400 



JlUKNAL op EOKTIOULTUBE and COITAGE GAIiDJE:;ER. I December ». 1889. 



\;ill ansiver wcH — tbreo parts Cbroaa iieth loam, sifted tbrongh 

 an inch sieve, one part drift or silver saud, one part sweet wtll- 

 oired old cow dang or leaf mould, and if to be bad one part, in 

 addition, of tmall rough, net dast, charcoal. We tbink the 

 charcoal gives a deeper green to the foliage, ana permits of 

 freer watering. When the flower stem is rising freely, wenk 

 manure waterings will give strength to the flower stem, and 

 size to the flower.'. When other soil was not to be had, we 

 have potted in loam, with a third of sweet rotted leaf mould, 

 but the sand, such as ma; be picksd up in rnns on tke high- 

 way, makes all woik better. AH things considered, the com- 

 post can scarcely be too simple if light, sweet, and tolerably 

 rich. 



Now, as to potting and pole. V\' lien the plants arc to bo moved 

 when in bloom, what are called 43'8 and 40's will bloom Ilja- 

 ointis well, and the same sized pots will do for five Crocuses 

 and three of the smaller Talips. When very fine specimens 

 of Hyacinths, i-c, are wanted, the old-fashioned pots of tho 

 above size in width, but much deeper, are a great ad\autage, 

 as the roots like to go down. In such deep pots the bulbs 

 can be more deeply covered than in the common more 

 shallow pots. Other things being equal, all these bulbs in 

 pots will bloom and thrive Letter, if the bulbs be sufficiently 

 sunk to keep tbtm from free light and air. Even when 

 the top of a Hyacinth bulb is exposed it will thank you 

 to cover it, whether in a pot or glase, with a little green 

 mOBS, and even that, though pretty, is inferior to the natural 

 earth cc^vering. These trifles attended tc, if the bulbs aie 

 to be covered with ashes, ite., after potting, the more loosely 

 and simply the potting is done the better it will be for the 

 bulbs. AU firming and squeezing the soil should be avoided. 

 Many a tine Hyacinth bulb has been mined by damping, or 

 the incipient roots have turned up instead of going freely 

 down, because the soil beneath the bulb was made immode- 

 rately Arm. Proceed as follows, merely premising that tho 

 soil is in the proper state, neither wet nor dry — so wet that it 

 will leave the impression of your fingers when you squeeze it 

 tightly, so dry that the squeezed handful will fall to piece3 

 when you lay it down on the potting-hench. Do not follow the 

 common advice and fill such pots as the common size a third 

 or so full of drainage. Give the roots all the room and earih 

 yon can. Place one convex piece of crock over the bottom of 

 the pot, a scatteiing of smaller pieces over it, a little moss or 

 chopped straw, and a dusting of soot, chiefly to deter worms, and 

 the pot is ready. Place it on the pottingbencb, and a tiial or 

 two will tell yon exactly how much soil to put in to be ready 

 for the bulb or bulbs, merely giving the pot after so filbng a 

 good stroke on the table to settle the soil, but not to firm it. 

 With such treatment the top of a Hyacinth bulb should be on 

 a level with the top of the pot, add more soil round the sides, 

 and another stroke of the bottom of the pot on the bench will 

 generally make that firm enough : if not, press it to the bulb 

 a little with the fingers, but cot downwards ; a small cone of 

 earth over the bulb completes the potting. Tt'hen such pots, 

 set in a bed, end covered with a weight of several inches of 

 ashes, are moved to the forcing house, the bulb will be something 

 like a quarter of an inch below the lim o< the pot, and the pot 

 will be crammed with healthy roots. When cottagers and house- 

 holders merely pot a few, there is no necessity tor placing 

 them in a bed out of doors and covering them over for safety. 

 Any cool dark place will do. In this case, though the earth 

 should not be squeezed or firmed beneath the bulb, it will be 

 necessary to firm it more at the sides, but not hard, and the 

 bulb should be placed a little lower down. In thdr case, too, 

 the bnlhs will bloom all the better if the flower stems do not 

 show much until the pots are filled with roots. Then, and 

 and when the stems move, the sooner the pots are brought to 

 and kept near the light the better. Many people wonld never 

 have Hyacinth?, Tulips, and Crocuses in bloom standing on 

 mantelshelfs and out-of-the-way recesses and dark corners, if 

 they knew what pain it gave to many of their visitors to see 

 them subjecting the plants to a process of slow but sure decline. 

 The pots, if placed in a bed oat of doors, will generally need no 

 watering. Those placed in cellars, cupboards, ica., must not 

 be allowed to become dry; a moist soil, but not saturated, will 

 encourage quick and free rooting. 



As to glasses, when these are clear, clear water should be used, 

 and fresh added as it evaporates. A little charcoal will keep 

 it sweet. However, as it is easily done, fresh wr.ter of tho tem- 

 perature of the room may be given every weti;. Tho water 

 should be soft. The base of the bulb should barely touch the 

 water at first. In colonred glasses we have found weak clear 



manure water an advantage. After-treatment maet be de- 

 ferred, merely stating now that the chief reason why forced 

 bulbs are much injured, ib because, often from want of room, 

 sufficient attention cannot be given to the foliage after bloom- 

 ing. For all plants that bloom early the foliage shonld be 

 encouraged to perfect iteelf under glass, and then the balbB 

 would suffer little.— It. F. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— December h. 



VEnv little change can be noticed here, cither in sDf ply or demand, 

 tho pencral tone of the market baving a dowowaid tendency. The Fotato 

 tradu continued duU. 



FEIJIT. 

 d 



f. i. 



S U lo 



II U 



no 



e 14 















10 



(j 9 







8 no 



BO 10 



Mclona each 2 8 



Applofl Vj eioTd 



Apricots dcz. 



Cherries lb. 



Choj^tnuts bosLel 



Carriiuts . . . . J^ uievo 



Ulack do. 



FiC8 doz. 



Filberts lb. 



fobs lb. 



Gooseberries ..qnnrt 

 Grapes, Hothouse . lb. 

 Lemons 100 



f. d. 



i»ulbcrrieB .... qnirt to 



Koctiirines dox. 



Oranges 100 6 



Peaches doz. 



Tears, kitchen . . doz. 2 



dessert doz. 8 



Fine Apples lb. 3 



Plums >j sieve 



Quinces doz. 



Raspberries lb. 



Htrawberries lb. 



r/alnuts bosLel 10 



do 100 1 



VEGETABLES. 



A!-tichokes doz. 



\ Asparaaus 100 



I Beans.Iiunncr % sieve 



I Broad bushel 



I Boet, Red doz. 



Broccoli bundle 



Bms. Sprouts >^ sieve 



' Cabbage doz. 



I Capsicums 100 



I Carrots bunch 



Cauliflower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Coloworla . . doz. bchs. 

 I Cucumbers .... each 



I inckliug doz. 



Endive doz. 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horseradish ..bundle 



d. B. 

 to G 

 



3 

 1 6 





 



8 

 3 

 3 



Leeks bnnch 



Lettuce score 



Mushrooms pottle 



Mu6Ld.& Cress,punnet 

 Onions bushel 



pickling .. quart 



Parsley sieve 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas qnart 



Potatoes buBhel 



Kidney.... ditto 

 Radi^hea doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Savoys doz. 



Sea-kale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes doz. 



Turnips bunch 



VegetMarrows. ..doz. 



e. d. 8. 

 4 to 



a 



2 

 

 4 

 8 

 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEU'ED. 



.James Dickson & Sons, Newton Nurseries, and 102, East- 

 gate Street, Chester. — Catalvjuc of I'oresl Trees, Coii'Jtrs, 

 Fruit 'frees, Roses, Ornamental Trees, Plants, tCc. 



Patz & Roes, Ferdinand Juhlke's successors, Erfurt, Prussia ; 

 London DefOt, Dick Ksdcljfie & Co., 129, High Holborn.— 

 Annual Trade Seed List. 



W 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Wo requpst thiit no ouo will write privately to .tny 'of the 

 correspondents of the " Journal of Horticulture, Cottage 

 Gardener, and Country Gentleman." By so doing they 

 are subjected to unjustifiable trouble and c.vpenic. All 

 communications should therefore be addressed lolely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, etc., 171, i'Uct 

 Street, London, E.C. 



alio request that correspondents will not mix tip on tho 

 s,ime 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 lommunications. Also never to send more than 

 two or three questions at once. 

 K.D. — Many questions mtist remain unanswered until ne.it 

 week. 

 Fi.owER Garden Bed (Pnj-ipns).— As a bed of foliapc your arranfiement 

 Tvill look very well. In the plan we should prefer tho Coleus to the Iresine, 

 but both might be used, the Iresiue lUliDg tho triaugular spaces of the 

 vandyking. We do not know the fun);us by the description. 



Local Floweb Shows (ir. i?.).— We regret much that we cinnot afford 

 space for local flower shows. We have tried to make a selection, but no 

 sooner did we do so than we had a crowd of reports, the writers of which 

 joined in a chorus, " Our show was quite as good as that you inserted :'' 



Ci:T-DOoR Grates. — In the Fruit-Committee report, November leih, 

 page 808, it should have been stated that Mr. Fenn ripened 842 lbs. of 

 Grapes this year, instead of having made thst number of gallon.^ of wine. 

 GnAPES Spotted (J. G.).— Tho berries of your Bowood Muscat are 

 severely affected with *' the spot," by which name gardeners speak of an 

 ulceration of the Grape. It usually is occasioned by the roots failing to 

 i supply a Bofficicncy of sap lo bupport the growth' of the Vine and its 



