iiMsii (..\iM)i:\i\(;. 



Hints to Amateurs. 



The Month's Work. 



i;> li. M. I'.. 1.1..., K. 



0\viN(i t<i th.' wft Wfittli.rof tlu- liisl two 111,, 111 lis. 

 work ill many K'anl.'iis will !)«• In-hind li.iiul. ni'l 

 niiw I'Vi-ry lint- <la> imi.sl hf iiiad." u.s.- ..f. and all 

 Work tiot thruii^li a.s .luickly as pussildc. W'h.r.- 

 tluTt' an- fi'uit tn-fs tin- i.niniuK and spravini; 

 slionld l><- ,<>iii|.|,'t<d and no d<day allo\v<-d. 

 When i.rnnin!,' is linishcd givf Ihc trees a sprayiii^;. 

 as r<Toiiiiii(>nd<-(i in li»>(,'inlifr issnc bnt Ix' carefnl 

 to do tliis on a tine <niiel day. .so tliat the s|>ray 

 will liave a elianre of adhering:, and will not ]>,• 

 wastt'd h\ hitch winds. .\fl<'r spraying; collect all 

 prnnini,'s ami Imrn them iininediat.d.N , and when 

 this is done fork over the trampled ii.iits round 

 the trees, leavinu the uii.nnd clean and open. 



Where hord.rs h.v,- to he r.-made. this <aT) he 

 done n<>w. Lift out all the j.lants ami heel them 

 in in a vai-ant corner. When this operation has 

 to he done, a sncrilice nuisl he made of the spi'ini; 

 bulbs, as to do the borders properly everything 

 ninst be removed. If the biilb.s are in ciumps. 

 with jireat rare some of them may be .so lifted as 

 not to break up the cli..m|t. and when the border 

 is ready they can be again carefully replaced an<l 

 tlu'ir tlowering not serioiisly injured. Jiut if they 

 are singly, or in lines, it is very dilTiciilt to lift at 

 this season and rejdace them without daniage. 

 When en\pty. the border should be trenched to a 

 depth of certainly 2 feet, some soils may reipiire 

 more, some less, and add manure, wood ashes. 

 road scraj.ings. or decayed garden refu.se. When 

 complete tlu' border will be considerably highei' 

 tha!t it was before, owing to the material ii\tr.>- 

 duced into it, l)ut ii a few weeks this will sirk. 

 and the jilants sho\ild not be replaced uiitil it has 

 Settled to a certain extent. When rei)lantiiv|. 

 care should be taken to plant with sonu- idea as to 

 colours, and tho.se likely t^) clash should be kept 

 ai)art. All the tall plants need not be religiously 

 kept to the back, a break here and there in the 

 line, or a bay of low growers, hidden from 

 immediate view, will add considerable charm to 

 a border. 



Colour in flowers is a subject over which there 

 is always endless di.srnssionr and for this very 

 reason gardeners .shf.uld select and group their 

 own jilants and n'»t trust to catalogue colours. 

 White and yellow are really the only two colours 

 about which o])inion is unanimous. But take for 

 instance the colour blue, lots of flowers are said 

 to be blue, and if I)y that colour is meant the 

 colour of Delphinium belladonna, or the wild 

 Viper's Bugloss Echium vulgare, or Anchusa 

 italica, many so-called blue flowers are not blue 

 at all. 3Iauve, lilac, heliotrope, and nia'^enta 

 are very confusing, and few i)eople will be found 

 t() agree on any one of thes ■ colours, so that her ■ 

 again personal taste alone will discrimmate between 

 tho.se that are a mere washy colour and a good 

 .striking one worth having, llow very few really 

 pink flowers there are, if by ].ink is meant the 

 beautiful shade of colour arrived at by mixing 

 red and jmre white, the colour of our common 

 monthly Ko.ses, and the colour which is oft<'n got 

 in Shirley Poppies, soft and pleasing without any 

 tint of blue, and a colour curiously enough whicJi 

 seems to occur far more often in annuals thru 

 hardy pereniaials, and still catalogues will call 

 jilants pink which many would not allow inside 

 their garden wall. 



The Flo^ 



Garden. 



|{\ ('iiAiM.i:-- C.i-i'iN. (i;ir.|. ii,r t.. l,..i.l C.irew. 

 ('..stl.l...r..u^'h. C... W.xb.rd. 



I'lii- month ..f .lauuary is pr..bal.|y the most c..n- 

 v.nient time in the g.irdeuing vear !<• undertak.- 

 Ill,- r.'i.airs ..f th.- .d<l or th.- m.iking ..f n.-w paths 

 ill 111.- Il.iw.-r gard.-n. Tin- llower gar<l.-n will have 

 had all the trac(-s of tlu- .dd year removed b.-f.,re 

 ('hristmas, and any beds or Jiorders set aside f .r 

 n.ihlias. the spring planting of < 'ariuitions. b.ilh 

 border and perp.-tual: (Hadioji. lOast l/othian 

 .Stocks. l*i-ntst4-moivs. early ll.iwr-ring Chrysan- 

 th(-mums. ;ind a host of other subjects which w.- 

 have to jdant befon- the spring (lowering plants 

 run be dispt-ns -d with. This vacant ground 

 sh.>uld b.- tr.-nched if pos.sibh-, or failing that, 

 tluMwn up into rough ridges about thirtv inches 

 wid.-, an.d as so..n as p..s.sibl.-, t.. g.-t th."- b.n.-lit 

 of frost and sn.iw. wliiili biiiigs tlu- soil into ;i 

 Mu-llow friable .-ou.lil i, ,ii wli-n w.- fork it .|.,wn 

 in the spi-ing. 



I much prefer this method of ridging and to 

 fork in. the m.tn.urc- in early spriivg on the ground 

 1 cannot trench deeply to luitting in the manure 

 in the winter on heavy cold .soils. The manure 

 keejis the soil in a cold condition much lon-.er in 

 the spring when it has b.-en there all the winter, 

 vinless the ground has been aerated bv treiuliing. 

 I als . lirmly believe that in c)ld soils'a lot of the 

 feedin:; viihie of the manures is lost during the 

 w int -I-. The herbac(-ous border should Ix- covered 

 with farmyard maiuire and h-ft on as a pr.itection 

 from frost until F.-bruarv. when it sh.tuld be 

 lightly b.rked in the grouiid. A light dressing of 

 basic slag is also a gi-eat help, and can be put on 

 with saf(-ty at any tinu-. but best rc-sults ar<- fi-om 

 early a|)piicati.)us. Wh.-re farmyai-d manure is 

 not to be had. bone meal is a good substitute for 

 feeding the i^lants, and a little sulphate of 

 ammonia in early March is a good heli* — mixed 

 at the rate of three parts bone meal to one of 

 suli)hate of ammonia, and spread on the her- 

 baceous border in early ;March at the rate of two 

 ounces to the scjuare "yard ; but wh(-re jiossiljle 

 kee]) to the farmyard manui'e. Examine Ros.; 

 trees, and make lirm if the recent rains and winds 

 have loosened thc-m in the ground. A mulch of 

 good manure should be ])ut mx round the stems 

 if not already done. In cold parts of the country 

 and in (-xjiosed places the Teas and Hybrid Teas 

 would be safer with sonu- l)racken fern thi.iugh 

 their branches during .January and Feljruary. 



Where bulbs have been planted for an early 

 si)ring display of flowers, and esjiecially in corners 

 of the garden where Snowdro))s, Scillas, and the 

 earliest Inilbs are planted in grass, keej) a look 

 out for the work of rats, mice, or even birds if 

 tlie weather is hard. 



Plants of Iris Stylosa will be throwing out 

 Lively flowers by the end of the month, and it is 

 well worth covering with a hand-light to keep the 

 flowers clean and to save them from frost. 



The rock garden must be ke])t .scrui)ulously 

 clean ; bits of leaves and (jther trifles often cost 

 the owner dear if left about at this time of the 

 year. 



The alpines, which are susceptible to damp, 

 should have a piece of glass tilted sideways and 



