October 25. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
oo 
one would take up tlie subject, and invent a “ green¬ 
house fumigating cigar.”— W. Savage, Friary Cot¬ 
tage, Winchester. 
Ltltum Lancifot.ium Culture. —T some time ago 
sent you the proportions of the different ingredients 
of my compost for these lilies, which you approved of. 
I bloomed this year 14 bulbs, in pots 12 inches across 
on the top, tapering a little towards the bottom, and 
14 inches deep. Unless the pots arc deep, there 
would he too little room for the earth, for there is 
much drainage required ; and, in order that the stem 
fibres may have nourishment, the apex of the bulb 
must not he nearer the top of the pot than 3 inches. 
Mr. Groom considers this arrangement as to the stem 
fibres is necessary for the flourishing of the plant, 
ludeed, I know it to he so.— Diantiius. 
Oleander Cuttings. —I, some few weeks since, 
wrote to ask if you could tell me any way of striking 
the oleander, so as to have it hloom in the spring. As 
you did not reply to my query, I concluded you were 
not able to do so, and now I have found the plan I 
named, and havo pleasure in sending it you, if you 
think it would be worth inserting in your useful j ournal. 
During September and October prepare a quantity of 
two or three jointed cuttings by removing the lowest 
leaves, and making the peel of each, immediately 
under the joint, perfectly smooth. Place an inch 
layer of broken potsherds as drainage at the bottom 
of a pot six inches broad, upon that a coating of 
moss, then a compost consisting of one part reduced 
turfy loam and three parts of heath mould. Press 
this mixture firmly into the pot, water it, and make 
as many boles in it close around the side of the pot 
as there are cuttings; into each hole pour half an 
inch of writing sand; set a cutting upon the sand in 
the hole so deep as to be at least midway between 
joint and joint, then fill the holes with sand, and 
cover the entire surface of the soil with a half inch 
layer of the same. Saturate the whole with water, 
and see that the cuttings be quite fixed and immova- 
able but with some effort; upon this close contact 
of plant and soil depend much of the future success. 
The pot of cutting's may be kept in a heat of from 
50° to 55° during the winter, and many plants will 
be found perfectly rooted by spring. Among the 
cuttings taken from a full headed strong plant, there 
will, perhaps, be some that have the heads of future 
bloom produced among the upper leaves. Young 
plants may thus be obtained to flower in April and 
May.— L. R. Lucas, Louth. 
[Many thanks. If the above is a quotation, we 
should have liked the name of the work from which 
it is taken, that we might acknowledge it. Two 
things are essential to the success of this experiment, 
viz., that the flower buds be perfectly formed before 
the cuttings are taken from the parent plant, and 
that the heat during the spring does not exceed 60°. 
After all, the practice is more curious than useful. A 
cutting, or rather an oleander, with only “three 
joints” of wood and half a dozen flowers on slender 
footstalks, will not be much. It is needless to ob¬ 
serve that if the parent plant were subjected to the 
same heat during the whole period, superior flowers 
would be obtained as early, although this might de¬ 
range the future growth and bloom of the plant. 
The principle is the same as that recommended for 
making autumnal cuttings of the hydrangea.— Ed. 
C. G.] 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
*** We beg of all correspondents to address their letters to the 
Editor and not to the Departmental Writers; it saves time and 
trouble. 
Filberts not Bearing (J. IT. It.). —How can wc possibly toll 
you the remedy without knowing the present treatment and what 
soil they grow upon ? 
Scarlet Geraniums (M. N. 0 .).—You ask “Does Ilarry Moore 
(see p. 5) cut back the steins as well as cut oft' the leaves previously 
to storing his plants for the winter?”—Harry Moore does not cut 
back the stems of these till April, unless any of the tops damp, when 
that is removed as soon as noticed. When the buds begin to push in 
April is the best time to cut them. 
Gladiolus Hoots still in Flower (Busybody). —The gla¬ 
diolus will take no hurt for a month yet ; all the late ones may safely 
be left in the ground till the frost cuts down their leaves, then they 
are to be taken up, dried, and stored till the end of February. It 
is only the earlier gladiolus and the dry bulbs from the seed shop that 
are planted or potted in October. 
Potatoes (IK. IK.).—You ask us to recommend you a change of 
seed, but we cannot aid you better than by saying cultivate the earliest 
ripening kinds; Ash-leaved Kidneys and Itylott’s Flour Ball cannot 
be excelled. Planting Walnut-leaved Kidneys in autumn does not 
answer ; the plants are not so forward in production as if the sets aro 
put in in February. 
Wintering various Plants (Ibid). —You must not sow Iiho- 
dnnthe manglesii until next February. 'Aauchsneria californica, 
Weigelia rosea, and Forsythia viridissima, will stand out of doors 
safely during the winter. Culandrinia umbellata seeds so freely that 
you may leave it out, if on a rock work or very dry situation, and if it 
dies your seeds will soon replace it ; with us it lived in pots amongst 
hardy alpines that were slightly protected by a hedge, and a few dry 
boughs thrown over them. Mesembryantliemums will not stand out, 
except a few of the very woody ones, and they only in a mild winter 
and very dry soil. The Portugal Laurel will thrive in any mode¬ 
rately fertile, light, well-drained soil. 
Fruit-trees Failing, &c. (P. IK.).—You must look to other 
remedies than pruning to restore your French crab. Pruning alone 
will not recover a tree out of condition, neither will it irreparably 
injure one in condition. Perhaps your tree has penetrated an unge- 
nial subsoil: search for, and cut through, any deep roots immediately, 
and apply six or eight inches of manure! on the surface, to encourage 
the upper roots. We fear your case of pears rotting, and dropping 
before perfect, is referable to a bad subsoil also.—For Carrots, and 
similar root crops, trench and ridge your unpromising heavy soil now 
for amelioration by frost, turning in raw mauure at the bottom. In 
March break it down, and endeavour to incorporate plenty of sand, 
fine coal ashes, &c., with it for a foot in depth, adding a little very 
old manure. As to the best mode of treating fresh dung, keep a 
heap of common soil or sand by your manure. Let your man make 
a point of levelling the heap once a month,—say the first Monday of 
each month, for “what is done at anytime is done at no time;” 
then soil it over three or four inches thick, and so repeat it. There 
is no occasion to cover daily ; we think that a fermentation is bene¬ 
ficial, as to breaking down its texture, provided it does not rise higher 
than 80°. The trifling waste of gases at this pitch is, we think, com¬ 
pensated for by an uniform texture in the manure. There are more 
scientific plans, but this is a good off-hand one, and which all may 
practice^ 
Wintering Verbenas in their Bed (W. H .).—We have seen 
verbenas live out a hard winter in dry poor soil. Cut them down to 
within three inches of the ground ; scrape off a little of the surface 
soil between the plants, and lay an inch of rough cinder ashes all 
over the bed, without burying more of the plants than you can 
avoid,—charcoal' dust for this purpose would answer better,—then 
stick a few dead sprays without leaves round the bed, and amongst 
the plants. If any thing will save them, this treatment will. Pray 
let us hear in the spring how you succeeded. 
Wintering the Arum and Agatanthus (I. B. C. B.). —In 
your parlour, where a fire is kept, this is perfectly easy; and they 
must be watered regularly in such a comfortable place; turn them 
out in the sun on mild days. 
Fuchsia Corymbiflora (Ibid). —Cut down the green wood to 
where it is hard and brown, and winter it in a cellar or any outhouse 
where the frost does not reach it. If you wrap a hayband all round 
it, that will secure it so far. 
Cacti (Ibid). —These do better in good windows in winter than 
any where else. Keep them dry till the turn of the season. 
Myrtle (J. L. B .).—We do not clearly comprehend the condition 
of your myrtle, which you say would be very handsome, did “its 
leaves, which are not the very broadest, not continue to look dark and 
dry.” We consider your tub (18 inches in diameter,) quite large 
enough, and that, from being shifted into it last year, it would be 
more likely to flower next season, if undisturbed. Pruning of the 
roots would only be useful if they were in bad order, or the plant 
sickly ; in which case you might find a smaller tub, instead of a larger 
one, advisable. Did you soak the ball of the plant well before shift¬ 
ing it ? If the plant is in high health but has not flowered, instead of 
cutting the roots, to cause it to flower, we would prefer placing it in 
the full sun, so as to harden the wood thoroughly, and try it another 
season ; as a large myrtle in a tub, and a fruit tree in the garden are 
not in an analagous condition. The narro v-leaved varieties generally 
flower in the autumn, but seldom so freely or so beautifully as the 
broad-leaved kinds. 
Camellia (A. B.). —The leaves of your camellias curl though 
placed in the most shady part of the greenhouse. Supplied with 
abundance of air, and watered two or three times a week, if healthy, 
they will not require shade now ; unless the pots are very full of roots, 
and the buds swelling very fast, you give them water often enough. 
We think you must look to the unsatisfactory state of the roots, and 
