November 2, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



391 



English wire netting is, we believe, the most remarkable that 

 has ever been shown in this country. It has been produced 

 by improved machinery, which has not as yet been introduced 

 into the United States." Awards have also been made to 

 Messrs. Perks of Hitchen for oil of lavender ; to Messrs. Veitch 

 and Sons for trees, shrubs, and other plants ; to Mr. R. Warner 

 for two books (" Orchidaceous Plants ") ; to Mr. A. Waterer, 

 Woking, for tree3 and shrubs ; and to Mr. B. S. Williams for 

 hothouse plants and Ferns. 



The Dahlias in the neighbourhood of St. Albans were 



cut down by frost on the morning of the 25th of October. 



On the 29th of October the Lord Mayor entertained 



the chief members of the Fruiterers' Company at the Mansion 

 House. They had presented as usual the dessert, and the 

 Lord Mayor complimented them on their varied collection of 

 fruits. There was not very much, of course, in the fruit exoept 

 its beauty, but there was a great deal in the kindly feeling 

 which prompted the Fruiterers' Company to make that annual 

 offering to the Lord Mayor of the day. As the custom had 

 endured for ages, so it was likely to continue for generations 

 yet to come, for there was no reason to anticipate any outbreak 

 of hostilities between the Fruiterers' Company and the Corpo- 

 ration which would be likely to interfere with the annual offer- 

 ing. He regarded the Fruiterers as among the most pacific of 

 men, their love for the cultivation of fruit and flowers tending 

 to promote ail the better feelings of human nature. He would 

 ask the guests, therefore, to drink " The Health of the Fruit- 

 erers' Company," for by so doing they would only be giving 

 them their desert. Mr. Stroud, the Master of the Company, 

 acknowledged the compliment, and thanked the Lord Mayor 

 for liia hospitality on the occasion, which was always, he said, 

 a magnificent return for their 6imple annual offering. He 

 traced the custom which was being observed that evening 

 through a long series of centuries, if not, he said, to the time 

 when " Adam delved and Eve span." 



We read in the Independance Beige the following — 



" In a garden at Billancourt, the property of M. CarliD, lock- 

 smith, may be seen at the present moment an Apple tree 

 loaded with fruit. There is nothing extraordinary in this, but 

 the stock of the tree is Cherry, on which has been grafted the 

 Apple, a species of Golden Pippin. The fruit precisely re- 

 sembles Cherries — the same stem, the same size, the same 

 form, and nearly the same colour, but its taste is that of an 

 Apple, and it contains pips instead of stones. Specimens of 

 this botanic phenomenon were yesterday submitted to our 

 inspection. It must be a real ouriosity, for it is generally 

 thought impossible to graft a pip-bearing fruit on the stock of 

 a tree b aring stcne fiuit." — [The only thing marvellous about 

 this is that the narrator should have stated that the fruit 

 produced by the graft was a Cherry instead of the Cherry 

 Apple, and that he should not have satisfied himself as to the 

 stock, which if he had examined he would have found to be 

 an Apple. The Cherry Apple is the same as the Soarlet 

 Siberian Crab.— Eds. J. or H] 



DOINGS OP THE LAST AND WORK FOR 

 THE PRESENT WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



So far Scarlet Runners have afforded good pickings, but the 

 nights have recently been too cold for the blossoms to set, and 

 the supply of pods is exhausted. The late Mr. Robert Fish 

 used to protect his Soarlet Runners and Dwarf Kidney Beans 

 by running two rough straw ropes along the rows near the top. 

 This would certainly be of advantage on a calm night in pro- 

 tecting them from frost, but in mild damp weather the straw 

 ropes would do more harm than good, because they would 

 prevent, to a certain extent, the free circulation of air, and 

 would also shade the Beans from the sun. The ropes could be 

 removed, however, in such weather, and be replaced when frost 

 set in. 



We have planted-out Cauliflower plants under hand-lights, 

 one at each comer, and one or two in the centre. The centre 

 plants will be removed in the spring and planted in the open 

 ground. Another lot of plants have besn placed in a cold frame. 

 Such plants muBt not be coddled by keeping the lights on in 

 fine weather, and if it is necessary to protect the plants from 

 heavy rains the lights ought to be tilted sufficiently to allow 

 of a free circulation of air. Late Cauliflowers that are now 

 'turning in may be protected by bending a leaf over the heart, 

 for if the Cauliflower is exposed to frost it will be quite Bpoiled 

 for use ; but a leaf or two can be easily bent over, and no injury 

 will then result from a few degrees of frost. 



We have, after clearing off the stems of Asparagus, given the 

 ground a good dressing of rich manure, and just put enough 

 fine soil over it to prevent evaporation. The usual plan pursued 

 with Asparagus beds is to dress them with manure, and then, 

 throw the soil from the alleys over the beds in the spring. We- 

 have been tolerably successful so far by planting in rows on a. 

 level surface and giving the plants a good dressing at this time, 

 and there is always plenty of soil to cover over the manure. 

 The plantB were put out 18 inches apart in the rows and 2 feet 

 6 inches betweon the rows. This is quite close enough to give 

 the plants justice. The first year or two after planting it was 

 necessary to provide Bticks to each plant to prevent the stalks, 

 snapping off close to the surface of the ground, as many will 

 do if this precaution is not taken. If the stalks are broken 

 early in the year before the buds are formed for next season, 

 the crop on the injured plants will suffer considerably. 



MUSHROOM HOUSE. 



This structure has not yet required to be artificially warmed,, 

 and the MuBhrooms are of very good quality. Covent Garden 

 Market is at present well supplied with excellent button Mush- 

 rooms and large succulent specimens for broiling at a cheap rate. 

 Sometimes a bed will continue to bear a succession of Mush- 

 rooms for a long time, while another bed treated in the same 

 manner will produce a good crop, which comes in with a rush 

 and lasting but a very short time. To provide for such con- 

 tingencies a bed should be ready two or three weeks after the 

 previous one to ensure a supply. All Mushroom houses should: 

 be large enough to allow of a succession of beds. The most 

 frequent cause of the beds failing to produce a crop after having 

 been spawned properly, is overheating from manure that has 

 not been sufficiently worked by turning. It is easy to blame 

 the spawn or anything else, and to ignore the true cause. A 

 thermometer ought always to be used for a test, as the hand is 

 very uncertain. Always allow the temperature to fall to 85°, 

 and there will be no danger unless the material of which the 

 bed is composed has become too wet, which is another evil to 

 be avoided. From 55° to 60° is a very gocd temperature for the 

 house. 



VINERIES. 



In many places it is quite necessary to place a considerable 

 number of plants in the house where fruit is still hanging. Of 

 course, in very large establishments, where there are houses for 

 plants independent of the vineries, this is not done, nor should 

 it be. When it is necessary to water the plant3 the morning is 

 the best time, and a little artificial heat ought to be used to dry 

 up superfluous moisture ; in fact, all moisture is superfluous 

 that falls on the paths or borders of the vinery at this seasoD. 

 If heat is turned on to heat the hot-water pipes to dry up 

 moisture, it ought to be turned off again by one o'clock in the 

 afternoon; no attempt ought to be made to dry up moiBture 

 towards night. When the weather is mild, and there is no dew- 

 fall at nights, it is as well to leave the ventilators open a little. 

 When there is much moisture in the air at night the house must 

 be closed ; the ventilators ought also to be closed during the 

 prevalence of thick fogs. We have in previous numbers in- 

 sisted on the necessity of removing all mouldy berries on their 

 first being attacked. 



Our early houses are all cleaned, the Vines washed, and 

 borders surfaced, bo that forciDg may be begun at any time that 

 may be deemed desirable. It is a very good plan, and has been 

 followed here with the best results, to place some stable manure, 

 or fresh manure mixed with fallen leaves of trees, in the house 

 to ferment and throw eff a moist heat. A good heap of ferment- 

 ing material will warm the house a few degrees, also the ground 

 to a certain depth; and the moist atmosphere caused by the 

 ammeniacal vapour being thrown offisjaat what the Vines require 

 to cause the buds to break freely eo early in the season as this. 

 From -15° to 50° is a sufficiently high temperature to start with- 

 This may be increased 5° in the course of a few weeks, but we 

 do not care to raise the temperature of the house higher than 

 this until the buds show signs of starting into growth. These 

 heaps of fermenting material are very useful for plunging pots 

 of all sorts of early-flowering plants. We put some cocoa-nut 

 fibre refuse over the manure in which to pluDge the pots. The 

 bed very frequently becomes hot enough to kill the rcot3 if they 

 are pat too deep into the material. It is very necessary to 

 guard against this. Roses, Lilacs, Deutzias, and other early- 

 flowering Bhrubs do well thus plunged in the vinery, but they 

 must not have more heat at the roots than 85° early in the 

 season. We alxo put in a batch of Black Prince Strawberries 

 in the early vinery. 



PEACH HOUSES. 



There is not much to do in these structures at this season, and' 

 those who have much Peach-houBe accommodation will be able 

 to store bedding plants, and also specimens intended for the 

 greenhouse, until the Chrysanthemums have been cleared out 

 of the latter struoture after flowering is over. The Peach trees 

 will take no harm if the plants are clean, but if they are in- 

 fested with thrips, red spider, scale, or mealy bug, then it is a 

 great mistake to put them in any fruit house. 



