167 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, June 15, 1858. 
is cold, hard, and unpalatable to plants, and in some cases at 
variance with the character of the soil altogether. A water 
strongly impregnated with iron is ill-fitted to pour over 
plants, whose natural habitation is a chalky soil, such as the 
Cabbage tribe ; while a bed of new planted-out Rhodo¬ 
dendrons are obliged to drink a water better calculated to 
promote disease than health. Such extreme cases must be 
modified as far as possible; and when water of an opposite 
character to the wants of the plant must be administered, let 
it be given in as small a quantity as possible; and, when 
practicable, let something be added to it, to' give it more 
affinity to the plants it is intended to refresh, supposing, as 
an example, that a dry, hot summer renders watering neces¬ 
sary for all newly-sown or planted-out crops. 
Watering alone will not be sufficient to maintain health; 
and in the case of newly-sown beds, deluges of cold hard water 
tends to harden the surface, and make it difficult for small 
seeds vegetating ; in this case, it is best to moisten the bed well 
at the time of sowing, and finish it off, by throwing over it a 
little dry material, of as open a kind as possible. Very fine 
leafy mould is the best article that I have ever applied, as it 
does not easily cake and harden, like many sandy mixtures; 
but the principal remedy is, to shade the bed as soon as the 
seed is sown, and watered as above. A total shading is im¬ 
proper ; a partial one, which just enables so much of the sun’s 
rays to reach the ground, as to suck the moisture from below 
to near the surface, is better. The most simple way is to 
cover the bed tolerably thickly over with boughs of some kind, 
that have no leaves on. The sun’s playing amongst them 
checks its intensity, yet admits a portion of its fertilizing- 
qualities to reach the surface. In rural districts, Pea-stakes 
will do this, but they are not so plentiful in suburban gardens ; 
yet something or other must be used. Netting is too close to 
the ground, besides which it is expensive, and close contact 
with the naked earth quickly rots it; but, to those who do 
| not heed either expense or trouble, some, slight canvass, or 
netting screen work, might be made, and laid down where 
wanted,—of course, elevated a little from the ground. But 
this is, after all, no better than boughs, because the side- 
draughts are very drying under a raised frame. N evertheless, 
something must be done in very dry weather to keep the 
j plants from suffering for a time, or to enable the seeds to 
i germinate. 
Watering newly-planted fruit trees, or shrubs, must also 
be done with caution, and, when once done, had better not 
j be repeated too often; rather shade the ground with some 
l loose material, which checks evaporation ; and keep the roots 
| of everything else at arai’s length. Eor, be it remembered, 
I that no amount of watering will compensate a fruit tree for 
the robbery it has sustained by other crops exhausting the 
soil its roots have to procure their food from. Peas, and other 
crops, are very often the cause of Peach trees appearing as if 
they wanted water, and the pump is but a poor remedy for 
this state of things. In fact, let it always be borne in mind, 
that watering by hand is an artificial operation, and is only 
wanted when the suffering plant is placed in an artificial con¬ 
dition ; and, even then, let it be treated as nearly as possible 
as nature would treat it. Do not give deluges of cold water, 
daily, to plants not requiring it; better, certainly, it would 
be to let it alone entirely.—J. Robson. 
QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 
PRUNING HYDRANGEAS. 
tc I found myself in a great dilemma, by the conflicting 
advice of several books and a horticultural adviser. One book 
says:— { Cut off the branches when it has done flowering.’ 
Another, ‘ cut all branches close.’ Now, I did so in 1856 ; but 
in 1857, in twelve large plants, and ten smaller ones, I had no 
flower at all, although the plants are in the open ground, in a 
half-sunny position, having the sun from two o’clock till seven 
now, in a north-west aspect ; beautiful and exuberant foliage; 
copious waterings and stirring of the ground ; rich sandy 
mould, brought on purpose; deep digging, and every care taken 
of them. I consulted a florist, to know the cause of my 
I failure. He told me:—‘ You have cut just the branches 
which were to bear flowers,—the old wood made the year 
before; the flowers do not grow on the new shoots of the 
year.’ 
“ As this is so completely at variance with the books, and I 
do not know which to believe, I should be exceedingly obliged 
by your telling me what I am to do. The plants have a fine 
appearance and have not yet shown flowers; but I kept the old 
wood, last autumn, for a change of system, and I do not know 
yet what may be the result. As there is a large quantity 
of new shoots from the ground, which may be an obstacle to 
the blooming, I am particularly anxious to know whether I 
am to cut them off now, to thin the plants, or let them grow 
for the flowers of next year, if Jhe old wood does not produce 
flowers every year, and wants to be renewed, as for Raspberry 
bushes ?”—J. L. De Lolme. 
[The Hydrangea is cultivated and pruned in two different 
ways, for pot culture, and the pruning for out-door plants, 
like yours, is a third mode. The Grape Tine is also pruned 
three or four ways for different styles of culture ; and to prune 
the Yine, or the Hydrangea , or any other plant, in a different 
way from that which it needs, under a particular system of 
culture, is sure to end in failure. The safest way to prune 
the Hydrangea , for out-door culture, is never to cut back one 
morsel of the young wood till it has done flowering, and then 
to cut it back entirely to the old wood; never to cut back 
the old wood until it gets too crowded, and then to cut back 
to a promising young shoot; to thin out the young shoots 
when they are three joints long, if they come much crowded, 
and not to allow suckers to grow from the roots on any 
account whatever. There is nothing differing in principle be¬ 
tween pruning a Gooseberry bush and a Hydrangea bush: the 
old thumb rule, and the best rule for Gooseberry pruning, is— 
“ What you cut, cut clean out, and what you leave do not 
touch with the knife.” But the drooping kinds of Goose¬ 
berries require some of the points of the young shoots to be 
cut back—so much the worse for them.] 
DESTROYING ANTS. 
cc Mr conservatory and garden are overrun with small ants. 
The buds of the standard Roses, as they burst, are eaten away 
by them, and the ground rendered hollow by their undermin¬ 
ing. Can you, or any of your readers, suggest any effectual 
mode of destroying such mischievous enemies ?”—J. D. G. 
[The ants do no harm to plants in a direct way, but, indi¬ 
rectly, they are all scamps ; for as fast as the fly sucks the 
bark the ant sucks his body, and, between tiie two, what 
plant can bear it'? Kill the fly with tobacco-water, or smoke, 
and the ants depart at once; but only to begin the game 
elsewhere, to satisfy their luxurious gluttony, until the fruit 
gets ripe. Then the fly is deserted, and no fruit is exempt 
from the ant; and the least crack, or wasp bite, is sufficient 
to allow the ants to get at and consume the largest fruit—they 
are excellent judges of the flavour.] 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Skeleton Leaves ( Veronica) .—If you will communicate your ad¬ 
dress, we may put you in the way of disposing of them. They are very 
beautiful. 
Fortune’s Yellow Rose s {An Old Subscriber) .—The white Rose 
you inclosed is certainly not it. Fortune’s Yellow Rose is decidedly 
yellow. No soil we know of would change a yellow Rose into a 
white one. 
Guano Liquid Manure {Jane). —Pour off the clear liquid, and use 
that for watering. Do not wet the leaves of either Geraniums or 
Petunias with it. It might spot them. Apply it once a week. 
Thoroughly decayed turf (the top spit), from a light pasture, is the 
best of all soils for Pelargoniums. It is the careful culture—the due 
promotion of growth and ripening of the wood—which enables pro¬ 
fessional florists to bloom Pelargoniums so far excelling those bloomed 
by amateurs. Do not apply the liquid manure after the flowering is 
over; but, by free exposure* to light and air, enable the plants to ripen 
their shoots. 
Seedling Unique Geranium (J/. Wright.) —Your seedling, from 
Unique , is of the same colour and substance as those of the Lilac 
unique, and with smaller flowers; therefore, it is not quite so good as 
Lilac unique , and the latter is the worst seedling of Unique which ha# 
been on sale. If your plant is of a better habit than Lilac unique , 
that will tell in its favour; if not better in habit, it is of no money 
value whatever. 
