March  20,  1902. 
■JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
and,  I  may  add,  out  of  dauber.  At  first  he  assumes  a  most  threaten- 
lug  air.  But  when  this  fails  he  confesses  that  his  maximum  is 
reached.  _  Not  so  with  his  mate,  who  descends  to  the  lower 
limbs,  bristling  like  a  mad  hen.  And  in  one  or  two'  instances  she 
has  even  flown  against  the  bonnet  of  the  offender.  The  demon¬ 
strations  of  this  pair  are  so  pronounced  as  to  be  readily  recog- 
year  to  yearf  They  always  build  in  a  Norway  Spruce, 
of  which  there  are  several  side  by  side.  But  never  have  they  twice 
chosen  the  same  tree. — Bessie  L.  Putnam  (in  “Meehans’ 
Monthly.”) 
— - - - 
Covent  Garden  Market.— March  19th. 
Average  Wholesale  Prices. — Fruit. 
s.  d. 
s. 
d 
s.  d. 
s. 
Apples,  cooking,  bush.  6  0to8 
0 
Grapes,  Alicante,  lb. ... 
1  Otol 
,,  jS'  e  w  t  o  wn  s, 
,,  Colman . 
1  0 
1 
case  . 10  0 
12 
0 
,,  Muscat  . 
3  6 
5 
Bananas .  8  0 
12  0 
,,  Almeria . 
0  0 
0 
Cranberries,  30  to  36  qt. 
Oranges,  per  case 
10  0 
25 
consignment  ...  9  0 
10 
0 
Pears,  French,  crate... 
12  0 
0 
Dates,  red  V.,  doz.  bxs.  5  6 
0 
0 
Pines,  St.  Michael’s, 
Lemons,  Messina,  case  12  0 
16 
0 
each . 
2  6 
3 
Average  Wholesale  Prices.— Vegetables, 
Artichokes,  green,  cloz. 
,,  Jerusalem,  sieve 
Batavia,  doz . 
Beans,  Jfi-ench,  per  lb. 
Beet,  red,  doz . 
Brussels  Sprouts,isieve 
Cabbages,  tally  . 
Carrots,  doz.  bncb. 
Cauliflowers,  doz. 
Corn  Salad,  strike 
Cucumbers  doz . 
Endive,  doz . 
Herbs,  buncb  . 
Horseradish,  buncb  ... 
Leeks,  buncb  . 
s.  d. 
s. 
d 
s.  d. 
s.  d 
2  0  to  3 
0 
Lettuce,  Cabbage,  doz. 
1  3  to  2  0 
1  6 
0 
0 
Mushrooms,  forced,  lb. 
0  5 
0  6 
2  0 
0 
0 
Mustard  &  Cress,  pnnt. 
0  2 
0  0 
2  0 
0 
0 
Parsley,  doz.  bncbs.  ... 
2  0 
3  0 
0  6 
0 
0 
Potatoes,  English,  cwt. 
4  0 
5  0 
2  0 
3 
0 
Radishes,  doz . 
1  6 
0  0 
1  6 
3 
0 
Seakale  ■ . 
0  9 
1  0 
2  0 
2 
6 
Shallots,  lb . 
0  2 
0  3 
2  0 
3 
0 
Spinach,  bush . 
2  0 
3  0 
1  0 
1 
3 
Sprue,  French,  dozen 
10  0 
15 
0 
bunches  . 
8  0 
9  0 
1  0 
1 
3 
Tomatoes,  Canary 
0  2 
0 
0 
consignment  . 
6  0 
0  0 
1  6 
0 
0 
Turnips,  doz,  bneh.  ... 
2  0 
3  0 
0  li 
0 
2 
Watercress,  doz . 
0  6 
0  0 
Average  Wholesale  Prices.— Plants  In  Pots. 
Most  of  the  undermentioned  plants  are  sold  in  48  and  32-sized  pots, 
s.  d.  s 
Aralias,  doz . 
Araucaria,  doz.  ... 
Aspidistra,  doz.  ... 
Azaleas,  white  and 
coloured,  doz. 
Crotons,  doz. 
Cyclamen,  doz.  ... 
Cyperus  alternifolius 
per  doz . 
Draciena,  var. ,  doz.  ... 
,,  viridis,  doz. . 
Erica  caffra  . 
,,  Wilmoreana 
Ferns,  var.,  doz . 
,,  small,  100 . 
Acacia,  per  pad  . 
Anemone,  double  pink, 
per  doz . 
Arums,  doz.  ...  , . 
Asparagus,  Fern,  bncb. 
Azalea  mollis,  per  bun. 
Bouvardia,  white, 
doz.  bunches . 
,,  coloured,  doz.  bun. 
Camellias,  white . 
Carnations,  12  blooms 
Cattleyas,  doz . 
Croton  foliage,  bun.  ... 
Cycas  leaves,  each 
Cypripediums,  doz.  ... 
Daffodils,  single,  doz.... 
,,  double  ,,  ... 
Eucharis,  doz . 
Freesias,  doz.  bunches 
Gardenias,  doz . 
Geranium,  scarlet,  doz. 
bncbs . 
Hyacinth,  Roman, 
doz.  bunches . 
Ivy  leaves,  doz.  bun. ... 
Lilac,  French,  white, 
per  buncb  . 
JLiilium  Harris!  . 
s.  d. 
s 
d 
s.  d. 
s. 
d 
5  0tol2 
0 
Ficus  elastica,  doz.  ... 
9  0tol2 
0 
12  0 
30 
0 
Foliage  plants,  var,  each 
Grevilleas,  48’s,  doz.  ... 
1  0 
5 
0 
18  0 
36 
0 
4  0 
5 
0 
Lycopodiums,  doz.  ... 
3  0 
0 
0 
30  0 
36 
0 
Marguerite  Daisy,  doz. 
8  0 
10 
0 
18  0 
30 
0 
Myrtles,  doz . 
6  0 
9 
0 
6  0 
9 
0 
Palms,  in  var.,  doz.  ... 
15  0 
30 
6 
,,  specimens 
21  0 
63 
0 
4  0 
5 
0 
Pandanus  Veitchi,  48’s, 
12  0 
30 
0 
doz . 
24  0 
30 
0 
9  0 
18 
0 
Primulas  . 
3  0 
4 
0 
15  0 
18 
0 
Shrubs,  in  pots  . 
4  0 
6 
0 
9  0 
12 
0 
Solanums  . 
8  0 
10 
0 
4  0 
18 
0 
Spira-a  japonica,  48’s, 
10  0 
16 
0 
doz . 
6  0 
8  0 
ISftaolesale  Prices.— Cut  f  lowers 
s.  d. 
s. 
d 
s.  d. 
s. 
d 
6  0to8 
0 
Liliuni  lancifolium  alb. 
2  0  to  2 
6 
,,  1.  rubrum . 
2  0 
2 
6 
1  6 
0  0 
,,  longiflorum  ... 
3  0 
4 
0 
2  0 
3 
0 
Lily  of  the  Valley,  12 
1  0 
2 
0 
bnehs  . 
6  0 
12 
0 
1  0 
0 
0 
Maidenhair  Fern,  doz. 
bnehs . 
6  0 
8 
0 
6  0 
8 
0 
Marguerites,  white. 
6  0 
8 
0 
doz.  bnehs . 
2  0 
4 
0 
1  6 
2 
0 
•  yellow,  doz.  bnehs. 
2  0 
0 
0 
1  3 
1 
9 
Myrtle,  English,  per 
bunch  . 
8  0 
12 
0 
0  6 
0 
0 
0  9 
1 
0 
Narcissus,  Soleil  d’Or.. 
1  0 
1 
3 
0  9 
1 
6 
Odontoglossums . 
4  0 
0 
0 
2  0 
3 
0 
Orange  blossom,  bunch 
2  0 
3 
0 
1  0 
2 
0 
Primula,  double  white. 
1  0 
2 
0 
doz.  bunches . 
6  0 
8 
0 
2  0 
3 
0 
Roses,  Niphetos,  white, 
doz . 
2  0 
3 
0 
1  6 
3 
0 
6  0 
0  0 
,,  pink,  doz . 
4  0 
6 
0 
,,  yellow, doz. (Perles) 
2  0 
3 
0 
4  0 
6 
0 
Smilax,  bunch  . 
3  0 
4 
0 
Tuberoses,  gross . 
0  0 
10 
0 
5  0 
6 
0 
Tulips,  white,  single. 
1  6 
0 
0 
doz.  bun.  ... 
6  0 
8 
0 
,,  scarlet,  single. 
4  0 
4 
6  ' 
doz.  bun.  ... 
4  0 
5 
0 
3  0 
4 
0 
Violets,  single,  doz  ... 
1  6 
0  0 
G5 
Trade  Catalogues  Received. 
Barr  &  Sons,  King  Street,  Covent  Carden,  W.C. — Hardy  Peremmds, 
Alpines,  Aquatics,  Ac. 
J.  Cbeal  &  Sons,  Lowfield  Nurseries,  Crawley,  Sussex.— Da/dias,  ffc. 
Alexis  Dalli^re,  Cbauss4e  de  Bruxelles,  Gand,  Belgium.  -Spring  Prize 
List. 
John  Peed  &  Son,  Roupell  Park  Nurseries,  West  Norwood,  London^ 
S.E. —  Begonias  and  Gloxinias.  * 
Vermin  and  Other  Things. 
What  is  vermin  1  “  All  sorts  of  small  animals  or  insects  . 
which  are  destructive  to  grain  or  other  produce,”  says  the 
dictionary.  And  what  has  the  fanner  to  say  about  vermin  ? 
Only  this  v^eek  we  see  a  farmer  writing  to  an  agricultural 
paper,  and  classing  rooks,  rabbits,  and  hares  together  as  . 
vermin,  and  wishing  he  had  them  all  in  a  pie.  Well,  if  the 
rooks  were  young,  they  would  be  all  right ;  rabbits,  too, 
make  a  good  pie  ;  but  is  it  not  rather  desecration  to  talk  of 
pieing  hare  I  She  roasts  and  “jugs”  so  well!  Perhaps 
some  of  our  readers  will  not  look  upon  any  of  the  three  as 
vermin.  So  much  depends  upon  situation  and  climatic  in¬ 
fluence.  Years  ago,  longer  than  we  like  to  remember,  we 
used  to  see  a  small  paper,  the  organ  of  the  Anti-Game  Laws- 
Society.  There  was  at  that  time  need  for  that  society.  In 
many  of  the  game  preserving  counties  the  number  of  hares 
kept  for  sporting  purposes  was  simply  awful,  and  to  take 
the  life  of  a  hare  was  equal  to  getting  notice  to  quit.  No 
one  nowadays  would  believe  what  a  pest  tliey  used  to  be. 
The  merry  brown  hares  came  leaping  over  the  Clover 
grass,  aye,  and  they  took  their  fill  of  it,  too,  or  of  the  young 
succulent  corn.  It  used  to  be  said  that  one  hare  would  eat 
and  damage  as  much  as  three  sheep.  The  damage  was- 
worse  than  the  actual  consumption.  Then  rabbits,  too  ; 
there  was  a  limit  to  hares,  “but  none  to  rabbits.  Nothing 
short  of  a  plague  would  lessen  their  numbers.  Fortunately 
rabbits  require  dry  land,  and  a  really  wet  time  will  do  much 
to  stop  them.  Things  got  to  such  a  pass  as  to  call  for  the 
Flares  and  Rabbits  Bill.  Really,  we  believe,  this  measure 
was  helped  on  by  the  Anti-Game  Law  League.  Good  as  the  - 
measure  is,  it  is  often  evaded  or  set  aside  ;  but  it  has  done 
much  to  mitigate  the  evil  of  excessive  ground  game  in  many 
places.  Where  a  landlord  is  a  shooting  man,  and  expects  . 
tremendous  “  bags  ”  in  November  or  December,  and  is 
withal  a  popular  good  man,  he  can  always  find  a  good  supply 
of  hares  and  rabbits.  In  a  district  which  we  have  in  mind 
just  now,  great  breadths  of  Swedes  are  grown,  for  many 
sheep  are  wintered.  Now,  these  Swedes  are  sweet,  and 
good  and  pleasant  eating,  and  when  herbage  is  short,  the 
hare  makes  for  the  Swede  field,  and  haves  her  mark,  not 
on  one  consumed  Turnip  (that  might  be  forgiven),  but  on 
many,  just  as  though  she  were  sampling  the  close.  Frost 
comes,  rain  falls,  the  wounded  root  is  soon  spoilt  by  one  of 
the  two  agencies,  and  there  is  a  gap  in  the  row.  This  . 
spring,  when  all  early  vegetation  has  been  kept  back  by 
frost,  the  hare  is  very  predatory,  and  her  traces  are  every¬ 
where.  She  is  getting  a  bit  tough,  too,  so  that  even  there  • 
is  but  small  consolation  in  a  “roast.” 
The  dictionary  defines  a  rook  as  a  “  trickish,  rapacious 
fellow,”  and  so  he  is.  He  is  not  frightened  of  you,  and  will 
hover  round  and  about  the  homesteads  “  seeking  what  he 
may  devour.”  We  have  seen  them  watch  hens  to  the  nest, 
and  patiently  wait  till  the  egg,  being  laid,  there  was  a  , 
pleasant  meal  assured.  Potatoes  we  have  often  found 
under  their  nests,  and  they  take  toll  of  every  grain  sown. 
Swedes,  too,  they  attack,  and  their  beaks  are  as  strong  a? 
iron.  But  perhaps  it  is  later  on  in  the  season  when  they 
become  the  greatest  pests.  When  the  small,  tiny  Turnips  • 
