410 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER; 
[Mabch 27. 
doors, is rather advantageous. The annual 10 -weeks' stocks may be 
sown in August, potted and kept under a frame, and again in March, in 
a gentle heat, and transplanted in April. Biennial stocks , such as the 
Queen and Brompton, should be sown in June, and transplanted into a 
warm border, six inches apaTt; or some may be potted and kept under 
glass in a cold frame through winter, planting them out in April where 
they are to bloom. Your Azalea indica alba does not produce healthy 
leaves or flowers. We can only say, pot it in fresh peat and sandy loam, 
with a little leaf-mould; place it in gentle heat, and it will produce new 
shoots and leaves, and these will certainly be followed by flowers. Your 
Anemones and Ranunculuses cannot be taken up till the leaves are quite 
withered. If you take up before, the bulbs will be small, shrivel, and 
probably perish. 
Weigela rosea {Linda). —This you may prune yet very safely. The 
accent is laid on the ge of this name. 
Evergreen Shrubs (A Bury Subscriber). —The following shrubs 
will suit you “on the edge of the moors i ”—“ Evergi'een Box, Ever - 
green Privet , Berberis aquifolia, Aucuba Japonica, common Rhododen- 
drons , if you can get peat soil; the Snowberry, Mountain Ash, and the 
common Hazel. These will all grow under the drip of your tall trees, 
but you must stir the soil well and deep previously to planting, and give 
them some fresh loam about their roots when you plant them. 
Names of Plants (J. B. H.). —Your plant with the mis-spelt name 
we have no doubt is Sericographis Ghiesbreghtiana , a name quite suffi¬ 
ciently intractable when spelt correctly. It is a warm greenhouse or 
stove evergreen. Being bare stemmed and otherwise mismanaged, cut it 
down forthwith, repot it, after shaking off most of the earth at present 
about its roots ; replace it with a mixture of equal parts of loam, fibrous 
peat, and leaf-mould. Plunge it in bottom-heat to start it, if it be only 
a cucumber-bed. It used to be called an Aphelandra. (J. F. W.). — 
Your fern is the Common Polypody [Polypodium vulgare). (Kingston). 
—Your plant is Coleus fruticosus, or as it used to be called Plectranthus 
fruticosus. It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and is very fre¬ 
quently seen in the windows about London under the name of the 
Ivy-leaved Geranium. ( E. P. Exeter).—Asparagus racemosus, a stove 
plant not worth keeping in a good collection. 
Diseased Cactus (L. C.). —It is infested with a species of scale 
(coccus). Sponge the leaves frequently with water, of the temperature 
of 115°, and keep the air of your house more moist. 
Lucerne (J. B. H.). —On no account sow clover among it. No good 
Lucerne can be grown unless the hoe is continually employed to keep 
down weeds, and the soil open between the rows ; and how could you do 
this if clover was there ? 
Stall-feeding Sheep ( Sig?na). —This may be done, but the floor of 
their pens should be of earth and kept clean, otherwise they are liable to 
diseased feet. They fatten rapidly. 
Alderney Cows (Ibid). —In keeping a cow, the profit arises from her 
milk and butter. Her calf is of comparative indifference in the debtor 
and creditor account, for it should be sold a suckling. The butter of an 
Alderney keeps as well as that of any other cow, fetches the best price, 
and the cow eats less than one of any other breed. 
Dahlia List ( Elizabeth). — Yours is a good selection, but you will 
see one more extensive in our columns to-day. 
Dielytra spectabilis (F. S .).—Can any of our readers say where a 
coloured drawing of this species can be seen ? It was introduced in 
1810, soon lost, and again introduced recently by Messrs. Knight and 
Perry. There are coloured engravings of three of the other species— 
D. cucullaria, eximi.a, and formosa, in Mrs. Loudon’s Lady's Flower- 
Garden of Hardy Perennials. 
Diseased Onions (Verax). —Our correspondent says—“In the spring 
of last year I sowed my White Spanish Onions, which came up and 
matured well, and furnished me with an abundant and, as I thought, 
first-rate crop for the winter; but in this respect I have suffered great 
disappointment, inasmuch as you will find, on opening the onions I have 
sent, that the interior of each inner circle is woolly, and, my cook says, 
simmers down to nothing but water; whilst the outer part remains hard , 
tough, and unavailable, and unfit either for sauce or to fry. The treat¬ 
ment of the onion-bed was the same as I have ever given it, and they 
were quite ripe when got in, and housed in dry weather. The onions 
were strung in ropes by my gardener as usual, and have been kept hung 
up in the same dry keeping-place I have used for years. The cook did 
not perceive the fault, as now described, in the onions until two months 
ago, since which they have got gradually worse; the largest are the 
worst, lily gardener says they have began to sprit much earlier.” The 
early spritting, or failing to sprit, of your onions is the sole cause of 
your onions becoming so unserviceable ; in either case the effect is simi¬ 
lar ; and the early effort is a consequence of the extremely mild winter. 
We have known onions, kept as usual, that were just like yours, whilst 
others hung up in an ice-house were in perfect order. 
Potatoes after Turnips (J. Fairie). —If you sow turnips, they 
will be off the ground quite in time for autumn-planting potatoes. You 
may replant your Box-edging now. You will find all you require in 
The Cottage Gardeners' Dictionary, now publishing. We cannot reply 
by post. 
Heracleum giganteum (E. C. B., Tewkesbury ).—We think this 
will grow, as you require, in a large tub ; but it ought to be at least 
thirty inches in diameter. Messrs. Hardy, of Maldon, will perhaps say 
something about it in our pages. They have paid particular attention 
to the plant. Pot your Cineraria seedlings five or six together in pots or 
pans, and when they have made more growth, then repot them singly 
into small pots. The best soil for them is a compost of turfy loam, two 
parts; fibrous peat, one part; decayed leaves, one part; decayed cow- 
dung, half a part ;ji nd a little drift sand. 
Five Pound Greenhouse ( Elphin ).—If you refer to No. 113 of 
The Cottage GaVdener, you will find drawings and descriptions of 
the mode of heating and shading this economical structure. 
Dublin Irregularities (F. L .).—The fault rests entirely with the 
Dublin bookseller; our Dublin agent is supplied in time to deliver The 
Cottage Gardener on the very day of publication. We will enquire 
further. 
Pleuro-pneumonia in Cows (Isabella ).—Our correspondent says 
she is “ living in a neighbourhood where cows are dying by scores of this 
malady.” Can any of our readers inform us of any mode of treat¬ 
ment which has been successful ? Professor Simonds recommends a 
diseased animal to be kept away from the uninfected, and in the 
early stage of the disease blood to be taken from it until the pulse 
falters ; diuretics, such as nitre in water, to be given, and clothes to be 
put over the animal to promote perspiration. It is very evident, how¬ 
ever, that the veterinary profession have not yet mastered the disease. 
Largest Cucumber, Melon, and Pumpkin (W. N. J.).—The 
Snake is the longest cucumber, whilst the Rock melon and the Mam¬ 
moth pumpkin are the largest. It is more worthy of inquiry which are 
the best. 
Convolvulus (L. P. S .).—The major is the climber. We cannot 
tell you where you can buy geruniums true to name at three shillings 
per dozen. 
Botanical Work (K. C. B.). — Loudon's Encyclopedia of Plants 
describes foreign as well as British plants. 
Index and Cover (E. N. S .).—You can have a complete Index for 
each volume of The Cottage Gardener. You can have a cloth cover 
for each volume for one shilling. 
Back Numbers (G. We&tley ).—You can have the back numbers of 
the last volumes. Apply to some other bookseller, if your present one 
does not procure them for you. Lilium lancifolium culture is described 
very fully in our second volume, page 175 . You can have Calceolaria 
seed from any of the florists who advertise in our columns. 
Potato-planting (Rusticus Clei-icus). — He who defers potato¬ 
planting until now, will most assuredly reap his due reward,—namely, a 
diseased and deficient crop. We have written so fully, and for the last 
five years warning, against late spring-planting, that we turn, with dis¬ 
taste from the task of counselling how to proceed under such neglect. 
However, plant whole middle-sized potatoes; plant an early-ripening 
variety; plant six inches deep, and use no manure. 
Brocoli-sowing (J. S. G.).— Sow your Grange's Early White in the 
first and third weeks of April, antLthe second week in June. We do not 
know the Early White Malta , but think it does not differ from Grange’s. 
Chapell's Cream and Snow's Sujierb White , sow the second week in 
April. They are not varieties to keep you supplied in succession. 
Mice (L. B.). —To prevent these eating your peas, cover the rows two 
inches deep and 12 inches wide with finely-sifted coal ashes. 
Heating small Pit (M. N. 0 .).—In the plan given in our 4th vol., 
page 56, you may use advantageously a cast-iron pipe for passing through 
the fire. Lead pipes are not bud conductors of heat, and will be found 
efficient. There is no danger of scorching in the arrangement. Two- 
inch pipes would be better for a larger structure. If we had our choice, 
we should prefer a hot-bed of tan, and a cold pit as you propose. 
Bee-feeding and Depriving (A Subscriber from the first ).—Will 
our correspondent, who wrote a paper on this subject at pages 277 - 8 , send 
us a description of his floor-board, his hive, and his tin-hive jacket ? 
Corks drive into bottles more easily if wetted ; and it is not necessary to 
tie them down if driven in tightly, much less need they be wired. Seal¬ 
ing is totally useless. We cannot answer your other queries. 
CALENDAR FOR APRIL. 
ORCHID HOUSE. 
Air may now be given pretty regularly by ten o’clock, shutting up at 
three in the afternoon. Baskets should now be regularly taken down 
once a week, and, if dry, dipped over the compost in a tank of tepid 
water. Blocks with plants on, continue to renew, if required, and let 
them be wetted at least once a daj r , or twice if the sun shines brightly. 
Heat may be increased as the days lengthen and the plants arc growing 
freely. Day temperature, 70° to 80° ; night, 60° to /0°. Nkottias, and 
other terrestrial winter flowering orchids, repot, and keep rather dry till 
new growth appears. Oncidium : numbers of the species will now be 
growing, and ought to be repotted directly, before new roots begin to 
form. Insects, such as thrip and green fly, destroy by smoking fre¬ 
quently with tobacco ; other kinds destroy by keeping quite clean with a 
sponge; cockroaches destroy, as advised in the Calendar last month. 
Phal^inopsis, dip daily in tepid water. Stanhopeas that have 
finished their growth will now be showing the flower-spikes, and must 
not be disturbed, or the stems might be broken ; they are very tender. 
Syringing, apply freely, both to wet the baskets and blocks, and to raise 
a dewy soft atmosphere in the house. Water, give freely now the 
plants are growing. Plants in flower, remove out of the hot moist 
house into a cooler and drier one, to prolong their bloom. 
T. Appleby. 
PLANT STOVE. 
Finish all Potting, except for young cuttings or plants, early in the 
month. Finish potting all the Gesnerads. Keep every part of the 
house in perfect order and cleanliness. Air, give freely (except 
frost happens) early in the morning, and close up early in the afternoon. 
Syringe when shutting up, to cause a dewy air in the house ; this will 
refresh the plants greatly. Amaryllises, finish potting, and plunge in 
a bark pit to encourage fine leaves, and, thereby, large fair bulbs; even 
A. aulica may be potted the last week in the month. Creepers, tie in, 
but not too trimly, like a bundle of sticks, but allow plenty of space for 
