386 



JOUKNAIi OF HORTICULTURE ANB COTTAGE GARDENER. 



C KiT 33, 1888. 



between Rneeess anil faihiro. The sUdinR down a sash for air, 

 and the tilting it up Uoliind, may thus be attended with very 

 different results. In all eases where particular care is required, 

 tiltinp is the 6afe?t, not to ppeak of deleterious steams entering 

 from the front ; no fi csU air can then reach the plautn at the back 

 without (irat piissinn through the warm, moist air issuing out. 



Under ("uoh eirounistanres, even the covorius-up at night is 

 a matter of importance. Oiio man will throw on a mat and 

 tuck it in nicely back and front, so that not a bit of it shall 

 extend beyond the glass sash. Another will throw it on and 

 let it hang over back and front — a matter of little moment if 

 there is no lining, or if that is perfectly sweet, but likely to 

 cause very injurious consequences indeed it rank steam.saro 

 rising from the lining, and these by means of the overhanging 

 mat are encouraged to find their way into the atmosphere of the 

 frame, through every chink, opening, and lap in the glass. 



Our readers will excuse with their usn.'il kindness this 

 digression that has taken us so far from the second mode of 

 keeping the rain falling on the glass from passing into the 

 front of hotbeds, and thus soaking and cooling them, and that 

 is the fastening a small spout in front for the purpose. Tin, 

 7.inc, or anything would do, the simplest of all. perhaps, being 

 two slips of wood three-quarters of an inch thick, and 3 inches 

 wide, bevelled and fastened together by the edges so as to 

 resemble the letter V, and one side fastened in a sloping di- 

 rection to the frame, some simple means being provided to 

 take the water away from the lowest end. A little tar, or pitch, 

 run along tho angle of the V makes all water-tight. Such 

 a simple plan saves the front of a hotbed from becoming cooled 

 and drenched. 



7RUIT G.\RDI!r. 



Straa'berrii's. — These, if gathered in bright weather and be- 

 fore watering the pots, we always consider at this season to be 

 preferable to those obtained out of doors. It always goes so far 

 against the grain to gather Strawberries for table, and even more 

 so to pack them for sending away, immediately after the plants 

 have been watered. They travel worse, and the flavour is not so 

 good. There is almost as much difference as between gathering 

 a dish out of doors in bright sunny weather, .and gathering a 

 dish after several days' rain, and little or no sun. The end 

 of May has always proved with us the most troublesome 

 period as respects Strawberries, and chiefly because then we 

 are generally obliged, much against our will," togive a portion of 

 them a place to themselves, instead of continuing, as at other 

 times, to make them merely a subsidiary crop. As yet in a 

 lean-to Peach-house about 11 feet wide, with trees on a front 

 trellis, and trees against the back wall, we have still four rows 

 of Strawberries which receive justice — that is, a row sus- 

 pended about a yard from the back wall, another row suspended 

 about the middle of the house, a third ripening its fruit be- 

 tween the two— at the top of the trellis— and a fourth row near 

 the front. These receive all justice from free exposure to every 

 ray of sunlight ; and as wii can bring a circulation of air all 

 over them and near the glass, we can set the fruit in this house 

 at an angle of 4.5', as we can do nowhere else with so little 

 trouble. As soon as the Peach-house is started, we therefore 

 set the fruit of Strawberries here, and take them into other 

 places, warmer or cooler, according to circumstances, to swell 

 and ripen. As the Peaches, however, are swelling to ripening, 

 we must take all these pots gradually away, so that the fruit, 

 and the wood, too, of the Peaches may have the advantage of 

 the full Sim unobstructed by these suspended shelves.— K. F. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— :\Iay 19. 



AMON-n onr imports this v:oek v,e hnve rcceiveti. in addition to ihoae 

 named in former reports, AjiriL-Dts and Str.iwberries, neither of which, 

 however, came to hmd in frood condition. Cherries also have been very 

 damp. Poaches and Nectarines aro iraprovin«. Tho supplv and demand 

 are about balanced, with the eriception of Strawberries, which have main- 

 taijQed a high price during the v-eek 



FRTJIT. ■ 



Apples ij sieve 



Apricots do7. 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bush. 



Currant?. Ked ■^i sieve 



Black do. 



Pica do7.. 



Filberts lb. 



Cobs lOOlbs. 



fSoose berries . . quart 

 Grapes. Hothouse, .lb. 

 Lemons 100 



Melons each 8 



Nectarines doz. 15 



Oranges 100 6 



Poaches doz. 30 



Pears (dessertj . . doz. 



kitchen doz. 



Pine Apples lb. 8 



d. 



0tol2 

 

 



i 







so 



12 



Plums U sieve 



Quinces % sieve 



Raspberries lb. 



Strawberries oz. 1 



Walnuts bush. 14 



VBGETABLKS. 



Articholicfl each 



AKpnraguB bundlo 



IJcnus. Broad.. bu»hel 



Kidney 100 



Beet, Kod doz. 



Hroccoli bundle 



Brus. Sprouts Y^ sieve 



(^ahbngo doz. 



Capsicumd 100 



Ciirrot« bunch 



('iiulirtower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Cucnmbor-! caeb 



pickling .... doz. 



Endive doz* 



Fennel bunch 



tliirlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



lIorser.id!8h . . buodlo 



d. R. 

 3to0 

 8 



3 

 4 



^1 



6 Leeks bnnoh 



! Tiuttnco per dor. 



Muiihroonis .... pottle 



6 , Mustd.A Cress, punnet 



I OnlonH burth'"l 



fi I ParHl»>y sieve 



Parsnips doz. 



j Po.\a per qnnrt 



I Potatoes bushid 



8 I Kidney do. 



I Radtshns . . doz. hands 



! Rhubarb bundle 



Sivoys doz. 



Sen-knlo basket 



Shallots lb. 



S;)innch butihel 



I Tomatoes. . . . i-j siovo 



Tumip'* bunch 



' Yegetnble Harrows dr.. 



11. d. «. d 







1 



1 











a 





 4 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Insect on Vink (T. Ilawkdci/i.—U is tho Vino acalo (C jcoos vitia). 

 You may ilestroy it by brushing it over with a creamy mixture of «oft 

 soap and flowcr.-i of sulphur in water. 



Mrs. PoLi.orK Okp.aniu:i Becoming Ghkex (T. r.).— Ml variegated 

 Geraniums have a tendency to return to th" green stato. If the plant is 

 kept in a shndy plan- there is a greater tendency. It is jnst possible that 

 there might bo a iiiistak<i as to the plant in your case. The Trifolinra 

 repens is the hardy creeping white Clover found in meadows, not the 

 brown Clover. 



New Hoe (J. CnVJ.).— The hoe of which we gave a drawing on p. 82» is 

 an American invention, and not patented in thi<i country. It needs no 

 trial, for any gardener can at once estiraato its merit. 



Plants fok Standino in Pots in Wateii iL'. C. B.),— If you wish for 

 something with large foliage, then Richardiu u-thiopioa and its variegated 

 variety R. albo-macuhita would do from May to October; and if for some- 

 thing very neat, th'-n Isolepis jfracilis placed on inverted saucers so that 

 the pots would bo an inch or two in the water, and so closo together that 

 the leaves may meet. Cyperus alternifolius would look welL These 

 would only do from Mny to October. If you wish for Bomolhing perma- 

 nent, then we would plant Hydrocharis morsus-rann?. Utricularia vul- 

 garis, and Hottonia paluRtris, or nny of the smaller-growing aquatics, 

 planting in an inch oi mud and the same depth of sand. 



Planting Trop.eolum canartense and LopnosPF-ninTM scandeks (A 

 Suhscriber).~\'onT plants, if well hardened off, may be planted oat by the 

 side of a house, but they will not do well on a north .aspect. 



Rust on Gladiot.i {TulhtnUn7t).—V>'fi know of no cure; bnt wn find 

 a top-dressing of rich compost, and plentiful supplies of water in dry 

 weather, and syrinsins; or sprinkling overhead in the evening of hot davK 

 with aired water, do mnch to lessen tho evil. Tho soil has much to do 

 with it. Vv'c think o:i soil p:irtakiug more or less of ft peaty nature they 

 are rarely attacked. 



VrauSaEuxiA (Ibis) pavonisa ant) CA?fAPSiA escttt.eiita (O. .S.).— 

 These bulbs aro quite hardy, but grow indifferently in cold situatlona 

 and in wet heavy soils. They require warui situations, and well-drained 

 loam inclined to be sandy, and if these be secured to them they do well. 

 Both aro fine for pot culture : and if your Fitnation is at all cold or 

 exposed, you will succeed better by growim^ thera as you did Camassuv 

 csculenta, in a cool house. They aro very ornamental for tho gracu'uouse 

 and conservatorj*. 



Books (A T/ii>/;7;i-nrfl.— Loudon's " .*=clf-Instmction for Young G.ar- 

 deners." directs how to measure timber. We cannot «ivo tho details, for 

 it is a common arithmetical proceeding. Stephens' " Book of the Farm "' 

 is ono of the best books on .agi-i culture. {T. O. H.). — I^oudon's " Self- 

 Instruction for Young Gardeners," gives tho information ns to scalo- 

 drawinp, which you require. It is published by Messrs. Longman & Co. 



TwiNiNi Stems ' Si'ot:i.t).~~Some. as those of the Honeysuckle and Bhick 

 Bryony, follow the apparent motion of the sun, twisting round their 

 support from left to right. Others, as tho Great Bindweed fCftlystegia 

 sepium), twist the contrary way— uamely, from right to left. They never 

 change the direction of their twisting — that is, the Honeysuckle and 

 others never twist from right to left, and the Greit Bindweed Tii'vor 

 twists from left to right. If grown in tlio dark, twining plants lose the 

 power of twining ; but directly they are restored to tho'light. nud renew 

 a healthy growth, they resume their natural direction in twining. 



Prices in Hf.xry ^III.'s Reion I J. P. 5.).— Wc cannot undertake to 

 calculate whether other fruits and ofitables bore a price proportionate to 

 the Lemon, which then cost "six silver pennies;" but wo can add the 

 prices paid for some articles for tho luns'a use when residing at his 

 Greenwich Palice in the Octoberof 1518. 2 t>oz. fatcaponii, -JS*. Pigeons, 

 32 doz., sa*. Rabbits, "soucars," 2 doz., 5«. 8-1. Conies, 31 doz.. 62*. 

 Geese, 5 dozen and 8, 23«. 8d. 4 Peacocks, 8i. 13 Peachicks, 8t. Esttts, 

 2500. as. Apples. 13011. 6.^. Sd. Onions, 13 hunches, 13d. Quinces, 320, 

 Gt. M. Herb^. 4.f.— (tr//< r« and Paperx Temp. Henru VIII. By J. Brficer. 

 Published by Dir.-ction of the MasUr of the Rolh, ii. pt. 2, p. 1515.) 



RirnoN-BORDKR (.If. n.). — All the three plans would do well, but there 

 mitjht be a difficulty as to height. Using your materials, we think tho 

 following would bo nu improvement, betrinnin;^ at tho back : — Pcrilla ; 

 Calceolaria strong yellow, as nmploxicaulis or Aurnntia multiflora; Ge- 

 ranium, as Stella or JJonle de Feu ; Variegated Mint; Purple King Ver- 

 bena; Calceolaria, dwarf yellow; scarlet Verbena; blue Lobelia; Ce- 

 rastium. 



Insects {A Suhxeriber). — Your insect Is the common aquatic NotonoctA 

 clauca. {C. C. K.).— Tho red eggs are those of the Bark Mite. The cater- 

 pillars had escaped, the box having been crushed in the post. — W. 



Sbckle Pear (/>r. C. C. E.). — We have received tho twig, but can see 

 nothing peculiar about it, except that the post-office officials had 

 squeezed and punched it quite flat. 



