273 



THE GARDEN GUIDE FOR DECEMBER, 



Kitchen Garden. — Make p^ntatiors 

 of rhubarb, seakale, asparagus, and horse- 

 radish. Roots of dandelion, packed to- 

 gether in leaf-mould, and put into gentle 

 heat, will furnish a delicate salad in five or 

 six weeks. Pascall's seakale pots are best 

 for the purpose. Keep dung and all soluble 

 matters under cover. Turn over manures, 

 and put aside in heaps to be frozen, rotted 

 leaves, and other material suitable for 

 potting, and when well sweetened 

 and pulverized, remove to bins in the 

 potting-shed to keep dry for use. Get 

 sticks and stakes tied up in bundles ready 

 for use; wheel turf and weeds to the muck- 

 pit ; get pots washed and sorted over, and 

 crocks shifted into sizes for the potting- 

 bench. 



FnriT Garden. — Let nothing lie in by 

 the heels an hour longer than can be 

 helped. Bush fruits properly taken up 

 and properly planted ought not to miss the 

 move in the slightest degi-ee, but you are 

 sure to lose a whole season if they lie about 

 waiting to be planted. Root-prune anj' 

 trees that grow too luxuriantly to bear 

 well. Lay boards in a slope over vine 

 borders, to shelter them from excessive 

 cold rains. Unnaillj from the walls the 



younger shoots of tender wall-trees, to pre- 

 vent premature breaking. Strawberry- 

 beds may be made this month, but there is 

 no certainty of a crop if left so late. 



Flower Garden. — Keep everything 

 as tidy as possible. If any bulbs remain 

 out of the gi-ound, get them in without de- 

 lay. Take up tea-roses, and lny them in 

 by the heels in a shed out of reach of frost. 

 Cut down fuchsias that are to remain 

 out all the winter, and cover their roots 

 with coal-ashes. Pansies, pinks, and other 

 choice things in open beds, should have 

 a little litter sprinkled over them in frosty 

 weather, or be protected with canvas on 

 hoops. Tulips protect in the same way. 

 Keep auriculas and other plants in frames 

 moderately dry, and free of dead leaves. 



Greenhouse and Stove. — Vines that 

 are forwai-d will want frequent attention 

 and a very regular heat. Ericas must 

 have air at every opportunity, and if 

 brought in with flowering shrubs to be 

 forced, must be very gently stimulated, as 

 they are impatient of heat. Soft-wooded 

 plants must have fire-heat during foggy 

 weather as well as during frost. Green- 

 house 40° to 45°. Vines started, 60° by 

 I day. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Hyacinths in Flower. — H. W. C. — 

 There is no occasion to change the water 

 in hyacinth glasses unless it become of- 

 fensive, which is rarely the case. Some 

 people put a small piece of charcoal into 

 each glats to prevent this occurring. 

 But the glasses must be filled up occa- 

 sionally to make good what is lost by 

 evaporation. As to the " nutritive pro- 

 perties of the waters," they are so trivial 

 as to be unworthy of consideration. The 

 fact is, the bulbs obtain nothing but 

 water for their sustenance when grown 

 in glasses, hence their exhausted condi- 

 tion when the blocm is over, and usually 

 their worthlessness. The reason why 

 peaches and apricots are not usually 

 grown in the same way as gooseberries 

 and currants, is that many of the most 

 esteemed varieties are too tender in con- 

 stitution and in general other fruit pro- 

 duced is neither so large nor so well 

 flavoured as that grown on walls. See 

 reply to another correspondent on this 

 subject. 



Pevches and Apricots as Bushes. — 



In your warm Surrey climate you may 

 plant a lot of bush trees of peaches and 

 apricots with a fair prospect of a plenti- 

 ful supply of those fruits in good season ; 

 you must not expect much in bad sea- 

 sons. Your best plan would be to send to 

 a first-class nursery, to make sure of get- 

 ting the varieties true; say, for example, 

 Messrs. Lane, of Berkbampstead, or 

 Messrs. Paul and Son, of Cheshnnt. Or- 

 der untrained dwarfs or maiden dwarfs, 

 and state for what purpose they are re- 

 quired. The following are the varieties 

 most likely to succeed of peaches — 

 ]S"oblesse, Acton Scott, Early Victoria, 

 Early York, Grosse Mignonne, Malta, 

 Gulden Rathripe, Royal George, Galande. 

 Of nectarines: Hardwicke, Hunt's 

 Tawny, Balgowan, Bowden, Downton, 

 Riders's Orange, Early Newington, Im- 

 peratrice. — Brentingby. — The only way 

 to deal with the case is to pick off the 

 leaves as soon as the pest appears, and 

 burn them; there is no known preven- 

 tive and no known cure. 



