286 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 14, 1892. 
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 correspondents, as doing so subjects them to 
unjustifiable trouble and expense. 
Correspondents should not mix up on the same sheet questions 
relating to Gardening and those on 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 
Fungrus on IWusbrooms {Inquirer). —The Mushroom is infested 
with an offensive mould, Aspergillus glaucus. It grows because the spores 
are present, and find a suitable medium for germination. If the Mush¬ 
rooms are grown in a house the beds should be cleared out, the walls 
lime-washed, and every part of the building cleansed and disinfected. 
Scientific Cardenlng- {R. F.). —The objection to your use of this 
term was, we think, somewhat pedantic. When either gardening or 
farming is conducted on scientific principles, we have then scientific 
gardening and scientific farming, in contradistinction to the haphazard or 
rule of thumb practice that too commonly prevails. The French use 
the term rational gardening in the same reference, and the practice is 
rational because scientific. 
Propagating- Iillium glganteum {E. C.), —This Lilium is pro¬ 
pagated by taking off the young suckers, which come plentifully around 
the old stool at the time of potting, placing them singly in pots suffi¬ 
ciently large to hold them comfortably, and growing them in a cold 
frame or greenhouse. This, however, is best done early in February, 
when they are on the point of starting into fresh growth. Turfy loam 
from decayed turves one-half, and the other half equal proportions of 
turfy peat, leaf mould, and sharp sand, well chopped and mixed, but 
not sifted, make an excellent compost for this, and, in fact, all the Lily 
family. 
bXanure for IVXushroom Beds (TF. A.). —Where some grass is 
used as well as corn and hay the manure from horse stables may be 
rendered suitable for Mushroom culture by careful preparation. It 
must not be allowed to heat violently, but be turned a few times till it 
is sweet, and the mass should be moist but not too wet. A good portion 
of short stained straw should be included, and possibly a few leaves 
that may have been collected last autumn might be used with advantage. 
What you must seek to obtain is a sweet, moist, springy mass. If the 
fermentation is very active some loam may be mixed in the heap at the 
last turning. 
Sowing liapagerias {E. D.). —The seed may be sown at once in 
a mixture of peat, leaf soil, and silver sand. Before sowing it should be 
steeped for six or eight hours in lukewarm water or milk. The seeds 
should be sown thinly in pots or pans, taking care that they are at least 
2 inches below the surface of the soil. The pots should then be placed 
in a warm greenhouse or pit, where the temperature would range from 
45° to 60°. As soon as the young seedlings appear they should be potted 
singly in 3-inch pots, and plac^ in a close pit or frame for a week or 
two till established in their fresh quarters. They should then receive 
the same treatment as greenhouse plants ; but after they have become 
strong enough to bear it, they will require abundance of water. 
Cinerarias from Suckers {F. H.). —Only really superior varieties 
are worth saving and increasing by offsets, as seedling plants grow so 
much more freely. For producing strong offsets the plants should be 
cut down as soon as their beauty is over, as if left to ripen all the seed 
that forms this often exhausts them. A cool frame is a suitable position 
for the cut-down plants, frost of course being excluded, and not an 
insect must be allowed on the young growths that start from the roots. 
For encouraging the suckers to root an inch or two of the old soil is 
removed from the pots and fresh rich compost added and kept regularly 
moist. We have often planted Cinerarias out in June in rich soil in a 
shaded border rather deeply, and they have produced a vigorous lot of 
offsets, which have formed compact flowering plants for the following 
spring. The suckers, as to potting, watering, and shifting, require the 
same treatment as plants raised from seed. 
Hardy Climbers (Joe ).—A trellis of stout wire will answer best 
for your purpose. Before covering the house front with Portland 
cement drive in iron staples 4 feet apart, leaving them far enough out to 
project through the cement, so that the wires can be fastened to them 
after it is put on. There may be a row of staples at the top and bottom 
and five rows between, or forty-two staples for each space of 20 by 24 feet. 
Strain the wire diagonally so as to make a diamond pattern, both for 
stability and neatness, and give it two or three coats of paint. Four 
feet apart is close enough for the permanent health and vigour of the 
climbers, and this distance will enable you to have eight plants arranged 
in the order they are named—Lonicera flexuosa, the sweetest of all 
Honeysuckles; Ligustrum japonicum (Japanese Privet), Jasminum 
officinale (White Jasmine, very fragrant), Escallonia macrantha, Loni¬ 
cera brachypoda, almost as sweet as L. flexuosa, Berberis Darwini, 
Jasminum nudiflorum (Yellow Jasmine, flowering in winter and early 
spring), and Ceanothus rigidus, quite hardy enough for a wall in Surrey, 
and very lovely in spring with densely clustering pale lavender flowers. 
One, three, five, and seven are deciduous, the others arranged with them 
alternately are evergreen. Let the growth mingle, and you will thus 
have a clothing of green foliage in winter, and the fresh growth and 
beauty peculiar to the other seasons of the year as well. Plant care¬ 
fully as soon as possible in rich soil 3 or 4 feet deep and wide, and see 
that there is an outlet for rain water, which is apt to accumulate about 
the foundations of buildings. 
Planting: Carpet Bed (G. B. C .).—We do not undertake to 
recommend methods of planting, but examine proposals that are sub¬ 
mitted to us, and suggest improvements when we can. However, as we 
have a design ready to hand it is inserted (fig. 48), with the method of 
planting that was adopted with good effect at Hampton Court. The 
1. Ground-work of Mesembryanthemum cordifolium variegatum; 2. Alternanthera 
amoena ; 3. Iresine -Wallsii pegged down; 4, Alternanthera paronychioides major; 
5. Alternanthera aurea; 6. Two rows of Echeveria secunda glauca and a little 
Sedum glaucum between. 
beds are raised 6 inches above the grass, and Echeverias and Sedum 
planted in the sloping sides to keep up the soil and form a neat border. 
Iiuculla g-ratisslma (York ).—This beautiful plant is worthily 
esteemed for the globular cymes of pink fragrant flowers that are pro¬ 
duced so freely under suitable culture. The time of year at which the 
Luculia flowers—viz., autumn and winter, is also a reeommendation of 
considerable importance, for not only is the plant highly decorative, 
either grown in pots or planted out in prepared borders in a green¬ 
house, but its value is inestimable for cutting purposes, as the flowers 
are so continuously and abundantly produced. Such qualities as those 
mentioned justly entitle the Luculia to more general notice and culti¬ 
vation ; and as its requirements are few, any person who possesses a. 
greenhouse or conservatory may safely venture to obtain a specimen. 
When planted out it rapidly acquires the proportions of a shrub or 
small tree, and requires to be well pruned after flowering is over ; but 
perhaps it is of more general value when grown in pots of medium size, 
say 6-inch, and plants in that size pots or a trifle larger may by good 
treatment be had bearing fine clusters of flowers. With regard to culti¬ 
vation, it is especially averse to a superabundance of water or the least 
approach to stagnation at the roots or in the atmosphere. Therefore a 
porous soil must be provided, composed of loam, peat, leaf soil, sand, 
and a few pieces of charcoal, thoroughly incorporated ; and whether the 
plant be in a pot or a border, the drainage must be well attended to 
When growing freely, or about to flower, weak liquid manure may be 
occasionally supplied with advantage. Propagation is effected by 
taking cuttings of the young firm wood, with a heel of the old wood 
attached, and inserting them in similar soil to that already described, 
employing rather more sand. They should be placed near the sides of 
the pots, the latter being plunged in good bottom heat and covered 
with a bellglass. When the cuttings are rooted shake them out care¬ 
fully, and pot them singly in thumb or 3-inch pots, afterwards increas¬ 
ing the root-room as the plants advance in growth, but being careful 
not to overpot them. When thoroughly established they may be grown 
in any cool or intermediate house where the temperature is not allowed 
