JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 18, 1883. ] 
61 
%* All correspondence should be directed cither to “ The Editor ” 
or to “ The Publisher.” Letters addressed to Dr. Hogg or 
members of the staff often remain unopened unavoidably. We 
request that no one will write privately to any of our correspon¬ 
dents, 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. 
Violet Culture (L. L. /).).—Mr. Beachey’s article on Violet culture which 
you require is on page 321, vol i., third series, the issue of October 7th, 18s0. 
The number can be had for 3 \d. t sent to the publisher. 
Cardiff Castle Cucumber ( Henry Canning). — You will find this 
Cucumber advertised in our columns. 
Angle of Glass Roof (0. D. 0 .).—The angle you suggest, 45°, for a roof 
under which Tomatoes are to be grown in the summer, will do very well. An 
angle of 35° would do equally well, but the more acute the angle the greater is 
the extent of the roof surface. 
Lawn Unsatisfactory (A. D.). —As the lawn is “as deplorable and 
unsatisfactory as anything can possibly be,” there is not much hope of your 
making it presentable by any applications of either manures or renovating 
mixtures ; and the best, and in the end the most economical, method to adopt 
will be to plough it up as you propose, clean the land well, level it, and sow 
a suitable lawn mixture. You will find notes on lawns in another column, and 
these, with what will follow, maybe of service to you. If you need more specific 
information we will readily afford it if you will state your requirements. 
Gas Lime for Gardens ( Idem ).—The time that should elapse between 
applying the lime and cropping the land depends entirely on the quantity that 
is applied. At present 2 ozs. per square yard or 5 cwt. per acre should not be 
exceeded, and if this is w r ell mixed in the soil in digging you may crop the 
ground in a month. In all probability a heavy dressing, say at the rate of 60 or 
80 bushels per acre, of freshly slacked ordinary lime would be very beneficial 
both in destroying slugs and improving the soil. Your other question we print 
on page 50 in case any of our correspondents can give the required information. 
Chrysanthemum grandiflorum (J. M.). —The Chrysanthemum which 
you find so useful, and which you say you had in flower until February last year, 
is grandiflorum, though the blooms are slightly different from those produced 
earlier in the season. The characters of the foliage, however, are easily 
distinguishable. 
Propagating Dahlias (77. S. P .).—You say you have “ plenty of glass and 
want plenty of plants.” You can easily raise them if you can command bottom 
heat of 80° or 85°, such as may be afforded with sweet fermenting materials, and 
top heat in a frame or propagating case of 70° to 80°. Place the roots in the bed, 
not dividing them, and just cover them with leaf soil. If kept moist they will 
commence growing at once, and each shoot when 3 inches long can be inserted 
in sandy soil in a thumb pot, kept close until rooted, then assigned a cooler and 
light position, the plants to be eventually shifted into larger pots. The tops 
of these young plants can be taken off and inserted as cuttings if needed, but 
this must be done before the stems become hollow. 
Dahlias for Exhibition (Idem). —The following are the names of the 
varieties included in the collections that were placed first in the classes for 
twelve show and twelve fancy Dahlias at the National Dahlia Exhibition held 
at the Crystal Palace in September last year :—Show varieties—Julia Wyatt, 
Duke of Connaught, Mr. Harris, Prince Bismarck, Vice-President, Frank 
Rawlings, Perfection of Primroses, James Cocker, Sunbeam, Royal Queen, Harry 
Walton, and Criterion. Fancy varieties—Flora Wyatt, Henry Glasscock, Mrs. 
Browning, Parrot, Mrs. Saunders, Professor Fawcett, Viceroy, John Lament, 
Wizard, Letty Coles, Fanny Sturt, and Gaiety. If you only need twelve, select 
six each of these ; or the safer plan if you intend exhibiting would be to obtain 
the twenty-four, as there will be then a better chance to select a good dozen 
blooms. 
Early Dwarf Kidney Beans for Field Work (II. S. E .).—Unless 
you have an early field, the soil of which is light and warm, it is doubtful if you 
will find any variety of Dwarf Kidney Bean profitable. Others have tried the 
experiment, but have discontinued growing them unless they can contract to 
supply large pickling firms with young Beans. In this case as soon as the 
demand in the markets slackens they cease to send. As a rule they are grown 
between the trenches prepared for Celery, and the varieties grown are the pro¬ 
lific though small Newington Wonder and Negro Longpod. Osborn’s Forcing 
is undoubtedly superior to either for very early crops, but does not long remain 
in full bearing. The seed probably will be found rather expensive. We have 
had no experience with Early Rachel. Spring frosts are very destructive among 
Beans, and for this reason a high and sunny field should be selected for them. 
Scarlet Bunners are found much more profitable than these Beans. 
Potting Carnations (B. D.). — If you can, place a few leaves or other 
sweet fermenting material in a frame so as to afford a gentle bottom heat. We 
should place the young plants in small pots now, using gritty loamy soil, and 
plunge them in the material. This would greatly facilitate the emission of 
fresh roots, and by judicious ventilation the plants would be kept sturdy, but 
for a week or two we should keep them rather close than otherwise. In the 
absence of artificial heat we should defer the potting for a week or two unless 
the weather were mild, and with a fair prospect of it continuing so for some 
time to aid them in recovering from the checks as speedily as possible. 
Chrysanthemum Etoile d’Or (Subscriber). —If the shoots are fresh and 
crisp, not hard and wiry, the cuttings will strike if you pinch out the flower 
bud immediately it is visible. If you cut a plant down—that is, shorten the 
branches half way down or lower, and place it in gentle heat, it will in all pro¬ 
bability produce an abundance of growths of the best character for propagating. 
If you have only one plant try the effect of shortening a few of its branches in 
the manner indicated. 
Deutzia crenata flore-pleno (Idem). —This is a very useful plant for 
forcing, but does not flower so early as D. gracilis. Pruning should be done 
immediately after flowering, and be limited to the removal of those portions 
that are exhausted by flowering, not necessarily removing the flowering branches 
entirely, as certain portions of these, which are easily observable, form spurs, 
which in turn produce clusters of flowers, but at the same time preserve and 
encourage the young growths. If one or two of these are very strong and likely 
to grow much longer than the rest pinch out their points while still young, and 
they will break and make second growths that will be strong enough for flower¬ 
ing. About a fortnight after flowering and pruning repot if needed, and let the 
plants have a very light position under glass until the weather permits their 
being placed in the open air, then plunge in an open sunny position, watering 
them the same as you do Chrysanthemums. If you want very large bushes in 
the shortest time you may plant out the Deutzias and repot in the autumn ; but 
plants so treated do not usually flower so freely as those kept in pots. Azalea 
narcissiflora is not deciduous, but, like other varieties of A. indica, casts a portion 
of its leaves in winter or early spring. It is very useful for forcing and afford¬ 
ing white flowers for cutting during the winter months. Our reply to “ C. Wilks ” 
will answer your question about Celery. 
Moss on Tennis Lawn (F. C. D ). —If the water cannot drain freely from 
the soil, but becomes stagnant, moss will take possession of the lawn whatever 
you may apply to the surface. Lack of drainage is possibly the cause of the 
evil in your case, and it will probably be advisable to make drains 4 or 5 yards 
apart and 18 inches deep, falling into a cross drain at the lower level for con¬ 
ducting the water away. Two-inch pipes will do for the drains, covered with 
rubble, but in the catchwater drain the pipes should be larger. If you cannot 
drain the land we should spread a layer of ashes 2 or 3 inches thick, covered 
with an inch or two of soil, on which to lay the turve3. Whether the present 
turf will do to lay down again we have no means of knowing; but you may 
judge by the following testIf when pared off about an inch thick it will roll 
as represented in an engraving on page 13, you may venture to use it again ; but 
if it is full of moss as to break in pieces when you attempt to roll it, it will not 
be likely to prove satisfactory. Before removing it comb out all the moss you 
possibly can with a small and sharp-toothed rake, and when it is laid down 
again give a light sprinkling of fine soil containing a sixth part of its bulk of 
lime, and scatter on some fine grass seeds, and roll the surface when it is dry 
enough not to adhere to the roller. Under any circumstances we should not 
purcliase fresh turves, but if the present turf cannot be used should prefer a 
lawn formed entirely by sowing seeds. We have seen close lawns in six weeks 
from the date of sowing, and in two months tennis was played in the most satis¬ 
factory manner. Sheep must be kept off newly formed lawns, and from old 
lawns too in wet weather, as, unless the ground is very firm and well drained, 
they will inevitably make indentations in the surface that will not be agreeable. 
On some tennis lawns they do no appreciable injury. The seasons recently 
having been unusually wet caused the moss to spread in the manner you 
describe. 
Grapes Cracking (77. Stone ).—The reason why the Madresfield Court 
Grape is more liable to crack than many others is because of the comparative 
inelasticity of the skin, and it is rendered still more brittle aud unyielding to 
pressure from within by injudicious ventilation. Any check to the free swelling 
of the berries when young by an atmosphere alternately moist and dry, or by a 
sudden inrush of cold dry air, or by not opening the ventilators soon enough in 
the morniug, then throwing them open too widely at once, causing sudden and 
extreme evaporation from the fruit — any one or all these mistakes affect 
injuriously the cuticle of Grapes (but the results are more apparent in the 
variety in question than in most others), and predisposing them to cracking. 
Then, again, an excess of water at the roots on the approach of the ripening 
period, and especially if the soil has been previously rather dry, causes such an 
influx of sap that the berries cannot resist the pressure. The roots of this 
Grape should be under command, aud the water supply also ; but even then if 
sound judgment be not exercised in management the fruit will crack. This 
Vine should be allowed to carry as much foliage as can be fully exposed to the 
light, so as to appropriate the sap, and there must be no ruthless removal of 
long sub-laterals that may have been allowed to extend unduly on the eve of 
the ripening process. This is yet a too common practice. Cutting a notch in 
the laterals just below the bunches has been found by some cultivators to arrest 
a too free flow of sap to the berries, and others have effected the same object by 
twisting a piece of wire tightly round them; but many skilled cultivators 
produce splendid examples of this splendid Grape without having recourse to 
such manipulation. 
Black Hamburgh Grapes Mouldy (Idem).—-' The mouldiness on 
Black Hamburghs is caused by defective ventilation and a too low night 
temperature after a sudden change to mild weather following a period of cold. 
Much moisture is then inevitably condensed on the cold surfaces of the berries, 
and this, especially after they have been long ripe, accelerates their decay. We 
will reply to your question about raising Vines in turves in a future issue. We 
cannot answer it so fully as is desirable this week. 
Celery “bulging” (C. Wilks). —While we cannot state the precise cause 
of your Celery bulging or bursting 3 or 4 inches above the roots, we can, per¬ 
haps, enable you to determine the matter for yourself. If earth is applied too 
early aud too much is placed round the plants at once the upward growth of the 
stems is in a measure arrested, and the consequence is that the leafstalks 
become more or less curved below the soil. When this occurs they never re¬ 
cover their upright position, as further applications of soil naturally tend to 
aggravate the evil. This will cause Celery to bulge. But there is another 
cause. Many years ago we had something to do with a breadth of Celery in 
which there were many spoiled heads in every alternate row by bulging and 
bursting. As all the rows were of the same variety, and the plants raised in the 
same seed bed, planted at the same time, and watered alike, it was apparent the 
evil was attributable to some defect in earthing. This work was done by four 
men, two working at each row. The following year the same men were em- 
proyed in earthing the Celery, which was not commenced until the plants had 
attained nearly their full size. As the men commenced the work of placing the 
soil round the plants with their hands after it had been broken fine with spades, 
it was observed that two of them placed it round lightly, not pressing it in the 
least, while the other pair kneaded it firmly round the plants, the top of the 
ridges being beaten almost hard round the stems of the plants, the earth being 
applied as high as possible in both instances. On the men being asked why 
they made the soil so hard, one of them replied, “ Because we think it makes 
the Celery solider.” They were then told to make it as solid as they liked 
round two dozen plants, and not to firm the remainder of the rows at all. On 
