January 25, 1894 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
G7 
plants in waste soil, and have not been quite satisfied with the 
results, to put the last-named plan into practice, or rather prepare for 
doing so another year, by mixing their soil at once, and in the mean¬ 
time employ good garden soil if fresh loam is not available. I like 
to place the garden soil upon the stonework above a boiler at work 
for a few daj’s before using it, to kill any insects it may contain. 
Should the soil in which the plants are growing be dry, a thorough 
watering ought to be given the day previous to the one on which 
they are potted. Both leaves and roots are then fresh and plump, a 
condition in which they are able to speedily recover the check conse¬ 
quent upon potting. Thousands of plants are annually weakened in 
constitution and caused to shed a large proportion of their leaves 
through the non-observance of these simple details. 
Sometimes, through lack of space, bedding Pelargoniums are 
much crowded during the winter months, with the inevitable result 
that they become “ leggy.’' There is then great temptation at potting 
time to bury a portion of the stem, in order to secure dwarfer plants. 
It is, however, a most dangerous practice, which causes many to decay 
at the collar. A much better plan is to pinch the point out of tall 
plants a couple of weeks before they are potted. This will cause 
them in many instances to send out shoots from the bare stems, and 
eventually develop into fairl}^ compact plants. 
When the potting soil is used in a moderately dry condition, and 
the plants are arranged in a house or pit where a gentle heat is kept 
in the hot-water pipes, a moderate watering should be given through a 
rose as soon as a good batch is potted. When, however, it happens 
to be moist enough to adhere in a mass when pressed in the hand, 
watering ought to be deferred for a day or two. Three-inch pots with 
a little rough leaf soil placed in the bottom, and one plant set in 
each pot, is the method of potting which I prefer. Many good culti¬ 
vators advocate placing two plants in a 4|^-inch pot ; but as under 
such circumstances the ball has to be divided at bedding-out time, a 
greater check than is desirable is given at that critical time. In very 
hot summers this is no mean consideration, and the drawback in this 
respect is not compensated for by any advantages which may be 
claimed for the two-in-a-pot system.— Flower Gardener. 
PRICES OF GARDEN PRODUCE IN 1893. 
The prices obtained for garden produce during the past year 
were lower than at any time in recent years. A reason for this is 
found in the generally depressed condition of commerce in this 
country. Another cause, which is perhaps not so apparent, is that 
the amount of fruit, flowers, and vegetables placed before buyers is 
increasing every year, and naturally it is only by means of an 
equally large influx of buyers that so much extra produce can be 
sold. This, again, can be secured only by the admission of a class 
whose purchasing power is low, and in consequence what these 
buy must be cheap. No doubt this condition of the buyers acts 
reflexively on the market, and causes it to be flooded with produce of 
an inferior quality ; this in turn deteriorating the value of the best 
class of material. If the hope could be cherished that this is only 
a passing or a local condition of trade the outlook might be con¬ 
sidered with a degree of serenity, but I am told by those who are 
cognizant of the state of trade that prices have exhibited a down¬ 
going tendency for years, and that though those of 1893 have 
been abnormally low, nevertheless they were only the latest of a 
series. 
This is a state of matters which calls for sympathy towards 
those men whose living or fortune depends so closely on the rate 
of current prices, but unfortunately besides these there are many 
gardeners, who, if not financially affected, are nevertheless 
embittered by a want of sympathy on the part of employers who 
look for a certain sum to reach them from the salesman where¬ 
with to meet garden expenses. While that is so, it is pleasant to 
know that all gardeners who are expected to provide an annual 
contribution towards expenses are not so unhappily situated ; but 
those of the first-named section are unable to do anything to avert 
this lowering of prices from affecting them injuriously, because 
they are allowed neither the opportunity nor the means of altering 
methods, or of growing such crops as they find to be most 
remunerative. In all, or most cases however, circumstances 
provide a limit as to what may be cultivated in gardens, because 
first of all the tastes and requirements of the owners have to be 
considered and catered for ; and sometimes altogether outside of 
these material for profit has to be provided. Personally I have 
found this to be so. Some crops, no matter how remunerative 
they might prove, are not allowed to be sold. Others may be sold 
at certain seasons only, and those not always the best ; but outside 
of these I have no restrictions. This is the only way a gardener 
can do justice to himself and to his employer. There is a proper 
understanding on each side, and if the gardener is anxious to 
succeed falling prices fail to affect him to any great extent. He 
will note any crop that is falling rapidly in price, and in the future 
as little as may be of such crop will be grown. 
Flowers in particular depreciate in value in a remarkable 
manner. Less than twenty years ago white Camellias commanded 
a ready sale at remunerative prices, but for several years past they 
have been of slight commercial value. Gardenias have also depre¬ 
ciated in value ; so have Stepbanotis, Eucharis, and Ccelogyne 
cristata. I could name other flowers which a few years since 
brought good prices which are now practically unsaleable. To say 
that many gardeners continue to cultivate flowers which have been 
superseded is to state what is a fact. 
With fruits which have decreased in value there is this diffe¬ 
rence to be noted as compared with flowers. The value of the 
latter depends largely on fashion ; those, on the other hand, are 
necessaries, the value of which, to a great extent, is guided by the 
quality of the produce when placed before purchasers, and the 
supply. 
I am cognizant of a number of instances which occurred 
during the past year, when inferiority and superiority was in the 
ratio of one to five. As examples, I am aware of Malmaison Car¬ 
nations being sold at 3s., 8s., and 123. per dozen ; of Chrysan¬ 
themums, on the same day and in the same sale room, realising 
Is. fid. to 24s. per dozen bunches ; of Tomatoes, from Id. to fid. 
per lb. ; Apricots, as low as ^d. per lb., and Apples ranging from 
Id. to 32d. per lb. These are extreme cases, but they serve to 
illustrate what I am endeavouring to show, that no matter how 
crushed the condition of the market may be, there is almost always 
a demand for high-class produce when placed in good condition 
before the buyer. Nobody wants that which is inferior, while 
everybody desires a share of the best ; and it often happens that 
customers wait for supplies if they know it to be good who would 
never give it a second thought if slightly inferior. 
Now for a few words with regard to salesmen. It is quite 
common to see the character of these gentlemen presented in a 
very unfavourable light. I have done business with not more than 
three, during the past year mostly with two, and I have not only 
no fault to find with them, but I have something to thank them 
for. Both have advised as to the time and manner of sending 
certain articles, and as in every way I have tried to meet their 
wishes, so have they done the best with what I sent. While that 
is so I have heard both salesmen severely criticised for the prices 
they secured ; but I have a shrewd guess that the blame was not 
fairly distributed, for if they get superior produce they return 
good prices.—B. 
THE INTERMEDIATE SEASON IN A SCOTTISH 
MANSE GARDEN. 
Since I wrote my last contribution to the Journal of Horti 
culture we have experienced the severity of an abnormally hard 
frost, immediately followed and greatly mitigated by a heavy fall 
of snow. The latter has now entirely disappeared, vanishing 
almost as rapidly as it came, and its beneficent influence upon 
Nature is already visible in the aspect of my garden, which for 
some days has presented the characteristics of early spring. 
The Snowdrop, as I anticipated, has come somewhat sooner 
than usual this year. This pale and pensive flower, so greatly 
loved by botanists, poets, and florists, is the parent of hope; it 
seems to speak to the t’noughtful spirit of bloom and beauty and 
fragrance yet to come. It is always associated in my memory with 
the first notes of the thrush, our Scottish nightingale, for in this 
region at least they are often contemporaneous. The song of the 
skylark is considerably later in reaching these solitary shores, and 
may be described as a beautiful contemporary of the Daffodil. It 
is an exquisite association that of birds with flowers, and perhaps 
the oldest of such tender imaginings on the part of the poet- 
naturalist is that which associates, and has always associated, the 
nightingale with the Rose. I only wish that the former could be 
as easily introduced as the latter into the gardens of Scotland, and 
with equal effect. In the absence of Philomela, Horace Vernet 
and Innocente Pirola, Cloth of Gold and L’Ideal are abiding 
consolations. And have we not in unison with these the melodic 
utterances of the skylark, the ringdove, the merle, and the thrush ? 
Around me, as I write from this tranquil, rural, sequestered 
manse, there are many indications of an early spring. The Snow¬ 
drops are already in full bloom. The Narcissus—so much loved 
by my friend Mr. F. W. Burbidge, who has so often recorded its 
glories in most poetic prose—is everywhere growing with remarkable 
rapidity. The steadfast bloom, untouched even for a period by 
the recent frosts, of the winter-flowering Jasmine, which is the 
alpha and omega of the floral year, consoles me for the compara¬ 
tive failure this season of Helleborus niger, the Christmas Rose. 
But it should be remembered, in justice to the representative 
