524 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ June 22, 1882. 
Orange Tree Unhealthy (J. Watson). —Imperfect drainage and a sour 
soil, caused by too much water, or from giving only a little now and then, but 
never enough to thoroughly moisten the ball of earth, or the brown scale may 
have closed the pores of the leaves and sucked out the sap. Any of the above 
will cause the Orange to throw off its leaves. You will determine for yourself 
which of the above causes are applicable to your case, and adopt a mode of treat¬ 
ment the opposite you have followed to effect a remedy. In your case we would 
turn the plant out of the pot, take away all the loose soil and as much soil from 
between the roots as it is possible to do without injuring them with a blunt- 
pointed stick, cutting off any decayed roots at the same time with a sharp knife. 
But if the roots are very much decayed, wash all the soil away from them, take 
away all the decayed parts, cutting well into the quick. Prepare a clean pot 
sufficiently large to prevent the roots from being cramped against the pot sides, 
but not larger than just to contain the roots comfortably. Place a large crock 
on the hole in the pot; and if that be small, make it larger with a hammer. 
Put for a 12-inch pot 3 inches of smaller crocks at bottom of pot, or let the 
drainage occupy one-third of the depth of the pot, and on that place a little 
moss, or, what is better, half an inch of cocoa-nut fibre. Pot lightly, yet filling 
up all the crevices between the roots, and keep the neck of the plant well up, 
for the Orange, like the Camellia, soon becomes sickly when the roots are buried. 
Use three parts turfy loam and one-fourth leaf mould, with a little rough sand 
intermixed. If the plant is infested with scale, paint with a brush all the shoots 
with a solution of Gishurst compound at a strength of 8 ozs. to the gallon of 
water. Should you have the convenience of a hotbed at a temperature of from 
75° to 85°, your plant will be much benefited by being plunged there until it 
breaks into leaf, and none the worse if kept there until the wood is formed. The 
top heat may range from 65° to 85° for about six weeks, then it should be 
lowered so as to gradually harden-off the plant for the greenhouse—its proper 
place. If the plant be straggling or the shoots weak, cut them well back when 
the buds begin to swell, for the sap is then on the move and roots are beginning 
to form. Syringe gently twice a day—morning and evening—and keep the soil 
in the pot rather dry at first, giving more as growth progresses. If you have 
no hotbed, place the plant at the warmest end of the greenhouse, sprinkle it 
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. 
The after-treatment of the Orange is to pot in March, adding a little rotten 
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. 
Gilbert’s Handlights (A Yorkshire Amateur). — The best reply we can 
give you is the following reference to this useful appliance, which was written 
by a practical gardener ten years ago :—“ Amateur gardeners with large ideas 
and small means have long been in want of something, not so large and 
expensive as a frame, in which they could raise a few seeds of the less hardy 
kinds of plants not requiring a stove heat. We have tried a number of 
contrivances, but none have pleased us better than those formed of wood, 
which, thickness for thickness, is at least four times more effective than bricks 
in keeping out cold. The old handglasses were very useful for the purpose we 
have named, and very useful, too, for protecting Cauliflowers, Lettuce, and out¬ 
door Cucumbers, but they are expensive and very liable to breakage. Mr. Gil¬ 
bert, gardener to the Marquis of Exeter at Burghley Park, has devised a hand- 
light quite as cheap as, and from the sides being formed of wood more effective 
as a protector than the wood or iron and glass handlight, while it is equally 
portable and less liable to breakage. The glass slides in grooves for the 
purpose of giving ventilation and attention to the plants, and it can be lifted 
or elevated as readily as any ordinary handlight. It is, in fact, a miniature 
two-light frame 18 inches square, with two pieces of glass sliding in grooves, 
instead of the ordinary glazed sashes. For protecting purposes we have a 
decided preference in favour of wood and glass as compared to pottery and 
glass, and we know not why, but plants seem to thrive better under the one 
than the other. We can recommend Mr. Gilbert’s as a good and very neat 
protector, likely also to be useful in many other ways.” 
Olives and their Uses (Emigrant). —You have not sufficiently stated your 
object, but the following information may be of some service to you. The 
Olive (Olea europsea) is supposed to be originally from Asia. It grows wild in 
Syria, and is now naturalised in the south of France, Italy, and Spain, where 
it is found in hedges and thickets. The culture of the Olive is one of the prin¬ 
cipal commercial resources of the countries of Southern Europe. The Olive is 
from 15 to 20 feet or more in height, having the growth of a bushy tree ; its 
flowers are small and whitish, and its fruit is an oval drupe or plum, of a 
greenish, whitish, or violet colour, with a stone in the centre, and it is in the 
exterior flesh that the oil is contained. There are several varieties of the cul¬ 
tivated Olive. The long-leaved is that which is generally grown in the south 
of France and Italy, and the broad-leaved is mostly grown in Spain. From the 
former the finest oil is obtained; and the latter, which is nearly double the 
size of the other, produces an oil of a strong rank flavour, not at all appreciated 
in this country, though eaten with great relish in Spain. The oil is obtained 
by pressure. In November, when the fruit is fully ripe, it begins to redden, and 
when gathered is carried to a mill and bruised, the stones being set at such a 
distance that they do not crush the nut of the Olives. The flesh covering the 
nut, and containing the oil in its cells, being thus prepared, is put into bags 
made of rushes and moderately pressed, and thus is obtained in considerable 
quantity a greenish semi-transparent oil, which, from its superior excellence, is 
called virgin oil. The pulp, after the first pressure, is moistened with water, 
and again pressed ; and this oil, though inferior to the first, is of good quality 
and fit for table. The pulp is again broken to pieces, soaked in water, 
and left to ferment in large cisterns, and is again pressed ; but the oil from this 
pressure is of a very common description, and is generally used for making soap 
and for other manufacturing purposes. Olive oil may be said to form the 
butter and cream of Spain and Italy. It is very nutritious, and is very exten¬ 
sively used as an article of food, and there can be no doubt that it is more 
wholesome in warm climates, and more congenial to the human constitution 
than butter. 
Names of Plants (A. D.). —A spray so fragile and tender as that of an 
Achimenes enclosed in a letter was not likely to arrive in good condition. It 
was simply a shapeless mass when it reached us, hence cannot be named. 
? Returning Swarms (T. K .).—When a hive with a partially filled super 
unfortunately swarms it is best (if the swarm be not returned) not to allow the 
super to remain, and for two chief reasons :—1st, The bees at their departure 
carry off a considerable quantity of honey in their honey sacs. This gives 
room in the body of the hive for the reception of all unsealed store left in the 
supers. This carrying-down is almost uniformly a sequence of swarming during 
super-filling. 2nd, The thinned population having much brood to cover can 
ill afford the loss of heat the super occasions. Remove, then, the super, and 
either keep it in store till the colony recovers its strength, or give it at once to 
another colony whose supers may be filling. Swarming in this disappointing 
fashion may occur to the most careful and experienced, but as a rule it is the 
result of faulty management at the time of supering. If the brood be arranged 
so that the ripest occupies the centre while young larvae and eggs are found in 
the outer combs, the bees are unlikely to swarm, because the hive body will ba 
continually furnishing space to the queen for ovipositing. Returning a part of a 
swarm as you suggest is quite undesirable. In the first place you spoil your 
swarm, and next you make casting from the parent stock almost certain. If 
you determine to return the bees in any way return all of them, previously 
taking off the supers and arranging brood as indicated, at the same time 
carefully excising all queen cells. This latter operation cannot be accom¬ 
plished with any certainty without most watchful scrutiny, as the passing of 
a single royal cradle will be likely to make your cure the beginning of new 
misfortunes. 
COVENT GARDEN MARKET. —JUNE 21ST. 
Thebe is practically no change in the tone of business, but the supply of 
Strawberries has much increased. All classes of outdoor fruit continue plentiful, 
and there is no quotable alteration in prices. 
FRUIT. 
8. 
d. 
s. d. 
8. 
d. 
9. 
d. 
Apples. 
J sieve 
0 
OtoO 
0 
Grapes . 
Ib. 
2 
0 to 4 
e 
Apricots. 
box 
2 
0 
2 
6 
Lemons. 
case 15 
0 
20 
0 
Ditto . 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Melons . 
each 
3 
0 
5 
0 
Cherries.......... 
lh. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Nectarines. 
6 
o 
12 
o 
Chestnuts. 
bushel 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Oranges . 
100 
4 
0 
6 
0 
Currants, Black.. 
i sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Peaches . 
dozen 15 
0 
20 
0 
„ Red.... 
j sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Pears,kitchen .. 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Figs. 
dozen 
6 
0 
8 
0 
dessert. 
dozen 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Filberts. 
lb. 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Pine Apples, English lb. 
3 
0 
4 
0 
Cobs. 
100tb. 45 
0 
50 
0 
Strawberries .... 
lb. 
1 
0 
3 
0 
Gooseberries .... 
i sieve 
3 
0 
0 
0 
Walnuts . 
bushel 
7 
0 
8 
0 
VEGETABLES. 
s 
d. 
s. 
d. 
9. 
d. 
8. d. 
2 
0 tn 4 
0 
1 
Otfil 
Asparagus. 
bundle 
3 
0 
6 
0 
Mustard* Cress .. 
punnet 
0 
2 
0 
3 
Beans,Kidney.... 
100 
i 
s 
1 
6 
Onions. 
bushel 
3 
6 
0 
0 
Beet, Red. 
dozen 
i 
0 
2 
0 
pickling. 
quart 
0 
0 
e 
6 
Broccoli. 
bundle 
0 
9 
i 
6 
Parsley. doz.bunches 
3 
0 
4 
0 
Brussels Sprouts.. 
J sieve 
0 
0 
0 
0 
Parsnips. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Cabbage . 
dozen 
0 
6 
1 
0 
Potatoes.. 
bushel 
2 
6 
3 
e 
Capsicums. 
100 
1 
6 
2 
0 
Kidney. 
bushel 
8 
0 
8 
0 
Carrots, new. 
bunch 
1 
0 
i 
3 
Potatoes, new .... 
per lb. 
0 
1 
0 
2 
Cauliflowers, new 
dozen 
3 
0 
4 
0 
Radishes_ doz .bunches 
1 
0 
0 
6 
Celerv. 
bundle 
1 
6 
2 
0 
o 
4 
o 
6 
Coleworts_doz. bunches 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Salsafy. 
bundle 
1 
0 
0 
0 
Cucumbers. 
each 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Scorzonera . 
bundle 
1 
6 
0 
0 
Endive. 
dozen 
1 
0 
2 
0 
o 
0 
o 
o 
Fennel. 
bunch 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Shallots. 
lb. 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Garlic . 
lb. 
0 
6 
0 
0 
Spinach . 
bushel 
3 
0 
0 
0 
Herbs. 
bunch 
2 
0 
0 
Itj. 
1 
0 
o 
o 
Leekg. 
bunch 
0 
3 
0 
4 
Turnips, new. 
bunch 
0 
3 
6 
0 
POULTRY AND PIGEON CHRONICLE. 
THE SHORTHORNED BREED OF CATTLE. 
( Continued from page 503.') 
We will now give a brief account of the herd of Mr. Charles 
Colling, called the Ketton herd of Shorthorns, as it may be in¬ 
teresting and serviceable to some gentlemen and farmers of the 
present time, especially those whose opportunities of obtaining 
experience have been few. History relates that these animals 
were of great size and substance, with fine long hind quarters ; 
the space from the hip to the rib was long, but any imperfection 
likely to occur from the extreme length and proportion of this 
part was corrected by points sought for—namely, the broad 
back and high round ribs. The shoulders of the male animals 
were upright, and the knuckles or shoulder-points were large 
and coarse, but this defect was not so apparent in the females. 
The general contour, or side view, was stately and imposing, but 
their superiority consisted in their extraordinary propensity to 
fatten. On handling the skin was very loose and pliant, and 
felt remarkably mellow and kind, being covered also with mossy 
soft hair. Mr. C. Colling was distinguished above all other 
breeders of his day by a peculiarly fine discriminating touch, which 
enabled him to judge of the quality of the flesh and its tendency 
to fatten, to which, in connection with good judgment in other 
respects, his superiority and success as a breeder were mainly 
attributable. 
It is said that the colour of the Ketton Shorthorn varied greatly 
—red, red and white, roan, and also white, being found in the same 
