October 8, 1868. 1 



■JOURNAL OF HOBTIOULTDRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



2C'J 



Hardij Out-door Fruit. — lu two dry snnny afternoons wo 

 gathered a good portion, as the winds were throwing down 

 some of our best Apples and Poart-, even from low trees, and 

 all that fall rim the risk of deeajinp, even before they are fully 

 ripe. In such a season as this onr cold clayey loam stands us 

 in good stead. We have (jently forwarded Kibston I'ippin and 

 Margil Apples, and Jfaris Louise, Louise Bonne of Jersey, and 

 Beurro do Capiaumont Pears, and theee seemed considerably 

 in request ; but the hulk of these and some later kinds we 

 Rathered the other day fresh and green, and the fruit, hut for 

 the blemishing in falling, would have been none the worse 

 of a week or two more on the trees. Some of our neighbours 

 have not had a Marie Louise Pear, and other fruits in proportion, 

 left for weeks, all being naturally ripened and gone. We expect 

 to hear that Apples and Pears on light sandy soils will be ripe 

 much earlier than usual this season. We hear that in several 

 places so circumstanced, even late fruit comes in much earlier 

 than usual, so much so as to threaten a scarcity in winter and 

 spring. Some soft kinds of Apples, as Codlins, Hawthorndens, 

 &o., would not keep any length of time with us, but we see no 

 signs, or at least not much, of such early maturity in the case 

 of the late and hard kinds. Could wo depend on sunny weather 

 we would leave some a week or two longer, and would not have 

 gathered so many, only the winds and heavy rains dashed some 

 of the best to the ground ; and though several, from falling on 

 Strawberries, had a soft bed, it was grievous to see a bruise on 

 huge Betirre Bosc Pears and on large Apples, which are much 

 in demand for fritters, &o. In gathering, we left many for a 

 day or two in hampers, to be placed thinly ere long, as the dry 

 days seemed so uncertain and far between. We expected a 

 fine day on the 3rd of October, but it scarcely ceased rain- 

 ing all day, and out-door work had to be left for in-door 

 work. It would he interesting to know how the ripening of 

 fruit has been aiifected by the singular summer. At one time 

 we thought that our Apples and Pears would be very small, 

 but after the first rains they swelled very much, and new 

 many are rather above than below the usual average as respects 

 size. 



Or.XAMENTAL DEPABTMENT. 



Took every opportunity when dry of running the hand ma- 

 chine over the lawn, as the scythe, when it must be resorted 

 to, takes up so much more time, not merely in the cutting but 

 in the sweeping ; for there is the cause of the delay. Boiled 

 walks at all rough when wet, and even half-covered with water, 

 as then there is no danger of the roller becoming claggy, and all 

 rough stones are pressed out of sight. Some of our walks are 

 rather smooth, and need no rolling, except to give them a 

 shining surface at times. Salting now should never be resorted 

 to where there is much traffic, as the gravel will remain moist 

 so long afterwards. Where there are numerous weeds, and 

 the walks are rough with pebbles, the salt will do no greater 

 harm than cracking the pebbles and making them smaller. 

 We often think that a somewhat rough-surfaced walk is a kind 

 of luxury in winter, as, though not so pleasant to walk on as a 

 smooth walk for those who have thin-soled boots and tender 

 feet, there is no danger of the fine gravel sticking to the boots. 

 The great evil of using salt late for smooth walks is that it will 

 make them soft and adhesive in winter, when of all times they 

 ought to be hard, and exhibit no footmarks. 



For a week past there has been desolation in the flower beds, 

 except those chiefly marked by their foliage, as Coleus, Iresine, 

 Amaranthus, Golden Feverfew, Perilla, variegated Chrysanthe- 

 mum, Cineraria maritima, Centaurea ragusina, and variegated 

 Pelargoniums, all of which seemed the better of the rain. The 

 flowers of other plants could not withstand the continued rains. 

 There has, however, been such good growth, and even on 

 Scarlet Pelargoniums such abundance of flower trusses, that if 

 we had a few weeks of sunny weather we would have a second 

 grand display in the flower garden. Such is our hope of this 

 being the case, that we will break in upon none of our beds and 

 borders by lifting until we see the signs of a frost that would 

 injure the plants, and then a number of these can be taken 

 up in a few hours, and placed under protection. 



Pelargoniums that had been pruned-in and broken well 

 afresh, we put in a shed under cover, to shelter them from the 

 rain, until we have time to shake most of the earth from them, 

 shorten roots if necessary, and repot in light sandy loam, in 

 smaller pots, and add to the richness of the compost as we 

 repot. 



CiUtiijps. — Our chief work, as far as other matters would per- 

 mit, has been making cuttings. Although we know it is late, 

 we have put in many cuttings of the white-leaved Centaurea, 



but then they are strong pieces, with good hard bottoms, and, 

 therefore, not liable to go off. We shall take up a good portion 

 of the old plants and repot, and from them obtain numbers of 

 cuttings in spring, and these are always the best for forming 

 fine outside edgings, whilst tho older plants and cuttings 

 struck in summer do best for the centre of the beds. This 

 plant is valuable for forming contrasts with scarlet, purple, itc, 

 and we should not like to be without it, but for artistic effect 

 we do not consider it equal to the tine cut leaves of the Cine- 

 raria maritima, and that always looks better in a band, as round 

 a circle, than in a straight line. 



We recently detailed how we took off our Verbena cuttings 

 late, and they could scarcely do better than they are doing in a 

 cold pit. What we are taking off now, chiefly bedding Pelar- 

 goniums, are inserted thickly in pots, and placed in frames, 

 where there is a little bottom heat, and a li^k from rank steam 

 besides. Our old gardeners when propagating under such cir- 

 cumstances, would have found the heat mi benefit, as the damp 

 would have taken off their cuttings wholesale. This is easily 

 prevented by the knowledge of a little secret which we could 

 not keep, but let out for the general benefit years ago, and 

 that is, to give air, to prevent all accumulation of vapour, and 

 yet prevent the cuttings unduly exhausting themselves by free 

 evaporation. Our Verbenas, without heat, and put in late, have 

 had air from 5 p.m. to 'J a.m., and then the air was cut off if 

 the day was sunny, if dull and moist the air was left on. This 

 is more necessary when bottom heat is given, as in the case of 

 these late cuttings ; and when such heat is not originally very 

 sweet, though the materials are covered with what is sweet and 

 more decayed. Shut up the cuttings under such circumstances 

 night and day, and we shall expect to find damping and rotten- 

 ness. Give fresh air all night, and in dull days shut down, or 

 I shade merely in bright sun, and you need not lose a single 

 cutting. The close, confined, moist atmosphere is necessary 

 to prevent the cutting exhausting itself, by transpiring its 

 juices ; but the confined atmosphere is the reverse of necessary, 

 when the cutting would absorb rather than perspire, and from 

 an ever-changing atmosphere it has access to fresh supplies of 

 oxygen with which to excite and develope its vital powers. In 

 looking at beds of cuttings we can generally tell whether they 

 have had air at night or not. — B. F. 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



Barr & Sugden, 12, King Street, Covent Garden, London, 

 W.C. — Autwnnal Descriitixi' CaUthxjue of Bulbs and Plants. 



William Paul, Waltham Cross, London, N. — Hose Catalogue, 

 18C8-69. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— October 7. 



The deliveries of home-grown produce have somewhat fallen oft" in 

 consequeDce of the wet weather prevailing during tho past week, and 

 foreign goods are scarcely so plentiful at sales as they were, hut prices 

 have not advanced. Potato trade steady ; first qualities at last week's 

 quotation. 



FRUIT. 



