THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, December 2, 1856. 153 ! 
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FAILURES IN A CUCUMBER-HOUSE. 
“I have a Cucumber-house under my charge which is 
forty-five feet long, twelve feet broad, and eight feet high at 
hack; three feet and a half at front, with a pit along the 
centre, four feet wide and eighteen inches deep, for the 
Cucumbers to grow in, with a hot-water tank underneath for 
bottom-heat, and a flow and return-pipe, with the hack wall 
flued to heat the house. The Cucumbers were planted in 
September, and run up with a single stem to a trellis eleven 
inches from the glass; then the lead was pinched off and 
trained out along the trellis. The plants are free from any 
kind of insect; but the margins of the leaves are continually 
shrivelling up as if scalded. They have bottom-heat from 
75° to 80°, as near as can be kept, and 65° to 70° the heat of 
the house at night, with a general rise by sun-heat during 
the day. As the back wall is flued I always leave the top 
sashes down about an inch both night and day, to let the 
condensed moisture escape a little, thinking it was that that 
lodged on the leaves, and when the sun broke out suddenly 
caused the scalded appearance ; but it is not so, for I have 
noticed several change on a cloudy day, when the sun has 
never appeared.—J. C. W.” 
[We fear you have got a form of Cucumber disease very 
bad to master. Are you sure, however, that you do not give 
too much heat to your roots, or that the roots get too 
close to the heating-tank ? They should he separated from 
it by rubble for about six inches, and care taken that the 
bottom of the soil is not dry. As further preventives con¬ 
fine the roots to half the space, use poor but fine loam, and 
keep up a circulation of air. See what Mr. Fish says to¬ 
day.] 
PAULOWNIA IMPERIALIS, MAGNOLIA GRAND I- 
FLORA, AND M. CONSPICUA NOT BLOOMING. 
“ P. C. A. will feel obliged to the Editor of The Cottage 
Gardener to inform him whether he considers it would be 
desirable to remove a Paulownia imperialis, which has now 
stood against a south wall for three years throughout the 
winter (at Bedale, in Yorkshire), and has formed strong 
wood, and appeared very healthy. The stem has had pro¬ 
tection during the severe months of the winter. The tree 
now over-tops the garden wall. 
“ P.C. A. wishes to know whether it would he safe to 
transplant the Paulownia into a situation where it would 
not have the protection of a wall, on which it now covers 
more space than can be conveniently spared to it; and the tree 
has also the appearance as if it would take a handsomer 
form if uncircumscribed. If safe to transplant it, would 
this be the best time in which to do it? It has just parted 
with its leaves. 
“ P. C. A. also asks if a Magnolia grandijlora, planted for 
the last five years against a south wall, which has never 
flowered, although the foliage is rich, luxuriant, and healthy, 
is likely to do so with increased age ? 
“ A Magnolia conspicua, planted against the wall of his 
house, facing eastward, and which has been there about 
nine years, has each season some fifty or sixty blossoms 
upon it.” 
[No tree is easier to move, or is less suited for a wall, than 
this Paulownia; but the middle of March is a better time 
to remove it than this. The tree, however, is of no use 
north of London, and hardly there, for its flowers. Poor, dry 
soil, and an exposed situation, are best for it, and for all 
soft-wooded trees, which are difficult to ripen in our climate. 
Whether the Magnolia grandijlora will flower depends on 
the kind of grandijlora. Some of the kinds never bloom to 
any account. The Exmouth kind blooms freely. It is very 
rusty under the leaves. Magnolia conspicua being without 
leaves all the winter is against it. In the shrubbery it 
would bloom better, we think.] 
that is half so good as that kind. We have seen hut four 
kinds blooming in August, and two more in September, and 
the less said about them the better. Any kind which is not 
as good as Cedo Nulli, or La Vogue, or Dr in Drin, will not 
“ take ” before October. The following are the best for you, 
and they are not long behind Hendersonii :— 
Autumnum , Spanish brown ; Adonis, fine rosy petals, with 
light bottoms ; President, lilac—cuttings to be made on Mid¬ 
summer-day, as it is very strong; Le Nain Bebe, a dwarf, 
and a little lighter than President; Oedo Nulli, blush or 
pure white in a light greenhouse, and out of doors tipped 
with cherry; Drin Drin, best dwarf yellow ; Pluie d’Or, 
second best dwarf yellow ; Ninon de I'Enclos, in the way of 
Oedo Nulli and La Vogue , orange yellow; but there are 
later kinds equally good.] 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Preserving Ginger. —We shall be obliged by an answer to the 
following:—“ I have got, this autumn, a good crop, in pots, of ginger. 
Can any of your correspondents favour me with the best method of 
preparing the root previously to submitting it to being boiled in syrup ? 
The root externally is rough and unsightly.” 
Hamilton on the Pine Apple (J. K. F.). —The publishers are 
Messrs. Groombridge and Son, 5, Paternoster Row. 
Binding our Volumes (Amateur). —Only those pages which are 
numbered are intended to be bound up. Of course, if a page of advertise¬ 
ments is at the back of a page of the body of the work it cannot be 
omitted. This mingling of the advertisements with other matter we 
avoid as much as possible. 
Planting about Fish-ponds (An Old Subscriber). —We have sub¬ 
mitted your plan to the judgment of others as well as our own, and we 
find no one bold enough to make suggestions. No one can do so justly 
without seeing the place. 
Chicory (F. Z., Aylsham). —Cultivate and blanch it the same as you 
would Endive. It is even more hardy than the latter. Alyssurn varie - 
gatum and Cineraria maritirna are quite hardy. 
Picea nobilis Cones. — Mr. Breadley would be obliged by informa¬ 
tion from another correspondent how he has succeeded with them. 
Lastr^a uliginosa (A Young Beginner). —We cannot agree with 
those who have decided that it is a species ; for it is too closely resembling 
L. spinulosa to merit more than to be considered as a variety. 
Cottage Gardeners’ Dictionary (J. N.). —It is intended to pub¬ 
lish a Supplement. 
Stove por Greenhouse (C. Mi). — This, without a chimney, is very 
injurious to the plants. 
Vines (A Liverpool Subscriber).— If you refer to our advertising 
columns you will find the names of nurserymen who have Vines for sale. 
We can recommend any of those advertisers. 
Weeds on Carriage-drive (G. R.).— Pour boiling brine over them. 
Take up some of your Celery, and cover it with sand in an out-house 
when frost commences. Throw some litter over that left in the ground, 
and put some Pea-sticks upon the litter to keep it from blowing off. 
Uncover the Celery in open weather. 
Tax on Greenhouses (H. Firebuck ).—Who says that there is any 
such tax ? 
THE POULTRY CHRONICLE. 
POULTRY SHOWS. 
Birmingham. December 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th. See., J. Morgan, 
jun., Esq. Entries close November 1st. 
Crystal Palace. January 10th, 12th, 13th, and 14th. Grand Ex¬ 
hibition of Poultry, Pigeons, and Rabbits. Secretary to the Poultry 
Exhibition, William Houghton, Esq., Crystal Palace. Entries 
close December 13th. , , , 
Essex. At Colchester, December 31st, 1856, and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of 
January, 1857 . Secs., G. E. Attwood and W. A. Warwick. Entries 
close December 17th. . 
Nottinghamshire: . At Southwell, December 17 th and 18th, 1850. 
Sec., Richard Hawksley, jun. Entries close November 19th. 
Nottingham Central Poultry Association. January 13, 14, and 
15. Hon. Sec. Frank Bottom. Secretary to the Canary Department, 
Jno. Hetherington, jun., Sneinton. 
Preston and North Lancashire. January 21st and 22nd, 1857. 
Sec., Ralph Leigh, Esq., 125, Church Street, Preston. Entries close 
December 13th. . . , 
mr — sm.r pfnri e swill nhliae us bv sending early copies of their lists. 
EARLY POMPONE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
“ Will you be so kind as to publish a list of a few select 
Pompone Chrysanthemums which have a dwarf growth, and 
flower early (as early as Hendersonii), and which also have 
the centre well-filled up ?—H. C.” 
[We have not seen any Pompone so early as Hendersonii 
SOME MORE OF MY POULTRY EXPERIENCES. 
February 7th, 1856. “ Mr. Briggs,” said my better half, 
“ I must have some eggs.” 
“ Send to the shop for them, my dear.” 
“ I must say it seems ridiculous that when we had hut [ 
