466 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Jane 6, 1872, 



nse is a mixture of loam, leaf mould, sUver sand, and a sUght 

 sprinkling of cliarcoal. Place the pots on coarse gravel or 

 line rubbish. House the plants at the commencement of 

 October. 



When the greenhouse ie filled with plants do not put the 

 remainder in cold frames, as they are quite unsuited to the 

 Pelargonium, but place tliem in a spare room or outhouse, 

 which must be rain-proof, light, and au'y. Open the windows 

 every day except during severe frost, and water your Pelar- 

 goniums whenever they i-equire it. Pick oB all dead leaves, 

 cut off decayed stalks, and put a pinch of powdered charcoal 

 on the cut to prevent bleeding. By adopting this plan you 

 will have plenty of flowers during the winter mouths, and 

 well-furnished plants for bedding-out in May. 



When bedding-out, turn the plants out of the pots, and 

 plant them in the open gi-ound ; do not prune them until .Tune. 

 The pruuings will answer for cuttings ; plant them as directed, 

 three in a pot. 



Should you wish to save the old plants at the end of the 

 season, take them up in October, and hang them roots upward 

 in a dark dry place. Start them on a hotbed in March. — 

 AaACHXE, An Irish Spider who spins her webs not far from the 

 Liffeij. 



Sale op Oechibs.— On May 30th Mr. J. C. Stevens sold 303 

 lots of Orchids, the total sum realised being £150. Oncidium 

 sarcodes sold for £7 10s., and Trichoglottis fasciata for £11. 



WOEK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GiKDEN. 



Take advantage of the present showery weather to finish 

 the planting of any crop not yet in. Prick out from the seed 

 "beds the young plants of Sroccolis, Kales, Cauliflowers, &e., 

 to become stocky by the time they ai'e wanted. Make a sowing 

 of Endive, both Curled and Batavian ; they ought to be 

 grown in everyone's garden for cooking purposes. Thin-out 

 Carrots, Parsnips, Beet, Onions, &c., so as to allow them to 

 attain their full growth, with the exception of any to be drawn 

 when wauted. Autumn Onions planted for early use should be 

 topped to make them bulb. Take every opportunity of destroy- 

 ing slugs, by dusting the vegetable quarters with quicklime on 

 damp mornings, and in addition laying down heaps of spai-e 

 vegetables as traps for them. 



FRUIT gaeden. 



The Peach border should be examined where there is any 

 danger of its being too dry for the healthy growth of the trees ; 

 give it a good watering if it requii-es one, for if growth is 

 at all checked at present, and the autumn should prove wet, 

 there wiU be great danger of the trees growing too late and 

 the wood being badly ripened. Proceed with nailing, and 

 avoid laying-in a single shoot which wiU not be required next 

 season. Where insects or mildew are still troublesome, lose 

 no time in applying the usual remedies. Persevere in the use 

 of them until the enemy is faii-ly overcome, in order that 

 healthy wood may be secured. Strawberries must be liberally 

 Eupphed with water, especially on light soils of a di7 hot 

 nature, for should diy weather set in there will be no chance 

 of securing a crop without liberal waterings. Protect Chemes 

 with nets or fragments of tin. Birds are infinitely more 

 troublesome in dry than in wet seasons. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



The present showery weather wiU greatly assist the recently- 

 tm-ned-out plants in making theu-gi-owth,'and, when the plants 

 are properly staked and pegged down, the beds should be 

 neatly finished off. Avoid by aU means, when the ground is 

 wet, treading on the beds, which would render them too close 

 for delicate plants to root in. Boaixls or other contrivances 

 should at all times be used when the beds ai'e being dressed, to 

 prevent their being trampled on by the workmen, if the beds 

 are too large to be m:maged without. Stakes of the proper 

 lieight will have been placed at the time of planting against 

 all plants requiring support, to secui-e them as they advance. 

 Take advantage of showei-y weather to cut Box edgings. 

 Thi'ift and other substitutes for Box should be regidated when 

 they go out of bloom. Frequently examine Roses to stop the 

 ravages of the maggot. Where they are wanted to bloom in 

 August, some of the Pei-i)etual and Hybrid Roses should bow 

 have their buds removed, and the shoots slightly thinned and 

 ehorteued-back. Phloxes, Delphiniums, and some other her- 

 baceous plants, wiU frequently throw up too many shoots; 

 when tying them up thin them out sufficiently to prevent their 



having an overcrowded appearance, and where the plants are 

 very large three stakes should be placed instead of one ; the 

 heads of bloom will be finer, and show to more advantage 

 than when crowded together round one support. Seedling 

 Pansies are now a feature in the amateur's collection. Anxi- 

 ously watching every opening flower, he experiences alter- 

 nately hope, gratification, and disappointment. Promising 

 flowers should never be removed from the seedling bed till 

 some stock has been rooted from them. Many fine seedlings 

 have been lost by risking their removal. Rooted plants may 

 either be placed in small pots or planted out in beds for an 

 autumnal bloom. By proper attention flowering may be kept 

 up almost continuously with these beautiful dwarf plants. 

 I need not caution the growers against preserving inferior 

 varieties. Seedling Carnations and Picotees should be now 

 out of their first leaves, and when they have two pairof leaves, 

 so as to be fairly handled, they may be pricked out into beds 

 preparatory to then- final transplantation at proper distances, 

 in September, for blooming next summer. In watering these 

 plants in pots, when moisture is applied let the soil be 

 thoroughly soaked through. Place some fresh moss round the 

 margins of the pots in vei-y dry weather. Tie-up the spindling 

 shoots. Disbud according to the strength of the jjlants : some 

 are more robust in constitution than others, consequently they 

 must be allowed to mature their blooms accordingly. Cover 

 the capsules of Tulips intended to be saved with a hand-glass 

 or some other sUght protection ; wet is apt to lodge in the 

 apex to the certain destruction of the seed. As the foUage of 

 offsets turns yeUow they should be taken up. SeedUngs should 

 also be cai'efully removed, they ai'e apt to send down a small 

 bulb several inches in the ground. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSEEV.ATOEY. 



To keep down insects in the conservatory and plant houses 

 frequented by company is somewhat difficult, as fumigating 

 cannot always be resorted to. On this account syringing must 

 be well followed up on the permanent plants. Those infested, 

 which can be removed, should be taken out and well cleaned ; 

 weak ammoniacal water wiU destroy the green fly, and leave 

 but faint traces of its use in the houses afterwards. Pay 

 every attention to keeping up the greatest neatness and order in 

 plant houses, more especially those visited by the family or 

 by company. The conservatory borders must at this season 

 have frequent waterings, and should afterwai'ds be neatly raked 

 over. Remove Chinese Azaleas, now getting past their best, as 

 their flowers fade, to make room for Pelargoniums and some 

 of the more hardy stove plants. Keep the cUmbiug plants in 

 proper form by frequent looking-over. Shade by day, and 

 keep down the temperatui'e by large admissions of aii', allow- 

 ing a good portion to remain dm-iug the night. As before 

 directed, pluck-off the blooms from plants directly they begin 

 to fade ; this wiU be the more necessary with weU-bloomed 

 specimens, otherwise they wiU take a considerable time to 

 recover their lost energies. These will reqiure to be kept some 

 time in a cool, .shady situation to induce them to break 

 strongly. No attempt should be made to pot them, even if 

 they requu-e it, tiU the young growth has made some progress, 

 or the loss of many dehcate plants will be the result. Con- 

 tinue the necessary attention to Fuchsias and other soft- 

 wooded plants which will be required next month for the con- 

 servatory. Stake neatly Japanese Lilies and other plants 

 growing for the same purpose ; as these are nearly hardy the 

 hghts need only be kept over them dm-iug heavy rains. Many 

 of the climbers here, as Passiflora, Mandevilla suaveolens, 

 Tecoma jasminoides, &c., will now be growing veiy freely, and 

 frequent trimmings wiU be necessary to keep them in proper 

 order. The young shoots should be allowed to grow in a 

 natiu'al manner, merely preventing their getting too much 

 entangled, or growing in masses. The flowering of many 

 vai-ieties of the Passion-flower wiU be hastened by stopping 

 the young shoots, and any shoot which may be hanging too 

 low should be stopped, which will prevent confusion and in- 

 duce the production of flowers. During didl cloudy weather 

 the shading must not be used too freely, and care must be 

 exercised to keep the atmosphere moist, giving aii' sjiai'lngly 

 except on the sheltered side of the house. Let there be no 

 crowding of the plants, but allow every specimen full space, 

 especially hardwooded plants. It is sometimes the practice in 

 the management of the conservatory to huddle the plants very 

 closely together in order to produce a dense mass of bloom, 

 and when softwooded plants only aj-e used this is of little conse- 

 quence, but hardwooded' species are very readily injmed in 

 I this way, and many a promising specimen is ruined. Ee- 



