October 5, 1893, ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
323 
Itrames of Plants. —We only undertake to name species of plants, 
not varieties that have originated from seed and termed florists’ flowers. 
Flowering specimens are necessary of flowering plants, and Fern fronds 
should bear spores. Specimens should arrive in a fresh state in Arm boxes. 
Slightly damp moss, soft green grass or leaves form the best packing, 
dry wool the worst. Not more than six specimens can be named at 
once, and the numbers should be visible without untying the ligatures, 
it being often difiScult to separate them when the paper is damp. 
{William SmitJi). — Scabiosa caucasica. {H. M.'). — Aster amellus. 
{L. B.'). — Colutea arborescens. {Amateur'). —1, Hoya carnosa ; 2, 
Plumbago capensis. {F. D.). —Habrotbamnus elegans. {W. D. II.). 
—The Powdery Mullein (Verbascum pulverulentum). {James Carolaii). 
—The letter to which you refer as having been posted on the 18th ult. 
has not reached our hands, nor have we received any specimens 
from you. {J. J.). —Dendrobium album ; Ehododendron Javanico- 
Jasminiflorum var. Duchess of ,Connaught. {J, W. B). —Lathyrus 
sativus. {G. C.). —Florist flower ; can only be named by comparison. 
OOVENT GARDEN MARKET. — October Ith. 
Market steady, with good supplies generally, and readily cleared at last week’s 
quotations. 
FRUIT. 
s. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
d. 
9. 
d. 
Apples, per bushel .. .. 
1 
0 to 6 
0 
Peaches, per doz. 
1 
6 to 
8 
(: 
Cobs . 
25 
0 
30 
0 
Plums, per half sieve 
1 
6 
2 
6 
Grapes per lb. 
0 
6 
1 
6 
St. Michael Pines, each .. 
2 
0 
5 
0 
Lemons, case ., .. .. 
10 
0 
15 
0 
VEGETABLES. 
s. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
9. 
d 
Beans, Kidney, per lb. 
0 
3 
to 0 
4 
Mustard and Cress, punnet 
0 
2 to 
0 
C 
Beet, Red, dozen. 
1 
0 
0 
0 
Onions, bunch . 
0 
3 
0 
5 
Carrots, bunch. 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Parsley, dozen bunches .. 
2 
0 
3 
0 
Cauliflowers, dozen .. .. 
2 
0 
3 
0 
Parsnips, dozen. 
1 
0 
0 
0 
Celery, bundle . 
1 
0 
1 
3 
Potatoes, per cwt. 
2 
0 
4 
6 
Coleworts, dozen bunches 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Salsafy, bundle. 
1 
0 
1 
fc 
Cucumbers, dozen .. .. 
1 
6 
3 
0 
Scorzonera, bundle .. .. 
1 
6 
0 
0 
EndiTe^ dozen . 
1 
3 
1 
6 
Shallots, per lb. .. 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Herbs, bunch . 
0 
3 
0 
0 
Spinach, bushel,* ** •• 
8 
0 
0 
0 
Leeks, bunch . 
0 
2 
0 
0 
Tomatoes, per lb. 
0 
3 
0 
5 
Lettuce, dozen. 
0 
9 
1 
0 
Turnips, bunch. 
0 
4 
0 
6 
Mushrooms, punnet .. ., 
0 
9 
1 
0 
AVERAGE 
WHOLESALE 
PRICES.—OUT FLOWERS. 
Orchid Blooms in variety. 
s. 
d. 
S. 
d 
S. 
d. 
9. 
d. 
Arum Lilies, 12 blooms ., 
6 
0 to 9 
0 
Marguerites, 12 bunches .. 
2 
0 to 4 
0 
Asters (English) doz. bches. 
4 
0 
6 
0 
Mignonette. 12 bunches .. 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Bouvardias, bunch ., ,. 
0 
6 
1 
0 
Myosotis, dozen bunches .. 
1 
6 
3 
0 
Carnations, 12 blooms 
0 
6 
2 
0 
Orchids, per dozen blcoms 
3 
0 
12 
0 
Carnations, dozen bunches 
4 
0 
8 
0 
Pelargoniums, 12 bunches 
6 
0 
9 
0 
Chrysanthemums, dozen 
Pelargoniums, scarlet, doz. 
bunches. 
6 
0 
9 
0 
bunches. 
4 
0 
6 
0 
Chrysanthemums, doz. bis. 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Primula (double), dozen 
Cornflower, dozen bunches. 
1 
0 
2 
0 
sprays . 
0 
6 
1 
0 
Eucharis, dozen. 
4 
0 
6 
0 
Pyrethrum, dozen bunches 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Gardenias, per dozen 
2 
0 
4 
0 
Roses (indoor), dozen 
0 
6 
1 
6 
Lilium lanciloiium, dozen 
„ Red, doz. bunches .. 
4 
0 
6 
0 
blooms . 
1 
0 
3 
0 
„ Tea, white, dozen .. 
1 
0 
2 
C 
Lilium longiflorum,pordoz. 
6 
0 
10 
0 
„ Yellow, dozen .. .. 
o 
0 
4 
0 
Maidenhair Fern, dozen 
Tuberoses, 12 blooms.. .. 
0 
4 
0 
6 
bunches. 
4 
0 
6 
0 
PLANTS 
IN POTS. 
s. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
s. 
d. 
S. 
d. 
Arbor Vitae (golden) dozen 
6 
Oto 12 
0 
Ferns, in variety, dozen .. 
4 
Oto 18 
0 
Aspidistra, per dozen 
18 
0 
36 
0 
Ferns (small'i pf r hundred 
4 
0 
6 
0 
Aspidistra, specimen plant 
5 
0 
10 
6 
Ficus elastica, each .. 
1 
0 
7 
6 
Asters, dozen pots .. .. 
3 
0 
6 
0 
Foliage plant?, var., each.. 
2 
0 
10 
0 
Balsams, per dozen .. .. 
3 
0 
6 
0 
Fuchsia, per dozen .. .. 
6 
0 
9 
0 
Begonias, per dozen .. ,. 
9 
0 
12 
1 
Ivy Geraniums. 
4 
0 
6 
0 
Campanula, per dozen 
9 
0 
18 
0 
Lilium lancifolium per doz. 
12 
0 
18 
0 
Chrysanthemums, per doz. 
4 
0 
9 
0 
Lilium Harrissi, per dozen 
12 
0 
24 
0 
„ large plants, each 
1 
0 
2 
0 
Lycopodiums, per dozen .. 
3 
0 
4 
0 
Coleus, per dozen 
6 
0 
9 
0 
Marguerite Daisy, dozen .. 
6 
0 
12 
0 
Dracaena terminalis, per 
Mignonette, per doz. 
4 
0 
6 
4 
dozen. 
18 
0 
42 
0 
Myrtles, dozen. 
6 
0 
9 
0 
Dracaena viridis, dozen .. 
9 
0 
24 
0 
Palms, in var.. each .. 
1 
0 
15 
0 
Ericas, per dozen ., 
9 
0 
12 
0 
„ (specimens) .. 
21 
0 
63 
0 
Euonvmus, var., dozen .. 
6 
0 
18 
0 
Pelargoniums, scarlet, doz. 
2 
0 
0 
0 
Evergreens, in var., dozen 
6 
0 
24 
0 
Solanums, per dozen.. 
12 
0 
15 
0 
A WHEAT STKAW. 
Only a Wheat straw, pulled in an idle moment from a 
■waggon load of it which we passed on the top of a ’bus in a 
busy London street! Yet a mere g’ance at it was sufficient to 
arrest the attention entirely, so strikingly did it serve to illus¬ 
trate the lamentable condition of corn crops this year on many 
a farm. It did more. The very fact of its having been sent 
into market so soon after harvest told of straitened means, 
of the urgent need for money that farmers have ; and its miser¬ 
able appearance showed also how small an amount the entire 
crop both of corn and straw would realise. Yery little over a 
foot in length, not broken, but clean cut by the reaper at the 
bottom, and as slender as short, it showed how poverty of soil 
had rendered it unable to withstand the sevex’ity of a drought 
through which corn on land rich in fertility has passed com¬ 
paratively unscathed. It is quite possible that late sowing in 
badly worked soil also contributed to its meagre appearance. 
Wha'^ever may be the causes affecting its growth from seed 
germination to crop maturity, the lesson taught by it deserves 
our serious attention. 
Is the production of so trashy a crop worth while under any 
circumstances in this country ? No ; it is not worth while. 
Nothing can make it so ; not even the exigencies of the present 
season, when every scrap of fodder has been collected so eagerly, 
and the bulk of it on many a farm falls so short of the farmer’s 
requirements even for home use. However regarded, the matter 
resolves itself into a question of profi" and loss. It is just a 
business transaction and nothing else; nothing can be more 
simple. Profitable farming has nothing sentimental about it. 
It means a clear gain upon expenditure, a fair interest upon 
capital invested in the tillage, cropping, and stocking of the 
land, for which a rent of so much per acre is paid. Every acre 
must therefore yield enough produce to pay sufficient interest 
to keep things going—a fair margin of profit. For this to be 
possible under stress of falling prices and foreign competition 
there must be judicious cropping, as well as thorough culti- 
vation. It is questionable whether our Wheat straw had either 
advantage. No doubt it would have been of much more robust 
proportions had soil fertility been well sustained on the farm 
where it was grown. But it has come to this with us in Wheat 
growing, that it is only profitable under every advantage of 
seed selection, the best mixed soil, thorough timely cultivation, 
and the possibility of selling both the straw and corn. The 
straw is now almost as valuable as the corn, a ton of straw 
being equivalent on the market to 24 bushels of Wheat. 
Do we quite realize wbat foreign competition means ? 
Surely not, or the wild, hopeless endeavour to grow Wheat on 
poor half cultivated land here would cease. Take one example 
out of many, that of Manitoba; there Wheat-growing continues 
to be remunei-ative under the present cash price of 50 cents., 
or 2s. per bushel, because it is grown at an average cost of 
Is. per bushel. Something considerably beyond the average 
is realised on the best land where the yield rises to thirty or 
even thirty-five bushels an acre in favourable seasons. There 
are thousands of acres of virgin soil as good as the best of this 
country not yet brought into cultivation. Nor is Wheat¬ 
growing in the Far West nearly so speculative as is commonly 
supposed. From 1882 to 1892 there were six good crops, and 
four inferior ones owing to drought and frost. 
It is estimated that this year Manitoba will export 24,000,000 
bushels of Wheat, which certainly implies a very comfortable 
sum being paid to the settlers. Another thing to be remembered 
is, that in all good seasons, Manitoba Wheat is superior in 
quality to our home grown produce. On that vast continent, 
summer heat, though brief in duration, has an intensity hardly 
realised by us. There, growth advances so fast in June and 
July that Wheat sown in May may be ready for the reaper in 
August Heavy rainfall alternating with long hot days in May 
and June induces growth of such extraordinary vigour, that crops 
are up and fully grown in a wonderfully short time. Then in 
July comes more settled dry and very hot weather, with many 
brief thunderstorms, accompanied by heavy rain, then Wheat 
ears develop and mature in a manner which would be thought 
marvellous in this country, and in all good seasons the reaper is 
at work by the third week in August. Clearly then our Wheat 
straw with the grain it carries must be of the best for the 
