402 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. t October 23, isso. 
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TO CORRESPONDENTS 
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All correspondence 
to “ The Publisher.” 
should be directed either to “ The Editors ” 
or to •" Tire 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. 
Addresses (.4 Deal Correspondent). —Write to Messrs. William Paul & Son, 
The Nurseries, Waltham Cross, Herts. (II. L. B. L. IS). —We are unable to 
answer your question. If you write to Messrs. T. Green & Sons, Smithfield Iron. 
Works, Leeds, they will perhaps be able to give you the information you require. 
Evergreen Screen Plant ( Tyne ).—There is none equal for your purpose 
to the Ivy ; aud Hedera Raegneriana has fine, large, smooth, deep green foliage. 
Large Gooseberries (Idem). —Amongst the largest are London, red; 
Catharina, yellow; Shiner, green; and Antagonist, white; but if you intend 
exhibiting it will not be safe to grow one variety only in each section. 
Nomenclature (Old Subscriber). —We are obliged by your letter. We 
took special means to obtain accurate information regarding the Melon, and 
this we thought was all you needed. 
Ferns (S. R. S.). —There is no work specially devoted to the Ferns you 
mention, but you will find much of the required information in the “ Greenhouse 
Manual,” published at this office, price 9 d., or post free lOd. 
Pears for Wall (A. B.). —The following good varieties usually ripen 
during December and January :—Glou Mor^eau, Knight’s Monarch, Ne Plus 
Meuris, Winter Nelis, Z6phirin Gregoire, and Huyshe's Prince of Wales. They 
will succeed in your district. 
Blisters on Willow (T V. Begbie). —These blisters or galls are the work 
of several small flies in the genus Cecidomyia. They are gnat-like creatures, 
and their tiny wings shine with prismatic colouring under a magnifier. But it 
is not easy to rear them, for they are much infested by a parasitic fly still 
smaller, the larva of which starves or devours the one that is first tenant of the 
gall. Finally these galls become lodging places for sundry Acari or mites. 
Angle for Vinery (M. J/.).—Whether the house be a lean-to or span-roof 
the best angle for the roof is 45°, but for very early forcing steeper-pitched 
roofs were formerly employed. The angle must be calculated from the base, or 
the slope which it makes with the base; the base line and height in the centre 
of a span or back wall of a lean-to being equal, calculating from the top of the 
upright side or front lights when the angle of elevation is 45°. 
Training Vines in Pots (A Young Gardener ).—The canes being intended 
to be trained spirally around stakes they may be trained before starting, as it 
will tend to arrest the flow of the sap to the extremities, the point of the cane 
being kept rather lower than the other part until the eyes have broken along 
the cane, when it may be elevated. If for a trellis the canes should be de¬ 
pressed until they have the buds well broken, and then be secured to the 
trellis. Muscat of Alexandria is not a suitable Grape for early forcing, but 
succeeds if not started before January and afforded plenty of heat. 
Keeping Pears and Apples (F. J.). —Your room with trellised shelves 
will answer for keeping fruit, although there is no means of affording artificial 
heat, the fruit being laid on clean dry straw and covered with straw in severe 
weather so as to exclude frost. Do not remove the loose bark on the stems 
of outdoor Vines until spring, and not then unless it is necessary to dress the 
rods with a composition to prevent mildew and insects appearing. 
Wintering Pelargonium Cuttings (J. B.). —The house in which Roses 
arc forced will not be too warm, providing you can afford the Pelargoniums 
positions near the glass and ventilators so as to secure sturdy growth ; but if 
they must be kept at a distance from the glass they will become drawn and 
weakly, and be proportionately deteriorated for bedding. The room without a 
fire would be most suitable, removing them during severe weather to a kitchen 
or other place where they would be safe from frost. It would not answer to 
place them in a cupboard or cellar for any length of time. For the Pelargonium 
cuttings to succeed they should be placed in a house at this season with a 
minimum temperature of 55° ; failing this you had better not prune the plant 
until the spring, when the cuttings will strike readily. 
Forcing Seakale (Beginner ).—You give us no data as to the proposed 
method of forcing, but we presume it is by dung or other fermenting materials. 
Take up the plants with all the roots possible, and place them so that about 
five crowns can be covered with an ordinary Seakale pot. The crowns should 
be, as grown, level with the surface, and should be placed so as to be covered 
with fermenting materials by the 1st of December to have heads for cutting at 
Christmas. If forced in a house the temperature should be 55' 1 to 60°, and 
introduced at the time named. The best time to topdress an indoor Vine border is 
as soon as the foliage shows indications of falling. The sooner it is done now the 
better. Liquid manure should not be given to Vines that have Grapes hanging, 
nor should it be applied when they are at rest, but during growth. 
Hyacinths (Old Subscriber). —If you order the “earliest varieties” pot 
them at once in 5-inch pots, covering the pots 6 inches in depth with cocoa-nut 
fibre refuse, leaf soil, or ashes, and when the pots are filled with roots and 
growth is apparent place them on the shelf of a house having a temperature of 
50° to 55°, you will, we think, have the plants in flower by the time required. 
AVinter Aconites require, the same treatment as to potting and plunging, but 
must not be placed in a warm house. The best mode of obtaining good pots of 
Snowdrops is to take up some established clumps of the single variety, pot them, 
and grow them on the shelf of a light greenhouse. If you could bury the 
Hyacinths in a heap of leaves that are very slightly heated the growth would be 
accelerated, but much heat is dangerous. 
Mildew on Roses (E. C .).—You had better prune the plants before you 
place them in the house or frame, then most or all of the affected leaves will be 
removed ; then paint the stems with sulphur mixed to the consistency of paint 
with a strong solution of soft soap and a little tobacco water. A little sulphur 
falling on the soil is not injurious. If your plants when growth commences are 
regularly syringed with the soft soap solution as recommended by Mr. Barduey 
they will be kept free from mildew. AVe have seen a fungus resembling a cob¬ 
web spread over the surface of cocoa-nut fibre refuse in a close, damp, slightly 
heated pit; but in a well-heated pi-opagating house, or when the material is ex¬ 
posed to the air, it is very rare that any fungus is seen on it to do injury. The 
other subject to which you refer shall have our attention. 
Rose for Greenhouse (Bradford Reader). —A Marechal Niel or Gloire 
de Dijon Rose would succeed in your house provided the stem was protected 
from the beat of the cistern. The soil would need to be good, aud copious 
supplies of water would be required in the inside border. In all probability a 
Rose would do equally well, and perhaps better, worked on a standard Briar and 
planted at the back of the house outside, the growth being brought through 
the wall above the cistern ; in that case the stem of the Briar would need pro¬ 
tection with haybamls. A Vine—Black Hamburgh—would grow as well as a 
Rose in the inside border, as shown in your sketch, but its stem would need 
protecting from the excessive heat of the cistern. Cannot you plant in the 
front of the house and train the \ T iue up the roof ? The Rose may be planted 
in November, and a Vine may be planted at the same time, but if it is in a pot 
spring planting is preferable just as the buds are commencing growth. 
Overcropping Vines (J. A’.).—Overcropping is a relative term. AVe have 
seen Vines decidedly overcropped when not bearing more than half a pound 
of fruit to each foot of rod, while other Vines were not overcropped with three 
times that weight of fruit. If }-our Vines are really healthy, with active roots, 
short-jointed wood, and thick leathery foliage, the crop you name is not by any 
means heavy. How many rods have you in the space of roof mentioned ? If 
the rods are closer to each other than 3 feet, and the laterals from them are 
not more than a foot apart, your A r ines are overcrowded, and the leaves will 
not be well developed, as they have not been fully exposed to the sun, nor will 
the wood be matured. Under these conditions the A T ines will not be really 
healthy, though they may grow luxuriantly, and are therefore not able to perfect 
their crops. AVe suspect we have suggested the chief cause of your Grapes not 
colouring, and the evil would be aggravated by the insufficient ventilation to 
which you allude. 
Myrtle Diseased (Richmond). —The leaves sent to us appear to be 
injured by the ravages of thrips, though the evidences of their presence are 
obliterated by washing with water. The leaves of the tree, if at all like those 
sent, will all fall. Syringe the tree with a solution of 4 ozs. of soft soap dissolved 
in a gallon of water, to which is added a quarter of a pint of tobacco water. The 
tree being thoroughly wetted, both on the under and upper side of the leaves, 
allow the mixture to become dry upon the tree, and then wash it off with water 
at a temperature of 120°. In a week repeat the washing or syringing with the 
tobacco water and soft soap solution, and syringe the tree twice a day afterwards 
for a week or ten days with water, keeping the soil no more than moist, as the 
demands of the head will be at a minimum, and avoid a wet state of the soil 
through the winter. 
Tomatoes for a Cool House (R. G. J/.).—AVith us as with you, Hatha¬ 
way’s Excelsior proves a somewhat lighter cropper than either Dwarf Orange- 
field or the Old Red, but the fruits are of better appearance and superior quality. 
As you prefer weight to fine quality and shape you will certainly do well to 
either grow more of the above older varieties, or to add Earley's Defiance aud a 
few for trial of Conqueror. Earley’s is apparently a good selection of Large 
Red (or as you have it Old Red), and is a heavy cropping variety, very suitable 
for a cool house. The colour of the Conqueror is a glossy vermilion, in the w r ay 
of but superior to that of Acme and Yick's Criterion, neither of which were 
liked in the markets at one time. This prejudice may by this time have been 
overcome, at all events the Conqueror is of the three the most likely to effect this 
favourable change of opinion. It is certainly a heavily-cropping, easily-grown, 
early variety. 
Seeds for Garden (IF. IF.).—Your question as put is almost unanswer¬ 
able, as so much depends on the nature of the soil and the system of culture 
pursued. Perhaps the following table of “ seeds required for a garden of 1 acre,” 
extracted from the Gardeners' Year Book, will be of service to you ; the quantities 
can be increased or diminished according to the extent of ground at your dis¬ 
posal Peas, 5 quarts; Beans, 2 quarts ; Kidney Beans, 1 pint; Scarlet Runners, 
1 pint; Cabbage, early, 2 ozs.; Savoy, 1 oz.; Brussels Sprouts, l oz.; Cauliflower, 
1 oz. in two varieties; Broccolis, 2 ozs. in four varieties; Borecole, 2 ozs.; Cabbage, 
Red, J oz.; Kohl Rabi, J oz.; Onions, 4 ozs.; Carrots, 2 ozs.; Turnips, AVliite, 
2 ozs.; Turnips. Yellow, 1 oz.; Celery, £ oz.; Spinach, J pint; Beet, Red, 1 oz. ; 
Beet, Silver, J oz.; Leek, 1 oz.; Parsnip, 2 ozs.; Salsafy, J oz.; Skirret, 5 oz.; 
Scorzonera, 4 oz.: Endive, 1 oz.; Lettuce, 2 ozs. in two varieties ; Radish, Long, 
sj pint; Radish, Turnip, J pint; Mustard, 3 pint; Cress, ^ pint; Parsley, curled, 
3 oz.; Potatoes, early, in two sorts, 1J bushel; Potatoes, late, in two sorts, 
2 bushels; Jerusalem Artichokes, 1 gallon ; Garlic, ^ ft.; Shallots, 1 ft.; Sweet 
and Pot Herbs, of sorts, 1 oz. ; Rhubarb, of sorts, 25 roots. To the above add 
one packet of each of the decorative and garnishing plants you name in,your 
list. 
Apples for Market (P. Gruel).— In reply to your request for names of 
“ two hundred late sorts of dessert and kitchen Apples of good size and ap¬ 
pearance, in use from October to May for market purposes,” our reply is that 
we decline the responsibility of recommending anyone to plant so many varieties 
for the purpose in question. AVe presume you want two hundred trees, but 
you do not say so, and you could not possibly make a greater mistake than to 
plant so many varieties. Instead of naming two hundred we name fifty varie¬ 
ties, thirty for culinary and twenty for dessert purposes, that are likely to be 
profitable ; but if we were planting as many trees as you propose we should not 
include more than half the varieties here named, or at least, should only have 
one tree each of many of them to prove their adaptability to the soil and district. 
The first half or two-tliirds of the varieties named in each section are the most 
likely to prove satisfactory, and those we should plant in the greatest numbers. 
Dessert. —Cox’s Orange Pippin, King of the Pippins, (Golden Winter Pear- 
main), Golden Reinette, Scarlet Nonpareil, Court Pendu Plat, Scarlet Pear- 
main, Barcelona Pearmain, Lodgemore Pearmain, Baxter’s Pearmain, AVanstall, 
Sturmer Pippin, Nonpareil, Dutch Mignonne, Herefordshire (Royal) Pearmain, 
Aromatic Russet, Claygate Pearmain, AVinter Pearmain, Scarlet Crofton, 
Melon Apple, and Mannington’s Pearmain. Many good dessert Apples are very 
small, but the above possess either size, colour, or quality in combination with 
free-bearing properties. Culinary Apples. —AVarner’s King, Dumelow’s Seedling 
(sold as AVellington in the south), Beauty of Kent, Ecklinville Seedling, Alfriston, 
Stirling Castle, Round AVinter Nonsuch, Striped Beefing, Brabant Bellefleur, 
Gooseberry Apple (grown largely for the London market), Fearn’s Pippin, 
