Novonibcr n, 186a J 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



353 



ing, mid snrfaee-mulehing, will generally keep bucIi trees 

 healthy, fertile, uml not over-luxuriant. Anything Unit inter- 

 feres with tin! usual crop, such as the buds being destroyed by 

 buds, is apt to make tbo trees too luxuriant in a subsequent 

 year, and consequently encourage them to make moro wood than 

 will bo thoroughly ripened, and in that case as much root- 

 pruning as will curtail the vigour will be of importance. If that 

 were done in September it would tell upon tho next year's crop. 

 If not done until now it will affect tho crop of next season but 

 little ; yet it will check luxuriance, and it is better to root- 

 prune now than in spring, as the fresh roots will be forming 

 during tho winter, and therefore the check will not be unduly 

 felt. Just like autumn planting, autumn root-pruning is better 

 than spring root-pruning; but when that pruning is to tell in 

 the first season it should be done early, and enough to check 

 growth, but not to cause the leaves to flag or tho wood to 

 shrivel. When these signs appear the syringe and a little 

 shade should bo used in bright days. 



Cleaning Houses. — In some wet days this has been the prin- 

 cipal work. Of late wo have been little troubled with insects, 

 but it is always best to lean to the safe side. A Peach-house 

 and vinery have been nearly finished for winter work. The first 

 proceeding is to clean the glass, and that is best done when 

 the sashes can be taken off — that is, if the roof is not fixed. 

 Owing to the wet, drizzly season, there is a great amount of 

 green slimy matter outside the glass, where the roofs are at all 

 flat, and we must clean that off as well as we can with long- 

 handled brooms and plenty of water. We shall not have too 

 much light in winter. The inside is easily cleaned when there 

 is room. For the glass and painted sash-bars and rafters, nothing 

 is better than clear warmed water, syringiug tho roof all over 

 first, so as to soak and loosen all green and dirty matter. A 

 piece of yellow soap as large as a walnut in three or four gallons 

 of water will do no harm, and will soften the dirt ; but more 

 would be apt likewise to soften the paint and the putty ; and 

 soft soap, iu consequence of potash forming a part of it, would 

 be more dangerous to the paint than common soap, which has 

 soda for its alkaline constituent. When the paint is old and 

 very hard, with a smooth surface, a little soap water will do no 

 harin, but when exposed to a damp, misty vapour, the soap will 

 be more telling. 



The glass and woodwork cleaned, the next step was to clean 

 the primed Vines and Peaches, washing them well with soap 

 and water, and then syringing them all well with warm water, 

 as hot as it could well be put on with the syringe, and letting 

 the water strike against the walls of the house, shelves, stages, 

 &c, so as to well penetrate into every cranny. The Vines and 

 Peaches were then painted with a composition, of which clay, 

 sulphur, and a little soft soap, and lime and soot, formed the 

 chief parts, and we often question whether clay paint alone 

 would not be as good as any of our mixtures for shutting up 

 from the air diminutive eggs of insects which the brush and 

 syringe have failed to reach. Iu washing the wood, and painting 

 it, it is important that the brush should never turn back on the 

 buds, but should always go from the base to the top of the 

 shoots. In putting on the smothering paint, it is best to keep 

 tho palm of the hand below the shoot, as the brush is used with 

 the other hand, and as the palm of the hand will be well filled 

 with the paint, the whole of the lower part of the shoot will be 

 smeared and soaked, as well as the upper part. This, of course, 

 insures the one hand having plenty of the smothering paint; 

 but those who are precise as to what their fingers touch should 

 let gardening alone. 



For colouring the walls, after being washed down, nothing is 

 better when applied yearly than fresh lime, with a portion of 

 lamp black or blue black mixed with it, to tone down its white- 

 ness a little. Our lime is not so fresh this season as we would 

 wish. When the fresh lime is slaked, and then made up with 

 hot water instead of cold, it will stick almost as firmly as paint 

 to a good wall that has been damped, and has become nearly dry. 

 We often at the putting on mix a good deal of sulphur with the 

 limewash, and if we do not do so, we paint the parts most ex- 

 posed to the sim with sulphur' paint in spring or summer, using 

 soft soap in the water. 



Glass, rafters, trees, walls, trellises, stages, &c, being thus 

 cared for, then the last proceeding, if the floor is of earth, is to 

 scrape off a couple of inches of the surface soil, and remove it to 

 the burning-heap, slightly fork the surface, and water where it 

 is dry. Then, if we can make it convenient, we sprinkle it all 

 over with warm water, to destroy any stray insect's eggs or larva; 

 that might be left on the surface, and put on a thin covering of 

 dung, as spent Mushroom dung, and then an inch or two of 



fresh soil, as dry as possible, as the door as well as tho shelves 

 will have to store many plants for a few months in winter. 



Tho Fig-pit, with the trees grown in rough bush-fashion, has 

 been cleaned all to tho painting of tho shoots. This has not 

 been done for many years, but as a little scale showed this 

 summer we will paint the shoots in addition to washing them. 

 The fruit on tho trees out of doors are now over, or nearly so, 

 and the leaves have mostly fallen. 



OI'.NAMEXTAI, IlEI'Ar.T.MENT. 



As soon as houses can bo cleared, all bedding plants, except 

 Calceolarias, will be better for a few months in winter of being 

 placed where a little dry heat can be afforded as wanted. 



Finished putting in Calceolaria cuttings last week in tho pit 

 previously described, and at present nothing can look better. 

 This season there was an unusual difficulty in obtaining stout, 

 short, firm side shoots, and we wero forced to use the points of 

 stronger and more succulent shoots, but we would much rather 

 have had the stubby side shoots if wo could havo obtained 

 them.— R. F. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— November 3. 



Little or no alteration has taken place here during tho week, as the 

 supplies both of fruit and vegetables are well kept up. Potato trade 

 heavy with large stocks on hand. Trices about the same. 



s. d. F, 



Apples }$ sieve 2 to 3 



Apricots doz. 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bush. 12 



Currant3 ^ sieve 



Blaek do. 



Figs doz. 



Filberts lb. 6 



Cobs lOOlbs. 6 



Gooseberries . . quart 



Grapes, Hothouse.. lb. 2 



Lemons 100 8 



Melons each 



Nectarines doz. 



Oranges 100 8 



Peaches doz. 6 



Pears (dessert) . . doz. 1 



kitchen doz. 1 



Pino Apples lb. 3 



Plums J£ sieve 10 



Quinces .... J^ sieve 5 



P.aspberrics lb. 



Strawberries lb. 



Walnuts bush. 10 



s. d. 9. d 

 2 6to5 

 







12 

 12 

 3 

 

 

 

 



o 





 



VEGETABLES. 



Artichokes each 



Asparagus .... bundle 

 Beans, Broad., bushel 



ScarletP.un.r sievo 



Beet, Red doz. 



Broccoli bundle 



Brus. Sprouts J£ sieve 



Cabbage doz. 



Capsicums 100 



Carrots bnnch 



Cauliflower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Cucumbers each 



pickling .... doz. 



Endive doz. 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horseradish . . bundle 



d. s. 



2 too 

 



3 

 2 



4 



6 

 6 

 2 



1 

 

 

 

 



Leek3 bnnch 



Lettuce per score 



Mushrooms .... pottle 

 Mnstd.& Cress, punnet 

 Onions. . doz. bunches 

 Parsley, .doz. bunches 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas per quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



Radishes doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Savoys doz. 



Sea-kale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes. . . . per doz. 



Turnips bnnch 



Vegetable Marrows tiz. 



d. s. 

 8 toO 

 1 

 6 



2 

 O 



2 



9 







2 



3 

 6 

 

 

 3 



8 

 2 



1 

 4 

 9 





 6 



2 6 





 6 



3 O 



1 3 

 





 3 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



William Chater, Saffron, Walden. — Catalogue of Holly hocks 

 and Hoses. 



Benjamin Whitham, Reddish Road Nurseries, Stockport. — 

 Catalogue of Forest, Fruit, and Ornamental Trets, Herbaceous 

 and other Plants, tie. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 

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

 mental writers of the "Journal of Horticulture, Cottage' 

 Gardener, 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, d)c, 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 got them an- 

 swered promptly and conveniently, but write them on 

 separate communications. Also never to send more than 

 two or three questions at once. 

 N.B. — Many questions must remain unanswered until next 



week. 

 ■ Book OS. D. E.).— There is no such periodical. " The Garden Manual '' 

 can be had free by post from onr oniee if you enclose twenty postage 

 stamps with your address. It contains what you require. 



