478 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December 13, 1864. 



that, therefore, when this treatment is from necessity re- 

 sorted to, due care should be taken to secure successions. 

 Even what we meant for a succession piece has come in a 

 fortnight or three weeks too soon, and, therefore, a third 

 piece has been spawned and earthed, and a fourth bit put 

 in preparation. In making fresh pieces at this season in 

 houses bearing for table, all rank steams should be avoided, 

 or they will taint, and in some cases discolour the Mush- 

 rooms. The Mushroom itself is in no way particular as to the 

 extra sweetness of the material at its roots, it is only as 

 affecting the top that this care is necessary. In making a 

 fresh bed, therefore, it is desirable to place the rankest 

 material at bottom, and the sweetest at the top, and if this 

 is not quite sufficient, the best remedy for keeping the house 

 sweet by keeping down all noxious steams, is to cover the 

 surface of the bed with a sprinkling, say an inch or more, of 

 dry earth. This after having served its purpose, may be 

 mixed with the manure at spawning time. At first from ne- 

 cessity, through shortness of manure, we used a considerable 

 amount of dry, fibry loam mixed with the fermenting ma- 

 terial, and for some time we do so from choice, as the soil 

 becomes such a good preparer and moderator, that dung may 

 be used without losing its rich properties by turning, dry- 

 ing, &c. 



Trenching for Carrots. — The cleaning the pleasure grounds 

 and the collecting of leaves has prevented us doing much 

 in the way of digging, trenching, and ridging. Were we 

 sure of a good frost in the month of November, we would 

 prefer leaving such work until the surface of the ground were 

 pretty well frozen, as that is one of our best helps for 

 getting rid of many enemies in the shape of slugs and snails. 

 It is as well not to delay after December, however, for if we 

 wait for the surface to be frozen, we may lose the chance 

 of having the fresh-turned-up ground pulverised and mel- 

 lowed by the best of all cultivators. Bear in mind, that we 

 disapprove of turning down frozen soil ; but we do like to 

 have the soil of beds and quarters frozen and thawed again 

 before we turn it down. In all old kitchen gardens some 

 extra care should be taken in preparing the soil for Carrots 

 and other roots of a similar description. The great draw- 

 back is generally an excess of richness in the surface soil at 

 least, which causes the roots to fork instead of descending 

 straight and well-formed. This also is one reason why 

 the Short Horn is more cultivated in such circumstances 

 than the long Altrincham, &c. For a year or two, our 

 Carrots did not please us, but this season they were very 

 good notwithstanding the drought, and we believe just from 

 preparing the ground as we used to do in old gardens. We 

 have now commenced ridging a piece that has borne heavy 

 crops of winter Onions, Peas between, and then Cauliflower 

 between the Peas. The ground was, therefore, in far too 

 rich a condition, especially near the surface, for Carrots. It 

 is being ridged-up three spits deep, the upper spit being 

 placed at bottom, and the fresh bright soil of the bottom, 

 with just a little of the clayey subsoil, placed at the top. 

 The bottom spits we will not meddle with any more, as they 

 have been well broken ; but the top spit, now in the form of 

 ridges, we would scatter over with a little gas lime if we 

 had it, failing that we will sprinkle a little tar with a brush 

 over it, just leaving a drop here and there to deter by its 

 smell; and after sprinkling a little lime, chalk, or lime 

 rubbish, or charred rubbish along the rows, we will torn 

 over these surface ridges several times during the winter 

 before levelling them down for sowing in the spring, and 

 the experience of the past would predicate that next season 

 we s hall obtain nice, large, straight roots, as the best richest 

 soil at the bottom of the trench will entice them down- 

 wards instead of encouraging them to fork at the top. In 

 very poor sandy soil we have seen magnificent crops from 

 manuring heavily, but placing that manure from 12 to 

 15 inches from the surface. 



Horseradish. — Pew things keep up their price at market 

 better than this hot customer. In general it receives but scant 

 justice, being condemned to some out-of-the-way corner, and 

 where, from remaining long in the same place, the produce 

 becomes much harder and less succulent than younger, 

 better-cultivated roots. We have met with some instances 

 where due attention was paid to it, and it went through the 

 rotation of cropping much the same as other perennial vege- 

 tables. In these cases the ground was duly prepared — not 



little bits, in the usual way, but long t hin pieces were used 

 for planting, and the ground kept hoed and cleaned among 

 the plants as regularly as among Cabbages or Onions. The 

 result was fine massive bunches of underground stems. 

 There was little difficulty with the old plantations, as, 

 though the smallest bit of root-stem will grow, it will also 

 lose its vitality like the dreaded Convolvulus, if the top is 

 kept well cut with the hoe. The order of these plantations 

 we felt to be a rebuke to some of our out-of-the-way corners. 

 It is not a bad rule, in taking this crop, to keep an open 

 trench ; dig to the bottom of the root pretty well, and fresh' 

 plant as you go on. But we have always noticed that a man 

 would require the eyes of Argus to do such work anything 

 like systematically : and hence the Horseradish department 

 as to appearance, is generally such that the least said of it 

 the better. In making^fresh plantations the ground should 

 be trenched from 18 to 24 inches deep; in general little 

 manure will be necessary, and that chiefly placed at the 

 bottom ; but if the ground is stiff, or approaching to clay, 

 burned and charred rubbish, lime rubbish, and chalk will 

 benefit it much, and cause the plants to grow with more 

 vigour. The sets should be planted in rows, 20 inches 

 apart, and 8 or 10 inches apart in the row. Where much, 

 in demand and valued, a little bit should be planted every 

 two years or so, and the older plantation stubbed up. 

 Other departments next week. — R. F. 



COVENT GAEDEIN" MAEKET.— December 10. 



The supply of out- door vegetables continues good. Forced vegetables 

 onlv comprise Sea-kale and Dwarf Kidney Beans. Dessert Apples are still 

 plentiful, and principally consist of Newtown Pippin, Cox's Orange Pippin, 

 Nonpareil, aud Old Golden Pippin. In dessert Pears tbe best are Winter 

 Nelie, Glou Morceau, Chaumontel, Easter Beurre, aDd Matthews' Eliza, or 

 Groom's Princess Royal, -which is of good quality, and very serviceable at 

 this period of the year. Grapes and Pines are sufficient for the demand. 



FRT/IT. 

 d. 



Apples i sieve 1 to 2 



Apncots doz. 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bush. 14 20 



Currants, Red„4 sieve 



Black do. 



Figs doz. 



Filberts 100 lbs. 50 80 



Cobs do. 70 80 



Gooseberries .. 3 sieve 



Grapes, Hamburghs lb. 2 6 



Muscats 5 8 



Lemons 100 5 10 



Melons each 



Mulberries punnet 



Nectarines doz. 



Oranges 160 



Peaches doz. 



Pears (kitchen). ..bush. 



dessert doz. 



Pine Apples lb. 



Plnms i sieve 



Pomegranates each 



Quinces i sieve 



Raspberries lb. 



d. s. 



6 to 4 



Walnuts bush. 14 



Artichokes each 



Asparagus bundle 



Beans Broad i sieve 



Kidney 100 



Beet, Red.... _ doz. 



Broccoli bundle 



BrasselsSprouts h sieve 



Cabbage '.. doz. 



Capsicums 100 



Carrots bunch. 



Cauliflower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Cucumbers each 



pickling doz. 



Endive score 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic and Shallots, lb. 

 Herbs ..bunch 



s. d. s. 

 toO 



VEGETABLES 

 d 

 



Horseradish ... bundle 



Leeks bunch 



Lettuce score 



Mushrooms pottle 



Mustd. & Cress, punnet 



Onions bushel 



pickling quart 



Parsley ...doz. bunches 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Radishes doz. bunches 



Savoys doz. 



Sea-kale basket 



Spinach sieve 



Tomatoes i sieve 



Turnips bunch 



VegetableMarrows doz. 



a. s. 



6 to 5 



2 



4 



6 2 



2 







6 







9 







6 



9 



















3 







I 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



* # * We request that no one will write privately to the de- 

 partmental 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 ad- 

 dressed solely to The Editors of the Journal of Eorticul- 

 twre, S(c., 171, Fleet Street, London, E.G. 



jj.B. Many questions must remain unanswered until next 



week. 

 Conifer for Dry Sandy Soil (Monlicola).— None will thrive so well in 



such a soil as Pinus insignis, and it is one of the most handsome. 

 Books (J T P.).— "Tbe Garden Manual," which you can have free by 



post from our office for twenty postage stamps ; and Richardson's " Domestic 



Pigs," which you can obtain from any bookseller. 



