December 27, 1864. 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



517 



COVEJSTT G-AEDEN MAEKET.— December 24 



Supplies are good and the demand fair, but not very brisk. Pines and 

 Grapes are fully sufficient for the demand; Apples abundant; but good 

 dessert Pears not over-plentiful. Notwithstanding the severe frost of the 

 18th inst. and general coldness of the weather, the supply of out-door 

 vegetables continues good. The first consignment of Cornish Broccoli has 

 juat arrived, and the heads though small are of very good quality. As usual 

 at this season, the market is crowded with carts and waggons from the 

 country bringing Christmas trees, evei greens, and Mistletoe, for which, 

 notwithstanding the large quantities which have beeu already disposed of, 

 there is still a ready sale, 



FRUIT. 



s. d. a. d 

 2 6 to 4 



Apples | sieve 1 



Apricots .**.,. doz. 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bush. 14 



Currants, Red. ..4 sieve 



Black do. 



Figs doz. 



Filberts 100 lbs. 40 



Cobs do. 70 



Gooseberries ...£ sieve 

 Grapes, Hamburghs lb. 2 



Muscats 5 



Lemons 100 5 



Artichokes each 



Asparagus bundle 



BeansBroad & sieve 



Kidney 100 2 



Beet, Red.. ..„ doz. 1 



Broccoli bundle 1 



Brussels Sprouts \ sieve 

 Cabbage doz. 



8. 



a 



12 























20 











(i 







(i 











60 







80 















6 







8 







10 







Melons each 



Mulberries .... punnet 



Nectarines doz. 



Oranges 100 



Peaches doz. 



Pears (kitchen). ..bush. 



dessert doz. 



Pine Apples lb. 



Plums A sieve 



Pomegranates each 



Quinces i sieve 



Raspberries lb. 



10 



6 4 



Walnuts bush, 14 



VEGETABLES. 

 d. s. d 

 OtoO 

 



Capsicums 



..100 



Carrots bunch 



Cauliflower doz. 4 



Celery bundle 1 



Cucumbers each 1 



pickling doz. 



Endive score 2 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic and Shallots, lb. 



Herbs bunch 



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 £ sieve 



Turnips bunch 



VegetableMarrows doz. 



6 to 5 



2 



1 6 



2 



4 



6 



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 Horticul- 

 ture, Sec, 171, Fleet Street, London, JE.C. 



We also request that correspondents will not mix up on the 

 same sheet questions relating to Gardening and those 

 on Poultry and Bee subjects, if they expect to get them 

 answered promptly and conveniently, but write them 

 on separate communications. Also never to send more 

 than two or three questions' at once. 



N.B. — Many questions must remain unanswered until next 

 week. 



Heating by Gas.— In answer to the inquiry made by " G. P. S.," I saw 

 a very simple apparatus which appeared to answer the purpose for which it 

 was intended in a smad greenhouse belonging to a Mr. G West, a retired 

 ironmonger, whose invention it is. It is very simple, and consequently 

 inexpensive ; but whether the warmth generated would be sufficient for a 

 large house I am unable to say. Mr. West lives on Bexley Heath, Kent, 

 not far from Woohvicli, and I am sure he will readily explain his method of 

 heating, and, if required, would erect the apparatus. — G. A. Langdale. 



Charcoal for. Vines (A Subscriber).— We do not know the translation 

 from the German you mention. If we wished to apply charcoal to the roots 

 of Vines we should remove the earth down to the roots nearest the surface, 

 and sprinkle some charcoal broken into small pieces over them. It might 

 be done now. 



Bunsen's Burner (IF. Dickson) . — We do not know the maker, but we 

 are told that the burner is well known to and supplied by the gas-fitters. 



Tan for Clayey Soil (/. Hurst). — Decayed tan will he a good and en- 

 during manure for your garden • but, as it is infested with slugs, we would 

 pare off and burn 6 inches in depth of the surface before applying the tan. 



Market- gardening (R. F. J*.).— We know of no other work on the sub- 

 ject besides that you mention. 



French Pelargoniums {K. J). J. M. t Jersey) .—The best houses in Paris 

 for Pelargoniums are Thibaut et Keteleer, Rue de Charonne, and Rougier- 

 Chauviere, Rue de la Roquette. 



Protecting Blossom (R. S.).— Tour thin canvas will do very well, but 

 we would bring it within a foot of the ground, and onlv cover that space in 

 severe nights. It would be well to have a two-feet opening every 12 feet, 

 at the top of the wall, to open on sunny days. Your cloth will be more 

 serviceable, if strained, for keeping the blossom dry, than forkeeping out 

 much frost. 



Dodble-glazing (Jf. R.).— The distance between the two tiers of glass 

 need not be more than the eighth of an inch. As you are using Hartley's 

 rough plate glass, two tiers of that would exclude the light too much. The 

 inner tier had better be of clear glass. 



Asphalt Path (Tyro). — Take two parts of very dry lime rubbish, and 

 one pai t coal ashes, also very dry, and both sifted fine. In a dry place, on 

 a dry day, mis them, and leave a hole in the middle of the heap, as brick- 

 layers do when making uiortar. Into this pour boiling-hot coal tar; mix., 

 and, when as stiff as mortar, put it 3 inches thick where the walk is to be„ 

 The ground should be dry and beaten smooth. Spriakle over it coarse sand; 

 when cold puss a light roller over it, and in a few days the walk will be solid 

 and waterproof. 



Fuchsia— Cobosa scandens (Ruby). — We do not recognise the Fuchsia 

 by the flower and leaves sent. The flower is that of F. iulgens, with the 

 leaves of a reflexed-sepaled kind, as Banks' Glory, As a flower, judged 

 by the standard of the florist, it is valueless ; but as a plant for greenhouse 

 decoration, we should think it very ornamental. When it commences to 

 grow thin out the suckers, leaving one only if you wish a plant with one 

 stem, or two or three of the strongest, taking the others away. This will 

 cause the sap to flow more freely into the shoots left, and they will be 

 stronger in consequence, and the plant will bloom more freely. Cobcea 

 scandens is not hardy so far as we know in any part of Ireland, except in. 

 very mild situations, and against walls when protected from frost by a cover- 

 ing of mats or straw. Lomaria L'Herminieri, Nephrodium molle corymbi- 

 fcrum, Nothochlfena lendigera or elegans, Lastrea glabella, Pteris argyrsea, 

 and Adiantum cuneatum. Anemidictyon phyllitidis requires a cool stove to 

 grow it well, though it will do well in a vinery ; but wbat is a vinery but a 

 stove in summer ? In a greenhouse, especially if cool and airy, it does no- 

 good. We are quite certain the plaut sent for us to name was Polypodium 

 cambricum. We have plants of it from its native home with the fructifi- 

 cation plentiful. The person alluded to, we are quite sure, only stated his 

 own experience, and had only come across barren forms of the species. 



Chrysanthemums Done Blooming (Chrysanthemum). — Keep the plants 

 in the pots in a cold frame with the old stems cut down to the surface. Take 

 cuttings in March or April, and these will soon root in a little heat. Such. 

 make nice small plants for blooming late in small pots. Shift them into 

 24-pots in May, and transfer into nine-inch pots in June. Stop them when 

 well rooted to four leaves, and when they have pushed sufficiently stop 

 again to four leaves by pinching out the tips of tlie Bhoots. Keep them 

 stopped until the middle of July, then discontinue the stopping process. If 

 you want large specimens pot the suckers in March, otherwise we like to do> 

 it in November, place in cold frame for a few days, then harden off. In 

 potting select the strongest and best rooted short-jointed suckers. Stop 

 them when 6 inches high, and you may stop again in the end of May or 

 beginning of June, and again in the end of that month or beginning of July 

 The Mandevilla suaveolens will most likely bloom another year if you do 

 not cut it in too much, but merely thin out and shorten the shoots a little D 

 giving it abundance of light and keeping it moderately dry at the root 

 during the winter. It is one of the sweetest flowers grown. 



Propagating Poinsettia pulcherrima (E. M. S.) .—Cuttings of this put 

 in about the middle of July will root freely if the pots are plunged in a 

 hotbed. If they have two joints, one in and one out of the soil, they will 

 do well. The cuttings are best inserted singly in 60-sized pots, in a compost 

 of turfy peat, loam, and leaf mould in equal parts, with a free admixture of 

 silver sand. This will suit established plants; but more sand should be 

 mixed with the soil for the cuttings. The plants thus struck should be 

 potted in six-inch pots, kept near the glass in a moist atmosphere in a stove- 

 temperature, and well watered. Cuttings may also be put in in February 

 and treated in the same manner, stopping them in May, and much larger 

 and earlier-blooming plants will be the result. It is an intermediate 

 stove plant. There are many berry-bearing plants called Winter Cherries, 

 but that usually known as the Winter Cherry, is Physalis Alkekengi. Any 

 of the nurserymen who advertise in our columns can furnish you with; 

 double Pansies. 



Green Fly on Gooseberry Bushes (J. Xing).— We were at one time 

 sorely pestered with fly on Currants and others of the Ribes family against 

 walls. The fruit was dirty and not fit for use, though larger than that from 

 bushes. We were ia the habit of washing our wall trees with a solution of 

 different ingredients at the winter dressing to prevent summer attacks of 

 insects, and with good success tried it on the Ribes tribe, as the Gooseberry 

 and Currant. It was made as follows:— One stone quicklime, and 14 lbs. 

 sulphur vivum, 1 peck of soot, 14 lbs. soft soap, with tobacco water madp 

 by adding four gallons of water to the tobacco liquor of the tobacco manu- 

 facturers, sufficient to form the whole into the consistency of ihin paint. 

 With this we painted every branch, upward from the ground, with a common 

 paint brush immediately after the winter pruning, or before the buds began 

 to swell. Birds do not like the buds after this dressing, and the fly wa3 

 not troublesome in summer, and in many cases did not attack the trees. If 

 it did we syringed the trees during bright weather, just when the fruit was 

 full grown, with tobacco water made by adding six gallons of water to the 

 tobacco liquor of the shops, or by pouring a gallon of boiling water on an ounce 

 of the stron gest shag tobacco. The smoke of a large to wn would not bring ob, 

 attacks of green fly, for we have grown Gooseberries in such a locality very 

 fine and clean, and we were much assisted in the work by the grossly mal- 

 treated house sparrows, which devour green fly, caterpillars, and other 

 garden pests. Preserve such friends as these and you will find them assist 

 in ridding you of your enemy. We should think your Currants will not 

 produce fine fruit if the leaves are taken off the bushes during the height of 

 the growing season, especially if this practice be continued year after year. 



Gum in Apricot Trees (Hampshire Hills).— There is, so far as we knoWg. 

 no cure for the gumming of fruit trees in some soils, and the Apricot is 

 very subject to it on the red sandstone, and thin sandy soils with a gravelly 

 subsoil. It will not interfere with bearing further than this, that a diseased 

 branch is liable to die off at any time, and is just as likely to do so when, 

 the fruit is nearly ripe as at any other time. The gum which exudes should 

 be removed with a knife, and the place pared down to the fresh bark, and 

 the wound will heal over if the hole be stopped well with clay and cowdung» 

 Though this may prevent the accumulation of gum at that part, the plaster 

 assisting the healing of the wound, yet it will not prevent its exudation from: 

 another part of the tree. You will gain nothing by cutting the branches of 

 the Pear tree back, but, on the contrary, lose a number of years in getting 

 the wall covered again. We would insert some buds in the spurs on the 

 lower parts of tbe branches next summer, and the buds, if they take, wilL,, 

 in a short time) produce fruitful spurs on the lower part of the branches. 



