404 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ November 7 , 1889. 
Horseradish some 15 yards long by 5 or 6 wide, which apparently 
had not been disturbed, except in digging roots for use, for 
fifteen or twenty years. In contrast to this we have dug from a 
bed 15 feet by 8 sufficient good roots to supply an ordinary family 
for twelve months. In the second place, the ground is being cul¬ 
tivated. It is annually improving ; and the plants being in rows, 
it can be kept clean by means of hoeing, the same as any other 
crops, instead of becoming a nest of weeds, as is too often the 
case ; for it is no uncommon thing to find weeds seeding in the 
Horseradish bed in gardens where they would not be tolerated any¬ 
where else. In the third place, there is no such thing as shoulder¬ 
ing a pick when grim Jack Frost resists the spade in the gloomy 
winter months. The roots are laid regularly in layers one above 
another with soil between, and covered with soil. A little litter 
keeps out frost and mice. It is always accessible without the aid 
of either pick or spade. Would anyone who is acquainted with 
the system practised by those who grow it for the market favour 
us with an outline of their mode of producing the fine clean roots 
which they send to market ?—R. P. 
GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 
HERBACEOUS CALCEOLARIAS. 
Calceolarias are growing rapidly, as it is during the cool and 
moist months of autumn that they make good progress. Our 
plants are still in cold frames, and we are thinking of removing 
them to a cool brick pit facing south, where they will remain as 
long as the mild weather lasts. We have no set time for repotting, 
as it can be done at any time right through the winter. The 
principal point is to guard against the plants becoming root-bound. 
When the plants are grown on so that they are ready for their largest 
pots in October or November they get checked in growth. A cool 
greenhouse is the best place to winter the plants in. Keep them 
near the glass, and take care not to expose them to cold draughts 
or an arid atmosphere. Green fly is the most troublesome pest the 
Calceolaria has to contend with, so the house or pit should be fumi¬ 
gated every fortnight. So far our plants have not needed fumi¬ 
gating, but when removed to their winter quarters it will not be 
delayed, as prevention is better than cure. 
DOUBLE PRIMULA?. 
The earliest flowers are now unfolding in a pit where the night 
temperature ranges about 55°. Careful watering is necessary, and 
the plants must also be exposed to direct light, when these useful 
plants will well repay the cultivator for their trouble. Too much 
cannot be said in praise of these useful winter-flowering plants. 
Where “ buttonholes” are in daily demand these are the plants to 
grow. The old Double White and its fimbriated variety, with 
Marchioness of Exeter, Miss Eva Fish, and Carminata, are the 
varieties we find the most useful. 
CINERARIAS. 
These should not be allowed to remain in cold frames any 
longer, as the foliage is apt to suffer from damp. A cool green¬ 
house or pit is the best place to winter them in. Cold draughts 
through side ventilators must be guarded against, as this is apt to 
cause the foliage to curl. Insects must also be kept in check with 
slight periodical fumigation. If the main plants are in their 
largest pots by the end of January it will not be too late, as we 
find those late potted keep their lower foliage well. But they 
must not be allowed to become root-bound upon any consideration 
before being placed in their largest pots, as this will not prevent 
their sending up a spindly flower stem. Too rich soil and loose 
potting must be guarded against, as they cause large flabby foliage, 
and the plants collapse with the least exposure to sun. Four parts 
of turfy loam, one part each of leaf soil and decayed cow manure 
with a little sand, we find a suitable compost both for the Cineraria 
and herbaceous Calceolaria.—A. Young. 
PLANTING YOUNG VINES. 
Having read Mr. Bardney’s remarks on planting young Vines 
without disturbing the balls or disentangling the roots, I was afraid 
we had done entirely wrong, as we had just planted two new vineries 
here (or about that time). I will now state how we performed the 
planting, and will then leave it for the readers of the Journal to decide 
■which way is the better. 
We planted the Vines on February 19th of the present year. The 
canes having been previously cut down to 9 inches long they were 
turned out of the pot, and all the soil shaken from them. The roots 
were then disentangled and spread out evenly in the new soil, and 
covered over in the usual way. They then received a gentle watering, 
and afterwards started gradually into growth, increasing the tempera¬ 
ture as the season advanced, nothing being done whatever to force them 
on too fast, a stout sturdy growth being aimed at. Air and water was 
given when found necessary, and now we have well ripened canes 
23 feet long and 2 inches in circumference, nearly to the extremity of 
the canes.—J. L. H. 
DRIVES AND WALKS. 
It has been said that it is far better that no approach or other drive 
should cross the lawn in front of a country house. But of course the 
arrangement which is ideally best cannot always be made. In many 
cases where the road can be kept away from the immediate vicinity of 
the house front, it will have to pass it at a greater distance. The road 
may then be masked by low plantations, which will, at least, be less 
disagreeable to the eye than the line of gravel. But plantations will 
often be undesirable as obstructions in what ought to be a simple ex¬ 
tended view, or a broadly treated landscape. It is better, when possible, 
to sink the road, or to raise the lawn in a gentle s'ope towards it to such 
a degree that the eye will not perceive it, so that the stretches of lawn 
on its hither and further sides will seem to unite without a break. 
If the place is so large that the house is not seen until after one has- 
entered the approach load, attention should be paid to the first view 
thus afforded. There is much in initial impressions, and a house may 
never redeem itself wholly in a visitor’s eyes if it fails to do itself justice 
when they first light upon it. 
With regard to walks, the same general principles hold as with 
regard to drives. There should be no more of them than are needful ; 
they should neither be so straight as to lack beauty nor so meandering 
as to lack ordinary directness, and they should be as narrow as con¬ 
venience will permit, for gravel streaks are not charming objects in 
themselves, and the greater their breadth the more they decrease the 
apparent size of the place. They should not be so narrow that two 
persons cannot pass with comfort, except in retired situations, where 
pedestrians will certainly be few ; but anything in excess of this should 
be studiously avoided. A walk 6 feet wide, where one of three would 
have sufficed, will dwarf its surroundings to a much greater degree than 
most owners realise. 
A lawn can be injured almost as much by foot-paths as by drives 
when they cut across it. A properly kept lawn is as delightful to walk, 
upon as to look at, and, in our dry summers, the days are few when it 
will be too wet even for a lady’s shoe. Of course there may be cases 
when some distant object-a summer house that is constantly used, a 
boat house, or tennis court—will so constantly attract the feet that, 
unless a walk be provided, a ragged path will be worn across the grass. 
Then, a made walk is naturally better, for anything is better than a look 
of untidiness and neglect in grounds which ought to be carefully kept. 
But it should, if possible, be carried around the lawn, and, if this is not 
possible, its presence should be accepted as a disagreeable necessity. 
Paths should never be made across a lawn simply to give access to 
flower beds, for the flower beds themselves have no business there. A 
lawn is a place for grass. Its object, whether it be large or small, is to 
afford a simple sheet of verdure to delight the eye with its reposeful' 
breadth, and to supply a proper foreground for the plantations beyond 
it. To spot bright beds about is to ruin its peacefulness and its unity. 
There are thousands of country places in America, from large estates to 
suburban villas, which would be immeasurably improved could all the 
flower beds on the lawn, all the fountains and vases, and all the paths— 
leading nowhere but back to the house again—be once and for all 
turfed over. Flowers can usually be introduced in sufficient quantities 
in other ways—scattered among the shrubberies, or arranged in massed 
beds behind the house or in borders disassociated from the lawn. Or, 
if they are the prime consideration, and the place is not large enough 
for a lawn and a flower garden both, it is better to give up the lawn 
altogether and arrange in front of the house an old-fashioned garden,, 
with as many beds and walks and Box hedges as the space will allow. 
Such a design is consistent and sensible, and may be made very pretty, 
while the more common device of trying to unite a lawn and a 
flower garden is illogical, and can never result in anything but an artistic 
monstrosity. 
If there is a lawn, large or small, care should be taken that no walk, 
as well as no drive, runs between it and the house. Let the grass 
come up to the house foundations, and unite the two by planting a few 
Vines and shrubs. Then the house and its site will be connected and 
harmonised ; the walls will seem to spring from the soil almost like a 
natural growth, and the picture seen from the lawn will be as charming, 
as that which the lawn presents when seen from the house. Whether 
there are mere doorsteps, or a porch, or a piazza, no path is needed, for 
this entrance should be used only by those who wish to stroll upon the 
lawn or to cross it to some spot not otherwise accessible. And even on 
those sides of the house where a path is needed it should not be allowed 
to run close to the walls. Sufficient space should be reserved for p'ant- 
ing against the walls, and thus, if the further side of the path is pro¬ 
perly planted too, from a little distance the eye will see only the 
masses of verdure which connect the house with the landscape about it. 
Although curving roads and walks are best in a place of any 
size, straight ones should usually be preferred in a small villa lot. 
Then every inch of space is valuable, and of course a straight, 
path occupies less ground than a winding one. The straight lines 
formed by the house and the street cannot be for a moment for¬ 
gotten, and it is, therefore, good art to accept them as the basis of the 
whole scheme and make the paths within the gates correspond with 
them. Then, too, there should be no drive at all unless there be a stable 
behind the house. In this case it is best to leave the front free and 
