452 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER 
t Jane 2, 1837. 
° 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 be 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. 
LATE INQUIRIES.—It is necessary to again remind correspondents that 
letters arriving on WEDNESDAY MORNING cannot be answered 
in the “ next issue,” which is then far advanced for press. 
New Decorative Pelargoniums (IP. B , Coventry). —Both varieties are 
good, but the one like Regalia is uncommonly fine, and is likely to be a very 
useful plant. By all means exhibit it at South Kensington, giving notice 
a day or two previously to Mr. A. F. Barron, Royal Horticultural Society, 
Chiswick. Of course you are not compelled to submit it to this Society 
before offering it for sale, but you would gain a better idea of its value by 
doing so first. 
Fasciated Lilimn auratum ( Liliuvi) —The peculiarity you describe 
is termed fasciation, and is caused by the union of a number of stems, 
which takes place either in the buds or at a very early stage of growth ; 
the tissue of contiguous parts grows together somewhat after the manner 
effected in grafting, and the result is a malformation that is not always 
unsightly, however. It is by no means uncommon in Lilies, and accidental 
examples occur in many other plants. 
Green’s Grass Edge Clipper ( M. J.). —We have not had the oppor¬ 
tunity of trying the implement to which your refer, but have observed that 
much depends on the aptitude of workmen in using some new implements 
as on the articles themselves as to whether they answer their purpose 
satisfactorily or not. The firm is of high standing, and would not send out 
an inferior article. Possibly the best thing you can do will be write for a 
list of testimonials, which can no doubt be supplied, and they wifi afford 
the information your desire. 
Training and Pinching Peach Shoots (H. D.).—Where there is room 
for securing the growths to the wall or trellis without crowding the foliage, 
pinch off the axillary growths to the first leaf as soon as it is formed, and 
continue the practice as other growths issue. This should be done with the 
finger and thumb, and cinnot be done too soon. If you err at all in tying 
in the shoots you had better do so by leaving too few than too many. 
Mor than half the Peach trees we see are overcrowded with growths in the 
summer—a mistake that is not made by the best cultivators. 
Daffodils — Tacsonia (W. L. X.). —We have had Daffodils flowering in 
rich soil, but the foliage was well ripened in the sun and not removed till 
quite withered. If the leaves of your plants were not cut off too soon 
they were perhaps much shaded, and hence the absence of flowers this year. 
Possibly the house may be somewhat too cold for the Tacsonia, or the 
growths do not mature under the full influence of the sun. Dispose them 
thinly in order that that important object may be accomplished, and the 
plants will flower in a suitable house. If the growth is free stimulants 
would not be beneficial. 
Strawberries for Market (11. S. E .).—The sorts you name are King 
of the Rallies, small; Sir J. Paxton, very good; Sir Charles Napier, grand 
but tender ; Oxonian, capital; Hammonia, first-rate ; La Constante, shy; 
Souvenir de Kieff, large and good cropper; Sir J. Falstaff, fine cropper; 
and Waltham Seedling, good. In Kent Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury and 
Sir J. Paxton are the varieties most largely grown. In sandy soil at 
Chertsey the jam-makers rely on Marguerite, the first, finest, and best; 
followed by Sir J. Paxton, Empress Eugenie, Alice Maud, British Queen, 
and Comte de Paris. Those we have found most profitable from a market 
point of view were Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury, Sir J. Paxton, President, 
Oxonian, McMahon, Loxford Hall Seedling, and Hammonia. Those we 
advise your making trial of, for varieties that succeed in one locality are 
not always satisfactory in others. We should also advise your trying 
President Delacour. For the light soil you could not perhaps have a 
better sort than President. 
Grapes Failing ( Constant Reader). —We are very sorry to see the 
withered bunches you have sent, caused by the shrinkage and decay of the 
stems above the shoulders. It is a pity you did not also send us fair 
samples of the growths and leaves, as these would have indicated the 
condition of the Vines and might have suggested the origin of the evil. 
In all probability, however, the border is too rich and the atmosphere of 
the house has beenjkept too close and damp; then on some occasions, when 
the bunches were showing, a large volume of air has been admitted at once, 
lowering the temperature, inducing excessive evaporation, and causing a 
chill. The stems are very soft and pale in colour, as if the border were 
soft and rich in nitrogenous matter instead of firm and containing a due 
proportion of mineral substances such as lime and potash. There is 
obviously no cure for the affected bunches, and with a view to preventing 
others being similarly ruined we advise you to induce firm, stout growth 
by a judicious system of ventilation and the maintenance of drier yet 
genial and buoyant atmosphere, especially admitting air through the top 
ventilators early in the morning and increasing it by degrees just in 
advance cf the rising temperature, never allowing the house to get so hot 
that it is necessary to lower the temperature. W e should not be surprised 
if your house has not remained closed too long at some time, possibly on a 
Sunday morning. It is certain a mistake has been made in some way, 
but as you do not state the precise treatment to which the Vines have 
been subjected we are not in a position to point it out more clearly. Tour 
allusion, however, to the “ dropping of water from the glass ” is sufficient 
evidence of an excess of moisture at a critical time. There ought not to 
have been any such accumulation and condensation. 
Manuring Fruit Trees (11. IF. (?.).—Mr. Walter Kruse, to whom yon 
refer, writes as follows on this subject:—“ I still adhere to the system of 
surface culture, for, from the heavy crops which I have had, I have every 
reason to believe it to be the best. Like other growers, I have been 
suffering from low prices ; and when, as is sometimes the case, the cost of 
gathering, carriage, and marketing comes to as much as is received for the 
fruit, there is nothing left for the cost of cultivation under any system, 
and of course the fruit is produced at a loss. We should not think much 
of this happening now and then if prices at other times were so high that 
they afforded a compensation, but nowadays they never go high. If fruit 
continues to sell as badly as it did last year ihany will have to give up grow¬ 
ing it, and only those who are the best cultivators and who occupy the best 
soil will be able to hang on until, by the decrease of fruit grown, matters 
are righted. I do not see a prospect of things being very much better 
until agriculture improves as a whole, for if fruit-growers had a good year 
or two farmers would immediately plant so much ground that in a short 
time prices would be down again. Last year bush fruits on a great extent 
of ground were grubbed, especially where situated under standard treeB, 
and the ground was laid down to grass. Meanwhile I believe it to be the 
best course to endeavour to get as much off the ground as possible, for the 
rent and cost of labour in cultivation are as much for a poor crop as a good 
one and it is the labour which is the most costly item where horses cannot 
be used. When the roots of trees are not disturbed, and other things are 
favourable, the fruit sets very thickly, and I apply plenty of manure to fill 
it out and keep the trees healthy. Now that my ground is in good heart I 
find £6 or £7 worth of manure yearly per acre sufficient for this purpose, 
but many of the trees are young, and more manure will be required when 
they are older. When the ground is not dug care should be taken to kill 
the weeds when in a seedling state, as if the ground is allowed to become a 
mat of weeds hoeing is very costly. If the ground is kept very clean the 
first year or two, so that seeds do not fall, the labour will be much lighter 
afterwards. "I was by no means the first to advocate not digging among 
the roots of fruit trees. In this neighbourhood a good deal of ground has 
not been dug the last two years.” 
The Origin of Lime (Student). —You ask a question that is not very 
easy to answer. Kane, in his “Elements of Chemistry,” says:—“Not¬ 
withstanding the immense quantities of carbonate of lime which are 
found constituting a great proportion of the surface of the globe, as for 
instance, the whole centre of Ireland is one vast plain of limestone, and 
in that as well as other forms—chalk, marble, <fec. —it is equally extensive 
in most other countries, it is questionable whether lime should not be 
looked upon as rather a characteristic of the animal than of the mineral 
kingdom of Nature. The bony or testaceous skeleton, by which the softer 
portions of the animal frame are attached, is always found to consist of 
lime united either with carbonic or phosphoric acids, and the diversity of 
chemical composition in this respect is found to coincide in a remarkable 
degree with the most natural physiological classification. The skeletons 
of the vertebrated animals consist principally of phosphate of lime, whilst 
in the shells of the invertebrate animals the carbonate of lime is the 
prevalent component. The teeth also consist of phosphate of lime. In 
all these cases the phosphate of lime is associated with fluoride of calcium, 
just as occurs in the native phosphate, the mineral apatite. Now it is 
remarkable that all the great geological formations which contain carbonate 
of lime are found to consist of the aggregated skeletons (shells) of myriads 
of the tribes of invertebi'ated animals which had existed in some former 
period of the world’s history. From the densest and hardest limestone to 
the softest chalk, the entire mass resolves itself ultimately into a congeries 
of animal remains, and hence the great supply of lime in the mineral state 
arises from the destruction of its animal sources. Even those crystalline 
marbles in which no organic remains can be traced appear destitute of 
them only from having been subjected, by volcanic heat or otherwise, to 
the influence of causes which have gradually rendered the texture of the 
mass completely uniform. The lime which exists in Nature must, there-: 
fore, be looked upon as being continually in a state of passage between th» 
organised and the inorganic kingdoms. The plants which grow upon the 
soil take up, by dissolution in their juices, salts of lime, which pass into 
the substance of the animal which feeds upon them, and accumulating in 
its system affords materials for the proper development of the skeleton. 
When the animal dies the materials of its tissues either serve for the 
nutrition of some other animal or, being totally decomposed, its elements 
return to the mineral kingdom, to be in after ages the subject of similar 
alternations.” 
Potato Onions (E. 0. AT.).—The Potato or Underground Onion (Allium 
aggregatum) produces a cluster of bulbs or offsets, in number from two to 
twelve, and even more, uniformly beneath the surface of the soil. From 
being first introduced to public notice in Scotland by Captain Burns of 
Edinburgh, it is there also known as the Burn Onion. There evidently 
appear to be two varieties of this vegetable, one of which bears bulbs on 
the summit of its stems, like the Tree Onion, and the other never throwing 
up flower stems at all. One variety is much larger than the other, and 
this vegetates again as soon as ripe. Both varieties are best propagated 
by offsets of the root of moderate size, for if those are employed which the 
one variety produces on the summit of its stems they seldom do more than 
increase in size the first year, but are prolific the next; this also occurs if 
very smaR offsets of the root are employed. They may be planted during 
