Jnly 27, 1871. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICOLTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



61 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



Day 



















Clock Day 



Month 



Week. 



JULY 27— AUG. 2, 1871. 



tore near London. 



is years. 



Eises. 



Sets. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Age. 



Sun. Year. 









Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



Days. 



m. B. 





27 



Th 





74.9 



50.7 



62.8 



19 



17af4 



63af7 



44af 3 



mom. 



10 



6 14 



208 



28 



P 





76.4 



50.8 



63.6 



21 



19 4 



51 7 



6 5 



25 af . 



11 



6 14 



209 



29 



S 



Length of Night 8h. 81m. 



75.5 



49.9 



62.7 



18 



21 4 



60 7 



20 G 



7 1 



12 



6 12 



210 



80 



Sun 



8 Sunday after Trinity. 



73.2 



50.2 



63.7 



16 



23 4 



49 7 



28 7 



8 2 



13 



6 10 



211 



31 



M 



Length of Day 15h. 23m. 



74.9 



60.0 



62.4 



15 



24 4 



47 7 



9 8 



13 3 



O 



6 8 



212 



1 



Tn 



Lammas Day. 



75.6 



60.4 



68.0 



19 



25 4 



46 7 



44 8 



33 4 



15 



6 5 



218 



2 



W 



Royal Horticultural Society, Fruit, Floral, 

 L and General Meeting. 



75.3 



50.9 



68.1 



20 



26 4 



44 7 



10 9 



64 5 



16 



6 1 



214 



From obgerrationa taken near London daring forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 75.4°, and ita night tem- I 



peratnre S0.4°. The greatest heat was 92'', on the 2nd, 1856 : and the lowest cold 81°, on the 2ad, 1864. The greatest Jail 



of rain was 



1.89 inch. 







COVENT GARDEN MONOPOLISTS. 



R. PEARSON never did greater service to 

 fruit-producers than when lie sent to The 

 JouKNAL OF HoHTicnLTUEE his Communica- 

 tion on the doings of the Covent Garden 

 fruit monopolists. In my time I have had 

 something to do with some of the Covent 

 Garden fruiterers, and can verify all that 

 Mr. Pearson writes about their dealings 

 with us poor innocents in the country. 

 Being, like many other gardeners, in want 

 of a Pine or two, and perhaps Melons, for a particular 

 occasion, and having got them, I thought it no sin when 

 I had a glut of these fruit to send to the salesman double 

 the quantity in weight as an equivalent. But, " tell it not 

 in Gath," when the bills came in the Pines were charged 

 10s. per pound, and the Melons in proportion, and no 

 notice whatever taketi of my consignments. This, of 

 course, was a sickener, and ended my experiments in fruit- 

 bartering in Covent Garden. There is one good which 

 the fruit monopolists do, and thfet is, when fruit has to be 

 procured from them, they show gardeners' employers the 

 high prices they have to pay for it, and so stop some of 

 the grumbling at home about the expenses of keeping up 

 the gardens. No doubt some kinds of fruit are of a very 

 perishable nature, and salesmen must charge good prices 

 to make up for their risk, but there is no reason why 

 extortionate ones should prevaU, as at present. 



Many amatem-s with orchard houses would be glad to 

 send some of their produce for sale in Covent Garden if 

 there were a chance of obtaining a fair price from the 

 fr-uiterers. Gardeners, likewise, when they had their em- 

 ployers' sanction to sell their surplus productions, would 

 be able to send in some seasons quantities of fruit, which 

 is often spoilt from want of gathering. Thus in London, 

 and in all large cities and towns, consumers would obtain 

 their fruit at reasonable prices if the monopoly in Covent 

 Garden were broken up. 



If glass protection were generally applied for the growth 

 of our more valuable fruits, consumers would always find 

 for sale in the market plenty of fruit, and dealers would 

 not need to depend for thefr supply upon France or the 

 Channel Islands. Without the collapse, however, of the 

 monopoly ui Covent Garden this desirable state of things 

 could not happen ; and perhaps the best plan would be 

 that of " J. P.," of York (page 23), where he recommends 

 forming a Horticultural Co-operative Society. This Society, 

 to be efficient, should have branches in all large cities and 

 towns to supply all fruits in season at reasonable prices, and 

 I have no doubt, after all the expenses of management, a 

 good dividend would be secured to the shareholders. The 

 Covent Garden salesmen would then have mostly to depend 

 upon the fruit they grew themselves or on foreign supplies, 

 and we should soon see a fall in their prices when they could 

 not control the markets as at present. — A Gahdenek. 



I WAS happy to see the prices given by the retaU 

 fruiterers, &o., iu Covent Garden Market commented upon 



No. 639.-V0L. XXI, NEwSasme. 



by Mr. Pearson, of Chilwell. I fally concur in every word 

 he says, and, moreover, think something might be done to 

 get rid of such a monopoly. 



I have been a grower of fruit for several years, sending 

 it to Covent Garden, and, as a matter of course, as regularly 

 as the year comes round I have my annual growl, also 

 my self-gratulation that my existence does not depend 

 upon the prices given by the dealers in the market. Never- 

 theless, on behalf of the consumer, as well as the grower, 

 I most willingly and emphatically enter my protest against 

 such unfair proceedings. Of course a large margin must 

 be allowed to the retail salesman who deals in such perish- 

 able articles as fruit, &c., " but there is reason in roasting 

 an egg," and by way of illustration I, in the early part of 

 June, sent up a box of Nectarines, allowed by all who saw 

 them to be magnificent (and so they were both in size and 

 colour), the Covent Garden prices at the time being quoted, 

 " Nectarines per dozen 12s. to 24s." I received the mag- 

 nificent sum of 6s. per dozen, this subject to salesman's 

 commission, &o. Tliis appears to be too glaring, but it is 

 only one of a number of similar cases I could quote. 



Could not something be done that would be beneficial 

 both to the consumer and grower ? "Why in these days of 

 free trade is a person requiring a pound of Grapes to pay 

 20s. per pound, and the grower to get 2s. dd , or may be 

 luoky indeed if he receive os. ? Surely some enterprising 

 individual or company might be found to put a stop to this 

 monopoly, and. at the same time be the means of enabling 

 persons who at present are totally unable to do so, even 

 in cases of sickness, to purchase a bunch of Grapes — so 

 refreshing to many an invalid — at a reasonable cost, and 

 yet give the growers a fair remunerative price for their 

 trouble and anxiety. — Elruge. 



I THINK my case is even worse than the one quoted by 

 Mr. Pearson in your number of July 20th. By the return 

 enclosed you will see I received on April 5th, for a box of 

 very fine Strawberries weighing If lb., the large sum of 

 5s. ad., from which was deducted Is. for carriage and com- 

 mission. The price in the Avenue on the same day was 

 36s. per pound. — J. Ridgway, Fairlawn, Tollbridge. 



ALPINE PLANTS 



AT MESSES. OSBORN'S NUESEEY, FULHAM. 



Probably there is no class of plants so little known as 

 those called Alpines, under which name are included many 

 besides those having their native habitat in mountainous 

 districts. Possessing a quaintness of form as beautiful as 

 it is interesting, these pretty plants deserve the notice they 

 are at length attracting. ■ After inspecting a collection of 

 them, and seeing how exquisitely neat is the growth of 

 almost all, and what a marvellous variety of form and 

 colour is developed both in the foliage and blossom, one 

 feels surprised that plants possessing such rare beauty 

 should have been so long neglected. 



Having lately had an opportunity of seeing the fine 

 collection of rare a' pine plants cultivated by Messrs. 

 Osborn, I purpose offering a slight description of some of 

 No. 1191.— Vol, XL VI., Old Series. 



