233 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Sep ember 9, 1883. 
hot weathei has induced many of them to mature quick'y, and several 
plants are now bearing a crop of fall-sized fruit. If these are allowed to 
remain no more young fruits will f >rm, anl the supply of useable 
Marrows will cease. If, however, the old fruits are cut a fresh set of young 
ones will soon follow, and a full supply of Vegetable Marrows of the 
best quality will be produced unt 1 the plants are cut ofE by frost in the 
early winter. 
Ridge Cucumbers. —These have been fruiting very freely of late. 
Indeed it is astonishing the quantity of fruit they bear, and close cutting 
is one of the surest ways of securing a succession. Many fruits are often 
left until they become quite yellow, and, as in the case of the Marrows, 
these matured fruits are entirely against young ones forming, and where 
good late crops are desired the fruit must be cut as soon as ready for use. 
Attention should also be given to watering, as the roots should never be 
allowed to become so dry as to cause the leaves to droop. Liquid manure 
may now be given them with advantage. 
Cauliflower. —These have been exceedingly good this season The 
grub at the root—often so hurtful—has been quite harmless ; the plants 
have attained a large size, and produced excellent heads. In many 
exhibits of vegetables of late, Cauliflower have been a leading dish in the 
collections. The heads cut in July and August were from plants sown in 
heat in February and March, and besides these it is always well to secure 
some from autumn sowings. Seed of approved varieties should be sown 
at once, that the plants may be dibbled into frames in October to stand 
the winter and head as early as possible next summer. There will now 
be many Cauliflowers heading, and as it is very important that they be kept 
white and tender, tie the leaves over the top of them as soon as it is 
noticed that they are being exposed to the light. Where caterpillars are 
troublesome, dust the plants over with lime. If there are too many 
heads going to be in at once, take a spade and cut the roots close to the 
stem on one side of some of the plants. This will partially check them 
and retard their swelling for a little. 
Celery.— Crops generally may now be earthed up. The rows in¬ 
tended for use in October and November should now be fully earthed. 
Those for December and January may be earthed about half way up, and 
the latest of all will be benefited by having a little soil put to the roots. 
We find when Celery is left very late without any earthing up the leaves 
are very apt to spread out and fall so much that they crack near the root. 
A little earthing to keep them upright prevents this. Some time ago we 
earthed up several shoit rows with a special mixture of ashes and sand 
with the object of having the stems extra clean for exhibition, but during 
the hot weather experienced afterwards the ashes became so hot and dry 
that they caused the plants to droop, and the plants are now inferior to 
the main crop, which is very good. Another time we would substitute 
sawdust for the ashes. The utmost care must be taken in all cases of 
earthing that none of the soil drops into the centre of the plants, and 
dusting them with soot or a little lime now and then will keep them 
f cee from worm marks. 
Miscellaneous.— Continue to clear off all old crops as fast as they 
become useless. Place them together in an odd corner to be mixed up 
with manure and be used again iu the spring on flower borders and 
vegetable ground. Preserve the freshest of the Pea sticks. Take Onions 
that are ripe under cover. Destroy all weeds before they seed. Cleaning 
one part and allowing another to remain infested is fruitless work, a 3 
the seed will blow about everywhere. Plant Cabbage extensively ; sow 
more late Radish and Onions ; plant out large quantities of Lettuce and 
Endive ; keep a sharp look out that slugs and snails do not destroy the 
young plants. Dust them with lime or put a handful of bran down with 
a Cabbage leaf over it, when they will congregate under the leaf and can 
then be “ removed.” 
FRUIT FORCING. 
Peaches and Nectarines— Earliest Forced, Trees.— The trees 
have now shed their leaves, and they may be syringed with water at a 
temperature of HO 3 to 150°. It must not, however, be used carelessly ; 
if too hot it will injure the trees, and iflower in temperature it is innocuous 
as regards scale and the eggs of red spider. The trees being loosened 
from the trellis and tied in small bundles for facilitating cleansing opera¬ 
tions, wash the woodwork with brush and soap, rexching everv angle and 
crevice. Limewash the walls, and if required paint the wood and iron 
work. Pruning will be a light afftir—merely thinning the shoots where too 
crowded or too weak for carrying fine fruits, no shortening being neces¬ 
sary, except for the production of shoots for extension. Wash the trees 
with softsoap solution, 6 ozs. to the gallon, and afterwards dress with an 
insecticide, being careful not to dislocate the buds. Tie the trees to the 
trellis loosely, leaving sufficient room for the swelling of the branches and 
shoots. Remove the loose surface soil down to the roots, and supply a 
couple of inches depth of rather strong loam containing a sprinkling of 
half-inch bones. Avoid heavy surface dressings, they only exclude air 
and render mulchings of little value. If the lights have been removed, 
they should be replaced as soon as the borders are in a thoroughly moist 
condition, or before they become saturated by the cold autumn rains. 
For very early forcing Alexander and Waterloo Peaches are valuable on 
account of their size and colour, but under fixed roofs they have a tendency 
to over-maturity of the buds, common also to Early York and Noblesse, 
the best antidote for which is the removal of the roof lights as soon as the 
wood is sufficiently ripened, or in July. Under fixed roofs they in some 
instances are not satisfactory for very early forcing year after year. 
Second- Early-forced House .—The trees will be shedding the leaves if 
the roof lights were taken off by the middle of August. In this, where we 
have Royal George, Noblesse, and Early York, we find the two last very 
much given to over-maturity of the flower buds; indeed, we have had 
Early York blossoming and setting fruit in September, and the Noblesse 
cast its buis in a shower later on, but the Royal George and Elruge 
Nectarine—indeed, the small-flowered Peaches and Nectarines generally 
—have not the tendency to over-maturity of the buds, as is exhibited by 
the large-fl iwered varieties. Hale's Early and Early Alfred, also Dr. Hogg, 
have large flowers, and do not show the premature development of the buds- 
nearly so markedly as the Alexander,Waterloo, Early York, and Gros Mig- 
nonne, with Noblesse, but they are never so reliable as Royal George anl 
Stirling Castle, a form only of Royal George, and very excellent it is. 
Early Beatrice and Early Rivers have large flowers, but they are nit 
nearly so liable to the same unseasonable precocity as the others 
named, so that the hypothesis of small flowers being not liable to over¬ 
maturity of the buds and the large-flowered varieties subject to it rests on- 
something constitutionally cultural, and so far as we know is from too- 
long subjection to a hot and dry regime. The removal of the roof 
lights prevents it if effected in time. When the leaves are all down treat 
it the same in every respect as the earliest-house trees, but the roof lights 
should remain off until the approach of severe frost and snow, and when 
replaced admit air to the fullest possible extent, so as to insure perfect 
rest to the trees, with freedom from severe frost and cold rain and 
snow. 
Succession Houses .—Any trees that have a tendency to over- 
luxuriance should, as soon as the wood gets sufficiently firm, have a trench 
taken out one-third the distance from the stem the tree3 cover in extent 
of trellis and quite down to the drainage, so as to detach all roots, and 
this may be left open for a fortnight, then the soil may be removed 
with a folk down to the roots and picked from amongst them, laying in 
the roots in fresh material ; good loam rather stiff being be:,t, with about 
a sixth of old mortar rubbish. A good watering being given the roots will 
soon work freely in the fresh material, and the fruits invariably set well 
afterwards. In removing the soil care must be taken not to disturb the 
roots to an extent causing the sudden collapse of the foliage. Defer root- 
pruning and lifting until the leaves give indication of falling. The above 
plan is more especially necessary with young trees, the taking out of the 
trench being very effectual in assisting them to ripen the wood thoroughly. 
Latest Houses .—The bright weather is greatly in favour of late 
varieties, which are something wonderful in size and beauty, and if given 
proper supplies of water and nutriment during growth are excellent in 
quality. A free circulation of air is necessary, utilising sun heat if the 
fruit is backward, as with ventilation in the early part of the day the tem¬ 
perature may run up to 85° or 90°, which is of infinitely more value than 
fire heat at a later period. The trees must have sufficient water, but a 
rather drier condition at the roots is advisable when the fruit is ripening. 
Keep the wood thin, stop any growing shoots to about 15 inches, and all 
laterals closely to one joint as growth is made. 
Melons. —The last plants are now well up the trellis and showing 
fruit blossoms. These should be fertilised daily, the atmosphere being 
kept dry, a little ventilation being given at night so as to insure a circu¬ 
lation of air and prevent the deposition of moisture on the blossoms. 
Stop the shoots one joint beyond the fruit. As soon as a sufficient number 
of fruits is set on a plant remove all the staminate and pistillate flowers, 
reducing the fruits to three or four on a plant, or according to their vigour. 
Earth up the plants af cer the fruit is fairly swelling, and be careful in 
syringing the foliage, only using it on bright afternoons, but keeping a 
genial condition of the atmosphere by damping in the morning and after¬ 
noon. Be careful not to give too much water, but encourage healthy ropt- 
action by moderate moisture in the soil. The temperature must be main¬ 
tained at 70° to 75° by day artificially, and 80° to 90° by day from sun 
heat, with a night temperature of 65° to 70°. 
Plants in pits and frames will not require further damping over the 
foliage, and should only have sufficient moisture in the soil to keep the 
foliage from flagging, which should be kept rather thin, and the fruit well 
elevated above it on flower pots, each fruit being placed on a piece of slate, 
applying good linings so as to finish the fruit satisfactorily, which requires 
a warm and dry atmosphere with free ventilation. 
Ia orler to enhance the flavour of late fruits maintain a brisk heat by- 
day with enough ventilation to insure a circulation of air constantly, and 
keep water from the house after the fruit commences ripening, and do not 
afford any at the roots, or only to prevent flagging. Tne Oct iber-fruiting 
plants will be swelling, and must be assisted with tepid liquid manure 
whenever they become dry. Keep the laterals well in band, also a 
sharp look out for canker, and rub quicklime into the affected parts, 
repeating as the appearance of the soil renders necessary, for it is next to- 
hopeless striving to avert the evil at this late period of the season, only so 
far as to secure the ripening of the fruit is concerned. If there be any 
fear of cracked fruit cut the Vine about half way through a little below 
the fruit. It will check the flow of tap, but the chief cause of cracking 
is a close atmosphere, causing the deposition of moisture on the fruit 
during the night. Ventilate freely, and keep the air dry both as a pre¬ 
ventive of canker and cracking. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Dendrobiums .—When such kinds as D. Wardianum, Devonianum, 
crassinode, and others have completed their growth and commenced 
ripening they should be exposed to full sun. If they have been allowed 
to grow under moderately light conditions n > harm will be done by 
placing them in the sun at once; but if the shade used has been of a 
permanent nature exposure must be gradual, or premature ripening will 
take place. This must be avoided if plump well-developed pseudo-bulbs 
are expected. Whether these varieties flower well or the reverse depends 
entirely upon the manner in which they are ripened. As they advance, 
