September THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 303 
that the choice trees, from which you wish to procure 
seed, should he planted as far apart from the com¬ 
mon bearing varieties as possible; if this he not 
done, your “ labour may he in vain,” or in a great 
measure retarded, at least the chances will he against 
you succeeding in the way you would do by adopt¬ 
ing a different mode of procedure. This, I think, 
has been the reason the working classes have been 
so successful, for what kinds of trees they have grown 
have been of the best varieties out; they have had 
“ none hut the bestthe consequence has been their 
ultimate success. Should there be any further infor¬ 
mation your readers may desire, I shall he happy to 
afford it, on their sending a line to my address; and 
should any person he inclined to “ try their hand,” 
to such I would say, persevere, for “ perseverance is 
sure to succeed.”— John Turner, Nurseryman , Neejos - 
end, Sheffield. 
Wire-worms. —The Rev. E. T. Yates says: “I see 
in this week’s number a remark on soda-ash. I have 
found it efficacious in chiving away wire-worms, if not 
in destroying the destructive little marauder.” 
Erica Cavendishii. —Mr. Fairbairn, of the Nur¬ 
series, Clapham, near London, writes to us as fol¬ 
lows:—“We think it may interest many of your 
readers, who may have witnessed the magnificent 
specimen of Erica Cavendishii that we have had the 
pleasure of shewing at the several great metropolitan 
exhibitions, to he informed that we have plucked 
15,945 perfect blossoms from it, and that the plant 
is now in the most robust health, and promises yet 
to continue ‘ Geant des Battailesit has certainly 
gone through its warfare most valiantly.” 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Climbing Roses (E. A. M.).— Always keep down suckers of roses 
by pulling them off as fast as they appear. When climbing roses 
have filled or covered the spaces allotted for them all their strong 
shoots must be stopped at every growth; but probably yours are now 
too long for this, if so, prune one third of their length away, and any 
aftergrowth this season stop as soon as a few inches are made. 
Rose Cuttings (I. R. S.).—Y our instructions for growing these 
are unexceptionable, but not new. Almost all the perpetual roses 
will grow from cuttings if put in in August, and many of them will 
do as late as October, such as LaReine, Duchess of Sutherland, &c., 
and in some soils do much better on their own roots than on the dog- 
rose. We prefer all the strong Perpetuals on their own roots, but 
the dwarf and weak growing ones, budded close to the ground, on 
some free kind of the China breed. There is an Italian rose now in 
the nurseries which makes an excellent stock for dwarf perpetuals; 
it is called Manetti, and grows as freely from cuttings as the willow. 
Sowing Perennials, Biennials, and Annuals (W. VP.).—It 
is now too late to sow biennials and perennials for flowering next 
year. The following annuals if sown during the first fortnight of 
September will flower in April and May, before the geraniums, ver¬ 
benas, &c., are planted out; sow them in an open space in poor, light 
soil, and be sure not to dig it, only scratch it with a strong rake, and 
rake the seeds to cover them; the object being to render the young 
plants as firm and hardy as possible before winter If sown on rich, 
loose soil they would grow so succulent that the first hard frost would 
kill them. Silene Pendula, Compacta, and Regia: three red catch- 
flies ; they are very showy in May, but weedy at other times. Virgi¬ 
nian Stock, pink and white sorts, and Venus’ Looking-glass, blueish; 
old favourites. Collinsia Bicolor, purple and white, and C. Grandi- 
flora, deep purple; very showy, rising to 10 or 12 inches. Nemo* 
phylla Insignis, the finest low blue plant we have. N. Atomaria, 
white with black spots. Clarkia Pulchella, rose, and C. Alba, white. 
Sow these separate, but mix them plant for plant when you put them 
out in February or March, and the effect will be splendid. Eucha- 
ridium Concinnum Grandiflorum : this looks just like a red dwarf 
Clarkia, and is one of the very best of annuals at all seasons. Erysi¬ 
mum Perofskianum, deep orange; from 18 to 20 inches high ; very 
showy, and requires to be planted quite thick. This is also a good 
summer annual. Platystemon Calitornicus, and Limnanthes Dou- 
glassi, two weedy lemon-coloured low plants, but useful in May. 
Callichroa platyglossa, a yellow flower of the daisy cast; very gay, 
but weedy. Leptosiphon densiflorus, and grandiflorus, fine pinkish 
blossoms ; plant them thick, six to twelve inches. Gillia tricolor, light 
purple ; one of the prettiest of our spring annuals. Eutoca viscida, 
fine blue flower; but the plant is weedy and prefers a damp shady 
place. Oxyura chrysanthemoides, weedy; but fine yellow flowers, 
Bartonia aurea, splendid yellow flower; but a very weedy plant. 
Large quantities of these would make any garden gay in May; many 
of them have no English names, and seedmen know them best by our 
names. It must be recollected that these annuals are great impo- 
verishers of the soil. 
Plumbago Larpent.t. (Ibid). —Your plant which had not flowered 
at the end of August may yet do so, but certainly next year: ours 
were then in blossom. Keep it cool. 
Propagating Calandrina umbellata (Ibid). —The very top 
of the little tufts or branches do best for cuttings, but you are too 
late now for them ; keep the plant from frost and propagate next 
March. What a brilliant little pet it is ! 
Market Gardening (M. A., Maidstone). —We are not aware of 
any separate work upon this subject. It is only gardening on a large 
scale, keeping in view the cultivation only of those things which meet 
with a ready sale. 
Climbers for a Wall (D. T. H.). —You will find full lists of 
plants, which will answer your purpose, as well as directions for their 
culture, at pp. 149 and 154 of our first volume. It is quite impossible 
for us to give a design for ornamenting your well. Your other ques¬ 
tions shall be answered next week. 
Strawberries Overrun with Bindweed (WalthamAbbey ).— 
The best way to exterminate the bindweed, under your circumstances, 
is to persist in weeding it out; it bleeds much when wounded, and 
one season’s constant weeding will nearly or quite wear it out. You 
may make a plantation of strawberries now as soon as you can: dig¬ 
ging deep, using soil of a rather adhesive character, and introducing 
some manure. 
Crops for a Wet Hollow (A Worcestershire Man). —If we un¬ 
derstand your section aright your pit will always be liable to have 
half a yard of water in the bottom, pile what soil you may above it. 
This is not the most eligible site to reclaim : still, such crops as the 
Black currant, celery, &c., might be cultivated in it, and, perhaps, 
raspberries. We think, however, that coarse stones or other imperish¬ 
able material should be thrown in the bottom, in order to prevent 
saturation as far as possible. If your old turf is a loam we would by 
no means burn it; burning is, we conceive, intended to correct ma¬ 
terial otherwise incorrigible. Char your brush wood, by all means, 
and spread the ashes; dig the turf in as dressing, or mix and turn it 
with fermenting materials previous to the spring cropping. We fear 
burning reduces the materials, if organic, at a vast per centage. Sour 
peats and sterile clays are, however, improved by fire. 
Planting Fruit-Garden (G. W. P.). —You may, of course, 
safely leave a few useful trees, as you describe, until the dwarfs come 
to bearing conditions : this is a judicious course. Eleven feet is quite 
near enough; we would have given another foot or two, seeing that 
gooseberries or currants are intended to form undergrowths. Your 
apple-trees should be of the kind termed dwarf standards : that is to 
say, possessing a clean stem of about two feet, with a head like a 
punch-bowl or, at least, so formed as readily to take that character in 
the ensuing year. As to kind it is impossible to advise you unless you 
inform us whether you desire table or kitchen kinds most, and in what 
proportions ; also whether on a commercial speculation or merely for 
home consumption. By all means make stations unless you have a 
fine loamy soil of two feet on a dry and sound bottom. Your espaliers, 
if kept within bounds, will not be objectionable. As you will have 
plenty of apples you may plant such fruits as Orleans, Reine Claude, 
Violette, and Greengage plums; and Morello, May-duke, and Elton 
cherries. 
Barren Cherry-tree (Ibid). —You should have named the kind. 
Thin out the shoots in autumn, and try an application of mulch six 
inches thick : over-luxuriance can scarcely be the cause. 
Cabbages not Hearting (T. H. C.). —As your cauliflowers head 
well, and you have no complaint to make against your red cabbages, 
there can be no reason for your common cabbages not hearting except 
that you do not get a good variety. We cannot say why your pear 
and apple do not produce fruit without further information. Your 
heavy soil and Sheffield smoke are against them, but do they blossom 
well ? or in what stage do they fail? 
Sowing Apple Pips (A Well-wisher). —Sow the largest and 
plumpest pips from the best apples, but not one will produce a tree 
bearing an apple like its parent, and every pip from the same apple 
will produce a seedling differing from the others. The best chance 
for you to obtain new and excellent varieties is by hybridizing. If 
we were about to try the experiment for dessert fruit we should select 
the old Nonpareil for the mother, and the Kerry Pippin and other 
high-flavoured kinds for the father. For kitchen use we should breed 
between the John apple, or Northern Greening, and some other also 
a good keeper, but with more flavour. The pips of apples that will 
keep until the spring had better not be sown until March. Dibble 
them into a light border, burying each an inch deep and six inches 
apart. They may also be raised in pots. Remove suckers from them 
if they produce any. 
Rhubarb Plants still Vigorous (A Subscriber, Lynn). —If 
they were ours we should not gather from them any more, but allow 
the leaves to remain on until they die down naturally. You may still 
give them liquid manure. A gallon from your cow-yard to five gal¬ 
lons of water will be strong enough, and two gallons to each root, if 
large, twice a week. 
Heating Small Greenhouse (A Subscriber, Exeter). —A pipe 
flowing from and returning to the copper in your wash-house adjoin¬ 
ing would do for heating your small greenhouse, but we cannot fur¬ 
nish plans. Any whitesmith could do it for you. 
Jessamine (Thankee). —Your young jessamine is growing weak, 
and you fear to cut it back, thinking it will spoil the look of it, and 
yet you ask our advice what to do. Without seeing your plant, soil, 
or situation, or knowing the time it has been planted, this is not an 
easy task, at least to be certain to meet your case. Try watering with 
weak liquid manure ; syringe your plant night and morning for a 
fortnight; and then wait patiently for another year’s growth, which 
will no doubt be stronger. 
