574 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December £9, 1887. 
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 
Alexander E. Campbell, Cove Gardens, Gourock, N.B.— Catalogue of 
Choice Hybrid Gladioli. 
H. Cannell & Sons, Swanley, Kent.— C italogues of Kitchen Garden and 
Flower Seeds and Chrysanthemums, 1888. 
Clir. Lorenz, Erfurt.— Illustrated Catalogue for 1888. 
Waite, Nash & Co., 79, Southwark Street, London, S.E.— Wholesale 
Price Current, 1887 and 1888. 
William Barron & Son, Elvaston Nurseries, Birrowash, near Derby.— 
Catalogue of Ornamental Plants, 1888-9. 
Dickson, Brown, & Tait, 43 and 45, Corporation Stra :t, Manchester.— 
Catalogue of Vegetable and Flower Seeds, 1888. 
Dickson & Robinson, 12, Old Militate, Manchester. — Catalogue of 
Vegetable and Flower Seeds, 1888. 
° 0 ° 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 un¬ 
avoidably. 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 he written on one side of 
the paper only. We cannot reply to questions through the 
post, and we do not undertake to return rejected communica¬ 
tions. 
Chrysanthemums (A. B.). —The sport from Sultan at first sight is sug¬ 
gestive of Mr. Ga-nar, a new imported Japanese variety ; but on closer 
examination it is found to resemble Agrements de la Nature more nearly. 
It is certainly worthy of preservation. Grow it well another season, and 
send blooms to the Royal Horticultural or National Chrysanthemum 
Societies’ Floral Committees. Both sports and seedlings require to be 
thoroughly tested for at least two seasons before their merit can be deter¬ 
mined. The other we do not think is Cullingfordi, but the bloom is too 
small and undeveloped to enable us to recognise the variety. 
Thomson’s Manure (E. E.). —It is excellent for every description of 
crop, and for Vines is best applied as a surface dressing about three times 
during the season of growth —i e., when the Vines are swelling their buds, 
when the Grapes have been thinned, and again as soon as the fruit changes 
colour. If given prior to a good watering, if such be necessary, its fer¬ 
tilising properties will be washed into the soil; but if not watered in 
scratch over the surface with a fork or a rough rake, so as to mix it with 
the soil immediately after its application. Two or three ounces per square 
yard is a proper quantity to apply. 
Snow on Plants (F. Webb). —It is quite true that some plants, “such 
as Pinks and Pansies,” may be “ flattened and broken by melting snow,” 
but as a rule we suspect much more damage would be done by clearing 
the snow from them, as, apart from the risk of the plants being broken by 
the workman, there is the possibility of their exposure to a severe and 
protracted frost, and in that way sustaining serious damage. We shake 
the snow oil such trees as are obviously almost certain to be smashed 
when it melts, and its removal sheuld be done promptly while it is in a 
light dry state. If you sweep the snow from a portion of a lawn and 
severe frost follows and is long continued, the superior condition of the 
grass that remained under the snow will be apparent when the thaw comes, 
showing conclusively the effectiveness of Nature’s protector. 
Wallflowers (Mrs. Makin).— It does not follow that the disappoint¬ 
ment you experienced last spring will have to be “ endured over again ” 
through your plants being killed this winter, though at the same time it is 
impossible to suggest any method for keeping tbem alive in the beds or 
borders that would be effectual in your case. Only in one year out of ten 
were these plants killed in a garden 200 miles north of London, their 
endurance of frost being the consequence of their hardiness through the 
method of culture adopted. The seed was sown very thinly in the open 
garden in May, so thinly that the seedlings did not touch each other till 
an inch or two high, and they were transplanted 18 inches apart in the 
hardest and poorest ground and the most exposed position that could be 
found. They there grew slowly but sturdily, producing woody stems with 
foliage resting on the ground, and were planted in October, or soon enough 
to produce fresh roots, and thus become established before winter. If 
grown thickly together, or in rich soil in the summer, or transplanted too 
late to form fresh roots before winter, the plants are almost certain to 
succumb during severe weather. They may often be seen in open fields 
where they are grown for producing flowers for the London market, practi¬ 
cally uninjured by the winter, while in gardens where the plants, through 
their tender bringing up, are killed. 
Rosemary (.4. Allen). —There are three varieties—the green, golden- 
striped, and silver-striped. The first is in general cultivation. It thrives 
best on a poor, light soil mixed with old mortar or other calcareous matters. 
Int-uffi, or when the plants are s. lf-raised on an old wall, they will bear 
our severest winters; but in a rich soil they lose much of their aromatic 
nature, and perish in frost. For the green vnriety the situation may be 
open ; but the other two, being tender, require to be planted beneath a 
south wall, or in pots, to be sheltered in winter. Propagation is by cuttings 
and rooted slips during any of the spring months, or by layers in the sum¬ 
mer; but the finest plants are raised by seed. By layers is the best mode 
of propagating the gold and silver-striped varieties. Sow in March, or 
early in April, in drills half an inch deep and G inches apart. The rooted 
slips, and the cuttings of the young shoots, must be from 5 to 7 inches long, 
and planted in a shady border, in rows 8 or 10 inches apart, previously 
removing the leaves from the lower two-thirds of their length. Layers 
may be formed by cutting young branches half through on their under side, 
and pegging them down an inch or two below the surface ; they become 
established plants by autumn. Water must be applied abundantly at the 
time of planting, and occasionally afterwards until established. 
Making a Hotbed (Amateur). — Perhaps the following particulars 
will suffice, but if you have bad little or no experience in raising Cucumbers, 
the earlier you commence the more likely you will be to fail. In preparing 
the manure we will commence with it lre6h at the stable door. The first 
thing is to throw it into a close body to “ sweat.” Shake it over loosely 
and reject a portion of the mere droppings, for these take the most purify¬ 
ing, and, mort over, engender an overpowerful and sometimes unmanageable 
heat. The main bulk of the material thus thrown together will in a week or 
so become exceedingly hot, and must then be turned completely inside out, 
and iu so doing evety lock or patch which adheres together must be divided. 
Sprinkle with water now regularly as the work proceeds, rendering every 
portion equally moist. After the mass has lain for about four days longer 
give a liberal amount of water on the top. This will wash out at the bottom 
of the heap much of its gross impurities. In a few more days it must be 
again turned inside out, using water if dry in any portion, and after laying 
nearly a week it should be almost fit for use; but it is well to give it even 
another turn. If any tree leaves or strawy materials are to be added to the 
mass they may be so at the last turning but one. The heap ought now 
to be “ sweet; ” a handful drawn from the very interior and applied to 
the nostrils will not only be devoid of impure smell, but actually possess a 
somewhat agreeable scent, similar to the smell of Mushrooms. Select a 
spot p rfectly dry beneath, or rendered so, exposed to a whole day’s sun ; 
but the more it is sheltered sideways the better, as starving winds, by 
suddenly lowering the temperature, cause a great waste of material as well 
as of labour. Some portable screens, therefore, are useful things for early 
work. The ground surface should be nearly level. It is well also to fill 
most of the interior of the bed after building it half a yard in height with 
any half-decayed materials, such as half-worn linings, fresh leaves, <fco. 
This will in general secure it from the danger of burning, whilst it will 
also add to the permanency of the bed, for the Cucumber roois will descend 
and thus secure an indefinite amount of food during the hot weather of 
summer. A bed should be at least 4 feet high at the back, if 5 feet all the 
better; and as soon as buflt let some littery manure be plaoed round the 
sides in order to prevent the wind searching it. As soon as the heat is 
well up, or in about four days from the building of it, the whole bed should 
have a thorough watering. It is now well to close it until the heat is well 
up again, when a second; and lighter watering may be applied, and it will be 
ready for the hills of soil. 
Cottagers, Amateurs, and Garden Labourers Exhibiting (E. J .).— 
Yours is the second letter we have received on this subject, and our reply 
will suffice for both inquirers. The difficulty appears to be as to the classes 
in which regular workmen in gentlemen’s gardens should be allowed to 
compete at local shows. Agricultural labourers and other occupants of 
small cottages feel themselves handicapped if regular workmen in gardens 
enter the lists against them, the “ garden men ” thereby securing moBt of 
the chief prizes. It is undoubtedly desirable in public exhibitions that 
the competitors be as near as is practicable placed on equal terms. In 
respect to the two sections indicated there cannot be equality, because if a 
man has worked in a good garden for a number of years he lias served an 
apprenticeship as a kitchen gardener and can raise plants, grow them, 
and time the crops for a giveD date as well as a professional gardener 
can, and better taan some of them. Further, workers in gardens have 
facilities for procuring surplus plants and choice varieties that agricultural 
labourers cannot obtain, these latter thus being placed at a disadvantage 
in two important aspects. Then “amateurs,” which for the purpose in 
question may coosist of persons who employ men for digging, trenching, 
manuring, and other heavy work, the employers practically growing and 
attending to their own crops—these persons who may be well-to-do shop¬ 
keepers, farmers, and professional men, object also to compete with the 
“garden men,” because their professional experience and other advantages, 
real or supposed, p’ace them beyond the pale of “ amateurs.” It is not 
easy to arrive at a decision in such cases that will give general satisfaction, 
and probably impossible that any one decision can be applicable to all. In 
districts where men regularly employed in gardens are numerous and funds 
adequate, prizes are provided for those men, and a conflict of classes is 
avoided. But such cases are t xceptional. In one Society garden labourers 
were allowed to compete with cottagers on signing a declaration that no 
plants, seeds, roots, or produce were obtained from the gardens in which 
they worked, the breaking of such engagement resulting in disqualification 
to exhibit at any future shows. The. plan answered very well, but the com¬ 
mittee of another local horticultural society bad to pass a rule excluding 
regular workmen in gardens from competing in either the cottagers’ and 
amateurs’ classes ; indeed, they w. re entirely debarred from showing for 
prizes. Before this stringent rule was adopted there was nothing but dis¬ 
quietude, and the existence of the society was jeopordised, but afterwards 
it flourished and flourishes still. It is necessary that the circumstances 
attendant on each case be considered in seeking a right solution in this per¬ 
plexing matter. 
Names of Plants.—We only undertake to name species of plants, not 
varieties that have originated from seed and termed florists’ flowers. 
Flowering specimens are necessary of flowering plants, and Fern fronds 
