THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



161 



weak runners, and peg down in pots or on 

 the border a few more of the best. 



Orchard House. — Peaches ripening 

 off to be kept as cool as possible ; hot sun- 

 shine and a close air will sp:>il the flavour 

 and cause the fruit to fall. Where the 

 supply is larger than can be used directly, 

 the fruit may be kept hanging longer by 

 shading it with leaves ; a few boughs of 

 privet or fir hung up so as to screen off 

 the sun from the branches on which the 

 fruit hangs, and free ventilation day and 

 night, will retard the final ripening, and 

 prolong the season of supply. Trees from 

 which the whole crop has been gathered to 

 be liberally watered and syringed, to keep 

 the foliage fresh till it has done its work. 



Flowbk Gakoen. — Chrysanthemums 

 require liquid manure now, and frequent 

 sprinkling overhead. Tie out as fast as 

 the side-shoots break, for if they once 

 harden out of shape it is no easy matter to 

 restore thsm to a proper form. Plants re- 

 cently struck may be planted out in a bed. 

 where they will require less care as to 

 watering than in pots, and may be taken 

 up in dull weather without losing a leaf. 

 It is not too late now to strike a few pom- 

 pones to flower under glass, to make the 

 house gay in the autumn. 



Flower Beds need a slight hoeing be- 

 fore the plants meet, and the subjects that 

 require pegging should be kept regular be- 

 times, and especial care to be taken to 

 get plenty of shoots on the north side of 

 every plant, leaving the south side to take 

 care of itself, which it is pretty sure to do. 

 Hardy Herbaceous Plants of all kinds 

 may be propagated now from seeds and 

 cuttings. See to Antirrhinums, Pansies, 

 Mimulus, Dianthus, Iberis corifolia and 

 sempervirens, Arabis of sorts, especially 

 those with variegated leaves, and Diely- 

 tras, though these increase rapidly by 

 parting the roots. 



Bliododendrons. — In all cases, unless 

 seed is wanted (and generally it is of no 

 use), the dead trusses should be removed 

 without injury to the young shoots. If 

 seeds are allowed to ripen, the growth is 

 checked, and there will be less bloom nest 

 year. As to the young growth, generally 

 speaking it is best to let it grow in its own 

 way ; there is no shrub so orderly in its 

 habit as the rhododendron ; but where 

 the growth in any one direction is irregu- 

 lar, the knife may be used now to cut it 

 back, and it will be best to cut to the old 

 wood in such a way that it will break and 

 fill up any gap caused by the pruning. 

 Water can scaicely be given in too great 

 a quantity now to rhododendrons and 



kalmias, nevertheless in beds of turfy peat 

 and loam, sunk below the level (they 

 should never be above the level), it is rarely 

 they require artificial watering. As a 

 rule, the removal c-f the dead b:ossoms by 

 a dexterous snap of the thumb, easily 

 acquired by practice, is all the attention 

 rhododendrons require in the open air ; but 

 we are supposing them to be in beds of 

 good peat or peat and loam chopped up to- 

 gether ; if they are in what is called " com- 

 mon garden soil " < r stiff clay, it will be a 

 trouble to keep them alive. Old beds may be 

 refreshed by a top-dressing of cow-dung. It 

 should be remembered that American 

 plants thrive best when they get rather 

 thick, as then the roots are screened from 

 the sun. Rhododendrons in pots mostly 

 want a shift now, but it must always be a 

 small one, as too great a shift will be likely 

 to cause the bloom buds to start prema- 

 turely, which will result, not in a second 

 bloom, but in a crop of leaves, to the loss 

 of bloom next year. 



Hoses require to be pruned back, and 

 have a mulch and plenty of water to assist 

 the autumn bloom. Buds to be entered on 

 briars with discretion ; if either the bud 

 or the shoots to be entered on are in a soft 

 state they will not take ; the bark must 

 be firm, or the work cannot be done pro- 

 perly. One night's heavy rain will do mora 

 to perfect the stocks and scions than a week 

 of artificial watering. Roses strike from cut- 

 tings now with great certainty. The safest 

 way is to make up a ho ' bed at once, and the 

 same day put in cuttings of young wood 

 three or four inches long singly in thumb 

 pots. Water the cuttings, place them ia 

 a cold frame, and shade with mats. There 

 let them remain for a week, by which 

 time the hot-bed will be sweet and the 

 heat steady, and the cuttings will have 

 formed a callus. Place them on the bed 

 and shut up ; give air by degrees, and help 

 them from flagging by frequent sprinklings 

 rather than by heavy waterings. Shoots 

 that have just flowered or that have flowers 

 on them will l'oot with certainty. 



Tall-growing Bedders need a little care 

 now, to protect them from high winds. A 

 very effectual and expeditious method is 

 to insert strong stakes, and run a few 

 lengths of stoat, tarred string amongst 

 them, so as to form a support to the back 

 and front of every row. Small forked 

 branches will serve the same purpose 

 where the plants are not sufficiently regu- 

 lar to be supported with string. 



GreenJiouse Herbaceous Plants, such 

 as cinerarias, primulas, heliotropes, her- 

 baceous calceolarias, etc., must have fre- 



