Aval 16. xam. i . 



JOUBN4I1 OF HORTICUIiTUKK AND COTTAGE GABDENJEB. 



299 



lipeuiDg at the same time. Tbe»e orchard houses were made 

 by merely glass-fronting aa old wall, and without saying a 

 word against apau-roofed houses, there is an advantage in 

 having a back wall in cold places, and where no artificial heat 

 is given ; and even in those lean-to's line crops can be obtained, 

 early vegetables forwarded, and winter ones protected. If such 

 work were done as a commencement, we should concentrate early 

 kinds in the first house, and late kinds in the late one, to pro- 

 long the season of fruit-gathering. Even for amateurs with only 

 one house, and that not a large one, we wouM have a division 

 in it, and then by the selection of kinds, and the keeping one 

 division much more open and airy than the other, there would 

 be a great difference in the ripening. 



Questions come to us almost every week, " Can you recom- 

 mend the pot system of culture :'" As a matter of economy 

 in labour, &c., we say. No ; as a matter of pleasure and giving 

 much variety of produce in little room, we say Undoubtedly, 

 yes, after having had a f.'iir experience with all kinds of fruit 

 trees except Apricots, with which we have as yet done little, 

 but which we have no doubt would do equally well with others 

 when tried, but before doing much with them we would study 

 the doings of our veteran instructor Mr. Eivers. To all ama- 

 teurs who feel a pleasure in attending to their fruit trees or 

 houses the pot system is invaluable, enabling them to have 

 much variety in little room, just as the cordon and small 

 pyramid, or small bush system of fruit-growing will enable the 

 holders of small gardens to have a great variety of fruit out of 

 doors. 



Our chief objections to pot trees arise from the great amount 

 of watering required, and to lessen this we plunge the pats 

 three-quarters of their depth in the ground, and we have just 

 surfaced the soil in the pots in one house with a couple of 

 inches of old mushroom dung, and a little soot in it, and will 

 repeat the process as that disappears. This not only helps to 

 enrich the soil, but renders such frequent waterings unneces- 

 sary. Last season we put a rim of thin turf round the sides 

 of the pots. The plants have not been potted for a number of 

 years. Amateurs who like neatness, might have strips of zinc 

 from 2.i to 3 inches deep, which they might fix inside the rims 

 of the pots before applying the mulching. This mulching, it 

 will be thus understood, is considerably above the level of the 

 rim of the pot, but that with ordinary care does not interfere 

 with proper watering. Soma recommend fresh dung, as fresh 

 horse droppings, for the purpose, but with those who are 

 unpractised this may be easily overdone ; and if not well heated 

 previously there is a likelihood of a good many seedling oats 

 appearing, all of which must be pulled out ; and as a general 

 rule gardeners have enough to do without making work in the 

 weeding of pot trees. We forget how often we mulched our 

 trees last year. The mulching soon disappears, but its effects 

 are seen. 



In the cooler house the Peaclies, itc, have just set thickly 

 and healthily against the back wull. In pots in front. Plums 

 are setting ; Apricots set and beginning to swell ; Peaches 

 beginning to set, and Cherry trees only too much of a mass of 

 bloom, and noisy with the hum of numberless bees, which 

 have taken the dispersing of the pollen dust entirely under 

 their care, and saved us all trouble in this direction. This 

 house coutains plenty of Strawberry plants in pots, &o., which 

 except at the front will have to be moved before they come into 

 bloom, as they would be too shaded to set freely on the ground. 

 The watering of these and other things has kept enough of 

 moist vapour in the atmosphere of the house without resorting 

 to syringing ; but in another week or so we will lash the back 

 wall, and the fruit trees when it can be done with safety. 



In the first or closest-kept house Vines are just swelling their 

 buds, showing that they will come out in shoots ere long. In 

 the late vinery, filled with bedding and other plants, and kept 

 as cool as possible, with air on at night until the late frosts, 

 the young shoots are about 2 inches long ; and though we will 

 keep them cool for some time longer, these shoots must have 

 no check, as that would injure the young branches. All the 

 roots are in an outside border unfortunately, slightly protected 

 in winter with litter, but unprotected for some time past. 



We slif^titly fumigated the Peach house for the first time, as 

 a few whitish green fly appeared on some rows of Strawberries, 

 and besides injuring them might have gone farther if let alone. 

 The garden engine played on the glass roof to keep the smoke in, 

 and thus a less quantity of tobacco paper does than when such 

 a precaution is not adopted. When smoking is resorted to as 

 soon as a few insects ajjpear they are easily destroyed when 

 young— a matter that sl'oald never be forgotten, as the older 



the insects the more difficult they are to kill, and instead of 

 one you may have many generations of them to battle with if 

 you procrastinate. 



OENAMENTAL DErABIlIENT. 



Mowed thelawn wheremost conspicuous after giving it a good 

 rolling. Lately the grass has been too crisped in the morning 

 for mowing, as the ice would gather on the scythe, and besides, 

 cutting under such circumstances is very apt to blacken and 

 injure the lawn. There has been little growth for the last ten 

 days, the cold of the night counteracting the sun heat of the 

 day. 



Proceeded with putting out under temporary protection 

 bedding plants, and pricking-out seedlings. We have been 

 obliged to use a little straw and laurel boughs over cloth, 

 mats, etc., on flat earth pits, as the lower and flatter they are, 

 and the nearer the plants are to the protecting medium, the 

 more liable are they to be injured. The dry days have obliged 

 us_ in some cases either to syringe or to water such plants at 

 mid-day that their foliage might become jierfectly dry before 

 night. We would have avoided this, and did in all cases where 

 the plants would hold their own, as, merely on the question of 

 warmth, we prefer the soil to be rather dry about the plants 

 instead of wet, and hence the watering at the roots at planting 

 them out ; and somewhat dry soil on the surface is much pre- 

 ferred for all such purposes to watering over the surface. 

 Such drying days, however, rendered syringing or watering 

 necessary in some cases against our will. The weather has 

 been too cold to move the covering, unless for the above pur- 

 pose, and then only for a short time. Plants under calico 

 wanted no such watering and received none, and most likely 

 will need none for a couple of weeks, after which time we wiU 

 expose them partly in fine days, the better to harden them ofi 

 for the open air. Of course for aU such purposes water at 70° 

 or warmer, applied in the middle of the day, is better than 

 cold water from a tank or well, and hence the importance of 

 being able to get warmed water as already alluded to. 



Sowed the most of our half-hardy amiuals — as Zinnias, 

 Stocks, Asters, &c., in pots, and placed them under glass on a 

 slight hotbed. Made up a rough hotbed that will yield a little 

 heat, on which we will sow more, and even some hardy annuals, 

 to be protected for a time, and then raised singly or in patches 

 when well hardened-off. The most of the Asters when well up 

 and hardened will be pricked off in an earth pit, where they 

 can be protected with boughs, and other means for a time. It 

 is always better to sow late, so that the plants may have justice 

 and rtccive few checks, instead of sowing early, and then 

 letting them be starved and dwindled before planting out. 

 Even ns respects hardy annuals, unless sown in the autumn 

 an'l ;i;.st established, but low in growth before winter, little is 

 gained by sowing the hardiest out of doors before the end of 

 March. Many seedlings that are hardy when a few inches 

 above the ground, are very tender just after germination has 

 taken place. — B. F. 



TEADE CATALOGUES EECEIVED. 



George White, 3, Moss Street, Paisley. — Catalogue of Florists' 

 Flowers, Grrcnhoiisc, Herbaceous, and Bedding-out Plants. 



Adam Forsyth, Stoke Newington, London, N. — Descriptive 

 Catalogue of Cliyyi-antltrmiims, Daldtas, Troptcolums, dc. 



T. Sampson, Preston Eoad, Yeovil, Somerset. — Catalogue of 

 Bedding Plants and Roses. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— April 15. 



Trade contiimes dull, and the supplies are in excess of what is re- 

 qnired, especially in foreign imports, and clearances cannot be efi'ected 

 at foniitr rates. Wo may, however, look for some improvement when the 

 holidays are over. The Potato trade is rather heavy, and prices are 

 jower. New Potatoes from Lisbon bring aboat 68. to 85. per doz. lbs. 



TEUIT. 



t. d. B, 



Apples ^ sieve 3 to 5 



Apricots doz. 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bush. 10 16 



CojTants ^ sieve 



Black do. 



Figs doz. 



Filberts lb. 10 



Cobs lb. 1 



Gooseberries . . quart 



Grapes, Hothouse.. lb. 12 20 



liOmoiiS 100 3 12 



, Melons each 



I Nectarines doz. 



Oranges 100 3 



Peaches doz. 



' Pears (dessert) .. doz. 4 



I Pine Apples lb. 



d. s. 4 

 OtoO 

 



7 







R 



Plums 4 sieve 



Quinces doz. 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries . . per lb. 10 



Walnuts bnsh. 10 



do per ICO 1 



10 















16 



18 



