40'2 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY 
have removed the soil and a foot of the old dung, worked up 
the fresh with the remainder, replaced the old, then the soil, 
and wc would have had a little bottom heat.] 
EVERGREEN FOR A SCREEN. 
“ ‘ M. W. Ttjnbrtdgensis ’ requests advice regarding a 
screen to intercept the overlooking of her premises from a 
neighbouring house, both standing in their own little orna¬ 
mental grounds. It would be planted on an artilicial mound, 
the subsoil of which is sand, projecting from a belt. A 
single evergreen of the Cedrus or Abies genus would be 
preferred ; or any other Fir of free-growing, spreading habit.” 
[A couple of Spruce Firs about seven or eight feet high 
would be cheapest, or say three trees of that size to make 
a “block” at once, and two ■■of-.them to be removed after 
a while. But if “ M. W. Tunbridgensis ” is likely to hold 
the pretty “little garden” for a number of years, Spruce, 
or Scotch, or Silver Firs are far too commonplace things for 
so choice a morsel, and we would advise one Pinas insignia, 
at 7s. (Id. or 10s., to be planted with one or two Spruce trees, 
to do till the insignia did it all itself. There is not a faster 
growing or a better screen tree among all the Conifers of 
that class; it is a wonderfully bushy, close, and rapid-growing 
tree, and is the best green of them all; the only drawback 
is the price, which is about Gs. a yard. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Flower-garden Plan ( Greenhorn ). -Salvia patens will do to be 
•sown now, and 10 and 12 are the two beds for the seedlings. Older 
plants would need to be trained or pegged down there. 11 mast be all 
variegated plants, or Heliotropes with a white edging. The meaning is 
to keep the glaring colours from the centre beds. Scarlet Geraniums in 
1 and 3 ; the whole of 2 to be yellow; and 20, the match bed, to be of all 
shades of yellow, and an edging of Gulden Chain if you had it, but 
(Enothera prostruta will do. 19 and 21 mixed purple Petunias, edged j 
with Robinson’s Defiance , and for the rest anything you can lay your 
hands on. All manner of Verbenas; Sanvitalia prncumbens, from seeds 
at the end of March ; Saponaria Calahrica, ditto ; Tagetes tenuifolia, 
ditto; the three last out the season. Then all sorts of odds and ends, 
Clarlcias, Nemophilas, to be followed by China Asters sown on the 
10th of May. One thing is quite certain—if you once get into the care¬ 
less habit of filling all the beds at once for the season you will be a 
“ greenhorn ” to the end of your days. 
Illustrated Garden Work (R. H.). —The second volume of the 
Cottage Gardener’s Dictionary, which will appear in the course j 
of a few weeks, will answer your purpose. 
Beetles on Vine Buds (J. L.). —The beetle is the weevil, Otio- 
rliynchus scabrosus, a beetle very destructive to young buds. It feeds by 
night, and may be easily trapped by laying a cloth beneath the branches 
by day, and then shaking them about midnight, when the insects are 
taking their meal. They may be destroyed by sweeping them off the 
cloth into boiling water.—W. 
Hyacinth Culture (A Subscriber).— When done blooming take 
the bulbs carefully out of the water, and plant them in the borders 
without injuring the roots or leaves, but they will not bloom next year, j 
A manual on “ Florists’ Flowers” will be published in a few days, : 
which will give you full information. Inarching Camellias is done just 
as inarching any other hard-wooded shrub. 
Painters’ Oil Refuse (J. B .).—Spread it over any space in your 
kitchen garden requiring manure, and dig it in. Oil in any form is a 
powerful fertiliser. We should apply it to the Cabbage tribe, Rhubarb, 
and Asparagus. We conclude there is no white lead or other mineral 
poison in the refuse. If there is, we cannot say how far that migh£ 
injure plants. 
Camellia Soil (J. W.). —No wonder that your Camellias do not I 
thrive in a soil “all peat.” They require a mixture of half strong, turfy i 
loam, and half sandy peat. We do not know where Mr. Alexander j 
bought his Chinese Primrose seed. 
Variegated Hydrangea.—Scarlet Flowers for a Conser¬ 
vatory, &c. (L. J.). —1. The variegated Hydrangea blooms, but the 
leaves are the best of it. It will look best in" a warm house, but it will 
not bloom so well as in a greenhouse. It should be grown chiefly for 
the foliage. 2. You do not say what kind of Scarlets you want for a 
moderately warm conservatory. Salvia splendens and fulgens, to be 
followed by Gesnercefolia, are showy, and then for hard-wooded plants 
the red, and scarlet, and crimson Epacris. 3. Most likely your Magnolia 
would do as well out of doors. Some are long in blooming. Perhaps 
you had better send a leaf. 
Sowing Seeds for a Cool Greenhouse ( J . It.). — The reason 
why such kinds of Acacia as Drummondii and grandis are not men¬ 
tioned in Mr. Carter’s very excellent Catalogue we presume to be that 
seeds are not yet quite plentiful iu the trade. Acacias would answer 
well for such a house, and of these armilta, fulciformis, glauca, hispi- 
dula, juniperina, longifolia, lophanlha, pulcheltu, and speciosa, would 
suit you best. These should all be sown in a liotbed, and if the seeds 
are steeped a few hours in warm water before sowing they will vegetate 
GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, March 10, 1857. 
all the sooner. If the seed should happen to be very old the hot water may 
accelerate the rotting, when a few might come by allowing them to 
absorb moisture gradually from dryish soil. Next to these we would, 
among hard-wooded plants, select Clianthus puniceus, Coronilla glauca, 
Crotalaria Capensis and latifolium, Vnlichos lignosus as a climber, 
Grevilleas and Proteas of species, Metrosideros lanceolatus, Her- 
mannia Africana, Sutherlandia frutescens. These will also come better 
if sown in a gentle hotbed. A good plan would be to fill the pots half 
full of drainage, then some rough soil, then finer, finishing by leaving 
an inch unoccupied from the rim of the pot. When the seeds arc sown 
place a square of glass over the pot. This will prevent accidents to the 
seeds, and permit, by giving air by tilting up the square of glass, a 
gradual hardening off of the young plants before potting off. These 
.will do, though frequently in a temperature of 35°. The following 
should seldom be below 40°, with a rise of a few degrees in cloudy days, 
and of 10° or 15° in bright days in winter i—Bossiwa ensata, lino- 
phyllu, scolnpendrium, Callistachys ovata, retusa, Choroxemu varia 
and others, Daviesia acicularis, Diosma oppositifoliu, Ericas of 
species, Hovea rosmarinifolia, Indigofera Unifolia, viscosa, atro- 
purpurea, Kennedy a Marry alter, Baumannii, rabicunda, Comptoniana, 
Oxylubium of kinds, Lotus Jucobceus , Persoonia linearis, Pimelca 
decussata, Hendersoni, spectabilis, Podalyria sericea, Psoralea pinnata, 
Sollya linearis, Swainsonia galegifoliu, Virgilia Capensis. For summer 
and autumn blooming soft-wooded plants, sow Calceolarias in a cool 
place, Cinerarias in a little heat, Browallias, Balsams, and Cockscombs 
in a hotbed, Thunbergias ditto, Mimulus, Petunias, and Primulas in a 
little heat, with a glass over them. 
Tank versus Pipes (J. it.). —In your case we would prefer the 
tank, if not much more expensive, though if you have plenty of pipes 
we have no doubt they will answer equally well. Change your three 
quarters of an inch connecting pipe into one of two inches. When your 
boiler is within one foot of the tank we would have had iron as the 
connecting medium. Are you sure your flow pipe and return are 
properly placed ? We never care about having the water too hot, but we 
should look out for something wrong if the water was heard galloping 
in the boiler, and the water in the pipes or tank comparatively cool: 
150°, however, is pretty fair, unless when a great heat is wanted, and 
then we would prefer increasing the heating surface. 
Mesembryanthemums. —A New Subscriber wants to know their 
treatment, and asks, 1st. “ Is it an annual? 2nd. When should it be 
sown for bedding purposes? And 3rd. Does y; require to be sown in a 
hothed ? ” We should have liked, before noticing this very pithy inquiry, 
to have spent some days during the summer at the Botanic Gardens at 
Oxford or Kew. We once had the pleasure of seeing a fine collection at 
the former place, and Mr. Baxter, the very able and courteous curator 
there, could very easily help us out of a scrape by giving us a good 
list for the greenhouse, the window, and the flower garden. We write this 
chiefly in the hope of having deficiencies supplemented. First, then, 
there are Mesembryanthemums that are annuals, and others that are not 
annuals, though all of the smaller-growing kinds may be treated as 
annuals ; for, if sown in a mild hotbed in the beginning of March, and 
pricked out when large enough, and gradually hardened off, they will 
bloonr the same summer and autumn. Where there is no hotbed they 
may be raised in a warmish room by sowing the seeds in sandy soil in 
pots, covering them slightly with sand, and placing a pane of glass over 
the pot, and transferring the pots to the window as the seedlings appear. 
If the soil in the pots was watered a day before the seeds were sown the 
seedlings will hardly require any water until they are pricked off. They 
may be moved at first in little patches about one inch apart; and if the 
room or house is very airy a pane of glass may be laid over the pot 
again, and, in that case, the soil should be nearly one inch below the 
rim. Harden off by degrees, by giving air on one side before finally 
removing the glass. Of annuals the best known is crystullinum, the Ice 
plant. Of these glubrurn, calendulaceum, Californicum, pomeridianum, 
helianthoides, pyropceum, and caducus, are, perhaps, the most showy. 
None that we are aware of will stand frost; and, therefore, all out of doors 
will share the fate of half-hardy annuals. The following, though not 
properly speaking annuals, when kept in-doors will bloom profusely if 
sown, as above mentioned, in a hotbed or warm room, and planted out in 
the end of May, and are frequently marked as half-hardy annuals in 
nurserymen’s catalogues:— Aloides, yellow ; aureum, golden; Mand'um, 
white; capitatum, pale yellow; crassuloides, pink; flavum, yellow; 
lanceolatum, white; moniliforme, white; roseum, tricolor, three-coloured. 
The average height of the above will be about six inches. The following 
have more of a trailing habit:— Calycinum, white ; densum, pink ; rubri- 
caule, sarmentosum, virgatum, &c. These and the above propagate 
very freely from cuttings, allowing the end of the cuttings to dry for a 
day or two before inserting them in silver sand. When the Mesembry- ■ 
anthemums are planted out of doors a very sunny, warm spot should tie 
chosen, and the more elevated and dry the position, the better and the 
longer will the plants bloom. They are just in their glory in a rockwork i 
facing the sun. It is no use planting them in very rich soil, or keeping 
them in a shady place. 
Covering Vine Borders.—Vines not Prospering ( J. H . B .).— 
You found Vines in flower last March that had been forced in February. 
Borders from three to four feet deep, with leaves and dung doing duty 
as a hotbed for Lettuce. The fruit was not well flavoured, the leaves of ! 
the Sweetwater were pale green and spotted—no insects seen—and the 
wood did not ripen. Vines are planted inside in a two-feet border, and 
go out. Soil the richest possible. It is now sodden ; has few roots near 
the surface, and, though top dressed with leaf mould and sheep-dung, 
and though covered with leaves and manure, watched so as not to be too 
hot, and though a moist temperature is kept inside, the Vines will not 
break regularly ; and those that break do not show fruit. You fancy the 
rank soil has now been partially exhausted, or the Vines were forced too 
speedily last spring, and exhausted the stems before there was root j 
action, &c. 
Very probably there may be something in your surmisings; but still ! 
we do not see that the cause lies there so much. If there was a deficiency 
of root action it would have shown itself when the Viues were in flower 
more than any other time. We know not when the covering was put on ; 
but we should fear that there was too much. Why, such a height of | 
