JOTJBNAL OP HOBTICULTtIRE AKD COTTAGE GAKDENEft. 



[ ingust 1, i^. 



general, will suffer little ; but few tender plants can stand the 

 variable temperature at the roots, caused by absorbing the 

 sun's most powerful rays during the day, and then being cooled 

 down by evaporation and radiation into a clear sky at night. 

 — E. F. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— July .31. 



CoKTiNENTAL soppUes nre aRain very heavy this week, mftny thonsands 

 of packflRcs cominf? on alternate days. A large proportion of these im- 

 portatione find buyers in the northern and midland markets, proving a 

 great boon to the indnstrial populations of those districte. Our own 

 reports are but a repetition of last week. 



FRUIT. 



Apples 4 sieve 8 



Apricots doz 3 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts hush. 



Corrants A sieve 3 



Black ". . do. 5 



Figs doz. 3 



Filberts lb. 



CobB Ih. 



Gooseberries . . quart 



Grapes, Hothouse, .lb. 2 



Letuous 100 8 



d. B. 

 Oto4 



Melons each 



Nectarines doz. 



Oranges 100 



Peaches doz. 



Pears (dessert) .. doz. 



Pine Apples lb. 



Plums ^ sieve 



Quinces doz. 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries lb. 



Walnuts bush. 10 n 30 



Green . 



per 100 16 2 



VEGETABLES. 



Artichbkeg each 



Asparagus .... bundle 

 Beans, Kidney, A sieve 



ScarletRun.^ sieve 



Beet, Red doz. 



Broccoli bundle 



BruB. Sprouts ^ sieve 



Cabbage doz. 



Gapsicnms 100 



Carrots hunch 



Caoliflower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Cacumbers each 



pickling .... doz. 



Hndive doz. 



Fennel bunch 



GarUo lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horseradish . . bundle 



8. d. 8. 



3 too 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 







3 



1 







2 



2 











3 



2 6 



d 

 6 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 6 

 

 8 

 G 



Leeks bunch 



Lettuce .... per score 

 Mushrooms .... pottle 

 Mustd.& Cress, punnet 

 Onions, .per doz. bcbs. 



Parsley per sieve 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas per quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



Radishes doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Savoys doz. 



Sea-kale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes. . . . per doz. 



Turnips bunch 



Vegetable Marrows . . 



d. B. d 

 3 too 

 



2 

 2 

 5 



3 

 9 

 

 4 

 5 

 

 

 

 

 



TRADE CATALOGUE RECEIVED. 

 W. Kolli6son & Sons, TootiDg, Surrey, i^,— Catalogue of 

 t^UyvCf Greenhouse, and Hardy Ferns. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



*•• We request that no one will write privately to the depart- 

 mental writers of the "Jorirnal of Horticulture, Cottage 

 Gardener, and Country Gentleman." By bo doing they 

 are subjected to unjustifiable trouble and expense. AU 

 communications should therefore be addressed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, eOc, 171, Fleet 

 Street, London, E.C, 



We also request that correspondents will not mix up on the 

 same sheet questions relating to Gardening and those on 

 Poultry and Bee subjects, if they expect to get them an- 

 swered promptly and conveniently, but write them on 

 sepai-ate communications. Also never to send more than 

 two or three questions at once. 



N.B.— Many questions must remain unanswered until next 

 week. 

 Addhess (J. Ci(rjic).— Mr, Rivers, Sawbridgeworth, Herts. 

 Books (IT. P. iV.).—" The Vine Manual ;" you can have it free bvpost 



irom our office if yon enclose thirty-two postage stamps with your address. 

 Insects on Pear Leaves (TTM)i7i(7/(').— Thev are " Slimy grubs," the 



larva? of the Pear saw-fly, Selandria asthiops. ' Dusting the grubs with 



slacked quicklime destroys them. 

 Gardener Visiting Paris l/j/ncramujt).— Visit Versailles. Jardin de la 



Muette, Jardm des Plantes, Baron Rothschild's at Bois de Boulofme, 



Thibaut & Ketelecr's nurseries, Luxembour-j Gardens, Jamin and Du- 



rand's at Eourg-Ia-Reine. 



WiLLs's Bronze Zonal pELARao^^c^^s (/j)om(ra).—"Someofmv Bronze 

 and Gold Pelnrt'oninms may be seen at Mr. Bull's Nurserv, Kind's Road, 

 Chelsea. They will probably be exhibited in Rood condition at South 

 Kensington on the 17th of September nest.— J. Wills." 



Dahlia Tubes (W. H. Jl/.).— The wooden tubes may be obtained of Mr. 

 Putnam, turner, Eton; but any turner could make them. Thev must, 

 of course, fit into the metal tubes, and rise IJ inch above the board. 

 As the stalks differ in size, the holes for these are made rather larger 

 than the etalk, which is kept in its place by a small wooden peg. 



Red Kidney Bean (E. S.).— The "Rothe Bohnon," about wMc^ yon 

 inquire, itj very probably the Haricot Suisse rouge of the French. Ajjy 

 London seedsman would doubtless supply it. 



Selection of Vines (T^n-i/fnr« Snhscribrr, Nottinoham).~Xon canxiot 

 do bettpv than keep places for Mrs. Piuce'a Black Muscat and istandish's 

 Royal Ascot, both lirst-rate Grapes. Then you may hove .^alamon's 

 Fronti^nan, Trenthara Black, andBInck Alicante. These are in addition 

 to those you have already— namely. Muscat of Alexandria. Muscat Ham- 

 burgh, Bowcod Mubcat, Golden Haiubui-gh, Black Hamburgh, Lady 

 Downe's, and Muscadine. 



Mealy Bugs on Grapes Nearly Ripe (On^ n-ko is in Trouble). —Tie 

 are very sorry, indeed, that we know of no means of destroyinc the bugs 

 thoroughly now without injuring the Grapes. When the Grapes were 

 younger they might liave been washed with tobaccs and other water, and 

 then have been well syringed ; but any such treatment now will greatly 

 injure the appearance of the bunches. We would advise dislodging 

 the bug by small, clean, soft brushes, and then destroying it of course 

 — resorting, in fuct, to such temporary relief as will allow the hunches 

 to be presentable. When the fruit is cut and the leaves are becoming 

 yellow we would move every green thing out of the house, and smoke it 

 several nights in succession with sulphur, burned slowlv in a pan with 

 a lot of litter, moss, or grass over it. to increase the density of the smoke 

 and prevent the smoke becoming too hot. Of course every opening in 

 the house should bo closed up. A few diiys afterwards we would syringo 

 the -whole of the woodwork. Vines, walls, shelves, &c., with soft-soap 

 water at about 180^ then clean and wash in the usual way ; and in addi- 

 tion to all this, it would be well to paint all joints and joiniui^s with tui"- 

 pentine. After all such sulphur fumes and washing we have found 

 mealy hugs in clusters where neither smoke nor washing had reached 

 them, in joints and crannies. All the s^urfacc soil, also^ should be re- 

 moved from the house. There is no enemy more difficult to subdue 

 tbau the mealy bug, and it produces successive generations with great 

 rapidity. Wo have no doubt these insects are often transferred by our 

 clothing from place to place. If once they attack the roots of plants 

 there is no means of exterminating them, except by removing all the 

 earth from the roots and thoroughly washing them. 



Extent of Piping a Boiler Heats (BoiJerR).—V/e do not think a 

 36-inch-long saddleback boiler will heat efficiently more than from 600 to 

 700 feet of four-inch piping. We are supposing that the height and 

 width will be about 24 inches. You will want a boiler nearly double the 

 length to heat the 2O0O feet, but better havo two. Thomson's retort is a 

 good boiler, used to be made by SleiUIfjolm. of Dalkeith, and, like the 

 saddle-back, requires less winking thf»n the upright tubular ones ; Monro's 

 cannon boiler is a modification of the retort. Ail boilers do better when 

 sunk considerably below the level of thepipinc As you cannot sink you 

 will wisely use those that require the least sinking, and we have seen the 

 retorts only a little below the pipes. 



Melons Spotting (./. i>., near DnhUn). — There are two causes for your 

 Melon leaves being spotted and 8hri%elled up. They have evidently 

 suffered a little fiom the sun striking them before air was given in the 

 morning, and whilst they were damp from condensed moisture. Th© 

 leaves being damp would have been of less consequence if the air had not 

 been confined. We could not find an insect, but wa have no doubt that 

 vouhave mvriads of thrips — a little insect that will jump as you approach 

 it. All such leaves as those sent should be instantly removed anti burnt. 

 All those at all fresh should be washed with weak tobacco water, weai 

 soft-soap water, or, perhaps better still, smoked with tobacco when dry, 

 and syringed next morning. This treatment continued may enable you 

 to ripen a crop if the bulk of the leaves are green. If themost of them are 

 ns bad as those sent, then we advise pulling the plants all out and clearing 

 the place. All the remedies will be labour throw away, for you will not 

 have a good Melon. To clean the place, shut up closely and bum a 

 pound of sulphur in it. covering it over with gi-ass or moss. Then re- 

 move the soil, whitewash, and nest season not only attend to early air- 

 gi\'ing, but smoke whenever yon see a trace of the thrips, which we con- 

 sider worse than the red spider. It is just possible that your plants 

 suffer from the red spider too. 



Fruit Growing {Fruit-Groirer]. — We think your opinion erroneoas. 

 There are numerous works on fruit-growing, and the cultivation of fruits 

 for market does not differ from that required for fruits for private con- 

 sumption. Quantity rather than biph quality is aimed at by the market 

 fruit-grower, because lie knows that the mass of buyers require cheap 

 fruits. You can have "Fruit Gardening for the Many," free by post from 

 our oiBce, if you enclose five i^ostage stamps with your address ; and if 

 its instructions are followed good fruit will bo obtained, provided soil, 

 climate, and attention are suitable. 



Fruit Trees on a Clay Soil in Ireland i Tr. II. H. .•l.).~The first 

 thing to be done is to have the ground thoroughly drained 3 feet deep^ 

 then trench it over two spits deep. Plant your trees, which we presume 

 will bo either dwarf bushes or pyramids. 6 feet apart, and let the sorts be 

 of Apples — Kerry Pippin, Cox's Orange Pippin, Ross Nonpareil, and 

 ManniuHton's Peannnin. Of Plums — Early Rivers, July Green Gage, 

 Huling's Superb, Purple Gage, and Woolstou Black. 



Vapour from Hot-water Pipes (C. S.). — We should not like to sprinkle 

 the hot-water pipes in your vinery with guano water if the pipes were 

 above 140 \ and the guano water should unt be stronger than 2 ozs. to the 

 gallon. We prefer the pipes never to he higher tlian 160 when we have 

 plenty of piping. We would rather avoid sprinkling the pipes with ma- 

 nure water if we could. 



UsNAiLiNG Peach and Nectarine Tree Branches {A. Billimors)^ 

 The branches should not be unnailed. as the wood will ripen much better 

 pgainst the wall than away from it. Keep them neatly trained to it, and 

 do not let the shoots be too close together. Your trees will require all 

 the warmth yoli can give them to ripen the wood, and unnailing them 

 will have just the contrary effect. 



White Substance in Soil {W. H. B.).— It is difficult to say what is 

 the " M-hite gi-anulatcd substance like small rice" in the soil in your 

 flower-pots. Being pcculisr to that composed uf peat, we think it may 

 be fragments of white quartz or sand, which are very common in somo 

 peats; it may also be sonie fungus arising from the decay of woody fibre ; 

 but in that case the small rice-like lumpa will not be granulated but soft. 

 Without a specimen we are unalde te say what the white sub.^tiince is, 

 or whether it will be injurioua to plants; if quartz or sand it is very 

 beneficial. 



