
ignited. It is no matter how large or small the kiln may be formed, for this 
may be regulated by the convenience of the material at hand and the quantity 
of charred materials required ; only, when the kiln is formed it should be 
slightly covered or cased with fine earth to prevent the fire from flaring and 
to maintain a steady smouldering, charring, or roasting. Much smoke will 
escape for a time, and when the smoke begins to subside it is a sign that the 
materials are charred enough. The fire should then be smothered by casing 
up the outside of the kiln quite close with earth. Although turf sods only are 
mentioned, the same process of charring may be carried out with weeds and 
other garden refuse if the outside of the heap is covered over closely with sods 
of earth, so as to exclude the air sufficiently to ensure the burning to be very 
slow and smouldering.” 
Planting Anemones (X. A. L.).—We cannot do better than repeat what 
we have published before on this matter. “ The Anemone requires a pure loamy 
soil, well mixed with sand, such as sometimes is found on the sides of rivers 
naturally mixed with the sand. Choose a situation that is open, but sheltered 
from violent winds or strong twisting currents of air ; then dig' out the soil a 
foot or more, according as the situation is high or low. If high it may be dug 
out 3 or- 4 inches deeper, but if low and wet a foot will be sufficient. Mix the 
soil with sand if it requires it, and fill in the bed again to within 6 inches of the 
level of the surface; then level it, and lay on it a thin covering of thoroughly 
decomposed hotbed manure or cow dung ; the latter is to be preferred. Mix 
this well with the soil below. Upon this mixed enriched soil place as much of 
the pure sandy loam as will raise the bed an inch or two above the walk. No 
dung must be among this top stratum of soil, because dung causes the peculiar 
disease called ‘mould ’ to attack the bulbs that come in contact with it. The 
best season for planting is from about the middle of October to the first week in 
November ; the bulbs then form roots before severe frosts set in. Should the 
planting be unavoidably delayed the bed must then be covered with fern or 
straw. Choose a time when the soil is moderately dry and the day fine. Draw 
drills across the bed 2 inches deep and 5 or 6 inches apart, and plant the tubers 
5 inches apart in the rows. For choice varieties a thin layer of sand scattered 
under and around each tuber will be useful. As soon as the bed is planted cover 
the tubers with sandy loam from a basket or wheelbarrow. Take care that the 
tubers are placed the right side up by observing the side that has the old small 
fibres on it; that side place next to the bottom of the drill. When all are 
planted and covered up the right depth (2 inches) then level the surface with a 
garden rake.” 
The Royal George Peach (Lorrimore).— The following account of the 
history of this Peach is given in the “ Fruit Manual : ”—“ The first mention 
we have of the Royal George is by Switzer, who says it was raised by his 
‘ingenious and laborious friend, Mr. Oram of Brompton Lane.’ He describes it 
as ‘ fiattish and pretty large, with a dark red coat on the sunny side, the flower 
is one of the large whitish kind.’ ‘ Earlier than the Anne, of great esteem, and 
inferior to none that comes after it.’ At the time Switzer wrote this account 
of it (1724), George I. was on the throne, and no doubt the Peach was named 
in honour of him. This must therefore have been the original Royal George. 
But that which is now cultivated under this name is a very different variety 
with small flowers, which seems to have superseded the original one. This is 
not, surprising, when we find from his account that ‘such is its aversion to 
unite with stocks in general, and so sad a destruction does it make in the nursery 
stocks, that I find all nurserymen are weary of it.’ There is every probability 
that the high reputation the Royal George of Oram attained, and the difficulty 
of its propagation, induced other cultivators to substitute a variety which could 
be more easily multiplied, and this they found in Millet’s Mignonne, which was 
also new at the same time, and was introduced by Millet, a market gardener at 
North End, Fulham, and it has continued to represent the Royal George ever 
since. So late as the beginning of the present century Forsyth describes the 
flowers of Royal George as large. I quite believe that the original Royal George 
of Oram was a seedling from Grosse Mignonne, and little different from that 
variety ; and not improbably it may have been what Grimwood afterwards grew 
as Grimwood’s Royal George, which is a form of Grosse Mignonne. This being 
so, the difficulty of propagation is easily explained, for the Grosse Mignonne 
requires to be budded on the Pear Plum.” 
Plants in Rooms (Perplexed). —No doubt, as you say, doctors differ on 
the subject as to whether plants are beneficial or injurious in rooms. The 
question is one of constitution and circumstances. Some remarks by the late 
Mr. Fish on this subject are worthy of perusal “Are plants in rooms pro¬ 
motive of health and cheerfulness ? In the case of all living-rooms I answer in 
the affirmative. Delicate people complain of headaches and sickness from their 
presence, and will, therefore, have them excluded, and rightly too. Plants with 
powerful odours will sometimes produce that effect. I have known ladies that 
could not go near a Jasmine ; others that hated Musk ; some that would faint 
at the propinquity of a Heliotrope, and others that only approved of Mignonette 
when not nearer than a furlong. All of us have something peculiar in our likes 
and dislikes. It is rather ill-natured to consider such peculiarities as mere 
fid-fad imaginaries. Common prudence would say, ‘ Keep at a distance from 
whatever harms you.’ In bedrooms that are shut close at night I would advise 
dispensing with flowers having powerful odours, even though agreeable to the 
olfactory nerves of the owner. If he prefers retaining them it would be advisable 
to place them nearer the floor than the couch on which he reposes. But why 
not have air in the sleeping-room at night, instead of shutting it up close, when 
the weather is at all favourable, and thus serve the interests of the occupant and 
those of the plants at one and the same time ? The idea of the unhealthiness of 
plants in living and sleeping-rooms has been suggested by our chemical friends 
demonstrating the influence of vegetation on the atmosphere, and the reciprocal 
action ever going on between the vegetable and the animal world. They tell us 
truly that animals are continually taken oxygen gas from the atmosphere, and 
throwing, by exhaling, carbonic acid gas into it, and that from this and other 
causes, but for living vegetation, the air would become impure and unfit for 
breathing. The solid part of plants being chiefly carbon—of which charcoal 
may stand as a familiar type—and every green part of a plant having the power 
to absorb this carbonic acid gas in the atmosphere during light, its quantity is 
thus lessened, while the action of the sunbeam enables the plant to decompose 
the carbonic acid thus received, to retain, add, or assimilate the solid matter, 
the carbon to itself, and to set the other constituent (oxygen) free for the benefit 
of the animal world. Thus it would seem chat the nearer we get to healthy 
vegetation the more likely we shall be to get the benefit of this fresh-forming 
oxygen ; but, as if to damp our enthusiasm, we are presented with a lesser and 
a greater drawback to our satisfaction. This lesser is, that all unhealthy parts 
of a plant, yellow leaves, &c., and, what is more painful still, all fl veers in pro¬ 
portion as their colour recedes from the green, vitiate the atmosphere rather 
than improve it even during the day. The second drawback is, that at night, 
or in darkness or much shade, even healthy plants exhale carbonic acid gas and 
inhale oxj gen, and just in proportion to their size and powers deteriorate the 
atmosphere like ourselves, and therefore become, especially after twilight, very 
undesirable neighbours in our dwelling and sleeping-rooms. To this heavy 
accusation I reply that, in general, the size of flowers, in proportion to green 
leaves in plants grown in rooms, is so small that during the day the advantage 
greatly outweighs the disadvantage; and though undoubtedly plants do give 
off carbonic acid gas at night, yet at that time the rooms are generally at their 
coolest, and as this gas is something like three to two heavier than common air, 
it will, in such circumstances, fall to the floor, and only be mingled with the 
general atmosphere by the heat and the sunshine of the following day. Unless 
the plants were extra numerous the absorption of oxygen would not much 
influence the air of the apartment. All or almost all injury might be avoided 
by seeing that the plants were lower than the seat or couch of the owner. I 
believe this the more because deic, the condensed moisture iu the air near the 
ground, holds much more of this gas in solution in general than common water 
does. On the whole, then, unless in the case of delicate invalids, or of plants 
with very large flowers or having a powerful odour, I believe that healthy plants 
in rooms are decidedly beneficial, and promotive alike of cheerfulucss and health, 
and that this is especially the case iu large cities and towns.” 
Names of Plants (A. B.). —The large flower is Godetia rubicunda, or one 
