November 18, 18GG. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



373 



think, in theso days, of watering turf ; and even when water is 

 plentiful, where lawns will not keep green without watering it 

 is rarely that any watering short of thorough flooding will be 

 of much avail. 



The null weather that has succeeded the rains makes it de- 

 sirable to give all the air possible, back and front, to half-hardy 

 plants, to prevent their damping; and a rotting leaf or leaf- 

 stalk is moro to be guarded against than cold. Most plants 

 likely to bo injured have been brought under shelter, and even 

 Chrysanthemums that have not received a place in the plant- 

 houses have been put under protection. The few fine days have 

 given fresh glory to Salvias, Ageratums, Calceolarias, and even 

 Heliotropes out of doors, which in some beds are still fresh, 

 when all tho Dahlias have been less or moro blackened. These 

 will bo as well in tho ground a litttle longer, but a little earth 

 should be placed round the stems to prevent the eye of the 

 tuber being injured. 



What wo did lately for the conservatory we have also been 

 busily carrying out in the plant-stove — namely, washing the 

 glass roof, woodwork, walls, See., and cutting-in very much the 

 climbers, which, though very beautiful in summer, would be too 

 heavy and dark for winter. One of the emptied houses held a 

 lot of plants whilst the cleaning was going on ; and some plants 

 can he fresh stuffed in baskets, have the drainage looked to, and 

 be fresh surfaced, if not fresh potted, before they are replaced. 



Stoves and even conservatories need a little fire heat in damp 

 days, to dispel the damp air, but unless for forcing, or for 

 tropical plants in bloom, the less excitemeut given by heat now 

 the better. Even in watering, as little should be spilt as pos- 

 sible, that the air of the place may be somewhat dry, rather 

 than moist, as until we have a dry parching frost, it is likely 

 that the air of our houses will be moist rather than dry. Of 

 course, where much heat is used, the moisture in the air should 

 be proportioned to the temperature ; but iu all plant-houses 

 where little or no fire heat is used, damp air will bo more 

 troublesome than dry air. Such plants as Calceolarias and 

 Cinerarias, which delight in moisture, if set in the same house 

 with things that like a drier air, may be considerably helped 

 by setting them on damp moss, or in saucers with not more 

 than one-eighth of an inch of water in the bottom of the saucer. 



Much time has also been taken up in removing Cinerarias 

 and Primulas not wanted for the conservatory from earth pits 

 into brick pits, where a little heat can be given in severe 

 weather, and in moving boxes of struck bedding Pelargoniums 

 from earth-pits into the Peach-house, and strong-potted esta- 

 blished plants of the Scarlet kinds into an empty cleaned 

 vinery, where the greater amount of air and light they will re- 

 ceive will cause them to bloom better than in a pit ; this being 

 one of the advantages that a roomy house has over a pit in 

 winter, the air and light being all round, beneath, as well as 

 above the plants, instead of being chiefly above them as in a 

 pit. 



Lots of bedding Pelargoniums, t tc, from the flower-beds 

 have also been packed much in the way detailed in the Journal 

 for October 30th. Those in small pots cut pretty well in, and 

 deprived of their foliage, and rather firmly packed in dampish 

 soil, and plunged where there would be a littlo heat, will re- 

 ceive no water for eight or ten days. The roots will begin to 

 work afresh all the sooner when not surrounded with wet soil. 

 — R. F. 



CO VENT GARDEN MARKET.— November 10. 



Our general supplies continue heavy, and alterations aro very trifling. 

 Pears comprise Duchesse d'Angoulrme,GlouMoreoau,Beurri-Diel,Cuau- 

 montel. Apples as befm'e. 



VEGETABLES. 



Artichokes each 



Asparagus bundle 



Beans, Broad. . bu^iiel 



ScarlctRun.4 sieve 



Beet, Red '. doz. 



Broccoli bundle 



Brus. Sprouts % si. vo 



Cabbage doz. 



Capsicums 100 



Carrots bunch 



Cauliflower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Cucumbers each 



pickling .... doz. 



Endive doz. 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



HerbB bunch 



Horseradish . . bundle 



s. d. s. 

 2 toO 











3 



3 



1 



d| 



4 Leeks bunch 



Lettuce per score 



Mushrooms pottle 



Hustd.tfc Cress, punnet 

 Onions. . doz. bunches 

 6 , Parsley, .doz. bunches 



Parsnips doz. 



, Peas per quart 



Potatoes bushel 



6 Kidney do. 



Radishes doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Savoys doz. 



Sea-kale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes. . . . per doz. 

 Turnips bunch 



b. d. b. d 



3 toO 



1 1 ti 

 16 2 6 



2 



9 







2 



3 

 6 

 



6 



3 



1 3 











3 



8 



2 



Vegetable Marrows dz. 



b. d. b. d 



Apples y z sieve 2 0t6fl 



Apricots doz. 



Cherries lb. 



ChoBtnuts bush. 12 14 



Currents }-\ sieve 



s. d. s. 

 2 Cto5 



O 



Black . 







do. 



Figs doz. 



Filberts lb. o 6 



Cobs 100 lbs. 6 



Gooseberries . . quart 



Grapes, Hothouse, .lb. 2 



Lemons 100 8 



(i n 

 o 



Melons each 



Nectarines do/,. 



Oranges loo 8 



Peaches do/.. 



Pears (des i rt] . . do/,. i 



kitchen doz. l o 



Till.- Apples lb. 3 



Plums n _; si<_-vc 10 



Quinces 



12 

 



12 

 3 







1 o ! 

 l o I 

 o o 



G I 



11 i Walnuts bush. 10 20 



Raspberries. 

 Strawberries , 



.lb. 

 , lb. 



5 

 

 



TKADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



Peter Lawson & Son, 1, George IV. Bridge, Edinburgh ; 

 28, King Street, Cheapside ; and 15, Lawrence Lane, London, 

 E.C. — Catalogue of Forest Trees 'in<! Shrubs. 



F. & A. Dickson & Sons, 106, Eastgate Street, and Upton 

 Nurseries, Chester. — Catalogue oj /.'<<■<'■ ■ 



George Edwards, 1, King Street, Castlegate, York. — Cata- 

 logue of Roses, Fruit Trees, Carnations, mul Pieotees, 



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, <(c, 171, Fleet 

 Street, London, E.C. 



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 u 



Queen Anne's Pocket Melon. — Mr. T. Record, Lillesclen Gardens, 

 Hawkhurst, Kent, obligingly writes to us as follows : " I have about three 

 hundred seeds to spare. If you like to give notice to that effect in your 

 Journal I will send seeds to those who will enclose a stamped directed 

 envelope while they last." — "In reply to *E. T. W.,' the fruit of Queen, 

 Anne's Pocket Melon will not hang long after the fruit is dead ripe — a 

 fact which is well known to all cultivators of the Melon; but supposing 

 a gardener has, say, a dozen plants of this Melon in pots, he can either 

 ' push on ' or retard, according to the requirements of the establish- 

 ment. The principal thing to aim at in this case is to have plants ready, 

 on which the fruit has not arrived at such a state of maturity as ' E. T. W.' 

 describes. If, perchance, a fruit should fall off, it would be no disgrace 

 to either the plant or the table if laid on the top of the pot ; on the 

 contrary, it would only give a natural, if not a graoeful effect. Mr. 

 Hawkins says, at page 354, that he has grown this Melon in 12-inch pots, 

 with from twelve to twenty fruit on each plant ; a fruit or two in that 

 case would not be missed. I have grown it in pots myself, and hope 

 never to be without it in season. — J. Perkins.'' [Mrs. Il> ndriche). — The 

 seeds we have sent to applicants may be sown for next year's crop. 



Seedling Pelargonium [J. P<:arson). — The seedling Pelargonium 

 Chilwell Beauty is first-rate, its intense shade of cerise distinct from any 

 other kind we know. If it is a free-flowering variety, we should say it is 

 one of the best Hybrid Nosegays we have seen. It is darker than Amy 

 Hogg, Dr. Hogg, and Rebecca, and mil prove a very effective shade of 

 colour for bedding-purposes. 



Seedling Torenia (Josiah Prorjden). — Your seedling Torenia ap- 

 pears to be distinct from T. asiatica; but we should like to see a plant 

 before any opinion were given. The white marking makes the flower 

 very striking. To form a correct opinion, we should have flowers both 

 of the seedling and of T. asiatica to compare with each other, which at 

 this season is not easy to do. Perhaps next year you can send us a 

 specimen plant. 



Mineral Oil as Fuel (F. F.). — We cannot form an opinion upon coke 

 soaked in the oil being used ns fuel. The subject requires to be examined 

 experimentally, and not to be adopted rashly. Tho oil is imported largely 

 from America, but we know of no retailers of it. 



Microscope (E. T. W.). — Your question is too indefinite. Before de- 

 ciding which is " the best microscope for a gardener," we must first 

 know what he intends to do with it. What is called "The Society of 

 Arts Microscope " would be quite sufficient for ordinary purposes, and 

 its price is three guineas. " The Student's Microscope," by Stanley, 

 Great (Turnstile, Holborn, may likewise be had at the same price. Read 

 Lardner's Treatises, " The Microscope Explained," " The Eye," and 

 "Optical Images," published by Walton and Maberly, Paternoster Row. 

 Also " Half Hours with the Microscope," by Dr. Lankester, 2a. Gd. Your 

 instrument will be of no use without the condensing lens, price from 6s. 

 to 21s. more. This applies to all microscopes. If deep researches into 

 physiology are intended, then one of Ross's binocular microscopes at 

 thirty guineas would be required. Common useful microscopes may 

 be had for a guinea. Possibly a Stanhope or Coddington lens would 

 suit your purpose. There is no work devoted to stove plants. 



Fruiterers (A Comtant Subscriber}.— Write to Messrs. Webber, Centra 

 Arcade, Covent Garden Market. 



Our October Part.— We have received six stamp3 for this, but no 

 direction ! If thirteen more stamps be sent, and the sender's name and 

 address with them, the part will be sent by post prepaid. 



