246 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. t September 9, 1880, 
night during the winter. Many plants were greatly injured last winter by the 
latter cause. You may adopt the plan you propose of striking the top, and possibly 
you may succeed. The pot should be so placed that the base of the lowest healthy 
leaf is covered with soil. Turfy loam, peat, and leaf soil in equal parts, with 
abundance of sand and crushed charcoal, will be suitable, and must be kept con¬ 
stantly moist. Established plants and Palms will grow well in a compost of 
turfy peat with a third of leaf soil and a sixth of sand and small lumps of char- 
coal. Your question on the cost of heating is unanswerable, as so much depends 
on the apparatus and position of the house, and much more on the character of 
the weather. You cannot have anything better than a mixture of ordinary 
house coal and coke as fuel. 
Red Spider on Melons ( Subscriber ).—If the Melons are on a trellis and 
you can syringe the under sides of the leaves you may dislodge a great number 
of the insects and benefit the plants. The water should be directed with as 
much force as possible to the foliage without injuring it. If you cannot 
syringe the under surfaces of the leaves you must sponge them with a solution 
of soft soap and tobacco water of the strength that has so often been recom¬ 
mended in our columns, or 4 ozs. of nicotine soap dissolved in a gallon of water 
will answer equally well. Syringe the Passiflora violently with the same solu¬ 
tion, or a thorough washing with pure water will be of great benefit. The 
moisture will not do the slightest harm to the Grapes if you ventilate the house 
freely, employing a little fire heat if necessary. 
Mildew on Grapes OS'.).—The berries were much rubbed in transit; still 
traces of mildew are apparent, but we think it will disappear if you employ fire 
heat, as it will certainly be to your advantage to do, and ventilate the house 
carefully. We do not think that mildew is the sole cause of the injury to the 
berries, but having employed no fire heat the moisture has condensed on them 
at night, then on opening the ventilators possibly a little too wide and a little 
too late m the morning evaporation has been sudden and excessive, and hence 
the “ specks and shrivelling.” Lady Downe’s Grapes in the state that yours are 
should have a night temperature of 65° with the top veutilators opened an inch 
all night. Before the temperature increases to 70° in the morning admit more 
air, and continue opening the ventilators wider in advance of the increasing 
temperature until the front and top lights are thrown wide open when the tem¬ 
perature approaches 85°. Examine the border a foot or more below the surface, 
and if the soil is at all dry give a heavy watering. You may damp the house 
once at midday, but it must be dry in the afternoon when you commence 
closing the ventilators. With this treatment intelligently carried out we think 
the crop will ripen satisfactorily ; but if the mildew does not disappear dust the 
parts affected with sulphur, which can be blown off again in the course of three 
or four days with a pair of bellow's. 
Early Harvest Apple ( Ramalho ).—The above is the name of the Apple of 
which you sent us three specimens. As showing the importance of submitting 
adequate examples of fruit sent to be named, we may state that any one of the three 
sent, so much do they vary in form and outline, would have been rather difficult 
of identification, but the three examples rendered the matter easy. The follow¬ 
ing is the description of this Apple as recorded in the “ Fruit Manual,” and 
which you will find agrees with the majority of the fruits gathered from your 
tree. “Fruit of medium size, 2f inches wide, and about 2Jhigh ; round. Skin 
smooth and shining, pale yellowish green at first, but changing to clear pale 
waxen yellow as it ripens, with a faint blush of red next the sun, and set with 
imbedded white specks, particularly round the eye. Eye small and slightly 
closed, set in a round and shallow basin. Stalk half an inch long, inserted in a 
rather shallow somewhat russety cavity. Flesh white, tender, crisp, and juicy, 
with a quick and pleasant sub-acid flavour. An estimable and refreshing early 
dessert Apple of the first quality ; ripe in the end of July and the beginning of 
August. The tree is a healthy and free, though not a vigorous grow'er, and an 
abundant bearer. It is well adapted for dwarf or espalier training when grown 
on the Paradise stock, and ought to find a place in every collection however 
small. Though of American origin, this variety succeeds to perfection in this 
country, a qualification which few of the American Apples possess.” 
Potatoes (A. S.). —1, We presume the gentleman, whom you do not name, 
either renders the shed frostproof in winter or removes the Potatoes to a place 
of safety. That is what we should do. Potatoes are ripe when the skins are firm, 
but the tubers will keep well if dug up before they are ripe, the disease being 
absent, for thinly spread in a [dry place they soon form firm skins. 2, Potatoes 
have attained their “ proper eatable size ” when the foliage turns yellow in the 
autumn ; but to evade the disease some cultivators dig their Potatoes as soon as 
the tubers have attained a good size, whether the haulm is green or not. When 
taken up before the skins are set, the tubers, especially of the later varieties, are 
not immediately in good condition for use, but they improve considerably by 
keeping, and eventually become of fair quality. 3, As to the period of use, 
much depends on soils and seasons. From one garden, and there may be many 
such, we have had Magnum Bonum of excellent quality in August; grown in 
another garden the tubers are not good until they have been kept for some 
months. We had some old tubers of excellent quality on the 12th of July, but 
they had been kept 4 feet below the surface of the soil in dry brick pits. Early 
Rose grown in dry soils is good as soon as the foliage decays naturally, and. 
continues of the same quality for several months, and the same remarks apply 
to Paterson’s Yictoria. 
Roses for Buttonholes (R. D., Liverpool ).—No Roses are equal to the 
Teas for this purpose, but Moss Roses are often acceptable. Hybrid Perpetual 
Roses are too large, Gdndral Jacqueminot being perhaps the most useful, and we 
think fifty plants of it would be more profitable than one plant each of any fifty 
varieties that could be selected. Teas, however, are the most suitable, and it 
will be better for you to have a number of plants of a few varieties thaii a large 
number of varieties represented by one or two plants each. For roofs and walls 
grow Mardchal Niel, Gloire de Dijon, Madame Trifle, and Cheshunt Hybrid. 
Near walls and in other positions grow Niphetos and Isabella Sprunt in large 
numbers. Madame Falcot, Lamarque, Madame de St. Joseph, Marie Yan Houtte, 
Safrano, Mons. Furtado, and Catherine Mermet are also suitable. Some others 
may be equally good, but we have already named too many, as those who grow 
buttonhole Roses for sale find it to their advantage to grow few varieties. A 
number of the Tea Roses should be grown under glass, the others in the open 
air, to be protected if needful during the winter months. Some of the most 
hardy of the Teas are Madame Berard, Bouquet d’Or, and Madame Bravy. Mrs. 
Bosanquet is also suitable for outdoor culture, and the white Boule de Neige 
and Baronne de Maynard afford a profusion of white flowers, but not tea-scented. 
They will succeed well in your soil on the Manetti stock. Your other questions 
will be answered next week. 
Name of Fruit ( Mrs. Edwards). —The Grapes were smashed flat in coming 
through the post and were beyond identification. Fruit should never be sent in 
paper boxes, but in tin ones. 
Names of Plants (IF. TF. A. Naim). —Alchemilla alpina. (K. T .).—We 
never received worse specimens for naming—single flowers thrown loosely in a 
dry box with no foliage. The Thunbergia, however, is T. alata. No one can 
name the Mesembryanthemum without seeing a fresh spray with foliage as well 
as flowers. (A. Parkin). —1, Mesembryanthemum tenuifolium ; 2, Rudbeckia 
Newmanni; 3, Plumbago capensis. The flowers were admirably packed, and 
arrived as fresh as when cut. Wet moss was tied round the stalks, and the 
bunches placed in a small tin box aud made firm with a little slightly damp 
moss. {Subscriber).— 1, Scolopendrium vulgare cristatum ; 2, Adiantum cultra- 
tum ; 3, Selaginella Willdenovii; 4, Onychium japonicum ; 6, Neottopteris 
australasica. ( K. II. H.). —The portion of a frond you sent is not sufficient to 
enable us to judge of the habit of the plant, but it appears to be Adiantum for- 
mosum. {E. M.). —1, Armeria maritima ; 2, Sedum spurium ; 3, Potentilla recta; 
4, Achillea Ptarmica flore-pleno. (/. Begbie). —Campanula rotundifolia. {Miss 
L. Bailey). —1, (Euanthe fistulosa, common Water Dropwort; 2, Antennaria mar- 
garitacea. Pearly Everlasting American Cudweed ; 3, Lythrum Salicaria, Purple- 
spiked Loosestrife ; 4, Lysimachia vulgaris, common Loosestrife. {C. A.Rocke). 
—The specimen with small leaves is Fuchsia procumbens, the other is Lysimachia 
vulgaris. 
(M HOME FARM ' M 
POULTRY, PIGEON, AND BEE CHRONICLE. 
THE CULTIVATION OF LUPINS. 
Lupins are of three varieties, indicated by the colour of the 
flowers, which are yellow, white, and blue, and are well known in 
our gardens. They are cultivated as fodder plants extensively in 
Germany, France, and Belgium, the yellow variety being con¬ 
sidered the best, because it throws more leaves in proportion to 
the stems. It is mostly seen in northern Germany and Prussia, 
where it is considered important for use in the green state as 
fodder, and for the seeds, which in those countries come to per¬ 
fection. It is esteemed by the farmers there because it will thrive 
upon the poorest sands, upon which no other leguminous crop 
can be grown. We have not grown either variety, but our neigh¬ 
bouring farmers have at least tried the blue-blossomed variety. 
We will first allude to the policy of growing it at all, for upon 
the poorest sands there is no crop to compete with it; but still 
we must consider that these soils may be made useful in some 
other ways, such as the planting of Larch or other Firs. If, how¬ 
ever, produce for stock is required Gorse may be grown, which 
will yield a considerable amount of produce as food for dairy 
cows, horses, &c., as described in this Journal, September 18th, 
1879. It is also true that light sands may be laid into pasture, 
but cannot be made to yield a profitable crop under ordinary 
management, especially in very dry summers. The home farmer, 
being unlike a tenant occupier of the land, can therefore choose 
the crops and the style of farming best adapted to the soil and 
climate which he has in hand. It is said that this crop is only 
adapted to light soils, but we have seen large and abundant crops 
of green fodder produced upon strong soils. On heavy land it 
may be ploughed-in as a green crop, and the analysis shows that 
the haulm of Lupins is well calculated not only to manure the 
land chemically, but mechanically also, owing to the enormous 
bulk, said to reach in favourable seasons from 16 to 21 tons per 
acre. This quantity of luxuriant haulm ploughed-in—the same as 
Mustard, &c., is often done—for manure cannot fail to answer a 
good purpose upon every variety of heavy land. The only point 
seems to be that a fine tilth, the nearest approach to sandy land 
in condition, is really necessary. 
Dr. Voelcker’s essay, in the “Journal of the Royal Agricultural 
Society for 1860,” on the composition of the yellow Lupin, and a 
soil suitable to its culture, gives an analysis of the composition of 
yellow Lupins cut down in a green state. There is about as much 
water in Lupins cut down green as in the Cabbages. The amount 
of mineral matter is likewise nearly the same in both, but the 
proportion of albuminous or flesh-forming matter is greater in 
Lupins than in Cabbages. The seed required for this crop should 
