May 10, 1883. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
393 
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. 
Books (A. B. C.). —Brande's “ Dictionary of Science” is published by Messrs. 
Longmans & Co., Paternoster Row, price 63s. 
Manure for Mushrooms (J. TP. F. C.). —You had better not u;e the 
manure. This is all we can say this week; answers to some other letters are 
also unavoidably postponed. 
Flat Bouquets (E. B .).—We regret that by an oversight the reply to the 
other portion of your letter was not printed, but the particulars required are as 
follows A special framework is not usually employed for the purpose named, 
but the flowers are all wired, the length of the wires being regulated according 
to requirements, and the bouquets are arranged to taste. A piece of damp 
cotton wool is secured to the base of each flower stalk, and serves to keep it 
fresh and the flower in its proper position at the same time. 
Dendrobium nobile (R. II. R .).—There is nothing remarkable in Den- 
drobiums flowering on the current year’s growths if it is early and well matured, 
but it is not a circumstance that can be insured at will. Your plant is un¬ 
doubtedly vigorous, and the treatment you are affording it must be suiting it 
extremely well, which partially accounts for its readiness to flower. Growths 
that are weakly or imperfectly matured seldom flower the first year. 
Vines in Pots (Idem ).—We are glad toliear.of your success with Vines. 
Sound judgment in watering is requisite when fruiting Vines are repotted in 
the spring. We presume you shifted the Duke, and in all probability you would 
have done better to have let it alone. The symptoms you describe undoubtedly 
indicate torpidity at the roots, and it is questionable if the Vine will ever bo 
satisfactory, at least in the pot; planted out it might possibly improve and 
eventually produce fruit. 
Crocuses in Borders (J. B .).—It is certainly wrong to cut off the 
foliage in the manner you describe soon after the plants have flowered. A safe 
indication of removal is its change of colour and parting from the conns readily 
without bieaking or needing a violent pull. This usually occurs about the 
middle of May, sooner or later according to soil, season, and position. 
Begonia weltoniensls ( Amateur ).—This is classed as a stove plant 
because it requires more than a cool greenhouse temperature in the winter to 
keep it health}'. It will succeed, however, very well in an intermediate house 
or a warm greenhouse. Many stove plants succee 1 in windows, and even in the 
open air in summer—for example, Coleuses and Alternantheras, but they require 
a warm house during the winter to preserve them iu a satisfactory state. 
Firm Vine Borders (An Antwerp Subscriber'). —The border in the great 
vinery at Longlcat made and managed by Mr. Taylor is as hard as the borders 
in the vineries at Clovenfords, and no finer crops of Grapes are produced any¬ 
where than in the houses in question. Mr. Taj lor states on page 75 of “ Vines 
at Longleat ” that the manure he uses is spread on in March, and the “ crust of 
the border is broken to the depth of 1 or 1^ inch in April.” No doubt a similar 
practice is adopted at Clovenfords, when top-dressings are given and the borders 
watered. The surface is soon made hard again by the workmen iu attending to 
the Vines. Mr. Thomson’s Vine manure is sold by the Horticultural Company, 
Garston, Liverpool. 
Manure not Heating (Jns. S.).— If the material beatel freely in the 
heap it will again heat in the pit unless j-ou have trodden it in too firmly ; but 
two days is not sufficient for the recommencement of fermentation. You did 
quite right in preparing it as you have described, but even then some time must 
elapse before the pit will be safe for the plants. If it is ready in from a week to 
ten days after filliug the pit yon may be quite satisfied. We fail to see how you 
will get sufficient top heat for Melons unless you have some means of affording 
it that you have not indicated in your letter. We shall shortly publish notes 
on the cultivation of Melons in pits and frames. If a good thickness of red and 
white lead is very tightly pressed round the pipe with the “ jointed cover ” you 
have had made it will in all probability stop the leakage ; so also might an india- 
rubber ring similarly forced round under great pressure. Much depends on the 
way in which the work is done in a matter of tins kind, an 1 a good mechanic 
ought not to be content with failure. See also a reply to a correspondent on 
page 371 last week. 
Mushrooms in Vinery (Dr. Mackenzie). —There is no objection what¬ 
ever to your making a Mushroom ridge along the centre of your vinery provided 
the material is quite ready for use immediately the wood of the Vines is ripe 
and ready for pruning, as then the temperature of the vinery when the Mush¬ 
rooms are produced in January, February, and March would be suitable for 
them ; but if the beds were made later they would come into bearing at a time 
when the heat of the house would be too great for the Mushrooms. If you were 
to make a bed in the virery in September you might expect Mushrooms from 
November onwards, and the temperature of the house would be suitable for the 
crop. Mr. Wright’s treatise on Mushrooms will perhaps be ready by the time 
you read these lines ; if so you will find it announced in some other part of the 
Journal. It is in the press, and copies are expected daily. 
Grafting Willows—Budding Plums (J. T. S.). — Your success in 
grafting one variety and not the other shows that you have adopted the right 
method, and you may conclude that your failure is the result of an unsuitable 
stock for the Kilmarnock Willow. Salix caprea is the stock to use, the Kilmar¬ 
nock being a variety of this species. If you obtain the right stock we think 
you will have no further difficulty. Budding is preferable to grafting in the 
propagation of Plums, and we are quite at a loss to accouut from your failure in 
budding them. We have seldom experienced any difficulty in the matter, 
though in some years have had greater success than in others. It is impossible 
to state the exact time for budding, as everything depends on the condition of 
the buds and stocks, and these are influenced by locality and circumstances. A 
few experiments made from the end of July to September would enable you to 
determine by results the right conditions for doing the work. 
Buck’s Scarlet Rhubarb (J. W. Hall) —The above is the name of the 
Rhubarb you have sent. We know it quite well and have grown it for many 
years. We have also seen considerable breadths of it in the county from which 
you write. We consider it the be3t iu quality an 1 colour of any we have 
cultivated, being a deep crimson throughout, and, as you observe, requires less 
sugar than most other varieties. We have no doubt you are correct in saying 
it is the “ best for preserving.” This Rhubarb was exhibited at a meeting of 
the London Horticultural Society by Mr. Buck in 18-4, and it was stated at the 
time that it wa3 better both in quality and colour if the stalks were not peeled 
before cooking. It is early, of smvll to medium size, and forces well. There 
is another “scarlet” Rhubarb, larger than this and more generally culti¬ 
vated, but inferior by comparison both in appearance when cooked and in 
quality. 
Blotches on Cucumber Leaves (II.).— We do not think the blotches 
have been caused by insects. At some time or other we suspect the plants have 
been dry, which has cause 1 a shrinking of the epidermis, and it has ultimately 
dried up. We have seen the same results in a house where the atmosphere has 
been kept very dry and air not admitted early enough in the morning, then 
opening the lights too wide, causing sudden and extreme evaporation from the 
foliage. It is certain your plants are not healthy, the leaf you have sent being 
extremely thin, indicating that the plants lack vigour. Remove all the worst 
leaves, add top-dressings of rough rich soil, give weak liquid manure in a tepid 
state, maintain a moist genial atmosphere, ventilate carefully, and you will 
encourage fresh growths of a different character to the example before us. 
Syringe the plants well every afternoon, and close the house with a sun tem¬ 
perature of 85°, and you will not have many insects. 
Weevil Eating Plants (S. F.). —The weevil sent appears to be a speci¬ 
men of Otiorhynchus sulcatus out rather earlier than usual, for its usual date of 
emergence is June or even later. Also known as the vine, black, or grooved 
weevil, and very destructive to plants in pots, attacking them at the base of 
the stem where tiie grub burrows. The beetles also gnaw the stems and young 
leaves, or enter the earth just under the surface. It is recommended to water 
the plants, a decoction of quassia or a weak solution of parafliu or hellebore, as 
suggested in a reply to another correspondent. A number may be caught by 
searching for them at night when they leave their hiding places, or they may be 
shaken from the foliage into a net. 
Scallop Budding (X, LoughqaXl ).—It is accomplished by taking a thin 
tongue-shaped section of bark from the side of the stock, and a similar section 
from the shoot containing the buds, but in neither case removing the wood. 
The portion containing the bud is then laid on the corresponding scallop in the 
stock, its upper edge exactly fitted as in ordinary shield budding, and at least 
one of the edges as in whip grafting. After this it is secured in the usual way. 
Although this method of budding is not much practised in this country it can 
he done, as you will perceive, when the bark does not “ run ” freely. In America 
budding is extensively practised without removing the wood, but the portion 
containing the bud is inserted under the bark, and the method may, perhaps, 
be suitable in hot climates. 
Vines Unhealthy (M. A. G., Isle of Wight). —You enclose a Vine leaf and 
ask if there is “really anything amiss with the Vines.” Our reply must be in 
the affirmative ; but we do not attribute their unsatisfaetory condition to insects, 
least of all the phylloxera, of the presence of which there are absolutely no 
traces. In all probability the growths are much too crowded and the foliage 
has not space for development. This was also probably the case last year, and 
consequently this season’s growths are weak and unsatisfactory. It is certain, 
too, there has been some neglect in ventilation. The house has probably been 
kept closed too long in the morning, and then too much air has been admitted 
at once. This invariably results in injured foliage. You afford us no data 
whatever to enable us to point out with any precision exactly where you err. 
If you had briefly described your practice—such as the night temperature 
you maintain and your method of ventilation—we should have been better able 
to give you a more useful reply. If you write again you might also state the pro¬ 
bable age of the Vines, the distance the rods are apart and from the glass, also 
whether the roots are inside or outside the house. With the information sug¬ 
gested we could probably aid you, and we are very willing to do so. The leaf 
was so much crushed that we could not find the insect you state you enclosed 
in it, but we feel confident there is no phylloxera. 
Seedling Auriculas (J. E. Waiting). —The Auriculas yon have sent are 
border varieties, such as are usually raised from purchased seed. They are far 
below the standard of the named varieties that are grown in pots and exhibited. 
You cannot obtain high-class Auriculas from seed of the leading varieties, for 
the simple reason that their seed is not purchasable. Seedsmen procure the best 
they can, but it is not the practice of persons who have valuable collections of 
choice Auriculas to save auy great quantity of seed from the best of them, nor 
do we think you would do so if you were in the same position as they ar - e. Seed¬ 
ripening is an exhausting process, therefore, as a rule, only a few pods are saved 
from the rarer sorts for the use of the owner and, perhaps, a few of his intimate 
friends. There is only one way of becoming possessed of a collection of Auriculas 
of high-class quality—namely, by the purchase of plants. This, too, is the most 
inexpensive method, notwithstanding the cost of the plants, for if you were to 
spend £10 in seed we venture to say that after all your labour and waiting you 
would not raise as many plants that would rank as meritorious exhibition varie¬ 
ties. There is no difficulty in purchasing seed of Cinerarias, Calceolarias, 
Primulas, Cyclamens, Begonias, and plants of that kind that will both germinate 
freely and afford satisfactory results; but you can no more procure Auricula 
seed that will yield exhibition varieties than you can purchase Rose seed that 
will give varieties equal to the best named sorts. We would readily publish 
your letter if it would be of use doing so, but we know it would not. It would 
simply provoke replies and bring us shoals of testimonials quite different in 
character from your estimate of the quality of the seed sold by respectable firms. 
Had you stated from whom you obtained the Begonia seed that j’ou characterise 
as worthless we should have been better able to form an opinion as to its ger¬ 
minating power, as we have seen the most satisfactory results as to the growth 
of plants and quality of their flowers from seed obtained from most of the lead¬ 
ing firms. You appear to have been unfortunate, and we do not assert you have 
no cause for complaint, but this is no justification for the publication of the 
letter in the form in which it is written, and which we are positive could have 
no such results as you anticipate. 
Grubs in Garden (W. T. IF., Bath ).—The larvm received as being 
destructive to various crops are undoubtedly the larva’ or grub of a Crane fly or 
Tipula, either T. paludosa or gigantea, the larger species. Numerous have been 
the suggestions as to the mode of extirpating this insect pest and its kindred, 
but we fear when a young crop is decidedly attacked there is little hope of 
saving it. After it has been removed the surface soil may be burnt or dressed 
with some very powerful preparation after forking. Recently it has been again 
stated that much benefit is done by rolling the ground at night, where that is 
possible, as the grubs come above then frequently. We have, it is to be feared, 
made the larvae of this genus more troublesome of late by our discouragement 
of many birds, especially starlings, that make them their special prey. You 
have certainly been most diligent in endeavouring to extirpate the pest, having, 
you inform us, caught 40,000 on an eighth of an acre of land. We should like 
you to try the effect of petroleum and water, commencing with half au ounce of 
the oil to a gallon of water, noting the effects on the grubs and plants. You 
