160 



joubnaij of hoeticulxurb and cottage gaedener. 



[ August 29, 1887. 



FRUIT DEPARTJIENT. 



We have bere been chiefly engaged in pottins Strawborriea 

 for forcing, and we use chiefly what are called -iO and 32-sized 

 pots. To save the trouble of layering, wo took off runners of 

 almost as many as we would want, pricked them in a bed, 

 covered with old sashes, or other protection to shade, and took 

 them up when tolerably well rooted, and potted. In potting, the 

 chief points to be considered, are rather stiff loam slightly en- 

 riched with rotten dung, keeping the plant well up, so that 

 the crown may be nearly level with the rim of the pot, and then 

 firming the soil well with the fingers and a round piece of 

 wood as a rammer, watering, shading for a few days, and then 

 giving all the sunlight possible. The plant will sink a little 

 lower in the pot by degrees. The exposing the crown well is a 

 matter of first importance as respects fertility. 



ORN'ASIENT.VL DEPARTMENT. 



Eoutine as to keeping and general management much the 

 same as usual. Commenced propagatinij in earnest for the 

 flower garden next season, turning attention in the first place to 

 Heliotropes, Verbenas, Lobelias, and similar plants, and follow- 

 ing with the rarer, and then the more common of the bedding 

 Pelargoniums. What are put in now will need no artificial 

 heat, and most plants ultimately succeed best without it. Ver- 

 benas, Heliotropes, Ageratums, Cupheas, &o., give least trouble 

 when they can be set in a cold frame or pit, some 18 or 

 24 inches from the glass, as then, kept close during the day, 

 with a skiiif from the syringe, they will require only a mini- 

 mum of attention in the way of shading and watering. All 

 such plants as Scarlet Pelargoniums, that have succulent shoots, 

 require much less attention, but even they will succeed quite 

 as well now, if not fully exposed to a bright sun, though in 

 their case shading is of less consequence, because the flagging 

 of the leaves is of little importance, so long as the stems are 

 not shrivelled. With respect to such plants as Verbenas, the 

 general rule holds good, that a cutting will all the sooner be- 

 come a healthy plant, it the leaves left upon it are never 

 allowed to flag, and yet the substance of the cutting itself is 

 never saturated with water. The more sun now such cuttings 

 stand without flinching, the sooner will they strike root, and 

 the more healthy and robust will the young plants be. 



After this season all cuttings may as well be put in pots, 

 pans, and boxes at once, to prevent the necessity of future 

 lifting and planting. As to the size of the pots, those from 

 4 to 6 inches in diameter are very useful for the smaller subjects, 

 and from 8 to 10 inches in diameter for the larger kinds of 

 Pelargoniums, and, as a general rule, 1 inch apart is not a bad 

 distance for all the smaller cuttings. Many, however, who 

 have room, prefer potting a strong Pelargonium cutting in a 

 3.J or a 4-inch pot at once, and these will utimately make the 

 best plants with least trouble. 



Where many plants are wanted, and there is little room to 

 spare in winter, the store-pot or box-system must be resorted 

 te, so as to keep as many as possible in little room. Good 

 serviceable boxes may be roughlj* made, 3 feet long, to 

 12 inches wiJe, and from 3i to 4 J nches deep. There is no 

 necessity for great depth, as the plants do no better, and the 

 boxes are much more diflicult to move. Such boxes require 

 little drainage, and if the sides do not fit accurately, the boxes 

 will need no holes to weaken the bottoms. 



A few simple precautions are next to essential to success. 



1st, The pots should be washed clean, and so might the 

 boxes if planed or painted. We generally use ours in the 

 rough, and if washed at all, we also whitewash them with 

 quicklime inside and outside, and that greatly prevents fungus 

 growing in the boxes in damp weather. 



2nd, The soil should be light and sandy — if very strong loam, 

 plenty of sand added, and only a very little of sweet, thoroughly 

 decayed leaf mould. • Half-rotten leaf mould should never be 

 used even for drainage, as it is so apt to throw up fungus. The 

 soil should be of two or three degrees of fineness, the roughest 

 over the drainage, the next coarsest over that, and then the 

 finest, followed by a sprinkling of sand. Large pots may be 

 nearly half-filled with rough drainage; shallow boxes will need 

 little drainage. We prefer all such pots and boxes to be watered 

 a day or so before being used, so as to be nice and dryish on 

 the surface when inserting the cuttings with a dibber; and 

 then there is no ncfcssity for deluging the pots when the cut- 

 tings are inserted, a matter of importance with succulent and 

 tender subjects. Enough water to make all smooth and settle 

 the cuttings will then be sufficient, as you know there is moisture 

 enough beneath. 



3rd, la choosing tho cuttings, though any part wiU grow, it 



ia best to select the rather firm side shoots instead of those 

 stronger terminal ones, and if taken off close to the older shoot 

 all the better, as the bottom of the cutting will be harder and 

 more mature, and if it doe.") not strike so soon, it will go 

 safer through the striking process and be less liable to the con- 

 tingencies of damping, &c. It ia as well to cut the base of the 

 cutting clean through at a joint, or just where it came from 

 the main stem, remove a few of the lower leaves, and lessen 

 some of the greater ones, to diminish the evaporating surface. 

 The leaf question lies in a nutshell. The more leaves a cutting 

 has the sooner it will strike, if by your care in sprinkling and 

 shading, and yet giving all light that will not injure, you 

 prevent these leaves from flagging. The more leaves left on a 

 cutting the sooner will the cutting be exhausted by these leaves 

 flagging, if such care as stated above be not given. A com- 

 promise of the matter, therefore, as to the number of the 

 leaves, lessens the requisite care, and yet insures success. One 

 of the most common errors in striking tender plants is not the 

 shading from the sun, but the forgetting to remove that shad- 

 ing the moment it is not required. Such useless shade tempts 

 the cutting to expend its resources in lengthening upwards in- 

 stead of rooting downwards.— E. F. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— August 28. 



We have experienced a considerable decline in the quantity of tirst- 

 clfiss produce offered during; the past week, which i3 partly owing, no 

 doiiht, to the local markets havin;^ a better class of cnstomers at this 

 season. Pears consist of Bon Chrt-tien. JargoneUe, Beurrt> d'Amanlis. 

 Applies of Jenneting. Kex-ry Pippin, and Nonsuch. The arrivals of Pota- 

 toes are heavy, and there are several reports of the blight showing itself 

 in fresh places. 



FROlT. 



Apples A sieve 1 



Apricots doz 



Cherries lb. 



a. d. s. d 



Chestnuts bush. 



Currants i sieve 



Black do. 



FigB doz. 2 



Filberts lb. 1 



Cobs lb. 



Gooseberries . . quart 



Grapes, Hothouse, .lb. 1 



Otol 6 



4 











5 







3 



n 









 4 



B. d. 



B. d 

 



Lemons 100 8 12 



Melons each 3 OtoD 



Nectarines doz. 4 



Oranges 100 H 



Peaches doz, 4 



Pears (dessert) .. doz. 2 



Pine Apples lb. 4 



Plums ^ sieve 2 6 



Quinces doz. 



, Raspberries lb. 9 



Strawberries lb. 



j Walnuts bush, in 20 



I Green per 100 



8 

 14 

 8 

 3 

 

 5 

 

 1 

 



VEGETABLES. 



Artichokes each 



Asparagus bundle 



Beans, Kidney, h sieve 



ScarletHun.^ sieve 



Beet, Red doz. 



Broccoli bundle 



Brns. Sprouts \ sieve 



Cabbage doz. 



Capsicums 100 



Carrots bunch 



Cauliflower doz. 



Celery bundle 



CucmnbevH each 



pickling .... doz. 



Endive dnz. 



Fennel hunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horseradish . . bundle 



Leoks bnncb 



; I.ettuce per sfiore 



Mushrooms pottle 



Mu9tti.& Cress, pnnnet 

 [ Onious. .perdoz. bchs, 



' Parsley per sieve 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas por quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



Radishes doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Savoys doz. 



Soa-kalo basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bltshel 



Tomatoe.'; per doz. 



Turnips bunch 



Vegetable Marrows.dz. 





 1 

 2 

 

 .■; 



3 

 



B 



2 



3 

 9 

 

 

 

 8 



2 



2 



6 



1 







9 



8 



S 







2 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



J. Veitch & Sons, Eoyal Exotic Nursery, King's Eoad, 

 Chelsea, London, S.W. — Descriptive Fruit Catalo/iuf, 1S6G-67. 

 List nf Stmii-berries, Biilh Catalogue fur 1867. 



Wiiliam Paul, Paul's Nurseries, Waltham Gross, London, N. 

 — ISulb Catalogue for 1867. 



Dreghorn & Aitken, Kilmarnock, N.B. — Catalogue of Bulbs. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



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

 weak. 



Calceolaeias (A Somerafixlnrr Lady). — What is more particularly de- 

 sired is to know the causes of failure. 



Spot in Gn^u^ES ( IF. JJ. C). — Refer to our answers to correspondents 

 last week, and you will see your case stated. {Constant Eeader). — We 

 have little doubt that the evil arises from the same causes as in the cases 

 above referred to. (H).— It is the same with your Grapes as with the 

 above. If you send your plan and it appear good we shall publish it. 



