THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May fi. 
92 
the more turf the hotter; weeds, herbage, and all. Pile this in a sharp 
ridge until September, and from this ridge chop down the material with 
a sharp spade. Let the soil be a' free loam, rather sandy ; one-half of 
i the natural soil may be mixed with it. You mav plant Strawberries on 
! your south border, keeping clear of the platforms. Your three-feet 
; border is fearfully narrow. Plant your Raspberries as you say, by all 
means. Your selection of fruits is, on the whole very good. The fol- 
j lowing Pkaciiics we advise, in addition to Royal Kensington, viz.:— 
Acton Scott % Royal George, and Oalande. Nectarines: Murray and 
1 Klruge . Apricots: the Shipley's and Moorpark; all on a south wall 
of course. Of Pears, you may add Beurre diet, Fondante dJAutomne, 
Jargonelle, Dunmore , and Olout Morceau: these on east or west walls. 
Of Plums : add Rivers's Favourite, Quielsche St. Martin's, Royal 
llative; east or west wall. Of Cherries, also, place a May Duke, a 
Late Duke, and an Elton , on east or west wall. Add to your Apples, 
j Lamb Abbey Pearmain, Eldon Pippin, and Sturmer Pippin, as table 
| fruit ; and Monk's Codling, John Apple, and Dumelow's Seedling, as 
kitchen fruit. 
Stove Vink Roots (Y. Y. /., Liverpool). —Your vines planted inside 
the house by all means, only take care to have the front wall on arches, 
so that one portion of the roots may go freely out, where a prepared bed 
of soil must help to add to their fertility; the latter thoroughly drained, 
and a trifle lower than the former ; the whole, floor-line and all, a good 
deal above the ordinary ground level. Your proposed interior arrange¬ 
ments are good. We are not in possession of any infallible remedy as to 
the ants; but, as a pro tempore proceeding, we would try the effect of a 
monthly application of gas tar or train oil; a band or strip drawn along 
the bottom of the wall. .Surely your trees in the neighbourhood must 
be much infested with aphides or thrips; the ants frequently abound 
under such conditions. According to the old adage, “ remove the mildew, 
and you’ll be rid of the mushrooms.” 
Dahlia Roots Grub Eaten (J. M.). —Arc vou quite sure that it is 
the wireworrn that destroys your newly-planted dahlias ? They do not 
generally attack that plant, but prey more upon carnations, picotces, 
pansies, and pinks ; yet, for want or other food, they may infest the dahlia. 
Examine them again. If it is the veritable wireworrn, it is of a yellow 
colour, with numerous brown rings or joints, and is as tough almost as 
wire; hence its name. If the worm is uniformly brown, it is what is 
called the brown grub. In new ground like yours this frequently 
abounds to a most destructive extent. We suspect this latter is the one I 
you arc plagued with. There is no way of destroying it but by searching 
almost daily round each plant, and destroying all that are found. The 
true wireworrn must also be destroyed by similar means ; but he is a 
more cunning insect, and dives deeper into the ground. You might try a 
little soot hud closely round the stem down to the roots, and up level 
with the surface. Plant also a few cos lettuces near your plants; they 
prefer them to the dahlia. 
Cactus (./. A. E.). —Your globe cactus, called Cactus complex, is 
unknown to us by that name. The cause of its not flowering is because 
I you keep it constantly growing. These plants all want a rest, by keeping 
cool ami dry for four or live months, and then in spring a smart heat, and 
plenty of moisture, to cause them to grow and flower. You will do right 
to rub off the young globules as they appear. They arc produced instead 
of flowers, ami if allowed to remain you will never have any bloom. If I 
you have convenience, set them out-of-doors in the hottest months of 
summer, in front of, and near to a south wall, this will ripen the wood, 
| and cause them to produce flowers, but do not suffer them to receive | 
heavy, long-continued rains, and remove them into the greenhouse early 
in August, placing them close to the glass, and giving very little water 
through the winter. They are then almost sure to flower. 
Bulb not Flowering {E. W. K. IT .).—The juice from the decaying 
leaf you sent nearly obliterated the writing in the letter. You should 
have sent it in a tin box separate from the letter. It is a leaf belonging 
either to Hamanthus tigrinu, or II. puniceus, bulbs from the Cape of 
Good Hope. It does not flower because the bulb is not large enough. 
It should be, to produce bloom, quite as large as a man’s fist. The 
flowers are produced in umbels, springing from between the two large 
leaves. It should, like all other bulbs, have a season of rest and of 
growth. It should be grown in a strong, rich loam. 'Pile flowers are 1 
showy and handsome, but do not last long in bloom. 
Hoya carnosa Diseased {Ibid). —Your Iloyacarnosa, with brown, j 
thickened, and wrinkled leaves, has suffered from its removal into the I 
cold border. It should have very little water till it begins to grow. You 
may prune it in partially now, leaving Borne young shoots to grow. It . 
j will most likely recover during the summer. Put in some cuttings, and I 
I raise new plants for fear it should not recover. The blotching on the 
I leaves is canker, caused by a loss of roots, and exposure to bright sun- | 
shine. 
Acacia (J. S., Ilighworth ).—The scrap of Acacia you have sent, we think 
! is a leaf of A. longissima. You cannot make it flower down the stem 
unless you allow no other plants to be near it. It is the being crowded 
1 with other plants that causes it to draw up to the roof, and only flower 
! there, because it is naturally a tall-growing, rambling species. 
PiiALJKNOPBis Diseased (Orient). — Your Phalanopsis has had two 
spots like blisters on two leaves. These spots have spread, and the parts 
have become corrupt and decayed. You have taken it out of the basket, 
and placed it on a block; cut down the old flower-stem, and cut away 
the decayed parts of the leaves. You could not have done better; we 
should have done mo too. It has since then sent forth another flower- 
shoot. You ask what is the cause of the spots ; and should you allow 
the new flower-spike to remain ? The cause of the spots is vitiated juices 
taken up out of the sour, sodden sphagnum, and, perhaps, aggravated by 
too much moisture in the air for a diseased plant. The flower-spike may 
remain, as it will not prevent the plants making fresh roots and leaves ; 
dip the block in tepid water, but do not wet the leaves, especially the 
injured ones, unless the wounds are quite healed. 
White and Crimson Cinerarias (R. //.).— Queen of England , 
Rosy Morn, Lettice Arnold , Loveliness, Marianne, and Electro, are six 
cinerarias, the best of their class. They have each, as you require, a 
white eye, edged with plum or crimson. 
Verbena Venosa ( Verax) . —It is now too late to sow Verbena venosa 
to flower well this year. If sown early in March it would bloom from 
the end of July. March cuttings, or rather, April cuttings of the roots, 
is just the way we recommend it to be used every year; but “root cut¬ 
tings” is nothing more than “dividing the roots.” There is little 
chance of getting the Plumbago larpenta to flower sooner. It is better 
suited for Australia or Natal than for this climate. 
Saxifraga Sarmentosa (Only a Fiddler). —The right translation of I 
sarmentosa could not be given in our Dictionary, because we have no 
English equivalent. The strawberry is sarmentose, and so arc all plants 
which form “runners” like it, as does this saxifrage. A better transla¬ 
tion would have been trailing. Full exposure to the sun at all times; 
very little water and heat in winter ; and a pot not too large for the size 
of the roots, and to be potted only once in three years, are the chief 
points in its right management. We shall send your address to “ first 
fiddle,” perhaps he will call on you about the growth of cacti. 
Lobelia bed (T. F.) —There are scarlet, purple , white , and blue 
lobelias ; which of them do you want a match-bed for ? probably the 
dwarf blue one, as you name the Anagallis as likely to answer that pur¬ 
pose. The old small blue-flowering Anagallis will suit you best, and it 
will flower as late as the Lobelias, if your soil suits it; but all the 
anagallises arc like spoilt children—they will only do what they like, and 
where they like. 
Redder for a Large Bed (Novice). —For “a largish bed, blue, 
purple, or white,” take Salvia patens for blue; Petunia Devoniensis, or 
some such petunia, for purple; and Nyctagyniflora Petunia for a white, 
unless you could buy the Shrubland white Petunia, which every one 
admires so much in the beds at Kew. Deiphinum Barlowii is not fit for 
a bed ; but is a good “ herbaceous plant ” nevertheless. Lobelia ramosa 
i rubra we do not know. Centranthus macrosiphon use in patches, and 
mark how you like it. 
Hive disliked by Bees (O. Wintle). —Mr. Payne has had all his 
hives for these forty years made cf rye straw, whenever it could be ob¬ 
tained (but rye is but little cultivated in Suffolk), therefore, that cannot 
be the reason of your bees leaving the hive ; we would recommend your 
cleaning the hive inside with a dry, hard brush, and then placing it in¬ 
verted in the sun for some days, and a day or two before the bees are put 
into it, let a few pieces of clean white comb be placed at the top, as an 
inducement for the bees to commence working. 
Nutt’s Collateral Hive ( John Smith). —Yes, put the swarm when 
it comes, into your Nutt’s Collateral Hive, if you like it—but it is alto¬ 
gether bad in principle—and adopt the plan recommended by Mr. Payne 
in his Calendar for May, by placing the swarm as soon as hived, where 
the old stock stood ; carry the old stock sonic distance away. By no 
means iovert it, but allow it to swarm. You must not expect any thing 
from your second hive. If it should so far recover itself as to send out 
a swarm, treat it exactly the same as the first. 
Carnations and Pinks (A. B. C.).—July and early August is the j 
best time for layering Carnations; and for piping Pinks, the end of May ; 
or early in June. See what Mr. Beaton says to-day about Dielytra j 
spectabilis. 
Moving Vine (E. D .).— You must not move a vine into your green¬ 
house now, unless you can obtain one growing in a pot. This you might 
do from some of tiie London nurserymen, and then might turn it out I 
into the border without injuring the roots. 
Moveable Greenhouse (S. O. L.). — It is very easy to have a green- I 
house so constructed that you may move it away with you. You must I 
not have it fixed, except by screws to the walls or foundation. The white 
net used for lady’s caps, &c., is the best material for protecting ripe fruit 
from wasps. 
English Names of Grasses (Ibid). —The English names of those 
mentioned at p. 46 of the present volume are as follows:— Alopecurus 
pratensis. Meadow Fox-tail; Dactylis glomerata, Rough or Common 
Cocksfoot; Festuca duriuscula, Hardish Fescue; F. elatior, Tall Fescue; 
F. pratensis , Meadow Fescue ; F. rubra , Red or Creeping-rooted Fescue; 
Lolium Italicum, Italian Ilye-grass; L. perenne, Common Rye-grass; 
Phleum pro tense, Timothy or Cat’s-tail; Poa nemui'alis, Wood Meadow- 
grass; P. sempervirens , Evergreen Meadow-grass; P. pratensis, Smooth- 
stalked Meadow-grass; Medicugo lupulina, Common Yellow Trefoil; 
Trifolium pratense, Common Red Clover; T. pratense perenne, Cow f - 
grass, or Perennial Red Clover; T. repens, White or Dutch Clover. 
Books (A. B.). —We do not know anything about the books you 
mention. 
Glass for Vinery (II. C.). —We can state positively that Hartley’s 
rough plate glass is to be preferred for glazing a vinery. 
Seeds. — Mr. J. Morton, of the Union Workhouse, Macclesfield, 
Cheshire, lias a few seeds of Black Barley, Ilimaluyah Pumpkin, and i 
Vegetable Marrow, of superior qualities. With a view of spreading the j 
different kinds through the couutry, he will gladly divide the seeds with 
any of our readers, who will communicate with him, to the above address, ' 
and enclose a stamped envelope, to defray the postage. 
German Paste for Birds (A. B. C.). —We are told that the follow’- 1 
ing is an excellent recipe :—Pea meal lib., blanched sweet almonds 8 o/.., , 
lard 2 oz., moist sugar oz., adding the yolk of an egg, and a shred or 
two of saffron improves it. Beat it into a smooth paste, and rub it I 
through a colander to make into grains. In a dry place it keeps good 
for several months. 
Woodlick (S. Y.). —They are mentioned in The Cottage Gar¬ 
dener’s Dictionary. Look under the word Oniscus and Woodlicr. | 
Manuring Roses (A Subscriber ).—You may give them liquid-manure 
twice a-wcek ; mix a little super-phosphate of lime with the soil, and put 1 
mulch over the roots. 
Name of Plant (Collinu). —Yours is one of the pine tribe, and we ; 
think Pinus Douglasii. It is a hardy tree. We can never undertake 
to plan gardens. 
London: Printed by Harry Wooldridge, Winchester High-street, 
in the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; and Published by William 
Somerville Orr, at the Office, No. 2, Amen Corner, in the Parish of 
Christ Church, City of London.—May 6th, 1862. 
