202 



JOUBNAL OP HOKTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



I September 11, 1873. 



it produces fruit of note. Eoot-pruning will afford us fruit ou 

 either stock whUst the tree is young. Why, then, attribute an 

 influence to the stock which it does not possess? — G. Abbey. 



SiONES IN Pots. — I agree with the writer (page 175) that 

 Gtoues are beneficial, and impede the soddeniug to which fine 

 soil not filled with roots is subject. But I think pieces of 

 broken brick are better stUl, because theii- porous nature gives 

 more hold to the roots, and they also act as a reservoir of 

 moisture. — G. S. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



In addition to the exhibitors mentioned last week, Messrs. 

 Dick Kadclyffe, & Co., of High Holborn, Loudon, obtained a 

 medal of merit at the Vienna Universal Exhibition for seeds 

 and horticultural tools. 



— — A HANDSOME Specimen of the Cameeewell Beauty 

 (Vanessa Antiopa), was caught in the groimds of J. S. Ox^ey, 

 Esq., ou August 28th, by Mr. G. Hodder, gardener. Spring 

 Well, Clapham Common. 



WOEK FOR THE WEEK. 



kitchen garden. 



The weather still continues favourable to the growth of the 

 autumn crops, the whole of which, when necessary, should now 

 be kept well eartbed-up. Young weeds will now be making 

 their appearance in abundance where seeds have been allowed 

 to ripen and f;ill diuing the summer. The whole of the garden, 

 when it is possible to do so, should be gone over and scuffled 

 with a Dutch hoe on a fine warm day, so that the young seed- 

 lings may die. Prepare ground for the main spring crop of 

 Cabbage; it should be highly enriched with manure, as the 

 plants will remain in the ground sixteen or eighteen months. 

 A quarter on which Onions have been grown is very suitable 

 for this purpose. Prick-out the young Cauliflower plants as 

 soon as they are_ sufScieutly large to fix in the ground. Some 

 may be pricked into a sheltered border and some into frames. 

 The Cucianbei- plants in the forcing house must now be care- 

 fully attended to ; every means must be used to keep them free 

 from insects and in a healthy vigorous state. When the plants 

 get firmly rooted give them a little manure water every al- 

 ternate time with clear water. Prick some of the Cabbage 

 varieties of Lettuce into a frame to come-in for winter use ; also 

 continue to plant-out strong plants of the Brown Cos for autumn 

 use. Pull-up those Onioyis that have done gr-owing, and house 

 them in a di-y state. They should be sorted before being laid 

 away in the root-cellar, and the thick-necked ones used first. 

 Thin the plants of Spinach to about 9 inches apart. If obliged 

 to step in among them, loosen-up the soil after the thinning is 

 completed. Take the opportunity of thinning the Turnips as 

 soon as they have made a rough leaf or two. Should slugs 

 attack them, which is not unfrequently the case at this season, 

 sprinkle two or three times a- week, about nine in the morning, 

 with soot or lime. 



fruit garden. 



Peaches and Nectarines should be looked over every day and 

 the fruit gathered before it is dead ripe ; if placed on shelves in 

 the fruit-room with soft tissue or silk paper underneath them, 

 the flavour will be better than if allowed to hang too long ou the 

 trees. After gathering what fruit is ripe, the trees may be 

 sprinkled with clean water in the afternoon of a fine day, but 

 vmless in extreme cases it would not be advisable to water now 

 any more at the roots, as the sooner the growing tendency can 

 be stopped and the matm-ing process completed the better. If 

 the heavy autumn rains, which we may expect before long, could 

 be thrown off the borders by tiles puddled with clay, or by 

 boarding, &c., we should suffer less from severe winters than if 

 the borders, allowed to get dry in July and August, have been 

 deluged with rain at the end of September and in October. 

 Unless the borders are particularly well drained, a second growth 

 will take place, the vessels of the wood will be charged with a 

 superabundance of watery fluid, and if a severe winter ensues, 

 black and brown-spotted, cankered, gummy, and dead wood in 

 the spring will be the consequence. Some Apricot trees are 

 having their leaves shghtly dotted with mildew, but instead of 

 watering at the roots the leaves might be syringed with sulphur 

 and water. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



Carnation-layers which are rooted may now be potted. Pints 

 should also be bedded-out when well rooted. Keep Chrysanthe- 

 mums neatly tied-up, and at all times prevent their rooting 

 through the bottom of the pot. China Roses may now be pro- 

 pagated by cuttings with facility. Gather ripe seeds, and pull- 

 up those plants in the borders which have done flowering, and 

 of which seed is not required. The lawn, which has lately been 

 but little trouble, will now require to be frequently mown. Turf 



may now be laid down. Keep Dahlias securely tied to strong 

 stakes. 



greenhouse AND CONSERVATORY. 



From this time to the end of October there will be a good 

 deal of potting for furnishing gaieties for the conservatory. 

 TropfBolum tricolorum and others should now be potted to come 

 ininApril.^ LiUum lougiflorum aud eximium, the latter only 

 a sUght variety of the other, to flower early in June should now 

 be potted ; also the beautiful varieties of Lilium lancifoliimi, to 

 flower next July, should now be in pots, but October is time 

 euough to pot all these if they are not wanted before their usual 

 time. By way of experiment all these and others should be 

 kept back as long as possible, in order to have fine flowers. The 

 spring-flowering Cyclamens are very desirable plants. They 

 should now be potted, and in the summer be gradually allowed 

 to get di-y, in order to be stored away for the winter. Plants of 

 this genus should always be marked with their names, as they 

 are apt to be confused ; and as some of them are at rest while 

 the others are in full growth, it may happen that they might 

 receive wrong treatment. The earliest crop of Hyacinths, Nar- 

 cissus, Tulips, &c., should now be making root freely in the new 

 pots, and very soon the whole host of Iridacece must be looked 

 over and arranged for potting. There are few in this order that 

 will do for forcing, but by potting some of them early in Septem- 

 ber, others late in the autumn, their flowering season may be 

 prolonged, and so with Oxalis versicolor and cernua ; kept near 

 the glass in a stove or forcing pit, they would be in bloom by the 

 middle of March. The Oxalis cernua has flowers of as fine a 

 yeUow as those of the Allamanda cathartica. Violets must soon 

 be potted and placed in frames for forcing. 



STOVE. 



Many useful plants in that section which flowers in winter 

 and early spring in the stove may be brought sooner into flower 

 by checking their growth about this time. This is done by 

 diminishing the usual quantity of water and by keeping the 

 house drier; others of the same sort may be encouraged to 

 gi-ow as late as they will, in order to succeed these. Every pot 

 plant should be looked over, one by one, at any time when the 

 weather is bad during this or the next month. It is not enough, 

 however, that the outside of the pots and the surface of the 

 soil are cleaned over ; the soil must also be turned out of the 

 pots, worms looked after, the drainage relieved from the sedi- 

 ments which the summer waterings have washed dovm among 

 the crocks ; and if the pot is at all covered with gi-een slime, do 

 not use it, but take a dry clean pot of the same size, then add to 

 the surface a little fresh soil of the same nature as that already 

 in the pot. 



PITS AND FRAMES. 



Continue to propagate plants as fast as possible, and if those 

 that are already rooted can be hardened-off, so as to have a 

 fortnight or three weeks' exposure before they are housed for the 

 winter, it will be all the better for them. Stocks sown at the 

 beginning of August will now be of a fine size for potting. Fill 

 the pots with good open compost, not too rich, and put two 

 plants in a large GO, or three into a large 48-sized pot. They 

 should afterwards be placed in a frame, and shaded until they 

 are established. Auriculas aud some of the more delicate Alpine 

 plants should be placed in the frame, so that they may be pro- 

 tected from wet, which is far more injurious to them than cold. 

 Rooted slips of Verbenas may now be taken off the plants in 

 the open ground and potted into small pots ; this will save the 

 trouble of striking.— W. Kj;ane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



In last week's Doings it was stated that the weather was 

 favourable to the spread of the Potato disease, and it has now 

 appeared on the tubers on the farm at Loxford. They dig about 

 an acre or more every day, and sort and weigh the croiJ, so that 

 there is ample opportunity of knowing exactly how many tons 

 are grown on each acre. Within the last two or three days 

 two tons of diseased tubers have been dug from an acre. 



FRUIT AND KITCHEN G.VBDEN. 



There are some exceedingly fine Coe's Golden Drop Plums 

 approaching to ripeness on an east wall, but as fast as the fruit 

 gets to a certain stage it is attacked by tcasps and flies. Several 

 nests of the former w^ere found in the immediate neighbour- 

 hood, and no time was lo.st in having them destroyed. The 

 bluebottle flies are also very numerous. We find the best way 

 to preserve the fruit is to cover the trees entirely with close 

 netting, naiUug the mateiial closely along the top of the wall, 

 and likewise making it secure at the bottom. Some oblique 

 cordon Pear trees on a low wall are bearing an excellent crop of 

 very fine fruit ; the young wood had been cut or pinched-back 

 twice during the season, and having again grown out, it was cut- 

 back for the last time this year. This constant stopping of the 

 young wood will cause the production of fruitful buds, and ia 

 on some soils preferable to root-pruning. 



Ou the 5th inst. we made a sowing of Oniotis, Lettuce, and 

 Cauliflower. As regards the Onions, "in many gardens they are 



