August 26, 1880. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
• 
Parsley-leaved Elder (F. II. A.).—The sprays sent are of the above 
Elder (Sambucus nigra laciniata), and if the tree has not been planted in the 
place in which it is growing it has probably sprung from a seed that has been 
carried by a bird from a fruiting specimen in some adjacent garden, perhaps 
from your Grace’s own pleasure ground. 
Vegetable Marrows not Setting (J. Tl r .).— 1 There may be a deficiency 
of pollen, and the flowers are not fertilised. If you apply the pollen from the 
staminate to the pistillate flowers, cut the tops off the exuberant growths and 
keep the plants well supplied with water, we think the fruit will set and swell 
freely. Artificial fertilisation is seldom needed when the staminate flowers are 
numerous, but when they are few in number such manipulative aid is often 
requisite. Are the growths of your plants thinly trained ? Overcrowding 
would cause the evil of which you complain. 
Heating Stove ( C. B.).— To heat the proposed stove you will require four 
rows of 4-inch pipes along the front and at one end ; you already have a flow 
and return at the other end, from which take the pipes for heating the stove, 
branching from near the front of the house, so that it will be possible to have the 
stove and vinery heated separately or together by fixing valves on both the flow 
and return pipes where they join the mains, as when the Vines in the house to 
the right of the stove are forced you will have too much heat in the stove, 
especially in summer. With the valves the temperature may be regulated as 
required. The additional piping is not great, so that the boiler will probably 
heat it satisfactorily. 
Destroying Earwigs (K. A. T .).—We have not had experience of the 
effects of nicotine soap on earwigs and ants. It is worth trying, syringing the 
climbers at night as you propose, and if it does not kill the pests it will probably 
considerably check their attacks. Use it at a strength of 4 or 5 ozs. to the 
gallon of water. 
Annuals for Spring Flowering (Idem). —Seed of Saponaria calabrica> 
Silene pendula and its variety compacta, which are amongst the most hardy and 
useful for spring bedding, should be sown at once. Nemopkilas, Larkspurs, 
Collinsias, Limnanthes Douglassi, Lasthenia californica, Campanula pentagouia, 
Clarkias, and other free-growing annuals are preferably sown from the 6th to 
the 10th of September in your district, as if the plants make too much growth 
before winter they are liable to be killed. Sow the seed thinly in drills a foot 
asunder, and immediately the plants can be handled thin them out to enable 
them to assume a sturdy habit of growth. The ground should be made-firm,and 
a sharp look-out must be kept for slugs. The site of the seed beds should not be 
near old walls or crops that are likely to afford harbour to slugs and snails. 
Men Required in Garden (T. II.). —Even when particulars are sent of 
the size and number of the glass structures, the arrangements of the garden, and 
nature of the soil, such questions can only be answered approximately. As you 
have stated your question it is quite unanswerable. You do not give the size of 
any of the forcing houses, vineries, or pits, but only mention a “large con¬ 
servatory, 27 square feet.” As this would only represent a house 6 feet long by 
4J wide it can scarcely be termed “ large.” If you will send us the accurate 
dimensions of all the houses and pits we will endeavour to answer your question. 
Dionaea Muscipula Culture (Idem). —Anyone possessing a warm green¬ 
house may, with a little care, succeed in growing Dionfea muscipula. It is a native 
of Carolina. North America, where it grows in marshes or bogs. The soil best 
suited for it is sandy peat, with a little finely chopped sphagnum moss. After 
being put into well-drained small pots a slight covering of live moss should be 
laid on the surface. They should be then placed on a shelf in an ordinary green¬ 
house exposed to the full force of the sun. As they require a good deal of water 
a layer of moss should be placed on the shelf and the pots slightly plunged in it, 
the moss being kept moist, which is preferable to placing them in flats of water, 
as in this manner the soil is not so apt to sour. When the leaves commence 
decaying withhold the water, but never let them dry-up entirely. 
Peas (G. C'.). —It is impossible for anyone to identify Peas by merely seeing 
the pods, and your description of the plants does not aid us in the matter, for 
many Peas grow 6 to 8 feet high, bear heavily, and are of superior flavour. You 
do not even say whether the seed is wrinkled or not. The appearance of the 
Peas in a green state, and your description of them, leads us to suppose the 
variety is not distinct, but a form of the useful Pea Ne Plus Ultra. The pods 
sent are small in comparison with those of new Peas that are sent out now-a- 
days, but we do not doubt the variety is a very good one. 
Fungus on Rose Trees (General Davies). —The leaves sent are not in¬ 
fested with red spider, but are seriously attacked with the black fungus. Syringe 
the trees with a strong solution of soft soap—5 or 6 ozs. of the soap being dissolved 
in a gallon of water, and apply it at a temperature of 12(P. Nicotine soap of the 
same strength would answer equally well. Sponging the leaves with 2 ozs. of 
blue vitriol (sulphate of copper) dissolved in hot water, and added to 2 or 3 gallons 
of cold water, willalso destroy the fungus. Possibly your Roses need more 
support, such as liquid manure ; the fungus is generally the worst on Roses that 
have partially exhausted the soil, but there are exceptions to this rule. 
The Cherry Plum (F. II.). —This is the name of the Plum of which you 
have sent fruit; it is also known as the Early Scarlet, Miser Plum, Myrobalan, 
and Virginian Cherry, and is described as follows in Dr. Hogg’s “ Fruit Manual.” 
Fruit medium sized, cordate, somewhat flattened at the stalk, and terminated 
at the apex by a small nipple, which bears upon it the remnant of the style like 
a small bristle. Skin very thick and pale red, covered with small greyish white 
dots. Stalks three-quarters of an inch long, slender, and inserted in a small 
cavity. Flesh yellow, sweet, juicy, and subacid, adhering to the stone. It may 
be used in the dessert more as an ornamental variety than for its flavour, but it 
makes excellent tarts. Ripe in the beginning and middle of August. The 
young shoots are smooth, slender, and thickly set with buds. This is the 
Prunus myrobalana of Linnaeus. It is frequently grown in shrubberies and 
clumps as an ornamental tree, where in spring its profusion of white flowers 
render it an attractive object. 
Forcing French Beans (T. II. .S'.).—The exuberance of the growth may 
arise either from the soil being too rich and light, the insufficiency of light, or 
an unsuitable variety being grown. We do not think your proposed mode of 
raising the plants would be any improvement on raising them in small pots 
and planting out. Allow them a little more room, make the soil somewhat 
firm, have them as near the glass as possible, and let the glass be washed clean, 
then by maintaining a right temperature and ventilating judiciously you ought 
to secure good crops. The flower you have enclosed is Hypericum calycinum, 
hardy species, which succeeds well under the shade of trees. 
Plum Leave3 Discoloured (G. B. C. W.). —There are no insects on the 
foliage to account for the glaucous appearance of the leaves, nor can we inform 
you of the cause of their present condition. You do not state whether the tree 
lias grown freely or not, nor whether the soil is well drained. The trees, which 
197 
you state are growing healthily and bearing freely in brick rubble and sand, 
indicate that the soil in which the affected tree is planted is too rich and moist. 
You cannot err by lifting the tree in the autumn and placing the roots in fresh 
soil, to which has been added some rough gritty material, such as old lime 
rubbish, broken bricks, or roadside scrapings. If the tree is crowded with 
growth thin-out the shoots now, so that the sun and air can have access to 
those remaining to promote their maturation. 
Vines in Pots (Yorkshire).— As you cannot keep the Vines during then- 
resting period in a temperature of 50°, and as you have no cooler house for them, 
you must winter them out of doors. Drying the roots in the autumn and 
winter is a most injudicious mode of resting Vines. The roots should be in 
moist soil always, but never saturated. Retain the Vines under glass until the 
wood is hard, brown, and ripe, and the foliage shows signs of changing; then 
remove them to the open air, securing them to a wall or fence having a southern 
aspect. As soon as the foliage falls prune them, cutting off each side growth 
to a bold eye or bud as near the main stem as possible. Such a bud can generally 
be found about an inch from the base of each lateral; shorten also the leading cane, 
leaving from 1 to 3 feet as is most convenient for the size of your house. After 
pruning again, secure the canes to the wall, and pack leaves, litter, or ashes 
thickly round the pots and over the surface to exclude frost, which is liable to 
both break the pots and injure the roots. Place the pots on bricks to prevent 
worms entering them, and your Vines will be safe ; or if the frost should be 
unusually intense they can be easily made so with a little covering. Well- 
ripened wood of the Vine, is, however, quite hardy. When the Vines commence 
growing in the spring see that the drainage is in good order, remove the surface 
soil, and dig out as much of the soil down the sides of the pots as possible, and 
add fresh loam mixed with a little bone dust and plenty of wood ashes, pressing 
the compost down firmly ; or you may, if convenient, shift the Vines into larger 
pots. Vines in pots do not usually succeed nearly so well the second year as the 
first, though sometimes they afford useful bunches. 
Names of Plants (A. B. C.).—l, Very insufficient for identification, but is 
apparently a portion of a Palm leaf, probably a species of Phoenix; 2, Resembles 
Adiantum Capilius-Veneris ; 3, Cannot be named -without flowers. (J. Mark).— 
Mimulus cardinalis. (G. T. B.). —Hippophae rhamnoides, the Sea Buckthorn, 
(IF. H. Crossley).— Rhus Cotinus, which is also known as the Venice Sumach. 
(G. B. C.).— 1, Goniophlebium subauriculatum ; 4, Asplenium bulbiferum; 2 and 
3 were too withered to be identified. (Lady King). —The tree is Acer campestre. 
(Inquirer).—I, The plant growing through the Mediterranean Heath is Sisyrin- 
chium an ceps, a native of Bermuda, a small ornamental plant, frequent in gardens ; 
it produces seed abundantly, and it has become naturalised in some parts of 
Britain ; 2, Lysimachia quadrifolia, Four-leaved Loosestrife, a North American 
species ; 3, Erigeron purpureum, Purple Erigeron ; 4, Epipactis palustris, Marsh 
Belleborine, a handsome British Orchid, growing abundantly among the sand 
hills in Lancashire, but it is not confined to the seacoast, but is frequently 
found inland, as at Knutsford Bog in Cheshire, growing along with Orchis lati- 
folia, Gymnadenia conopsea, and the Marsh Fern, Lastrea thelypteris. (T V. II. 
Myers).— 1, Lythrum Salicaria ; 2, Campanula muralis. (A Subscriber).—We 
cannot identify the specimen without flowers. (Plant ).—Diplacus glutinosus. 
POULTRY, PIGEON, AND BEE CHRONICLE. 
THE CROSS-BREEDING OF SHEEP. 
This subject has received more or less attention from agricul¬ 
turists for a long period, but vre do not find that cross-breeding 
was much attended to until the early part of the present century. 
During the eighteenth century we find that some sheep-breeders 
were extremely jealous of maintaining the purity of the principal 
breeds, such as long-wools, short-wools, black or white-faced 
sheep, horned or hornless races. A remarkable instance of this 
occurs in the history of the so-called New Leicester sheep, brought 
to great perfection by the perseverance of the celebrated Mr. Bake- 
well of Dishley. He commenced his career in 17G0, and let his first 
ram for the season for 16,?., whereas in the year 1786 he obtained 
three hundred guineas for one ram. To exhibit the decided 
temper of sheep-breeders at that time a club was formed called 
the Dishley Society, the object being to insure the pure breeding 
of Bakewell’s type and style of Leicester sheep, for which purpose 
a code of rules and regulations were formed and made binding 
upon all its members to carry out certain conditions, all intended 
to maintain the purity of the Leicester breed. History or tra¬ 
dition, however, fails to supply us with particulars of the origin 
of many of our various breeds of sheep ; but no doubt for many 
centuries after the time of the Romans in this country certain 
distinct breeds were perpetuated with but little improvement and 
little change. 
In giving our opinions upon the policy of cross-breeding one 
thing must be borne in mind—that pure breeds or animals of 
