18 



JOURN.iL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE G.\BDENEE. 



( .Tan 



4, 1872. 



In regard to soil, two parts rough leaf mould aud one of well- 

 decayed cow dung, with a little sand, suits them best, the 

 whole being kept moist. Large plants of Ehododendrons or 

 Camellias tliat have been some time in their pots or tubs, should 

 receive weak tepid liquid manure. Forcing pits should now 

 be in full actirity to furnish plants m bloom. If required in 

 sitting-rooms, care shoidd be taken before they are removed 

 there to gradually harden them for a day or two, either by 

 placing them iu the conservatory or intermediate house. Hya- 

 cinths should be protected by a frame as they begin to grow, 

 remove the ))luuging material down to the surface of the pots 

 to prevent them rooting upwards. Mignonette will require 

 attention to keep it from damping. As all but forced plants 

 are now quiescent, the temperature of plant houses should 

 fall to the lowest point consistent with the safety of their 

 various inmates, as nothing can be worse than a high tempe- 

 rature at this season. Keep np a regular succession of plants 

 to bloom through the spring by bringing forward the stock of 

 lorciug plants as wanted. Eoses, both dwarfs and standards. 

 Honeysuckles, hybrid Ehododendrons, and Azaleas, with a 

 host of other plants, will enable you, with the addition of the 

 nsual occupants of the house, to make a brilliant show through 

 the spring. Hyacmths, Narcissus, Tulips, LUy of the Valley, 

 aud other plants of the above class, must be duly forwarded as 

 required. Hardwooded plants wiU require a dry pure atmo- 

 sphere to prevent mildew and damp. 



PITS AND FRAMES. 



Eemember that in the absence of sunlight, plants increase 

 by preying on the materials stored up in their system, and are 

 thus injured as regards early flowering and compact habit of 

 growth. Atlniit air freely amongst the plants in the pits aud 

 fi'ames as long as the weather continues as it is, but be careful 

 that the air is dry. Take advantage of bad weather to wash- 

 up and arrange the stock of dirty pots, to paint any tubs, 

 baskets, wires, &o., out of use. Prepare labels of various 

 sizes, forked sticks for pegging-down plants in the flower gar- 

 den; look over the stores, and provide whatever maybe re- 

 quired for the season's use ; also get iu a supply of the various 

 loams, peat, <S:c. , required for spring potting. — William Keank. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GAEDEN. 



'Continued to dig, trench, and clean, and on a fine day hoed 

 among some young Cauliflower, Spiuach, Onions, and Lettuce, 

 ■which last have hitherto stood well. As our first crop of 

 Ehubarb had come in well, we placed some more iu the 

 Mushroom-house to form the third crop. 



Trenctiiiii/ and ridoing may be done during damp weather, 

 but not when the ground is soaked with moisture. Some per- 

 sons we know, thiuking to give the roots a greater facility of 

 penetratiug. aud hoping to secure a more uniform supply of 

 moisture, have trenched down the good surface soil, aud 

 either turned up a hungry gravelly soil, or a hungry, un- 

 manageable, marly clay. The surface soil in these instances 

 ■was but from 10 to 14 inches deep, aud in striving to get a 

 moveable tUth of from 18 to 24 inches, they incurred a great 

 deal of trouble and immediate loss. In a deep soU deep 

 trenching is advantageous, but iu a thiu one a little of the 

 subsoil uiust be brought up every year to increase the tUth. 

 AH heavily cropped groimd should be recruited from the sub- 

 soil by mixing 1 inch of this -with the surface soil, and 

 loosening some 6 inches more, and lettiug it lie at the bottom. 

 This last should be allowed to remain for two years, after 

 ■which it may be made part of the upper soU, and the process 

 repeated upon the new subsoil. It is better not to be in too 

 great a hurry, or else iu a rash moment you may trench too 

 deeply, and make the ground utterly barren, as we have seen it 

 ere now, when there is no remedy but re-trenching. Trench- 

 ing or ridging-up very roughly has generally been thought to 

 be the best preventive against snails and slugs, but we think 

 that a smooth surface is more effectual iu this respect. 



No-ff is the time to prepare ground for Asparagus, Sea-kale, 

 Ehubarb, aud Ouious. A sprinkling of quicklime, tar, or 

 lime from the gasworks, if used early iu winter, is very useful 

 in keeping off the grub from Onions ; but care must be taken 

 to have all noxious fumes arising therefrom dissipated before 

 sowing. We would not use dung for the ground iu which we 

 intended to plant, but rather Ume. At the bottom of a piece 

 prepared for Carrots we have placed a good coating from the 

 rubbish heap, aud should like to give it a Ume-dressing if we 

 could. In the case of too rich soils, Ume has been appUed 



with the most satisfactory results, since it acts on the manure 

 so as to make it ser-viceable to the plants. I remember a case 

 where the ground had become barren from excess of manurial 

 matter. The stiff surface soU had 3 inches of the subsoil in- 

 corporated with it, was trenched and ridged, and over the 

 whole, on a fine day, was strewed half an inch of quicklime, 

 afterwards gently mixed with the soil. Before sowing, the 

 ground was re-ridged and cross-ridged, care being taken to 

 keep as much of the lime as possible near the surface. The 

 result was one of the finest crops of Carrots I ever saw. Lime 

 will be of httle benefit to poor soils, as it consumes what 

 httle organic matter they do possess ; but sandy soils will 

 be improved by the appUcatiou of lime, which in their case is 

 only to be excelled by clay or marl. 



fkuit depatment. 



Have had some newly-emptied houses cleaned and lime- 

 washed, in order to be ready for forcing. Pruning, planting, 

 tj'ing, and nailing are better done now than two months later. 

 A few Ught half-inch boards wiU be found very useful iu keep- 

 ing the feet clean whilst pruning, and likewise in working 

 among flower-beds in wet weather. 



oknamental department. 



A light wooden roller from 10 to 12 inches iu diameter will 

 now be found of great ser'vice. Turned up some flower-beds, 

 and cleared away dead leaves. Some of our plants in houses 

 are showing signs of ill-health, -B^hich is attributable either to 

 the fumes of fresh paint or gas. I much prefer a lamp to 

 gas, but if having the latter is unavoidable, burners with re- 

 flectors at the top of the roof, inside or outside, are next to be 

 desired. Brought iu more soil to be aerated and warmed, with 

 which old Mushi-oom dung, also useful for top-dressing, may 

 be mixed if it no longer contains any spawn. Earth for pot- 

 ting should not be too dry nor yet too wet. We are at present 

 potting Pelargoniums, as they require thiuning-out. We shall 

 not again stop these, nor give them a very large shift for early 

 flowering. Sandy fibrous loam, with a httle decayed manure, 

 will grow them well ; but rather than put an excessive amount 

 of manure, which causes too strong foUage, iu the soil, use 

 manure water to them when the flower-buds are set. A rich 

 top-dressing is also very beneficial. In such dull weather use 

 no more fire heat than is absolutely necessary, and give air 

 according to the hardiness of the plants. In foggy or close 

 weather give no more air than prevents the accumulation of 

 vapour at the top of the house. Use water rather above the 

 temperature of the house, aud take care not to spill it about. 

 — E. F. " 



TRADE CATALOGUES BECEIVED. 



Dick Eadclyffe & Co., 129, High Holboru, London, W.C— 

 Catalogue of Vegetable, Agricultural, and Flower Seeds, i£c. — 

 Catalogue of Farm Seed^, d-c. 



W. Bull, King's Eoad, Chelsea, London, S.W.—Setail List of 

 New Plants. 



J. Scott, Merriott, Crewkerne, Somerset. — Catalogue of Fruit 

 Trees. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 

 *,* We request that no one will write privately to any of the 

 correspondents of the " Journal of Horticulture, Cottage 

 Gardener, and Country Gentleman." By so doing they 

 are subjected to unjustifiable trouble and expense. All 

 communications should therefore be addressed solely to 

 The Editors of the Journal of Horticulture, d>c-., 171, Fleet 

 Street, London, E.G. 

 We also request that correspondents 'will not mix up on the 

 same sheet questions relating to Gardening and those on 

 Poultry and Bee subjects, if they expect to get them 

 answered promptly and conveniently, but write them on 

 separate communications. Also never to send more than 

 two or three questions at once. 

 N.B. — Many questions must remain unanswered until next 

 week. 

 Books {R. D.). — 'We do not know the publisher. ■We should probably be 

 able to aseertain if you said who was the author. 



. Self-acting Fountains [J. i?.). — "We ai-e iufonned that they ai-e manu- 

 factured by Messrs. J. Brooks & Son, Sheffield. They would pay for fully 

 advertising. 



'Vine Grafts (J. M. 0.).— Thanks for your obliging offer. 'U'e have not the 

 ■variety you name. 



Eoyal MnscADiSE 'Vine— S-U.T as a Manttbe IU. Foy).— Doubtless jour 

 Vine suffered from being shaded by the Black Hamburgh ; but a young Vine 

 seldom does well when planted in a border already occupied -with othejr Vines. 

 You would succeed better were you to inarch the Royal Muscadine on the 



