300 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND 
ambitious. Still, there is not a Yellow Moss Rose forth- 
i coming. 
You must not disturb the Belladonna Lilies for six or seven 
1 years ; and if they are in front of a wall you need not put 
anything over them in winter, unless you live in the north. 
How could you ask us to tell you about the keeping of a 
plant without telling even as much as on which side of the 
! globe you live ? A climber to flower this year must he a 
| Lophospermnm scantlens, an Eecremocarpns scaler, or a large 
! Mauramhja ; hut the frost will kill them.] 
CAMELLIA LEAVES DISEASED, 
“ Some of the leaves on my Camellia plants turn partly 
yellow and partly blotched, and drop off. Can you make 
me acquainted with a cure?—J. AY., Lynn." 
[Your Camellias are in a very bad state at the roots ; the 
soil, soddened by a defective drainage, caused the roots to 
perish and the leaves blister and fall off' for want of nourish¬ 
ment. The plants will take a long time to recover. The 
only safe remedy is to shake off as much as possible of the 
old soil from the roots, to trim off the decayed ends, and to 
repot them in as small pots as the roots can be got into, 
using nothing but loam and sand, say one-fifth sand. Then 
prune the bad shoots to healthy green leaves, and set the 
plants in a close pit—the heat of the sun-will be enough for 
them—but keep the pit damp, and shade from the sun. 
Give them this treatment for two months, and after that 
give them more air and light, and as the winter approaches 
keep them as cool as possible; and when they begin to grow 
next spring give them a small shift into stronger loam, or 
loam with less sand than that last given.] 
RECTIFYING VINE FAILURES. 
“In a new Vinery I have planted about thirty Vines this 
spring, all well headed down when planted, from each of 
which have sprung very excellent shoots, with the exception 
of about five or six of the plants, which grow very badly, 
and appear stunted and very bushy, with many laterals. 
This circumstance gives my Vinery a very gappy and un¬ 
sightly appearance. Will you oblige me with some informa¬ 
tion as to the best course to pursue, so as to produce 
subsequent uniformity of growth as well as appearance? 
Would some of those which I have planted at the back 
of the house, and which I do not contemplate allowing to 
remain, hear moving, in the autumn, to the situation of the 
badgrorvers? and might they he headed down after their 
| removal to the same height as the others, as if they had not 
been removed at all ? I am anxious to get two good rods 
j from each plant to proceed up the roof for bearers the 
! following year.—A Sdbsceibek." 
[The greatest skill will not insure the desired uniformity 
of growth in all cases. Try what you can do this season 
! yet., by removing most of the bushy laterals by degrees 
from the weak Vines, and dressing them at the roots with a 
little cool, rich manure; a pinch of superphosphate of 
lime might do them good. If they do not grow to your 
wish, we would advise you to do as you propose; namely, 
remove some of the good Vines from the back. Just as soon 
as you see the least trace of stagnation of growth in the 
autumn, take up with every root possible, water when 
planted, syringe the leaves, and shade to keep from flagging. 
Place a sash or other material over the roots of the 
. transplanted plants to keep cold rains from them, and 
permit of all the sun heat acting on the soil; and if you 
thus ripen off the wood kindly, without the leaves being 
shed prematurely, which may all be done with a little 
attention, you may then treat these transplanted Vines the 
1 same as the others.] 
SOWING COLLINSIA BICOLOR.—TIMES FOR 
SOWING FLOWER-SEEDS. 
“ Oblige ‘ A Beginner ’ by naming the enclosed flower, and 
by giving a list of flower-seeds and plants, to be put in this 
and the following months, suitable for a garden, a frame, 
and the windows, all of which face the south, and are in a 
climate where there is scarcely any snow and not much 
frost." 
[The flower enclosed is the Col/insia bicolor, a very beau¬ 
tiful annual, which, if sown directly, will bloom in the open 
air in September and October. Sown in September it will 
bloom in the open air in May and June. Potted in Oc¬ 
tober, and kept in a cold frame all the winter, with plenty 
of air in favourable weather, and repotted and tied out, or 
pegged down as needed, it would make a fine ornament 
for the window from the end of March to the end of May. 
The Nemophilas, Silenps, Virginian Stocks, Sweet Alyssum, 
Mignonette, Clnrkias, Nolauas, Gilias, Annual Lupines, 
1 Venus's Navelwort, Venus's Looking-glass, and all the Candy- 
1 tufts may be so treated, and will bloom this autumn. In the 
middle of September all the above and (Enotheras, Eutocas, 
I Saponarias, Calliopsis, Callomias, Mimulus, Leptosiphon, 
Eschseholtzias, Limnanthes, and Larkspurs, may be sown 
out of doors, and will bloom, if they stand the winter, in 
May and onwards. 
Seeds may be sown next month, to be kept in a frame 
or window in winter, of Verbenas, Chrysanthemums, Gera¬ 
niums, Mesembryantliemums, Lobelias, Nolauas, Stocks, 
Calceolarias, Cupheas, Petunias, Schizantlius, Senecios. 
I As respects plants, every hardy greenhouse plant, every 
plant usually planted out for bedding, if at all of any size, 
may yet be planted out; and cuttings of each and all of 
them may now be got in in a moderately exposed place, but 
with the means of shading at command. Gardeners will 
not begin to do this generally, as respects bedding plants, 
until next month. We have already and lately entered 
so much into details, that we would prefer your specifying 
some point on which you want information, as the term 
plants is so general, that we might write a whole number, 
and yet not meet your case.] 
DESTROYING THE RED SriDER. 
“I have under my care a Peach-house, in which the trees 
are sadly infested with red spider. I shall be very grateful 
to any one who will inform me how to get rid of the enemy 
without injuring the trees, as I confess myself fairly beaten 
by them at present. I have tried every remedy I could think 
of, or had seen recommended, without the least good effect. 
As for sulphur on the pipes, I am persuaded it may as well 
be put on the outside walls for what good it will do there ; 
at least, that is my experience in the matter. I have painted 
the pipes over again and again, and heated the water nearly 
to boiling point for hours together, and never could I find 
that one red spider was in the least injured by such pro¬ 
ceedings. What shall I do in my difficulty ? I cannot, for 
shame, give up, and leave them uninterruptedly to pursue 
their devouring course ; and yet I know not what to be at, 
and shall be very much obliged, therefore, for information 
which shall enable me to renew the combat, and come off 
victorious.— William.’’ 
[ “ I cannot give up,” is the motto of a man who is sure 
to succeed. If you had told us what remedies you had used, 
we might have been more able to advise you. We find sulphur 
on hot-water pipes, and also on walls outside exposed to the 
sun, great helps for keeping red spider down, if associated 
with a moist atmosphere, or a free use of the syringe. From 
the liot-water pipe, and from the hot open wall exposed to 
the sun, the sulphuretted fumes given off are what the spider 
does not like, and these will flit, if not kill him, when he would 
walk about among pieces and particles of the dry, cool sul¬ 
phur as gay and as happy as a cricket. Dry heat is, of 
all c'roumstances, his delight; but an atmosphere saturated 
with moisture, and impregnated with sulphur fumes, is his 
detestation. I can well imagine that a strong heat, 
if not attended with corresponding moisture, might not 
greatly hurt the spider, even though sulphur was used. 
Unless in very cold weather, indeed, we can hardly see how 
the pipes could be heated to near boiling point, and a close, 
moist atmosphere be contained in the house in July, or even 
part of J une. I have no difficulty in keeping a Peach-house 
clear of spider, during the growing and swelling period, 
merely by keeping sulphur frequently on the pipes, with eva¬ 
porating pans there also, and a moderate use of the syringe. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION.— July 22 , 1856. 
i 
