March n, IffS. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTURE AND COTTACjE GARDENER. 



209 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— Maroh 11. 



FoREXON importations are hoavy and prices recedinj/. The best 

 EnKlIsh producfl niaiutaius last wgpU's (jnntationa, owing to the supply 

 not beinfi so Hberal. Pines and hothotipo Grapoa arc Bcarcoly suttlciout 

 for the demand. Of tho former we have had some good specimens from 

 St. Michael's, wcighinf.' from S to 6 lbs. each. 



Apples k sieve 



Apricots doz. 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bnslt. 



Currants 4 nicvo 



Black ". . do. 



FiC3 doz. 



Filberts lb. 



Cobs lb. 



Gooseberries . . ([unrt 

 Grapes, Hothouse, .lb. 

 LemonB lOG 



Artichokes doz. 



Asparai^s 100 



Beans, Kidney 100 



Beet, Red doz. 



Broccoli bundle 



Brns. Sprouts ^ sieve 



Cabbage doz. 



Capsicums 100 



Carrots bunch 



Cauliflower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Cucumbers each 



Endive doz. 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horseradish , . bundle 



n. d. 



B. d I 



3 Oto.') [ Melons each 



I Nectarines doz. 



Orances 100 



8 H I Poaches doz. 



I Pears (dessert) .. doz. 





 8 





 1:2 

 12 1 



VEGETABLES. 



Pine Apples lb. 



Plums A sieve 



Quinces doz, 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries . , per oz. 3 







Walnuts busb. 10 18 



do per 100 1 2 



8. d. B. i 

 S Oto 4 

 7 20 





 2 



6 

 2 



1 

 

 

 3 

 1 

 3 

 1 

 

 

 



8 

 6 

 2 



Leeks bnnch 



Lettuce per score 



Mushrooms pottle 



Ma8td.& Cress, punnet 



Onions . per bushel 



Parsley per sieve 



Parsnips doz. 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



Radishes doz. bunches 



Rhnbarb bundle 



Savoys doz. 



Sea-kale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes..,, per doz. 

 Turnips bonch 



B. d. a. d 

 3 too n 



1 







1 

 1 

 2 



3 



4 







4 



4 



1 







1 



2 







2 







4 



a 



5 

 5 

 1 



5 6 



6 

 1 6 



1 



2 



3 

 9 



4 

 

 6 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



BooES (Tati).—" The Garden Manual" will suit yon. Ton can have it 

 free by post from our office if you enclose twenty postage stamps mth 

 your address. {Alpha).— The price of the work you name is Sis. 6d. 



AimictTLAS (Tfjnoramtts). — Mr. Beaton died before he had obtained any 

 satisfactory results from Ms experiments with these flowers. 



Address (W. E.). — We do not know the address of the gentleman to 

 whom you refer. 



Glass Covekikg for Wali..— " C. R." wishes " Bath " would state 

 from whom he obtained tho covering he mentioned. 



Improved Melville's Variegated Borecole. — At page 167, February 

 '27th, this heading was misprinted *' Broccoli.'' 



Pelargoniums Hung cp in a Room (H. .•f.).— Yon should now pot the 

 plants hung up by their roots, using dry sandy loam, end by degrees 

 bring it into a moist state. The plants may be placed in a gi'eenhou.se 

 window, in any house where there is a gentle heat, or in a hotbed ; but if 

 placed in tho latter they must be carefully watered until they begin to 

 grow, otherwise Ihey may dampofi". 



So^\iNG .\ccuBA Berries lAucuba). — The berries should not he dried, 

 but sown at once in a compost of two-thirds loam and one-third leaf mould. 

 They may be placed in a mild hotbed, but will succeed in a greenhouse. 

 When the seedlings appear, and have gro^vn a little, the male plants may 

 be distinguished from the female, but only bj those conversant with 

 them. You will have to wait until they arc of a size fit for flowering and 

 producing berries ere yon wUl be able to distinguish the uiale from the 

 female plants. The ben-y-bearing plants are, of course, the female plants. 

 If placed near them, the mole will fertilise the female naturally, but 

 to make sure it is well to do so artificially. With good treatment ihe 

 plants will produce berries the second year," but they v,ary considerably 

 in this respect. They generally have berries by the Ihiid year. 



Select Sob-tropical Plants (.S(. B^nnisl.— We are not sure whether 

 the bed altogether is 5 feet by 3A feet, or if that is the size of each of the 

 three steps ; if the latter, then Wigandia caracasana, Ricinus borbonensis, 

 and Striped Maize would do for A ; Ricinus Obermanni, Ricinus san- 

 guineus, and Citnna Finfelmanni andWarscewiczii would do for B. Your 

 plants of Caladium cucullatum would do for C, along with Auiaranthus 

 melancholicus, Amaranthus tricolor, Carduus benedictus, and Perilla 

 n an kin ensis, with an edging of Cineraria maritima or Centaurea. If we 

 mistake let us know, and also if you wish to raise from seeds or obtain 

 plants. 



Planting Vines (Z). Jlf.).— Do not turn the Vines out of Xo. 12-pots if 

 you ivish to have a crop from them this season. Top-dress, and thus 

 give nourishment. If your Vines were to be permanent shake the soil 

 away and spread the roots on the border. 



Vines with Koots too Deep (Bcflinnf)-).— We have referred to the 

 answer given respectiug yorr Vines at page 15, and no doubt it was the 

 best under the circumstances, though we do not clearly recollect all these 

 now. In answer to your inquiries of this week, we would not advise you 

 to dig down 8 or 10 feet after the roots of these old Vines, nor to attempt 

 to raise them near the surface. The other plan proposed — \iz., to dig 

 do\\"n 4 or 5 feet and place fresh compost round the stems in order to 

 enconrage roots from the stem, adding compost year by year, will only 

 be a palliative. Presuming that these old Vines do bear a little, we would 

 let their roots alone : and if you can go down SO inches, or pnrtly to that 

 depth, and make the border that depth by raising it to the wall plate, then 

 we would remove the surface soil as deei)ly as possible, add fresh com- 

 post thinly as advised in page 1.'",, on that place 3 inches of concrete, and 

 from 6 to 9 inches of rubble, and on that make, after securing drainage, 



a now border 4 feet wide. In it wo would plant young Vines, which wiU 

 be much better than raising tho old Vines ; as the young Vines grow cut 

 out the old ones, and add 18 inches every year to the width of tho 

 border after tho second year. Tliis will be tho most eflectual and the 

 simplest plan. 



Planting Fig Trees ni a Peach HonsE (T. S.).— Were we doing 

 what yon propose— planting Fig trees on the back wall of a Poach house, 

 we would have a drain and 6 inches of open rubble, then a depth of fronl 

 •20 to 24 inches of soil, and a wall below tho surface to confine tho roots 

 to 30 inches in width. We have had them good with a width of from 

 24 to 27 inches; but if there is room, 30 inches will, perhaps, be better. 



Cccombers in a FLCE-nOATED PiT (.1. «.).— To make the most of 

 your flue beneath the hotbed of leaves, make a rough chamber over tho 

 flue, with openings from that chamber into the atmosphere of the pit. 

 \ou can regulate your heat then at will with plugs to these openings. It 

 IS not safe to have a bed of leaves over and round the flue, and when tho 

 leaves are dried they will keep the heat from ascending. 



Soils (An Old Subscriber).— Tha darker soil from adjoining the river is 

 a rich alluvial soil, requiring nothing but thorough draining, probably, 

 to render it fully remunerative if cultivated. The other contains abun- 

 dance of vegetable fibres and rootlets, but is not sufliciently full of them 

 to render it fit for fuel, nor is the earthy portion sufficiently siliceous to 

 fit it for potting purposes. 



Onion Culture (^f Oarderwr Prrplexed).— There are many different 

 ways of securing a good crop of Onions, but the mode described by yoa 

 of preparing the ground so carefully, sowing, covering, &c., leaves little 

 or nothing to bo desired or alluded to, and wo need scarcely be strength- 

 ened in this conclusion by your statement that such a mode has secured 

 good crops for seven years. We are not .surprised that your employer on 

 coming into the garden should say " he never saw Onions put in in such 

 way before," as it is quite possible he had never troubled himself to 

 notice the mode previously adopted ; but it does sunJrise us that because 

 the sowing '• was not done properly," you are obliged to leave your place, 

 and more especially when your employer declined to sav what was the 

 plan ho approved. Of course, in this conntry a man may leave hia 

 niaster, and a master part with a servant without assigning any reason, 

 though snch conduct on either side does little to promote the amenities 

 of life. We can hardly believe that a gentleman would assign such a 

 reason as the sowing of an Onion bed under such circumstances. When 

 you mquired tho mode yom- employer preferred, was there no lack 

 of that courtesy and consideration which every employer has a right to 

 expect, however mistaken he may be in his ideas ? We can just fancy 

 there might be something more annoying in this direction than any dif- 

 ferences of views as to the sowing of the Onion bed. If not, and yonr 

 version is a true one, then we think you have been hardly dealt by, and 

 being a married man with a family, we can only hope yon will soon be 

 more comfortably settled. We do not see how you could be blamed for 

 following your o^vn mode, if your employer expressed, and would express 

 no opinion on the subject. Gardeners are a little touchy in not having 

 then- own way ; but an old nurseryman once impressed on a young gar- 

 dener that the wishes of an employer, when expressed, must be carried 

 out, and ended with saying, " if a master wished a tree to be planted with 

 branches in the ground, and tho roots in the air, let it be done ; he pays 

 for the work, and should have his money spent in his own way if he 

 injures no one else." 



_ Royal Ascot Vine (A MonmouthAire Gardener).— We do not think it 

 IS common to send out new Vines started into groivth in February but if 

 you had no heat, yon should have made sure of a Vine that was not started 

 into growth. Of conrse, a nurseiTman would send as little wood of a 

 new \ ine as he could. Every bud is valuable when a plant is worth two 

 guineas. As your two buds are glowing, and vou have no frame, pit, 

 or haud-hght that you can keep warm, we would place the plant with its 

 pot m yom- living-room window, and surround it with some squares of 

 glass, or a large hand-glass. There are lew gardeners that order a two- 

 guinea Vine but would find some means of keeping it gi-owing slowly 

 even in a cool vinery, if a bell-glass or hand-light could be made available! 

 Star Pinks.—" J. H." wishes to know where he could obtain a good 

 assortment of Star Pinks." 



Zebra Runner Bean.— In answer to " Lansdowne, Warcrxter " if he 

 wiU apply to Mr. S. Taylor, Gardener, Terrace Villa, Barboume, Wor- 

 cester, he obligingly ofl'ers to supply him with sufficient to regain his 

 stock. 



Bridgewater Tiles for Coping.—' In answer to ' Irish Subscribe r's ' 

 inquiry as to where the Bridgewater tiles are to bo bought, I beg to say 

 that if he writes to either Messrs. Sealy or Messrs. Brown, Bridgewater, 

 Somerset, they will doubtless give him" any information he may require. 

 Any other good tile, if large enough, would" do as well ; the great point is 

 for the roof to overlap the wall 10 or 11 inches. Trusting to memory, I 

 find I made a mistake in the measurement of the overlap in my letter. It 

 should have been 11, instead of 10 inches.— A Somersetshire Parson." 



Tobacco P.iper (IF. .4. anrZ S.).— It is impossible, without analysing it 

 to ascertain if there is any constituent in it likely to be prejudicial to 

 plants when it is burnt. The probability is that the" smoke was too abun- 

 dant, and the plants not in a fit state to endure it. 



Yellow-leaved Plane Tree (G.).— We cannot speak decidedly, but 

 think ihat the tree you saw is the Corstoi-phine Plane, Acer pseudo-pla- 

 tanus flavo-variegata. 



Produce of Cucumber House (A Constant Reader).— It is very difli- 

 cult (o answer your questions, as so much depends on the management 

 and the market ; but we know of one such house in which 1500 fruits 

 were produced in a season, of a value in the market of a large town 

 of £75 10s., but the following year the produce did not realise £50. 



Artificial Manure for Flower Beds (A Subscriber).— Yor the pur- 

 pose yon name " Standen's Gardener's Friend " is a good manure. A 

 sprinkling may be given over the surface of the soil at planting-out time, 

 and sliould bo lightly furkcd-in. Guano is also a good manure for flower 

 beds. It may be applied at the time of planting out, enough being 

 sprinkled over the surface to make it yellow, and should then bepointed-in 

 with a fork ; or it may be applied in the liquid form, 2 ozs. being dissolved 

 in a gallon of water, and a good soaking given the beds during dry 

 weather. 



Triteleia uniflora Culture (Mrs. ^.1.— The plant should be con- 

 tinued in the greenhouse, be kept in a light and airy situation, and be 



