43 



l^OTES FOE FEBEFAEY. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 

 Get ready beds and plots for next month's 

 sowing ; use wood-ashes or soot freely over 

 rows of peas coming up, to keep away slugs ; 

 lay a liberal thickness of dung at the bot- 

 tom of trenches, over which to sow peas, 

 and after sowing dress the drills with 

 wood-ashes or soot . Manure very liberally 

 for onions, cabbages, and rhubarb, lettuce, 

 etc., but apply no manure where tap-roots 

 and potatoes are to grow. Seize every op- 

 portunity to get all such plots ready, so 

 that as soon as weather permits next month 

 you will have nothing to do but trim up 

 with hoe and rake, and get in the seed. 



Sow Saugster's No. 1, Prince Albert, or 

 Emperor pea for early crop, and Champion 

 of England, Hair's Mammoth, and British 

 Queen to succeed them. Sow Magazan and 

 long-pod beans ; and any beans that are up 

 dust with soot to protect them from vermin, 

 for when snails begin to move from their 

 winter quarters, they have an appetite for 

 anything, and seedlings are sure to suffer 

 where such vermin are allowed to harbour. 

 Sow on wai'm slopes raddish, lettuce, cab- 

 bage, parsley, and betsveen the rows of peas 

 round-seeded spinach. The main breadth 

 of parsnips may be sown at the first oppor- 

 tunity during dry weather ; the ground 

 should have been ready long ago ; if not 

 yet dug, dig at once, and lay it up in ridges 

 that it may get well frozen should the 

 weather be severe, and defer sowing till 

 Mai'ch. Plant shallots, garlic, tree-onion, 

 rhubarb, sea-kale, horse-radish, and Jeru- 

 salem artichokes. 



PLOWER GARDEN, 



Shrubs and trees not yet planted should 

 be got to their quarters without delay, or 

 they will suffer much. Americans may be 

 moved in mild weather. Turn over beds 

 and borders, but be careful not to destroy 

 things that have not yet made their way 

 through tlie surface. Put new dung over 

 beds containing roses, and fork in rotten 

 dung about the roots of trees and shrubs 

 that do not grow with sndicient vigour. 

 Rhododcndi'ons growing in loam will be 

 benefited in their blooming if the surface 

 is enriched now witji a coating of rotten 

 cow-dung. Be careful never to dig deep 

 among Americans, as they root near the 

 surface. Look over your stock of flower- 

 seeds, and determine what annuals you 

 will grow, and order the sorts at once. 

 Make edgings and rockeries. 



Sow a few hardy annuals of the best 



kinds in pans in a frame or greenhouse, 

 and a small pinch of the sorts wanted early 

 on the borders, but defer all genei-al sow- 

 ing till next month. Part and plant her- 

 baceous perennials ; plant ranunculuses 

 during the first half of the month. 



GREENHOrrSE, 



Dahlia roots for early blooming and 

 cuttings may bo got to work in gentle 

 bottom-heat. Begin to strike petunias, 

 verbenas, geraniums, calceolarias, etc., for 

 bedding. Calceolaria amplexicmilis is one 

 of the very best to bloom from spring 

 cuttings. Pot off cuttings that have stood 

 in the cutting-pots all winter, and start all 

 summer-stock by increasing the tempera- 

 ture. Green-fly will increase with a rise 

 of the thermometer, and the usual remedies 

 must be resorted to. Look to the under- 

 sides of the leaves of the plants occasionally, 

 or they may suffer much before you have 

 become aware of the presence of the 

 enemy. Temperatui-e 45^ at night, 50' to 

 55^ by day. Bottom-heat for cuttings, 60' 

 to 70% but with fair greenhouse tempera- 

 ture all kinds of bedding-stock will strike, 

 though not so quickly if properly attended 

 to. L^se the syringe to all hard-wooded 

 plants breaking into leaf, especially to 

 vines, peaches, etc. 



COLD FRAME. 



Clean and top-dress the plants, and 

 shift into the greenhouse such as want a 

 start. Give air as often as possible, and 

 during mild weather a little water ; but be 

 careful not to make geraniums too wet, or 

 you may lose many that up to this time 

 have done well. 



Outside borders are this season in ex- 

 cellent condition, and early vines are gene- 

 rally in a good state. In event of rough 

 weather, cover the borders with boards, 

 wliich are better than dung or litter. In- 

 crease the temperature very gradually, as 

 vines break, and create a humid atmosphere, 

 by syringing the house with tepid water. 



ERUIT GARDEN. 



Complete all planting without delay, 

 and put stakes to standards, to secure them 

 against wind. Mulch all trees newly 

 planted to defend their roots from the dry- 

 ing March winds, and the heat of the 

 summer. Finish pruning, but do not nail 

 in peaches and apricots till the end of the 



