January 1, 1867- ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



13 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— December 29. 



A RETURN to dulness in the trade penernlly is the characteristic now, 

 and heavy consignments reach us both English and foreipn. there being 

 a large supply of rough home-gi'own Apples, which hardly command 

 prices to pay commission. Pears are limited to Winter Nelis, Glou 

 Morcean, and Passe Colraar. Some excellent Pines have come from the 

 Azores, quite equalling those we have had occasion to remark upon in 

 former years. The best Potatoes have slightly advanced in price. 



S. d. B. 



Apples J sieve 2 0to3 



Apricots ,'. doz. 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bush. 10 18 



Currants ^ sieve 



Black do. 



Figs doz. 



Filberts lb. 



Cobs lb. 9 1 



Gooseberries .. quart 



Grapes, Hothouse.. lb. 4 8 



Lemons 100 5 10 



Melons each 



Nectarines doz. 



Oranges 100 



Peaches doz. 



Pears (dessert) ..doz. 



kitchen doz. 



Pine Apples lb. 



Plums i sieve 



2 

 

 5 

 



d. s. d 



0to4 







10 







Quinces doz. 



Raspberries. 

 Strawberries , 



.lb. 

 , lb. 



Walnuts bush. 10 20 



VEGETAELES. 



Artichokes each 



Asparagus bundle 



Beans, Broad., bushel 



ScarletRun.:^ sieve 



Beet, Red '.. doz. 



Broccoli bundle 



Brus. Sprouts ^ sieve 



Cabbage .'. doz. 



Capsicums 100 



Carrots bunch 



Cauliflower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Cucumbers each 



pickling .... doz. 



Endive doz. 



Fennel bunch 



GarUc lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horseradish . . bundle 



OtoO 

 









 2 



1 





 



Leeks bunch 



Lettuce per score 



Mushrooms pottle 



Mustd.& Cress, punnet 



Onions per bushel 



Parsley, .doz. bunches 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas per quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



Radishes doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Savoys doz. 



Sea-iiale basket 



' Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



I Tomatoes per doz. 



Turnips bunch 



Vegetable Marrows dz. 



s. d. B. 



StoO 

 1 

 2 

 2 

 3 

 3 

 9 

 

 6 

 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



••• We request that no one will wi-ite privately to tlie depart- 

 mental writers of the "Journal of Horticulture. Cottage 

 Gardener, and Country Gentleman." By so doing they 

 are subjected to unjustifiable trouble and expense. Ail 

 communications should therefore be addressed solehf to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, d'C, 171, Fleet 

 Street, London, B.C. 

 We also request that correspondents will not mis np 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 

 separate communications. Also never to send more than 

 two or three questions at once. 

 Htacinths rN A Room 'C. .V. TI'.).— The bc^innincr of October is the 

 best time to pot Hyacinths and to place them in glasses. You may pot 

 the small bulbs now in 41-iuch pots, and large ones in six-inch pots. 

 Drain the pots well, and use a compost of turfy loam two-thirds, and 

 well-rotted manure one-third, with a free admixture of sharp sand. 

 Three parts fiU the pots with soil, place on the surface a little sand, and 

 on this set the bulb in the centre of the pot ; then fill in soil around the 

 bulb, so as to be level with the crown, leaving the least possible part of 

 the crown uncovered. Give a gentle watering, and place the pots in a 

 dark cupboard for a fortnight, then set them on a ledge or shelf in a 

 window having a southern aspect ; keep the soil moist by watering, never 

 allowing it to become either too wet or too dry, and turn the pots 

 round frequently so as to have the spike and foHage erect. If you grow 

 Hyacinths in glasses, fill these to within an inch of the bulb with soft 

 water, and place tiicm in a dark cupboard imtil the bulbs begin to push 

 and have made considerable progress. A piece of charcoal about the 

 size of a small walnut may be put into the water, and it will tend to keep 

 the water sweet. Do not change the latter so long as it remains sweet, 

 and when it is changed use soft water which has been in the house some 

 hours. Keep the glass replenished with water as this evaporates. 



Azaleas Forcing (A Younqstcr). — Your house with a day temperature 

 of 60 , and a night one of 50^, is sviitable for bringuig on Azaleas. In 

 such a temperature, with a fair amount of ventilation and a moist atmo- 

 sphere they will flower in sis or eight weeks, dependant, of course, on 

 the state of the buds. Some Azaleas lose many of their leaves at this 

 season ; many shed them through their having had the soil much too dry 

 at some time. 



Azalea Culture fH". H.\— The small-leaved kinds you name do not 

 require treatment different from that of Azaleas generally. It is seldom 

 we find it necessary to thin out the shoots of Azaleas, for weakness is 

 favourable to flowering rather than otherwise, and gi'oss shoots fre- 

 quently do not flower. "We fear you do not give the plants liberal treat- 

 ment, nor sufficient moisture, as they are so liable to thrips. 



PiinnrLA srsENsrs Flowers (D., Ncicark). — The pips are very fine, but 

 no judgment could be formed of their merits, for they were bruised by 

 the post-office stamping. Flowers must be sent in a bos and in damp 



IU05S. 



Covering Peach THEEa {Agnes).— It is not necessary at this season 

 to protect Peach trees. When the buds exhibit indications of swelling 

 the coviTiuR may he put on, and remain on day and night in order to 

 retard the blossoms. After the flowers open the covering should only be 

 used at night, except on frosty or foggy days. Whenever the days are 

 mild the covering should be removed during the day. Your proposed 

 mode of protection is verj' good, only the covering must not remain down 

 by day after the blossoms expand, when the weather is fine and mild. 

 The mesh of the nets should not exceed a ijuarter of an inch. Woollen 

 nets are best, but cotton will do if the meshes are not too large. You 

 may double or treble the netting. 



CccusrBER Fruit not Setting (Jame» Pfm).— The fruit fall when they 

 should swell because you do not fertilise the flowers, which is necessary 

 with some kinds at this season. Other causes are a deficiency of bottom 

 heat or a too high night temperature. Withno particulars we are unable 

 to advise further. 



Vacant Ground (T. M.).— Fork over your Ught sandy soil now, and 

 pick out the roots of weeds, but do not lay on manure. Your ton of 

 scrapings from the footpaths, mixed with leaves, weeds, &c., and to which 

 you have added three pecks of lime, \W11 be further improved by the same 

 quantity of salt the next time you turn it over. Put this compost on 

 the ground in the spring when digging, previously to planting, sowing, 

 &c. The " Garden Manual " will suit you. If you enclose twenty postage 

 stamps with your direction you can have it free by post from our office. 



Cotton Seed of all varieties m«y be obtained from the Secretary of the 

 Cotton Supply Association, Newall's Buildings, Manchester. 



Ix-DOOR Plant Case (Lover of the Coitn/rt/).— Either of those yoa 

 mention would do for forcing on a small scale. 



Everlasting Flowers (E. M. B.).— The varieties of each species of 

 what are termed " Everlastings," are so numerous that it is impossible to 

 identify them — in fact, they are unnamed. The two heads you enclosed, 

 for instance, are each Helichiysum bracteatum. and in ordering seeds of 

 them, all that you could say to distinguish them would be to describe one 

 as the white, and the other" the crimson variety. The large yellow Ever- 

 lasting is the yellow variety of H. bracteatum. The small yellow, if you 

 mean that used in constructing "Immortelles," is Gnaphalium are- 

 narium. 



Protecting Pear Blossom: (A. Q.).—In most cases it will be sufficient 

 if a piece of thin calico or tifi'any be thrown over each bush or pyramid, 

 there being at each comer a piece of string which can be tied to the tree 

 so as to prevent the covering being Mown off by the wind. Where con- 

 venient a stout stake may be inserted by the trunk, and extending 1 foot 

 higher than it, and then* other stakes should be placed against this up- 

 right, outside the branches, one end resting on the ground and the other 

 secured with string to the upright. These stakes, which may be slaters' 

 laths, 1* by ^ inch, should be placed l' feet apart in a circle round the 

 tree. The covering being fastened with string at a distance of 1 foot 

 from the ground, will be secui-e against vriud, and home at such a dis- 

 tance from the blossom as not to injui'e it. 



Primuxa Seed Sowing {Anxious to Enow).— To have good Primulas, 



seed from good flowers must be sown, and to seciure this the purchaser 



must give rather a high price. Good Primula seed is dear. Your time 



of sowing is suitable for an autumn and winter bloom. Our plan is 



I this : the seed is sown in the first week in March in pans one-third filled 



with broken pots, an inch of moss, coooa-nut fibre, or the sittings of the 



1 compost being placed thereon; and then the pans are filled to the rim 



! with turfy loam, sandy peat, leaf mould, and silver sand in equal parts, 



i passed through a half-inch seive. The surface is made smooth, the 



! seeds scattered thinly over it, and just covered with the same compost. 



i A gentle watering is then given, and the pan is placed in gentle heat, 



I such as that of a' Cucumber-frame. Care is taken to keep the soU moist, 



but by no means wet, and when the plants appear the pan is brought 



, near the glass, so that they may have abundance of air and all the light 



' possible. Here they remain until they are of suflSclent size to pot off; 



they are gradually hardened off and removed to a vinery or other house, 



and in Jime or early in July transferred to a cold frame, where they are 



shifted as occasion may require. 



Swollen Black Currant Tree Buds (W. J.).— We know of no insect 

 that deposits its eggs in the buds of the Black Currant " causing them to 

 swell to an enormous size." If you send us shoots having on them some 

 swollen buds we will endeavour to determine the name of the insect. 



NuitBER OF Men NEEDFtx (R F.)—A general rule used to be a man 

 for each acre ; but flower gardens and pleasure groimds need much more 

 labour than kitchen gardens. Soil, proportion of each department, and 

 other considerations, have an influence also. 



Vinery (A Sco( .— We do not think you would do any good with a 

 vinery on such a north-east aspect without heating the house, and even 

 then the situation would be unsuitable. We would prefer devoting the 

 wall to Plums, Cherries, and Pears. 



Vine Boots in Wet Subsoil (B. T.I.— The best thing you can do, 

 having drained the border, is to concrete the bottom, place 6 or 10 inches 

 of rubble over it. and having carefully ir.ken up the roots of the Vines, 

 to wTap the roots in mats covered with straw, make a fresh border, .ind 

 replant carefully about 6 inches from the surface. Add as much hot 

 litter on the i;m-"face as will give a temperature of from 65^ to 80' in the 

 earth, and let the Vines break natm-ally. 



Tubular Boiler {Tubular) —We do not remember the account of the 

 boiler your refer to in 1862. We do our utmost to oblige our readers, but 

 we cannot afford time to seek for references for them ; they must do 

 tbat. We place less value than some people on having pipes with 

 water under the fire; we believe that good bars are in ever>- way better. 

 Your boiler ought to heat 1.200 feet ; but a Ko. 4 does not give us a defi- 

 nite idea, as difl'erent makers differ in sizie, and the size would have 

 enabled us to have judged better. If well set, &.C., do you keep the heat 

 from going up the chimney by a damper ? 



Names of Fruits [Bichard Xic7ioUon).—Ap2ile8 : 1, Warwickshire 

 Pippin ; 2. Crimson Queening ; 4, Feam's Pippin ; 5, Alfriston ; 6, Holland- 

 bury. Pear: 1, Susette de Bavay. 



Nasies of Plants (A Kovice).—h Adiantnm, insufficient to determine 

 the species; 2, Onychium japonicum : 3, Pteris longifolia; 4, Gynmo- 

 gramma caJomelano's ; 5, Aspidimn molle {?) (i-Ved).— Oporanthus luteus* 

 (^m(i(tur).— We cannot satisfactorily name the scraps you send. 1 is 



