JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
172 
[ August 19, 1880. 
J ndeed Barkerias, Cattleyas, Dendrobiums, Epidendrums, Ltelias, 
Oncidiums, i&c., unless thoroughly ripened will produce weak and 
deformed flowers, followed by a weak after-growth. Calanthe Masuca 
and C. veratrifolia may now be repotted. If the soil is soddened care¬ 
fully shake it out, washing the roots in tepid water, repotting in equal 
parts turfy loam and peat, adding a little decayed manure and some 
pieces of charcoal about the size of nuts, all well mixed together, 
affording about 2 inches depth of drainage, and keeping the plants 
about an inch below the top of the pot. Calanthes vestita, Yeitchi, 
and Warneri, also Limatodes rosea, should have a maximum of light, 
heat, moisture, and air, watering with weak liquid manure, which will 
assist the growth of the pseudo-bulbs. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
James Veitch & Sons, King’s Road, Chelsea.— Illustrated Catalogue 
of Hyacinths and Bidbs, and List of Stn wherries. 
Benjamin S. Williams, Upper Holloway, London, N.— Catalogue of 
Bulbs, Fruit Trees, New Plants, and Roses. 
Newport Pottery Company, Monmouthshire.— Illustrated Catalogue 
of Garden Pottery. 
Thomas S. Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries.— Catalogues of Bulbs and 
Hardy Plants. 
Dickson & Robinson, 12, Old Millgate, Manchester.— Catalogue of 
Bulbs. 
*** All correspondence should be directed either to “ The Editors ” 
or to “ The Publisher.” Letters addressed to Mr. Johnson or 
Dr. Hogg often remain unopened unavoidably. We request that 
no one will write privately to any of our correspondents, 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 Poultry and Bee subjects, and 
should never send more than two or three questions at once. All 
articles intended 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. 
Book (D. L. G.). —The “ Orchid Growers’ Manual,” published by Mr. B. S. 
"Williams, Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Holloway, London, will piobably 
answer your requirements. Its price is 5s., post free 5s. 5d. The term “zonal” 
has reference to the coloured zone in the foliage of Pelargoniums. 
Love in a Mist ( Powis Square). —Several species of Nigella are now flower- 
ing in the Royal Gardens, Kew, and other places. 
Crested Moss Rose (/. R. <£• Sons). —The buds you have sent are of the 
above attractive variety, which we have grown for more than thirty years. It 
is often found in old gardens and some nurseries, and is worthy of more general 
cultivation. It succeeds well worked on the Briar stock. 
Cuttings of Tea Roses (J. B.). —The writer to which you refer does not 
grow Roses or Rose cuttings for sale, indeed the Roses about which he writes 
are not his but his employer's. We can only suggest that you purchase a few 
plants from a nurseryman, and you will then be able to carry out your project. 
Strawberries in Light Soil (Idem ).—If the soil is made firm before 
planting ana it is mulched with manure, and the surface further thickly covered 
with straw or other littery material as soon as the plants commence flowering, 
to keep the ground cool and moist, we think you may succeed in your object. 
The best varieties for your purpose are Yicomtesse Hericart de Thury and 
President. 
Black Hamburgh Grapes (S. T. IV.).—The Grapes sent, so far from 
being “perfect,” are very faulty indeed. They are of good size, but destitute of 
colour, texture, and flavour. The Vines are either overcropped or require more 
support than they have received, and we also suspect they also require more 
ventilation. 
Violas (G. G. K .).—The varieties do not succeed equally well in all soils 
and situations, and there are none that can be depended on for producing “ a 
continuous spring, summer, and autumn display in a hot dry soil ” in the south 
of England during an ordinary hot summer. Try the following:— Yellows: 
Sovereign, Dickson's Golden Gem, and Chieftain. Blue or Purple: Blue Bell, 
The Tory, and Royal Visit. White: Pearl, Purity, and Nonpareil. 
Rose Annuals ( Canadian Inquirer). —The “Rosarians’ Year Book,” edited 
by the Rev. H. H. D'Ombrain, Honorary Secretary of the National Rose Society, 
is published annually, price Is. Messrs. Bemrose & Sons, 10, Paternoster Build¬ 
ings, London, are the publishers. The “ Rose Annual,” which contains excellent 
coloured plates of new Roses, can be had from the author, Mr. William Paul, 
Waltham Cross, Herts, price 5s. 
American Blight (Inquirer). —Your trees are much infested with this 
insect. Syringe them with a very strong solution of soft soap, 6 ozs. of soap 
being dissolved in a gallon of water, to which may be added half an ounce of 
paraffin. A solution of nicotine soap of the same strength wall also destroy 
the pest. In the winter scrub the trees with brine, applying also paraffin with a 
brush to those parts where the insects most abound, but not dressing the smooth 
bark of the trees wdth the oil, or it may seriously injure the trees. 
Gladioluses Dying (./. R. IF.).—They are, we fear, attacked by the disease 
that is often so destructive to these flowers. We know of no remedy, and we can 
only suggest that you procure healthy corms from a fresh source, and keep them 
separate from your own stock, and also plant them in a fresh place. The disease 
appears more pronounced in rich highly manured soil than in ground well 
worked and sweetened, but only moderately fertile in character. 
Vine not Thriving (R. P. 0.).— You erred by disbudding in the manner 
you describe, but that is not sufficient to account for the blistered and warted 
condition of the foliage. There are no insects on the leaves, but the sap vessels 
are ruptured, and in this state the Vine cannot grow. We are, without sufficient 
data to guide us, quite unable to account for its present unsatisfactory state, 
and we think you will lose time by attempting to restore it. We should dig it 
up and plant another Vine. A healthy young Vine planted carefully at once 
would make good growth the present season. 
Trees for Orchard House (IF. B. IF).—Reaches and Nectarines potted 
as maidens commence bearing the second year when well managed, and improve 
yearly with judicious treatment. The leading fruit nurserymen specially pre¬ 
pare trees for growing in pots, and you had much better purchase such trees 
than attempt growing your owu. Healthy young trees may be removed from 
the garden into the orchard house, and if the transplanting is carefully done 
early in the autumn just as the foliage commences changing, a moderate crop 
may be taken the following year, but everything depends on the condition of 
the trees and the treatment to which they are subjected. Notes on the manage¬ 
ment of orchard houses are given from time to time in our “Work for the 
Week ” columns. 
Cropping Strong Soil (Brampton). — The soil may be improved by 
ridging it in the autumn and breaking up the ridges two or three times during 
the winter when they are crusted with frost. Ashes and gritty matter of any 
kind should also be mixed with it in as large quantities as can be obtained, 
and the soil will in due time be improved considerably. Such soil generally 
suits Cabbages, Broccolis, Kales, Savoys, &c., well ; also Broad Beans, Beans, 
late Peas, Rhubarb, Strawberries, Raspberries, and bush fruits generally, but 
special care is needed in sowing and planting so as to enable the crops and trees 
to obtain a good start. This work must only be done in fine weather, the soil 
in contact with the seeds and roots being made as fine as possible. Soot is a 
good manure for such soil. 
Earwigs Infesting Climbers (IF. A. T.). —These pests can only be 
successfully dealt with by trapping, than which for your purpose few things are 
better than Broad Bean stalks cut into lengths of 5 or 6 inches, and placed 
horizontally in different parts of the trees or plants. The hollow stems of Hem¬ 
lock, Sunflower, and Jerusalem Artichokes are equally applicable. The traps 
should be examined every day and the earwigs blown out into scalding water. 
Earwig traps, which may be had of most nurserymen, will prove effectual if 
well attended to. The climbers may be syringed with a solution of sort soap, 
2 ozs. to the gallon of water, adding a pint of tobacco juice, which will mase the 
plants distasteful to pests but will not kill them. Perseverance in trapping 
is the only remedy we know of. Syringe the ant-mfested Begonia in the evening 
with Fir-tree oil insecticide, half a pint to six gallons of water, and repeating the 
syringing occasionally as is necessary. There are probably some insects on the 
plant which attract the ants. 
Hardy “Red” Passion-Flowers (Idem). —Passiflora cserulea var* 
rubra has reddish flowers, and it is quite as hardy as the species. Comte Nessel¬ 
rode has reddish flowers, and succeeds in a warm situation with protection in 
winter ; indeed most of the greenhouse kinds succeed against a wall with a 
south aspect when they are protected in severe weather. 
Garden Roses (B. D.). —La France, Gloire de Dijon, John Hopper, Duke of 
Edinburgh, Jules Margottin, Souvenir de la Malmaison, Baronue de Rothschild, 
Cheshunt Hybrid, General Jacqueminot, Dupuy Jamain, Senateur Vaisse, Alfred 
Colomb, Marquise de Castellane, Madame Victor Verdier, Marie Baumann, 
Charles Lefebvre, Boule de Neige, Exposition de Brie, Prince Camille de Rohan, 
Marie Finger, Celine Forestier, Beauty of Waltham, Abel Grand, Marie Rady, 
Dr. Andrv, Mrs. Bosanquet, Capitaine Christy, Madame C. Joigneaux, Victor 
Verdier, Annie Wood, Mens. E. Y. Teas, Marguerite de St. Amand, Comtesse 
d’Oxford, Louis Van Houtte, Etienne Levet, and Camille Bernardin. All of them 
will succeed on their own roots, but you will obtain better plants from nursery¬ 
men worked on other stocks. 
Boilers for Heating Vinery (B.). —A riveted saddle boiler 24 inches 
long with arch inside 14 by 14 inches, outside measure 22 inches in width and 
18 inches depth, is calculated to heat 450 feet of 4-inch pipe; but we should 
have the next size larger, or 30 inches long, inside of arch 16 by 16 inches, and 
outside measure 24 by 20 inches, as it is better to have sufficient heating power 
than too little, as with the latter sharp firing must be resorted to, and there is 
a great waste of fuel. A new boiler will do wonders when first set, but after 
a time becomes so coated with soot or other incrustation as to lose much 
heating power, hence the desirability of having a sufficiently powerful boiler, 
allowing a considerable margin for contingencies. 
The White Beam Tree (E. D. C. T .).—The tree of which you require the 
name and uses is the Pyrus Aria of botanists, and is commonly known as the 
White Beam Tree, in reference to the white under surface of the leaves. It is 
a native of Britain, chietty in the mountainous districts on limestone soils. Its 
fruit is acid and astringent, but is not disagreeable to eat when in a state of 
incipient decay, like the Medlar. When dried and reduced to powder, it has 
been converted into a sort of bread during times of scarcity both in France and 
Sweden ; and when fermented it forms a beer, or, by distillation, a powerful 
spirit. It is greedily eaten by birds, for which reason the trees are ordered to 
be preserved in French forests, that the number of birds may be increased, in 
order to keep down the insects. The fruit also furnishes food to squirrels, and 
when it drops, deer and the hedgehog eat it with avidity. The wood is very 
hard, of a fine close grain, yellowish white, and susceptible of a high polish. It 
may be stained of any colour, and is much used in making handles of knives 
and forks, wooden spoons, and for musical instruments, and various articles of 
turnery ware. The weed-like plant is Chelidonium majus. 
Fruit-tree Leaves Discoloured (L. J/.).—Red spider on the under 
surfaces of the leaves of the Peach trees is the cause of the yellow appearance 
of the foliage; but the insects are not very numerous, and are almost unpre- 
ventible on trees on walls during hot weather. Unless your trees were much 
more seriously affected last year than they are now insects have had nothing 
whatever to do with the barrenness of the trees. We are unable to state the 
cause of the slight discolouration of the Plum-tree leaves ; excessive wet would 
cause it, or sudden and powerful sun after a period of dull weather. It will not 
in any way impair the fruitfulness of the trees. There are a few—very few— 
aphides on the under surfaces of the leaves, but they are not the cause of the 
discolouration referred to. 
