503 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
[ December 2, 1886. 
Watering Plants (B. T. H. and Others). —Inquiries under this head are 
fully treated in the leading article of this issue, to which our correspon¬ 
dents are referred for the desired information. 
Preparing Tobacco (IF. B .).—It is not easy to prepare such a small 
number of leaves so as to be of good quality for smoking. The leaves should 
hang till they become dry and crisp. The first damp weather after this 
they become soft, and should be watched to ascertain when this occurs, 
then pack them in a box evenly, press them down and cover closely to 
induce a slight fermentation; when this occurs shake them out and repack 
lightly for a few days, then more closely, and they will soon fie ready 
for use. 
Fumes from Hot-water Pipes ( J. It.).- —There is no doubt the black 
varnish has produced the injurious fumes. The only remedy is to remove 
the varnish from the surface of the pipes. A strong soda or potash ley 
might remove some of it, saturated cloths being wrapped about the pipes, 
but it will be difficult to remove through its having hardened. The best 
plan will be to take out the pipes, and with some brushwood free them of 
the varnish by burning. That is really the only effectual remedy. It will 
entail most trouble and expense, but prove far the cheapest and most satis¬ 
factory in the end. We coat our hot-water pipes with lampblack and lin¬ 
seed oil. When dried we have not experienced any disagreeable or injurious 
fumes. 
Boiler for Heating Conservatory (O. W. B.). —For general purposes 
you could not have a better boiler than an improved form of saddle. These 
boilers will burn anything, and are very simple, easily managed, and very 
durable. The check end forms are best. They are made in various sizes, 
and can be had through any horticultural builder or hot-water engineer. 
Those advertising in our columns would furnish particulars. If the house 
is small perhaps an upright or conical boiler on the slow combustion prin¬ 
ciple would be more suitable, but you do not afford any dati, therefore we 
can only give general suggestions. 
Constructing and Heating Cucumber Houses (Florist). —It would be 
much the best plan to leave a space of 4£ to 6 feet between the houses for 
convenience, but it will be more economical to have them together on the 
ridge-and-furrow principle, as you would save a side wall; besides, they 
would be much more cheaply heated. You will only need the roof part of 
glass for growing Cucumbers, and ventilation could be provided at the top 
of the house : not very much provision need be made unless the house is 
required for other purposes. Both forms of boiler you nami are good, and 
we have no particular preference for either. The houses can be heated 
separately or together, it being only a question of valves. The Bize of pipes 
you name are too small. They should not be less than 3 inches, and are 
better 4 inches in diameter. The large size pipes retain the heat much 
longer than the smaller. 
Heating Melon Pit (O. S.). —Eight-inch pipes are no use for heating a 
Melon pit, as they will take up far too much room, especially for top heat. 
One of the 8-inch pipes is equal to four 4-inch. The surface of the 8-inch is 
2 feet per foot run, of the four 4-inch pipes 4 feet, so that you would get 
double the heating surface from the same quantity of water in 4-inch pipes 
that you would from 8-inch pipes. The 2-inch lead pipes would answer 
very well for the connections. Three or at most 4-inch pipes would be the 
most suitable size for heating the pit. You would require at least two rows 
of 3-inch pipes for top heat, and three rows for bottom heat. 
Pears for Cordons (J. V.). —Williams’ Bon Clirfitien, Beurrd d’Amanlis, 
and Marechal de Cour usually grow well and bear freely in strong yet fer¬ 
tile soil, but you cannot expect much fruit for market from three cordon 
trees. You will do well to drain the land if it is wet, and add lime rubbish 
or other gritty matter liberally ; also place a little free generous loam round 
the roots when planting, and cover the surface of the soil over them, and 
for a foot at least beyond their extremities with manure. The ground should 
also be well covered with manure in the summer to prevent the surface dry¬ 
ing excessively, or the roots will be inevitably driven downwards into the 
unfertile subsoil, and the trees will not then make fruitful growth. 
Heating Greenhouse from Sitting Room (An Old Subscriber). — We 
have no doubt your greenhouse could be heated from a boiler set in the 
grate of the sitting room : but there is this practical difficulty in the way of 
heating it satisfactorily—namely, unless special provision were made by a 
person well acquainted with the subjectyour greenhouse might bemademuch 
too.hot in the daytime, also at night before you retire, and be too cold towards 
morning after the sitting-room fire had gone out; or in other words there 
is the contingency of having great heat in the greenhouse when not re¬ 
quired, and little or none when urgently wanted. We have seen a green¬ 
house heated as you suggest and excellent Grapes ripened in it, but the 
owner was usually on the alert at 4 a.m. for starting the fire in the kitchen, 
in the grate of which the boiler was set. The pipes should be a little 
higher than the boiler, and the feed cistern or expansion box a little above 
the highest part of the pipes. We have an illustration of the arrangement 
in question that we could give if you think you could be “ up in the morn¬ 
ing early” for starting the fire when heat would be most inquired in your 
greenhouse in cold or frosty weather. 
“Challenge Trophies” and Foreign Words (C. S. B.). —Though as a 
general rule we think it desirable to employ language that is “understood 
by the people,” we are yet inclined to consider your remarks on the article 
in question as somewhat hypercritical, and the caustic tone that pervades 
your communication does not contribute to its acceptability for publication. 
The discussion in question was mainly conducted by gentlemen of educa¬ 
tion, who were perfectly familiar with the Greek and Latin words to which 
you object, and which are in frequent use in conversation. There are 
several Greek, Latin, and French words that are so commonly used that 
their origin is not remembered, if known, by a great mass of readers ; and 
when properly used none of these words is objectionable : it is the improper 
use of foreign words in English literature, and dragging them in needlessly, 
that grateB on the ears of educated persons. In the particular case under 
notice the introduction of the words on which you comment appears to 
have had the effect of increasing your own knowledge, and of this we never 
knew a sensible man to complain. The little search, too, to which you have 
had recourse will impress the more firmly on your mind the knowledge that 
you previously lacked and have now acquired. You need have no fear that 
there will be any systematic departure from the “ plain words and plain 
teaching ” of the Journal oj Horticulture, for the best of all reasons, that 
simplicity of language is not incompatible with elegance of expression, and 
this, with a cle ir method of imparting the ideas of the recorder of them on 
his readers, is the essence of good writing. 
Boilers (J. E. B.). —We know that Mr. Bardney has not had experience 
with either of the boilers j ou name. The first named in your letter he has 
probably never seen. It takes up the same space as an ordinary saddle 
boiler, of which it is a very good form. The second one you mention 
is also good, and of about the same depth. If you cannot fix a boiler so low 
as you desire you may possibly effect your object by raising the pipes. 
These are often needlessly low, and might be raised with advantage. This, 
however, is a question that can only be determined by structural arrange¬ 
ments in each case. We recently inspected a span-roofed house with two 
rows of pipes conducted along each side for heating, the lower of these 
about 3 feet from the ground, the other affixed at the bottom of the roof, 
and about 1 foot from the glass. The plan answers admirably, and no doubt 
better than if the pipes were placed close to the ground. We also know of 
a conservatory satisfactorily heated from pipes in the roof. We have also 
seen structures efficiently heated from pipes below the boiler, but such 
arrangements should be carried out by a competent engineer. Perhaps your 
best plan in the first instance would be to procure illustrated catalogues from 
hot-water engineers and compare the boilers there represent d, choosing 
the one that appears the best adapted to your purpose. Those catalogues 
can usually be had for Is. each. 
Forcing Lilies of the Valley (C. B. B.). —Any particular kind of soil 
is not material in the early forcing of these flowers, thousands of them 
being raised by packing the crowns or clumps in pots or boxes of cocoa-nut 
fibre refuse, and forced in pits having bottom heat of 85° to 90°, and top 
heat ranging from 70° to 80°. The crowns are either covered 2 or 3 inches 
deep with fibre, or otherwise kept dark and const mtly moist. When driven 
into flower early or before Christmas the crowns are of little or no further 
use. For spring flowering the crowns or clumps may be firmly potted now 
in a mixture of loam, leaf mould, and sand, the former preponderating, and 
buried in fibre or ashes in a frame like Hyacinths. The requisite number 
of pots can then be withdrawn at intervals and placed in a warm house so 
as to maintain a prolonged supply of flowers. If the pots can be plunged in 
a warm bed growth will be accelerated, and it is well to cover the crowns 
an inch or two deep with fibre or leaves. They will grow very well in a 
temperature ranging between 55° and 70°, or even less, but the lower the 
temperature the slower is the growth, and usually the sturdier the plants. 
If good foliage is developed, and this is well supported and matured under 
the full influence of light and air, late-forced plants will flower again 
another year. Had you stated your object and conveniences for carrying 
it out we could probably have given you a more useful reply. 
Manure for Fruit Trees (Oonstant Reader). —It is quite impossible for 
anyone to give a categorical reply as to “ What is the best manure for fruit 
trees, and the quantity to apply per acre for Apples, Pears, Plums, and 
Gooseberries,” because the condition of the land and the growth of the trees 
must be taken into account in determining a matter of this kind. In some 
soils fruit trees grow strongly enough without manure, indeed, sometimes 
too luxuriantly, and in that case fertilisers would be wasted on them. Fruit 
trees require for th- ir sustenance lime, phosphates, and potash mainly, but 
of these some soils contain sufficient or nearly so, while others do not. 
Generally speaking, 50 or 60 bushels of lime per acre is a sufficient dressing 
for medium soil, more being given to clayey land, and about 6 cwts. of bone- 
meal and nearly or quite the same quantity of chloride of potash would also 
be good, but these we should apply as a top-dressing in Bpring to the soil 
over the roots of the trees, regulating the quantity in accordance with the 
growth. If Clover grows luxuriantly on the soil it will contain sufficient 
potash for fruit trees. From 2 to 3 ozs. of bonemeal to each square yard is 
a good dressing, and more than enough for trees that grow well, exuberance 
of growth not being conducive to fruitfulness. If the trees make little 
growth an ounce of sulphate of ammonia, or a little more, may be also 
applied to each square yard, or 2 to 3 cwts. per acre, but this is not necessary 
as a rule, but there are exceptions. 
Grubs in Soil (P. L.). — The grubs are a species of Julus or small 
millipede. They are most common in wet soil that contains much decaying 
animal matter. Perhaps your land needs draining. We should work in a 
liberal quantity of lime, placing lumps in heaps of a bushel on every 20 or 
30 square yards, covering with soil dug from round them, and when the 
lumps swell and fall, spread the lime, and dig it into the land. When 
planting, surround the bulb3 with wood ashes, the more the better, with a 
little soot mixed among them. Carrot baits inserted in the beds would 
still be useful, not, however, leaving them to rot in the ground. Surely the 
insertion of these would not be a formidable task, nor examining them at 
intervals afterwards. Affected bulbs, with tubers of Begonias and corms of 
Cyclamens attacked by the pest, should be well washed with a solution of 
softsoap, 3 ozs. of this being dissolved in a gallon of soft boiling water, 
stining well in at the same time a wineglassful of petroleum. The solution 
should be used hotter than your hand can be borne in it, holding the tubers 
in a pair of padded pincers, and applying the solution with an old spoke 
brush, scrubbing it well in ; in fact the tubers may be dipped in the solution 
for a few moments, water of a temperature of 180° not injuring them. They 
will endure more heat than their enemies, as you may prove by experiment. 
We should burn, or rather scorch, the soil used in potting, and thus destroy 
all animal life, then moisten the compost before using, as it never answers 
to pot anything in dust-dry soil. The scorching will improve the soil, as 
you may possibly have seen in the richer green of crops growing on ground 
where there has been a fire over those in the surrounding land. 
Ripening Chrysanthemum Seed (J. P., Exeter). — We question the 
practicability of ripening seed of Japanese Chrysanthemums that flower in 
late autumn, even in Devonshire ; but this does not imply that they may 
not be induced to produce seed In England by a different method of culture 
than that ordinarily practised. There is no difficulty in keeping Chrysan¬ 
themums growing in a light warm house through the winter and flowering 
them in early summer. This was done years ago, and Mr. Cuthill of Cam¬ 
berwell was once awarded a medal by the Horticultural Society for a plant 
