JljU’jh 1, W3 . ] 
JOURXAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
167 
grow strongly and then remove large quantities of shoots at one 
time. As the fruit advances in size it should be gradually exposed, 
and directly it begins colouring cut away all the foliage surround¬ 
ing them. Some of the lowest fruits on the plants realised 6d. a 
pound, the remainder 4d., and we obtained the same for all that we 
ripened in a warm room. Fully developed fruits will ripen, and 
the colour wiU be fairly good, but those that are not fuUy grown 
are not marketable. The erection of the boards made this portion 
of ground “ pay well,” even if we had left the borders vacant. 
All who grow Tomatoes outside know that a large weight of 
fruit never approaches maturity. The outdoor crop is largely 
dependent upon the season. In some seasons nearly the whole 
iripens, in others not more than half the crop. Last year they were 
a great success. Prolific varieties with moderately sized fruits 
generally perfect the greater portion of their crop. I regarded that 
which did not ripen as waste, and could see clearly that to realise to 
the fullest extent the produce that the plants were capable of 
yielding some means must be devised by which the remainder of 
the crop could be developed and ripened. I sought advice, with 
the result that I made half-a-dozen lights 3 feet wide to place over 
a portion. But the experiment was not a success, for cold nights 
stopped the j^owth of the plants and fruit; they finally died with 
a large quantity of unripened fruit upon them. 
Ready for the following autumn a glass house was erected, with 
a flow and return hot-water pipe in it. It was a rude structure, 
but will grow Tomatoes as well as the best and most costly one 
that could be erected. The house is practically all roof. It 
was constructed after this fashion—posts were placed 12 feet 
apart, which stood above the ground 18 inches ; two 9-inch boards 
were nailed to these, which formed the sides ; the wall plate (if 
■such it can be called), 2 by 3 inches, was nailed to the posts, the 
ridge or centre piece was 2 by 4 inches, the bars were 10 feet, these 
were shaped to fit the ridge and wall plate ; when- one was made to 
fit it was not a very dificult matter to manage the rest. The 
centre was fixed into position, and the bars nailed at the base and 
the top. The bars were grooved so that we could slip the squares 
up from the base one after the other, and the glazing was a 
simple process—no putty, no tacks, only one nail at the base to 
prevent their slipping down. We found it necessary to place 
supports here and there down the centre, and afterwards screwed 
light angle irons all the length of the sides, midway up the bars. 
It was a cheap house certainly, but one that answered our purpose 
admirably when we made slight alterations in providing ventilation. 
This was provided by pulling one of the boards off on each side, 
and hanging them to form shutters. Many a man hampers himself 
by borrowing money, if he has not enough of his own, to build 
costly houses for raising market produce. This is a mistake into 
which many fall after being trained in private gardens. My advice 
is, use good 21-oz. glass (large squares, say a foot by 18 inches), 
good boilers, and pipes ; the glass will do for another house when 
the wood is decayed, or if the glass is sold it is worth nearly as 
much as when it was new. The road to success is to erect houses 
suitable for the purpose for which they are required, but at the 
least possible expense, so that the capital invested can be recovered 
rapidly. 
We had the house, but discovered that we could not lift the 
Tomatoes from the boards to insure any degree of success. Lack 
of foresight ended in this matter being next to a total failure, for 
we succeeded in ripening very few more fruits than was the case 
when we had no house. The next season the plants for the boards 
were placed in small boxes, 1 foot square and 9 inches deep. As 
soon as the Lettuces were removed from the foot of the boards the 
boxes were plunged, well watered, and liberally mulched with old 
Mushroom bed refuse. If they are well mulched very little labour 
in watering is entailed. This proved the right principle, and 
instead of nailing the plants to the boards each was provided with 
a cane 7 feet long, and fastened to the top of the boards. By this 
means we could lift the plants indoors before they were starved by 
■cold nights, and succeeded in ripening the whole crop. From these 
plants we finished cutting the last week in November. After the 
glut of outside fruit is over the price naturally rises, and we realised 
for that portion of the crop that would otherwise have been wasted 
hd. and 6d. a pound respectively. Persona intending to grow 
Tomatoes against walls or boards will do well to place the plants, 
not in boxes, for they decay too quickly, but in 10-inch pots, and 
plunge them, burying the rim with at least half an inch of soil, and 
then mulch them. The plants can then be lifted inside, and per¬ 
fect the whole instead of half the crop. They will root over the 
sides of the pots, but these roots can be cut away without the 
slightest injury to the plants, provided they are lifted with the 
manure remaining on the surface, which will be full of roots. Sow 
for the main outdoor crop at once. How to have a profitable crop 
a month later will be recorded subsequently.— M.vkketek. 
RICIIARDIAS. 
Few plants have a more noble effect than these when properly 
grown, and few plants are more useful, whether for decorating the 
conservatory or house use ; for the latter purpose it is scarcely 
surpassed by any other plant, because it lasts so long in a fre.sh 
state. There is a difference of opinion amongst some growers as to 
the best way of treating the plants. Some adwse and probably 
succeed in growing them well by planting them out after flowerings 
wliile others cling to the system of always keeping them in puts. 
I have tried both methods, but much prefer to keep them in their 
pots ; they flower earlier, more freely, and I think make much 
better foliage. I have been complimented on the showy character 
of my plants, which commenced flowering the week before Christ¬ 
mas, and most of them are now at their best, carrying from five to 
nine spathes on each plant, with others showing. They are in pots 
of the size called “ eights,” and the plants are fully developed in 
every way. 
I will state how they have been treated, for the benefit of those 
who like to try the plan. When I came here, twelve months ago, 
they were in flower in the same pots as now. After they had 
flowered they were shifted from the conservatory to a cool house, 
remaining there until well on to the middle of May, when they 
were turned outdoors under a wall close together, with a few leaves 
between and around the pots, but otherwise exposed to the summer 
sun. For a time they were occasionally watered thoroughly, after¬ 
wards no water was given. At the end of thejsummer the crowns 
showed signs of moving ; the di-ainage was examined, and sufficient 
water was given to prevent the soil becoming dry. When the time 
came to take them under cover the top soil was removed, fresh 
being supplied, and made as firm as possible, but no potting was 
done, simply removing what young side plants there were. As 
they showed flower the soil was top-dressed with cow manure quite 
twelve months old, but with about a handful of soot to a gallon of 
soil, well mixed. I need hardly say that the plant likes moisture, 
and from that time to the present they have never been allowed to 
be dry, and watering every day seems to do them good ; no liquid 
manure has been given. 1 could scarcely have managed them with 
less trouble, but I could not have plants more satisfactory. The 
above plan I have practised for years, and we do not pot them but 
once in two or three. —Tiiom.\3 Recoup. 
A MIXED CONDIMENT. 
Ways and Means. —Some of the very best and most successful 
of gardeners I know have succeeded in spite of the most dis¬ 
couraging difficulties. The old saw, “ Nothing succeeds like 
success,” is only half true, and my own opinion is that nothing 
leads more certainly to success than one or two failures. I am not 
now speaking of the men who sit down and say, “ it will never do,” 
or “ it is no use trying, we have no convenience for that sort of 
thing,” but of men with a firm lower jaw and something harder 
than gristle in the small of the back. As I have said, some of our 
most successful gardeners have succeeded, and are still succeeding, 
by the exertion of their abilities on adverse circumstances—they 
turn their curses into blessings, and smilingly make “ a desert place 
to blossom as the Rose.” A gardener of the right stamp will make 
a rubbish heap beautiful, and the great point is that he will do so 
willingly. After all, those who are employers sim[ily keep gardeners 
to undertake the troubles, anxieties, and difficulties of their gardens 
off their own shoulders, and the best of gardeners are those who 
give their employers least trouble about conveniences or ways and 
means. When I remember some of the drudgery I went through 
as a garden boy, and read of the rude appliances by which our 
predecessors, the Abercrombies and Speechlej% and McNeils, grew 
their splendid productions, I sometimes think modern gardeners too 
exacting, and that like the “ real princess ” of the nursery tale, 
they will complain of the Rose leaves that get folded beneath 
them. 
Coloured Light in Gardening.— In the long run, looking 
at Dame Nature, “ the dear old Nurse,” from an all-round point of 
view, no doubt mixed or white light is best for plant houses and 
fruit houses generally. But for particular purposes, or at par¬ 
ticular seasons, coloured light may eventually be found of advan¬ 
tage. Long ago the American papers were full of accounts of 
General Pleasanton’s vinery and its roof of purple-tinted glass. 
Now I have come across the following in an American paper :— 
“ Professor Sachs, the great German botanist, has discovered th-at 
the ultra violet and invisible rays of the solar spectrum especially 
promote the development of flowers, the growth of which is ex¬ 
ceedingly feeble when the rays are suppressed, although that of the 
other parts of the plant is very luxuriant.” When practical men 
went to see General Pleasanton’s Grapes, they found a large crop— 
a larger and better one than the General coulJ produce under white 
