50 



JOUBNAIi OF HOKTICUIiTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ January 21, 1869. 



little clean moss beneath the pot, and a little moss over it. 

 The plant was watered with clean soft water for a fortnight. 

 On changing the plant at that time, the smell from the little 

 water accumulated amongst the moss was unbearable. A lady 

 had a vase made of zinc, painted elegantly, and rejoiced in 

 the combinations she was able thus to effect, by means of 

 small flowering-pots, the pots concealed by moss. In a few 

 months, however, she could not make out how the room, 

 notwithstanding the odour of the flowers, had a scent as 

 if there had been the opening of a drain, ^he vase when fresh 

 done up told too well the cause. A small pipe with tap was 

 fixed close to the bottom of the vase, and about half an hour 

 after watering the water that had found its way through the 

 pots was run off, and there was no more trouble with bad 

 smells. We hope that in future more importance will be given 

 to the avoiding of stagnant water, inside as well as outside of 

 our residences. — B. F. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— January 20. 



A VERY limited number of buyers have attended during the past week, 

 busmess beiEK my dull. There is no new feature to report either in the 

 home or the foreign trade. The unports from abroad are much in excess 

 of the demand. 



FRUIT. 



s. d. _ ^ 



Apples i; sieve 1 G to 2 



Apricots doz. o 



Cherries lb. o 



Chestnuts bush. 10 



Currants i , sieve 



Black do. 



Figs doz. 



Filberts lb. 9 



^ Cobs ...lb. 1 



Gooseberries . . quart 



Grapes, Hothouse., lb. 6 



Iicmous 100 4 



9 

 

 

 







6 







6 



8. d. s. d 



Melons each 2 to 5 



Nectnrines doz. 



Oranges loO 2 



Peaches doz. 



Pears (dessert) . . doz. 2 6 



Pine Apples lb. 4 



Plums H sieve 



Quinces doz. 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries lb, 



Walnuts bush. 10 



do lOO 1 



VEGETABLES. 



Artichokes doz. 



Asparagus 100 



Beans, Kidney . . hd. 



Beet, Red doz. 



Broccoli bundle 



Brus. Sprouts }.j sieve 



Cabbage '. doz. 



Capsicums 100 



Carrots bunch 



Cauliflower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Cucumbers .... each 



Endive doz. 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horseradish ..bundle 



5 

 2 

 2 



1 



2 

 1 

 

 4 





 6 

 

 

 8 

 8 

 3 

 



d. s. d { 

 to 6 , 

 





 

 

 









 8 





 

 



n 



Leeks bunch 



Lettuce score 



Mushrooms. . . . pottle 

 Mustd.»& Cress,punnet 



Onions bushel 



Parsley sieve 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



Radishes doz.bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Sea-kale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes doz. 



Turnips hunch 



s. d 

 4 too 

 2 

 2 



2 











9 







6 







6 



9 







8 











6 





 6 







8 



2 









 16 



2 6 



d 



6 



4 







TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



J. Wheeler & Son, Gloucester.— WliecUr d; Son's Little Bool: 

 or Select Seed List. 



F. & A. Dickson & Sons, 106, Eaatgate Street, and Upton 

 Nurseries, Chester.— C'a*a/o,7»;c nf Vegetable and FUnoer Seeds. 



E. Parker, Exotic Nursery, Tooting, Surrey.— C(i(a%iM of 

 Agricultural, Flower, and VenetaUe Seeds, die' 



W. Cutbush & Son, Highgate, London, N.— Catalogue of 

 Select Vegetable, Flower, and Farm Seedf. 



John & Charles Lee, Eoyal Vinevard Nursery, Hammersmith, 

 London.— r™*! List, Autumn 1808, and Spring 1869. 



T. Sampson, Preston Eoad and Houndstone, Yeovil, Somer- 

 set.— Cataiopue of Vegetable and Agricultural Seeds.— Cata- 

 logue of Oi-naniental Trees and Shrubs, and Fmits. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



NoiwiTHSTAHDixG OUT oft-repeated request that no priviite 

 letters be sent to any of our departmental writers, 

 we regret to hear that the communications some of them 

 recei\e, and particularly " Wiltshihe Rector," have 

 become^ so numerous, and the expense and trouble in- 

 cuiTcd in replying to them are so great, that we must beg 

 of our readers to be more considerate. All the gentle- 

 men connected with this Joumal have vocations of their 

 own which demand their attention, and it is not fail- that 

 they should be subjected to a special private correspon- i 



dence with the public generally, simply because they 

 give utterance to their views through the pages of thia 

 Journal. 

 We therefore give this notice, that no letters written pri- 

 vately to any of the departmental writers will be answered, 

 and those only will receive any attention which pass 

 through the office in the ordinary way. 



Books (Den(on).~There is no such book as you name. *' The Cottage 

 Gardeners' Dictionary " and Keane's "In-door Gardening" contain to- 

 gether ail you require and much more. (James, Leominttcr). — "The 

 Cottage Gardeners' Dictionary " and " The Garden Manual." You can 

 have them both free by post from our office if you enclose 8d. lOtf. in 

 postage stamps with your direction. 



Gardeners' Examination (/. 7!.).— Write to Mr. Richards, Assistant 

 Secretary, Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensington, and ask him 

 to send you the printed particulars. 



Garden Prdnisg Shears and Scissors (H. J. S.).— Any cutler ought 

 to be able to obtain them. Figures of some are in the " Cottage Gar- 

 deners' Dictionary." They are exposed in a cutler's shop window in 

 Fleet Street, and at Messrs. Moseley's, King Street, Covent Garden. 



Pear not Ripening iF. jF,).— Tour Pear, which we do not recognise, 

 appears to us to be produced by a late blossom, and is not fully developed. 

 Try it another year. Keep the fruit in a place cool and not too dry, and 

 then tell us the result. It seems as if it had been keptin a cold dry place. 



FRniT-WAll. Teellib [W. T.),— The best and cheapest treUis for a 

 fruit wall is No. 10 galvanised wire, stritiued horizontally along the waU 

 not more than 4 inches apart, better 3.^ inches, sd as to course with the 

 bricks; but as yours is a stone wall this is not material. The wires may 

 be about three-quarters of an inch from the wall, or less if there are 

 inequalities, and should be kept at the proper distance apart by gal- 

 vanised-iron studs driven into the wall, plugging the joints if necessary, 

 so as to better secure the studs. At each end you will require nu upright 

 plate of iron, 1 inch by three-eighths of an inch, having at the proper 

 distances eyes for the wires, which are to be secured to these at one end, 

 passed through the iron studs, and then strained and secured to the iron 

 plate at the other end. The wire nettiug would answer as you propose, 

 but it would be very expensive if well done, and not half so durable as 

 single wires horizontally placed. 



Lawn Weedy and Bare (Sophif H.). — The lawn, according to your 

 description, is very poor. We advise you, during mild weather from the 

 present time to March to grub up as many of the Daisies and other 

 weeds as possible, and early in the month give it a top-dressiug of well- 

 rotted manure two parts, one part loam, and one part sifted ashes, all 

 well mixed and incorporated. The lawn should be well scratched with 

 an iron rake before top-dressing, and a good dressing given, so as to cover 

 the surface about a quarter of an inch thick. Early in April rake it over, 

 and sow the lawn Grass eeeds and 8 lbs. of Suckling Clover per acre. 

 Sow on a dry day with a prospect of rain soon falling, roll well after 

 sowing ; but do not roll or mow for a month, and then keep the Grass well 

 moiR-n and rol!ed. If the worms are troublesome water with lime water. 



Cherry Trees over-vigorous (T. F. D.\ — The trees being very vigor- 

 ous, we would, as they have been newly planted, cut them back two- 

 thirds their length, but leaving the lowest shoots longer than the apper 

 ones. The cutting-back should be done now in mild weather. 



Destroying Water Rats {One Br.aten by liaU.). — We do not know of 

 any better way of destroyinc^ them than by trapping, baiting with a piece 

 of the Celery, which you say they devour, but we very much question 

 their doing so, as they do not often leave the water far at any season. 

 We think it is the black rat that does the damage, for it is very fond of 

 bun-owing in the hanks of ponds. It is destroyed by poison or trapping. 



Heating a Pbopagating Hocse {Old Soldier). — If your pipes are set 

 4| feet above the level of the boiler we canoot perceiv.* why they do not 

 heat the propagating house. Are the pipes in the main range on a 

 similar, or on a higher level ? If on the same level the matter is more 

 inexplicable if the main flow and return are the same for both places. 

 If the pipes are lower in the pit, a little nicety of mauagemeut might be 

 required to check the flow in the other houses before the pit received 

 it m full. We fancy there must be some difference in tliis respect 

 — that is, if tie other houses are weU heated. Of course there can 

 be nothing undesirable in having a new propagatiug house, though we see 

 nothing to prevent the present one ans\f eriiig, and growing Melons in 

 summer if you wish. The boiler ought to heat the whole. In the setting, 

 the bricks might have been nearer than 7 inches, but they must give out 

 the heat they receive, especially if by means of a vacant space behind 

 them they are prevented diffusing it to the ground abutticg against 

 them. No doubt much of the heat will go up the chimney if you give it 

 free vent, b-it you must prevent that by the use of the damper ; and if 

 nt all uncertain, have a damper to go right across the chimney with a 

 hole an inch in diameter in the centre. The damper may then go in as 

 soon as the fire becomes somewbnt bright. Your pipes at the bottom of 

 the pit most likely f hU to give bottom heat because they are at the bottom. 

 See what is said on this subject by Mr. Fish iu page 233 of our last volume. 



Rhododendron (Agnes).— The specimen sent is Rhododendron cataw- 

 biense. 



Vine Border (P.P.). — In the bolder you describe, if the turf was at 

 all sweet, no better plan for making a Vine border could be adopted than 

 piling the turf in layers, with brick rubbish and bones in thin layers 

 between them. 



Stopping Vines (T. E.). — As your Vines are in pots we would stop the 

 fruiting shoots one joint beyond the fruit, and the leading shoot when it 

 bad made three or four joints. We make this last racommendatiou on 

 the uuderstanding that you do not value the Vines much after fruiting. 

 When to be used continuously it is advisable to fruit moderately, and 

 secure growth as well as fruit. 



Work and Wages (A Young Beginner) — We should say you have quite 

 enough to do, and very little for doing if: but there is such a tUfference 

 in the mode of doing things We should almost be sorry if so many 

 houses and a flower and kitchen garden should be thoroughly well kept 

 for 143, per week. 



