^NIarch t. 
COUNTllY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
411 
corrode and eat tliroiigli it in a very short time. Copper, 
though more expensive at first, is cheapest in the end.— 
E. J. S. 
EARTHEN WANE PIPES AS A SUBSTITUTE 
FOR A 13RICK ELUE. 
In your nuniher for the 14th inst.-j you mention having 
seen a house heated by a fine formed of round earthen 
I pipes, and, witli tlie exception of one or two next the 
I furnace, they stood the heat well. 
i Last autumn, 1 built a pit, twelve feet by eight, and used 
six-inch earthenware glazed pipes for tlie fine, making the 
first yard from tlie furnace of brick. The pipes stand the 
work well, do not get too hot, ami, in fact, are, in my 
opinion, superior to the brick Hue. 1 have also used the 
same pipes for a greenhouse with eipial success. 1 had a 
small house heated with the usual brick tine, and to this, 
I last year, 1 added a larger house, and heated it by continuing 
tile fine with earthenware pipes. The old house I use for 
forcing; the new, for Pelargoniums, &c.; shutting ofif the 
heat, or letting it on, when needful, by means of dampers. 
Both houses answer perfectly.— Tot. 
, QUERIES AND ANSWERS, 
i GARDENING. 
^ AZALEA FORCING.—SENDING BOUQUETS BY 
I POST. 
' “ I was recommended, by a gardener, to place my Azalea 
! alba, showing flower, into the stove, to get it early ; but in¬ 
stead of its advancing to bloom, the hud.s have gone brown 
and decayed, and the plant started into growth. How is 
this? Will they force? 
“ Can you tell me the best way of sendiug a nosegay in a 
I box by post ? As at this season of the year a present of the 
^ kind is acceptable. Should the stalks be tied round with 
damp moss, or what?—I. G.” 
[The Azalea forces well; but wlien put into a stove it 
should be in the, coldest place at first, a-nd more air given 
; there than anywhere else; in fact, the heat must be increased 
^ gradually, or the buds will he apt to go as you represent. 
IV’e have packed flowers in boxes very successfully in the 
. following mode :—A little damp, but not u'et, moss at the 
bottom, the end of the stalk resting on that, and, perhaps, a 
little more, and then all spaces filled up firmly with dry 
cotton wadding. The firmer the flowers are fixed the better, 
j Some fine threads should go across through the sides of the 
I box just underneath the lid level, so as to keep a flower 
from moving if the box should be carelessly turned topsy¬ 
turvy.] 
CAMELLIA BUDS FALLING.—RE POTTING 
GERANIUMS. 
“ I have some Cainellia plants, vigorous and healthy 
in appearance, and which were full, but not over crowded, 
with healthy buds. All the buds have dropped off but 
one. The planls have not been re-potted since their 
last, flowering, and I conclude, from your late article on the 
subject, that this-neglect explains the failure. Should they 
be re potted now? or, if not now', at what season ? 
‘‘ Should GcraiiiiDH plants, cut back in the autumn, be re¬ 
potted now ? And what should be done with some strong 
Pelarijoiiiant.s which have not been cut back at all last 
autumn, and, though green and healthy, are tall and strag¬ 
gling?—M. A. N.” 
[It is quite likely that something connected with drainage 
and watering, as well as frost, perhaps, had to do with the 
falling of the buds, instead of want of potting. You may 
either re-pot when the young shoots are about one inch, or 
less, in length, or after the flower-buds are just set and dis¬ 
tinguishable. We prefer the former, and to keep the plants 
growing in a moist, shady atmosphere until the flower-buds 
appear at the points of the shoots, when they should be 
inured to more exposure. 
(jtraniunts cut back in the autumn may propeily be re¬ 
potted now, if you do not want them to bloom early. Those 
wanted to bloom in the end of May should not be re potted 
after Christmas. Those potted now will come in, other 
things lieing eipial, at the end of .June and beginning of 
July. If the shoots are strong and healthy, fresh potting 
often causes the flowers to come w'eak, if the period of 
flowering is not delayed. Pelar;/oiiiiims not cut back last 
autumn, now healthy, but tall and straggling, may either be 
kept as they are, for getting early flowers from them, and 
tlien be cut down, or may now be cut down for cuttings, and 
when the shoots break afresh, be re-potted and grown on, 
and they will bloom well in the autumn.] 
FRUNING IVY. 
“Part of the front of my house is covered with Irish. Ivy, 
which has not been cut for a number of years, and it now 
looks a.s if it was going to fall from the wall. Would you be 
kind enough to inform me, if I were to have it cut close in 
in the course of a month, whethei’it would be green by the 
middle of June next?—T. M. P. H.” 
[About a month hence you may cut the Irish and all 
other hardy Ivies Avith confidence, aud it will be green and 
glossy by next Midsummer day, provided ahvays, and be it 
remembered, that the cutting is done in earnest. Every 
leaf of it, and every branch or sprig which is two inches 
from the face of the wall, should be cut first, beginning at 
the top in a sheep-shearing fashion. After that, all or any 
loose branches must be cut dowu to where they are loosened 
from the wall. After that, about one third of all the young 
branches should be cut clean out to make room for a suc¬ 
cession of bett(-r ones. Irish Ivy has been so shamefully 
illused in this country for the last two hundred yea)s, that 
it is ditiicult to make people believe the right way of treat¬ 
ing it. A stranger, looking at our Ivy and out door Grapes, 
would hardly believe that there was one real good gardener 
among us.] 
EVERGREENS FROM CUTTINGS.—WINTERING 
BEDDING-OUT PLANTS, 
“ I am desirous of propagating a few evergreens, such as 
variegated Hollies, Barberries, Ac., I)y cuttings. Is this the \ 
proper season for doing so? In what aspect and soil should ' 
they be planted? I have been so tuifortunate as to lose a ; 
considerable number of my bedding-plants this season. I \ 
had them stored in a four-light tan pit, twelve feet by five 
feet, in which I grew Melons last summer. The plants ; 
were about eighteen inches from the glass, and on fine days ' 
I tilted the lights about four inches. Perhaps I did not give 
them air enough; or the rich soil the Melons grew in may 
not have been a good one to plunge them in. 
“Are bedding-plants the better for a slight bottom-heat in ; 
winter ?— An Ajiateue.” 
[ Hollies and Barberries do not come from cuttings, as you 
propose; neither will Bortii(ial Jaiureb, nor Junipers, and 
many more besides. But, what is Avorse than all, there are 
no evergreens Avorth a groat that Avill come I'rom cuttings in 
the spring. July and Sejiteniher are the months for such 
cuttings, according to the kinds. You can ^raft variegated 
Hollies noAV if you have young, green ones for stocks; but j 
it. is a most precarious job in the hands of an amateur. I 
liuleed, very few are successful Avilh any kind of Hollies, 
except nurserymen. 
Bedding-plants should have no bottom-heat at any time 
after they are rooted aud nursed. The frost, or too much 
damp, caused your loss. You gave sufficient air, but you 
did not look ilaili/ for symptoms of damping or fogging. 
Good gardeners never alloAV a speck or spot to come near 
their plants. Three or four dirty pots Avould about kill half 
the plants in such a sized pit as yours.] 
