43 -^ 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March 11. 
principle comes on, tlie next joint tlint grows is much longer 
tliaii nnj' joint below it; therefore, it is to the bottom of 
this joint we must cut to, when e put Calceolarias in beat 
for cuttings; or whether we put them into beat or not, this 
flowering propensity ought to be .stopped eai-ly in liie spring, 
and tbo next growth from the stopped shoots is the best 
“stuff” in the world for spring cuttings. As long as all tbe 
growth of this class s('ems jiretty ecpial in length of joint, 
tbe tops are, of course, fit for cuttings. Petunias ought 
never to be struck from flowering wood; but I’erhenas will 
do equally well, flower or no flower.] 
SELECT OllCniDS AT A MODERATE PRICE. 
“ Please inform me the names and colours of twelve of 
the very best and most showy Orchids in cultivation that 
can be purchased from 30s. downwards, per plant.—A Sun- ^ 
scraBF.R, Worcester." j 
[You might to have stated what means you have to grow 
Orchids. There are two distinct classes of these valuable 
and interesting plants. The first class is from the East 
Indies, and reijuires a higlier temperature, and a greater 
amount of atmospheric moisture; the other class thrives 
better in a lower heat, with less moisture. However, as 
your price will purchase but few of tlie former, we will con¬ 
fine our answer to the latter, jn-emising that all of the list 
below are very fine, showy species, and well worthy of being 
cultivated even in a small collection. You ought to have 
blooming plants at the prices quoted: — 
way of striking the cuttings. The wood is well ripened. 
Will they strike best in a hotbed, or in the natural ground ? 
I have most of the best Hybrid Perpetnals, as well as 
several Eourboji, China, Gallic, Ac.—A Rose Guowei!.” 
[Gallica Roses will not come from spring cuttings at all, and 
you arc now too late for all Hybrid I’erpetuals, but you may 
try them thus :—Take little, weak shoots, not more than four 
inches long, and with a heel to them, and plant them three 
inches deep in sand, and press them firm into it, and in a 
place whiu’e the sun cannot reach them from nine in the 
morning till late in the afternoon. Then you may get one 
out of a dozen, or not lose more than that; we have seen 
ten out of every twelve of them root and do well. The 
Bourbon Roses, the 'J’eas, Chinas, and Noisettes, root as 
easily as the old China Rose in cold or heat; but unless 
one is well up to the practice, it is veiy dangerous to put 
Rose cuttings from the open ground into heat in iMarch or 
April.] 
PROPAGATING THE ZELINDA DAHLIA. - LO¬ 
BELIAS AND VERBENAS MILDEWING.—STOP¬ 
PING VINE SHOOTS. 
“ I have about six roots of tin' Zelindn Dahlia, and I 
shall be glad to know if tliey will propagate im a hotbed suf¬ 
ficiently to plant a bed twelve feet in diameter. Some of 
them are the white variety; are they the same habit as the 
others? They came from Trentham Hall, and are marked 
Zelindn allni. Does this variety, when ])lanted in a mass, 
These will grow well in a temperature of oo° to (i0“ in 
winter, and (io“ to BE’ in summer. If you can divide your 
house into two parts, and can keep one ■wai’iner than the 
other, then you might, at your pleasure, add the following 
for the warmer end : — 
•s. d. 
zErides odoratum ... 31 (i 
-cri spurn . 31 6 
Chysis bractescens . 31 C 
Ccnlogyne cristata . 31 0 
Demlrobium formosum . 31 0 
-chrysanthemum. 15 0 
-monili forme . 15 0 
Aliltonia candiiln . 21 0 
-spectabilis . 15 0 
-Clowesii . 15 0 
Oncidium Lanceanum . 31 0 
Stanhopea tigrina . 15 0 
In purchasing Orchids, the buyer should, if possible, see 
the plants ; the value so much depends on the size of the 
plants. One may be wortli a guinea, whilst another of the 
same species may not he worth five sliillings ; so tliat it is 
always more satisfactory to both the buyer and seller if the 
plants are viewed at the time of sale. Not but what there 
are many respectable nurserymen who would, if any 
Orchids were ordered, and the price named, send as good 
plants for the money as could be bought, even if the buyer 
were present; but, as remarked above, it is far more 
pleasant to both parties if the plants and price are agreed 
upon on the spot. Sometimes good plants may be had at 
sales in London ; but the purchaser ought to be a good 
judge of their comparative rarity and value at the time.] 
STRIKING ROSE CUTTINGS IN THE STRING. 
“ As I am now about to prime my Roses, I should be 
much obliged if you would tell me which would be the best 
s. 
d. 
reejuire tying uii? and should they be confined to one or 
Calanthe veratrifolia . 
(> 
two stems ? 
Cattleya crispa . 
0 
“ Last year mv Lohelias (ramosoides) were infected with a 
- Alossire . 
t) 
disease, or blight, which causeil the leaves to turn brown i 
•- Harrisoniio. 
. 10 
0 
and drv up. This disease commenceil about the end of 
- labiata . 
(1 
.July, and by the middle of September every plant had dis- : 
Dcndrobiuin nobile. 
.••.... 10 
(1 
appeared. Thev were planted in a light, drv, gravelly soil, i 
--- densiflorum ... 
. 21 
0 
and the first year I had them they flourished beautifully. 
Lnclia anceps. .. 
0 
Can you iu any way suggest a remedy ? and would you 
Lycaste Skinnerii. 
0 
advise me to try this most beautiful plant again ? 
Odontoglossum grande . 
(i 
“Aly Verbenas, also, in wet weather, become diseased near 
Oncidium papilio. 
0 
the ground. It appears to me to be what is called shanking. 
Zygopetalum Mackavi. 
. 10 
'i 
The stems become decayed, and it spreads raindly. Can 
you assist me to a remedy for this also? 
“Should Vine shoots be stopped when the fruit-buds ap¬ 
pear ? and should the lateral shoots that are iwoduced from 
the stopping be taken out as fast as they grow?—Ara’HUR 
Loftus.” 
[The Zelindn Dahlia, and all other Dahlias, will come 
from cuttings now as well as J^'erhenas, but not quite so fa.st, 
if the “ roots ’’ are forced in licat to produce cuttings; and 
these will do to bed out next May, or June, in a bed. They 
require very little staking, or “ tying up.” No bedding plant 
ought to be “confined to one or two stems;” the more stems 
the more flowers, provided the bed does not get too thick. 
We never saw or heard of a White Zelindn Dahlia; but 
there ought to be a Zelindn in eveiy colour and shade of 
Dahlias ; and if you are certain that Mr. Eleming, of Trent¬ 
ham, allowed one of his white Dahlias to be so called, you 
may depend upon its being a dwarf kind, and good for 
bedding. The word Zelindn, in the flower-garden, means a 
very dwarf, bushy Dahlia, fit for beds, no matter what the 
colour. 
Mildew was the cause of the Lohelias and Verhenns going 
off, and the best remedy, in your dry soil, is, to add as much 
fresh soil to the beds as you can get. Where they are liable 
to mildew, the beds ought to be renew'ed every sprimj, from 
a heap of soil which had been there for months, and was 
turned over several times; any extra strength you could 
give from manures would only aggravate the evil; nothing 
but/rt'.v/t soil will do, and nothing suits any flower-bed better, 
after all. 
If the Vines are very strong, the safest way is to stop the 
shoots two joints befiu'e the bunch; but the laterals should 
be all stopped just above the first joint, and when that eye 
starts, that is, the second lateral, stop above the first joint 
of it also, and remember, now, to cut off the leaf belonging 
to the first stage of the lateral. Whatever number of joints 
your laterals may run to, never have hiil one leaf on a lateral. 
There is a principle involved in this practice which is too 
