THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
November 27 . 
140 
brought from the same trees on Mount Lebanon, but we never reared 
but one plant. Still, we like the associations connected with such 
gardening. Leave the cones as they are to the middle or end of March, 
then place them near a hot fire, and that will open the scales ; but if not, 
the cones must be split into four quarters with a sharp tool, and then the 
scales may be separated to get at the seeds. Sow them in a shallow pit 
or pan, and merely cover the seeds ; use light friable loam only, and give 
I no water until the seedlings are well up. A close cold pit, or one with a 
very gentle heat, is the best place for them; but allow a free current of 
j air if the seeds vegetate. 
Evergreen Sc keen (Julius). —The best evergreen for a screen is the 
common laurel; and supposing your plants are a yard high, and the soil 
j good, it will take nine or ten years to be as high as you require, twelve 
feet; but you may plant a row of spruce firs, twelve or fifteen, at once, 
and you may plant them so close that the bottom branches will meet. 
The spruce bears clipping much better than the laurel. None of the 
! trees you name would suit you. It is not uncommon to see Auriculas 
and Polyanthuses in bloom in the borders at the end of a fine autumn. 
Cover for Vine Border (C. K. G .).—Cover your vine border imme¬ 
diately merely to prevent it freezing ; for this purpose nothing is so good 
as fresh tree leaves, although dry litter will do. A fortnight before you 
commence forcing, turn and mix a quantity of hot manure with the 
leaves, making them quite two feet deep, and thenceforward secure a 
heat of nearly 80° in the mass. Use fresh-got leaves, well-sweated with 
dung beforehand, for your “breaking” inside. Put Strawberries in 
your second vinery directly; let them remain there until you put the 
sweating material in your early vinery, and then introduce them there, 
putting them within nine inches of the glass. Or, which would be better 
still, merely set them on the fermenting material (not plunged) for a 
fortnight previously to going on the shelf. 
Geraniums for Conservatory (Charley).— The back wall of a 
conservatory, eighteen feet high, with glass at front and one end only, 
will never grow any Geraniums to satisfaction more than for a year or two. 
The Skrubland Scarlet is the only one we should like to try, and if the 
back border is renewed with very good soil, it would reach the top in 
three or four years. It is an excellent place for Camellias. Bfr. Beaton 
has promised to give full lists of bedding Geraniums, &e., &c. 
Marie Louise Pear ( L .). —Some mismanagement in pruning the 
spurs along the main branches is the cause of the fruit being only pro¬ 
duced at their extremities—a very common case—for which, and against 
such, Mr. Errington has written repeatedly. The best remedy now. is to 
select a medium-sized shoot of last season’s growth, here and there, and 
train them in at full length between the main branches, then to spur in 
the rest of the growth on the spurs, and next season to attend to the 
stopping of all the new growths as soon as they are a few inches long. 
The vases made of stone-coloured Elizabethan chimney-pots will look 
well on the lawn ; plant them with any of the dwarf Scarlet Geraniums, 
or with Calceolarias, or, indeed, mixtures, as for beds, but no plant is 
more suitable for such vases as yours than the dwarf Geraniums. 
Fuchsias (IF. D. Paine ).—“Would it be improper to prune my 
Fuchsias, before putting them to rest for the winter, under my green¬ 
house stage ? ” No —if the wood is well matured, and the most of the 
leaves fallen. Yes —if the leaves are still on, and the wood rather soft. 
In that case, considering the season of the year, we would prefer doing it 
as soon as vegetation commenced in spring. Those to bloom early should 
be pruned and rested early. 
Heatiis (S. IF.).—Those finishing flowering as late as the beginning 
of October, should be pruned then, and treated as you proposed. Those 
finishing flowering at a later period, we would not finally thin and prune 
until February and March. 
Wireworm (Ibid). —Soot and salt they do not like. We have 
succeeded best in trapping them with slices of turnips, potatoes, &c., the 
numbers in a morning, at times, was “ prodigious.” What say our 
other correspondents ? 
Potatoes (Ibid). —If your land is light, plant now ; if heavy, early in 
spring. The calendar, though short, yet being given at the end of the 
preceding month, ought, so far as remedy is concerned, to meet your 
wishes on a small scale. 
Tacsonia (J. A.). —The plant was too young to flower this summer ; 
it is now fifteen feet, outside, and in a box, and you have a greenhouse. 
Reduce it to five feet, and place the box under the greenhouse stage, 
and nail the stump against the back wall, to keep it out of harm’s way; 
it requires no light. If your box is two feet long, a foot wide, and a foot 
or eighteen inches deep, it will afford enough room for the Tacsonia for 
the next five or six years, and that is an excellent way to manage it. 
You may cut off every leaf, and reduce the youngest wood every autumn, 
and save it as above, with no trouble at all; but it will require abundance 
of water, and strong water too, every summer. We shall be most happy 
to receive your account of putting up your greenhouse for less than jive 
pounds; but give its full extent, quantity of glass, wood, and bricks, and 
mode of heating. 
Name of Pear (IF. N . 31 ).— Mr. Hogg says, “The pear sent is Marie 
Louise, produced from a late blossom, arid which, like almost all fruit so 
produced, has lost much of its external characteristics.” 
Fountain (W. M. A r .).—At the best, fountains can scarcely escape 
appearing ridiculous. Pray do not entertain the idea of supplying one 
from a water-butt! 
Pig-keeping (.4. B .),— See what Mr. Errington and Mr. Wheeler 
say to-day. 
Vines in Pots (J, R.). —These, as you say, enable a succession to be 
obtained in a small space, and are handsome ohjccts; but they require 
more attention, and produce less fruit than vines in the open border. 
Flue for Pit (F. W. T.).—We cannot tell the size you will require, 
as you have not mentioned the dimensions of your pit. Coal-ashes would 
suit you for plunging, perhaps, but we should use sand, as being less 
dusty. 
Covering for Pit (E. Gascoigne). —If you require this only for 
wintering old Scarlet Geraniums in, asphalt felt will do, as these do not 
require light. If you require light to be admitted for other purposes, and 
cannot use glass, try good cartridge paper instead of the calico, and 
render it semi-transparent with the same oily compound. The chimney 
of the stove will not be injurious, if you keep the air moist. 
Noisette Roses (C.E.). —Probably what Mr. Beaton has already 
said will answer your purpose. If not, be more particular in your ques¬ 
tion. Thanks for the enclosure. 
Jujube (Vashti). —The sweetmeat in the shops called Jujuhes, pro¬ 
fesses, by adopting that name, to contain the juice of the berries of some 
one of the Jujube shrubs, such as Zizyphus jujuba, or Z. lotus, but we 
fear they are nothing but Gum Arabic, w ith the juice of the Red Currant. 
Some botanists think, as you observe, that the branches of a Zizyphus 
(Z. spina-Christi) were woven into the crown that was forced around 
our Saviour’s head, but better authorities have concluded that that 
instrument of cruelty and mockery was made of the branches of Paliurus 
uculeutus. 
Disagreeable Smell. — A Curate's abode, when shut up, is filled 
with an unpleasant smell, “ not from any particular cause,” and we are 
asked for some more agreeable destroyer of the nuisance than chloride of 
lime. We know of none, nor w'ould we recommend any other to be 
used, for the Chloride removes the unwholesomeness, whereas perfumes 
only conceal it. Burning a pastille would soon remove the odour of the 
Chloride. 
Geometrical Flower-beds (A Cottager ).—We can make no other 
reply at present, than that that we gave in a recent number. We are 
alw ays ready to attend to such correspondents. 
Water in a Mineral District (Tangley). —It does not follow as 
a certain consequence that water in a district “ abounding in manganese, 
calamine, and lead ore,” is impregnated with deleterious constituents. 
A spring may come from a stratum not containing any soluble metallic 
matters. If your water is hard and suspicious, expose it to the air for 
tw'enty-four hours, after adding a little ammoniacal liquor from a gas 
work to it. This, under any circumstances, will render it more useful for 
your plants. 
Ageratum mexicanum (Verax). —This is an annual, but may be ren¬ 
dered perennial by planting cuttings of it, and not allowing it to ripen 
seed. It requires protection in the winter. We have applied for informa¬ 
tion about the peas. 
Salt (C. J. P.).— To the soil of your “ old garden full of worms,” you 
may apply eight pounds to every thirty square yards. You may mix each 
eight pounds with a pound of lime, and sow them broadcast over the 
vacant spaces. Do not spread dung over your Tulip beds. 
Paring and Burning (Wheelbarrow Jaclc). —The charring process 
you propose, usually called “ paring and burning,” is a common mode of 
improving fen land ; but to render it permanently beneficial, should be 
accompanied by draining. Concrete bottoms for ricks or stacks, made 
with gas tar, would be very good. 
Watering-pot. —The Rev. J. S. L. says, “Money’s or Thompson’s 
Inverted Rose Watering-pot, are essentially the same. The former 
figured and described in Loudon’s Suburban Horticulturist, page 147; 
the latter is referred to at page 191 of your second volume. This gar¬ 
dening utensil may be very well for refined purposes, and will require to 
be always used with clear water; but for open-air gardening, the common 
zinc watering-pot, with a fixed rose, is quite sufficient. The watering-pot 
in question, however (now not much used), I believe may still be had in 
Oxford-street. 
Exchange of Fowls. — B. K. wishes to exchange for one or two hen 
Silver Pheasants—some peculiarly large chicken, a cross between a pure 
Cochin-China cock, and a hen from Batavia, weighing eight pounds. He 
has also some young cocks, of a very large cross, to part with. If a 
letter, in a stamped envelope, is sent to us, it will be forwarded to B. K. 
Fumigating with Tobacco.— J. R. suggests that “Iron tripods, 
supporting deep basins or pans (with holes iu them to allow a current of 
air to pass through, for the purpose of creating a draught), be used for 
holding the fire on which to place tobacco, or tobacco-paper, for fumi¬ 
gating houses, Ike. These will be found very durable and inexpensive, 
and quite supercede garden-pots, which are generally used for the pur¬ 
pose ; but are not at all suitable, as the heat causes them to crack, and 
fly about in all directions. 
\oung Trees (T. A.).. —These do not succeed best when planted 
thickly together. They grow more rapidly tall by such treatment, not 
only because their lateral growth is checked, but because all trees elon¬ 
gate most in the direction where there is the brightest light. Trees 
planted less closely, and judiciously pruned, would not grow in height 
quite so rapidly, but they would increase faster in girth. Foresting, or 
arbori-culture, is not so well understood as it ought to be ; and we wish 
some of our readers, practically acquainted with plantation management, 
would favour us with a few essays on the subject. 
Names of Plants (R. S. B . and H . IF.).—Yours are commonly I 
called the Ivy-leaved, or rather the Nettled-leaved, Geranium, though 
not a Geranium, but Plectranthus fruticosus. (D. P., Dublin ).—No. 1. 
Cussebeeru, or Pteris hastata. No. 2. Aspidium, or Cistopteris fragile. ' 
We cannot detect your Chinese plant from the leaf sent. (H. IF. M.). — 1 
In answer to you, Oct. ltith, we omitted to state that your two shrubs j 
are Comptonia asplenifolia and Myrica cerifera. (A. D.). — Mesembry- ' 
anthemum inclaudens. 
CALENDAR FOR DECEMBER. 
FLOWER-GARDEN. 
Anemones, defend in bad weather; plant, if mild, for the last time 
till February. Auriculas, defend in inclement weather. Bulbs 
omitted, may be planted if the weather be mild. (See November). 
Carnations, defend in inclement weather. Composts, prepare. Cro¬ 
cuses, take up and pot in lumps, to force in pots. Dig over borders, 
