26 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[April 10. 
days; repot in a month’s time into 5|-inch pots; and, 
again, in another month, into 8-inch pots. In this size 
they may be allowed to flower and fruit, and are then 
very ornamental. T. Appleby. 
FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
Dahlias. —If the plot of ground intended for dahlias 
is not in good order, it is high time it was. Wheel on 
plenty of dung; trench two spits deep, leaving the surface 
as rough as possible. Begin now to harden off the 
plants by a full exposure to the weather from morn to 
evening, shutting up then and covering, too, secmely, 
for there is no knowing what a night may bring forth. 
Scarce kinds may still be propagated by cuttings. Seed¬ 
lings, if any, should have their due share of attention. 
Prick them, to save room, into long narrow boxes, two 
rows in each; the sides of these boxes may he made to 
fasten to the ends with staples and hooks, so that when 
the frost is all gone the hooks may be undone and the 
sides will fall down; the young plants may then be 
separated, and planted without any injury. See back 
numbers for notices of other florists’ flowers. 
T. Appleby. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Vinery and no Greenhodse (R. H. D ).—Your plants will do well 
in such a vinery until you raise the temperature by artificial heat to 50° 
and above. Geraniums will even stand 5° more with safety; but when the 
temperature is above 50°, as you do not want your plants of Geraniums, 
Fuchsias, &c., early, they would be better as you propose, under frames 
in the garden. The less cheek and change, however, the better. If the 
night temperature in the vinery was from 45° to 50°, you must keep your 
frame rather close during the day, and cover up at night, until the plants 
get used to it, and the days get warmer and longer. If you do not force 
your vinery until February or March, you could not have a better place 
for wintering plants, as a temperature of 45° and less will never inter¬ 
fere with the vines. 
Nerium Oleander (Ibid). —We have never found any difficulty in 
striking this either in sand or in water; try again, but do not use the 
shoots too young; they are apt to damp from a deficiency of solid matter. 
Lathyrus latifolius (Ibid). —This increases freely by dividing the 
roots. You cannot do it too soon, as the less growth has taken place the 
better. 
Early White Malta Brocoli — Heracleum giganteum.— 
Messrs. Hardy |r Son, Nurserymen, Maldon, Essex, write to us as fol¬ 
lows : “ Seeing in your answer to T. S. G., last week, you do not know 
‘Early White Malta Brocoli.' We beg to inform you it is a distinct 
variety from Walcheren Cauliflower, or Grange’s Early White, being 
more hardy than either. You may recommend it as a fine very early 
kind. The plant of Heracleum giganteum your Tewkesbury correspon¬ 
dent inquires of, will grow fine in a tub of large dimensions, with holes 
at the bottom, drainage, &c., but would require a rich compost and fre¬ 
quent copious waterings with liquid-manure. It must not, however, be 
expected to grow so huge a specimen as in the open ground, as it is a 
great feeder. It would be best to strike the plant in a pot, and finally 
plunge it with roots entire.” 
Pavias (J. G.). — P. rubra and discolor are the best for planting on a 
grass plot flanked by evergreens, but JEsculus rubicunda is better than 
either of them; indeed, the best of the whole race for the purpose you 
want. 
Pyrenean Oak (Ibid). —Probably the nurserymen did not know what 
kind of oak you mean. It is the Quercus Pyrenaica of some botanists, but 
Q. Tauzin, nigra, and stolonifera of others. The seeds of Chinese Arbor 
vita do not ripen with us till late in the spring, and by sowing them as 
soon as ripe, we never missed. The seeds of Sweet Bay remain two 
years in the ground. Kerkis and Cheilos are correct. 
Tom Thdmb Geranium (Arthur Loftus).— You are quite right, one 
does not like to see the same things in the same beds year after year. 
Petunias would be unmanageable on your raised bed. When Mangle’s 
Variegated Geranium borders a mass of scarlet, its flowers should be 
picked before they open, as no arrangement can be worse than pink and 
scarlet; the leaves of Mangle’s give the relief, not the flowers. If you 
could get thirty-six plants of the Variegated Alyssum to form an edging 
next the ivy, then the whole centre might be planted with Calceolarias, 
and that is on the whole the best change we can make. Mangle’s may 
be used in place of the Alyssum as the second best. No garden is safe 
where hares and rabbits get in; and if hares are pushed for food, they 
will jump over a wire edging two feet high, if once they get acquainted 
with it, so that there is no way of keeping them from the beds but by 
unsightly guards or exclusion from the garden. Half-hardy annuals 
need not be pricked into pots, but transplanted at once from the seed¬ 
beds into the flower-beds, unless they get too thick, when some of them 
should be transplanted into rows or beds for nursing. Tobacco-smoke 
will kill the green fly but not scales ; these must be washed off. 
Scarlet Geraniums (Maria). —The rule how to treat old gera¬ 
niums that have been wintered dry in a dark place, is to take them to the 
light and air as soon as they begin to grow in the spring ; and the rule 
for bedding out plants of every description is, that they should be parted 
out of store pots in the spring, and put into single pots; now is a good 
time, but a fortnight earlier would have been better, provided there is 
room for them. 
Roses (Ibid). —You intended to send a specimen, but forgot it. You 
are not too late, but you must lose no time now to prune your Bourbon 
roses. Instead of indulging them, as you and thousands more imagine, 
by not cutting them, that is the way to ruin them. 
Hi elytra sfectabilis.—M r. Moore, the Curator of the Chelsea 
Botanic Gardens, says “ the best coloured drawing of this is in Paxton’s 
Magazine of Botany, xv., p. 127 ; and another in the Journal of the 
Horticultural Society, ii., t. 3. It is a lovely plant, and one of the 
greatest ornaments of the greenhouse at the present time, though I 
believe proved quite hardy.” 
Concrete beneath Trees (A Friend and Admirer). —Mr. Erring- 
ton has no very pointed aversion to concrete founded on well tested 
principles, only he feels a jealousy lest such should have a tendency to 
i hinder the free ascent of the natural ground heat, and the descent of 
water. Having accomplished everything to be desired, as far as root 
culture is concerned, by the use of rubbly material, which is eco¬ 
nomical and always at hand, no desire exists for far-fetched materials, 
or plans involving extra labour. He has used the above practice in 
hundreds of cases during the last twenty years, and has never been 
troubled with deep roots; indeed, on breaking up old foundations he 
seldom meets with fibres enough to sustain a young crab stock. Clean 
riddled cinders, however, are rammed hard all over the surface, through 
which the roots seldom feel disposed to penetrate. “ A Friend ” says he 
has used concrete successfully over “ a cold subsoil.” This throws light 
on the whole. Why not plant one foot or so above the ground level/ 
“ A Friend ” forgets that in the act of replacing the stones with con¬ 
crete he was compelled to root prune harder than ever. This is the 
chief reason why his trees are tamed; they are, moreover, getting older. 
Mr. Errington will, one day, soon, endeavour to probe this subject to the 
bottom in The Cottage Gardener. 
Vines Accustomed to be Forced (A Novice). —You are right: 
your vines awake at their usual period by a law of nature common to all 
plants, whether in-doors or out. Do not hurry them now you do not 
force them : do not by any means starve them, but just give them ordi¬ 
nary, yet comfortable treatment. In a couple of seasons they will be 
less excitable. 
Forcing Arrangements (A Subscriber ub initio). —“ I wish to ask 
your advice (knowing your willingness and ability to give it). I live with¬ 
in a short distance of Liverpool, and it has occurred to me that I could 
improve my condition by growing cucumbers, &c., all the year, for in the 
winter they would sell extremely well. I have plenty of manure, having a 
farm; but I know that it is next to impossible to keep up a genial and regu¬ 
lar heat with that material during the winter months; and w'hat I propose 
to do is, to erect a set of pits, having five frames 25 ft. long by 6 ft. wide, 
with brick walls 2 ft. high, wood frame back 2jft. high, front lj ft. high, 
on each side the boiler—having one of Burbidge’s boilers, which might 
have pipes on each side, with stop-cocks, so as to act on either division 
at pleasure from the boiler. I shall have three or four inch pipes with 
return pipes both passing under the soil, and in each frame a small 
upright pipe, with stop-cock to admit moisture when necessary. I have 
no idea what quantity of coal such a boiler would consume. Can you 
inform me 7 I can get coal in Liverpool for 6s. per ton, and slack at 
little more than half that price. I would build the w'alls half brick 
(4^ inches) thick, and fill them three-fourths with broken bricks and 
cinders, and on this lay a thin sod, grass down, and over all the proper 
, soil. The frames might be divided into 1, 2, or 3 lights, as required. I 
j should devote half—say five lights—to cucumbers, and the remainder tc 
radishes, lettuces, &c., in winter, and forcing rhubarb, sea-kale, &c.; 
and in summer for cucumbers, melons, &c. I shall have the frames 
j glazed with Hartley’s rough plate glass, 36 by 30 inches, having the 
bearers 2J feet distant; but how to make the joints in the middle tight 
without a lap I know not, unless it can be done with putty. I shall have 
ventilation at the sides. How would a vinery answer on the plan of Mr. 
Rivers’s orchard house, with brick walls instead of wood 7 Would it 
require glass at the sides—to be heated with a boiler as above, with 
flow and return pipes both above ground, and the vines to be planted 
outside 7 I wonder none of your correspondents have recommended “ cin¬ 
ders” for pot drainage, which are always come-at-able, whereas “ crocks” 
are, or ought to be, scarce. I have used cinders for many years, both for 
hard-wooded and succulent plants, and found them answer admirably.” 
You are so “ well up ” in your points, that it is not easy to offer useful 
advice. Your policy seems good. Liverpool is a famous mart, and 
farming and gardening possess some eligibilities for playing into each 
other’s hands, in these keen times. And now for your points seriatim : 
‘‘All the pipes passing under the soil,” do you say 7 Do you not pro¬ 
vide special atmospheric heat 7 It is impossible to state the quantity of 
coal, so much depends on the period, and the objects in view'. The 
quantity, however, with a good Burbidge, will not prove fatal to your 
1 plan ; especially with coal at from 3s. to 6s. per ton. We doubt you 
