340 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ May 20, 1869. 



tioned above, for making the garden gay in spring, and a 

 similar convenience will be wanted shortly for Pinks, Male 

 Pinks, Cloves, &o. Where there are no hand-lights to spare, a 

 piece of calico strained tightly makes a good substitute. For 

 want of both, a shady place should be chosen, and a few boughs 

 fastened round. 



Tulips now want protecting and examining, Pinks and Car- 

 nations staking, and Anemones and Xlinunculuses watering in 

 dry weather. We have been busy pricking off tender and half- 

 hardy annuals, and these are soon injured when left thickly in 

 the seed pots. We shall have to continue to forward Perillas 

 and Amaranthuses, and to harden them off, but for some years 

 we have found it is better not to plant out these too soon. We 

 had some difficulty in making a stock for Coleus beds, as our 

 temperature was scarcely high enough in winter. Those plants 

 potted off were scarcely growing fast enough for us, so we had 

 them taken to a bed where they could have a good bottom heat. 

 Most likely we shall pot again, and then harden them off before 

 taking them to the open beds. Last season we did not take them 

 out until the middle of June, and thus the foliage escaped the 

 rusty look it used to have with us when planted earlier. As a 

 rule, a damp season suits these best, but they did well with us, 

 dry as it was. Much north of London, however, we would 

 imagine that the success will depend chit fly on large plants 

 and late planting. We shall try some others besides the brown 

 one this season, and some will be grown as large plants for 

 corridors, &c., in the mode whicli is practised by Mr. Cad- 

 ger. After being fairly started this tribe likes rich compost, 

 as the size and colour of the foliage will be much dependent on 

 that, though in some cases the colours may not keep so true. 

 Are our readers aware, that a leaf or part of a leaf inserted in 

 bottom heat, will soon make a plant? 



With such exceptions, most of our bedding plants aie in the 

 open air, but where they can be helped in an emergency, we 

 shall not meddle with them as yet, before the ground "is in 

 better order. Those with hght warm soils may act differently. 

 We have been busy potting, and dividing Ferns, as these, and 

 chiefly the Maiden-hair Ferns, are so much wanted for de- 

 coration. — R. F. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— May Hi. 



We have experienced a decline in the general business, wliich will 

 prove only temporary, in consequence of the holidays. Prices are 

 rather lower for most descriptions of produce in consetjuenco of there 

 being a fuller supply. Some common sorts of Cherries have been cou- 

 Bipned from the south of France, and bring from S». to 4«. nerlb. 



s. 



Apples y^ sieve 3 



Apricots doz. a 



Cherries lb. 3 



Chestnuts bush. 10 



Currants u sieve 



Black do. 



Figs doz. 12 



Filberts lb. 



Cobs lb. 1 



Gooseberries . . quart 1 

 Grapes, Hothouse.. lb. 10 

 Lemons 100 4 



FRUIT. 



d. s. d 



Oto4 



4 



i 



n 16 











20 







12 

 8 



s. d. s. d 



Melons each 5 OtolS 



Nectarines doz. 24 36 



Oranges 100 4 12 



Peaches doz. 24 



Pears (dessert) . . doz. 

 Pine Apples lb. 



Plums }-.^ sieve 



33 

 8 



Quinces doz. 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries oz. 6 



Wajnuts busb. 10 



do 100 1 



16 (I 

 2 



Artichokes doz. 



Asparagus 100 



Beans, Kidney . . hd. 



Beet, Red doz. 



Broccoli bundle 



Brus. Sprouts ^.^ sieve 



Cabbage doz. 



Capsicums 100 



Carrots bunch 



Cauliflower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Cacumbers each 



Endive doz. 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Jlorseradish ..bundle 



e. d 

 3 



VEGETABLES. 

 d I 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 8 



3 



1 fi 

 fi 



2 

 3 

 8 

 3 



3 



to 6 

 6 

 3 

 3 

 2 

 

 2 

 

 1 

 6 

 2 

 1 



Leeks bunch 4 to 



Lettuce score 1 



Muslirnoms . . . . pottle 1 

 Mustd.A Cress.punnet 

 Onions bushel 12 







II 











S 



Parsley sieve 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



Radishes doz.bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes doz. 



Turnips bunch 



Vcget. Marrows.. doz. 



14 

 4 6 

 

 

 

 

 

 6 

 



2 



2 



4 







7 

 

 

 

 3 

 3 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



E. G. Henderson & Sod, Wellington Road, St. John's Wood, 

 London, W. — Catalogue of Deciding and Suft-u-vuded Plants. 

 New Plants, cC-c. 



F. i- A. Dickson & Sons, 106, Eastgate Street, and Upton 

 Nurseries. Chester. — Catalogue of Stove and Greenliouse Plants, 

 Azaleas, Camellias, Orchids, Ferns, Soft-wooded Plants, d-c. 



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. Ail 

 communications should therefore be addressed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Uorticulture, dc, 171, Fleet 

 Street, London, E.G. 



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 

 separate commuaications. Also never to send more than 

 two or three questions at once. 



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

 week. 



Drops on Vine Lesves [Know ]Vo(). — They are merely dewdropst 

 deposited from the moist air of the house. The same was noticed fully 

 at page 208 of the present volume. 



Ants {L. H. E ).— You may drive them away and benefit the plants in 

 your greenhouse by daily sprinkling guano, or pouring gas ammoniacal 

 liquor over the nests and haunts of the ants until they disappear. 



UnsA Cavendishii Fhdit Ripening (J. jr. J.)-— The fruit ought to be 

 cut when the first pips are ripe, which you will know by their change of 

 colour aud pulpiness. Then cut the bunch and hang it up in a green- 

 house or fruit-room. The fruit will ripen perfectly, but we prefer them 

 ripened on tlic plant, maintaining a good heat and dry atmosphere, ac- 

 companied with abundance of air. 



Pelargoniums (F. J.).— All the Pelargoniums you name make good 

 pot plants, aud are desirable for the purpose— the ornamentation of the 

 greenhouse in the late summer and autumn months. The Ivy-leaved are 

 very suitable for baskets and for pots. Zonal Pelargoniums flower quite 

 as well, indeed more freely, when they are plunged as when planted out 

 in the bed, the pots being of good size. They ought to be in single or 

 separate pots, and not three plants in 11 or 12-inch pots ; the plants being 

 further apart have a better opportunity for growing. Plants grown 

 entirely for tbeir foliage may bave the flowers removed as they appear, 

 taking them off close to the stem, and when the leaves become old and 

 lose colour they may be taken o£f by hand close to the stem. 



Vegetable Marhow Bed {A Constant 7;eader).— The situation should 

 be open to the sun, but protected from winds to the west. east, and north 

 — in fact, the situation cannot be too sunny, nor too well sheltered from 

 wind. The soil should be taken out 3 or 4 feet wide and 1 foot deep, 

 filling the pit with hot dung, and raising it 1 foot or 18 inches above the 

 surface, beating it well down and treading it firm. The soil taken out of 

 the pit may be placed against the sides of the dung all round, and the 

 bed covered witii 8 or 10 inches of good, rich, rather light turfy loam. 

 The plants may bo planted when the heat has risen and warmed the soil, 

 placing them 3 feet apart, and protecting them at nigbt from frost by an 

 inverted flower-pot, watering copiously aud throughout the summer, in 

 dry weather. If you sow the seeds you may put in two or three seeds at 

 3 feet intervals along the centre of the bed, placing a hand-glass over 

 them, keeping close until the foedlings are up, then admit air freely, 

 hardening off by degrees, thinning away the plants, leaving the best one 

 only under each glass, and when that fills the glass remove the glass 

 altogether, the plants being well hardenod-off previously. 



Fuchsias Goino-off {The New Gardener).— We do not discern from 

 the treatment given your plants what is the cause of their dying-back. 

 The treatment seems to us all right; but you say the wood shrivelled 

 last winter, and that the plants have had frequent doses of guano water. 

 The former would cause them to die back, and they would not start into 

 growth the f jUowing year, except from the live wooii. The guano water, if 

 too strong, would certainly destroy the roots, and that may be the cause 

 of the plants dying-back after starting into new growth- 



TnopiEOLUH TRICOLORUM Bloois GolNG-OFF {Jackdau'). — We think 

 your plant had not a sufficiency of air and light, but it may be occasioned 

 by a deficiency of water, or too much, and a likely canse is the drjTiess 

 of the atmosphere. It is usual, however, for the plant to lose some of 

 the buds even in greenhouses, and that from the plants or tubers not 

 being potted until they have shoots several inches long. The plant not 

 uufrequently seeds, and the seedj, when ripe should be sown in pots, 

 placing them in the same position as the old plants, and keeping the soil 

 moist. The soil most suitable is two parts fibrous sandy loam, one part 

 sandy peat, with a free admixture of silver sand. 



Otaheite Orange (/dem).— It is, perhaps, the best of all Oranges for 

 pot culture, being very profuse-blooming and fruiting, and succeeds in a 

 room window. You could not raise plants from pips that would flower 

 within several years in a window. Your best plan would be to purchase 

 a small plant, which may be had through any of the principal nursery- 

 men. 



Fuchsia fdlgens not Flowering (Idem). — We should take up one of 

 the plants as you propose and pot it in sandy fibrous loam, providing 

 good drainage, keeping the plant well supplied with water in dry weather, 

 never aliening it to flag. It should have an open sunny situation. Your 

 soil is probably too rich ; the remedy will be to take the plants up, pot 

 them in lighter and poorer soil, and plunge the pots, covering them over 

 the rim. 



Ardisia TEEATaiENT (*?. L. IT.).— It Should have the warmest position 

 the greenhouse affords, light and airy, keeping the soil rather dry in 

 winter, but not so much so as to cause the foliage to wither or the fruit to 

 fall prematurely, for the (lowers are its chief attraction. A compost of 

 two parts light turfy loam, and one part sandy peat or leaf mould, with a 

 free admixture of silver or sharp sand will grow it well, good drainage 

 being provided. The plants being low in the pots we should now turn 

 them out and rei>ot with the bills entire into larger, not giving a large 

 shift, but one large enough to admit of a little soil being placed between 

 the pot and ball. The plants should be raised in the pots, the crown of 



