JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 20, 1882. ] 
Tropseolums would cover the fence if the position is not too much exposed, and 
the growths were secured to the ironwork. If you submit to us your plan of 
arrangement, and supply the information we have suggested, we will willingly 
render you what assistance we can. 
Sulphate of Ammonia for Chrysanthemums (Q.).—Sulphate of 
ammonia is a powerful stimulant, and as such is very useful when plants that 
have grown well are failing by bearing a too heavy crop of flowers. Used 
cautiously it will maintain a moderately good growth that will prove satisfactory. 
Used incautiously it is much more likely to promote a gross sappy growth that 
will not produce fine blooms. It should be used after the buds are seen, when it 
will materially help these. A teaspoonful of the salt to a gallon of water is 
sufficient, and even then only plants that have taken thorough possession of the 
soil should be treated with it. A few days ago our attention was called to some 
Pelargoniums (Zonals) to which sulphate of ammonia had been given. The 
result was a tremendous growth, but a greater degree of flowerlessness. He had 
been before using water charged with muriate of potash and soluble phosphate. 
These, for want of nitrogen, had been lying idle, and when “ the missing link ” 
was supplied the plants grew excessively. A little thought will enable you to 
profit from such a fact as this. 
Dandelions in Lawns (Dent de Lion ).—Whatever may have been the 
cause of the first invasion of Dandelions to which you refer, there is no doubt 
the practice that has been adopted of allowing them to form flower heads and 
' then scattering these on the lawn by the mowing machine has resulted in their 
increase. One drop of vitriol (sulphuric acid) applied to the centre of each 
plant will kill it, but it must be dropped quite into the centre, and not merely on 
the leaves,missing the heart. We have seen thousands of weeds, such as Dande¬ 
lions, Thistles, and Plantains, destroyed in the manner indicated. A good 
method of using the acid is to have it in a stone blacking bottle with wire, not 
string, round it for carrying. Then take a piece of stick the size of an ordinary 
pencil, and cut notches round it for an inch or two at one end ; these notches 
when the stick is dipped into the bottle hold sufficient acid for killing one very 
large, or, if applied quickly, two or three small plants. Care must be exercised 
in the application of this weed-destroyer, and it should not be entrusted to 
boys or women, as it burns every portion of a boot or garment that it touches ; 
neither must the stick be drawn incautiously on the grass, or it will kill it and 
leave unsightly brown streaks on the lawn. If the weeds are too numerous to 
be destroyed by this plan, the only remedy we can suggest is to dig up the lawn, 
fork out carefully all the roots, and sow fresh clean lawn seed; at the same 
time you must remove every Dandelion from other parts of the garden, or you 
cannot hope to extirpate the obnoxious weeds. 
Coping Boards and Brackets (E. Welland ).—The brackets to which 
you allude as having been recommended by Mr. Abbey are represented in the 
annexed figure. They are of cast iron, and have at the top a lug 1) inch long 
A 
Pig. 69. 
one way, and 1J inch the other, and a stud at the bottom which fits the lower 
square hole in the plate. The use of the lugs will be seen on reference to B. 
To fix them, all we have to do is to put the top lug through the top hole in the 
plate and let it drop; it will hang by the lug and cannot by any possibility 
fall out, and the bottom lug drops in the lower square hole in the plate. The 
coping-boards are then put on and will fit exactly beneath the coping; having 
an incline outwards, the water -will drop clear of the trees. A screw will keep 
the board from being dislodged, a hole being at the end of the bracket, that is 
within an inch of the end. The whole can be taken down and put up at will, 
has a neat appearance when up, and there is no ugly projecting support when 
taken down. A well-seasoned inch deal 11 inches wide answers well for placing 
on the brackets for protecting the blossoms, and both boards and brackets can 
be quickly removed in early summer when all danger from frost is over. The 
boards should be well painted. We have used copings of this nature, and found 
them very useful as affording protection to trees on walls. 
Fruit-growing (Worker). —We did not say your district is unsuitable 
for fruit culture, but suggested the importance of your ascertaining whether it 
is favourable or not before planting fruit trees largely for commercial purposes. 
The position is favourably situated for the sale of fruit, but the question to 
decide is whether it cannot be grown better in other districts and sent to your 
neighbourhood superior in appearance and quality, and at the same price as 
you cam grow it yourself. If this is so—and the question is worthy of serious 
consideration and investigation—your prospects of success will not be of the 
brightest. You can get much more practical information on the subject from 
local fruiterers and nurserymen than we can possibly supply. The former will 
tell you whether they can best meet the demands of the public by locally grown 
fruit or with produce from other districts, and the latter will inform you of 
the varieties that are best adapted for the soil and neighbourhood for which 
they prepare trees, and if they can be depended on for yielding good crops of 
marketable fruit. This is the kind of information you must obtain, and it can 
only be had by such personal inquiries as we have suggested. 
Gardeners’ Wages (Matlockian). —The disparity to which you refer 
would be more striking if both men were required in the same place or district. 
We know of many excellent gardeners who have been glad to accept situations 
on the terms stated ; and if it were not invidious to do so we could name men 
who started their career on wages similarly low, and even lower, but whose 
present position would surprise you. We are sorry to say there are numbers of 
really good gardeners who would not refuse a situation of the kind to which you 
refer, and we are equally sorry to know that there are men inferior in com- 
333 
potency who have twice the emolument stated. We also know of places in 
certain districts, where the wage rate is high, where foremen have 50 per cent, 
higher wages than in the instance you quote. To a great extent the wages of 
gardeners are governed by the general wage rate of the district in which the 
gardens are situated, except in a few of the chief establishments of the aristo¬ 
cracy, landed gentry, and wealthy proprietors, who take special interest in their 
gardens, and very properly remunerate a man according to his skill and 
attainments, local circumstances having no weight in the matter. The publi¬ 
cation of your letter would do no good, but might have a contrary effect, as it 
would provoke retorts founded on the works and ways of hundreds of men who 
call themselves gardeners, but who are no credit to the craft. It is no doubt 
true that men who accept positions where the wages are low only do so as a 
matter of convenience until they can find a better appointment; it is only 
natural that they should do so, and it has not infrequently happened that a 
gentleman has been a loser rather than a gainer under those circumstances. 
We wish the case were exactly the reverse—namely, that employers could see the 
advantage of engaging well-trained, intelligent, and competent gardeners, and 
remunerate them according to their skill. We are intimately acquainted with 
not a few cases where the so-called “ cheap ’ ’ gardeners are in reality very costly 
in the end, and on the other hand we are proud to know many men who are 
well remunerated, who, by economy in working, produce such abundant returns 
that prove them to be really the most inexpensive of servants. The concluding 
part of your letter we quote, namely—“ There are more gardeners than there are 
situations for them, therefore I would urge all parents about to apprentice their 
sons to be gardeners to think well before doing so, as gardeners are a hard- 
worked and very ill-paid body of men, the market being overstocked with them.” 
The last six words contain the gist of the whole matter, and no amount of pro¬ 
testation and organisation can prevent anything for sale being cheap when it is 
abundant, and dear when it is scarce, whether it is the skill and labour of 
gardeners or the products of the soil. 
Disbudding Fruit Trees (Novice ).—Plain and practical notes on dis¬ 
budding appeared on page 286 of our issue of the 6th inst.; also in “Work for 
the Week,’’ on page 288 of the same issue. Those instructions _ you appear to 
have overlooked. As you require a work that will give sound information of 
fruit culture you cannot find one cheaper and better than our “ Garden 
Manual,” which treats also on flowers and vegetables. As an example of its 
teaching on the subject of which you need information we cite the following :—- 
“ The first care is to rub off all those coarse-looking young shoots which stand 
straight out from the wall, and look as though they were ambitious of becom¬ 
ing individual trees. The sooner they are removed the better. Our practice is 
to commence at the extremity of every shoot or branch, tracing it from thence 
downwards. We first remove every side shoot of young spray which appears 
likely to enter into competition with the leader ; and this will in general cause 
every young shoot within 4 inches of the point to be stripped off. No two 
shoots of young spray should grow side by side if possible; they should, at the 
ultimate thinning or disbudding, stand in a regular series successively, from the 
collar to the extremities, ajl over the tree. One point of great importance we 
would impress on the minds of beginners in the art of disbudding ; and that is, 
to bo sure and reserve all the lowest-growing young spray all over the tree. 
This it is which prevents trees from becoming what gardeners term ‘ naked. 
Of course, in fan-training, which is the most general mode (and certainly equal 
to any other, provided the other points of management are based on sound 
principles), all the branches, by radiating from centres, form a fork like the 
letter Y. Well, then, every young spray which is situated the lowest in this 
letter Y should be carefully preserved, and may, in order to convey a just idea of 
the ultimate design, be termed a ‘ breeder,’ signifying that it is in a position to 
produce, by pruning, young shoots in future seasons to keep up the fabric of the 
tree.” The price of the work is Is. 6d.,post free Is. 9 d. 
Names of Plants (Young Gardener).— 2, Uibes sanguineum ; 3, Berberis 
buxifolia; 4, Thuiopsis gigantea, commonly known and sold as T. Lobbi; 5, 
Cotoneaster Simmonsii; C, Cedrus Libani; 7, Abies nigra. We do not under¬ 
take to name varieties of Khododendrons, they are far too numerous, and many 
of them too much alike, for anyone to do so accurately without comparing 
them with others in a large collection. The nurseryman from whom you pur¬ 
chased the shrub could no doubt supply you ■with the name if you sent him a 
truss of flowers. (Horace ).—A variety of Anemone hortensis. (K. L.). 1, 
Muscari botryoides ; 3, Ruscus aculeatus ; 6, Nephrolepis tuberosa.. The others 
were too much crushed to be recognised. ( Inquirer ).—Pyrus salicifolia. (Martin). 
—Narcissus incomparabilis aurantiacus fl.-pl., or, as it is popularly designated, 
“ Butter and Eggs.” 
COYENT GARDEN MARKET.— April 19. 
There is a good supply of new hothouse Grapes now arriving, consequently 
the prices have fallen. Trade more brisk. 
FRUIT. 
s. d. s. d. 
Apples. J sieve 2 0to6 0 
Apricots. doz. 0 0 0 0 
Cherries. ^ lb. 0 0 0 0 
Chestnuts. bushel 16 0 0 0 
Currants, Black.. i sieve 0 0 0 0 
„ Red.... i sieve 0 0 0 0 
Figs. dozen 0 0 0 0 
Filberts. ^fb. 0 0 0 0 
Cobs.^100th.45 0 60 0 
Gooseberries .... j sieve 0 0 0 0 
Grapes . f’lb 5 0 8 0 
Lemons. 
s. 
15 
d. s. 
0to20 
d 
0 
Melons . 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Nectarines.. .. 
0 
0 
0 
e 
Oranges . 
U* 100 
4 
0 
6 
0 
Peaches . 
. dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Pears,kitchen . 
. dozen 
1 
0 
1 
6 
dessert . 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Pine Apples .. 
.. lb 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Strawberries .. 
.. per lb. 
0 
0 
10 
0 
Walnuts . 
7 
0 
8 
0 
VEGETABLES. 
Artichokes. 
dozen 
e. 
2 
d. s. 
0 to 4 
d. 
0 
Asparagus. 
, bundle 
9 
0 
10 
0 
Beans,Kidney.... 
If* 100 
0 
2 
G 
Beet, Red. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Broccoli. 
bundle 
0 
9 
i 
6 
Brussels Sprouts.. 
, ) sieve 
1 
3 
i 
6 
Cabbage . 
Carrots. 
dozen 
0 
6 
1 
0 
, bunch 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Capsicums. 
%>• 100 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Cauliflowers.. 
. dozen 
1 
0 
3 
6 
Celery . 
bundle 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Coleworts_doz. bunches 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Cucumbers. 
. each 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Kndive.. 
. dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Fennel. 
, bunch 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Garlic . 
. ¥■ lb- 
0 
6 
0 
0 
Herbs. 
bunch 
0 
2 
0 
• 
Leeks. 
. bunch 
0 
3 
0 
4 
Mushrooms 
s. 
1 
d. s. 
0 to 1 
d 
6 
Mustard dr Cress ..punnet 
0 
2 
0 
3 
Onions. 
3 
6 
0 
0 
pickling .. 
0 
0 
0 
5 
Parsley. 
doz.bunches 
3 
0 
4 
0 
Parsnips .... 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Potatoes .... 
2 
6 
3 
6 
Kidney.... 
3 
0 
3 
0 
Radishes.... 
doz .bunches 
1 
0 
0 
6 
Rhubarb .... 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Salsafy. 
1 
0 
0 
0 
Scorzonera 
1 
6 
0 
0 
Seakale .... 
1 
0 
1 
s 
Shallots .... 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Spinach .... 
Tomatoes .. 
3 
0 
0 
0 
i 
0 
2 
0 
Turnips .... 
4 
0 
0 
Vegetable Marrows each 
o 
e 
« 
0 
