3S3 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
t October 31, 1889. 
Transplanting- Box (IF. S., Berks). —Box may be taken up and 
fresh edgings made now, or at any time when the weather is mild and 
the soil in free working condition. AVe have formed Box edgings with 
■equal success in November and March. More, depends, however, on the 
way in which the work is done than on any particular time between 
"September and April for doing it. 
Training Pear Trees (C. L. D.).—li the Pitmaston Duchess 
Pear trees are on the Quince stock we should advise their being trained 
upright as No. 1, or five-branched vertical cordons, and if on the Pear 
■stock they would preferably be trained fan-shaped, or as No. 2. That 
is not a good mode of training Pears; they are best when on the free 
stock trained horizontally, which you may readily do by taking the 
lowest pair of shoots to the right and left respectively of the stem, 
and to the lowest wire, the next pair to the wire above, and so on, 
the leader being cut back so as to be a few inches lower than where 
you wish to originate the next pair of shoots with their leader. This 
will not give so good a tree as if it had been treated with the object 
of horizontal training, but you will gain a year by following the plan 
indicated. The side shoots should not be shortened, but trained in 
■their full length, it being only necessary to cut back the leader with a 
view to originate growth as desired. 
Pear Trees Producing Cracked Fruits {Idem). —The only 
remedy is to root out the trees and plant fresh trees of varieties that 
■are not likely to have the fruits affected in the way you describe, to 
which some varieties in certain localities are peculiarly liable, usually 
from the climate being too cold and wet. Select those known to 
■succeed in the neighbourhood. The only thing that affords any mitiga¬ 
tion of the attack is to lift the trees and replant them in entirely new 
■soil, preferably the top spit of an old pasture. All the attacked fruit 
•should be destroyed by fire, the leaves also being collected and burnc. 
Vines Infested witli Thrips (77. T. 77.).—The leaves sent are 
badly infested with thrips. Coating the hot water pipes with sulphur 
in thin solution with milk will not, as far as we are aware, destroy them, 
but it is good against red spider and mildew. There is danger, too, in using 
the sulphur for too highly heated surfaces, as the fumes injure the skin 
of the Grapes. For the thrips no remedy is so safe as fumigation with 
tobacco, which should be done on two or three consecutive evenings when 
the weather is calm, and as this will only destroy the insect then present, 
the fumigation should be repeated in a week or ten days. The fumiga¬ 
tion will not injure the Grapes, and the smell will pass off in a few 
■days. 
Grape having Muscat Flavour for Growing with Plants 
-(IF B.). —No Grape has the Muscat flavour so highly developed when 
grown in an ordinary greenhouse as yours seems to be as Black Muscat 
-(Muscat Hamburgh). It, however, is subject under such conditions to 
have a large per-centage of stoneless berries, which to some extent may 
be remedied by fertilisation with Black Hamburgh pollen. It is a 
■capital cropper, and otherwise does well in a moderately heated house. 
Madresfield Court is a very much more satisfactory Grape, and though 
mot having the full Muscat flavour as in Black Muscat, has a decided 
Muscat flavour, and it sets and swe'ls freely, having fine bunches and 
berries. Of the two we should select Madresfield Court, for though 
liable to crack in some circumstances, we know it to be grown very finely 
indeed in a large house or conservatory that is always full of plants. 
Gros Colman requires a long season of growth, and consequently more 
heat than you would be able to command, and it has not a trace of 
Muscat flavour. 
Apple Lady Henniker (.7. B. O.).— In the “Fruit Manual” the 
following description and history are given : —“ Fruit, very large, 
3^ inches wide, and 3 inches high ; roundish, narrowing a little towards 
the apex, and with blunt angles on the sides, which terminate in 
prominent ridges round the eye. Skin, yellow on the shaded side, with 
ii faint blush of red, which is covered with broken streaks of crimson, 
•on the side next the sun. Eye, large and open, with short segments, 
and set in a very deep and angular basin. Stamens, median ; tube, 
■conical or funnel-shaped. Stalk, very short, set in a very deep, wide, 
russety cavity. Flesh, very tender in the grain, well flavoured, and 
with a pleasant perfume. Cells, obovate ; abaxile, A first-rate Apple, 
chiefly valuable as a cooking variety, but useful also in the dessert. 
October to February. This Apple was raised at Thornham Hall, near 
Eye, in Suffolk, and the account of it, furnished in 1873 by Mr John 
Perkins, the gardener there, is the following ‘ Between the years 1810 
and 1850 the late Lord Henniker had great quantities of cider made to 
give away in the summer months. Several bushels of Apple pips were 
sown in beds, from which the most promising seedlings were selected and 
planted ; these were reduced every few years. The last thinning was 
about seven years ago, when thirty-three trees were cut out The tree 
m question wa3 always the favourite, and it has been carefully pre- 
served. It is largely used here when large and handsome dishes of 
mixed fruit are required for the dinner table. Its appearance by lamp¬ 
light is most telling. The tree is very healthy, and a great bearer.’ ” 
Ink for Zinc Babels ( W. S.). —The proper ink for writing on 
zme is nitro-muriate of platinum, which produces a jet-black indelible 
stain. This preparation is easily made, and at very little cost. Procure 
an ounce stoppered phial, into which have two pennyworth, or half an 
■ounce, of nitro-muriatic acid (composed of two parts muriatic to one of 
nitric), which may be obtained of any chemist. Next obtain from the 
gunsmith an old platinum touch-hole, which may be had fora few pence • 
then putting the latter in the acid and leaving out the stopper, set the 
phial in the sun or else upon hot sand until the acid has assumed a deep, 
rich brown tint, or that the metal has ceased to give off bubbles of gas 
from the acid becoming a saturated solution. A few drops of this should 
now be aided to a little water and tried with a quill pen, adding drop 
by drop until a sufficient blackness is produced. When using great care 
must be taken to wash the writing thoroughly in plenty of water imme¬ 
diately it has blackened, and then it should be wiped quite dry and var¬ 
nished as soon af tewards as possible. 2, Take one part verdigris, one part 
sal-ammoniac, half part lampblack, and ten parts of water ; mix well, 
and keep in a bottle with glass stopper ; shake the ink before using it. 
It will keep any length of time. Write it on the label with a steel pen 
not too fine-pointed. It dries in the course of a minute or two, and will 
endure for many years. Or, put into two-pennyworth of common 
writing ink two pieces of sulphate of copper the size of a hazel nut; 
let it dissolve, and write on the zinc with a quill pen. 
Manures for a Garden (77. A. C.). —An excellent manure for all 
description of garden and field crops is formed by an admixture of the 
cow, pig, and horse manure and leaves. It will grow good crops of 
every kind. Not that we object to artificials, but yours being a light 
porous soil will have its staple added to in a manner that must con¬ 
stitute a permanent and ever increasing improvement as a rooting area, 
and correspondingly enhance its value for cultural purposes. Perhaps 
a dressing of lime would be most suitable in your case as a deterrent 
of club, but as that falls throught on account of the expense, some 
mitigation of the effects may result from a judicious employment of 
artificials. Nitrate of soda is good, of which I.) cwt. is sufficient for an 
acre. Nitrate of potash is also good, but the best form of potash is, 
perhaps, the muriate, which may be applied at a similar rate as the 
nitrate of soda. Superphosphate of lime is fiist-rate, almost indispens¬ 
able to full crops of the Brassica family, 3 cwt. being a suitable 
dressing. Those well incorporated may be applied as a surface 
dressing at the time of putting in the crops, pointing it in lightly, 
or if drills are made as in sowing, that with the necessary raking 
will be all that is required. The quantity named is a full amount 
for one acre. For the pasture we should omit the nitrate of potash 
(saltpetre) and increase the quantity of steamed bonemeal proportion¬ 
ately, so that the mixture would be three-quarters of a cwt. steamed 
bonemeal, three-quarters of a cwt. nitrate of soda, and 1^ cwt. mineral 
superphosphate. February is a good time to apply it. Superphosphate 
of lime is bones dissolved with sulphuric acid. Mineral superphosphate 
is dissolved fossilised bones— i.e., coprolites. 
Culture of Pleroma elegans (47. 0 .).—This is an evergreen 
shrub, with purple flowers produced in June. Repot in spring, and 
again in June for young plants, training in the pyramidal form, and 
stopping the growths up to July, so as to induce a compact habit. 
Established plants must be cut-in closely after flowering, and kept 
rather dry and cool for about three weeks, and then rather close and 
moist, being careful not to overwater ; and when the young shoots are 
an inch long turn the plant out of the pot, remove most of the old soil 
without disrooting much, and repot in the same size of pot. Keep it rather 
close, moist, and shaded for a few days, then admit air moderately, and 
keep in a light airy position over the winter. In April shift it into a pot 
2 to 4 inches larger in diameter, and the plant will be the better for 
placing in a Peach house started to ripen the fruit in June, the moisture 
from syringing and the well-ventilated atmosphere securing a stiff 
vigorous growth. Failing this convenience keep it in the warmest part 
of the house, but well ventilated, and syringed twice daily. In July 
place it in a cool airy house, shielded from midday sun. In September 
return it to the greenhouse, assigning it a light airy position. The shoots 
if growing irregularly may be stopped, but not after June, and they 
should be tied in autumn after the manner of Azaleas. If the plants 
are young they may be potted in June, in addition to spring potting ; 
the plants will therefore have a season to grow in and another to flower, 
so that two sets of plants will need to be grown to have flowers every 
year. Sandy fibrous peat four parts, very fibrous sandy loam one part, 
and one part in equal proportions of pieces of charcoal, broken pots, and 
silver sand, well mixed, and used rather rough. The drainage must be 
good. Cuttings of half-ripened shoots, short and stubby, in sand over 
sandy peat, under a bellglass placed in a close frame, and gentle 
bottom heat, tilting the glass on one side at night to prevent damping. 
Impatiens Sultan! (77., Surrey). —The note to which you refer is 
probably the following, which appeared a few years ago : —Amongst the 
numerous conservatory flowering plants Impatiens Sultani ranks in my 
opinion as one of the best. AVith us it is exceptionally fine at the present 
time, flowering profusely. For cutting and table decoration I must 
admit we have better plants, but for the conservatory it is most valu¬ 
able, especially at this time of year. It is generally known it can be 
had in flower all the year round with a succession of plants ; but the 
time it comes in most useful to us is in September and October, and I 
think in most establishments it will be welcomed then, as in October 
flowering plants are very scarce. My mode of having plants in bloom at 
the above-mentioned time is to insert cuttings about the middle of May. 
They will strike easily in any ordinary potting soil finely sifted, with a 
good sprinkling of sand. Place them in a bottom heat of 80°; shade 
from sun. AVhen struck transfer them into GO-size pots. The soil that 
I find to suit them best is equal parts of loam and leaf soil, with a little 
sand and bone dust added. Place them in a good steady moist heat till 
the plants root into the new soil, and then gradually harden them in a 
frame. Examine the plants at intervals to see if they want potting, as 
> it is a great mistake to let the pots get too full of roots. The final shift 
