November 24, 1863. 



JOTJENAL OF HOETICULTITEE AND COTTAGE aABDENEE. 



417 



used ; also look over the whole stock as often as time can 

 be spai'ed. Any of the choice varieties that do not ripen 

 properly in the fruit-room should be removed to a warm dry 

 room for a few days, which will be found to improve them 

 greatly. 



POECINS-PIT. 



Particular care should now be exercised as to the applica- 

 tion of water, atmospheric humidity, aii% and heat, the latter 

 should be generally applied a little extra by day with air, 

 and very sparingly at night for some time to come. Gentle 

 fumigations with tobacco should be occasionally given, and 

 a little sulphur applied, in a liquid state to the heating appa- 

 ratus when moderately cold, but by no means when hot. 



GKEENHOUSE AKD CONSEKVATORT. 



The supposed necessity of resorting to fires in greenhouses 

 may often be obviated with great advantage to plants by the 

 use of night coverings. Double mats, or whatever may be 

 devised for the purpose, wiLL, except in extreme cases, main- 

 tain a night temperature of from 35° to 40°, which is an 

 amount of night heat suiScient for the ordinary occupants 

 of mixed greenhouses during the winter months. Stop the 

 leader of every shoot of the large plants of Pelargoniums 

 which are wanted to be in bloom in June, and also of the 

 young plants struck the past sximmer, to cause them to push 

 side shoots. Tropasolum tricolorum and the other tuberous 

 roots must now be potted if to bloom next season. Encou- 

 rage Tropajolum Lobbianum, it wiU bloom through the 

 winter; also Salvia splendens, fiilgens, gesnerseflora, they 

 are fine for autumn and winter bloom. 



PITS AND FRAMES. 



As a change from the present to severe weather may come 

 on suddenly, be provided with ample means for covering 

 these structiu'es should it occur. Mignonette and Neapolitan 

 Violets will require abundance of light and air to keep them 

 from damping. Pot Ixias, and place them in a cool frame, 

 or plant out of doors in a warm place. Cinerarias may be 

 kept for some time longer in a frame, but must be protected 

 from frost. W. Keanb. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



The fine dry days were chiefly vised in clearing away the 

 old stalks of Cauliflowers, old Pea-haulm, and Pea-stakes, 

 as we could not get on the ground before on account of the 

 wetness. Took up a piece of Sea^kale and Ehubai'b, and 

 placed in the Mushroom-house in pretty-well-spent manui-e 

 that would give a bottom heat of about 75°, the atmosphere 

 of the house being about 55" ; bxit most Kkely we will raise 

 it to some 5° more for a few days, as we shall want an extra 

 supply of Mushrooms next week. If the Sea-kale, &c., do 

 not come as soon as we wish, we wiU cover it over with 

 straw, or place some hoops over it and a mat covered ^vith 

 hay, so that the air in the enclosed place shall be warmer 

 than the general air of the Mushroom-house ; for though 

 that may be raised in temperature now and then for definite 

 purposes, we always imagine that if the temperatiu-e is 

 long above from 55° to 60°, the present gain will become a 

 ftitui'e loss, as the beds will sooner be exhausted. In re- 

 moving our heap of Mushroom-spawn to a di-y shed there 

 were a few bricks not sufficiently spawned, and to avoid the 

 oovering-up from rains, &c., out of doors, we placed them in 

 the Mushi'oom-house, and covered over with a little hay, 

 having no doubt but that in a fortnight they, too, will be fit 

 for placing in their dry quarters. Nothing tends to make 

 the spawn exhaust itself more than being allowed to remain 

 long in a damp place. Good spawn is best known by its 

 pleasant Mushroom-like smell, and by the whole of the 

 pieces being permeated by a whitish substance in hair-like 

 fashion as to size, for if the filaments are as large as sewing- 

 thread, these individually are too far gone for running in a 

 bed. Even such may produce Mushi-ooms in a favourable 

 position, but they seem to have lost the power of generating 

 and filling the mass of a bed with productive spawn. Gar- 

 deners have rendered the cvilture of the Mushroom by means 

 of its spawn a matter pretty well as certain as the obtaining 

 a good Caidifiower. Who, by means of spawn or plants, will 

 help them to attain the same proficiency in the culture of 

 the Truffle and the Morel, which, for all the higher branches 



of cookery, are as much used as the Mushroom ? One ad- 

 vantage they would have over the Mushroom is that when 

 obtained at the right time they keep good for a long period. 

 Had we more time we certainly should like to try their 

 cultivation in different ways. " It cannot be done, sir," 

 shoxild seldom be resorted to unless in a demonstrated im- 

 possibility. Owing to the fugacious character of the Mush- 

 room it often happens that you may have a bushel of them 

 when they are of little use, when there is nobody of conse- 

 qijence to eat them ; and then when a large party suddenly 

 comes, there may be none or only a few to get, though they 

 might have been had by the extra fillip spoken of above if 

 the gai-dener had only known. We expect that ladies and 

 gentlemen would find that much of the solid-resistance- 

 points which they present to their staying fr-iends would 

 give but imperfect satisfaction, unless the ai-tiste of the 

 kitchen knew some time beforehand, so as to have the meat, 

 the poultry, and the game in the best possible order. 

 When it is not considered worth while to let the gardener 

 know anything of these great events beforehand, it is just a 

 matter of chance if the products of the garden come in when 

 most needed. A little more of a cleai" understanding in such 

 matters wovdd be to the benefit of all concerned. 



The heap of chopped Hollyhocks, chopped Asparagus, 

 and flower-stalks, mixed with leaves and dung, has come in 

 most useful for slight hotbeds, and for placing a covering 

 over the border of an early vinery, the surface of which had 

 been covered with a thin coat of tar and sawdust. The 

 mild hotbeds will do for placing some fresh hotbed bedding 

 plants in, and just setting in movement the roots of some 

 Vines in pots. 



We have been so taken up with cleaning, that with the 

 exception of stirring the ground amongst young Cabbages, 

 Cauliflowers, &c., and giving a little more di'y earth to 

 Celery, with a little ashes or burnt earth and rubbish next 

 the stems, we have done but little in moving the ground, 

 though there could be no better weather for doing so. In 

 many gardens, however, what ought to be done must wait 

 until there is time. We always prefer moving ground, if 

 possible, in fine, bright weather. Trenching and ridging 

 cannot be better done than now. In light ground, trenching 

 with a rough surface we consider to be better than ridging. 

 Eidging is always best in stiffish soils, whether the ground 

 be tui'ned up one, two, or three spits deep. Those who 

 have large places, and like us begin to be a little deficient 

 in memory, should keep a digging and trenching book. In 

 trenching, every second or third year it is advisable to break 

 the subsoil, and bring a little of it to the surface. A great 

 deal would do mischief; a little will always do good, and, 

 exposed during the winter, it will mix well with the older 

 soU in spring. This plan is especially suitable for all long- 

 rooted plants, as Carrots, Pai'snips, Beets, Salsafy, &o. In 

 old gardens the soil is apt to become too rich for them, 

 which encourages them to spread into finger-and-thiunb- 

 Hke roots, instead of one fine large one, and as straight as 

 an arrow. ' The digging down, rather trenching down, such 

 ground three spits in depth, or two spits if the soUis shallow 

 (in either case bringing up an inch or two of the subsoil 

 to mix with the soil that was lowermost, but now placed on 

 the top, in the ridge state), would, if the surface were moved 

 once or twice during the winter, render the soil nice and 

 fr-iable before spring, and the richest soil being at the 

 bottom, the roots would be inclined to go straight down 

 towards it. Such old soil would also be greatly benefited 

 by a thin surfacing of quicklime, or burnt clay ; but the 

 most surprising efi'ects wiU often be produced on such old, 

 rich ground by a dressing of peat earth, so far as Carrots 

 are concerned, using a dressing of lime with the peat. If 

 even for this crop alone the ground were so prepared, the 

 deep stirring and bringing a Uttle fresh imdersoil to the 

 surface would, in course of time, take all the garden in 

 regular course. 



It may here be worth mentioning, that in trenching and 

 ridging now, the work shoidd be done differently from the 

 way it should be done in spring. At the latter period it 

 would be necessary to break the different spits as they were 

 turned over. At this season it is best to take rather thin 

 slices on the spade, and turn them over in a rough state, 

 so that the air and the frost of winter may freely penetrate. 

 From the crumbling-down it will be solid enough before the 



