THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
487 
| September 19. 
'I 
submit a few questions with the view of obtaining informa¬ 
tion to enable me to train some plants in this form. 1. Are 
the plants alluded to strictly Geraniums, i.e., Scarlet Gera- 
, nuims, or are they Pelargoniums ? 2. How are they pruned 
and trained? 3. Must this pruning and training be begun 
i ‘ ab initio ? ’ that is, from a cutting, or will old plants of 
good bushy form train thus gradually? 4. Are these large 
plants ever cut down or shifted, or are they left in the pots, 
1 more Harry Moore?’ 
I “ I have some large Scarlets, Smith's Emperor, Meyler , &c., 
] which are always left in the pots, but hitherto not cut down, 
I and I rather think are naked in consequence. Should they 
| not be cut down every autumn, though not shifted ?— Verax. 
P.S. —Will you give a list of a few Yerbenas of creeping 
habit, which approach the nearest to blue as deep-lilac 
violet-blue ? The colour of Calestina ayeretum would be 
showy, if such exist.” 
[A list aud description of the best new Yerbenas is given 
at page 230, and all the best old ones are in former volumes. 
All kinds of Geraniums, or Pelargoniums, Scarlets, florists 
fancies, and all, can be trained pyramidal, as we have 
said over and over again, but some of the sorts are better 
adapted for the purpose than others. To begin at the 
beginning is the easiest way to get them into the true shape, 
but old plants can be brought to the proper shape by degrees. 
Pyramidals need not, necessarily, be kept on Harry Moore’s 
plan, but when they are of the full size, they should be turned 
out of the soil every year, like dwarf plants. Smith's Em¬ 
peror is the strongest kind, but not the best for a regular 
pyramid, as it is more difficult to get it to branch, and to 
heal the cuts where pruned, than any of the Scarlets. 
Mr. Beaton gives the ground work of the process in another 
column to day, and we shall not lose sight of it.] 
WEIGELIA ROSEA AND YELLOW JASMINE NOT 
FLOWERING. 
“A Weigelia Rosea did not flower; the soil is rich, and I 
suppose that is the reason : it is veiy flourishing, as far as 
leaves go. Shall I dig it up now, and replant it with sand 
and rubbish mixed with the soil, or what ? A Yellow Jasmine, 
on a wall facing the south-east, does not flower; it is in 
stiffish soil, and in full leaf, quite healthy; was not pruned 
last autumn or this spring at all. Caterpillars come regu¬ 
larly at this season, and demolish the leaves of the Scarlet 
Geraniums in beds. Is there any way of killing them ? Is 
there any chance of layering Petunias in pots, sunk round 
a plant in the border, as advised with Verbenas a fortnight 
ago? Is it now too late in the season ?—U. E. S.” 
[If the Weigelia and Yeltoiv Jasmine do not flower from 
being too luxuriant, all that you need do is to take them up 
at the end of October, and plant them in the same soil and 
situation; that will check them enough for two or three 
years without brick rubbish. More than half the world 
spoil their Yellow Jasmines by neglecting to stop the young 
growths all through the summer, just as they do their 
Banksian Roses; and, as sure as a Yellow Jasmine, or a 
j White Jasmine, or a Yellow or White Banksian, makes long, 
soft growths, so sure will they not flower very freely. All 
the side-shoots of a Yellow Jasmine should be stopped 
before they are quite six inches long, until the plants flower 
so abundantly that they cannot make long shoots at all: 
and it is a mistake altogether to weaken them by starvation, 
I root-pruning, and brick rubbish. What would a Grape-vine 
be worth if it were transplanted every two years ; or without 
transplanting, how soon it would go to ruin if treated as 
most people treat the Yellow Jasmine. Climbers are very 
different indeed, in this respect, from Apples, Pears, dwarf 
Roses, and such-like plants. In the wilderness, all climbers 
go as far as their growth can carry them; they soon exhaust 
themselves that way: then very sparing growths come forth 
all over—immense long leaders—and that is what nature 
teaches us. Let the leaders go ahead ever so far; but if 
side-growths come, we must stop, stop, and stop, again and 
again. There is no practicable way of killing these cater¬ 
pillars but picking them off and crushing them : we never 
saw them so numerous on the Geraniums before. Petunias 
will not do at all as you suggest; the more’s the pity.] 
POULTRY. 
NEW KIND OF PIGEON. 
“ Would you be kind enough to tell me, if possible, from 
the following description, what sort of Pigeons they are to 
which I refer. They are about the size of a Tumbler, or, 
perhaps, a little larger; the man who possesses the parent 
birds is a dealer; he calls them East India Pigeons. I 
never saw any anywhere else, excepting at the Bury Show, 
last September, where they obtained a first prize. They be¬ 
longed to a gentleman, from whom this dealer got his stock. 
Their colour is a glossy black everywhere except the wings, 
which, -when the birds are young, are of a deep orange, hut 
this colour is changed, at the age of four or five months, to 
a creamy white. Their plumage is very apt to be injured 
by handling, as the feathers hang very loose. The coo of 
the cockbird is very different from that of any other pigeon 
I have ever heard. They run very much like partridges. 
Their bill is about the length of a common pigeon.— Bury 
Boy.” 
[We are unable to reconcile your description with any 
known species or variety of the domesticated “Columbidas." 
It is very possible, however, that they may be a distinct 
breed, and that the designation, “ East Indian,” may have 
been correctly applied to them. The “Archangel ” pigeon, 
so distinct a variety, found no place in our pigeon catalogues 
till within the last few years, and others, probably, may be 
able to claim admission as we become still better acquainted 
with the natural history of remote countries. How much, 
for instance, have we learnt on this very genus from the 
Australian birds of Mr. Gould? Careful observance of the 
birds themselves, and the features reproduced in their pro¬ 
geny, would, of course, be requisite to satisfy ourselves that 
they are a distinct species, or, at any rate, a permanent 
variety. Some of our correspondents, however, may be 
better able to give the desired information.—W.] 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
The Common Fern.— “ H. L. will be much obliged if the Editor of 
The Cottage Gardener will tell him, in the next number, the best 
way for planting a piece of ground with the Common Fern ( Pteris aqui- 
lina ). Whether it can be transplanted ; by doing which the roots must 
be cut ? and when is the best time for sowing it ? ” We never expected, 
among all our varied queries, to have one relative to the cultivation of 
the Common Fern, or Brake, and certainly have no experience in culti¬ 
vating it. We think it could not be transplanted, but the seed, or spores, 
might be collected, and sown as soon as ripe. It will not grow in any 
soil that does not contain a very large proportion of sand. 
Prsscot Poultry Snow.—We are obliged by having it pointed out to 
us, that the first prize for Ilouen Ducks was awarded to H. Worrall, Esq., 
Knotty-Ash House, Liverpool, and not to W. C. Worrall, of Rice House. 
Preventing Peaches Ripening.— A General Reader wishes for in¬ 
formation, if there is any mode of checking the ripening of Peaches. 
White Dorking fowls should have rose-combs. You will find full de- 
scriptions of them, and of the Aylesbury Duck, in “The Poultry Book.” 
They are too long to extract. 
Cream Curdling (X).— The richer and the nearer to the state of 
butter, the more apt is cream to curdle when mixed with any watery 
liquid. Its oily constituents will not unite with the water. The more 
tannin and gallic acid there is in the tea, so much the more will it pro¬ 
mote the cream’s curdling. They acidulate the water, and acid, in any 
form, makes the buttery part of cream separate from its watery part. 
Thus black Bohea tea curdles cream, which is not so affected by Green 
tea. The first-named tea contains much more tannin. 
Fund for Indigent Gardeners (Ren. J. W. N.). —We know of 
no fund for them except that of The Gardeners’ Benevolent Institution. 
We are not surprised at your not knowing of this, as they do not adver¬ 
tise in our pages. Mr. Cutler, its Secretary, 97, Farringdon-street, will 
give you any information. King James incorporated the Gardeners’, and 
we hear that they have some endowments. Can any one give us informa¬ 
tion about this Company and its funds? 
Seedling Potato (IF. Jeffries). —Your seedling Potato seems a very 
good variety; skin white, thin, and clean; form a flattened oval ; and 
eyes few and shallow. If it is, as you say, “very early, and has been 
grown two years without any diseased ones among its produce,” it is 
worthy of general cultivation. 
Irish Moss (A Country Clown). —Our correspondent wishes to know 
if this can be bought for fatting pigs. Apply to any seedsman in Lon¬ 
don, and give a reference, or offer to prepay. Berberis aquifolium would 
not grow under Cedars where Grnss will not exist. Apply to Messrs. 
W. S. Orr and Co., Amen Corner, Paternoster Row, to send you Tiie 
Cottage Gardener by post. 
Poultry for confined Space ( C. L.).— No variety will do so well 
there as Shanghaes, either partridge-coloured or buff. They lay just as 
well without a male bird ; and if you have fresh pullets annually, they 
will lay through the winter._ 
London ; Printed by Harry Wooldridge, Winchester High-street, 
in the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; and Published by William 
Somerville Orr, of Church Hill, Walthamstow, in the County of 
Essex, at the Office, No. 2, Amen Corner, in the Parish of Christ¬ 
church, City of London.—September 19 th, 1851. 
