July 1, 1880. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
17 
extremely durable. The plant should be grown in a soil consisting principally 
of fibrous loam, with small proportions of peat, leaf soil, well-decayed manure, 
with sufficient sand and small pieces of charcoal to render the whole compost 
moderately open and sweet. Early spring is the best time for potting, an 
oporation which requires some care to prevent undue injury to the roots, or 
success will not be easily attained. Attend carefully to the supply of water, 
especially immediately after giving the plants a shift, as they are equally as 
impatient of excessive moisture as of drought. While in growth an increase in 
the temperature, with more liberal supplies of water and frequent light syringing, 
will contribute greatly to their health. While in flower, and afterwards, how¬ 
ever, less heat and moisture are requisite, an ordinary greenhouse temperature 
being suitable. Statices may be readily increased by cuttings of the young 
shoots inserted in sandy soil under a bellglass in moderate heat, the “ striking” 
being sometimes accelerated by adding a few pieces of charcoal to the soil. 
Cucumbers in Greenhouse not Thriving (Five-years Subscriber).— 
The plants are evidently suffering from defective root-action, caused probably 
by the heavy early cropping, which exhausted the plants. Remove as much of 
the surface soil as can be done without injury to the roots, and apply a top¬ 
dressing of rather lumpy loam, and water with liquid manure at 90°. Encourage 
growth by the maintenance of a moist atmosphere, ventilating at 75°, and 
allow a rise to 80° to 85° or 90’, but with free ventilation, closing the house at 
80°, syringing the plants moderately at the same time, and damping available 
surfaces in the house. Do not syringe in the morning. Allow the plants to 
extend and to start freely before stopping, and when good growth is being made 
stop the shoots one or two joints beyond the fruit. Shade from bright sun. On 
no account must the foliage be allowed to flag, but employ as little shading as 
possible. Remove all flowers and fruit until the plants are growing healthily. 
Morello Cherries Falling (F. /.).—It is a consequence of the fruit not 
stoning, and is generally attributable to a very vigorous growth imperfectly 
ripened. We have also known it result from a deficiency of calcareous matter iu 
the soil, and in other instances from an insufficient supply of water at the roots. 
If the tree be very vigorous take out a trench about 3 feet from the stem, and 
cut off all roots extending beyond that. Return the soil to the trench, mixing 
about a tenth of old mortar rubbish with it, and render it firm. This should be 
done in autumn when the leaves are turning yellow, also loosening the soil up to 
the stem of the tree, and mixing with it some old lime rubbish, mulching with 
litter. If the casting of the fruit be due to a deficiency of calcareous matter mix 
some old mortar rubbish with the surface soil as deeply as the roots will admit, 
which should be done -when the leaves are falling. But if it arise from dryness, 
as may be the case when there is a pathway near that throws off the water from 
the roots, holes should be made with a crowbar; and a good watering given 
through the holes when the tree is in flower, and repeated after the fruit is 
setting, will mostly prove effectual, the holes being filled up with soil, but not 
firmly. We think, however, that the tree is too luxuriant, and requires root- 
pruning. 
Grapes Scorched (F. E. P.).—The injury has been caused by the house 
having been kept closed too long in the morning. When the sun shines power¬ 
fully on the Vines when the foliage is moist scorching ensues, and when, the 
temperature having been permitted to rise too high, a large amount of air is 
given at once, the evaporation from the fruit is so rapid as to cause injury. If a 
night temperature of 65° to 60° is maintained with the top ventilators opened 
about half an inch, and additional air is admitted immediately the heat increases 
in the morning, adding to the amount in advance of the rising temperature, you 
will not be troubled with scorching or scalding, except perhaps during a very 
hot day occurring after several days of dull weather, when special care is always 
requisite in the ventilation of vineries. Iu such a case we have known it neces¬ 
sary to sprinkle the glass with whitewash, applied with a syringe, to break the 
rays of the sun. 
Roses in Pots (Busy ).—We submitted your letter to an experienced culti¬ 
vator and successful exhibitor of Roses in pots, and his reply is as follows :— 
“ Your correspondent has acted wisely in following the directions given from 
time to time in this Journal. We for several seasons exhibited successfully 
Roses that had been grown in a cold pit 20 feet by 8. The foliage and blooms 
were all that could be desired, and for growing small plants we consider such a 
pit is one of the best places for first encouraging short and luxuriant growth. 
‘BUSY’ does not state what size the plants are, but we presume they are small, 
seeing that a few of them were only had from a nursery within the present year. 
If the plants are well rooted they should be repotted at once in larger pots, 
using a compost of strong turfy loam (the top spit from au old pasture that has 
laid in a heap for at least twelve months) three parts; the other part well- 
decayed manure and leaf soil, with just a sprinkling of bone dust. Chop and 
mix the whole well together, and pot firmly, taking care that the balls of the 
plants are moist before potting. After potting plunge them out of doors iu a 
bed of coal ashes or cocoa-nut fibre, and pinch off all buds as they appear. A good 
mulching of manure placed over the pots null be highly beneficial, as the rains 
wall wash the properties of the manure into the soil, and strong firm wood will 
be produced for next season’s supply of bloom. Watering overhead, in the 
absence of rain, after a hot day will keep the foliage clean and refresh the plants. 
They may be left plunged in this position until the beginning of October, when 
they should be allowed to become gradually drier, and may be housed for the 
winter. About three months previous to the time the plants are wanted to 
bloom they should be pruned—not by cutting short back all the strong wood 
that it has been the main object during the summer months to procure, but by 
merely removing the unripened points and weak growths, bending the remainder 
of the shoots with the points downwards to the side of the pots. This is best 
done by placing a strong piece of cord around the rim of the pot, and securing 
the point of each shoot to it. This treatment will cause each shoot to break 
back quite to the base, thereby giving'more shoots and blooms than could other¬ 
wise be produced, for all Roses have a tendency to produce two or three strong 
breaks near the points of each shoot, leaving the base naked. By following 
these directions your correspondent will, we think, be highly successful another 
year.” 
Names of Plants (Highland Laddie). —1 is not an Orchid, but Utricularia 
montana ; 2, Epidendrum cochleatnm ; 3, apparently Oncidium luridum, but all 
the specimens were very much withered, owing to their being badly packed. 
(Nil Despernndum). —1, Completely withered ; 2, Myosotis dissitiflora ; 3, Asple- 
nium marinum. (F. II. S.). —The specimen somewhat resembled a poor form of 
G6n6ral Jacqueminot, but it was too shrivelled to be determined with certainty. 
(A. B. P.). —1, Carex, sylvatica, Wood Sedge; 2, C. divulsa, Smaller Prickly 
Sedge ; 3, Luzula congests, Roundheaded Woodrush ; 4, L. campestri3, Field 
Woodrush ; 5, L. pilosa, Hairy Woodrush ; 6, Melica uniflora. One-flowered 
Melick. We only name six specimens in one week. (W. M.). —1, Gladiolus 
ramosus; 2, Teucrium angustissimum ; 3, Corydalis lutea; 4, Geranium stria¬ 
tum; 5, Habenana bifolia. (Staines). —1, Galium verum; 2, Scabiosa succisa ; 
3, Symphytum officinale. 
POULTRY, PIGEON, AND BEE CHRONICLE. 
PEDIGREE IN CEREALS. 
(Continued f rom page 504, Vol. LXI1I.) 
In continuation of the subject, we refer to Major Hallett's 
lecture, who says, as to our third fact, the possibility of produc¬ 
ing practical “ fixity of type ”—“ I say practical fixity, because, 
as the President of the British Association for the Advancement 
of Science remarked to me at one of our meetings of the Linntean 
Society, ‘ If there were absolute fixity of type once produced 
there could be no further improvement.’ With this I cannot do 
otherwise than agree, and I wish to be understood to mean by 
‘ fixity of type,’ simply that which we obtain in pure-bred 
animals. As one illustration of ‘ fixity of type,’ I will adduce 
the results obtained in various wheat-producing countries of the 
world from my original red pedigree wheat. Although grown in 
vastly different soils, climates, and circumstances, the produce, 
ear and grain, is, with slight modifications of colour, perfectly 
identical with that grown in the United Kingdom. In the Paris 
Exhibition of 18G7, for instance, amid all the specimens of cereals 
from the various countries, I at once recognised in scores of in¬ 
stances my own original red pedigree wheat before referring to 
the catalogues. Another instance of ‘ fixity of type ’ I find in 
the case of Colonel Le Conteur’s ‘ Belle Yue Talavera ’ wheat. 
For very many years his object was to improve the quality of his 
grain. He paid no regard whatever to increasing the number 
of ranks in the ear; and so, while for years pursuing his own 
particular object, he incidentally ‘ fixed ’ the size of his ears of 
wheat, and it alone, of all the hundreds of varieties of which I 
have experimented upon, has refused for eight consecutive years 
to move beyond the eleven ranks peculiar to it. To show that he 
certainly did fix the type of his ear, I find those which he sent 
me are absolute fac-similes of those which I saw in the Museum 
of the Royal Agricultural Society in Hanover Square, and which 
were contributed by the Colonel about the year 1810.” 
After these quotations we must ask the home farmer to con¬ 
sider how far the experiments related can be turned to his own 
account in the growth of grain upon the home farm. Now we 
know that there has existed for ages a certain fixity of type, 
which is shown by the varieties of wheat which are offered for 
sale, such as Australian white wheat, Canadian wheat, wheat im¬ 
ported from India, Russia, Egypt, and other parts ; in fact, we 
have white wheat, red wheat, white and red-chaffed wheat, rough 
and smooth-chaffed wheat, bearded wheat, winter and spring 
wheat, &c. In all these fixity of type has gone no further than 
deciding the colour of the grain and chaff, the quality of the 
grain, &c. The practical farmer will say, “ I find such or such a 
variety of wheat suits my soil and climate best, and the same 
remark applies to barley or oats.” There are further reasons for a 
choice of sorts, that of quality of grain and value to the miller 
being of great importance, especially in certain districts. An 
instance of this we find at Guildford in Surrey, where the best 
quality of white wheat is grown, and when grown upon certain 
soils in that neighbourhood the grain has a value which can be 
obtained nowhere else, except, perhaps, a few samples which 
reach Mark Lane, the metropolitan market, but grown in the 
same neighbourhood. The two varieties of wheat commonly 
grown for the Guildford market are “ Chidham ” and “ Trump.” 
These sorts are especially beautiful, and of great weight per 
bushel, as we have noticed when we have acted as judge of the 
