32 



JOUBNAti OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAliDENER. 



[ Janoaiy 9, 1868- 



Flower Seeds, Plants, and Bulbs, Part ll,~Vegetahle and Agri- 

 cultural Seeds. 



E. & T. Lant, 7, Easy Row, Broad] Street, Birraingiiam.— 

 Descriptive Catalogue of Agricultural^ Flower^ and Vegetable 

 Seed&. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— Januart 8. 



ALTHOi'fJH the holidays maybe considered aa terminated, there is no 

 revival of business, and the slicht advance of last week has been barely 

 maintained. French importations comprise Lettuces, Endive, and As- 

 paragus. 



FRUIT, 



Applea 4 sieve 



Apricots doz. 



Cherries lb. 



ChestnotB bush. 



Corrants ^ sievo 



Black do. 



Fica doz. 



Filberts lb. 



Cobs lb. 



Gooseberries . . quart 

 Grapes, Hothonse. .lb. 

 Lemons IQO 



Artichokes dnr. 



Asparafrus 100 



Beans, Kidney 100 



Beet, Red doz. 



Broccoli bundle 



Bras. Sprouts i sieve 



Cabbage doz. 



Capsicums 100 



Carrots bunch 



Cauliflower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Cucumbers each 



Endive doz. 



Fennel bunch 



Garlio lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horseradish . . bundle 



i. d. fl. 



6to4 



Melons each 2 



0! Nectarines doz. 







8 











Oranges 100 



Peaches doz. 



Pears (dessert) .. doz. 



Pine Apples lb. 



Plums i sieve 



Quinces doz. 



RaspborriAs lb. 



Strawberries . 



8 I 



lb. 



d. 8. d 

 OtoS 

 

 10 







4 



6 







Walnuts bush. 10 



do per 100 1 



VEGETABLES, 



s. d. 8. d 



to 

 10 





 



6 

 

 4 

 

 6 

 3 



3 



Leeks bunch 



Lettuce .... per score 

 Mushrooms .... pottle 

 Mustd.Jt Cress, punnet 



Onions per bushel 



Parsley per sieve 



Parsnips doB. 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



Radishes doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Savoys doz. 1 



Sea-kale basket 2 



Shallot3 lb. 



Spinach bushel 4 



Tomatoes. . . . per doz. 

 Turnips bunch 



1 

 3 



fi 



5 



5 



1 



5 



6 



1 



1 



2 



3 







5 







G 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Books (An Inquirn-).~\ volume with numerous plans nf gardens, 

 small and large, will be published at this office early in this year. 



Ratn Water from Asphalted Roof (G. £.).— We would not like, for 

 watering plants, the water that came from an asphalt roof for at least six 

 months after it was laid down. After that, if the surface of the asphalt 

 was roughened with sand or gravel, our observation would lead to the 

 conclusion that the water would be pure enough. 



VniES rv AN Intermediate HorsE U SKfeirrj^fj).— It will do noharm 

 -} !?*^ ^ ^^ ^^^^ '° * hou^e all the winter where fire heat is used, pro- 

 vided that fire heat does not raise the temperature of the house nmre 

 than from 40 to 4& . In an intermediate hou.se. where from 45- to 55^ of 

 temperature i^ maintained, the Vines should be brought to the front of 

 the house, and there managed so as to secure a lower temperature whilst 

 m a state of rest. If the Vines, so healthv-lookijig, showed no fruit, we 

 fear that merely graftmg them would be of no use, unless thev were 

 some kmds of foreign origin that do not thrive under gUss. We suspect 

 your Vine wood has not been sufficiently ripened. 



Strawberry— Vinery {Half-pm,).— For a sure and plentiful-bearing 

 Strawberry, there is none to beat Keens' Seedling. Six Vines are quite 

 enough for your 15-feet-long house. Your Vines are weak ; but if they 

 have commenced rooting pretty well, and if the kinds are suitable, we 

 would try them another year, cutting them as far back as would be con- 

 venient, just a little above a bnd. and allowing only one shoot to come 

 nest season, fastening it carefully as it grows. As you describe the 

 young growth to have made a head Uke a Currant tree, we presume from 

 this that the roots have made some progress, and that therefore the Vine 

 mil come stronger ne^t season when the strength is thrown into one 

 aboot. As you say you know nothing of pruning, we have given the 

 above advice to cut down to the lowest convenient part of last vear's 

 wood, take only one shoot from a Vine, and train that without stopping 

 it until it almost extends the length of the roof. As it grows, subsidiary 

 shoots will como from each joint; stop these when two leaves appear, 

 and allow them to remain until September, then cut them all off', and 

 atop the point of the main shoot. Keep the house dry and warm to en- 

 courage the hardening of the wood, and next winter, or by this time, 

 prone back your Vines, leaving from 1 to 2 or more feet, according to 

 strength. If strong, the Vines may bear from one to two or three bunches 

 m the following season. The leading shoot must be grown and treated 

 as last season, and the shoots that come from the buds beneath the top 

 one should be stopped a joint or two beyond the fruit, and, at any rate, at 

 the fifth or sixth jomt. By that time, if yon are not well acquainted 

 with them, we will enter into all the details of pruning, according to the 

 system adopted. If you prefer stronger Vines to plant, you mi-^ht take 

 up the present ones and pot them ; but the new Vines you would also 

 have to cut back, and tbey might not do much better than those you have, 

 if the roots are in good condition, as, in this respect, they will have an 

 advantage over fresh-planted ones now. If so weak as "you say you 

 could obtain nothing from them in the way ef fruit next summer. After 

 potting you would have to cut them down to the surface of the soil, and 

 srow a shoot or shoots from them, which, if well ripened and well grown, 

 J^oald frnit in another year. You do not tell us where the a-feet border 

 ea this 15-feet-long hoiuo is placed. If against the back wall a Peach 



tree might certainly be planted there, and all the better if yon could raise 

 and place good soil under the flagstone ; but unless you had a large tree 

 that would fruit quickly, it would be of little use planting one or two 

 young trees, as wilh six Vinos up the glass in front, the shtide would be 

 so dense th;it nothing would thrive well under it. If you wished variety, 

 instead of planting out, we would have Peaches and Nectarines, and even 

 a Fig tree or two in pots, if you like Figs. They would come in early, 

 be set before the Vines wanted mnch heat, and then when the fruit was 

 gathered the plants could be set out of doors to obtain all the light 

 possible in the autumn. You would find much to suit you in the " Vine 

 Manual," which may be had from our office, free by post, for thirty-two 

 postage stamps. We have forgotten to say that if,'aa wo suppose, your 

 Vine roots are out of doors, you should protect them from frost and much 

 wet in winter. 



Heating a Tank (A J^Tor/Vc).— See what is said to-day in answer to 

 "Half-pay" as to heating a small tank from the pipes in a hothouse. 

 Your tank is smaller. 6 feet bv2i leet, but fi inches deep— jnst double what 

 is necessary. You do not tell us how you heat your greenhouse, and, of 

 course, you conld heat your tank from a boiler heated by fuel, as you say ; 

 but it neems a large amount of work to have a boiler for such a small 

 aiTair. though, in our opinion, if the tank is secure, it matters but little 

 whether you hnve water in it, or pipes passing through water. If your 

 house is heated from a boiler you could do as "'Half pay" has done, take 

 a pipe from the pipes in the house. There is this objection to the plan, 

 that you cannot have heat in the tank witliout heating the house, whilst 

 you might want heat there when no artificial heat was needed in 

 the house. I'nder such circumstances small propagaiinp tanks or 

 cases in a greenhouse or living room are I)est heated separately by gas. or 

 II lamp, the heat passing through the water in pipes ; or, simpler still, 

 by having the tank about 2 inches deep, a plug or tap at one end, and an 

 o]iening or funnel at the other, and removing cold water and replenishing 

 with hot as necessary. A supply of hot water by moans of the garden 

 pail once in twenty-four hours, and twice in very cold weather, if hot water 

 can be easily had, would cost less trouble than having anything in the 

 way of a separate boiler and means of heating. We havefound water, 

 when surrounded outside with wood, keep warm frequently for thirty hours. 



Tank not Heating (IT. .4. O.).— If you had shut-in 6 feet of vour flow 

 pipe you might have had enough of heat for your purpose. We under- 

 stand exactly about the tank you have cast, which is 6 feet long. 4 feet 

 wide, and 3 inches deep, and which you have connected with the flow 

 and return pipes in the house by raeuns of a 1-inch load pipe; but we 

 cannot be sure why. though the main pipes in the house arc so hot yon 

 can scarcely touch them, you have little hent in the tank, unless it is that 

 the tank is not placed right as respects its level with the flow pipe. There 

 will be a circulation if the tank is on the level of the top pipe; but if 

 other arrangements will permit of it, the hot water will circulate much 

 better if the bottom of the tank is at least as high as the top of the flow 

 pipe. That elevation secured, we would let the small pipe from the flow 

 enter at one end, and the return be connected with the return at the 

 other end of the tank. If these connecting pipes are striiigbt. without 

 bends, it will be all plain sailing, and work they must. We lay all the 

 more stress on this fact, because in several cases in our own practice, when 

 connecting such a tank to a higher level, with a flow 4-inch pipe beneath 

 it. and tn suit convenience we had bent the small connecting pipe a little in 

 form of the letter S, we found at times air accumulated nt the bends, 

 and impeding the circulation. A small air pipe inserted in the bend, 

 rising above the level of the tank, settled the matter, and if not so soon 

 as we wished, we had only to blow down to obtain a very rapid circula- 

 tion of the water, so that the water in the tank and the water in the pipes 

 was soon at the same heat. We say this mnch as respects level, because 

 the other day a tunk. formed at some expense, could not be heated, as it 

 was below the level of the flow pipe, from which the heat was to be 

 borrowed. 



LiLiuM AURATiTM (Idem). — The numerous small bulbs loft after the 

 decay of the old bulbs, are something to be thankful for. Your treat- 

 ment seems to have been quite correct. Too much damp after the bulb 

 is ripe will sometimes accelerate such decay, and cause the bulb in 

 natural defence to put forth its last energies in a brood of young bulbs. 



Mandarin Orange {Idem). — We would grow it in good brown fibry 

 loam, with a fenrth part of rotten dung, fibry heath mould, and a little 

 silver sand. We would merely stop the strong shoots, and if the others 

 are very thick thin them a little; but in most cases, if the shoots are 

 regular, and light and air can reach them, they will need little to be done 

 to them. 



Potted Rhododekdbons (Wcm).— They should be encouraged to grow 



freely when done flowering, and until the buds are set for blooming, 

 and then when pijttiug is needed they should be repotted, giving small 

 shifts, and so that the new soil may be well filled with roots before winter. 



Pruning Mandevilla scaveolkns (Wtm).— The straggling shoots may 

 he pruued-in now. If used to it, the plant may be pruned like a Vine on 

 the spur system. If not used to it, and you have some good long shoots, 

 leave them to break all over, Uke a Vine on the rod system. See " Doings 

 of the Last Week." 



Various (.4 Subscriber from the First).—'* The Florist and Pomologist " 

 begins a new volume this month — January. You might grow a Royal 

 Muscadine or a Black Hamburgh Vine in your narrow cold pit ; but you 

 would not do so well with the Alicante. There are not many of the small 

 gardens given in the "Horticultural Directory." unless distinguished 

 for something particular. The number given will, no doubt, be increased 

 every year ; but to give every garden would require a very large volume, 

 and then few would care about it. 



Ventilating an Orchard House (A SubscTiber). — For an orchard house, 

 :^-feet in length by 24 feet in width, span-roofed, with side ventilation, 

 an opeoing at each end beneath the apex would be enough. For a 

 greenhouse or forcing house, the roof ventilation would be best secured 

 by having a double ridge board, with a space of 9 to 12 inches between 

 the boanis for wooden ventilators hung on pivots, and with that space 

 covered with a cowl of boards outside to let in the air and keep oat the 

 wet. These ventilators will be easily managed from the path in the 

 centre of the house. If the path is not in the middle, then it would ba 

 better to have two openings to shde, besides the openings at the ends. 



Spots on Tricolored pELABrtONiuMs (9t. ZWtJiM).— They probably 

 have been kept too cold and too damp. More beat, more ventilation, and 



