November 25, 1880 . ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 489 
rubbish heap will be beneficial. The spaces between shrubs should 
be occupied with low-growing spring-flowering bulbous and herba¬ 
ceous plants. Tender plants will usually winter safely if they are 
afforded a good mulching over the roots, 4 to 6 inches depth of 
cocoa-nut fibre refuse being very effectual. 
Herbaceous borders requiring re-arrangement should be attended 
to at once, weather permitting, taking advantage of the opportunity 
to give the ground a liberal dressing of enriching material, and to 
turn it over to as great a depth as the good soil admits. If after 
transplanting or re-arrangement a mulching is given of cocoa-nut 
fibre refuse it will tend to their better re-establishment. Clear away 
all dead stems, Ac., renew pegs and labels as required, afford a dress¬ 
ing of some enriching substance, and neatly fork over the borders. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Greenhouse. —Undue excitement at this time of year is often a 
cause of the buds of Camellias falling. The necessity of fires to 
expel damp and keep out frost frequently results in too high a tem¬ 
perature being maintained. An ordinary greenhouse should be kept 
at 40° to 45° by day artificially in severe weather and 40° at night. 
The plants are quite safe provided the temperature does not fall 
below 35°. Ventilation should commence when the sun raises the 
temperature above 45°. Watering must be done in the morning, and 
though lessened supplies will be necessary the plants can be examined 
at least every other day. 
Liliums .—These should be potted before they begin forming fresh 
roots—indeed, some are never entirely dormant. The earliest L. aura- 
turn and L. longiflorum will be fast pushing fibrous roots, and must 
not be disturbed ; but if in pots already large enough merely remove 
the surface soil and dress with fresh, seeing that the drainage is in 
good order, but in case the pots are too small transfer to larger with¬ 
out disturbing the roots. Both these Liliums are impatient of drought 
at the roots, but it is essential that the soil be not made and kept 
very wet. L. speciosum (lancifolium) vars. should also be repotted, 
and have the soil moist, keeping them where they will be cool but 
safe from frost. Turfy loam chopped up moderately small, a sprink¬ 
ling of sand, and enriched with a fourth of leaf soil or thoroughly de¬ 
composed manure, will suit them well, draining the pots and leaving 
space in the pots for top-dressing after the plants have formed fresh 
shoots. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
James Dickson & Sons, Newton Nurseries, Chester.— Catalogue oj 
Forest Trees and Shrubs. 
Kelway & Son, Langport, Somerset.— Catalogue of Gladioli. 
Thomas S. Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham, London.— 
Catalogue of Trees and Shrubs, and Choice Bulbs. 
Cranston’s Nursery and Seed Company, Limited, King’s Acre, 
Hereford.— List of Trees and Shrubs. 
*** 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 (A Young Gardener). —Thompson’s “Gardener’s Assistant” is pub¬ 
lished by Messrs. Biackie & Son, Paternoster Buildings, London, and at Glasgow 
and Edinburgh. The last edition was edited by Mr. Thomas Moore. 
Japanese Names (A. /'.).—We know of none that approach to the 
English names of plants. Ebni is synonymous with our Floicer; kina is grass ; 
and shinrichi a root. 
Cucumber (Stephen Castle). —The fruit you have sent is an excellent one 
for this season of the year, and is of superior quality. It testifies to the sound¬ 
ness of your culture, described on page 369. 
“ Herefordshire Pomona” (A.F.).— In our reply last week an error 
occurs relative to the price of this work. The first part only is 15s., the other 
two are 21s. each. 
Stocks for Apples (Holywell). —The best stock for standards is the Crab, 
and for dwarfs the Paradise. There are several varieties of the Paradise stock, 
Rivers’ Broad leaved being a very good one, so is the Nonsuch. The French 
Paradise is a weak grower, and short-lived in many soils. 
Stove Heating (T V. II. TV.).— We do not think that an ordinary-sized 
stove would heat the flue sufficiently for affording the requisite bottom heat 
for Cucumbers early in the season ; but a large stove would doubtless afford 
heat that would be useful in the manner indicated, the flue being made with 
sanitary pipes. 
Vine Roots Unhealthy (IF. M .).—There are no traces of Phylloxera upon 
the roots you sent, and probably the chief cause of their unhealthy appearance 
is that the soil is too heavy, at least such seems to be the case with soil enclosed 
in the bottle. You give us no particulars as to the position of the house or the 
general condition of the Vines, and consequently we are unable to reply more 
explicitly. Renewing and well draining the border would no doubt improve the 
health of the Vines. 
Preparing Ground for Roses (Student). —Trench the ground at once 
2 feet deep, bringing some of the lighter soil to the top, and mix it with the 
surface soil, which you say is very stiff. Digging now cannot make it more 
adhesive, but exposure to frost will pulverise it, and you may make it more 
friable by adding sand. In trenching throw it into ridges, and as roughly as 
possible, so as to expose it to frost. If you cannot obtain sand, ashes will 
answer the purpose of making it more open. 
Stopping Ficus elastica (Ctifton). —You may take out the point of the 
shoot without injury to the plant, only you will spoil its appearance, as buds 
will start from the lower joints. Why not wait until spring ? then take off the 
top with a couple of joints and the growing point, and if inserted in sandy soil 
it will strike freely in a hotbed. Cut the stem off two or three eyes from the 
soil, and the lower part will break freely and soon become furnished with fresh 
foliage. Every eye taken off with a portion of wood and its accompanying leaf 
will strike freely in bottom heat. 
Moss on Gooseberry and Currant Bushes (Oscar).— It would be 
desirable to remove the moss, and you should do so at once, and, after scraping 
off all you can take off the soil round each bush as low as the roots, but without 
injuring them, replace it with about four good spadefuls of manure, and then 
cover the manure with the soil removed, or part of it, not burying the stem too 
deeply. You may then wait until the first rain, and whilst the bushes are wet 
dust them thoroughly in every part with fresh-slaked lime. It will destroy the 
moss, and be less tedious of application than washing them with lime and soot. 
The lime-dusting may be repeated early in spring before the buds open. 
Zonal Pelargoniums for Winter (E. B ).—The plants require to be 
grown well through the summer in cold frames with the lights drawn off during 
all favourable weather, so that the growth is sturdy. The shoots may be topped 
till August, and after that time the flower buds should be removed as they 
appear until October. They must be grown generously and the roots be always 
active. As the autumn approaches they must be placed in a very light position 
in a house having a temperature of 45° to 50°, with as much air as the outside 
temperature permits. By giving them liquid manure occasionally they will 
flower all the winter in a suitable structure. 
Potatoes and Popery (Curio). —Prejudices have usually accompanied 
new introductions, but we do not remember the singular connection of 
“ Potatoes and Popery ” being alluded to, except in the following manner in 
Roberts’s “ Social History of the People of the Southern Counties of England”— 
“Potatoes were a luxury until 1765, when Lord Sheffield bought some, and soon 
after farmers began to plant them in the fields. This novelty experienced the 
usual fate—viz., that of exciting prejudice against it. At an election at Lewes 
Potatoes shared with popery the indignation of the people, and “ No Popery 1 
No Potatoes 1 ” was the popular cry. Potatoes excited so much prejudice in 
Prance, from a belief they would bring back leprosy once more, that the growing 
crop required to be watched for protection.” 
Euonymus europseus (./. R. —The specimen sent is the fruit of the 
Common Spindle Tree (Euonymus europams), so called from its wood being 
used long ago for making spindles. It is called Prickwood and Prick-timber, 
from being used for toothpicks and skewers. The wood is said to be used by 
musical instrument makers. For skewers and toothpicks the wood should be 
cut when the shrub is in bloom, for then it is tough and not easily broken ; it 
is also used by watchmakers for cleaning watches. The berries act as an emetic 
and purgative, and are fatal to sheep ; and when powdered and sprinkled on the 
hair destroy pediculi; sometimes it is made into an ointment for the same 
purpose. No animals except the goat will browse upon the plant. It is sur¬ 
prising how few persons know this plant, as we very frequently receive specimens 
to name. 
Shading Conservatory (TF. C.). —What you can need a permanent 
shading for is inexplicable, as except during the summer months when the sun 
is powerful shading is not only unnecessary, but from September to April abso¬ 
lutely injurious. Indeed the necessity of affording light during the autumn, 
winter, and spring months induces gardeners to cut away the strong-growing 
roof climbers considerably to admit as much light as possible to the plants 
beneath. Within the time indicated plants, flowering or otherwise, cannot have 
too much light, and instead of being shaded they should have the roof and side 
lights thoroughly cleaned to admit of every ray of light possible passing through 
the glass for the benefit of the plant. Perforated zinc is much too dense a 
shading at any time, even for shade-loving plants. Summer cloud answers very 
well, and so does whitewash, and if placed on the inside of the glass will last a 
season. It can easily be washed off; it costs little beyond the trouble, and is 
not objectionable in appearance. 
Propagating Erica mediterranea (J., Surrey). —Take cuttings of the 
young shoots when their bases are rather firm, stripping off the leaves from 
half the length of the cutting, and paring its base smooth, insert them round 
the sides of a pot. The pot should be filled half its depth with drainage and a 
little rough peat, and then to within three-quarters of an inch of the rim with 
very fine sandy peat, the whole being covered up to the rim with silver sand ; 
water gently and press firm. After standing a few hours insert the cuttings, 
and place them in a cold house or pit covered with a hand or bellglass. Keep 
them close and moist, shading so as to lessen the necessity for watering ; and 
when the cuttings have struck, as you may know by their growing, admit air 
gradually. Pot them off when well hardened, and keep them in a cool house 
or pit over the winter, planting out in the spring. They may also be wintered 
in the cutting-pots, and planted out in spring after being well hardened. 
