iSyi.] 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



38T 



ling should be well supplied with water 

 at the root till they begin to colour. 



Figs. — Early trees from which the 

 secoud crop is all gathered must not be 

 neglected. If in pots, keep them well 

 supplied with water, and free from in- 

 sects by frequent syringing. Should 

 they have more wood about them than 

 is necessary for next season, remove it, 

 and expose them to full light and air. 

 "Where fruit are ripening the atmos- 

 phere must be comparatively dry, with 

 a free circulation of air, or the fruit will 

 be deficient in flavour. A well-ripened 

 Fig is a delicious fruit, but if not well- 

 swelled and perfectly ripened it is 

 most insipid. Supply trees swelling 

 off their crop with manure-water at the 

 root — a moist atmosphere and frequent 

 syringing is nece.*sary to keep the foli- 

 age healthy, without which no fruit- 

 bearing plant perfects it? crop proper- 

 ly. It is just as reasonable to expect a 

 human being to be strong and fat with 

 pulmonary disease of the lungs, as to 

 expect line fruit from trees with diseas- 

 ed or injured leaves. 



Melons. — Attend to the impregna- 

 tion of late crops, and avoid overcrowd- 

 ing with shoots and foliage. Give those 

 swelling off full crops occasional heavy 

 waterings with manure-water. If grown 

 in houses on trellises, cover the surface 

 of the bed with a coating of rotten 

 manure 1 inch or so in thickness. 

 Expose ripening fruit fully to the sun, 

 and to a circulation of warm air. 



Cucumbers. — Those that have been 



in bearing all summer may now be par- 

 tially cut in, all fruit removed, be top- 

 dressed with rotten manure, and kept 

 at 75° heat at night, and they will soon 

 make young wood and begin bearing, 

 and give a supply till late in autumn. 

 See that those in full bearing do not 

 want for water at the roots, and syringe 

 them freely on fine afternoons. About 

 the middle of the month is a good time 

 to sow for winter-bearing plants, or they 

 may be produced from cuttings at the 

 end of the month. It is desirable to get 

 them well established while the days are 

 yet long, and less fire heat required. 



Strawberries in Pots.— These, if 

 shifted into their fruiting - pots last 

 month, as we then recommended, wUl 

 now be growing rapidly, and filling their 

 pots with roots. Give them a liberal 

 supply of water, and occasional water- 

 ing with dung-water as they get well 

 established in their pots. See that they 

 are not standing too closely together — 

 preventing a free circulation of air and 

 light about them. They should be 

 placed in an open airy situation. If 

 any portion of the required stock still 

 remain unshifted, not a day should be 

 lost in getting them into their fruiting- 

 pots. The great point is to attain well- 

 ripened crowns, and pots as full of roots 

 as they can hold. If they are disposed 

 to root through the pots, lift them occa- 

 sionally to prevent this. It is best for 

 this reason to have them standing on 

 board or trellis work, to prevent the 

 roots leaving the pots. 



All business communications should be addressed to the Publishers, and com- 

 munications for insertion in the * Gardener ' to David Thomson, Drumlanrig 

 Gardens, Thornhill, Drunifriesshire. It will farther oblige if all matter intended 

 for publication, and questions to be replied to, be forwarded by the middle of the 

 month, and written on one side of the paper only. It is also requested that 

 writers forward their name and address, not for publication, unless they wish it, 

 but for the sake of that mutual confidence which should exist between the Editor 

 and those who address him. We decline noticing any communication which is 

 not accompanied with name and address of writer. 



An Under Gardener, — Next month. 



W. C, — You have done well in letting more air and light at your walks. 

 Sprinkle them with salt twice a-year. The salt will destroy the moss, and it can 

 be brushed off with a hard broom. "We fear we do not quite understand your 



