324 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, February 26, 1S61. 
Turf Sods and Stable Manure under Cover (J. Williams). —You 
could not well have a better place for your turf sods in winter ; but if the 
■dung is two or three years old, it will not be of much use except for chop¬ 
ping up with the sods. We would prefer the sods being in small mounds 
out of doors in summer in your yard, and then remove a portion to the 
stable before winter. We have little room for this purpose, but we always 
keep some under protection. In the open air we build such sods into 
narrow beds 1 yard wide and 4 feet or more in height, drawing them up to 
span roofs, and tnat keeps them dry. 
Evergreens for a Trellis Screen (C. Hughes). —The first thing to do 
for a blind screen of evergreens such as you contemplate is first to open a 
trench 20 inches deep, or, if the soil is ordinarily good, to trench it to that 
depth and to the extent of 4 feet in width ; to add some rotten manure to 
the soil in the trenching, and to wheel or cart away part of the soil if it is 
very sandy or of stiff clay; then to fix your stakes in the hard ground 
at the back of this border, but so near to the loosed part that the 
plants planted out at the back of the border can be easily trained up to the 
wooden fence or stakes, or whatever the retaining support may be. No 
preparation for a screen fence should stop short of all this. Along close to 
the bottom of the fence, or back of the border, plant Irish Ivy out of pots 
at 2^ or 3 feet apart. It can be had up to 7, or 8, or 10 feet in length in 
the nurseries, and it might be planted a foot to 18 inches apart, so as to 
cover the whole fence in on one day—the day it is planted. Five years 
back we covered a seven-feet wall from end to end in one season just this 
way. About 1 foot from the bottom of the fence plant a row of the Felicite 
Pcrpetuelle evergreen Rose at 5 or 6 feet apart, or alternating with every 
two plants of Ivy, as we have been advising every other season since 1849. 
These Roses are to be fastened up to the front of the Ivy, and to be always 
tied loosely to the front spurs of the Ivy; and when they are sufficiently 
long and strong in the branches bud all manner of Roses on the Felicite, as 
you read last week out of Mr. Rivers’ “Rose Amateur’s Guide.” If 
the Roses and the Ivy are planted in a good border the same season they 
will never interfere with each other, and a whole generation of Roses 
.might thus be had across the stable-yard, or anywhere save in the middle 
of a wood. 
Seedling Cinerarias (E. T.). —All came quite dried up. Trusses should 
be sent in a box, with damp moss about them. 
Sowing Skimmia jaronica Seeds (H. B.).— Yes, a Waltonian Case is 
just the place for getting up the seedlings of Skimmia japonica in about 
twelve or fourteen days; and as the seedlings are extremely slow growers, 
you may leave the seed-pots in the Waltonian Case till June or the season 
is sufficiently warm to do without it. If you sow now, midsummer or the 
1st of July will be soon enough for you to pot off the young Skimmias. Put 
them into light sandy' loam and peat, half and half, and put six of them in 
round a 48-sized pot, put them into the Waltonian again, keep it shaded 
from the sun, and keep the air damp but use no artificial heat—only the 
sun morning and late in the afternoon, give them all the sun in September 
and October, and let them remain in the Waltonian all next winter, and 
without heating it, if it is in a greenhouse or in your dwelling. When you 
want to begin propagation in the spring of 18C2 the Skimmias might take 
their chance anywhere, for they are just as hardy as the bush Birches in 
the Highlands of Scotland. But afier the propagation of 1862 is over you 
will have to pot them singly', and keep them rather close and as hot as the 
sun can make them, with shading and moderate dampenss all through the 
summer of 1862, and you will gain thus one season’s more growth out of 
them in two years by a proper use of the Waltonian ; but recollect, and 
never forget it, that no other plants from seeds must be in the Case with 
them, unless they were of the very thick leathery-leaved Rhododendrons, 
which do and indeed require the same treatment as this extra way of over¬ 
coming the very slow progress of the Skimmias. 
Peach Trees under Glass (A Novice). —Whilst in bloom give the trees 
from 48° to 53° at night, according as the weather is cold or warm. In the 
daytime raise gradually 5° ; by sunshine may allow from 10° to 15° more. Do 
not syringe until the bloom is set. Prevent the roots being dry, but do not 
soak them too much whilst in bloom. It is gingular to have pipes in a 
conservatory and no means of heating them. If you sink the boiler low 
enough the plan will do; but the boiler must be considerably lower than 
you say, or you will burn the trap door unless it be iron. If the conser¬ 
vatory was small and the pipes not there, we would as soon use a stove at 
once ; but we know too little of your circumstances. See “ Doings of the 
last Week ” for much of what you inquire about. 
Pot-roots of Dahlias (W. II .).—rot-roots are the roots or tubers of 
cuttings of Dahlias made in the summer or late in the spring, and kept in 
pots the whole season. These are always more easy to keep in winter than 
.ground-rools- that is, those planted in the usual way. Zelinda is the best 
purple bedding Dahlia. Who will tell us the best yellow ? 
Passifloras palmata, racemosa, and Billottii Neglected (I. Wil¬ 
liams). —Every well-ripened bud on the Passiflora shoots will produce a 
shoot next summer that will produce bloom, if there is strength enough in 
plant and roots. You may prune as soon as you like, and keep this in 
mind, when your plants are regularly established so as to fid the space, 
all you will have to do every winter or spring will be to cut back the last 
summer’s shoots to within a bud or two of the base. All kinds, when 
established and filling their space, prune just as you would do a Vine on 
the spur-pruning plan. 
Moving Old Currant Trees (B.).~ White Currants at forty years of 
age will transplant as easily as if they were only one or two years old, and 
often much better. If a White or Red Currant bush was in health and 
vigour, we would choose the oldest plants for our garden. We would 
neither cut off any of their roots nor keep much of the old earth about 
them ; and we would plant them three or four inches deeper than they 
were before, so as to entice them to make a fresh set of roots from the 
collar or at the surface. A good mulching of littery dung the first season 
would help them to make the surface roots. 
Xanthoxylum aromaticum ( Formerly ).—This is a fancy name; but 
the old Toothache Tree, which is the other name you mention, is a species 
of Xanthoxylum, and a large timber tree in the West Indies. It is of no 
sort of use or ornament in British gardens. But, like a plaything, if 
required to sow seeds of Toothache Trees it should be done exactly like 
sowing Mignonette in pots ; then the pots to be treated in every respect as 
if they were full of Melon seeds; to pot the seedlings, and to keep them in 
Melon heat top and bottom till the hotbed is too cool for them ; then plunge 
them in a sweet tan-bed in a stove, and let the bottom heat be 80° all 
summer, and the top air as for Queen Pines. 
Tropjeolums from Seed (J. 77.). —Neither elegans nor any one that we 
know of the breed or new race from Lobbianum ever comes true from 
seeds. Elegans, and all of them as far as we know, are quite as hardy in 
their seeds as our native acorns; but out of ten thousand self-sown seedlings 
we have not yet seen or heard of one coming true. Tom Thumb is only a 
dwarf sport of the old garden Nasturtium, and, like that race, there are 
some slight variations in the flowers at times. It is simply a work of love 
to sow Nasturtium seeds in pots; for all the varieties come from sowings 
in the open air as sure as Sweet Peas, yet bushels of Sweet Peas are sown 
in pots to obtain them earlier, and Nasturtiums will also come earlier in 
pots. If you and we could keep to the plan of comparing all new things 
with some old-established plants, how much more easy to mind them. 
All present Tropaeolums have their seeds as hardy as Sweet Peas, and none 
of the breeds of elegans or Lobbianum can yet be trusted to come true from 
seed. Elegans is the best bedder, then Stamfordianum, then Triomphe de 
Ilyris. These are the only three fit to bed yet known. 
Sand for Potting (Beta). —The sand for mixing with soil used in 
potting plants is a sharp drift sand, such as is found by the side of streams. 
The pit sand is usually too fine and close ; but some is found in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Reigate that is well adapted for the purpose. It is usually 
white, but we have known some yellow that was very superior. 
POULTRY AND BEE-KEEPER’S CHRONICLE. 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
March 6th and 7th. Preston. See., Mr. H. P. Watson, Glover Street, 
Preston. 
MARcn 13th and 14th. Plymouth. Sec., Mr. W. R. Elliott, 5, Windsor 
Villas. Entries close March 1. 
April 1st and 2nd. Sunderland. See., John Littlefair, 6, Bridge Street. 
Entries close March 19th. 
May 21st, 22nd, and 23rd. Chesterfield and Scarsdale. Hon. Sec., 
Xhos. P. Wood, jun. 
May 22nd and 23rd. Beverley'. Hon. Sec., H. Adams. Entries close 
May 4th. 
June 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th. Bath and West of England. 
July 2nd and 3rd. Blackpool. Sec., E. Eowler, jun. 
N.B.— Secretaries will oblige us by sending early copies of their lists. 
DOMESTICATED PHEASANTS. 
We will not stand upon tlie order of our papers, but tve will 
dodge to suit the wishes and requirements of our friends, using 
only such right of selection of subject as shall require immediate 
attention. Thus, any review of the past will, probably, be as 
interesting in two months time as it is now; while the necessary 
advice and instruction asked by a correspondent, “ Amateur 
de Yolailee,” who wishes to go into Pheasants at once, must 
be given without delay. 
We have Golden, Silver, Bohemian, White, Pied, Chinese, 
and Common. All these are, or were, attainable. The Silver, 
Common, White, and Pied we have had running about. Golden 
are shy: if confined in a pheasantry they are pleasing birds ; 
but if at liberty they seek to hide, and do not become attached 
so much to their owner. Our experience is the same with the 
Chinese, and we have now a pair we have liad for upw'ards of 
two years. They are in an aviary with. Pigeons and fowls, but, 
if it is wished to see them, they must be driven out; we, 
therefore, believe that if they were at liberty they w'ould seek 
to hide. Then there is the Versicolor, a magnificent bird, hut 
at present only to be had at a large price—a beautiful creature 
covered with feathers like those of the wings of the Japan 
Peacock, a rich glossy blue, or very deep green, with every 
feather shaded to its edges with a light metallic lustre, ending 
in a pale steel colour. AVc long for the time when this splendid 
bird will become common. Beauty of colour is not purchased 
by the loss of any property that is valuable. He is to other 
Pheasant* what the Japan is to the common Peacock—he has 
not a plain feather. The Bohemian is simply curious, and 
prized, perhaps because it differs from others. It is like an 
ordinary bird washed over with cream ; the plumage has a dull, 
heavy colour throughout. The Chinese present the greatest 
variety of hue and shade. The top of the head is buff, the blue 
of it very dark, and the white ring of the neck wide and very 
distinct; the breast composed of small feathers, very dark 
copper, and pro usely barred; the side feathers of tlie breast 
cream colour sparingly spangled; the saddle and the wings a 
light steel blue. The White is simply, as its name implies, a 
white bird; hut the contrast of the red face is striking. The 
Pied is a handsome bird if the dark plumage preponderates ; but 
if there is much white, it gives the bird a tame and domestic 
appearance. Tlie old Pheasant is a solid, well-to-do, robust, 
