184 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ March 1, 1888. 
placed in contact. Bind them together with a soft ligature, surrounding 
with moss and keeping it damp. The union will be effected in about a 
fortnight. The growth of the stock should then be suppressed—that is, 
the sub-laterals pinched off as they appear, and the extension of the 
scion, or attached growth, encouraged to make a strong cane. 
Browallla elata (71 //.).—The seedlings should be potted either 
singly or three in a pot when they are large enough to handle. The 
latter make fine masses for conservatory or greenhouse decoration. 
After potting they should be kept on a shelf near the glass in a house 
with a gentle heat, and syringed every morning and evening to prevent 
attacks of insect pests. They should be stopped when a few inches 
high, repeating when they have grown a few inches, so as to keep them 
dwarf and bushy, it being necessary to stop them about three times to 
have well furnished plants. Supply liquid manure, not too strong, after 
the flower buds appear. They require plenty of light so as to insure 
thoroughly solidified growth and a floriferous habit. 
Glazing Greenhouse (.T. Al).—The plan of embedding the squares 
in putty, securing the glass with copper sprigs, and well painting the 
sashbars, the paint overlapping the glass the width of the rebate on 
which it rests, answers admirably, but it is not necessary to leave a space 
of one-sixteenth of an inch between the laps, the least possible space 
sufficing there, as the yielding nature of glass in good-sized squares 
renders it practically safe against breakage by the expansion of water in 
freezing. A smooth and ample bed of putty is essential, and the glass 
pressed firmly down into it, the ])ortion squeezed out by the pressure 
being trimmed off quite smoothly on the under side of the bars. If 
there are any parts in which putty is not squeezed out below the glass 
the work will not be well done. 
Tomato Disease {Suhscriher ').—Tomatoes are more liable to disease 
grown outdoors than when grown under glass. Excessive moisture, 
high feeding, and a close moist atmosphere are the chief points to be 
guarded against in the avoidance of disease. You may safely plant the 
Tomatoes out the first week in May in an unheated house ; indeed, we 
have a house of similar length, and we plant out at the end of April, 
the plants being raised in February, grown on in gentle heat and near 
the glass, to have them sturdy, shifting them into 5 or 6-inch pots 
when the 3-inch pots in which they are first placed are filled with roots. 
There is no fear of your failing with proper attention in having an 
abundant crop. The varieties you have are of the very best. Ven¬ 
tilating gear can be had of most horticultural builders. Write to the 
Thames Bank Iron Company, Blackfriars, London, stating your require¬ 
ments. 
Cllanthus Dampleri Culture (Y. /A).—As you have sown the 
seed you will perhaps find a difficulty in establishing any plants. No 
matter how carefully they are handled, in preventing injury to the roots 
in potting, the slight disturbance causes the death of the plants. It is 
best to sow the seeds singly in .6-inch pots, in which the plants should 
remain until they are transferred to those in which they are intended to 
flower. Turfy loam torn up with the hand, pressed firmly in the pots, 
adding a fourth of leaf soil and a sixth of charcoal in lumps from a pea 
to a iiazel nut, form a suitable mixture. Good drainage is essential. 
Watering requires to be done very carefully, and never over the plants, 
they being kept rather high in the centre of the pots. We have grown 
this plant very successfully in rough fibrous but sandy peat. It requires 
warm greenhouse treatment and plenty of light. It does very well 
outdoors after the middle of June, but is best treated as a biennial, sow¬ 
ing one year and flowering the next. 
Additional Piping in Conservatory ( W. JF.'). —It will hardly 
answer to “ tap ” the pipes at the farthest end— i.e.., on two pipes only, 
as that would cause the heat to rise most rapidly in those, the other two 
being comparatively cool through the sluggishness of the circulation, 
and there would bo little, if any, gain in the heating power. We sug¬ 
gest that you continue the whole of the pipes, both the flows and re¬ 
turns, along the back, and being above the floor they would radiate more 
heat than the whole of those in the “ trench.” The pipes should not be 
tHj tied, but brought above the floor line with an elbow, and another 
above, so as to get the pipes at the proper level, and then taken to the 
end with a slight rise, having an air pipe or tap at the highest part. 
This would give you a much better circulation, and consequently very 
much more satisfaction in heating. We presume the piping in the 
conservatory would not be above that in the other houses, therefore not 
interfering, with the feeding of the boiler from the supply cistern. 
'Destroying Brown Scale on Ferns and Stove Plants 
( It. S. V. I'.). —There are many insecticides that will effect the purpose 
with due care in following the instructions accompanying them, without 
any injury to the plants. Many gardeners, however, use petroleum, soft- 
soap, and soda, dissolving 2 ozs. softsoap and ^ oz. soda in a gallon of hot 
water, and to this adding a tablespoonful of the best crystal petroleum, 
mixing well by brisk stirring. It should be applied with a brush or 
sponge, preferably the former, for moving the scale, the shell being only 
the covering of vast numbers of young insects, and to roach these the 
shield must be displaced. With care in keeping the solution mixed in 
its application, preventing much of it reaching the roots, and not using 
it over young tender parts, it will not injure the plants, especially if 
shaded till they are dry, whilst it destroys scale. Its success, like other 
insecticides, depends largely on persistent use, thorough cleanliness 
being a chief factor in successful culture. 
Zonal Pelargronlums Unhealthy (A'. N., llcrtl ).—The shoots and 
foliage are infested by what is termed “ spot,” due to a fungus, and being 
internal it is not remediable. It can, however, be avoided by judicious 
treatment. It usually arises from the plants being grown in too rich 
soil, the rooting space being large in comparison to that of the size of 
the plants and too moist, the disease being still further aggravated by 
keeping the structure too moist and close, with the plants too far from 
the glass, and the temperature too low for their healthy growth. There 
will probably not be any further spread of the mischief if you lessen 
the supply of water, not giving any until the soil becomes nearly dry, 
yet before the foliage flags, admitting air freely on all favourable 
occasions, especially in the early part of the day, so as to ilispel the 
moisture before the sun acts powerfully on the foliage. A drier con¬ 
dition of the atmosphere will by those means be insured, and the plants 
being kept in a light position and not crowded may be expected to 
improve as the season advances. 
Contributions (.7. II.). —Your article will be inserted subject to a 
little revision that it needs. We do not expect gardeners as a rule to 
write with strict accuracy, and if they have something to say that may 
be useful to others and say it in plain well chosen language, their notes 
are willingly revised. It is surprising how well many hard-working 
gardeners express themselves, not a few of these having learned the 
agreeable art through the editorial supervision to which their communi¬ 
cations have been subjected. If you have kept a copy of your note you 
will see in what way it has been altered, and perhaps improved. If you 
write again, please let the lines be at the least half an inch apart. Many 
fairly written articles cannot be revised through the writing being 
crushe 1 together, as if paper were a costly product, and your note had a 
narrow escape from the waste paper basket through your attempting to 
crowd as many lines on a sheet as ought to have been distributed over 
two or three. Abandon the crowding system, which is neither good for 
plants nor descriptions of their cultivation, and your next article will 
<‘ come out ” better than the first. 
Stove Flowering- Plants (^Cojutant Ileaduf ).—The Clerodendron 
to flower at the time you name should be started into growth about the 
third week in April, if grown under stove treatment the whole of the 
time. If brought forward in an intermediate temperature it might be 
started at the beginning of the month. It can easily be retarded. But 
in an ordinary stove temperature it will be in full bloom about ten weeks 
after starting it into growth. The Bougainvillea may be started a 
month earlier, but this depends very much whether the plant is old or 
young. If the former, and likely only to make short sturdy growths and 
flower on these, it need not be started before the Clerodendron, but if 
young and strong growths are made it will take at least twelve weeks 
from the time of starting. The Bougainvillea is much brighter m colour 
if its flowers are allowed to developo under cool conditions. Grow it in 
the stove until the flowers show, then gradually harden the plant and 
place it in a cool house until the flowers are freely developed. This 
will take twelve weeks. 
Weglected Fig Tree (,T Si/h.‘tc)‘ihe )‘).—The proper way to proceed 
is to cut out a portion of the old bare wood and .so admit of space for 
training in the younger parts. Avoid overcrowding, allowing sufficient 
space for the development of the foliage, so that all of it will be fully 
exposed to light and air, for unless the wood is thoroughly solidified as 
made it is useless e.xpecting a crop of Figs. The training should be 
sech as to keep the trees furnished with young wood evenly and 
throughout the space. As you mention Vines we presume the Figs are 
under them, in which case we fear your chai:K;es of growing Figs satis¬ 
factorily are extremely small, as they cahnot have too much light. The 
trees having young shoots from the base 2 to 3 feet long shows they are 
not in a condition favourable to fruiting, the roots probably having too 
large a rooting area. Figs require to have the roots restricted to a com¬ 
paratively narrow border of calcareous and gritty soil, the feeding being 
effected at the surface by mulching and watering with liquitl manure. 
Stout, short jointed, thoroughly solidified wood is essential; fruit will 
then follow, not otherwise. If you wish for more plants you may layer 
the young shoots into pots, preferably with a little of the two-year-old 
wood. Notching or ringing is not necessary, but it will facilitate the 
rooting. It may be performed now. Figs are best grown with a single 
stem, no suckers being allowed from the soil. Not being informed as to 
the time of starting the house, we are unable to assist you in the matter 
of temperature, but you may find something that will be useful to you 
in that respect by a perusal of our Work for the Week column, in which 
Figs are treated of from time to time. 
TTaiues of Fruits. —The names and .addresses of senders of fruit 
to be named must in all cases be enclosed with the specimens, whether 
letters referring to the fruit are sent by post or not. The names are 
not necessarily required for publication, initials sufficing for that. .Only 
six specimens can be named at once, .and any beyond that number can¬ 
not be preserved. {6eor(je Chaiinin/j).-\, Not known; 2, Golden 
Knob ; 3, Winter Pearmain ; I, Borsdbrffer. (A'. Al).—The Apple is 
Dumelow’s Seedling. 
TTames 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 
should bear spores. Specimens should arrive in a fresh state in firm boxes. 
Slightly damp moss or soft green leaves form the best packing, dry cotton 
wool the worst. Not more than six specimens can be named at once. 
(.7. Me frrath ).—Coryanthes macrantha, a very interesting Orchid. See 
p.age 171. (ir. J. if.).—Coelogyne cristata alba. (.A A.).—1, Peris- 
trophe angustifolia variegata ; 2, Tillandsia Lindeni. (./. li. 6'.).—• 
