editor's table. 



ho suflioioiitly pxtonsive to embrace all the operations required for each season. In a work 

 like this, which must be cheap to insure its circulation, and therefore limited in its pages, 

 and where every useless word is to be stricken out, a monthly rrstim^ of any prcat length 

 would be improper. We shall, however, endeavor to give such hints as we deem important, 

 studyini; brevity rather than dilfuseness, and dealing more in princii)les than detail. 



Vi;(;i/rAi!Lii GAraiEX. — The successful gardener will by this lime have ridijed uj) his vege- 

 table ground for winter, but in such parts of the Union where the ground is not at this 

 time bound up with frost, he may continue to do so in the waste quarters, first giving them 

 such manure as they reciuire. 



Repair fences, rub out and clean your seeds, prepare labels, nails, and twigs, get all 

 garden tools iu repair, provide pea-rods and poles for Lima and other running beans, to be 

 ready for use when wanted. Cauliflower, lettuce, and other plants iu frames, should be 

 kept dry ; cover them up during snow storms, taking care to expose them to sunshine 

 gradually thereafter. Snow is a very effectual covering against frost, and may be allowed 

 to remain with advantage iov a week or ten days if the weather is severe. 



Grapery. — In the early grapery, the vines having advanced some inches, the temperature 

 should be gradually increased. The cold houses should be well aired, rarely or never 

 entirely closed, the borders kept dry, the outside i)ortions protected by wooden or glazed 

 sashes; if the latter, lettuce, strawberries, &c., may be cultivated; from its forcing habit, 

 the Sir Harry will be found to be excellent, as well as the British Queen. Straw will bo 

 placed over the vines now, in a horizontal position, in the cold house. 



Strawberries should be lightly covered with manure, short hay, or leaves, and they will 

 be grateful for it when the time of bearing arrives. Raspberries should be now, if they 

 have not been already, under iirotection, by laying down the vines and covering them with 

 soil. Peach-trees iu pots may be kept in the grapery in a cool place. Keep the roots dry, 

 and cover to prevent freezing. Root grafting is now advantageously attended to, and the 

 roots set in boxes of earth are placed in a cool cellar. 



Grekxhouse. — By day the temperature may average 60° or 650, and at night 40O. Keep 

 your tender plants in the warm end, and water those most that are in flower. Pinch the 

 points of the shoots of plants intended for the flower garden to make them stocky and 

 strengthen their growth. Syringe your camellias freely in fine weather. Fumigate twice 

 a mouth to keep down the green fly, and throw a small quantity of sulphur occasionally on 

 the heating apparatus to destroy red spider. 



Flower Garden. — While but little can be done here for the present, manure and com- 

 posts may be applied, walks repaired, and a general oversight inducing to cleanliness 

 observed. Both here and in the 



Pleasure Grounds and Sukubbery, do everything that can facilitate spring operations ; 

 dig out and prepare the ground for trees, laying beside each hole, leaf mould or other ma- 

 terials ready for spring planting. 



Frames will require regubir attention; new linings of hot manure and leaves or litter 

 must be given whenever the temperature requires, and if the weather is cold, wet, or snowy, 

 it may be proper to lay a quantity of dry long litter all round the general lining, which will 

 protect the whole from driving cold rains and snow, and preserve the heat of the bed in a 

 fine growing temperature. Every good gardener prides himself on having now, at least, an 

 abundance of good salad, placed in the frame iu November. Cresses, mustard, radishes, 

 and lettuce may be sown iu a slight hotbed, and a succession should always be kept up. 

 Asparagus may be forced any time this month for February or JIarch. Take plants of three 

 or four years' growth, and keep the temperature equable, admitting air as often as the 

 weather will allow. 



Prinixg, etc. — Give a careful penisal to the best works on pruning, as much may be done 

 in fine weather to fruit trees and grape-vines ; the latter, in ordinary seasons, may be trim- 

 med in February, and in extreme winters, early in March. 



Mulch your newly planted fruit trees, particularly the choicest of the stone-fruit kinds, if 

 not already done. Pear-trees should be protected in this way, and if in an orchard, will 

 be benefited by laying long litter on the surface of the roots. This is a matter of great 

 importance. Most of our winter killed trees are destroyed when the soil around the roots 

 is frozen; there is no absorption, and the tree is placed in the same position as if cut over at 

 the surface, and stuck in the ground. A position it cannot long survive. 



