Novemlier 13, 1873. J 



JOUENAl. OF HOKTICDLTUBB AND COTTAGE GARDENEK. 



379 



possible. For some of the very tenderest kinds of Roses some 

 protection "will soon be necessary. Also get in a stock of Briars 

 for budding upon next year, for unless these are planted before 

 spring they seldom furnish strong shoots for early budding. 

 With weather like the present all new work should be pushed 

 forward with vigour, and if the soil has been properly prepared 

 by draining where necessary, as shoiild always be done before 

 planting, there will be much fewer failures from planting now 

 than if the work is delayed until March. Where, however, the 

 ground to be planted is of a harsh clayey nature, and in an un- 

 kind state at present, it will undoubtedly bo better to defer 

 Slanting until spring. Soils of this nature should always be 

 ug or trenched some considerable time before planting, as 

 neither draining nor anything but exposure to the action of the 

 frost will bring them into a fit state for planting. Roll walks 

 and lawns occasionally to keep them firm and smooth. There 

 will be comparatively little to be done in the flower garden at 

 present, except-sweeping and cleaning, and any spare time will 

 be well spent in going over the stock of plants in pits for next 

 season's use, removing every decaying leaf, and where the sur- 

 face soil has become green, removing this and top-dressing with 

 sandy loam. There is nothing so unfavourable to these plants 

 at this season as damp, therefore take every opportunity you 

 can of admitting fresh air. Beds of choice bulbs should be 

 protected by a coating of leaf mould ; also cover the roots of 

 Erythrinas, Alstriimerias, and similar plants. Continue to plant, 

 prune, and dig as before recommended. 



STOVE. 



Where plants are placed on a trellis "within 2 or 3 inches of 

 the flue, they should be examined carefully every daj-, as they 

 often want water, although they appear moist on the top ; very 

 small plants in smtill pots should never be placed in such a 

 situation. I have before adverted to this subject, and I do 

 so again, knowing that many plants are lost by having the roots 

 at the bottom of the pot dried-up. 



CONSERVATORY AND GKEEXHOUSE. 



These departments should now be gay with Chrysanthemums, 

 after which forced flowers and antumn-sown annuals will come 

 in. It is too often the case that a quantity of useless plants are 

 harboured here to the exclusion of those which are far more 

 serviceable for decoration. 



PITS AND FBAireS. 



Commence forcing Roses and other shrubs; smoke them 

 about once a-fortnight to keep down green fly. Open the frames 

 containing plants when the weather is favourable, but never 

 have the lights oflt when wet. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST "WEEK. 



FRUIT AND KITCHEN G.UtDEN. 



The weather still continues very unfavourable for out-of-door 

 operations. The ground is saturated with wet, and is not in 

 a condition to be moved by digging, trenching, or taking up 

 roots. Some persons leave such roots as Parsnips, Beet, itc, 

 in the ground and dig them up as they are required, but it is 

 mnch better to lift them in fine weather and store them in sand 

 in a back shed or some cool dark place. By doing this much 

 trouble will be avoided in the future, such as digging-up the 

 roots in very wet weather, or when the ground is hard with frost. 



We dug-np the Sra-hale roots, selecting the large and medium- 

 sized ones for forcing, and laid the small roots in the ground to 

 plant out in the spring. A dozen roots, more or less, are planted 

 in an Il-inch pot ; the pots are placed out of doors and covered 

 with cocoa-nut fibre refuse ; they are then ready to be removed 

 to the forcing houses as required. Any house will do where the 

 night temperature is from 50° to 65°. In the lower temperature 

 the roots will be longest in starting, and will grow more slowly, 

 but the S^a-kale will be of much better quality. We have tried 

 different methods to blanch it. One is to stop the holes in the 

 bottom of an 11-inch pot, and to invert it over that in which the 

 Sea-kale is planted ; but the preferable way is to plunge the 

 pots in cocoa-nut fibre refuse, placing it over the crowns of the 

 plants to the depth of i) inches. This is a better and more 

 cleanly way of forcing Sea-kale than the old one of placing 

 boxes over the crowns, and then making a dunghill on the bed. 

 This last-named method is very uncertain, and involves a vast 

 amount of labour, especially when, as is sometimes the case, 

 the beating material has to be dragged a considerable distance. 

 The method should only be adopted when no other means are 

 at command. 



Pruning and placing sticks to Jiaspberricn. Where these are 

 trained by a single stout stick beinjj^ placed to each plant, the 

 sticks very soon d*cay at the stirface of the ground, and gene- 

 rally require to be looked over every year. If it were not for 

 the trouble of looking over the plants to renew the sticks, and 

 the difficulty in some parts of obtaining sticks at all, ttiis is a 

 good way to train Raspberries. A better and more economical 

 way is to plant in rows -1 feet apart, and 18 inches between the 

 plants. The canea can be trained to wires fixed in a horizontal 



position by being strained to iron supports at each end of the 

 rows, and kept at a uniform height from the ground by means of 

 sticks placed at interval^ along the rows. There ought to be 

 two wires — one at 2 feet 9 inches, and the other 1 feet from the 

 ground line. 



FRUIT AND FORCING HOUSES. 



It may be just necessary in passing to allude to the orchard- 

 house trees. They are now in an exposed position out of doors, 

 placed on a hard bottom, so that worms are excluded. The 

 pots are plunged in cocoa-nut fibre refuse up to the rims first, 

 as, though they are not removed outside before the first week 

 in October, it is very often necessary to water them for a week 

 or two after ; but on the first appearance of frost some fresh 

 material is placed over the surface of the soil of the pots, in 

 such a manner that it slopes from the stem of the trees to the 

 rim of the pots, and will throw oil the water which falls in the 

 form of rain or snow. Notwithstanding this precaution, the 

 roots become saturated with wet, yet after seven or eight years' 

 experience we have not failed to obtain a good crop of fruit 

 every year. More orchard-house trees are injured by excessive 

 dryness at the roots than excessive wet. 



Cucumbers are looking very well and bearing handsome fruit. 

 A minimum temperature of 65' can be kept up iu the houses in 

 the coldest weather; the plants are trained about 10 inches 

 from the glass ; there are also ample means for ventilating both 

 at the front and back of the house. The means employed to 

 ventilate the houses are not always satisfactory ; in some cases 

 the front sashes are arranged so that they canuot be opened 

 without admitting too much air, and iu cold weather it is 

 deemed prudent not to open them at all. The best way is to 

 have the sashes hung on centres, and open them all at once 

 with a rod and lever, so that they can be opened to admit the 

 smallest chink of air — just enough to cause a circulation. The 

 plants have been fortunately free from thrips, but j-ed spider 

 has attacked them ; this is kept in check by occasionally 

 syringing the plants with water which has been warmed l>y 

 being in pots placed against the hot-water pipes during the 

 night. The best time to syringe them is in the morning just 

 before the ventilators are opened. 



Pine Apple pilants, especially those just throwing-up fruit, re- 

 quire careful treatment ; where the plants are in large pots 

 they will seldom require water — that is, if they are pluuged in 

 a tan bed. Some growers prefer to place the pots merely on the 

 surface of the bed without plunging them, and where this is 

 done, owing to the evaporation from the pots more water will 

 be required. In all cases better give too little rather than too 

 much water. Our plants are watered sparingly, and the atmo- 

 sphere of the houses is kept comparatively dry. Where fruit 

 is throwing-up and swelling, many Pine-growers would have a 

 night temperature of from 6.5" to 70°, and where this is the case 

 more atmospheric moisture would be necessary. In cold nights 

 the houses here fall to 55°. Dessert Oranges, such as Taugierine, 

 Maltese Blood, and St. Michael's, ripen well iu the same tem- 

 perature, and are of excellent flavour. When our Orange trees 

 were bought-in from the nursery they were infested with browii 

 scale, and until quite recently this had been a constant source 

 of annoyance. The trees were repeatedly washed with soft 

 soap and water, and this, with a thorough syringing twice a-day 

 during the summer months, has seemingly eradicated it. 



PLANT STOVE AND CONSERVATORY. 



Allusion was made some time ago to the usefulness of the 

 winter-flowering Calanthcs for decorative purposes. They should 

 be in every collection of stove plants. The different varieties of 

 C. vestita, in which white predominates, contrast well with the 

 gorgeous spikes of pale red to crimson flowers of C. Veitchii. 

 This last is a hybrid raised by Mr. Domiuy, and introduced to 

 the public by the Messrs. Veitch, of Chelsea; it can now be 

 obtained at a cheap rate, and is by far the best of the Calanthes. 

 They may be grown three bulbs iu a pot, or thirty in a 15-inch 

 pan or pot; if very large pots are used these should be filled 

 rather more than half full of potsherds. The Pleiones are also 

 very pretty; at this season, like the Calanthes, they lose their 

 leaves before the flowers expand. A, lower temperature suits 

 them, and they should have abundant supplies of water during 

 the period of growth. As this is the time to repot them, a few 

 words on this essential point in their culture may be useful. 

 They begin to grow immediately the flowers fade, and that is 

 the time to repot. The pots should be half-full of crocks, over 

 these should bo placed some sphagnum moss; the compost 

 to consist of turfy peat two parts and one part of sphagnum, 

 with some potsherds broken small mixed witli it to keep it 

 open. All plants requiring a good supply of water should be 

 potted in an open compost, and have plenty of crocks put in for 

 drainage. P. maculata is the most beautiful. P. lagouaria and 

 P. Wallichiana are also very handsome. Potted Cypripediums 

 and some other ten'estrial Orchids, including the beautiful Cape 

 Disas. Cypripediuni spectabile is one of the most beautiful of 

 the Lady's Slippers, and is very easily gi'own as a pot plant; 

 like most of the Orchids it requires plenty of drainage, the 

 pot should be fiUed half full; very fibrous loam and a little 



