548 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE!  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  December  12,  1901. 
lateral  extension.  If  the  Vines  show  two  or  more  bunches  on  a 
shoot  remove  the  least  promising  before  they  flower,  and  do  not 
allow  more  to  remain  than  will  be  necessary  for  the  crop. 
Damp  the  floors  in  the  morning  and  early  afternoon.  Where, 
however,  fermenting  materials  are  employed  the  necessity  of 
damping  will  not  be  so  great  as  where  the  heat  is  solely  derived 
from  the  hot-water  pipes.  In  the  latter  case  the  evaporation 
trough  should  be  filled  with  guano  water — lib  to  20  gallons  of 
water- — or  clear  liquid  manure  from  stable  or  cow  byres;  and  that 
may  also  be  employed  for  damping  the  floors  after  closing  the 
house,  or  early  in  the  afternoon,  neat  drainage  requiring  to  be 
diluted  with  five  times  the  bulk  of  water. 
MIDSEASON  HOUSES.- — The  Vines  should  be  pruned  and 
at  rest;  if  not,  complete  the  work  and  cleanse  the  house.  Where 
the  Grapes  are  partially  cut  the  remainder  may  be  removed  with 
a  good  portion  of  wood  attached,  and  if  the  stems  are  inserted 
in  bottles  of  water  the  bunches  will  keep  admirably  in  a  dry 
room  from  which  frost  is  excluded.  Then  the  Vines  will  be 
liberated  for  pruning,  and  the  house  for  cleansing,  repairs,  and 
painting.  A  long  and  complete  rest  invigorates  Vines,  and  early 
pruning  effects  that  better  than  anything  else. 
LATE  HOUSES. — Vines  that  have  the  foliage  all  off  will  only 
require  fire  heat  to  exclude  frost ;  but  there  must  not  be  any¬ 
thing  like  a  moist,  stagnant  atmosphere,  or  the  Grapes  will 
speedily  damp  and  decay.  Leaky  roofs  are  a  chief  cause  of  Grapes 
keeping  badly,  and  wide  laps*are  not  much  better,  as  the  wind 
drives  the  water  from  them  all  over  the  upper  side  of  the  berries, 
causing  them  to  spot  and  rot.  Grapes  cannot  be  kept  under  such 
circumstances,  and  the  sooner  they  are  cut  and  bottled  the 
better.  A  temperature  of  40deg  to  50deg  suffices  for  the  thick- 
skinned  Grapes.  Muscats  require  a  mean  temperature  of  50deg. 
The  air  must  be  kept  in  motion  by  a  gentle  warmth  in  the  pipes, 
and  ventilation  given  whenever  there  is  a  chance  of  securing  a 
change  of  air  without  danger  of  letting  in  more  moisture  than 
expelled. — St.  Albans. 
All  correspondence  relating  to  editorial  matters  should  be  directed 
to  “  T  he  Editor,”  12,  Mitre  Court  Chambers,  Fleet  Street, 
London,  E.c.  It  is  requested  that  no  one  will  write  privately 
to  any  of  our  correspondents,  seeking  information  on  m;  ite 
discussed  in  this  Journal,  as  doing  so  subjects  them  to  unjustif vb!< 
trouble  and  expense. 
NAME  OF  MOTH  (Correspondent). — The  large  and  some¬ 
what  damaged  moth  is  the  Unicorn,  or  Convolvulus  Hawk  (Sphinx 
Convolvuli),  a  handsome  but  rather  rare  species.  It  occurs 
towards  the  end  of  summer  usually,  flying  about  flowers  at  night. 
The  caterpillar  feeds  on  various  species  of  Convolvulus,  mostly 
on  the  wild  Bindweeds. 
PUDDLING  A  POND  (W.  H.  Y.). — “I  am  writing  to  ask 
if  you  can  please  recommend  to  me  a  book  concerning  the  making 
and  puddling  of  ponds,  or  perhaps  you  can  kindly  furnish  me 
with  information  as  to  the  best  means  of  making  a  pond  which 
leaks  watertight.  The  pond  in  question  is  oblong  in  shape,  and 
formerly  held  water,  but  has  leaked  for  the  last  few  years.  It 
is  about  10ft  deep,  but  holds  very  little  water.  Plenty  of  clay 
is  at  hand  for  the  work,  but  before  commencing  I  should  like  to 
have  a  little  advice  as  to  the  best  time  of  year,  winter  or  summer, 
to  set  about  it,  &c.” 
[It  is  very  important  to  have  the  bottom  and  sides  firm,  other¬ 
wise  any  giving  way  in  these  will  cause  cleavage  in  the  clay,  and 
leakage  ensue.  It  is  well,  therefore,  to  ram  this  inside  of  the 
pond  before  commencing  to  puddle,  and  then  put  on  thin  layers 
of  the  clay  and  ram  as  hard  as  possible,  not  using  more  water 
than  necessary  to  prevent  the  rammer  sticking  to  the  clay,  and 
for  compacting  this  as  firmly  as  possible.  Half  a  dozen  layers 
of  clay,  each  about  3in  thick,  and  rammed  into  a  compact  mass, 
should,  on  firm  ground,  be  impervious  to  water.  The  work  may 
be  done  either  in  winter  or  summer,  some  preferring  the  winter, 
as  the  frost  causes  the  clay  to  fall  when  thawed,  and  thus  forms 
a  finer  mud-like  surface.  The  great  thing,  however,  is  to  com¬ 
pact  the  clay  into  an  impervious  mass,  and  not  be  spar  ng  of 
the  thickne-s,  as  the  thicker  the  better,  only  the  bottom  and 
sides  are  equally  stable  with  the  clay  puddle.  Sometime;  the 
ground  has  been  made  up,  and  this  naturally  solidifies,  and  the 
shrinkage  occasions  rents  in  the  clay  puddle,  and  leakage  is  the 
consequence.  We  should  proceed  with  the  work  during  the 
winter  as  open  weathe;  admits.] 
CONSTRUCTING  A  CUCUMBER  HOUSE  (J.  M.  W.).— “I 
am  thinking  of  putting  up  a  Cucumber  house,  and  I  would  like 
some  information  as  to  height,  arrangement  of  piping,  and  the 
best  soit  of  heating  apparatus.  The  house  would  be  about  90ft 
by  12ft.  Please  give  a  list  of  the  best  Cucumbers  to  grow  for 
market  purposes  and  also  the  best  methods  of  cultivation.” 
[The  house  should  be  about  4ft  high  at  the  sides,  and  pre¬ 
ferably  with  about  18in  of  this  of  glass.  If  a  span-roof  the 
height  from  the  floor  to  the  ridge  should  be  about  8ft.  The 
trellis  for  training  the  plants  -  should  be  about  1ft  from  the 
glass.  The  piping  (4-inch)  are  best  placed  at  the  sides  of  the  house 
above  the  beds  for  planting  the  Cucumber  plauts,  a  flow  and 
return  on  each  side,  and  a  row  on  each  side  outside  the  bed  next 
the  pathway.  Thus  you  will  have  six  rows  of  4-inch  piping,  and 
to  heat  this  amount  of  piping  we  advise  a  wrought  iron  terminal 
end  and  flued  saddle  boiler,  42in  in  length,  and  16in  width  and 
depth  inside  arch.  The  beds  for  the  plants  may  be  3ft  wide  and 
a  foot  in  depth,  though  the  large  growers  use  wood  troughs 
about  the  width  mentioned,  and  6in  in  depth,  the  beds  being 
raised  about  a  brick  on  edge  above  the  floor.  No  bottom  heat  is 
employed,  and  only  provision  made  in  the  roof  for  moderate 
ventilation.  Perhaps  the  best  marketing  Cucumber  is  the  Roch- 
ford  or  Market  Favourite.  Improved  Telegraph  is  also  an  excel¬ 
lent  variety  for  marketing  work.  The  details  of  cultivation  are 
given  from  time  to  time  in  our  “Work  for  the  Week”  column.] 
CLEANSING  HOUSES  INFECTED  WITH  TOMATO 
DISEASE  (Germicide). — “In  a  recent  issue  of  the  Journal  you 
advised  for  cleansing  houses  infected  with  Tomato  disease  lime 
or  basic  slag  in  soil,  and  washing  woodwork  with  sulphate  of 
iron,  8oz  to  gallon  of  water  and  1  pint  sulphuric  acid..  As  we 
are  now,  like  most  growers,  cleansing  up  for  next  season’s  opera¬ 
tions,  we  shall  be  much  obliged  if  you  will,  through  your  Journal, 
say  whether  8oz  to  lgal  is  the  correct  amount  to  use?  We 
thought  it  rather  a  large  percentage  of  iron  sulphate.  Would 
such  a  strength  be  likely  to  affect  soil  injuriously  if  watered  with 
the  solution,  omitting  the  acid,  and  whether  it  would  be  likely 
to  badly  and  permanently  discolour  woodwork  ?  Why  is  the 
acid  prescribed  ?  ” 
[We  have  no  recollection  of  giving  the  formula  you  mention — 
viz.,  8oz  of  sulphate  of  iron  and  1  pint  sulphuric  acid  to  a  gallon  of 
water.  There  is  a  mistake  somewhere.  We  advise  using  an 
iron  sulphate  solution  as  follows  : —Water,  50gal  ;  sulphuric 
acid,  1  pint;  iron  sulphate,  251b.  Place  the  iron  sulphate  in  a 
wooden  ve-sel,  and  pour  upon  it  the  sulphuric  acid,  and  then 
add  by  degrees  the  50gal  of  water.  This  preparation  may  be 
used  with  great  advantage  in  those  cases  where  a  disease  has 
previously  existed,  as  it  destroys  resting  spores  that  may  be 
concealed  in  crevices  of  brickwork  or  on  the  ground.  The  very 
nature  of  the  solution  indicates  that-  it  must  not  be  applied  t-o 
painted  woodwork,  which  should  first  be  cleansed  with  softsoap, 
water,  and  a  brush.  Then  use  the  solution  on  the  walls  and 
floor,  or  ground.  For  applying  to  soil  ]oz  to  ^oz  per  square  yard 
of  iron  sulphate  is  sufficient.  It-  has  no  effect  on  resting  spores, 
or  on  the  mycelium  of  fungi  in  the  soil,  nothing  less  than  10  per 
cent,  being  of  any  avail  in  the  course  of  our  experiments  on 
resting  spores ;  and  that  is  only  suited  for  external  use,  not  for 
incorporating  with  soil.  It  is  better  to  use  basic  cinder  phos¬ 
phate,  lib  per  square  yai'd,  and  kainit,  6oz  per  square  yard, 
and  dig  into  the  soil  some  time  in  advance  of  putting  out  the 
plants.] 
MALMAISON  CARNATION  LEAVES  DISEASED  (F.  H.  S.). 
— “  I  am  sending  you  two  plants  of  Malmaison  Carnation.  Could 
you  te’l  me,  through  the  Journal  of  Horticulture,  the  cause, 
also  the  best  remedy,  for  the  spots  and  blotches  on  the  foliage? 
They  are  grown  in  a  light,  airy  house,  the  day  temperature  being 
kept  from  60deg  to  65deg,  the  night  temperature  from  50deg 
to  55deg,  with  a  little  top  air.  Is  it  the  effects  of  green  fly 
affecting  the  young  growths  in  an  early  stage,  or  is  it  a  disease? 
[The  young  plants  have  some  of  the  leaves  infested  by  the 
Fairy-ring  of  Carnation  fungus,  Heterosporium  echinulatum, 
which  often  proves  destructive  to  cultivated  Carnations  and 
Pinks  even  outdoors,  especially  when  the  plants  are  exposed  to 
a  chill,  or  when  a  moist,  warm  period  in  spring  is  followed  by  a 
sudden  lowering  of  temperature.  Owing  to  the  characteristic 
arrangement  of  the  small  black  clusters  of  the  fruit  of  the  fungus 
in  irregular  circles,  seated  on  pale  spots  on  the  leaf,  resembling 
the  “  fairy-rings  ”  formed  on  lawns'  and  in  pastures  by  Marasmius 
oreades,  the  determination  of  this  disease  is  easy,  even  without 
microscopic  examination.  The  spots  run  together,  involving 
the  whole  leaf  in  many  cases,  and  seriously  impair  the  appearance 
and  health  of  the  plants.  As  regards  repressive  measures,  all 
diseased  leaves  should  be  picked  off  and  burned.  By  consistently 
attending  to  this  point  the  disease  does  not  spread,  and  the 
danger  of  a  reappearance  of  the  disease  the  following  year  is 
much  diminished,  for  the  sclerotia  are  destroyed,  otherwise  these 
form  in  the  dying  leaves,  remain  passive  for  a  time,  then  pro¬ 
duce  minute  conidia,  which,  when  placed  on  living  leaves  of 
Carnations,  give  origin  to  the  first  patches  of  disease.  The 
foliage  of  plants  grown  under  glass  should  be  kept  as  free  from 
moisture  as  possible,  as,  if  the  foliage  is  dry,  floating  spores 
