410 



juukn.uj of horticultuee and cottage gaedenee. 



[ May IG, 1872. 



we sowed in March ; but Bowing so late, witli ordinary care in 

 watering, tliere is less risk of run heads in earlj' Celery, and 

 it a little heat can be given to bring them forward there will 

 be no great difference in the taking-up time. We also take up 

 later than we used to do, as now we should have a difficulty, 

 with our limited space, in lieeping on regularly from July ; and 

 many people imagine that Celery ii not quite so good early in 

 the season. Many are deterred, too, from the heads running 

 to seed when forwarded thus early, but it the roots are not 

 allowed to become dry, and there is only one chief earthing-up, 

 there is no more danger of early Celery bolting than of that 

 which is later. 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



Gooseberries, whether owing to a rough protection from the 

 frost and snow by shaking a little rough hay over them, also 

 Currants, will be a fair crop. A good many fruit of the former 

 tui-ned yellow and fell, and the Currant crop will be shorter 

 than usual. Kaspberries showed early this season, and they, 

 too, had a little hay protection thrown over them. Even now, 

 though many of the young shoots near the points ot the stems 

 or caues are as brown as it they had been lired, the most ot 

 the trasses of the incipient blooms appear to be safe as yet. 

 Plums as standards and bushes have suffered much, but not 

 against walls. Cherries, as standards, are in full bloom this 

 frosty snowy morning, but they seem, nevertheless, to have 

 set thickly enough, though no doubt some will fall. Apricots 

 wo fear will be thin. There was a succession of cold wet days 

 when they were in bloom, and we had no sheet or net-covering. 

 Keeping the blooms dry, in many cases, would have saved 

 them. Thinned the foreright shoots, and stopped others for 

 .spurs as we had opportunity. It is not wise to put oH too long 

 taking away extra shoots. It is not well to stunt the growth 

 too much by removing too many shoots at once. The curtail- 

 ing the shoots freely acts as a check to the free growth ot the 

 roots. 



Even when Vines are stopped a joint or two beyond the 

 fruit, it is as well to stop the after part of the Vine first, so as 

 to throw vigour of growth nearer the bottom — say, if the Vine 

 stem is long, doing this stopping at two or three times with a 

 few days' interval between them instead of doing it all at once. 

 After this stopping, too, it is well to allow laterals to grow a 

 little, so as to promote free root-action. When shoots are 

 grown unstopped in order to take the place of older stems next 

 season, their unstopped points, until they have grown the 

 desired length, do much to keep up free growth at the roots, 

 without check. 



lu early Peach houses the fruit should now be pretty freely 

 exposed to the sun ; and extra crops, as hanging shelves of 

 Strawberries, that tend to cause shade, should be gradually 

 removed, as after May Strawberries will come on in cooler 

 houses, frames, and pits. 



We have several long rows of Strawberry j>lant6 in the 

 ground, turned out ot 60-sized pots in the autumn, that would 

 lift well either to pot or to go with baUs into a slight hotbed ; 

 but the main crops out of doors are showing so well and so 

 early, that we hardly think we shall have to fall back on these 

 reserve plants, which we have often found very useful in 

 filUug the gap between plants potted in the autumn and the 

 lirst gatherings out ot doors. Sot traps for mice in one of the 

 liouses, as the mice have injui'ed some large fruit, even before 

 they changed colour, nipping out all the little seeds over the 

 fruit. Even when mice attack ripe Strawberries they often 

 confine themselves exclusively to the seeds dotted along the 

 surface ot the fruit. They are almost as fond of these as they 

 are of Lettuce seed. Small as it is, mice will pass by most 

 things to attack new ripe Lettuce seed. 



But for scarcity of room at present we should have had 

 many of our forced Strawberry plants turned out in the ground, 

 as the earlier they are planted out the more chance will there 

 be of good gatherings from the early kinds in autumn. There 

 is no plan that will equal this for obtaining large crops the 

 first season after planting. The first summer's yield from such 

 forced plants is always the best. It is weU "that the plants 

 should be cleaned, all insects, if any, removed, and the pots 

 well soaked with water before they are turned out. Two years 

 ago we saw a piece of Strav/berry plants that had been turned 

 out of pots after these had done duty under glass, and very 

 miserable they looked — a practical reason, as their owner 

 stated, for having nothing to do with this mode of treatment. 

 " Watered ! Why, to be sure they have been watered every 

 day, and every day they look worse," and well they might. 

 The ground round them was as open and loose as could be. 



instead ot being somewhat firm, and on taking a plant up the 

 ball was found to be as dry as if it had been set for twenty- 

 four' hours over a furnace. No daily watering would ever 

 affect such a baU under these circumstances even in a month, 

 and heavy rains would glide over the surface and escape at the 

 sides. As a last resort the plants were taken up, and dipped 

 over the tops ot the balls iu a tub of water until every air- 

 bubble had escaped, and then when planted they throve better, 

 but nothing in comp.^rison to what they would have done if 

 the pots had been thoroughly soaked before planting took 

 place. Labourers, and even young gardeners, require watching 

 in this respect. Repotting plants with balls dry, is one of the 

 principal causes ot decaying health, attacks of insects, and pre- 

 mature death. 



Thinning Grapfs. — Except in exceptional circumstances, it 

 is not advisable to have more than one bunch on a shoot. 

 When two ai-e left it is often at the expense of having two 

 inferior bunches instead of one good one. In thinning, these 

 matters are of importance. Thin out when the berries are 

 small, so that the scissors may work without much touching 

 the berries that are left. Keep the scissors bright, drj-, and 

 clean. Thin only when the bunches are dry, and, unless the 

 day is cloudy, the work is best done morning and evening. 

 Touch the bunch as httle as possible, even with the hand, and 

 esj)ecially avoid coming against it with clothing or the hair of 

 the head, as these sometimes lead to rusting ot the berries, 

 though that is oftener owing to warm sulphur fumes, and warm 

 vapour accumulating in consequence of leaving the houses too 

 long without air in the mornmg. 



ORNAMENTAL DEPAHTMENT. 



Much outside work was alluded to last week. Never has 

 there been a more favourable time ioi fri'sli-plunti'd trees and 

 shrubs. Even large trees that we moved with makeshift con- 

 veniences look well as yet, but July will be the month to tiy 

 these large specimens. No water has been given them, but if 

 warm and dry weather come towards the end of the mouth or 

 the beginning of June, we should like to give them a good 

 watering, as by that time the roots will be pushing pretty 

 freely. We have long thought that drenching the roots of a 

 large tree or shiub transplanted in autumn, winter, or early iu 

 spring, was just plaomg the roots where they would have the 

 chance of rotting in a cold morass. Wlien the roots are 

 making fresh growth, when the soil is becoming vrarm, and 

 when the water is naturally the reverse ot cold, is the most 

 suitable time to give these fresh-planted trees a help from the 

 water-barrel. Even in bright days, when the soil and the 

 nights are cold, it is often better to engine the tops in smi- 

 shine so as to lessen perspu-ation, instead of delugmg the dor- 

 mant roots with water. 



Florists' Flowers. — Auriculas will now require protection ; 

 it on the north side of a wall, and covered with glass, all the 

 better. It the drainage is efficient, nothing is more beneficial 

 to them after the trusses begin to appear than watering with a 

 solution of old dried cow dung, allowed to stand for a fort- 

 night previous to use. The best Polyanthuses arc worth care. 

 Even those not the best we admhe for cut flowers, but we 

 must give them up, as we have often had fine rows overnight 

 on which not a flower was left unpecked by the bii'ds iu early 

 morn. Carnations and Picotees, especially the latter, wiU re- 

 quire holding up, and nothing is neater and better than a 

 twisted wii-e, the flower-stems being placed round and held 

 secure in the twist. The best Eanunculuses, Anemones, and 

 Tulips must be defended from heavy rains and rough winds 

 it the object is to have the finest symmetrical blooms. A 

 little ot the care of the old florists is much needed now. 



Finished pruning tender Eoses. This is quite late enough, 

 but the season has been so exceptional that we did not Uke to 

 do so earlier. The Yellow Bauksian has been producing freely 

 against a wall, the White has not yet opened. We have had a 

 few blooms ot other sorts, and shall have jilenty in a short 

 time. We have planted standard Eoses in the beginning of 

 May, but it is rather late, and what are planted out of doors 

 now should be from pots. We have often a vision of large 

 plants of the finest Eoses in large pots and slate tubs 

 under glass, and we have the place suitable if we could only 

 obtain it for that purpose. Of course, it would be years 

 before we had huge, healthy plants, but when obtained, a very 

 little heat would give us Eoses for nine or ten months out of 

 the year. 



In the flower garden, owing to a press of other work, we 

 are behind with preparing the beds. They are mostly in rough 

 ridges when not planted, but these can soon be levelled and 



