Weekly Mail

RURAL NOTES. By Mr. J. Muir, Margam Abbey, Glamorganshire. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. t"les8 in special cases, no replies will be sent to readers by post, but all inquiries will haw prompt and careful attention under thiq heading, and we invite notes and questions In 111 rural subjects. "i HOLLY TBEES Foa BEBniEa.—" Old Reader."— Tire u.ajority of them produce berries, but some more freely than others, You should plant the ordinary green, golden, and silver varieties. Give them asomewhat rich soil, and there id little danger pf their failing to fruit. 1u FJSBT OF THE DORKING FOWL.—"New- port."—They are a vtry important point with them, and after having reared.m.my hundreds, I Can say proper foet are amongst the worst of all features to produce correctly. Eich foot should boar five toes. F, ur nf these are arranged on t'ie ground, but the fifth should turn up the leg almost inside or slightly behind. They should be free from ctooks, and evenly formed. The colour Jjhould be a chart white, even to the toe nails. It Is this that is difficult to secure and most Valuable, as the general disposition is that they appear Emulty. Let white feet be one of sour leading points in breeding in 1891; but you will not attain perfection if your Block bird* have unclean feet. The person you think of buying a cock from has some good ones, but do not complete your purchase without seeing the bird. Have him on approval, and if you are not fe sufficient judge yourself, get someone who knows the breed to give you his opinion. RICB AS FOOD. J. II. Very wholesome, but Ðot very nutritious. PLANTING TBEES IN FKOZEN SOIL—-T. F. Freeman.—I cannot, undfratand why you should wish to plant in time of frost. It is not advan- tageous to the trees quite the reverse, and you thoukl defer it until the frost is quite out of the loil. GKFANIUMS LSAFLESS.—T. Rees—The place you bave them in must De too cold, as they do not cast JBN their leaves in winter in a genial position, but to lout; as ti e wood is green a d hard they are safe, and will soon emit new foliage when the weather is more genial. When the foliage is off tbey do not require much water, and you should be very careful not to use this too freely in the soil or Atmosphere. In fact, the only way of keep- ing tiem alive when nothing but the wood remains is to keep them very dry. There are so plany varieties of geraniums with scarlet flowers that I could not venture to say what the name of yours may be without seeing 11 flower. WIIKNTO PBOFAGATB CHRYSANTHEMUMS. — "Groom and Gardener."—Many are propagating them ,t present, and you will soon be ablu to pro- care newly-rooted young plants frcm the nursery- into but, as your appliances are limited, I would mot advise you to hurry on propagation. You wouid, no doubt, root them readily in the hot manure frame, but they would require protection afterwards until April or May; whereas, if you rooted them a very little while before then, you could put them in a sheltered place in the open When they tequired t) be re-potted and demanded more space. The nurseryman you name supplies fcood plant*, including chrysanthemums. GTTAPB VINES AND F.aOST. Lancashire Ama- teur. Y'jU need not be alraid of your Black Hamburg vine suffering or being injured, although there has lately been 12degs. of frost in the house. Some good grape growers take the lights off their vineries during the winter and allow the frost to have full play on the rods. I have seen some treated in this w iy when tho frost was greater than the figures you mention, and they not only came into fine leaf afterward., but produced an extra fine crop. All vines are much benefited by a complete rest in winter, and a s! arp or continuous frost ensures this. You should leave the lights off for another month or more. FI/IATOES SWKKT.—" West Riding."—There is jjoihing new in your potatoes being as "sweet as tunaf." Before very long you may regret that they art BA. as it is a sure aign that thoy have bow-, exposed to frost, and when this is the case lboy will not reoasin long sound, but will become pulpy. You had better use them as soon as pos- lible. Probably, it may ooly be those on the sur- face of the heap that are frasted. If so, remove Ihrui all over to a depth of six inches or so, and cover up those underneath with a thick coating of hay oi* straw, use those you remove first, and examine those in the heap every two Or three Wtieks to 888 if they are souad. PANSIKS IN COLD WKATHER.— Joseph Williams. -As you have a frame and glass-light over them,I do not think they will suffer much from the frost. Cover the glass over nightly with a mat or sheet. Allow this to remain on all day if the weather is very severe. Keep them very dry. Do not open the light when the wind is blowing hard and colJ, and if you have them covered over for a time, as is somefcitfaas necessary in severe weather, do not expose them all at once to sunshine, but place a slight shading over them for a few days. Carna- tions in frame* may be treated in the same way. Feubstemons ar. not favourite flowers of mine. ^PKOIES o. HULD. — Miss Smith. — The dead bird you forward is the common bullfinch (loxia plrrliijla). You need not regret that some of them have died from the severe weather, as of all birds that injure fruit tree buds they are the worst. They, the cock especially, are pretty, but I cannot guiuit their usefulness. PARSNIPS OKCATKB IN THE C«OWN.—" Thrifty Bousi" wife. U atortiinatu ly, decay in narsnips is very general this season. I a'tribute it t i exces- sive moisture in the joiJ. There is no remedy fur those afflicted, but in another seuson grow them in a more sandy soil. I think you will find the bottom part of the root still good, and you may use this after tho decayed part has been cut tway. HEATING SMUT. GBEENHOCBE.—" B. H,Oil lamps are never satisfactory. The best trmll apparatus I have seen is the one mar'uf ct'tr d by Merain. Messenger, horticultural buildtr: Lough- borough. Write there for pmticulars. NAH. OF WINTER CARNATION.—"Novice."—The Sower you send is very good. The variety is Miss lolitfe-one of the beat for winter and spring flowering. Bxea DYING.—1" Beginner (Newark).—I am lorry you have had such poor success with your first stock. I cannot say there is any disease, but think they have perished from cold and want of food. You should try again, and btiv a strong swarm in noxt May or June. Try to get them very Strong by the end of September, and see that they have plenty of stores at that time. It is almost impossible to give them too much protection in such a winter 118 the present. ALB FOR FowM.—W. Johnson.—You need not be alraid of ale injuring your fowls. It is most beneficial if given them to driuk or mix-d with their meal in cold weather. The bottoms" of the casks is most suitable; you cttn use it all through the spring, and the young chickens may have iL after they are two or three week,' old. Foui OF GKSSENH JOS«.—R. Gray. — If you srect a little span-roofed house, you will not, require to build a wall. The space at your com- mand, viz., 16ft. by 10ft., would contain a useful little structure, and as you have no opan air garden, ?'Ou would find this very interesting. Probably a oca! carpenter might en<ct it for you, or houses of the kind may bo bought cheaply from some horti- cultural builders. FOBCINQ SPIUJEV JAPONICA. A Lover of White F!owers,"—WcU developed and matured crowns are easily foroed, hut they are better about Raster titan midwinter. Place your plants in a tempera- ture of 65 degrees or 70 degree*, and give them abundance of moisttiro. 'i; THE WINTER. At the time of writing the whole of South Wales is experiencing one of the most severe winters anyone can remember. Much snow has fallen, and the frost is very keen, eighteen degrees being registered on several nights, with a. very oold, strong wind, which penetrates everywhere. Coming from the porth-east, it is neither good for man nor beast, and vegetation is suffering severely. I'he kitohen garden crops have shrunk very jnuch. Spiuaoh has almost disappeared, t*arslev is very scarce. Broooli have ceased to form heads. Savoys are decay- ing a good deal, and celery has become somewhat pulpy. Shrubs, especially Choice sorts, are hanging their heads and Witt, I fear, show their disfigurements later Pon. Many branches were broken off by the of snow, and it will tako the beshos 'tome time to recover their best form. It has jjjeen a trying time to keep indoor plants in element, Farm stook had had a! hard time of it, and the resources of the riok- yard and stores will be heavily taxed befora the fields are clothed with new pasture. The majority of the fields will only afford exercise until then, and all stock has required, and will require, feeding artificially. The feathered songsters have suffered extremely; bullfinches, chaffinches, blackcaps, skylarks, blackbirds, thrushes, redstarts, starlings, robins, and other birds are lying dead everywhere, having perished from cold and want of food. One of the greatest nui- sances in the garden have been flocks of sky- larks, attacking the spring cabbage plants. The natural supply of food for birds, such as holly and other berries, were oleared off before Christmas, and they were very plentiful too, so much "0 that many who think that a full orop of them indicates a severe winter will conclude that this impres- sion has been verified, only, as I have stated before, there is no certainty in it, as I have seen the berries as plentiful before, and hardly experienced a degree of frost. When the frost is quite gone attention should be given to protecting everything that is likely to suffer from a recurrence of it, as vege- tation that has been bitten now will be less capable of bearing a further scorching, and this is almost sure to ocour. Stored roots should have an extra covering put over them, and wherever the protection is wet it should ba removed and dry material put on. • • • WILD FOWL. I am now referring more particularly to the web-footed tribes, such as ducks, widgeon, wild geese, and such like. In open winters they are shy, and do not frequent inhabited parts, but of-late they have hardly deserved the term wild," as some of them may almost be caught with the hand or struok with a stick. Those who delight in shooting wild fowl have been fortunate of late in securing good bags. The wild geese frequent tha moors close to where I write in great numbers, and of late I have known upwards of a score to be bagged in one day to one gun. This is an unusual number, and a record whioh any sportsman might be proud of. GABDEN WORK IN FROSTY WEATHER. Fortunately, the season is not far advanced. Severe frost could not occur at a better time; work generally cannot be pushed forward, but there is little pressing. When not too cold, pruning may be done. All rubbish should be collected and burned. Manure, soil, and other materials may be carted or wheeled on to the ground, the in terior of glasshouses should be thoroughly cleaned. The wood- work should be thoroughly washed, the glass cleaned, stone or brick walls liniewahhed, and every hole and corner brushed out. This will prevent a great deal of pressure later in spring, when open air operations will be demanding attention. All flotvver pots required for use in spring should be washed and sorted, and those containing plants may also be cleaned. At the same time, all plants of a superfluous oharacter, such as bulbs that have done flowering and other subjects that were useful in late autumn, but are not required now, may be thrown away or placed in quarters where they do not interfere with those that are ornamental at present or likely soon to be so. OLD CHRYSANTHEMUM PLANTS. The chrysanthemums are well-nigh over for another season. The main kind, still as good as ever, is a variety named Grandiflora. It is a good yellow sort. So long as they were all in full bloom it was unnecessary to advise their being taken good care of, but now that they have become unsightly they will be apt to suffer from negleot. Where there were several pots of one sort, and one of these will be suffioient to furnish as many outtings as are required for another year, all but the one should be thrown away. This will greatly reduce the number requiring attention. Many cuttings are spoiled and plants killed by keeping them in a greenhouse or conser- vatory until the flowers have withered and then outting the sterns over and placing the plants in the open air; but this should not be done with plrnts of any value, and the best way is to place them in a cold frame, near the glass and fully in the light, where they can be protected from frost and cutting winds. It will not do them any harm to let the tem- perature down to freezing point, but not lower. Do not give too much water—just sufficient to keep the young shoots vigorous. They are better in a cool place than in much heat, and air should be admitted to them when the weather is favourable. » WARM FOOD FOR FOWLS IN COLD WEATHER. Townsman (Wolverhampton) writes :— "I never knew of any poultry keeper who obtained as many eggs aa they desired in winter. The rule is that no one gets sufficient, and many none at all. This fault occurs, in my opinion, chiefly through wrong feeding or not giving food that is suitable to the weather. I have a run enclosed that measures 21ft. by 35ft. In this I keep eighteen fowls. They are pure Leghorns, and our average gathering of egm» is ten daily at the present time. This, 1 am told, is very good for a town yard, and I attribute their fertility to care in feeding. They are kept very clean. I always place dry ashes on the floor twice or more weekly. Their water is changed daily, and since October they have had nothing but warm food. This is not thrown down on the floor to become filthy, but is given them in two or three tin dishes placed in different parts of the run. The meal mixed for them with boiling water and given them warm, as warm as they can oat it, is a mixture of barley and Indian meal, in about equal parts. A handful of oats is also mixed in daily and often a few potatoes that are left over from dinner. We are somewhat short of green stuff, but the potatoes compensate for this to a certain extent. I do not mix as much food up in the morning as will last all day, as many do; but the food is mixed hot and fresh three times daily, and no more is given each time than they will eat readily. Some may think it is a considerable amount of trouble to do all this, but to my family it is a pleasure, as we are all interested in the fowls; and, further, we are encouraged to look well after them by their paying us very handsomely. f never attempi; to breed until the end of Maroh; then I find the ohicks requirelittle care compared with that necessary in February and March." • « FROST AND THE SOIL. Although frost may do much harm to vege- tation it is most beneficial to the soil; 1890 was a bad year for all kinds of grub. Many who lost their carrots, onions, parsley, and other things can testify to that; but the frost, if allowed fair play on the soil, will destroy hosts of pests at all stages of their develop- ment, and the more the soil is exposed to the weather the better. The frost has also a fine mellowing influence on the soil. Any clay or stiff soil that was turned over in November would have been very unsuitable for planting or towing in then, but aftrtr being exposed to the frost it will be found to be in a most friable condition, and ready to receive the finest plants or seed". Autumn ploughed fields also reoeive this benefit. The most praotio&l oultivators both in farm and garden always strive to have all vaoant land turned up before the mid-winter frosts set in, as they know from experience that it is as valuable to them as many fer- tilisers for whiob they pay much money. And it also saves labour, as a soil that has been pulverised with frost is always easily worked when the crops are put in. Many allow all manner of rubbish to remain on the surface of the soil during the winter. This is a great mistake, as the more it is exposed the better. If it oannot be ploughed or roughly dug over, it should be oleaned of everything useless that excludes tho frost. The plan of not digging until just previous to putting in the crops in spring is not commendable, especially in soils that stand much in need of working and cultivat- ing, and before more frost occurs all empty spaces in gardens should be dug up and left very rough on the surface. • MUSHROOM CULTURE. The other week I gave some notes on tiiist subjeot, which have brought me many letters, showing how much readers are interested in this matter. Since then I have reoeived a book, Mushrooms and their Culture," by Mr. C. Brooks, The Gardens, Red Hioe, Andover, Hants. It is published by E. W. Allen, 4, Ave Maria-lane, London, at thepopu- lar price of Is. Itis an instructive little volume, and would prove an invaluable guide to the many amateurs and cottagers anxious to grow mushrooms. It deals in a concise and most practical way with the different kinds of mushrooms, Arti- ficial Spawn," "Making Mushroom Beds," "Spawning the Bed," "Earthing," "Water- ing," Insects," "Mushroom House," If Open- air Beds," Mushroom-growing in Sheds," mushrooms in cellars, boxes, hampers, and pots, &c. Also some good recipes for cooking mushrooms. Cultural details are given in such a manner that no one need fail to follow and practise them, and all who do will be sure to be rewarded by abundant supplies. I sub- join three notes from this useful little volume, which w;1l interest many readers, as showing that the general cry of want of material is readily overcome. MUSHROOM BEDS MADE WITH SAWDUST. It is not generally known that mushrooms can be produced by using various other materials different from solid horse drop- pings. Sawdust, for instance, makes a very good fermenting material for the spawn to work in, particularly when it has been used for the bedding of horses or for riding school tracks. Such material is thoroughly impreg- nated with urine, and if a little short, littery I manure is mixed with it so much the better. The urine greatly assists the sawdust in retaining a suitable teinperature in the bed. MUSHROOM HKDS MADF. WITH LEAVES. The leaves may be recently gathered from underneath the trees and put in a heap to ferment and sweat. They should be allowed to remain in the heap about a fortnight, turning them two or three times. If a small portion of stable manure is mixed with the leaves the heat of the bed will be more last- ing. The bed should be made 18in. or 2ft. deep, being made as firm as possible, and spawned when the temperature reaches 75degs. or 80dega. If there is no danger of the bed getting hotter, earth the bed in a few days after spawning. When the heat begins to decline cover the snrface with two or three mats or bagging; this will assist in keeping a proper temperature. MUSHROOM BEDS MADE WITH HORSF. DROPPINGS FROM THE STREETS. This means of producing mushrooms i& within the reach of all, even the cottager who has an underground cellar or out-shed, where the bed can be proteoted from the rains, par- tioularly in towns, where the manure may be brushed up from cabstands or the cattle market, where there is often a mixture of horse, cow, and sheep dung. This, col- lected in dry weather and mixed with the road sand brushed off the street, forms an excellent material to make the mushroom bed with, and mushrooms of the finest quality may be gathered from beds made with such material. If the labourer follow these instructions he may considerably add to his income by grow- ing mushrooms in this way in his leisure time, and selling them to the shopkeepers. There is always a great demand for mushrooms which are firm, heavy, and juicy, and thest, will fetch the highest price.