May 9, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENEE. 



391 



yieciihouse. When the buds have fairly started will be the 

 jnoper time for shifting such as require more pot room, as 

 they can then be kept somewhat close for a fortnight to en- 

 courage free root action without incurring the risk of the buds 

 breaking scantily. Look well to the stock of plants for sum- 

 mer aud autumn decoration, and do not allow them to sustain 

 any check from want of pot room or cai'elessness in watering. 

 — W. Kkane. 



DOINGS OP THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCUEN GAEDEN. 



We made some succcssioual sowings, as alluded to last week, 

 and found after the rains that our heavy ground reixuiicd a 

 considerable amount of preparation, aud we never knew such 

 preparation to be labour thrown away. 



Asjiaragus. — After the frost, snow, and sleet we did not 

 gather any for several days ; since the warm weather it has 

 been plentiful and good. We do not trouble ourselves with 

 peculiar knives for cutting it beneath the soD. We like it 

 better to be some 6 inches above it, and neai-ly all green. 

 Such heads are soft and tender for from 2J to 3 inches in 

 length, a very different affau' from being able to masticate only 

 a Uttle bit at the point. As to gathering, at present we take 

 all large and small. Experience leads us to the conclusion 

 that this plan is the best. Years ago we used to leave a good 

 portion of the weaker shoots, bat we found, when we finished 

 gatheiing, that the Asparagus rows or beds were not so strong 

 as when we cleared off all that came uutU, say, the middle of 

 May, or even later. Besides, the small shoots, too small to be 

 presentable at table as a dish, when obtained in large bundles 

 at least as large as two spread hands can clasp, if boiled and 

 passed through a fine sieve make a fine Asparagus soup, though 

 we forget the proper name. 



Sea-kale. — Our blanched Sea-kale is nearly over, and it is 

 apt now to become a little stalky and stringy. Just let our 

 readers test what we said last year, aud try the hardy exposed 

 heads that show the flower, cutting them off when from 4 to 

 5 inches in length. Between these and the blanched heads 

 now there is no comparison as respects tenderness and flavour. 



Lff is. — These are now first-rate. Singularly enough they 

 arc more cooling than Onions, and when well blanched make 

 a tender dish. They must be used ere long, as they will soon 

 begin to throw up theii' flower-stalks, and then all tbeir crisp- 

 ness and sweetness ai'e gone. 



It always pleases us to see a good bed of Onions in a gai'den 

 of an out-door labourer. A few Onions cooked or raw will 

 greatly help him in his out-door dinner. Who that has the 

 chance of seeing the earnestness with which gardens aud allot- 

 ments are now cultivated, would ever be able to reconcile it to 

 his conscience to speak or write of the slovenliness and idle- 

 ness of English labourers? We have had reason to find fault 

 with want of tidiness in autumn, when the mind and the 

 physical powers alike are too apt to be influenced by the de- 

 pressing circumstances of the waning year. But now it does 

 one good to see and hear of so much industry in gai'den and 

 allotment. In such cases the leaving work at 5 p.m. gives a 

 great advantage. The man who, after a suitable refreshment, 

 turns out then with his young chUdren all willing and anxious 

 to help and do then' share, ought not surely to be called care- 

 less and idle. True, he is working for himself, and that is a 

 consideration, but if such work in the garden is kept in moder- 

 ation, say two hours or so, after considerable experience we 

 can confidentlj' say, that the man who thus attends earnestly 

 to his own garden at home aud makes the most of it, aud thus 

 gives the most valuable of industrial lessons to his young 

 children, is just the sort of man we would choose to be an 

 assistant in a gentleman's garden. It is possible for a man 

 having a large allotment to overdo himself morning and even- 

 ing, and thus be unable to do his duty properly as a day 

 labourer, just as we have long satisfied ourselves that extra- 

 hours labour, though very useful at times, will cease it long 

 prolonged to be worth the money paid for it ; stUl, on the whole, 

 as a general principle, and if the choice were given us, we would 

 select as an assistant labourer the man who was most diligent 

 in his own garden, and in attending to the interests of his 

 wife and family in his own time. 



FEUIT GAKDEN". 



To save watering trees in pots in orchard houses, we have 

 mulched with li inch of horse droppings. The watering ■will 

 be enriched, but after the soil is wai'm enough such mulching 

 now, from arrestmg free evaporation, greatly economises 



watering. The bright sunny weather of the week has also 

 forced us to water the borders of the orchard house, Peach 

 house, and vineries. As to vineries, we must go over the late 

 ones to rub off extra shoots, tie-in, &c., as the eight days' 

 bright weather has brought them on sooner than we mshed, 

 and more especially as we wished to get a lot of Strdifbririea 

 off before the Vines would shade them. 'Wlien set they will 

 swell well enough, though partly shaded, but then, what is 

 the flavour worth ? We think we have more than once re- 

 ferred to the time of gathering when flavour is concerned — 

 that is, when the soil is di'yish rather than newly watered, 

 and after some hours' sun, if sun is to be had ; then the 

 forced Strawberries will beat, or at least equal, those grown 

 out of doors. Strawberry plants in pots required much water- 

 ing during the week, as welting not only injures the crop, but 

 is almost sure to be followed by attacks of red spider, and 

 that will not only spread, but destroy all richness of flavoiu'. 

 Sulphur and moisture are its greatest enemies. Sulphur 

 fumes, however, should never be warmer than about 1(50° — 

 that is, when they arise from a heating mediimi. They should 

 not be above half that temperature when they reach the leaves 

 of the plant. If this hot bright weather continue, which we 

 hardly expect, as the barometer is falling fast on the 4th, it 

 would be advisable to daub all open spaces on walls with 

 flowers of sulphur. 



In the sudden transition from dull weather to the extreme 

 of brightness we sUghtly shaded orchard houses and vineries, 

 where work had to be done, with a little water slightly whitened, 

 thrown on, or rather spattered over, Avith the syringe. All 

 houses on the change were kept damper than usual by syring- 

 ing paths, floors, stages, &c., and care was taken in most cases 

 to let the fire heat fall low before the sun heat began to tell. 

 This assisted also in keeping the atmosphere more moist, as 

 less air was required to be admitted, for in some of the hottest 

 days the air outside was very dry and parching. Early an- 

 giviug is far more important than the great quantity, provided 

 the temperature from sun heat rises gradually', and there can 

 be no accumulation of moist air overheated to blister and 

 scald. 



oknament.Uj depaetment. 



See what Jlr. Keane says about attending to TiUips, Aiui- 

 culas. Pinks, Carnations, and other florists' flowers. Our work 

 has been chiefly a repetition of that of previous weeks. We 

 have been putting in our last batches of cuttings, and getting 

 bidding plants where they will be a httle protected and be 

 hardened off before turning them finally out a fortnight hence. 

 We have been obliged to use trenches in the kitchen garden 

 almost solely this season, owing to alterations interfering with 

 our previous arrangements. 



Ecli/iiiii icallis, Jhurcr-beih, and bonlfris with the edging 

 iron. We dishke a dceii raw edge as much as anyone can, but 

 when the grass is not more than from 1 to IJ inch above the 

 gravel or flower-bed there will be Uttle of the cut edging seen 

 after a few days, and hardly any at all if the non in cutting 

 is bent inward a little from the perpendicular instead of out- 

 wards. After various trials we found we could not go on well 

 without this one thorough cutting once a-yeai'. With pegs 

 and hne we thus obtain a straight or regirlar edging, and the 

 clipping-shears can do their work much better afterwards. It 

 is always advisable to cut no more away than will just ensure 

 the regular outline. To do this, if there is an unseemly break 

 it is better to push the turf out with a piece placed behind it 

 than to cut in to the grass or verge, as in doing so there 

 are two drawbacks — what is thus cut off must be wheeled 

 away ; and if there is much the walk is all that more widened. 

 You also get earth at the sides instead of gravel, aud therefore 

 there is more risk of a crop of grass weeds there. All such 

 cutting is best done in dry weather. The line does best when 

 dry, and the clearing away of the cuttings is more easily and 

 quickly done. There is just one preparation for the cutting of 

 the sides of walks and flower-beds, which we deem very im- 

 portant, aud that is the ground near the edgings should be 

 well rolled and mowed previously. The rolliug makes such a 

 difference as respects clean cutting. 



Another matter taking up time has been iiliadhiri part of the 

 houses so as to last the most of the summer. To do this 

 neatly aud effectually, and to give little trouble afterwards, 

 nothing is better than gauze netting or thin tiffany fastened 

 tightly inside by means of rings, so as to be easily put on 

 or off at pleasure. Outside shading blinds are very useful and 

 the best, because you can shade as you Uke, and unshade when 

 there is no bright sun. We wanted to shade a part and have 



