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432 



JOUBNAL OF HOKTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ Juno 20, 1887. 



from beneath, instead of from above. To be precise, choose 

 pans or pots for sowing in — say the latter, for convenience, 

 and suppose they are six-inch pots, fill them nearly half full 

 with drainage, then a layer of rough riddlings, then another 

 layer of finer soil— say sandy loam, and a little peat, pressed 

 well down, and a third layer of finer still ; but to terminate 

 within one inch of the top of the rim of the pot. Press all 

 firmly down with a round board, with a nail or a wooden peg 

 in the centre for a handle. Then water ail these thoroughly, 

 either through a fine rose, or by setting the pots in a tub of clean 

 water, so that the water will cover them all over. When soaked 

 lift the pots out carefully, and allow them to stand in a shady 

 place for from twelve to twenty-four hours, until they are 

 thoroughly drained, and the surface soil is just becoming some- 

 what dry. On this sow the seeds. Scatter on them, if very 

 small, the least sprinliling of dry sand, and press with the 

 board, or the bottom of a pot gently. Plunge the pots, but not 

 too closely together, in ashes in a frame, or under a hand-light. 

 Place a square of glass, or a piece of stout paper over each pot, 

 if glass, which ia best, cover it with paper, or a little moss, 

 until the seedlings appear. If notwithstanding this care the 

 surface soil become rather dry before the seedlings appear, 

 pour water among the ashes in which the pots are plunged, and 

 that will generally be sufficient. If in some extreme cases that 

 does not afford moisture enough for some particular small 

 seeds, either sail the surface of the soil carefully with water, or 

 what is better and safer, lift the pot carefully out, and holding 

 it in your hands place it in a pail of water, so that the surface 

 shall have water placed gently all over it without the chance of 

 displacing a seed. 



With such care as above detailed — all very pleasant work for 

 amateurs — the little seedlings will soon come in general, and 

 as soon as they manifest themselves the shading of paper, &c., 

 must be removed by degrees— first at night, then morning and 

 afternoon, and then altogether ; and air should be given also 

 gradually— first raising the square of glass at a comer, increas- 

 ing it by degrees, taking it away at night, replacing with this 

 raising up during the day, and finally removing it altogether, 

 leaving only the top of the hand-light on the frame, and giving 

 more air by degrees by this outer covering. This may be all 

 done in a common window-sill. A thin paper frame makes an 

 excellent substitute for a hand-light, and a double pot with moss 

 between the inside and outside pot makes a fine substitute for 

 a bed of ashes. Bear in mind that until the seedlings of these 

 small seeds are pricked oft' separately, or in little patches at first, 

 it will be more or less unsafe to water a thicket of seedlings over- 

 head with the finest rose. It will be safer every way to cover 

 the surface with water by pouring it carefully on a potsherd at 

 the sides, or setting the pot, held by the hand, in a pail of water 

 until the water gently trickles over the rim and covers the sur- 

 face. If the outsides of the pots be kept moist, these opera- 

 tions will seldom be necessary, and this object can be effected 

 as well by a double pot as by plunging in a bed. With such 

 precautions there will be fewer complaints of wunt of success, 

 and less blame laid at the doors of the best and the most 

 honourable seedsmen. — E. F. 



Apples ^ sieve 



Apricots doz 



Cherries box 



Chestnuts bush. 



Currants ^ sieve 



Blaclf do. 



Figs doz. 



Filberts lb. 



Cobs lb. 



Gooseberries ..quart 

 Grapes, Hothouse. .It. 

 Lemons 100 



B. d. 8. d 















I Plums I sieve 



d. ■. 



0to8 

 18 

 14 

 86 

 

 



Quinces doz. 



Raspboirips lb. 



Strawberries lb. 





 

 6 



Walnuts bush, 10 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— June 10. 



Heavy supplies from some parts of the Continent have had considerable 

 influence here, and prices recede The qualitv of ourown produce is well 

 kept up, and contrasts, favourably with that of the former, which suffers 

 considerably from packing and the different shifts in transit. The arrivals 

 coastwise of Potatoes have been large, the chief shipping ports being 

 Lisbon, "t. Malo. and those of the Channel Islands, best samples main- 

 taining their previous rates— -viz., 3d. to id. per lb. 



Artichokes each 



Asparagus bundle 



Beans, Kidney, per 100 



ScarletRun-i sieve 



Beet, Red doz. 



Broccoli bundle 



Brus. Sprouts ^ sieve 



Cabbage doz. 



Capsicums 100 



Carrots bunch 



Caoliflower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Cucumbers each 



pickling .... doz. 



Endive doz. 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



norseradieb , . bundle 



VEGETABLES, 

 d. 8. d ! 



3to0 6 Leeks bunch 



6 0' Lettuce per score 



i! Mushrooms .... pottle 



Mustd.4 Cress, punnet 



8 Onions per bushel 



3 I Parsley per sieve 



1 Parsnips doz. 



1 6 Peas per quart 



3 Potatoes bushel 



8 Kidney do. 



New lb. 



Radishes doz. bunches 



4 Rhubarb bundle 



I Savoys doz. 



1 

 1 







2 



2 







1 n 



2 

 6 

 

 





 3 

 1 

 

 



3 

 8 

 8 

 3 

 2 6 



j Sea-kale basket 



I Shallots lb. 



I Spinach bushel 



i Tomatoes per doz. 



I Toruipa bunch 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



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

 mental writers of the "Journal of Horticulture, Cottage 

 Gardener, and Country Gentleman." By so doing they 

 are subjected to unjustifiable trouble and expense. All 

 communications should therefore be addressed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, d>c., 171, Fleet 

 Street, London, E.C. 



We also request that correspondents will not mix 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 . 



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

 week. 



Orchard-house Manaoement. — A clerpj-msn, "W. W.,'* wishes that 

 " C. P.," who wrote on this subject at page 393, wonld s^nd his address 

 to this office, na "W. W." would be glad to have permission to visit 

 " C. P.'a " orchard-house. 



Suggestion (TV. Taylor). — Thanks for your sugt^estion, but we carried 

 out your idea very fully some years since— and all the subjects you name, 

 .Soil, Manures, Light, Heat, Ac, were included. The whole have now been 

 collected and published in a volume, entitled "Science and Practice of 

 Gardening," which you can have free by post from our office, if you en- 

 close forty postage btamps with your address. 



Depriving Standard Roses of Flowers iJ. P.) —If the standard 

 Roses are deprived of their flowers now, they will flower again in August. 

 The objection to depriving Roses of their lirst flowers is, that it delays 

 the ripening of the wood for next year. I advise *' J. P." to leave on the 

 centre bud on such wood as he wants for next year, and deprive the 

 branch of the other buds. As soon as the flower drops the branch may 

 bo cut back to a good full eye. Roses require difl'ereut periods to come 

 to maturity of flower. General Jacqueminot is one of the quickest. 

 Duchesse d'Orleaus and Washington are two of the slowest. "J. P." 

 may cut back some of the inferior branches at once. If Roses are de- 

 prived of their flowers early in the season, of course, their autumn 

 blooms will bo finer. I am not satisfied with less than three series, and 

 continuity of blooming besides. The Roses here (on the Manetti stock), 

 began to bloom abundantly June 8th, and I expect them to continue 

 doing so till winter stops them.— W. F. R*DCLYFrE. 



Flower Garden Plans (A Youna Qardener). — As soon as the work, 

 which is in progress, shall be sufficiently advanced, all necessary par- 

 ticulars will be duly advertised. For obvious reasons it would be prema- 

 ture to make any definite announcement at present; but we may add 

 that it will be published with as little delay as possible. 



Arabis lucida variegata and Accdba-leaved Daisy for Edgings 

 (Bellia). — We consider Arabis lucida variegata the most beautiful of all 

 golden-variegated edging plants of compact dwarf giowth, and to be pre- 

 ferred to the Golden-leaved DaiBV, which is also very handsome.^ Neither 

 of them can be raised from seed, both are increased by division. The 

 fragment of Fern sent us was Polypodium dryopteris. 



Pyrethrum Golden Feather {Idem). — The price of this handsome, 

 dwarf, compact-growing plant is from 2s. &d. to Ss. 6d. per plant. It may 

 be obtained from the principal nurserymen. 



FuNGDs ON Lawn (.4.S.I. — You may free your lawn of the fungus by 

 applying a dressing to the lawn with salt at the rate of 1 lb. per square 

 yard, or lime water made by pouring thirty gallons of water over a peck 

 of fresh lime, stirring well up, and allowing the liquid to stand for forty- 

 eight hours. Water with the clear liquid, giving a good soaking. 



Ventilating an Obchard-hodse {A. B.). — We would decidedly approve 

 of the perforated zinc over the ventilating openings to keep out flies, &c. ; 

 but these openings will have to be all the wider in proportion to the 

 spaces of zinc, through which no air can go. 



Destroying Ants and Woodlice {Joseph Stillwell). — You may drive 

 away the ants by sprinkling guano over their haunts, and you will find a 

 Bantam hen and chickens make quick work of the woodlice. A brood of 

 Partridges turned into your garden would do better with the ants. 



Peach-tree Leaves Diseased I A Subscriber). — The leaf when it 

 reached us was merely a leathery brown mass. There were some marks 

 as if insects had been present. We incline to think that it is a bad case 

 of blotch and curl, chiefly owing to the unfavourable weather, and, 

 perhaps, also a little, and only a little, attributable to the sulphur and 

 tobacco-water dressings. Cut oS" nil such leaves by degrees, the worst 

 first, and ere long the tree will recover itself and ripen its wood. The 

 more green the wood last autumn, the more likely would the trees be to 

 suiler from this infliction. When leaves are sent in a letter, it is often 

 difficult to detect anything about them. 



Pelecx GoosEBE^piBs (£, F. K).— SnowbftU (Adams), white; London* 

 red. 



