302 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
f September 27, 1888. 
Trees for Screen on th8 Seacoast (M. S.). — There is no ever¬ 
green tree so suitable as Pinus austriaca, and it is equally serviceable 
inland, thriving in the bleakest situations and at high altitudes. We 
should plant a good width of Pinus austriaca near the sea, then an 
inner one of Sycamore, having Holly for undergrowth, which should be 
planted so that the Sycamores will ultimately be 24 feet apart every 
way, and the Hollies 13 feet, planting the Hollies at those distances 
apart in the first instance, and the Sycamores 4 feet. Inside you can 
have most kinds of deciduous trees and shrubs, also evergreens, Conifers 
■doing remarkably well. 
Ventilating- a Conservatory (R. 0. S .).— The system of ventila¬ 
tion requires to be the same both in summer and winter—viz., air should 
in the first instance be admitted by the top lights, but the time of doing 
*o will entirely depend upon the temperature and the time of year. In 
the winter season, or from October to March inclusive, commence 
ventilating by the top lights when the temperature reaches 50°, in¬ 
creasing the admission of air with the increase of sun heat, and open the 
■side lights. The ventilation should be reduced by closing the side 
lights in the first instance, and finally the top lights when the tempera¬ 
ture declines to 50°. In summer the same conditions are to be observed, 
only the temperature should be kept at G0° to 65° through the day, 
observing the same rules as to commencing and closing the house. The 
temperature in winter should be 40° to 45° at night, and 45° to 50° in 
the daytime, by artificial means, which will be considerably advanced by 
■sun heat, and in mild weather. Fire heat will only be necessary to 
maintain the temperature named, and to expel damp, when the fire 
■should be lighted in the daytime and ventilation given. 
Cinerarias Dying (Anxious). — Cinerarias “go off suddenly” 
from various causes—grubs or wire worms in the soil, too loose and rich 
■soil inducing succulent.growth m the early stages, allowing the plants 
to become much root-bound before repotting, permitting the sun to 
■strike on the pots, thus scorching or withering the roots, an excess of 
■stimulants, with faulty watering generally. Growers of Cinerarias for 
market do not lose one out of a thousand, and they pot much more 
firmly, using good “wearing” soil, than is customary in many private 
gardens, though in by no means all. The plants then grow steadily 
■and sturdily, producing medium sized leaves of great substance that do 
not flag under a few gleams of sun, and it is rare for plants so grown 
■to collapse in the manner indicated, always provided the soil is free 
from worms and other pests injurious to the plants. Cinerarias raised 
■early in spring are more liable to “go off” than those raised later—in 
May or June. 
Charred Garden Refuse (O. C.). —It is valuable for gardens, and 
may be prepared as described in our manual on manures, from which we 
-cite the following :—“ To char turfy soil the best method is to cut it 
into sods of about a spade’s width and 2 or 3 inches thick when the soil 
is not over-saturated with moisture. Burning any kind of material, and 
■■allowing it to be consumed, producing nothing but smoke and ashes, is 
a real waste of valuable substance which could be turned to beneficial 
account for the culture of the soil. Commence by placing a small 
•quantity of combustible material, such as dry weeds, hedge-trimmings, 
■furze, heath, shavings, brushwood, or bushes, or any kind of dry 
vegetable refuse the place produces near at hand ; then commence 
packing the sods, no matter how or what thickness, as any thickness 
may be charred by placing amongst them as the heap or kiln is proceeded 
with some one of the before-mentioned materials, or old tan or sawdust, 
just to keep the materials ignited. It is no matter how large or small 
•the kiln may be formed, for this may be regulated by the convenience of 
the material at hand and the quantity of charred materials required ; 
•only, when the kiln is formed it should be slightly covered or cased with 
dine earth to prevent the fire from flaring and to maintain a steady, 
smouldering, charring or roasting. Much smoke will escape for a time, 
and when the smoke begins to subside it is a sign that the materials are 
charred enough. The fire should then be smothered by casing up the 
-outside of the kiln quite close with earth. Although turf sods only are 
mentioned, the same process of charring may be carried out with weeds 
•and other garden refuse if the outside of the heap is covered over 
closely with sods of earth, so as to exclude the air sufficiently to ensure 
•the burning to be very slow and smouldering.” 
Fruit Preserving (Inquirer). — The information you require is 
probably contained in the following remarks by Mr. Beach at the recent 
•Crystal Palace Conference of fruit rowers. “ On the Right Hon. Lord 
Sudeley s fruit farms the fruit is picked in the early hours of the morn¬ 
ing by a number of women, who come from the neighbourhood of Staf¬ 
fordshire, who are glad to have the opportunity of obtaining labour in 
the open air. At eight o’clock A.M. a number of workpeople also arrive 
from the surrounding villages ; these, with the other workpeople, number 
about 500 hands. The hands from Staffordshire are lodged on the plan¬ 
tation, as. of course, the distance from their homes is too great. The 
Lour for the first delivery of fruit to arrive at the factory from the 
plantations is eight o’clock A.M. This may consist of Strawberries. 
Red and Black Currants, Raspberries, &e. These kinds are picked free 
from the stalks on the plantations, therefore the fruits are ready at once 
for the boiling pan, and thus retain their freshness and flavour. This 
goes on without intermission, with the exception of meals, about every 
•two hours during the day, the average quantity of fruit gathered being 
about 15 to 20 tons daily. Should the fruit come into the factory in 
larger quantities than can conveniently be made at once into jam, it is 
put down in large stone bottles and casks, perfectly air-tight, for future 
use, this process being known as ‘ pulping,’ the fruit turning out when 
required in months’ time as fresh and bright as if recently gathered. 
This, oE course, only applies when the fresh fruit is at once attended to, 
as every hour makes a difference to its appearance after being picked. 
The sugar used in the manufacture of these jams is known in the market 
as the ‘ White Dutch crushed,’ and no other kind or any other substitute, 
such as glucose, &c , is allowed. There are sixteen steam pans in use, 
each capable of turning out 1 cwt. of jam every eight or ten minutes, or 
at the rate of about 40 tons daily. At the works a new venture is also 
being tried by drying the fruits in the same manner as the Americans. 
There are two No. 3 patented American evaporators, capable of drying 
about 40 bushels of Apples on fifty trays in each, the process taking 
about three hours. The greatest difficulty seems that the English 
Apples being smaller than the American ones, after paring and coreing, 
there is not sufficient to compare in size, when made into rings, with the 
Americans, but no doubt the flavour of the English would be superior. 
These machines can also be utilised for drying Plums, &c., when there 
is an abundant season; and, as one of the gentlemen yesterday 
remarked, there are quantities of Plums rotted upon the land some 
seasons for want of a market. There is also a large evaporating room 
erected similar to those on the Continent, for the purpose of drying 
prune Plums. This is capable of drying from one to two tons at one 
process.” 
Keeping- Black Hamburgh Grapes (R., Surrey ).—The Grapes 
that have been ripe now for six weeks will not keep so long as those 
that are ripened about this time, as the sun has much power in late 
August and early September, and acting on ripe thin-skinned Grapes, 
such as the Black Hamburgh, prejudicially affects them—not infre¬ 
quently causing those that were jet black when first ripe to assume a 
reddish hue. When this takes place the Grapes are not only deteriorated 
in appearance, but the flavour is impaired and their keeping qualities 
considerably reduced. In order to insure Black Hamburgh and other 
thin-skinned Grapes keeping well they should be ripened beneath a 
good spread of foliage, yet not so crowded as to interfere with the free 
admission of light and air to the principal leaves. The Grapes not only 
colour quite as well, but the foliage prevents the sun from rendering 
them over-ripe, or at least prevents their losing colour—a sure indica¬ 
tion of their days for keeping being numbered. As your Grapes have 
already begun to “ mildew,” which we apprehend is to decay and 
become mouldy, we think they will not under any circumstances keep 
long, probably not more than a few weeks. We presume you are fas¬ 
tidious in removing decayed berries as they appear, the bunches being 
examined frequently for the purpose, and every berry in the least 
decayed removed. This is absolutely necessary. Instead of firing at 
night, as a rule you should have fires in the daytime, and then ventilate 
freely, the heat being afforded early in the day and turned off so that the 
heating medium becomes nearly cold before nightfall. A little air may 
be given at the top of the house, which will prevent the deposition of 
moisture through the night; but when the weather is wet the house 
should be closed day and night, a gentle fire heat being employed to 
keep the air buoyant, and if moisture accumulates on the inside of the 
glass admit a little air by the top and bottom ventilators to dispel it. 
A moderately moist atmosphere is not injurious to Grapes keeping, 
provided it is not stagnant. The temperature by artificial means ought 
not to exceed 50° at night, and above this in the daytime air should, 
whenever the weather is favourable, be freely admitted. It will be 
advisable to cover the inside border with dry mats to prevent the 
evaporation of moisture from it, and the outside border should be 
covered with shutters to throw off the wet. The Grapes will keep better 
after the foliage begins to fall if they are cut with as much wood as 
can be spared, and the shoots inserted in bottles containing clear rain 
water with a few pieces of charcoal in each, the bottles being fixed in an 
inclined position so that the bunches will hang clear of the bottles. A 
dry and cool fruit-room is a suitable place, the Grapes, from the more 
equable temperature, keeping much better than the variable temperature 
and moister atmosphere of a vinery. We have cut excellent Black Ham¬ 
burgh Grapes through December, and occasionally had very good 
bunches in January but they were not ripened until towards the end of 
September. 
Mixing- Soils (J. Manton ).—Undoubtedly the practice is good when 
judiciously carried out, and upon the subject we have nothing to add 
to the following excellent remarks of Mr. Cuthbert Johnson :—I have 
witnessed, even in soils to all appearance similar in composition, some 
very extraordinary results from their mere mixture. Thus, in the 
gravelly soils of Spring Park, near Croydon, the ground is often exca¬ 
vated to a depth of many feet, through strata of barren gravel and red 
sand, for the purpose of obtaining the white or silver sand which 
exists beneath them. When this fine sand is removed, the gravel and 
red sand are thrown back into the pit, the ground merely levelled, and 
then either let to cottagers for gardens, or planted with forest trees. In 
either case the effect is remarkable, all kinds of either Fir or deciduous 
trees will now vegetate with increased luxuriance ; and in the cottage 
gardens thus formed, several species of vegetables, such as Beans and 
Potatoes, will produce very excellent crops, in the very soils in which 
they would have perished previous to their mixture. The permanent 
advantage of mixing soils, too, is not confined to merely those entirely of 
an earthy composition. Earths which contain inert organic matter, 
such as peat or moss earth, are highly valuable additions to some soils. 
Thus, peat earth was successfully added to the sandy soils of Merioneth¬ 
shire by Sir Robert Vaughan. The Cheshire farmers add a mixture of 
