THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
September 29 
I 510 
of some moment as respects fuel and the time of forcing. Until your 
Vines have had a crop or two, you will err with propriety in commencing 
on the 1st of March, instead of the 1st of February, and then you may 
begin earlier every succeeding year. The blotching and scalding of the 
leaves of the greenhouse Vines, we can attribute to nothing but want of 
sufficient air, and a very bright sun after some dark days. All laterals, 
during the first stage of their growth, tend to the increase of the main 
shoot, but there are two reasons for their removal now. The first is, 
that foliage made after this season takes more vigour away than what it 
returns. And the second is, that having, as you say, obtained strength 
of rod, you must bear in mind that maturation must now be hastened, 
and that, therefore, the merely growing mediums, in the shape of laterals, 
must be gradually got rid of, taking off those nearest the base first. I 
I have seen laterals left on, a strong shoot until late in the season, and the 
result was pointed buds, and a poor show the following year. From rods 
half the circumference, the laterals removed as soon as the wood began 
to brown, the next leaf to each bud left, you will generally have large, 
round buds, that will show' more than yon want, next season. Bear in 
mind, that, generally speaking, for all this ripening wood, &c., one day 
in the beginning of September is worth two in October. 
! Early Vinery (A Subscriber). —We can conceive nothing more 
likely to answer Ilian one of Mr. Fleming’s narrow upright houses, with 
a small span-roof, and a good brick wall at back, especially with such 
heating by a flue as you propose. You would find it a costly matter to 
have a span-roofed house, even in the shape of fuel. If adopted at all, 
the two ends should be north and south. If east and west, you could 
grow little on the north side. Mr. Fleming’s house, for early work, may 
not be yet sufficiently practically tested, and a narrow lean-to house 
wmuld be, perhaps, the most economical, and has been proved to answer 
in numberless cases—say, back wall, nine or ten feet above the front wall 
plate ; width of house, seven or eight feet; Vines planted inside, with 
fruit wall on arches, air ventilators in the front wall, and top sashes 
either made to move, or ventilators in the back wall, with a hollow space 
reaching to the top, and opening there to the south side. The advantage 
of this is, that in early work the air gets heated by reflection from the 
glass before it can get into the house by moving the ventilators. If the 
flue is near the front ventilators, air admitted there would also be heated 
before being diffused. As to flues, the finest grapes have been grown by 
that mode of heating, but it is less cleanly, less safe, and the heat is not 
so equally diffused as by hot water. 
Banana Fruit. —Since we answered a correspondent last week, we 
have seen a gentleman who cultivated the Banana largely abroad. He 
says, the fruit is never thinned, nor does it require thinning ; the foot¬ 
stalk, and the spaces between the fruit, increase as the individual parts 
grow. 
Gladiolus Seeds (A. P. B. H.). —This is just the right time to sow 
Gladiolus seeds, if you have a good frame, or greenhouse, to keep it over 
the winter ; if not, you can keep the seed till February, and sow it 
then. It does not require heat, but heat will not hurt it till the leaves 
are two or three inches long. Equal quantities of sand, peat, and loam, 
is ahout the best compost; and if you just cover the seeds it will be 
I deep enough for them. Seedlings from a sowing early in October are 
almost sure to flower the following season if they are well treated: 
spring-sown, they seldom flower before the second season. 
Wintering Lobelia and Salvia (M. M.). —The tops are cut off, 
and the roots are packed in sand, in some dry place where the frost does 
not reach. If you have only a few roots of each, they would be better in 
pots, but still in sand. 
Gladiolus {Margaret). —We are glad to hear from you, and you will 
have a list, and a story, next week, about the Gladioluses, and other 
things. 
Roses ( L. E. L.). —Strong, rich soil, such as a gardener would choose 
for Onions or Cauliflowers, is the best for all Roses. There is no remedy 
in the world, or no palliation, for Rose buds turning hard, or opening 
with green centres. If the plants are strong, transplanting them about 
the beginning of November is one of the best remedies. If they are 
not thrifty, scrape off the top soil all round, and down to the roots, and 
fill up with some fresh, good soil, and very rotten dung, well mixed, 
before winter; and after the middle of May begin to water them with 
W’eak manure water twice a week till the end of July—if that will not 
cure them nothing else will. Messrs. Paul’s work on the Rose is one of 
the best. You shall have a note of the best Rhododendrons in another 
week. 
Peacock Iris (A. R.). —This has been inserted in some of the London 
catalogues some years since, but whether true or not we never proved. 
Can any correspondent send a bulb of the true Vieusseuxia Pavonia to 
Mr. Beaton ? 
Depth for planting Bulbs ( J. R. C.).—Gladiolus and Lilies three 
inches deep, and Crocuses two inches, but a little deeper is no harm, 
and if you plant the more tender Gladioli in the autumn, place them six 
inches deep; the three-inch depth is for hardy ones. 
Grubs (Ibid). —We are just as much in the dark as you are about the 
“ best mixture for destroying grubs.” Strong salts and poisons would 
kill them, but the bother of it is, they will not eat anything that is dis¬ 
agreeable to them ; but by dressing the ground with what is disagreeable 
to them, and not poisonous to other things, we often drive them away. 
A little common salt, six times as much soot, and an equal quantity of 
fresh slacked lime, is as good a mixture as was ever thought of, but half 
the battle is to have the ground first trenched deep. 
Lobelia ramosoides (Vcrax). —This plant was mentioned in one of 
our reports of the exhibitions at Chiswick. It is a chance seedling, and 
is kept from cuttings ; it is a dark blue flower, the habit upright, and the 
best by far of all the little blues. All the London nurserymen have it on 
sale. Lobelia ramosa is an'annual, and the best blue annual we have, 
but it can only be managed from seeds. 
Moving a Cedar of Lebanon (J. P.). —There can be no danger 
now about removing your Cedar of Lebanon, which is only eleven feet 
high, after having had a trench dug round the roots two years ago. First 
of all, prepare the place to receive it, a hole or pit, four feet in diameter, 
and two feet deep, put afoot of good soil at the bottom, on which to place 
the roots; and if the tree seems too much out of the ground, make a 
mound all round, and in the shape of a basin on the top to receive 
water; that is a better way than planting on the dead level. Make 
a trench this time outside of the former trench, and then, with a fork, 
work down the soil from the roots into the trench ; throw that out, and 
work down more, and so on, till you get near to the stem, when you will 
see if you shall be able to move a little ball of it, but if not, it does not 
matter much. After placing it in the new situation, break the soil fine, 
and with a rose water-pot let one man keep pouring water all round 
while another is filling-in the soil; the water will wash the soil into 
every little crevice between the roots. After all is finished, and the tree 
is well staked, fill with water the basin on the top two or three times for 
the next ten days, and that will do till the March winds come. Next 
April, May, and June, is the critical time for it, but watering and mulching 
will secure it. 
Roses (T. Mc’G.).— Nos. 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 20. 21, are Hybrid Per- 
petuals ; No. 1. Noisette ; Nos. 4, p, 17 , 22, Hybrid China; No. 10, China; 
Nos. 13, 14, 15, 16 , Gallica; 18 and 23, Bourbon; 9, Lavinia; and 19 , 
Queen of Summer, we quite forget what they are ; 6, Celine. There is 
one a Moss Rose, and one a Hybrid China. Your Roses are all good. 
Conservatory (G. B. C.). —“Would you be good enough to give me 
a list of plants for a conservatory? ” is too wide a question to answer so 
as to be of any use. We think you must mean only climbers, but you do 
not say a single word about them. We will keep your letter till we really 
know what you want. 
Ducks (F. C. L.). —The Rouen will best suit you; but Ducks, as 
breeding stock, will not pay without sufficient W’ater to swim in. Steamed 
roots, with barley-meal and bran, and in the laying and moulting seasons 
an occasional handful of oats, should keep them in good condition. 
Qualifications of the Wiiitj Bantam (Greenhorn).—' The White 
Bantam cock should not exceed 17 ounces, nor the hen 14 ounces. A 
double comb, and clean legs, are now regarded as essentials for the prize 
pen. (See “Bantams,” in The Poultry Book.) 
Cross between Siianghaes and Dorkings (Gourmand).—The 
crosses best adapted for the table, between the Dorking and Shanghae, 
have resulted from the male of the former breed with a Shanghae hen. 
Such an arrangement will be most successful in remedying the defect you 
complain of—want of breast. 
The most useful Trees for Family use, &c. (Clericus, R.).— 
We are puzzled by your first question—a w'est aspect stone-wall 120 feet 
long. The figure representing the height, is a “ pot hook” we cannot 
make out; and you ask what are the most useful trees to plant for family 
use ? That depends upon the family, and not upon opinion. For the pot, 
there is nothing they put on west walls more useful than Apples in 
many parts of the country. The wall, for ought we know, may not be 
high enough to grow Tomatoes against. A row of Dahlias along the 
dotted line would be the easiest summer fence between the vegetables 
and flowers ; but this is a mere conjecture, our data in insufficient to say 
I what would suit best. Arches at b and c would look very well indeed, 
and a hedge of climbing Roses, on rough trellis, would look very well 
between them, instead of Dahlias. Some kinds of evergreens ought to 
fill the boxes , in winter, with a thick border of yellow ami white Crocuses, 
and some Hyacinths in front of them. Scarlet Geraniums, or Verbenas, 
bordered with light kinds of the same, would look best in summer, for a 
season or two, then change to Calceolarias, Petunias, and mixtures. It 
should never be lost sight of, that large flower-boxes or baskets are only 
flower-beds, so much risen above the surface, and may be planted just 
like flower-beds. Some people like one kind of plants in their beds ; 
others quite different. You dislike the Salvias; nothing we like better; 
so you had not better trust to our choice. We never yet saw any plants 
in boxes or baskets half so telling as scarlet Geraniums ; and we never 
yet saw a basket or vase of mixed flowers that was quite as it should be 
in our eyes. 
Flower-garden Plan (J. R.). —The centre and the end next the 
door are good, and strictly geometric ; but the farthest end is not to our 
taste at all, and the planting will not do in these days. 
Heating a Propagating-pit (Ibid).— Your plan for heating a pro- 
pagating-pit from the kitchen boiler is ingenious, but the principle of 
the siphon is a troublesome way, and anyone who adopted it, except as a 
hobby of his own, would be sure to fail in the long run. 
Winter Plants for Stone Vases (Constant Supporter).— If you 
could get nice little bushes of Laurustinus, with balls, and well set with j 
flower blooms, they would be both suitable and ornamental; next to 
them .yellow variegated Holly are the best; but much depends on the j 
situation. In places near architecture, middle-sized Yuccas W'ould be j 
the appropriate plants to put into stone vases, and Aloes in the summer. ! 
Why not try first with cut branches? Stick a branch of Holly, Alaternus, 
Evergreen Oak, Portugal Laurel, and all other evergreens, and then 
take rooted plants of the kind you like best. We would never ask any¬ 
body’s advice about a thing where there was a choice of subjects, and 
that choice depending upon taste. 
