November 21. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
U9 
never do well on tall stems, be the soil ever so good; and 
when soil and scite, and a bad bottom, come in question, no 
Rose, except the very coarsest, will ever do well on a stem 
longer than three feet; thirty inches down to eighteen inches, 
ought, certainly, to be the utmost length of your Roses. 
The following kinds, we should think, ought to answer with 
you, on such low stems :— -Pius the Ninth, Baron Prevost, 
Auguste Mik, Madame Laffay, William Jesse, Gcant ties 
Balailles, Duchess of Sutherland; and as Pierre de St. Cyr 
does so far as make wood with you, try a few more Bourbons, 
such as the Queen of Bourbons, Souvenir de la Malmaison, 
Armosa, Comice de Seine et Marne and Edward Defosse. 
If you could get these on their own roots, however, they 
would be more likely to answer than on standards. When 
difficulties, such as yours, meet a gardener in the face, his 
first resolve is to give up all ideas of worked plants ; and if 
they do not succeed on their own roots, they “ won’t anyhow.” 
When making holes for these, give up that idea of “ one 
j spade deep ” altogether; three spades deep will do better 
j in your clay bottom, if you can get rid of bottom-water. In 
i every other respect, you seem to know the right road as well 
| as we can tell you, unless, perhaps, about the pruning, and 
! as to that^-the law is, that when Roses, or Apples, or 
i Lilacs, or other plants do not look healthy, the pruning 
! should be done as soon as the leaves fall in the autumn ; 
; and if they are are too strong, then, to delay the pruning till 
! March ; when plants are “half-and-half,” the weak shoots are 
pruned late in the autumn, and the very strong ones not 
till late in the spring ; then the weak and the strong start 
on equal terms;—the buds on the weak shoots are a month 
in advance of those on the strong shoots by this style of 
pruning.] 
SOIL FOR LILIUM LANCIFOLIUM. 
“What is the best soil to grow Lilium lancifolium in? and 
is it necessary to repot and disturb the bulbs every year?— 
J. C.” 
[About two parts turfy peat, and one part light, sandy 
loam, will grow the Japan Lilies to perfection in pots, if 
they are rightly attended to in other respects; full-sized 
flowering-bulbs of them, when once settled in large pots 
ought not to be disturbed for four years, at least. At first, 
when every morsel of root was valuable for increase, people 
turned their large bulbs out every season, in order to get 
the increase: but for private use, the plan is bad; bad on 
the face of it. Drain well, and make four years the standard 
for shifting these bulbs.] 
A DOUBLE VINERY. 
“ We have this last spring built a small Vinery, or rather 
a double house, with a double front-wall, with sliding sashes 
in front. The Vines are planted between the walls. The 
Vines are to be taken out at winter, and the sashes to be 
put on the inner wall. We have a pit in each house ; one I 
have had Cucumbers and Melons in. The Cucumbers have 
done very well, but the Melons will not ripen, not being 
sufficient heat. Can I grow early Potatoes in that pit? and 
when is the best time to plant them ? If not, will any one 
be kind enough to tell me the best use I can make of it in 
the winter? The Vines are quite young; we shall not take 
them in very early in the spring. When is the right time to 
take them out of the house ? I have some cuttings of 
different kinds ; I shall want heat in cold nights. I have, 
also, a very healthy Apricot-tree against a stone wall; but it 
does not bear, though it has been planted nearly four years 
from the nursery. It is very strong in growth. Can I move 
it against a cobb-wall? and if so, when is the best time?— 
A Young Beginner at Forcing.” 
[It is one of our greatest pleasures to solve the difficulties 
of all such beginners as you; but then, we must clearly un¬ 
derstand the premises, before we can come to a clear con¬ 
clusion. The other week we had some queries from a 
clergyman, a very pattern for clearness of object, and clear¬ 
ness of expression. Such vividness is not to be expected 
from the generality of working gardeners, but all of them 
should strive after attaining it. To think and reason clearly, 
and then to express their thoughts and ideas intelligibly 
and clearly, will ever be to them of great importance in their 
journey through life. On this account, alone, we hope that 
the admirable Essays to “ Young Gardeners,” by our 1 
friend, Mr. Appleby, will bo earnestly considered and acted 
upon by them. 
Now, we have a very dim perception of your double house, 
with double pits, and double front-walls, and, we presume, 
one set of front sashes for both, especially when all comes 
under the denomination “small." Three upright strokes, 
showing the position of your three walls, the width between 
them, and the mode of heating, and the position of the ' 
Vines, with another lino for the sloping roof glass, would 
havo made all intelligible. As it is, we are left in doubt, 
whether you have got a very wide house, with two pits 
contained in that width, and the Vines planted between 
them, and so managed, that you can bring the stems 
out of the back-house in winter, and place them under 
the roof in the second, or front-house, which then be¬ 
comes useless for all purposes during winter, save keeping 
the Vines dry, as the front - glass would be removed to 
place on the middle wall. In such a case, with plenty 
of heat, you may grow what you like in the northern 
house. But, if by double house, you mean a house in two 
divisions, longitudinally, and that your two front walls are 
near each other, say a foot, or eighteen inches, or more 
apart, and that there the Vines are to be exposed in winter, 
having merely the protection of the roof above—the front- 
glass being placed behind them instead of in front of them 
—then, not only would, the arrangement be a good one, if 
you designed to have a high temperature in winter, or to 
force very early, but you would not lose any room for grow¬ 
ing or storing plants. Let us add here, nevertheless, that, 
however advisable such a plan, that it was quite unneces¬ 
sary, if you did not contemplate having any thing in your 
houses during winter requiring a higher temperature than 
from 40° to 45°. As it is, having pots, and, we presume, a 
sufficient command of heat, you might commence Cucumbers 
and Melons much more early than you might choose to 
introduce your Vines. We are here, again, a little in the 
dark ; because the same temperature that would ripen the 
fruit in the wood of Vines in summer, and grow Cucumbers 
well, should have ripened Melons, if early enough planted 
to have the full benefit of the sun of this past season, with 
only a moderate supply of other heat. We have grown very 
fine Melons, and Cucumbers, too, in Vineries, where we 
could get an open space; but, then, however distant the 
roots might be, the leaves were within fifteen inches of the 
glass. In the circumstances, we can only say, that with 
very little heat in your beds, and the frost kept out by 
artificial heat, you may grow good crops of early Potatoes 
by planting now, and they will be gone before you want a 
high temperature for your Vines. Radishes, Carrots, and 
many other things might be grown ; and if you felt disposed 
to go to a temperature approaching 60°, you might, in a 
week or two, plant them with early French Beans ; or, if you 
could conveniently bring the pots near the glass, fill the 
place in a month with Straivberry-pots. The Vines may be 
taken out as soon as the wood is firm, and the leaves begin 
to change colour. By taking the Vines outside, you nmy 
grow anything in the pits you set your mind upon; from a 
plant requiring the protection of a cold pit, to one demand¬ 
ing a tropical climate ; but then, you must limit one house 
to one class, and can grow tender things then just according 
to the heating powers at your disposal. 
Wo would carefully take up the Apricot-tree, saving every 
possible root, and replant it in a similar position,—that will 
check it enough: syringe the foliage for a few days after¬ 
wards, if sunny.] 
HEATING FIVE STRUCTURES WITH ONE 
BOILER. 
“ It is proposed to erect a range of houses one hundred 
and fourteen feet long, divided as follows :—Pine-pit ( No. 1), 
twenty-one feet long ; Vinery (No. 2), thirty-one feet long; 
centre house, or conservatory (No. 3), ten feet long; Vinery 
(No. 4), thirty-one feet; and Pine-bed (No. 5), twenty-one 
feet. Can these houses be heated with top and bottom-heat, 
except No. 3, that with top-heat alone ? Can all be heated 
separately with top and bottom-heat, or with bottom-heat 
alone ? and can the mode of heating be such that I can 
heat any one I choose, either with top or bottom-heat, or 
with bottom-heat alone ?— J. S. L.” 
