JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March 29, 1883 ] 
267 
The question of providing suitable rooms for the Association’s 
business was discussed at some length. It was the general opinion 
of the meeting that suitable rooms for the holding of meetings, for a 
bee-keepers’ club, and for the reception and sale of honey should be 
obtained. It was resolved that inquiries should be made for such 
rooms, and that advertisements should be inserted in the daily papers. 
The Honorary Secretary reported that he had been unable to obtain 
a grant for the purpose of holding an exhibition of bees, hives, honey, 
&c., in connection with the Bath and West of England Agricultural 
Show at Bridgwater. It was resolved that the Secretary be em¬ 
powered to visit Bridgwater and endeavour to secure a site for the 
holding of an exhibition of bees, hives, honey, &c., at the time of the 
Bath and West of England Agricultural Show, and that in the event 
of his being successful the following do constitute a special com¬ 
mittee for the management of this Show—viz., Mr. A. H. Martin, 
Worcestershire; Rev. J. G. Dangar and W. N. Griffin, Devon ; Mr. 
W. H. Dunman, Dorset; Mr. C. Kent, Cornwall; Mr. C. Tite, Somer¬ 
set ; Rev. W. E. Burkitt, Wilts ; Rev. J. Cooke, Gloucestershire; 
Rev. J. E. Sale, Hereford; Mr. L. 0. Lewis, Carmenthenshire ; Miss 
Swinton, Brecon. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
A. G. Dawson, Alma Buildings, Macclesfield.— Catalogue of Im¬ 
proved Bee Hives and Bee-keepers' Appliances. 
James Cocker & Sons, Aberdeen.— Catalogue of Florists’ Flowers 
for 1883. 
\* All correspondence should be directed either 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. 
Auricula Seed (T. T. Weston and Others'). —Tho Auricula seed that we 
undertook to distribute for the benefit of a sick gardener was all disposed of 
within a week of the announcement being made, and if there had been twice as 
much it would all have gone in the same short period of time. “ Single-handed ” 
has no more seed for disposal. 
Lawn Sand (C.). —We have not been informed of the composition of 
Watson’s or Fowler’s lawn saud, and scarcely expect to have the particulars sup¬ 
plied to us. The sand can be readily purchased from vendors of horticultural 
requisites. We do not know of anything else of a similar nature for destroying 
weeds on lawns. 
Honeydew on Camellias (J. IF.). —As we stated in answer to a corre¬ 
spondent last week, this is caused by insects. If you look carefully over your 
plants you will find that they are infested with either aphides or scale, both of 
which will cause the sticky appearance on the stems and branches of which 
you complain. The latter will most probably be the cause, as at this season 
of the year the scale will have commenced activity. If you have climbers or 
plants near your Camellias that are infested with insects, the honeydew may 
have fallen from them. Syringe the plants with a solution of petroleum, 
thoroughly mixing 4 ozs. of the oil in 4 gallons of water. If your plants have 
made much young tender foliage use half an ounoe less of the oil to a gallon of 
water. 
Gardenia Buds Deformed (IF. J.). —Your plants are evidently healthy 
from the appearance of the shoot sent. We have noticed on several occasions 
buds deformed the same as yours when they have been produced from the small 
side shoots in early spring, but not to the same extent as they appear to have 
done upon your plants. A check when the buds are in an embryo state, arising 
from the soil being kept too wet, causing torpidity of the roots, is sure to result in 
deformity, especially if the plants are kept in a high temperature, and thus their 
top growth is forced too rapidly for the sluggish roots to support the tlowers. 
This is the most probable cause of the failure in your case, but using paraffin 
too strong when the buds are small and tender always prevents the development 
of the flowers. 
Books and Reading (J. S.). —You have not the slightest idea of the 
magnitude and cost of production of such a work as you propose. According 
to your programme it would be the most voluminous and costly work in the 
language, and, so far from its preparation being “easy,” it would be extremely 
difficult. However competent the “few men’’ might be, the work of editing 
would be no ordinary task. The question is one that must be closely and care¬ 
fully considered by experts, as public discussion would be of no benefit what¬ 
ever. If all those who practise gardening were as commendably earnest as you 
are such a work might be undertaken with a fair prospect of success ; but we 
are compelled to say that the great majority are more or less apathetic in 
matters of this kind. You will perhaps be surprised to learn that half the 
works on gardeuing that have been published of late years have not defrayed 
the cost of production, and those who have produced them have lost more than 
their labour. It is true that not a few of the books are, as you say, of a 
trashy character. You propose something better, and your suggestion shall 
be well considered by those who are competent to discuss a m..tter of such 
importance. 
Fungus in Greenhouse (.4 Louth Subscriber). —We are not surprised to 
hear that "the action seems very peculiar ” in the “soil and manure.” The 
material is not in a fir condition for any greenhouse in its present rank and 
offensive state; it is swarm ng with eggs, insects, and worms, and with the 
numerous fungi peculiar to fresh dung and refuse. Such uudecayed wet stuff 
acts as a direct poison on plants, and supplies the eggs and seeds of the worst 
plant parasites. Tho black-spotted Pelargonium leaves which you describe as 
covered with small “ergots, really very beautiful to look upon”—so thickly 
spotted, indeed, that one of our staff took them at first sight to be bad examples 
of an ally of the Hollyhock disease—have been examined by Mr. W. G. Smith, 
who describes them as the sporangia of a dung-borne fungus named Pilobolus 
roridus. This fungus is extremely common on rank dung ; it is called Pilobolus 
because it has a habit of elastically ejecting its sporidia in the air, and roridus 
from the appearance of the tops of the fertile fungus threads, which resemble 
dewdrops. A sporangium is a spore case or little flask containing the seeds of 
the fungus. They are shot through the air in Pilobolus as an aid towards per¬ 
petuating the species. You say you are “alarmed at the present aspect of 
things,” and the “ ergots ” have “ spread over the whole of the place, living and 
dead alike.” Your own comments show batter than anything we can say the 
improper condition of the soil and manure inside your greenhouse. 
Removing Tendrils on Young Vines ( E. D., Worcester). —We do not 
consider it a good plan to pinch off the tendrils from the leading growths of 
young Vines so closely as is practised by many persons. We remember once 
noticing some thousands of remarkably fine Vines in pots in Mr. Rivers’ nursery 
at Sawbridgeworth. The pots were standing on the hot-water pipes, and the 
growths trained about 18 inches apart up the roof above. The grower of these 
Vines was justly proud of his work. They bristled with tendrils, some of them 
a foot long and nearly as thick as quills. From a few of the Vines, however, 
the tendrils had been pinched off closely with the object of noting the effect. 
Only a dozen or so were so treated, and in every instance they were weaker than 
the others, which led the cultivator to remark : “ Depend upon it if you want 
the Vines to grow strong and well you must let them put out their horns.” 
Pruning Peach Trees (A Swedish Subscriber) —It is difficult to give 
advice in a case of this kind without knowing anything about the condition of 
the trees. A safe course for you to pursue would be rub off any growths from 
the shoots that have cast their flower buds, except one or two of the most 
promising at the base of each, and when these have grown 5 or G inches the 
useless portions can be cut out. You will thus avoid overcrowding the trees 
with a number of weak shoots, and at the same time not incite gumming by 
pruning too soon. It is essential that the growths of the present year be very 
thinly disposed, in order that every leaf shall be exposed to light and air, 
otherwise the shoots will not assume a fruitful character, and the flowers will 
fall again next year. Remove as much of the barren wood as is necessary to 
insure full exposure to the growths succeeding and no more. 
Pits and Frames ( R. S.) —It is not easy to answer your question cate¬ 
gorically, as so much depends on the nature of the crops you desire to cultivate 
and the time they are required for use, also on the means provided for affording 
heat. We can only say, that as a rule when the heat is imparted by hot-water 
pipes brick pits are preferable to wooden frames, but when only fermenting 
materials are afforded moveable frames are usually the most convenient. We 
think it a pity you removed the pits, whether they were heated by hot water or 
not, as they are so valuable for other purposes than early forcing, and a frame 
or two in addition to them would have probably cost loss than the amount 
incurred in the alterations. We have both brick pits and wooden frames, 
and scarcely know which we could spare the best, as both are about equally 
useful. 
Frozen Fruit Blossom (B. 0., Hants).— The circumstance of your “ not 
understanding our statement that fruit blossom will expand after the organs of 
fructification have been destroyed ” does not alter the fact. AVe have examined 
fruit blossoms too closely to make any mistake on the point. There are, we 
fear, millions of flower buds of early-blossoming Pear trees apparently sound 
and fresh, but dead at the core. The peduncle and petals are not killed, and 
hence the flowers will expand, it may be as freely and appear as beautiful as if 
there had been no frost. The petals are much more hardy than the stamens, 
and these in turn appear more hardy than the pistil. AVe have dissected many 
blossom buds this week, and found in several instances the pistil killed, while 
the stamens were fresh. In a case of this kind it is absolutely impossible that 
fruit can follow. Had the pistils been sound and the stamens killed there 
would have been a ray of hope, as pollen from other flowers might have been 
wafted to these partially injured blossoms and resulted in their fertilisation. 
Examine the matter closely for yourself, and you will be fortunate if you do 
not soon experience what you at present “ cannot understand.” 
Sand for Potting (F. C.). —Neither of the samples you have sent is silver 
sand, which is quite white and very much finer than even your roadside sample. 
This, if well washed by stirring it in a pail of water, pouring off the water and 
adding fresh until the last applied is quite clear, then drying the sand, would 
be useful for all ordinary purposes of propagation, so would the sea sand if the 
rougher particles were sifted out. For mixing with soil for potting this would 
do well as it is, also for mixing with soil for striking very large cuttings of any 
kind either in pots or the garden. The flowers of any particular Peach often 
vary somewhat in size and tint, and no one can determine the identity of your 
trees in their present state. AVe have seen flowers of the Royal George both 
larger and smaller than those you have sent, and equally dissimilar in tint. The 
weed has arrived quite fresh this time, and we shall possibly be able to identify 
it, though, as we have frequently stated, we do not undertake to name plants 
without flowers. Could you not have told us the height it attains, and. the size, 
form, and colour of the flowers it bears ? It shall be closely examined and 
referred to again. 
Petunias for Exhibition (A Pansy Amateur). —A shelf close to the glass 
of your vinery will be suitable for the Petunias so long as the plants are not 
shaded in the slightest degree by the growth of the Vines. These plants require 
unobstructed light, and cannot be well grown without it, also free ventilation 
and a genial atmosphere. The temperature of the vinery will be right for the 
plants until the Vines have made considerable growth ; after that time, or to winds 
the end of May if the weather be favourable, the Petunias will be better in a 
pit or frame, keeping them rather close for a few days, and gradually inuring 
them to more air until they can endure free ventilation, with the lights removed 
occasionally during very mild weather. If you do not possess a frame you 
must make the best of them in the vinery by assigning them the lightest posi¬ 
tion in the house. Shift the plants into 6-inch pots before they become root- 
bound, and again into 8-inch pots when the roots are seen protruding freely 
through the drainage. Let the soil in the pots, and that to be used be mode¬ 
rately moist when the repotting is done. Apply water cautiously, yet suffi¬ 
ciently, until the roots take possession of the fresh soil, then more copiously, 
according to the vigour of the plants and the state of the weather. Do not 
pinch the shoots and repot at the same time. Liquid manure will not be needed 
until the pots in which the plants are finally established are full of roots, and 
it may then be civen once or twice a week instead of again repotting. At this 
time, too, very liberal supplies of water will be needed, the pots to be stood on 
