318 



JOURNAL OF HORTICTLTURB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 23, 1866. 



and housing the plant, the leaves are frequently syringed to 

 keep them from dropping prematurely, and then the stems are 

 syringed frequently at first to prevent their shrivelling. After 

 all this a few points may shrivel, but the bulk of the stems will 

 keep fresh even when most of the leaves after a time have 

 dropped. In this state they will need little light, unless it is con- 

 venient, until the stems break all over at the joints, when the 

 shoots must have more room, and the roots receive fresh com- 

 post, and more feeding ground, and the ultimate size of the 

 plant will be much according to the accommodation that can be 

 given. 



The second mode is much simpler, and more suitable for 

 general circumstances, and much the best every way for those 

 who are to take the plants to, or receive them from, a distance. 

 Take them up with a fork much in the same way, then prune 

 in the heads so as to leave only one or two joints of the lower 

 ends of the shoots. What is left of the top of the plant will 

 be a somewhat stag-horn-looking affair in miniature, but all 

 the wood left will be firm. There will be no necessity for 

 leaving a single leaf. The roots may be shortened to from 

 4 to C inches from the collar of the plant. If we have much 

 to do, we prefer dipping the roots in water of the temperature 

 of about 00° for ten minutes in preference to soaking the soil. 

 We can then either pot the plants singly in sandy loam, 

 using as small pots as the roots can be squeezed into, or we 

 pack a lot firmly in a pot, and, what is better still, in a box, 

 not more than G inches deep, with good drainage. The ad- 

 vantage of the box is, that the wood keeps the soil more 

 equable. In all these cases we pack firmly, and then water 

 gently, leaving a space of about an inch to be added and 

 pressed without watering. Such pots, and especially such 

 boxes, if protected from frost, and the tops are moistened now 

 and then without wetting the soil, will keep very well in a dry 

 cool place, until the little leaves begin to start in March, when 

 more light and water will be wanted, and the plants will need 

 to be planted or potted separately. 



If the plants be kept in living-rooms they will require a little 

 water during winter, and the stems to be slightly syringed, but 

 not to damp the soil too much. The whole matter would be 

 greatly simplified to beginners could they patiently wait longer 

 for the fresh growth, for the sooner it comes, owing to the 

 heated room, the weaker it will be, and the more liable to feel 

 the effects of all changes afterwards. Some of the best boxes 

 and best beds of Geraniums we ever saw had not a leaf larger 

 than a shilling at the end of March. If the stems keep sound 

 all the winter they will be sure to break time enough. — R. F. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— October 20. 



The markets continue to bo well supplied, and tbere is no alteration 

 worth quoting. Pears and Apples, comprising the usual varieties at this 

 season, and Pines and Grapes, are amply sufficient for the demand. 



s. d. e. d 



Apples H sieve 2 to 3 



Apricots doz. 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bnsb. 12 



Currants >• sieve 



Black do. 



Figs doz. 



Filberts lb. 6 



Cobs 100 lbs. 6 



Gooseberries . . quart 



Grapes, Hothouse. -lb. 2 



Lemons 100 8 





 5 

 14 



Melons each 2 to 5 



Nectarines doz. 



Oranges 100 12 



Peaches doz. 6 



Pears (dessert) . . doz. 1 



kitchen doz. 1 



Pino Apples lb. S 



Plums ^ sieve 7 



Quinces .... J£ sieve 5 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries lb. 



Walnuts bush. 10 







20 



12 



3 



2 



5 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



Eugene Verdier, fils aine, 3, Rue Dunois, Gare d' Ivry, Paris. 

 — Hosiers nonveaux pour 1866-1867. 



Louis Van Houtte, Ghent, Belgium. — Catalogue de Plantes 

 de Serre Froiile, Azalea indica,C'actees, Camellias, die. — No. 116. 



n 

 



VEGETABLES. 



Artichokes each 2 to 



Asparagus bundle 



Beans, Broad. . bushel 



ScarletRun.l sieve 2 3 



Beet, Red :. doz. 2 3 



Broccoli bundle 10 1 



Brus. Sprouts }' z sieve 2 3 



Cabbage doi. 10 2 



Capsicums 100 2 4 



Carrots bunch 4 



Cauliflower doz. 2 6 



Celery bundle 10 2 



Cucumbers each 4 1 



pickling doz. 



Endive doz. 2 



Fennel bunch 8 



Garlic lb. 1 



Herbs bunch 3 



Horseradish . . bundle 2 6 4 



Leeks bunch 



Lettuce per score 



Mushrooms pottle 



Mustd.A Cress, punnet 

 Onions. . doz. bunches 

 Parsley, .doz. bunches 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas per quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidnev do. 



Radishes doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundlo 



Savoys doz. 



Sea-kale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes per doz. 



Turnips bunch 



Vegetable Marrows dz. 



d. s. d 

 3 toO 

 1 

 6 2 

 2 











9 















6 















6 

 6 





 fi 

 3 



1 8 

 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



•»* We request that no one will write privately to the depart- 

 mental writers of the "Journal of Horticulture, Cottage 

 Gardeuer, and Country Gentleman." By so doing they 

 are subjected to unjustifiable trouble and expense. All 

 communications should therefore be addressed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, <£c. t 171, Fleet 

 Street, London, E.G. 

 "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.. 

 Local Horticultural Societies {J. Taylor), — We know of no pub- 

 lished list of these. You had I uttui' advertise, asking the secretaries of 

 such societies to write to you. 



Hyacinth Pots. — " -T. M." wishes to know where these can be obtained. 

 We have found that Hyacinths can be grown quite as well in common 

 flower-pots. 



Vaporising Sulphur {TV. A. O.).— Wo know of no invention specially 

 for this purpose. It is easily done by placing flowers of sulphur on a 

 hot-water plate, the water underneath it being at a boiling temperature. 

 Grapes on Flued Wall [W. C.).— There is no place in England, pro- 

 bably, where Black Hamburgh Grapes could not be ripened on an open 

 wallflue-heated. In Hampshire we have seen very fine bunches ripened 

 on an open wall without flue heat. 



Planting Filbert Suckers i.V voice). — Yon may remove all the suckers 

 from your plant with as much root as you conveniently can obtain with 

 each without injuring the parent tree too much. Most likely the suckers 

 proceed from some large root near the top ; and the only way is to cut 

 that root iu two above the suckers, and take it out to its full length, when 

 the roots may be reduced and the suckers planted. They will speedily 

 become bearing trees. It would be as well, after all the suckers are re- 

 moved, to leave the hole made by taking the suckers away open for some 

 weeks in the early part of winter, which is said to prevent an undue pro- 

 portion of suckers being formed. The Filbert, as a fruit tree, is subjected 

 to very severe pruning, which you will see fully explained in a future 

 number. 



Water from Iron Cistern for Watering Plants {A Subscriber).— 

 We have two iron tanks 6 feet square and 6 feet deep, and two of stone 

 of like capacity, and we find no difference whatever in the water from 

 the tanks for the greater part of the year; but during hot weather 

 that in the iron tanks becomes of a pale milky tint, and acquires a 

 slightly disagreeable smell, and it is to some extent injurious. For many 

 years we used no other water than that conveyed in iron pipes, and kept 

 in iron tanks to become aired before use, and have not experienced any 

 injurious effects from it. Iron is found in all soils, in natural waters, and 

 in all plants, and is not injurious to any if only the clear water be em- 

 ployed, instead of the rustv sediment. The water should not be drawn 

 from the bottom of the cistern by a tap, but from the top by dipping the 

 watering-pot into it, and the tank being occasionally cleaned out the 

 water will he found as good as any for horticultural purposes, and much 

 better than that taken from lead or galvanised iron cisterns. 



Primula Leaves Yellow (Gcorrjc).— We think the most likely causes 

 are crowding the plants, and maintaining too high a temperature, and a 

 dry ungeuial atmosphere. 



FucnsiAs in Cold Frame {Idem).— Your plan will be to keep the plants 

 in the pots as they are, dry and protected from frost during the winter, 

 and in April to shift them into 4$ -inch pots, shaking them out and dis- 

 entangling the roots. Keep the plants close until they have made shoots 

 an inch or so loug, and when the pots are full of roots, give a final shift 

 into eight-inch pots. Keep the plants well supplied with water, syringing 

 them copiously morning and evening after May, and give them plenty of 

 air. If the shoots grow straggling stop them frequently, which may be 

 done six weeks before the period at which you wish them to bloom. They 

 will flower in July and onwards. 



Gardeners' Education {Doubtful).— There is no "absolute necessity" 

 for a young man going into a nursery ; hut if he can get iuto a good one 

 for a twelvemonth, and keep his eyes about him, he will obtain varied 

 information, for which he will be the better off through life. Times of 

 moving are mostly determined by the neighbourhood. Spring is best for 

 London. 



Loniatia {A. WiUon).— We know of no such plant. Lomatia is the 

 nearest name, but none of that genus are native of Japan. If yon mean 

 Lonicera aureo-reticulata, the golden-veined Honeysuckle, brought by 

 Mr. Fortune from Japan, it is quite hardy enough to endure the winters 

 of the southern counties of Englmd. 



Seedling Verbena {It. 8.).— Tour Verbena is very beautiful in colour; 

 but no opinion of its habit or truss can be expressed from a single speci- 

 men. The flowers were rather too jagged. Let us see it again another 

 year. It is very hazardous to judge of the merits of any plant from the 

 first blossom. 



Potato Disease.— At page 291, col 1, line 87 from bottom, " April 

 last" must be substituted for " August last." 



Clerodendrons Thomsons and Thomsons Balfouriandm (T. C.).— 

 They aro alike in every respect except size. Balfourianum is by far the 

 finest variety. 



