276 



JOUENAL OP HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



t Marcn 28, 1872. 



has longer catkins than in Hr. Eobson's specimen. The female 

 shrub has not yet anived in England. It vroiild repay some 

 enterprising merchant or traYeller to procure it. It is a tree 

 that ■will cover a wall as ■well as a Pyraoautha. — Hekefoiid. 



WORK FOE THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN' GARDEN'. 



ExTHEME neatness should prevail in every part. Let the 

 edges of the walks be made good thronghont, and the gravel 

 if loose, be turned and raked in dry weather in order to 

 destroy weeds and moss. Trenching and forking-up ground, 

 and surface-stu'ring among advanciiig crops must be per- 

 severed in. Pens sufficiently advanced should now be staked, 

 after which the ground should be lightly forked between them. 

 Continue to make successional sowings of Peas and Bcana. 

 Sow Sra-l;ale seed ; the beds should be deeply trenched and 

 have plenty of rich manure and at^hps. If it is rerjuired, sow 

 New Zeoland Spiiuu-h in gentle heat. 



FEUIT GARDEN. 



The season for disbudding fruit trees is fast appi'oachmg. 

 The importance of this operation is generally acknowledged, 

 and upon its proper performance mainly depends the produc- 

 tion of a proper quantity of clean healthy wood. Take, for in- 

 stance, a single branch of a Peach tree. AMien it first starts in 

 the spring, if in a healthy fruit-bearing condition, it ■will 

 probably throw out fifty wood shoots, and perhaps a greater 

 number of blossoms. If the whole of these were allowed to re- 

 main it is probable that some two or three of the leading 

 shoots v.'ould take the lead, and, appropriating aUthe nourish- 

 ment, would become rank and over-luxru-iant, whilst the re- 

 mainder would be weak and the fruit small, iU-flavoured, and 

 in a great measure abortive. Hence the necessity and im- 

 portance of a systematic course of disbudding, by which I 

 mean the entire removal of every fruit and shoot not requu'ed 

 to be brought to perfection. In order to have fine trees it is 

 necessary to begin -with them from the time of planting, and 

 tlie selection should always be made with care. Those only are 

 worth planting which are well furnished with clean healthy 

 wood from the centre to the cu-cumference ; if they are not so, 

 they should be closely headed back until they have formed 

 good heads. Supposing that tlie tree which is to be operated 

 upon has from eight to twelve branches of young wood spring- 

 ing from the centre, the object to be obtained is that the 

 branches may not only elongate so as to cover a greater cir- 

 cumference, but also produce healthy branches from the centre, 

 and this is attained by removing at tour difterent thinnings 

 every shoot except the terminal one, and that nearest the base 

 on the upper side of the shoot. If this were done all at one 

 time the trees would be injured, but by disbudding at intervals, 

 the shoots to be loft acquire sulfieicut strength to absorb all the 

 nourivhment the tree can give, and the sap being equally dis- 

 tributed, no shoot will assume an undue predominance. It is 

 fatal to tills system of disbudding to leave more shoots than 

 specified in the hope of sooner getting a tree full of wood. 

 ■\Ve must remember that the first year the shoots are doubled, 

 and so on progressively, which is quite fast enough for the 

 well-being of the trees. " 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



March is truly styled the gardener's busy month ; to be 

 successful he must be continually on the alert, for it is not 

 the flower department alone, but others also, which demand 

 his unceasing care and attention. .AH operations in this quar- 

 ter should be completed as quickly as possible. Prosecute 

 vigorously improvements of every description ; bring speedily 

 to a close the digging and raking of borders, sowing grass, 

 laying down turf, and planting deciduous evcrgi'een shrubs. 

 Make a sowing of all the showy hardy annuals in the flower 

 garden and shrubbery borders. Make new plantations of 

 Eussian Double Blue and Double White Violets for this pur- 

 pose, and select the yoimg runners, but give the preference to 

 seedlings of the Eussian Violets-, as they make stronger plants 

 and flower more abundantly than offsets. Sow choice Eauun- 

 culus seed in shallow pans or boxes, cover the seeds as lightly 

 as possible, and place them in a cool frame. The watering of the 

 Eanunculus, Pansy, Pink, Carnation, Hyacinth, and Tulip beds 

 should be attended to during dry weather, and a little manure 

 waternow and then would be of great service to them, especially 

 to Eanunculus beds. This operation should always be per- 

 formed in the morning during this season of the 'year. All 

 water that may lodge in the hearts of Tulips and Hyacinths 

 should be extracted every evening. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



This is a trying period for the conservator^' plants, at least 

 for those of delicate habit, and a slight shadmg ma}' not be 

 amiss for an hour or two on very sunny days. Maintain plenty 

 of moisture in the air, and allow as free a ventilation as the 

 sharp wmds will permit. Sow Cliincse Primrose and Cinerarias 

 liberally ; those well attended to wiU make strong autumn- 

 flowering plants. The Himalayan Primula denticidata, al- 

 though hardy, forms a nice dressy little plant for a mixed 

 greenhouse. Thunbergias and various exotic seeds may be 

 sown ■without delay. Those who ■n'ish to have Camellias in 

 blossom from October to May must take care to force their 

 plants into wood successively. If a given stock is divided info 

 three portions, one portion to l5e subjected to this process 

 in February, a second in March, and a third in April, this 

 object v.'ould be effectually accomplished, provided the subse- 

 quent treatment was what it ought to be. 



Camellias in a house by themselves, under good manage- 

 ment, should be now grovang satisfactorily. They should be 

 slightly shaded in bright v.'eather, and syringed two or three 

 times a-day — in fact, kept constantly moist. A temperature 

 of about G0° with a circttlation of air day and night will suit 

 them perfectly. Abundance of weak and tepid manure water 

 should be given them all the spring, but the moment the}' 

 cease to make wood they should be subjected to a considerable 

 amount of drought at the roots, stUl, however, being syringed 

 and shading. Let the liquid manure be resumed as soon as the 

 blossom-buds are fairly formed. Under this treatment they will 

 be found to succeed remarkably well. In greenhouses a shelf 

 or two should be devoted to the free-blooming hybrid Eoses. Cut- 

 tings of these struck last summer, and kept through the winter 

 in store pots, if potted now and subjected to high cultiva- 

 tion, will make nice bushes for next autumn and the ensuing 

 spring. They should be forwarded iu-doors for a mouth, and 

 when estabhshed in fl-iuch pots receive their final shift at 

 once. All blossom-buds should be kept pinched off during the 

 summer if intended for early winter or spring bloom. Cuttings 

 of youug wood struck now v.ill flower nicely late in the autumn, 

 provided they are duly attended to. Encourage afternoon or 

 evening warmth, but give ah' freely during all the early part of 

 the day. Take care to fumigate little and often in all plant 

 houses or pits whenever gxeen fly makes its appearance. 



STOVE. 



Much attention is necessary at this period to growing stock. 

 Much progress may be made in a little time by a judicious 

 course of culture, indeed the time is at hand in which the 

 whole foundation of a clever display, during summer, autumn, 

 and even the succeeding winter, must be laid. In this house 

 both heat and moisture may now be increased, and have 

 shading in readiness to ward off briglit sunshine for an hour or 

 two in the day. Use liquid ma'uure cc.ustaaitly to stove platit-; 

 in general. 



PITS AND FRAMES. 



Look well to the propagation of mass plants. If former du'ec- 

 tions have been kept in viev.', many of the cuttings will soon 

 be rooted. As such occurs they should be removed directly to 

 cooler situations preparatory to potting-off. The infants for 

 masses should be showing flowers, if possible, when planted 

 out in the second week in May. See that such climbers as 

 Ehodochiton. Maurandya, Lophospermum,Tropa?olum, &a., are 

 propagated or cultivatedfor blanks or trellising, &c. — W. Kkane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



A SHARP dry frost on the 21st, and frost with snow and sleet 

 on the 22nd, made us think of using protection for plants that 

 would have othervdse held their own. Placed a little Htter 

 over the most advanced Cauliflowers under hand-lights, as, 

 though small plants will stand very well, large plants with 

 good foliage are apt to button or show the flower-head prema- 

 turely if they receive a sudden check. There v.'as the more 

 danger of buttoning in our case, as, after thmning, the plants 

 had been watered and richly mulched to bring them on. The 

 plants thinned out, and also those planted out, have had in 

 some cases a laurel twig, aud in other cases a large pot set 

 over them, as the frost will not be likely to continue, and it is 

 as well to avoid a check for the reasons stated above. Forward 

 Peas may need i")rotcction if the cold weather continue. Pota- 

 toes, Eadishes, Carrots, and Cucumbers in pits and frames re- 

 ceived a little extra protection to keep all safe and comfortable. 

 Cucumber beds, and a pit that liad a lining, were banked up to 



