February 5. 
record for the benefit of all amateur and operative gar¬ 
deners ; and if you like its insertion, here the simple 
remedy is:—The operation of pruning being completed, 
as it may be now in this fine, open season, Mr. Rivers scatters 
thickly over the bushes what, in Norfolk, we call “ short muck," 
or “ short Utter from a dunghill," and leaves it there till spring 
begins to develope the young leaf from the bud. This, he 
tells me, perfectly secures his trees from all the injury 
usually occasioned by the onslaught of the little chirpers, 
which, for those who admire and cultivate good and useful 
summer fruit, is a consummation devoutly to be wished.— 
W. Mason, Necton , Norfolk. 
GUTTA PERCHA TRELLIS. 
The following hint may be useful to some of your readers 
who have greenhouses (of course, it can only be applicable 
to those who study economy, and, perhaps, even to them, it 
may be nothing new), but I have not seen it, except in my 
own,—I allude to the use of gutta percha, instead of wire, 
for training plants along the top and sides of the house. I 
found very great difficulty in applying wire, as it requires a 
very experienced hand to run it straight, and stretch it 
tightly. A friend of mine happening to come in and see 
me vainly endeavouring to stretch my wire so as to appear 
“ eyeable,” suggested gutta percha, which I tried, and have 
had it in use all through last summer. I think it will an¬ 
swer quite as well as wire. It has never “ given ” under 
the highest temperature. F. G. 
SUCCESSFUL MODE OF POTATO 
PLANTING. 
My potato experiments are not yet complete, nor should 
I feel justified in recommending a system after one year’s 
trial, however successful. When I think I have established 
results that may be generally useful, I will, with pleasure, 
report them in The Cottage Gardener, or, which would 
perhaps be better, send you the facts to be put into readable 
form, for which my professional engagements leave me 
little leisure. 
It is possible that my plan may have been tried. The 
object is to save seed, and give more light and air to the 
plants. I plant on ridges, three feet wide, one row down 
the centre, choosing the finest potatoes, and placing them 
thirty inches apart. I flat-hoe early, and when the stalks 
are nine or ten inches long, they are spread from the centre, 
forming a circle, and the earth is pulled by hand over the 
middle of the plant; this process is repeated whenever the 
earth cracks. 
I succeeded this last year in my garden in producing from 
a ridge 15 feet by 3 feet, 72-J lbs. of potatoes, from six- 
planted whole in March last. The several weights were 
15 lbs., 15 lbs., 12 lbs., Ilf lbs., 9flbs., 9 lbs. Each 
potato a different sort. Of the first, the Old Guernsey, six 
tubers weighed more than 6 lbs, and of the second, a pink 
kidney, there were not more than forty potatoes to make up 
the 15 lbs. All the potatoes were particularly fine. 
H. B., South Petlierton. 
[We look forward with much interest to the results of this 
year which may arise from our correspondent’s mode of 
potato culture; and we recommend it at once to be tried by 
all our readers on a small scale. The importance of obtain¬ 
ing from 9 lbs. to 15 lbs. of large potatoes from one root) 
needs no argument to enforce it.—E d. C. G.] 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
*«,* We request that no one will write to the departmental writers of 
The Cottage Gabdeneb. It gives them unjustifiable trouble and 
expense. All communications should be addressed “ To the Editor of 
The Cottage Gardener, 2, Amen Corner, Paternoster Row, London, 
Error. —All through the essay at page 256, the name of the plant 
should be spelt Aretocalyx, and arctos, a bear. 
297 
Calabash (R. 0.). —Most certainly the 1 Calabash will not succeed out- 
of-doors in the North of England. It is a stove shrub. But we suspect 
you mean the Squash, which will do there, it being, in fact, only a variety 
of the Gourd or Pumpkin, but differing in the manner of growth, and, 
except for novelty, but little grown. 
Vegetable Marrow Seed (Ibid). —You may with perfect safety ^ 
depend on the seeds of last year being fertile this. The opinion that 
Melon and Cucumber seeds ought to be old to be prolific, is fast wearing 
away, and though gardeners prefer seeds of these fruits three or four 
years old, they never hesitate to sow that of the last year, when they wish 
to have the kind. As a proof of the fallacy of old seed being necessary, 
we have seen a very nice crop of Melons late in the summer, which were 
the produce from seed saved that same season, and, consequently, could 
only be a week or two old when sow-n. 
Cassabar Melon (Ibid). —This is one of the tender Persian varieties, 
which require a brighter sun than we often have in England, and unless 
under advantageous circumstances, seldom do well. A soil too rich, and 
an atmosphere too moist, is most likely the cause of your failure. If you 
try again, withhold water for some time previously to their showing fruit, 
except for the purpose of keeping the foliage healthy, and then, if you 
keep the vine thin, and stop the points, you will probably succeed. Per¬ 
sian Melons that have been grown in England, and have become, to a 
certain extent, naturalized, are more fruitful than newly imported seed. 
An article on Melons will shortly appear in our pages. 
Forcing Fuchsias (An Amateur). —The latter end of April, or be¬ 
ginning of May, is far too early to bloom Fuchsias in good condition. If 
you wish to try, you may do so, but you should have a forcing-house to 
bring them on rapidly, and you must lose no time in commencing them. 
Repot, and place in a heat of 50° at first, and as soon as the plants have | 
made some fresh leaves and shoots, increase the heat to 55°. It is not I 
advisable, however, to try too many, for your success is very doubtful. 
The end of June, or beginning of July, is the proper season to flower 
this plant in perfection. 
Dahlias (Ibid). — If you do not wish to increase your stock of Dahlias, 
pot the old roots in March, and grow them on slowly in your greenhouse 
till it is time to place them out in the open air, under shelter of hoops 
and mats in frosty nights ; and when the season is advanced so far, that 
there is no danger of frosts occurring, plant them out immediately where 
they are to flower. If you wish to increase them, but not largely, you 
may divide the roots, leaving an eye to each tuber, pot them, and treat 
them like the entire plant. Then, again, if you desire to increase any 
particular kinds that do not show many buds, cut off the cuttings as they 
spring up, put them in small pots singly, and place the cuttings in heat 
to root. Afterwards repot and harden them to bear the full air and light. 
The best time to start Dahlias for cuttings, is early in March. 
Shifting Gloxinias and Achimenes (G. II.).— You had better 
shake them out of the old soil, and pot them in fresh before starting. 
See back numbers of The Cottage Gardener. 
Flower of the Day (J. H. N.).— The novelty of this beautiful 
variegated Geranium will plead in excuse for making an edging of it 
round a bed of fancy Geraniums, for a year or two, but the colour, 
though not a bright scarlet, is too much so for such a bed as you propose. 
It makes a very beautiful bed by itself. Your question about Hoses for 
four beds, is too indefinite to enable us to answer it. What class of Roses 
do you wish to plant—Noisettes, Chinas, Bourbons, Teas, Hybrid Per- 
petuals, or what ? If you cannot select from late numbers, let us hear 
from you again. 
Flowering Evergreens (Queen Mab).— As n general rule, ever- 
greens may be considered, with a very few exceptions, as not flowering at 
all. The new Ceonothuses from California, which are not yet quite 
proved, are the only addition we can suggest to what you already possess. 
Cuttings of Scarlet Geraniums (H. L. D.).— It is too soon yet to 
make cuttings of Scarlet Geraniums to be rooted in a greenhouse. The 
middle of March will be time enough for you ; but those who have hot¬ 
beds or pits are putting them in now by the thousand, being the thin¬ 
nings of old plants kept growing slowly all winter. 
Sowing Anemones ( Ignotus ).—Sow the seeds about the end of 
February, in boxes, if you have the convenience to shelter them, and if 
not, sow in the open ground early in April. This is on the supposition 
that you mean common border sorts. 
Standard Roses (D. H,).— You complain of the stiffness and naked 
stems of tall Standard Roses, and wish to know if they can be improved 
by planting others with them, “ and let them grow so as to look like 
bushes with different coloured roses, one above the other.” A very good 
idea, which may be easily carried out in good soil, and there would be no 
harm if some of the low ones—say Gloire de Rosamene —should mix with 
the heads of the standardsone of Gloire de Rosamene, planted quite 
close to the standard, then three of Madame Laffay, a little from the 
stem, and five of Dr. Marx, or any of the medium growers on the out¬ 
side, would make a very pretty group, and the colours might be varied by 
budding on the shoots in addition. 
Cow-keeping (Ibid).—It you soiled your cows—that is, cut the food 
for them, and gave it to them in a yard, one-and-a-half acre of moderately 
fertile land will keep a cow all the year round, and much less ground will 
do the same under very assiduous management. If you have only grass 
land, one acre-and-a-half, a ton of hay in summer, and one ton ot hay 
in winter, besides carrots and cabbages, is an average proportion. Why 
not break up some of the grass to grow winter feed. See what Mr. Mil- 
burn says on the subject in his shilling volume on The Cow, published 
as one of “ Richardson’s Rural Handbooks.” 
Barren Walnut Tree (A Constant Subscriber, Hereford).—As your 
Walnut blooms and sets freely, and casts the fruit about Midsummer, it 
is to be presumed that drought and a hungry soil are the causes of the 
evil. If your soil is dry, cover the surface, over the roots, with some old 
compost, pond mud, or ditchings, which have been mellowed j you may 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
