September 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 347 
Potatoes. —A Cornish correspondent says, “ You 
will be gratified to hear that the potatoes in this 
neighbourhood are looking exceedingly well, and 
shew no symptoms of disease. I am living in the 
midst of market gardens, my house being within a 
quarter of a mile of the village of Wilcove, famous 
for its brocoli. Sea weed is used for manure in great 
abundance." 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Removing Gooseberry-boshes (A Cottage Subscriber). —You 
may remove these now if you injure their roots as little as possible. 
We should give them their winter pruning before doing so. This 
early removal is only allowable because it is a case of necessity; 
otherwise, the end of October and November are the best times for 
planting and transplanting trees. For full directions for asparagus 
forcing see pp 92 and 1/1 of our first volume. 
Index to First Volume [Frank). —You can obtain this at our 
office through your bookseller for one penny. 
Wintering Verbenas and Geraniums (II. R.). —Do not hang 
these up by the roots unless you wish to destroy them. See what we 
say at p. 328 of last Number. 
Buffalo Celery Show (T. Dixon). —Send us the weights of the 
celery. 
Inarching (A Beginner). —By inarching, or grafting-by-approach, 
is meant grafting the branches of two trees or bushes together whilst 
they are growing near each other, and not cutting off the scion or 
graft from its parent until it has united or grown to the stock. 
Potato Storing (Clericus, Beds). —Some of your potatoes have 
“ gone bud” since they were taken up, and, fearing that the same 
may happen to your main crop not yet taken up, you ask our advice, 
and it is this :—Fork them up immediately, whilst dry weather con¬ 
tinues, and store them in a dry cool shed, in layers alternating with 
dry earth or charred refuse, covering the sides and top three inches 
deep with the same. Do not let any two potatoes touch. It is not 
unusual for one variety to be less diseased than another, as in your 
case the Farmer’s Glories were attacked, but not the “Clumberts.” 
We do not know the latter. 
Sour Krout (W. C. G .).— If the quantity willnot go into atwelve- 
galion cask, but which we are told it will if properly sliced and 
pressed, use a larger cask. 
Pumpkin Seed (Ibid). —A pumpkin should be cut as soon as the 
leaves begin to change to a yellowish colour. The fleshj)f the pump¬ 
kin, if a good variety, will be excellent made into soup, as directed 
at p. 43 of our first volume; or it may be boiled and mashed like 
turnips. Wash the seeds in a sieve, dry them, and keep them in a 
dry place, tied up in paper. Cut off the heads of the Brussels sprouts 
and Barnes’ Sprouting savoy when the stems are about eighteen 
inches high. This promotes their sprouting. 
Grapes Ripening Uneuually (I. B., Richmond). —In reference 
to your vines that have ripened and swelled one part of each bunch, 
while the other part has withered, you should, in the first place, re¬ 
move the strawberries from the border immediately and totally. You 
could not have anything worse, for they not only root deep and ex¬ 
haust the soil, but their foliage shades the border, and prevents the 
soil being so warmed as it ought to be for a native of sunny climes. 
Try and keep your border for the vines uncropped, and encourage 
them to root near the surface. See what has lately been said in our 
pages upon that subject. Secondly, examine if the border is drained ; 
if not, lose no time in getting a drain made, at least in front, from 
three to four feet deep. Thirdly, if you shut your house up at night, 
be careful to give a little air the first thing in the morning, and before 
the sun strikes upon the house. In late forcing it is always safest to 
leave a little air on all night. Fourthly, in the succeeding year be 
satisfied with a moderate crop of good quality, rather than a large 
crop that will be inferior, as much of the evil of which you complain 
is owing to the want of a proper root action, or from these roots being 
placed so deep that the rank juices they absorb cannot be sufficiently 
elaborated and matured ; and fifthly, the appearance you describe is 
sometimes met with, but not often, from neglecting to water well- 
drained borders during such weather as we had in July and August. 
Fruit-trees for N. Wall (P. W.). —The Golden Drop, Impera- 
trice, and, indeed, all the old plums, will do on your north wall, in 
addition to the Morelia cherry, but not better than on standards. 
The principal convenience of a north wall for fruit-trees is the ease 
with which fruit upon it may be covered to keep late, such as currants, 
gooseberries, Morello cherries, &c. Your suggestions are under con¬ 
sideration. We have already done more for popular gardening than 
has ever been thought of before, but we can hardly be expected to 
write books on the different subjects ; they are already as plentiful as 
blackberries, and many of them as worthless. The more you read of 
such books, the more certainly we shall have you as “a constant sub¬ 
scriber.” 
Rose Cuttings (Flora, Somersetshire). — Cuttings of summer 
roses will hardly strike now, but many of them would if put in last 
August. Good cuttings with “ heels” to them of all other roses may 
be put in any time in October and November, but the sooner the bet¬ 
ter. We have just finished planting many hundreds of them in beds 
of light earth, in an open situation; we have planted them in rows 
across the bed, fourteen inches apart, and four inches from one an¬ 
other, and gave them, when first planted, a good watering with a rose 
pot to fill up the soil about them. Your other question about your 
beautiful geraniums will be included in a general review of the whole 
subject next week by Mr. Beaton, and that will be in full time. 
Dahlia Cuttings (J. B. P.). —It is now too late to propagate by 
cuttings, but they may be grafted on the tubers now and in October. 
They will not be better plants than those obtained by dividing the 
roots next spring. 
Raspberry Espaliers (I. B. C.).~ The posts for these should 
be about six feet apart, and the plants three feet from each other. 
The directions at p. 55 of vol. I. apply to established plants. Canes 
planted this autumn will yield you a good crop next year if moved 
carefully and well cultivated. 
Heracleum giganteum (G. A., J. Robinson ).— This plant 
grows eight feet high, and its large bunches of white flowers will be 
out in June and July next if sown now. It is quite hardy, being a 
native of Siberia. 
Wintering Geraniums (H. R., Edinburgh). —Every old fuchsia 
and geranium, such as you name, may be kept over the winter, with¬ 
out light or pots, the same way as dahlias, that is, secured from damp 
and frost. Those out in pots are best kept in the pots, and all of 
them should be pruned before storing, cutting out the soft parts. We 
would not recommend you to adopt the plan of heating w>ith gas, 
but if you can do it at a small outlay it is worth trying. We shall 
soon enlarge on these subjects in another page. We publish the fol¬ 
lowing extract from your letter for the instruction of our other 
readers. It tells as plainly as a fact can do, how old geraniums and 
fuchsias can be wintered, “ Last winter, being in bad health, I had 
to leave home with my family, so I shut up my house, having taken 
all my fuchsias, geraniums, &c., in pots, into the kitchen. There 
they were left without water or light for nearly four months. When 
I returned in the beginning of April, I thought they were all dead, 
but, in the month of May, I had them put out into the open border. 
All of them have lived, and are now (September) in full foliage, and 
laden with clusters of flowers.” 
Systems of Training (G. G. G.). —We have always been in the 
habit of considering Seymour’s system as too tedious, and too apt, 
with the slightest omission, to get out of order. It is not on this or 
that system we must rely, but on a judicious course of management, 
more especially summer stopping. By the latter a tree may be 
kept under perfect control, and by it alone. Carry up your bearers 
on the radiating principle by all means. If your studs are all occu¬ 
pied, tie the young shoots down to the branch next below them, 
until the time of winter pruning. 
Lilium Lancifolium Rubrum (F. Giles). —See what is said in 
our first volume, p. 248. You need not give any water to old fuchsias, 
after they have been moved from your border into their winter quarters. 
Your plant, instead of Datura, is now called Brugmansia arborea. 
It grows large, and therefore requires much root room. It is really 
a stove plant, but large specimens turned out into the conservatory 
borders do exceedingly well; and even if turned out into the open air 
about the beginning of June they will flower well. Any rich light 
soil will suit them. To strike cuttings of it requires a good bottom 
heat. Your other plant, of which you sent a leaf, is either an Ipomea 
or a Calystegia. Do not cut it down, but encourage its flowering, as 
it is growing well. 
Balls of Jelly (R. Hick). —These, which you found when mow¬ 
ing, are slugs’ eggs. 
Sowing Gladioli (G. G.). —The soil for this purpose is a mixture 
of equal parts sandy peat, light loam, and leaf-mould. Bury the 
seed half an inch deep. Ixias must be kept in a cold pit or frame, 
with plenty of air through the winter. All that they require is to 
have the frost kept out. See full directions at p. 112 of vol i. 
Heaths in Room (/l. T. Blythe). —See, for general culture, p. 26 
of present volume ; and, in rooms, p. 168. Seedling pelargoniums 
must be allowed to go to rest in the winter, but the soil must not be 
allowed to become so dry as that of old plants. Do not allow them 
to bloom this year. To destroy the aphis on your roses, &c., there is 
no plan known but crushing them with the fingers, syringing them 
with tobacco water, and fumigating them with tobacco smoke. You 
will see a very able communication in our paper to-day on the culture 
of the strawberry . Answers to your other queries next week. 
Weeds on Lawn (Tyro). —The only mode of destroying the 
plaintains on your lawn is by having them cut out with a knife, and 
a large spoonful of salt put upon the stump. It is a tedious process, 
but a woman will do it for a very small sum. 
Crocuses in Moss (Stella). —Deep china bowls will do for this 
purpose ; only water the moss occasionally as it gets dry. By a six- 
inch pot is meant a pot six inches in diameter across the top. 
Vines in Pots (J. F. M., Otley ).—You will see Mr. Fish wrote 
upon this subject last week. Joslin’s St. Albans is preferable to a 
White Tokay vine for cultivation in a small house with little artificial 
heat. 
Fuchsia Seedlings (R. D.). —Treat them like old plants except 
taking care that the earth is kept slightly moist during the winter. 
They had better he kept in a cool frame, and here, if protected from 
frosts by coverings, they will require no other care. Leave your rose 
trees where they are if you have put them in where you wish them to 
remain. 
Lilium Lancifolium ( Dianthus ). —You will find full directions 
for the culture of this flower at p. 248 of our first volume, and p. 175 
of the present. L. L. album is white, L. L. punctatum is white and 
spotted, L. L. roseum is pink, cruentum is crimson, and rubrum is 
red. They grow from three to four feet high. The species is a 
native of Japan. The size of the instrument for ascertaining the 
pitch of a greenhouse roof given at p. 304 is immaterial; if each side 
is 18 inches long it is a convenient size. 
Salt on Gravel Walks (Rev. H. House). —See what is said at 
p. 72. No'water is necessary. It only destroys weeds for a time, and 
will serve your edgings the same if you have any. 
Huish’s Hive (J. Alerrifield ).— The Huish hive is 12 inches wide 
at the top, 10 at the bottom, and nine inches deep. The zinc covers 
mentioned in our last number refer to Neighbour’s improved cottage 
hive ; it has a top of wood the size of the hive, in which are five holes 
for as many glasses; the holes are covered with circular pieces of 
