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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 18, 1892. 
Beans. For pickles they purchased 600 tons of Cucumbers 
(grown as a field crop) at 5?. per 100 lbs. ; 20 tons of Cauliflower 
at lid. per lb. ; while 40 tons of Cabbage, averaging Is. 8d. per 
100 lbs., were made into sauer kraut. One firm paid £300 to one 
man for Silver-skin Onions at l|d. per lb., grown on 3 acres of 
ground—that is, £100 per acre for his crop. Mr. Morey tells me 
the local market for garden produce is immense, and that if 
there were three times the present number of gardeners around 
Denver they could find a good and profitable market for their 
produce, the reason of which is that Denver supplies a number 
of flourishing mining towns away up in the mountains from 7000 
to 10,000 feet above sea level, where it is impossible to raise either 
fruit or vegetables. It is estimated that at least £40,000 per annum 
goes out of Denver and Colorado to the East for canned vegetables 
and pickles of the same character that Denver factories put up, 
and which might as well be grown and canned here. 
There are quite a number of Englishmen engaged in fruit 
growing and market gardening around Denver, and the other 
afternoon I visited one of them, a Mr. James S. Ibbison of Wheat- 
ridge, a few miles out of Denver, who used to be in the fruit 
business in Leeds market. He told me of a neighbour of his who 
last year grew 3| acres of Yellow Danvers Globe Onions, using 
14 lbs. of seed to the acre. He raised by actual weight 20 tons of 
Onions to the acre, which he sold at from 6s. to 8s. per 100 lbs. 
He further informed me that Celery varies in price from Is. to 23. 
per dozen, and is dressed down for the market more than in 
England. £100 per acre can be had from Celery. The Celery 
here is finer and better than in England. He has known a dozen 
of Celery, as dressed for the table, to weigh 22 lbs., which if simply 
handled in the English way would have weighed 50 lbs. Black¬ 
berries are a great crop, and Mr. Ibbison has 3^ acres of them. 
They sell at 123. per crate, twenty-Iour boxes in a crate, and about 
a quart in a box. They are of very large size and fine flavour. As 
an instance of what can be done, Mr. Ibbison has nineteen Lombard 
Plum trees from which in the fourth year from planting he got 
1500 lbs. of fruit, which he sold at an average of 4d. per lb. 
Mr. C. T. Wilmore, a neighbour of Mr. Ibbison on Wheatridge, 
reckons his average net returns per acre on fruit retailed direct to 
the consumer are : Blackberries, £60 ; Strawberries, £80 ; Currants, 
£40 ; and Raspberries, £60. 
Much more similar information might be given ; but there is 
one other matter which calls for mention as showing what could be 
done by the right sort of people on a small farm within easy reach 
of Denver. During 1891, according to official figures, there were 
received and unloaded in Denver, largely from Kansas and 
Nebraska, no fewer than fifty-five carloads of eggs, representing 
2,000,000 dozen. There were also brought to Denver, chiefly from 
those two States 1,900,000 lbs. of dressed poultry, and 3,500,000 lbs. 
of butter. It would appear from such a showing that there is a 
good opening for the right sort of people on small farms here. I 
came here from Manchester in September, 1883, and I have never 
yet incurred the very serious responsibility of advising anyone to 
leave England and come here. They do that, if at all, on their 
own responsibility ; but it does seem to me that in the case of a 
young man, or a young couple, with ambition and a desire to do 
well, having a practical knowledge of vegetable and fruit growing 
and some money to start with, that Denver presents very good 
opportunities, and that such a young man would do well to come 
here and work for some local market gardener for one season before 
purchasing or renting a place of his own.— Thomas Tonge. 
PLANTING SHRUBBERIES AS SCREENS. 
I CONCLUDED a former paper with narrow shrubberies for 
screens. I will now add something on the planting of shrubberies 
for screens in cases where there is plenty of ground at disposal. 
Here, again, the ultimate end in view for such a shrubbery will be 
kept in sight. If only a comparatively low screen is wanted a 
clump of Portugal Laurels, of Rhododendrons, or of Hollies 
may be employed ; but if high buildings are to be shut out I 
prefer English Yews, and among them also some deciduous trees, 
such as the Turkey Oak, which, though of comparatively slight 
value as a timber tree, is a rapid grower and does no harm to under 
growth. Lombardy Poplars in a close line next the building to be 
shut out might also be used. The Yews must be well back, so that at 
no future time they come near the building, and if set out at 9 feet 
apart they will in the course of a few years, supposing strong plants 
are placed out, become rather close. Between the Yews Lawson’s 
Cypress or Cupressus nutkaensis will be a great help in quickly 
filling up. In the foreground, still allowing plenty of space, green¬ 
leaved Hollies would be admissible. The best of these, perhaps, 
is the broad glossy leaved form called Hodginsi. A few of the 
Silver Queen Holly are very bright among the others, and in the 
immediate foreground room might be found for Aucubas, Daphne 
laureola. Golden Queen Hollies, Liurustinua, and dotted among 
these a few of the dwarfer growing Junipers and Reiinosporas. A 
beautiful effect may be produced by the admission of a line of 
floweriug plant3 not too far back, but say about the middle of the 
space between the outer and second row of shrubs, and nothing 
finer for this purpose can be found than the common Laburnum 
trimmed up to form a standard with about 9 feet of stem. This 
plant is never unwieldy in size. The Snowy Mespilus, a small 
growing flowering tree, which blossoms early, is also useful. 
This shrubbery I should certainly lay down in grass, but plant 
Daffodils and Snowdrops in open spaces, more especially near the 
front. Primroses do remarkably well on grass, and where sheltered 
we are almost sure, even during the dullest days of midwinter, to 
have a few flowers. 
For shelter the shrubs must be selected from those which best 
stand the wind. One of the worst in this respect is the Portugal 
Laurel. The common Laurel stands wind fairly well, so does the 
English Yew, but none so well as the Holly. I would, therefore, 
make the Holly the chief plant in a shrubbery for this purpose ; 
but as it is not of rapid growth, a few Thuja Lobbi, which is a 
wind-proof tree, should be planted beside it. 
Rhododendrons also stand wind moderately well, but in a 
position like that we have in view they do not grow to sufficient 
height to be of much, use. For this, or indeed for any purpose 
that Hollies may be selected, the ground cannot be too well 
prepared and enriched. The Holly produces a vast number of 
fibrous roots, and in well prepared ground these roo^^s revel, furnish ■ 
ing strong stems and beautiful glossy foliage, as different as can 
be from that produced on plants growing in impoverished or 
unprepared ground. 
It may be noted here that it is much better to plant more thickly 
at first, and to thin out supernumeraries, as they encroach on 
permanent occupants, than it is to set out just the number 
required to remain. When thickly planted young shrubs grow 
much more rapidly, owing to the shelter afforded. For years I 
have been lifting and setting out in other positions great numbers 
of shrubs which were thus planted. They are common, but useful, 
sorts of Laurels and Yews mostly.—B. 
HARDY FLOWER NOTES. 
February dawned upon us with days of storm befitting its 
epithet of “ fill-dyke,” snow and rain alike striving for the mastery 
over and the destruction of the early flowers. Despite our exposed 
position, the tiny blossoms of the early season withstood the gales 
and drenching weather with wonderful success ; and afterwards they 
rejoiced in mild balmy days such as we so often have in this short 
month. In truth it must have been such days of which Clare 
speaks thus :— 
“ The sunbeams on the hedges lie. 
The south wind murmurs summer soft; 
The maids hang out white clothes to dry. 
Around the Elder-skirted croft. 
A calm of pleasure listens round, 
And almost whispers winter by ; 
While fancy dreams of summer sound. 
And quiet rapture fills the eye.” 
And now the “ Fair Maids of February ” with modest mien 
adorn the garden, looking downward as if abashed by the rough 
wooing of the wintry winds. So bashful do they look that the 
poet might be excused who would imagine that a blush with rosy 
hue might enhance their beauty as they bend towards the ground. 
One feels disposed to resent on their behalf the fancy of the 
author of a legend I read the other day, and which accounted for 
the drooping head of the Snowdrop as the result ot the flowers 
incurring the displeasure of the Queen of the Fairies through 
having, as a Fairy tribe, refused charity to a beggar-maid who 
sought relief at their hands and received but cold treatment. So 
enraged was Queen Mab that, according to the legends, the Snow¬ 
drops were condemned for ever to bow their heads. If the Snow¬ 
drop has thus seemed to some the embodiment of inhumanity, to 
one at least of our poets it has spoken in sad tones. Mrs. Browning 
says : — 
“ The poor sad Snowdrop, growing between drifts. 
Mysterious medium ’twixt the plant and frost; 
So faint with winter while so quick with spring. 
And doubtful if to thaw itself away 
With that snow near it.” 
But to me the Snowdrops speak with other voices. They are tiny 
lamps lighting the way as we pass through the short and murky 
days onward to the joyous time of spring, when Nature is, to use 
