Jane 8, 1809. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



syu 



quality, comee next, and theu, perhaps, beech. Most other 

 woods last only the season, but we frequently take what we 

 can obtain. Common laurel is good after it has lain long 

 enough to lose all tho foliage. In forming these sticks a man 

 Boon makes the top tnigs somewhat uniform with a swoop of 

 his knifo, and one stroke with a sharp knife at the base is 

 sufficient for pointing a small stick, and two for a rathor largo 

 one — matters of importance where they are to be used by the 

 thousand. Two cuts, or three at most, will point a stick as 

 thick as an ordinary finger. 



As to pliintiiiii and pi\'j>urin[i for plantiiiij, no bedding plant, 

 be it what it may, should be bedded-out with the roots dry, or 

 the Boil about them dry, and it is also well in many cases not 

 to turn them out when freshly watered. Better have it done 

 some hours previously. When there is soil about the roots it 

 will then hold better thire. In small places thtrc is no better 

 iilan than turning the plants out of pots, and if at all matted 

 with roots, running the lingers up the sides of the ball, to dis- 

 entangle the roots gently before planting, so that they may go at 

 once into the soil of the bed or border. Where much in this 

 way is done, combined with economy, pots are to a great extent 

 dispensed with. Fibroue-rooting plants, as Calceolarias, Agera- 

 tums, Salvias, Verbenas, Lobelias, Sec, wo oonsiJer are belter 

 without them than with them. Of course we are speaking of 

 plants raised where they are to be planted, not raised and 

 treated for the market. For instance, our own Calceolarias 

 were insetttd thickly as cuttings in a cold pit in the end of 

 October, were taken up and planted in an earth pit in the end 

 of March and beginning of April, and now are strong plants 

 with large balls to each. We have planted-out all kinds of 

 bedding Pelargoniums in the same way, but they do not rise so 

 well with balls, and if the earth fall from the roots, tliough the 

 •plants ultimately do quits as well, they are apt to flag for a 

 week or two at first, and lose some of tht-ir best and largest 

 leaves. As tending to save trouble and watering, we find that 

 with the tenderest of them it is a good plan to take tho struck 

 cuttings in spring, put them into small pots, and when esta- 

 blished turn the balls into p.n earth pit, and when taken to the 

 flowering beds thd roots wiil be proceeding all round the btilla 

 ready to go into the soil at once. These receive less check 

 than plants from pots with roots matted round the baU. At 

 one time we tried a handful of moss, covering soil and roots 

 inside, the moss thus securing a ball at planting-out time ; but 

 the chief objection to the use of moss is that if, after planting- 

 ont, It became thoroughly dry in the bed, there was hardly a 

 possibility of wetting it again, and, therefore, the roots near 

 home became useless. 



For home use, such fibrous-rooted plants as we have alluded 

 to do better when planted-out temporarily, and then raised 

 and taken to tho beds. Several times, and especially this 

 season, we have found plants that did not make fibres freely 

 near home do well if first planted in pieces of turf, and, when 

 well established, turf and all turned out in the beds. We lately 

 described the process. A fortnight or so ago we lifted all those 

 so treated to prevent the roots of the Pelargoniums running 

 down. We examined many the other day when planting, and 

 found myriads of nice, white, fresh roots protruding all round 

 the turf, ready to enter at once into the pulverised soil. We 

 fancied heretofore that the firmness of the turf near the collar 

 of the plant helped to secure free blooming, and less luxuriance 

 of growth. We shall only add that in our damp cold soil we 

 gave only a dribblet of water when planting, merely at tho roots 

 to settle the soil round them. A rising barometer leads us to 

 hope we shall be busy on the 31st.— B. F. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— June 2. 



Sdppliks continue fully equal to the demand, and forced fruit is still 

 abundant. Prices have undergone no material alteration from those 

 quoted lufct week. 



FBCIT. 



a. 



Melons each 



Nectarinea doz. V2 



Oranges 100 4 



Peaches doz. 15 



Peara (dessert) . . doz. 



Pine Apples lb. 3 



Plums }-i sieve 



Quinces doz. 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries lb. 5 



Walnuts bush. 10 16 



do 100 10 2 



d. a. d 



0tol5 



24 



12 



30 



« 



12 















8 



VEaETABLES. 



Artlchokoa doz. 



Aap'irii^ua 100 



I eana, Kidney . . hd. 



Teat, Kcd dnz. 



I rj^icoli bundle 



1 rn. Sprouts y^ sieve 



( abba<<o doz. 



Capsicums 100 



Carrots bunch 



CauliOuwer doz. 



Cclorj* bundle 



Cucumbers .... each 



Endive doz. 



Fonuul bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Florba bunch 



Horseradish ..bundle 



s. d. a. d 



3 I) to 6 

 SO IS U 



1 



2 

 U 







1 

 



8 

 3 



1 6 

 C 



2 

 3 





 

 

 

 





 1 





 2 















6 



J.eoks bunch 



Lettuce score 1 



Mushruoms. . . . pottlo 1 



Mustd.& Cress, punnot 



Onions buMliel 12 



Parsley siovo 3 



Pursnipa doz. 



Peas lUart 2 



Potatoes buHtiel 4 



Kidney.,., ditto 4 



Radishes doz. bnnnhofl 1 



Uitubarb bundle 



Shallota lb. 



Spinach bushel 2 



Tomatoes doz. 2 



Turnips bunch 



Voget. Marrows.. doz. 



d. e. 



4 toU 



u a 



14 U 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



B. S. Williams, Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Upper 

 HoUoway, London, N. — Catalogim of New and Rare Plants. 

 Spriu'i, iSO'J. 



D. Gold McKay, Sudbury, Sa£Eolk.— Lis« of Bedding Plants 

 and Hardy Perennial Seeds. 



H. T. Dykman, Haarlem, Holland. — Wliulesale Trade Cata- 

 logue of Dutch Bulbs and Flower Roots. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



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

 mental writers of the " Journal of Horticulture, Cottage 

 Gardener, and Country Gentleman." By so doing they 

 are subjected to ncjustifiable trouble and expense. All 

 communications t.hould therefore be addressed soleli/ to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, dc., 171, i'lect 

 Street, London, E.C. 

 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 communications. Also never to send more than 

 two or three questions at once. 



Gbubs (C. S., Primrose mil).— They arc the larvie of the Daddy-lon;!- 

 legs, or Crane Fly, Tipula oleracea. The only i)r«ctical remedy we know 

 is to pare-off 3 or 4 inches of tho surface and burn it. The grubs are 

 called Leather- jackets on account of their toughness, and Surface grabs 

 because they are never dtep in the soil. They arc very destructive, feed- 

 ing on the roots aod young stems of many cultivated plants. 



Seedling Pelaeoonidm (Bamsgate).— There are many of the same 

 colour and foliage. 



Pansies.— The name of tho exhibitor of tho beautiful Pansiea, noticed 

 at page 341, as being shown at the Uoynl Horticultural Society's Floral 

 Committee Meeting, was Uliis 3Ialn/, nol Miss Maling. 



BoTJSV lA Lover of Bo«inv).— Begin with Henfrcy'a "Rudiments of 

 Botany." You can obtain it through any bookseller. It is very cheap. 

 Using a microscope will not injure your eyes. 



Wild Flowers (7". JIf.).— The work is not concluded. The last nnmber 

 published is No. 97, Bentham's "Handboik of the British Flora," the 

 illustrated edition, contains woodcuts of the plants. 



Prices of Fruits (.7, It'. Pfjlar),— No department ia more difflcnlt tn 

 fill than that embracing the market prices. The first column atat. s 

 known wholesale prices, and tho second column retail prices, but most or 

 them must vary very considerably according to the occurrence of m- 

 creased or dimiuished demand. The retailer must have a very large ad- 

 vance on the wholesale prices to compensate him for lossea by decay, 

 cic. No benefit could be gained by discussing the subject. 



Rose Trees Eaten by Weevils (Whil,]reai!).—The brown insect is 

 some sort of weevil. We do not think it can bo destroyed otherwise than 

 by handpicking. Numbers may, however, bo destroyed by placing after 

 dark a white sheet beneath the bushes, and shaking thorn sharply, when 

 the weevils will fall on the sheet and may be destroyed. 



Rose Leaves Falling (-4 Lover of Roses).— "The leaves were so 

 smashed that it is dilHcult to deteimine the cause of thoir faUing. I 

 could not discern any fungus, or nibbling of insects, or black blight, 

 which here abounds. The epidermis of the leaf appeared to be swollen, 

 most likely by the (Hying easterly wind and cold nights. I should not 

 pull off the leaves, but manure and mulch over the roots. When sap is 

 rising, a bad leaf is better than no leaf. If your plants of Jules Mar- 

 gottin and Gloire de Dijon are weak, you did right to pull off the few 

 buds. Till last week the first blooms have not been good ; but Charles 

 Lefebvre (the premier Rose), John Hopper, ai;d Leopold Premier, a fine 

 Rose, are now blooming first-rate. I have had a great many buds with 

 green centres, which have been removed. Orange fongna has also been 

 cut out.— W. F. Eadclyffe." 



Crossing Pelargonium Unique with Zonal Rebecca (J. M.),-W6 

 do not think a cross will ever be produced between the above yarietiea, 

 there being no afllnily between them. That the Ivy-leaved section may 

 hybridise w ith the Zonals has been proved by tho splendid vaneties ex- 

 hibited by Mr. Wimsett at the Pelargonium Show last week. Thisim- 

 portant step has been only gained after a long series of cross-brcedujg, 

 which has extended over a period of flftoen veara (see report of tha 

 Special and Pelargonium Show, pages 356 and 357 of last week's Journal). 



