236 



FOREIGN NOTICES. 



find the third shift, if not the second, should be 

 their flowering pots; but that depends on the size 

 of the plants, and the facility vvitli which they 

 will rest. They should be kept at green-house 

 temperature close to the glass, and he regularly 

 watered through the winter. Early in February 

 lot them be brought into a forcing pit, but a good 

 hot kitchen window would answer the purpose, 

 provided that the plants were wintered in a eold 

 pit. 



Frequent Repotting. — None of us have yet ex- 

 plained why it is that gardeners do not put such 

 plants into their flowering pots at once, and so 

 get rid of the trouble of frequent pottings, but 

 here it is at last. If we were to put, a Pelargo- 

 nium into a full-sized pot after its roots were 

 shortened, the young roots would all work out to 

 the sides of the pot, and then coil round and 

 round in the usual way, so that, whatever the size 

 of the pot and ball might be, the roots arc feeding 

 in a great measure only on the outside of the ball ; 

 whereas, by the use of small pots and progressive 

 shifts, the roots must be at work in all parts of 

 the. soil. Country readers will understand this 

 better when I say that folding sheep on turnips is 

 like planting in the small pots; and both the fold 

 and the small pot are shifted as soon as their re- 

 spective contents are appropriated. Yet the far- 

 mer's sheep and the gardener's plants would get 

 on very well without folds or small pots, but it 

 would be wasteful in both instances; yet, for all 

 that, you see at lambing time the shepherd al- 

 lows some of his pet ewes to roam over a whole 

 turnip field at will, and the gardener does the 

 same with pet plants by what he calls a one-shift 

 system. Many plants, however, cannot stand such 

 good feeding; they soon take a surfeit. 



Forcing Bulbs. — The earliest of this class is 

 the Double Roman Narcissus, and, very fortu- 

 nately, it is the easiest to manage of the family. 

 Any light soil will do to grow it in, and the usual 

 way is to put three bulbs into a 6-inch pot, or two 

 in a 5-inch pot, and a dozen of such bulbs may be 

 had for three or four shillings. After potting, 

 give a good watering and set the pots in some 

 out-of-the-way place, where the heat of the *un 

 cannot reach to stimulate the bulbs to make leaves 

 b.fore they have made roots, for that is the grand 

 secret in forcing all kinds of bulbs. The pots 

 should be at the least half tilled with roots before 

 you can see the bud of leaves, so to speak, in the cen- 

 tre of the bulbs. This Double Roman Narcissus 

 is a famous one to root fast; therefore, as soon 

 as you see the roots working down freely into the 

 mould in the pot, you may take the pots to a 

 kitchen window, if no better convenience is at 

 hand. Indeed, I know of no better place in which 

 to force these hardy bulbs than a good kitchen 

 window facing the sun. If their leaves grow too 

 fast or weakly, you can lift the bottom sash and 

 turn them outside in the middle of the day, and 

 there is always warm water ready for them. 

 The air is also dry about them and in constant 



motion ; for the draught of the chimney sucks op 

 the air continually, so that fresh air is constantly 

 pouring into a good kitchen. Fresh air is just, as 

 useful to plants as it is to cooks and kitchen 

 maids; and if ever you see plants or maiiis look 

 pale and languid in a kitchen, depend on it the 

 fault is more in the want of ventilation than in 

 anything else. 



The next earliest bulbs arc the single and double 

 Van Thol Tulip. The usual way to plant them 

 is to put live of them in a 6-inch pot, or what used 

 to be called 32's, and three into a 5-inch pot. 



There are three more of the Narcissus family 

 very good for forcing, but not nearly so early as 

 the Double Roman; these are called Soliel d'Or, 

 Sladtles General, and Grand Monarque . These 

 are the best; but there is hardly an end to the 

 number of Narcissi, and they might all be grown 

 in pots. Then of Tulips, besides the Van Thol, 

 there are Claremond, Golden Standard, and Royal 

 Standard, three of the best and second earliest 

 with Rex rubrorum, Marriage de ma Fille, and 

 Turnsol ; these of the later sorts are very good 

 for forcing. There are scores of other sorts, I 

 dare say, just as good; but the above are the 

 cream of all that I have tried myself, and I recol- 

 lect having tried 42 sorts one year. '1 here is a 

 little yellow Tulip with a drooping flower, called 

 the Florentine. Tulip, and some people are very 

 fond of it for forcing, as it is rather sweet. 



The double and single Jonquils are also easily 

 forced, and all the Hyacinths will force, either in 

 soil, moss, or water. It is true that the dealers 

 recommend such-and-such sorts as being best for 

 either way, but I could never make out any dif- 

 ference in any of them. If the bulbs are strong 

 and healthy, and the roots get well forward he- 

 fore the leaves begin to grow, I believe any Hya- 

 cinth will do well enough either in water, moss, 

 or in soil; but I prefer moss, as the least liable to 

 get out of order. Water is the most damaging 

 to the bulbs, and soil may get too dry, or too 

 damp, or mouldy, or the drainage may get stop- 

 ped, and many other unlooked-for difficulties be- 

 sides may occur to it, hut moss is free from such 

 impediments. Like a sponge, it holds enough 

 water and no more, the roots run through it in all 

 directions, and at last crowd at the bottom of the 

 pot where the moss is beginning to rot, and no 

 doubt they feed on it in that state. The different 

 bulb-growers in Holland give different names to 

 their seedling hulhs, although they may be the 

 same variety; this is often unavoidable, but it is 

 very puzzling when you come to make a* selection. 

 D. Beaton. Cottage Gardener. 



Manna — Miraculous fall of Food from 

 Heaven. — Two months ago a report was current 

 in Erzeroom that a miraculous fall of an edible 

 substance had occurred near Byazid ; but as the 

 simplest facts are often greatly distorted and exag- 

 gerated in this country, and the most unblushing 

 falsehoods circulated, in connection with anything 



