October 11, 1890. 
THE GARDENING Y/ORLD. 
85 
MARKET PRICES OF POTATOS. 
Unless there be two distinct informants to one of 
your garden contemporaries as to the ruling prices of 
Potatos in the chief London markets, who may he 
playing at cross purposes, it is difficult, to reconcile the 
statement made that prices in one day at Spitalfields 
went down pretty well 25 per cent. The quotations 
dated October 1st show such varieties as Magnum 
Bonum and Regents touching 45s., and Tmperators and 
Beauties 40s. per ton for moderate samples. Reading 
daily of the condition of the Potato crop in Ireland, 
and of the probability of a Potato famine being ex¬ 
perienced there, it does seem odd that so near at hand 
as England is, Potatos should be selling at prices so 
absurdly low as to render profit to the grower 
practically impossible. 
A ton of Potatos sold in the market at 40s. probably 
represents to the producer about 20s. return, whilst his 
outlay for production in every respect must have been 
more than double the amount. A huge philanthropic 
effort to purchase and send over to famished Ireland 
some 5,000 tons of our abundance would do immense 
good to home growers, and be of great service to the 
Irish people. It seems incredible that with a bad 
disease year tubers should still be so plentiful and so 
cheap. We grow such immense breadths now, and 
have such fine croppers, that even with one-third of 
the produce decimated by disease there seems still to 
be too many Potatos in the market, for pleasant as it 
is for the consumer to be able to purchase so cheaply, 
it is utterly impossible at present prices that growers 
can produce them at a profit. 
It would be very interesting could readers interested 
in the Potato trade be occasionally furnished with 
reports, side by side with those from the wholesale 
markets, of the current retail prices’of Potatos in the 
greengrocers’ shops. That would have considerable 
value, and would be helpful to indicate how far con¬ 
sumers benefited from low market prices.— A. D. 
-- 
VEGETABLE CULTURE FOR 
MARKET. 
Though up to the present there are no instances of 
large fortunes having been made by the growing of 
Vegetables, it is an industry that offers a very fair 
remuneration for both capital and labour. Especially 
is it so in good seasons like the present, when there 
has been an abundance of moisture to keep the roots 
active. Besides which, it provides a vast amount of 
work for the labouring classes, male and female, which 
they would otherwise he without. Of course, there 
are many difficulties to be contended with. In the 
first place, the land is highly rented, some of it being 
let at as much as £7 an acre. The business is also 
attended by heavy expenses. It is only the best land 
upon which Onions can be grown successfully or, at all 
events, profitably. For vegetable culture it is abso¬ 
lutely necessary that the soil should be well tilled and 
generously treated. Fifty tons per acre is the usual 
allowance for Onions, which, by the way, cannot be 
grown on the same piece of ground two years in succes¬ 
sion. It is all London manure that is used, 2s. 3 d. 
per ton being paid for it, to which 3s. has to be added 
for carriage. 
Then the weeding is another serious item on the 
expenditure side of the account. Whether it is owing 
to the liberal manuring the land receives or to other 
causes is not known, but weeds do spring up here in 
great luxuriance. This part of the year’s work is 
generally let by contract, the price paid being £6 per 
acre, and it is done by the men upon their knees with 
the assistance of a small hoe. The manner of disposing 
of the produce, again, is not the most perfect that could 
be desired. The old evil of the middleman is very 
prominent in market gardening. The stuff is, as a 
rule, consigned to salesmen in the respective towns, 
who sell it to retail dealers and return to the growers 
the proceeds less their very substantial commission. 
This is a matter upon which the farmers feel very sore. 
The sovereign charged for knocking down a ton of 
Rotatos makes a considerable hole in the price. In 
fact, they have practically to take what they get, which 
is sometimes not much. The case of Beans may be 
cited as an example. The grower pays 3 %d. for the 
gathering, and after carriage and commission are added, 
he occasionally finds, if the market happens to be 
glutted, that he has not more than a farthing per 
bushel left to himself—indeed, he is sometimes actually 
out of pocket. 
Of late a few of the more enterprising growers, with 
the object of seeing if they can do without the services 
of the middleman, have adopted the plan of attending 
the London market themselves. After seeing their 
produce loaded on the railway, they travel up to town, 
sleep there all night, and are waiting to meet their 
stuff when it arrives at the market in the morning. 
They secure a stand, and by selling to the retail dealers 
direct, they find they can realise better profits than by 
entrusting their produce to agents. This is a system 
which would be more widely resorted to if the railway 
companies could be persuaded to grant cheaper fares. 
The home grower has also the bugbear of a strong 
foreign competition to compete with. Climatic condi¬ 
tions tell severely against him. The best of the prices 
are skimmed off by early produce from Spain, Belgium, 
and Egypt, where labour is cheap, and from which 
freights are low; for, amazing as it may appear, 
vegetables can actually be sent into the London 
market from Belgium at a lower rate than is charged 
by the English railways for carrying them fifty miles. 
Still, notwithstanding all these drawbacks, the 
Bedfordshire gardeners believe that, with suitable 
seasons and fair terms from the railway companies, they 
would be able to hold their own. The respectable 
dimensions to which the industry has of late years 
grown, would certainly seem to show that the results 
are by no means discouraging. One thing badly 
wanted is some form of employment for the female 
portion of the population during the winter. All 
they have to rely upon at present is the making of 
lace, which, however, has ceased to be remunerative, 
and bead-work for the ornamentation of ladies’ dresses. 
Flax spinning has been talked of as an occupation to 
which the women could readily turn their hands, and 
the plant has been sown in the neighbourhood on a 
small scale. What now appears to be required is some 
one with capital and sufficient enterprise to start a 
factory, and so put the thing on a commercial basis.— 
Daily News. 
-- 
MICHAELMAS DAISIES. 
Too much cannot be said in praise of these old autumn 
favourites that just now make our borders look gay. 
Coming in as they do at a time when most other things 
are getting scarce, one appreciates them all the more, 
and especially so is this the case where there is a great 
amount of house decoration to do. Then they come as 
a boon to the gardener whose unhappy lot it is to have 
a number of tall glasses to fill daily. Many have this 
to do, and very often are at their wits’ end to know 
what to get for a change. To such I would suggest a 
good collection of Asters as one way of meeting the 
difficulty. They are to be had in almost all shades of 
colour, from pure white, rose, pink, lavender, lilac, to 
intense blue, ranging in height from 1 ft. to 5 ft., some 
of them really beautiful. 
As a late autumn flower for the mixed border or 
shrubbery they have no equal, and almost any ordinary 
garden soil will grow them to perfection. They are in 
no way particular either as to soil or situation, in fact 
they get out of bounds at times, but that is easily 
remedied by cropping them in annually. To anyone 
not acquainted with the different kinds, I would 
recommend the following as being good :—A. Amellus 
(the type), violet, 2 ft. ; A. Bessarabicus, rich purple- 
blue, 2 ft. ; A. cyanus, large, blue, 3 ft. ; A. dumosus 
corymbosus, cream, neat, dwarf habit, 2 ft.; A. 
ericoides, small, white, but free; A. laevis, lilac, 
profuse bloomer, 3^ ft. ; A. lisaophyllus, a lovely blue, 
one of the most attractive of the group ; A. longifolius, 
rosy pink, 2 ft. ; A. polyphyllus, white, 4 ft. ; A. 
pyrenaicus, pale blue, 2 ft. ; A. Townshendii, rich 
purplish blue, 2£ ft., &c. There may be newer and 
better sorts than the above, but for all desirable pur¬ 
poses I think those mentioned will hold their own ; in 
fact no good collection should be without them. Asters 
have been kept too much in the background of late 
years, but thanks to some of our florist friends, who are 
now making a speciality of them, they are being brought 
more before the public. I sincerely trust their efforts 
will be rewarded, and meet the fullest approval of all 
interested in this beautiful, but much neglected class 
of hardy plants.— O. 
-- 
ACANTHUS MOLLIS LATIFOLIUS 
The broad-leaved form of the species here named is 
by far the more ornamental of the two, and the foliage, 
together with the boldness of the flowers, makes it a 
handsome subject for the herbaceous border. Under 
liberal treatment the leaves attain a great size, giving 
the plant a tropical appearance, and for that reason it 
is well adapted for planting in the sub-tropical garden. 
The leaves are heart-shaped, deeply divided and of a 
rich, dark, shining green colour. With the increased 
vigour the stems also attain fine dimensions, reaching 
a height of 4 ft. The flowers are produced in stately 
spikes, and add much to the appearance of the plant 
during the months of August and September. The 
corolla consists of a large, three-lobed, rose-coloured 
lip, the upper one being entirely suppressed. The 
upper lobe of the calyx makes up for the deficiency, 
as it is large, obovate, bnmzy and veiny. Propagation 
is easily effected by division or by seeds, but it is 
hardly necessary to resort to the latter method, when 
once a good plant has been obtained. Some fine 
pieces may be seen in the herbaceous border in the 
gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society at Chiswick. 
-->33<—- 
PELARGONIUMS FOR WINTER 
FLOWERING. 
To have Pelargoniums in full bloom during the dull 
sunless days of mid-winter it is necessary to bestow 
special attention on the preparation of the plants during 
the summer months. Nothing can possibly be more 
attractive when all is bleak and bare outside, or, 
mayhap, everything enshrouded from view in a pure 
white garment of snow, than a really well-grown 
batch of zonal Pelargoniums in full bloom. Their rich 
and varied colours—eclipsing the noble Chrysanthemum 
itself in brilliancy—look all the brighter because of 
the universal dullness of their surroundings. Some 
growers prefer plants more than a year old, contending 
that more flowers can be got from these than from 
young plants— -i.e., plants not exceeding a year old ; 
others prefer the young plants, and I most decidedly 
cast in my lot with the latter, as I consider the young 
plants superior in every way to the old. I will 
endeavour, as briefly and as plainly as possible, to give 
an outline of the method of preparing Pelargoniums for 
winter flowering which I have practised with very 
successful results. 
Early in February take off a sufficient number of 
cuttings and insert them in a box of prepared soil, and 
after thoroughly watering them, place the box on a 
gentle hotbed, taking care to allow the cuttings full 
exposure to avoid damping, which will make sad havoc 
amongst them if they are kept in a close atmosphere. 
In a short time they will begin to emit roots, and must 
be removed before the roots become entangled, because 
if this be allowed, many of them will be destroyed, 
whereas, if taken in time they can be removed intact, 
and transferred into small pots. For this potting, a 
light sandy compost similar to that used for striking 
the cuttings should be used, the main object still 
being the production of roots, and they will be 
materially aided in this if they are replaced in their 
former quarters for a fortnight or so. After this they 
should be gradually inured to a greenhouse temperature, 
and ultimately placed on a light airy shelf near 
the glass, and carefully attended to with water, never 
allowing them to become too dry, which will cause the 
loss of roots, and consequently give a severe check to 
the plants. 
As soon as the roots become fairly numerous around 
the sides of the pot, they should receive a shift 
into 4-in. pots, using a compost of two-thirds fibry 
loam, and one-third leaf-soil and sand in equal parts. 
Pot firmly, thereby ensuring a firm, short-jointed 
growth, return them to their old position on the shelf 
near the glass, and keep the house comparatively close 
for a few days till root action has recommenced, after 
which, air may be freely admitted on all favourable 
occasions. Constant attention to watering, removing 
all flower buds as they appear, and pinching the 
points out of any growths that are growing too strongly, 
so as to keep the plants equally balanced, is all that 
will be necessary till they are ready for their final 
potting. 
Early in June they will be ready for their final shift, 
which should be done at once, and not delayed until 
the plants become pot-bound, thereby causing a check, 
as once the vigour is gone valuable time is lost before 
(if ever) they are got into robust healthy growth again 
It is not advisable to be much later than the date 
mentioned, as it is absolutely necessary that the pots 
should be crammed with roots to ensure an abundant 
supply of flowers during winter. The soil should be 
got in readiness a week or so previously, and it should 
be a good substantial compost, seeing that the plants 
will remain in it for a considerable time, during which 
period they will have their energies put to a severe 
strain. Three parts fibry loam, one of leaf-soil, one of 
wood-ashes, with a good dash of sand, Thomson’s 
Manure and soot will form a capital potting mixture. 
Pot firmly, and leave about 1 in. of space for water¬ 
ing ; this may be reduced to £ in. by adding a top- 
