152 



JOURNAL OP HOKTICULTtTEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ AugTlst 25, 1863. 



vegetate so readily as when recently gathered. Candj-tiift 

 will also do to be sown now. Continue to plant-ont Pinks 

 as they strike root, bearing- in mind that those which are 

 put out now in the place that they are to Hower in next 

 season generally lace much better than those planted in the 

 spring. Propagation of all the more important bedding 

 plants should now be pushed on as quickly as possible ; late- 

 struck cuttings, as has often been remarked, are difficult to 

 keep tlu'ough the winter on account of not having a sufficient 

 amount of roots and well-ripened wood. When the Scarlet 

 and other Geraniums are struck in the open ground they 

 should be taken up and potted as soon as they have made 

 roots ; they will require a close frame for a week or two, when 

 they should be placed on a dry bottom in a southern ex- 

 posure to harden them for the winter. While propagation 

 is proceeding attention must be turned to the amount of 

 winter accommodation, which, whether in the shape of 

 frames, jjits, or large sti-uotures, should be in readiness 

 to receive the stock before bad weather sets in. Though 

 more exijensivo in the fcst place, a series of brick pits fi-om 

 5 to 8 feet wide will be the cheapest in the end, and if heated 

 by i-unning a four-inch pipe around them, mats may be 

 dispensed with. Pits of this class would be also valuable 

 diu-ing the summer for a vaiiety of pui-poses. 



FKTJIT GAKDEN. 



The earliest Apples and Peaxs are to be gathered as they 

 ripen. Early fruit more especially is the better for being 

 gathered a few days before it ripens on the tree, as in the 

 latter case it usually turns mealy directly. As Peaches and 

 Nectarines now begin to ripen, it will be advisable to frs nets 

 or mats to catch the falling frait. A double row of stakes 

 3 feet long may be chiven into the ground about a foot deep 

 at about 3 feet apart, one row close to the waU, the other 

 about 2 feet from it, and the nets or mats tied to the top 

 of the stakes so loosely as to form an open bag. In this 

 may be laid loosely a little moss, di-y grass, or any other 

 soft material ; for fruit is at all times beat gathered by hand, 

 but after the strictest attention some ^vQl fall, and if some- 

 thing is not provided to catch them they will be bruised 

 and sjjoiled. 



STOVE. 



The principal object should be to ripen the shoots by 

 exposure to sunlight before the approach of winter. It is 

 a great error to keep plants that ai-e required to produce 

 a proftision of bloom dui'ing the following spring and sum- 

 mer actively at work late in the autumn ; summer is the 

 season when rapid development should be promoted, and 

 autumn the period when the young wood should be com- 

 pletely hardened and ripened preparatory to the approach 

 of winter. Gesnera zebrina to be looked after, and shifted 

 into a compost of equal pai-ts of fibrous lo-am, heath soO, 

 and leaf mould. Euphorbia jacquinifeflora should now meet 

 with every encouragement. 



GREENHOTTSE AND CONSEBVATORT. 



Contimie to look over climbers, borders, &e. Largo speci- 

 mens which have been placed out of doors to make room for 

 other things will soon reqim-e housing ; this, however, will 

 depend greatly on the weather. Look well after late-flower- 

 ing things. Late HeUoti-opes, Scai-let Geraniums, Petunias, 

 &c., wiU now l)e somewhat pot-boimd, and wiU in that state, 

 with the application of weak liquid manm-e, produce abun- 

 dance of blossom on a light shelf until the beginning of 

 December. The usual quantity for a season's supply of the 

 kinds of soil used in potting should be laid in" as soon 

 as convenient, and before the gi'ound be sodden with the 

 autiunn rains ; for even tmfy soil should not be cai-ted 

 out and stacked up when saturated ivith water. The ma- 

 nagement of the conservatory wiU be more uniform now 

 than in summer, no syringing will be necessary unless for 

 a plant liere and there which may require it for keeping 

 down insects. Let all the watering be done in the mornino-, 

 and give no more of it to any stove plants which ai-e brought 

 into this house for their bloom than just enough to keep 

 them from flagging. 



COLD PITS. 



Young stock, intended to flower next season, to lie ex- 

 posed to the midday sun in order to ripen the wood, taking 

 care not to do this so rashly as to iniure the foliage. It is 

 advisable after this season to be anticipating the approach 



of winter, and to use every possible means to fonvard the 

 growth of valuable hardwooded plants in order to have the 

 wood firm and able to resist damp, &c., as soon as possible, 

 and tliis is especially necessary where the plants have to be 

 ivintered in these structures. W. Keane. 



DOINGS OP THE LAST WEEK. 



KITOHE?f GAKDE.V. 



We have had a few slight showers that just refreshed the 

 foliage a little, but which were raised from the ground by 

 evaporation in a few minutes, and did nothing to speak 

 of for om- tanks and reservoh-s. Did what we could to pre- 

 vent crops sufl'ering ; but, with the little liquid at our com- 

 mand, could not keep Pea bloom from shrivelling and 

 that of Scarlet Runners from dropping, though even these 

 we hope to overtake in a day or two with sewage water. 

 Sowed what we think will be about our last crop of Turnips, 

 with Radishes between the rows, draining the drills and 

 waiting for a shower slightly to damp them, or doing so with 

 the rose of a watering-pot, so as to moisten the seeds. 

 There is every appearance that there will be plenty of rain 

 ere long. Planted-out Lettuces, Cauliflowers, and Endive, 

 watering merely at the roots and shading. Sowed Lettuces, 

 Cauliflowers, &c., for the first spring crop — merely a little of 

 the latter. Thinned Turnips, Radishes, &c. Pretty well 

 finished getting up Potatoes, which on the whole have been 

 good, and noticed only one or two traces of disease. The 

 kinds were all early ones and with small tops, so as to admit 

 of close-cropping. Pulled up Pea-haiUm when pretty well 

 done mth, and will have the ground dunged and rough- 

 trenched for the last sowing of Onions and Spinach. 

 Gathered most of the pickling Cucumbers, and will now care 

 little about them. We did so badly with them ont of doors 

 last year that we placed a frame over them this season. 

 The lights were left down whenever there was a chance of 

 a shower, and now we want the frames for other purposes, 

 so that the Cucumbers may do as they like. 



Cticumber Disease. — We have been more or less troubled 

 with the Cucumber disease for three years. This season it 

 did not trouble us untU about the end of June. We find 

 there are no means of mastering it like young plants and 

 frequent planting. We have tried change of temperature, 

 change as to quantity of afr, change of soil, fr'om common 

 garden soil up to j^eat ; and now we find there is nothing 

 that will keep it away after it has once made its appeai'anee, 

 though plenty of air and light, and not too much heat, and 

 comparative dryness rather than wetness, wiU always lessen 

 its violence. Nothing coidd do better than om* Cucumbers 

 in the early spring and early summer months. The resiUts 

 of two seasons convince us that if the disease makes its 

 appearance there is little security afterwards, except in 

 frequent planting. We have a strong opinion that whilst 

 plants in afry houses — span-roofed, &c., with plenty of light 

 all round them — will thoroughly escape, those in fi'ames 

 and low pits lu-e apt to be seized. The most wonderful 

 thing is that, from oiu- own obsenration and experience, the 

 disease wDl appeal- in one garden and it will not appear in 

 a second where much the same mode of culture is adopted, 

 even though there may be only a short distance between 

 them, and then very likely the second garden -vviU have it 

 the following season and the first will escape altogether. 

 Whenever the brown spot appears on the leaf, we know of 

 no means of thoroughly eradicating it. A fruit or two may 

 be slightly gummed, and yet the main crop be all right ; 

 but whenever such an appearance is observed, the fruit should 

 either be taken away or else the gum rubbed off, and the 

 place dusted with siUphur and charcoal dust. On the whole, 

 then, when the disease manifests itself we have no remedies 

 as to cui'e ; but as to avoiding its presence we have no pre- 

 ventives equal to fresh afr, fresh soO, using suljihui' on the 

 walls, a little clear soot or other manure water instead of 

 maniu-e of any kind in the soil, jjlenty of light if that should 

 be subdued in the middle of the d.ay, anil rather fr'equent 

 planting. If ever a spot shows itself it is wise to sow in 

 another place or take cuttings from a healthy plant, but 

 sowing is the surest. 



Planted out strong plants in a pit for autumn supply, 

 wluch, like the crop just beaiing, are doing well ; but there 



