February 26, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
183 
lightly morning and evening with tepid water, and although it will be 
longer before growth commences than by the former plan, yet it may 
possibly recover; and if it does, pray make a note of it and send it to this 
Journal, for no tree is so grossly maltreated and so little understood as the 
Orange. The after-treatment of the Orange is to pot in March, adding a 
little decayed manure to the compost mentioned before, and to keep the 
leaves and stems clean by frequent sponging with a weak solution of soft- 
soap and water. 
Carnations for Winter (IF.).—You will find the following free-flower* 
ing useful kinds—Purity, La Belle, Miss Jolliffe, A. Alegatiere, Belle Rosej 
and Mons. de Combs. If you obtain young plants rooted in autumn either 
from cuttings or layers and now established iu 3-inch pots you will be able 
to grow them into good specimens for flowering next winter. Starved and 
stunted examples that have been kept in small pots for some time are useless 
for your purpose, as they will never make robust plants. It is a usual 
practice to strike cuttings at the present time in gentle heat under bell- 
glasses, the young Carnations being carefully and gradually hardened, then 
placed singly into the size pots named above. The plants as they extend in 
growth are tied to stakes ; when they are healthy and vigorous they 
branch freely without topping. They must not be allowed to become 
root-bound or they will be seriously checked ; they must be placed into larger 
pots directly a good number of roots have reached the sides until they 
are placed in the size in which they are intend d to flower. These plants 
should be grown in a cold frame until the weather is sufficiently favourable 
for standing them outside, which can generally be done some time before 
they are ready for their largest pots. After potting for a few days keep 
the frame close until the plants commence rooting afresh in the new soil. 
Water should be applied carefully and judiciously, or satisfactory results 
will not follow. They must not be overwatered, at the same time the soil 
should never be allowed to become really dry. Liquid manure is good ; they 
will not bear it strong, and it is better and safer to apply aflittle artificial 
manure to the surface of the soil occasionally. The plants must be well 
syringed during summer to keep them free from red spider. Carnations 
do well in a compost of fibry loam three parts, the other part being com¬ 
posed of decayed manure passed through a fine sieve, leaf soil and sand. In 
autumn when there is fear of frost toe plants should be housed in a light 
airy position as near to the glass as possible where the night temperature 
during winter will not fall below 45 Q , but a close atmosphere will soon ruin 
them. 
Stove Plants (Rosa). —The plants you name require a close moist 
atmosphere where they can be shaded from the sun during the summer 
months. The winter temperature from the end of October until the present 
time should range from 60° to 65° at night according to the weather; if 
mild the latter, if very cold and frosty the former. A rise of 5° by day from 
fire heat will be ample. During the spring and summer months the night 
temperature should range from 65° to 75°, which should be gradually raised 
from the winter temperature and then as gradually lowered again during 
autumn. The day temperature during the summer should be 10 or 15° highi r 
from sun heat. None of the plants must be exposed to the strong rays of 
the sun, or their beautiful foliage will not be produced in perfection. During 
the winter the Sonerilas and Bertolonias Bhould be kept close under bell- 
glasses or handlights, in which they will pass the winter in better condition 
than in the drier and more airy atmosphere of the stove. During summe ■ 
they will stand in the house and do as well or better than under the hand- 
lights. The tops may be rooted under these handglasses; they will grow 
with greater freedom than the old plants, and make fine specimens in about 
half the time. The cuttings should be inserted singly in small pots filled with 
sand and be afterwards grown in equal parts of sphagnum moss and fibry 
peat with a liberal dash of sand ; they will do well in the peat and sand if 
you have none of the former. The Cyanophyllum requires plenty of heat 
and moisture at its roots as well as in the atmosphere. It should also have 
liberal root room, or it will not develope and retain its noble foliage. This 
plant will grow well in fibry peat and sand, or a mixture of peat and loam. 
The Cissus will also grow well under the same conditions. We do not donbt 
that your climbers will in time grow less luxuriantly and in all probability 
flower satisfactorily. The Perns will do in a lower temperature than the 
majority of stove plants. During winter a night temperature of 55° to 60°, 
and 65° to 70° during summer, with a rise of 5° or 10° by day, will suit them 
well. During winter little or no air must be admitted, and in spring 
when the sun is very warm and the air cold it is better to draw down 
the blinds and allow the temperature of the house to increase rather than 
admit cold currents of air. During mild days air should be admitted 
gradually as soon as the temperature of the house commences rising, 
increasing the ventilation in advance of the increasing heat, and the house 
should be closed gradually as the sun declines. Your gardener is right, the 
hot-water pipes should not be syringed, the steam thrown off by syringing 
the pipes when hot being decidedly injurious. You had better discontinue 
this practice at once, and maintain the requisite moisture by syringing the 
plants and stages upon which they stand. There are instruments very 
similar to thermometers fortesting the moisture of the atmosphere,but we 
do not think one would be of much service to you. A little practical 
experience will soon enable you to show how much moisture to maintain in 
your house for the well-being of the plants you cultivate. No doubt your 
gardener is right about syringing the plants growing in the rockwork ; he 
is in a better position to determine if the drainage is good and what 
syringing the plants will bear much better than we can from the limited 
information before us. We do not see any reason why your Calanthe should 
not flower if you mature its pseudo-bulbs thoroughly by admitting light and 
air ; it is a cool species, and if grown too warm will not flower. It must be 
well rested annually. The falling of your Gardenia buds is due to a check 
caused either by the steam from the hot pipes or sluggish root-action, brought 
about undoubtedly by the treatment the plants have been subjected to. For a 
book onstove plants write to Mr. B. S. Williams, Yictoria Nurseries, Upper 
Holloway, London, N. 
Names of Plants (P. E .).—The plant is Peperomia Saundersi. It can 
be easily grown in a stove or similar house, employing a compost of peat and 
loam. You may succeed in striking cuttings of the growth, but we doubt if 
you will with the leaves alone. (F. G). —Your specimen was not in good 
condition, but it resembles Thunbergia alata alba. ( Pavo ).—Helleborus 
f jetidus. 
COVENT GARDEN MARKET. — February 25th. 
NO alteration to quote this week, business being very dull and supplies 
quite equal to 
the demaud. 
FRUIT. 
s. 
d. 
8. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
fl. 
d. 
Apples .. .. 
2 
6 
to 4 
6 
Oranges. 
.. 100 
4 
0 to 
7 
0 
Chestnuts .. 
.. bushel 16 
0 
0 
0 
Peaches . 
per doz. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Cobs, Kent .. 
per 100 lbs. 55 
0 
0 
0 
Pears, kitchen .. 
dozen 
1 
0 
3 
0 
Currants, Red 
•. A sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
,, dessert 
dozen 
2 
0 
6 
0 
,, Black 
.. | sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Pine Apples English .. lb. 
1 
6 
3 
0 
Figs .. .. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Plums . 
A sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Grapes .. .. 
8 
0 
6 
0 
Strawberries.. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Lemons.. .. 
.. case 10 
0 
15 
0 
St. Michael Pines 
..each 
3 
0 
7 
0 
VEGETABLES. 
8. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
8. 
a. 
Artichokes ., 
.. dozen 
a 
0 to 4 
0 
Lettuce. 
. dozen 
1 
0 to 
1 
6 
Asparagus 
.. bundle 
7 
0 
8 
Mushrooms .. 
punnet 
0 
0 
l 
6 
Beans, Kidney 
100 
3 
0 
2 
6 
Mustard and Cress 
punnet 
0 
3 
0 
4 
Beet, Red 
.. dozen 
1 
0 
3 
0 
Onions . 
bunch 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Broccoli .. .. 
0 
9 
1 
0 
Parsley .. dozen bunches 
3 
0 
3 
0 
Brussels Sprouts 
.. 4 sieve 
2 
6 
8 
0 
Parsnips. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Cabbage .. .. 
0 
0 
1 
0 
Potatoes. 
cwt. 
4 
0 
5 
0 
Capsicums 
100 
1 
8 
3 
0 
,, Kidney . 
cwt . 
4 
0 
5 
0 
Carrots .. .. 
0 
S 
0 
4 
Rhubarb. 
bundle 
0 
4 
0 
0 
Cauliflowers .. 
.. dozen 
3 
0 
8 
0 
Salsafy. 
bundle 
1 
0 
0 
0 
Celery .. .. 
1 
6 
3 
0 
Scorzonera .. .. 
bundle 
1 
6 
0 
6 
Coleworts dcz. bunches 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Seakale .. .. rer basket 
1 
0 
1 
0 
Cucumbers .. 
.. each 
0 
6 
1 
0 
Shallots. 
0 
S 
0 
0 
Endive .. 
1 
0 
3 
0 
Spinach. 
brshel 
3 
0 
4 
6 
Herbs .. .. 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Tomatoes .. ,. 
1- 
0 
2 
0 
Leeks .. .. 
0 
3 
0 
4 
Turnips. 
bunch 
0 
4 
0 
0 
SEED TIME. 
Green crops have for some years been growing in importance, 
and now that ensilage has become an accomplished fact, aud 
greater attention is being given to dairy farming, due attention 
must be given to the allotment of a fair proportion of the land 
to such crops. Permanent pastures may be our end and aim in 
dairy, sheep, and cattle farming generally, but let us take parti¬ 
cular care that we see our way clearly, and so apportion our 
cropping that the farm may be self-supporting, that there be no 
possibility of a scarcity of home-grown food in March and April, 
not a single item of expenditure in our balance-sheet for corn, 
cake, or fodder. By the time this article is published March 
will be close upon us. Of what ought our food supply to consist 
now ? Of corn, we should have ample store of Wheat, Oats, 
Barley, Peas, and Beans ; of roots, Mangolds, Carrots, Parsnips, 
and Swedes; of fodder, meadow and seed hay, Pea haulm and 
Oat straw, and silage; of green crops ready for immediate use 
and to follow, cattle Cabbage, Rye, Perennial Rye Grass, winter 
Oats if required, Trifolium incarnatum, and winter Tares. 
With the exception of hay and silage, arable land is required for 
the cultivation of all this food, and as the high value of ensilage 
grows upon us, we certainly shall not rest contented with the 
crop of ordinary grass land for filling the silo. 
Spring Tares, cattle Cabbage for autumn use, white Mustard 
and Lucerne, are also crops for w'hich land is required in March 
or April. Of speculative crops we shall in future avoid Prickly 
Comfrey, concerning which we repeat that no well-fed animals 
except pigs would touch it, and even they would only eat a little 
of it. This was the result of a moderate trial of it, but we are 
credibly informed that it has been used with success for pigs 
upon a home farm where a large number are kept. Green Maize 
appears worthy of a trial, and we purpose sowing half an acre or 
an acre of it this season after Rye or Tares. The mistake which 
has been made with Maize in this country is sowing too early. 
The young plant is so tender that the seed must uot be sown till 
all chance of frost is past. The Maize crop at Merton last year 
was sown on June 7th, and when it was cut on September 11 th, 
there was the marvellous result of 30 tons per acre in three 
months. It is stated that the manure used was fifteen loads of 
farmyard manure and 3 cwt. of superphosphate per acre, a by no 
means extravagant dressing, and yet this has been termed fancy 
farming by a high authority. The quantity of seed used was 
6 to 9 necks per acre of the large flat-seeded Maize. Maize is 
cultivated for ensilage ; it is asserted that to feed animals with 
the chopped Maize in its raw state would either kill or injure 
every beast that tried to digest the woody stalk of the Maize, 
but in the silo the first process of digestion is gone through. 
The woody fibre softens, but the leaves and stalks retain much of 
their natural appearance. 
