i873.] 



CALENDAR. 



291 



active man can soon go over a great | 

 amount of foliage in this the most 

 effectual of all ways of getting rid of 

 it. Where the water is pure and free 

 from deposit there is no objection to 

 syringing ; as compared to the ravages 

 of red- spider, it is by far the lesser of 

 two evils. Pot -Vines shifted into 

 their fruiting-pots last month will now 

 be growing rapidly. When they reach 

 to (3 or 7 feet stop them, and do not 

 l)8rmit much more lateral growth, or 

 the first buds will be deficient ; expose 

 these to as much light as possible, and 

 ventilate them freelJ^ Encourage 

 yoimg permanent Vines planted this 

 season to make as much wood and 

 foliage as there is room for without 

 crowding. 



Peaches. — AVhere the early crops 

 are all gathered, give inside borders, if 

 drj% a good soaking of water, and keep 

 the house as cool as it can be kept by 

 freely airing it; look over the trees, 

 and cut out all shoots that are not re- 

 quired for next season. Then give the 

 trees a good washing with the engine, 

 and repeat it three times weekly to 

 prevent red-spider, and keep the foli- 

 age otherwise healthy. In houses 

 where the fruit are ripe and ripening, 

 keep them dry and freely aired. 

 Wherever any of the fruit are shaded 

 by the leaves, push them aside so that 

 the sun can act upon the fruit, and 

 colour and ripen them properly. 

 When the fruit are stoned and swelling 

 off, let both the air and borders be kept 

 regularly moist, using manure-water 

 in the case of established trees that are 

 in full bearing and not making gross 

 growths. Syringe every fine afternoon ; 

 shut up early with sun -heat, and do 

 not let the temperature fall below 65° 

 for the night. See that green-fly does 

 not get a footing in late houses, and tie 

 in the growths, and thin the fruit and 

 wood sufficiently in time, if either are 

 yet too thick. It is a mistake to tax 

 the energies of the tree by allowing a 

 crowd of fruit to get to a large size, 

 and then to thin. See to young 

 trees that have Ijeen planted this or 

 Jast season. Push back shoots that 

 are stronger than the rest, so as to pro- 

 perly balance the growth all over the 

 trees. Avoid crowding in their case 

 also. 



Figs. — To insure high flavour, keep 

 those that have arrived at the ripening 

 point dry and exposed to a circulation 

 of air. As soon as the first crop is all 



gathered, water copiously, and mulch 

 with manure all free-bearing trees, to 

 encourage the second crop now ad- 

 vancing. Syringe freely every fine 

 afternoon, and shut up with sun-heat 

 to run the thermometer up to from 80^ 

 to 85^. When growing and swelling 

 off a crop, figs delight in an abundant 

 supply of moisture and a high tem- 

 peratiu-e. Where the fruit are thick, 

 thin off some of them ; a lesser number 

 of fine large fruit is preferable to a 

 larger number of smaller ones. Those 

 bearing heavily in pots require to be 

 liberally fed with manure-water and 

 rich top-dressing, and an abundant 

 supply of moisture. This treatment 

 requires to be modified in the case of 

 younger and less free-fruiting trees. 



Melons. — Now that there is more 

 natural warmth, and more air is re- 

 quii'ed, pay careful attention to crops 

 in Melon-houses where the bottom-heat 

 is derived from hot- water pipes. ]\Iore 

 water is required under such circum- 

 stances than in the case of dung-beds. 

 It is a good plan to midch the surface 

 of the soil with rotten manure to pre- 

 vent evaporation, and consequently 

 frequent waterings. When water is 

 necessary, give sufficient to moisten the 

 soil in preference to more frequent and 

 less effectual waterings. Fruit that are 

 ripening should be kept rather dry and 

 well aired, and exposed to the sun, to 

 bring up the flavour ; but, on the other 

 hand, avoid starving the fruit into 

 ripeness. Sprinkle advancing crops on 

 fine afternoons. Impregnate, stop, 

 and regulate advancing crops. Now 

 is a good time to plant for August sup- 

 ply, and to sow for later crops. Use 

 a stronger soil, and use more rotten 

 manure for the heat-of-summer crops 

 than for earlier and late crops. 



Cucumbers. — A quantity, according 

 to the demand, may now be planted 

 out in the southern part of the king- 

 dom in cold frames where flower-garden 

 plants have been stored. A foot of 

 half-rotten manure or leaves, or both, 

 mixed together, being placed in the 

 bottom, with 8 inches ot rich soil, is 

 all the preparation necessary to their 

 bearing freely till the middle or end of 

 September. More artificial A\armth is 

 needed for Scotland. Top-dress the 

 beds of those that have been bearing 

 heavily for some time, and water with 

 manure - water. Syringe occasionally 

 with clean soot-water to keep spider 

 , and thrips in check. 



