July i, len. ] 



JOURNAL OP HOBTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE OARDBNBB. 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



JULY 4—10. 1667. 



nirminsh^m U<i3e Show openn. 

 I»uth ilorticulturftl Show opcus. 

 Itoyiil Hctrticultur'^l Society, sliow nml 

 a BcNDAV AiTKR Tkinity. t l*rt»meim(lt,', 



WfcBt of EnKtand Rose Show, nnd Loicps- 

 [tor Uurtii-uUui-al Hhow. 



San 



Sets, 



Moon 

 Rljics, 



Moon 

 Sets, 



m. h. Ill, h. 

 17a«« 11 of 7 



8 ; 32 K 

 8 I « 9 

 8 I 57 10 

 8 i after, 

 8 : 13 1 

 8 ' Id 2 



in, h. 



49 at 9 

 21 10 



50 10 

 IB 11 

 42 11 

 mom. 



8 



Moon's 

 Age, 



Daya. 

 8 

 4 

 5 

 « 



8 



nock 

 before 

 Sail. 



Day 



of 



Year. 



IBS 

 186 

 187 

 188 

 189 

 190 

 191 



From obsorvatlonB taken nonr London dnrinif the last forty years, the average day tompnratnre of the week Is 75.1°; and its uiRhl 

 l«inpomture 50.6". The greatest heat was 97^ on the 5th, 18S'i ; and the lowest cold 83", on the 9lh, 1863. The greatest (all ol rain was 

 0.82 Inch, 



IJBKAR' 



.MIW YOf 

 iOTAMCi 

 QARUE^ 



THE COLD PIT, AND ITS USES IN WINTER. 



HK rapabilitios of ccrt.iiii 

 plants in withstanding ciiUl 

 have often formed the snh- 

 jcct of comment and dis- 

 cussion. Frequently the 

 same plant if placed under 

 diiTcreut circumstances will aii'ord conllictiiif; results, and 

 there arc several causes which render a plant more lialile 

 to injury from cold at one time than at anotlier. Kvon 

 the latitudes in wlii<'h a plant prows naturally are hy no 

 means a true index of its liardincss ; thus the Furze of 

 our commons, which one would suppose capahlc of hraving 

 the utmost rigours of our climate, suffers in severe winters, 

 while many trees and shrubs from countries much warmer 

 tlian Great Britain withstand uninjured an eiiually low 

 temperature. Extremes of cold, however, bring in their 

 train certain loss, iminy plants being either killed or so 

 much injured as to require one or mure seasons' growth to 

 restore them to tlieir lormcr condition ; but such extremes 

 are not without their utility, inasmuch as thoy prove the 

 hardiness of recently-introduced plants : thus the past 

 winter has established that of the Thujas and lletinosporas 

 from Northern China and .Tapan. My pui-pose, however, at 

 present is not to discuss the hardiness of plants such as 

 tliese, but to offer a foiv notes on some of humbler growth, 

 and which require sliglit protection during nnist winters, 

 though very often treated to more warmth than is required 

 merely to maintain their existence. The plants to which 

 I shall refer are often wanted in quantity for t)ie flower 

 garden, and are capalile of withstnnding a considerable 

 amount of cold and damp without the least assistance 

 from lire heat, and with no extraordinary covering, being 

 Buch as may be carried through tho winter in a cold pit. 

 Many good designs fi)r such pits have already appeared in 

 the pages of this .Tournal. I will describe two pits which 

 exist at this place, and are of vei'v cheap construction. 



In tho middle of an open kitchen garden, and fully 

 exposed to tlie south, are two cold pits on a line with each 

 •ther : they are both 1 to feet long b}- (i feet wiih^ inside, 

 and are divided into compartments varying in length from 

 12 to 30 feet. The outer walls are of -ii-inch brickwork, 

 strengtliened at places by brick piers at the back, which is 

 about l.'i inches higher tliau the front : and a timber wall- 

 plate, cut to suit the incline from front to back, is ]>lac<.'d 

 above the brickwork. There are no raftei-s. but one or two 

 tie-pieces from back to front where the space between the 

 division is too great. Of course all the partitions are 

 capped witli a similar timber-tie, but, as will be seen, tliere 

 is really very little carpenter's work in the whole, and the 

 brickwork is of the plainest kind. I liave a partiality for 

 brick in preference to turf pits, as being more durable, and 



No. 327.— Vol. XIII., New Series. 



looking neater : and in the case of those which I am de- 

 scribing, owing to there being a walk in front, a uniform 

 line was desinible. The expense of the liricks was not a 

 serious affair, the worknianship of the timber wall-plate 

 was very simple, and tlie construction admits of almost 

 any description of covering, such as thatched hurdles, old 

 lights, or wooden shutters; but, of course, where glazed 

 lights can be allbrded thcj' are best. Those who might 

 prefer a canvas or felt covering might easily avail them- 

 selves of it ; but glazed lights, or wooden shutters made of 

 three-quarter-inch boards, and somewhat like doors, are 

 our principal coverings. I ought to mention that tlie back 

 of the pits is a little more than 2 feet high, the front 

 1,5 inches high inside, and about (i inches less on the out- 

 side, the bottom being sunk that depth below the level of 

 the ground ; but when small plants are grown, one-half the 

 depth of tlie pit is often iiUeil up. Frequently when one 

 of the compartments lias been used for a sliglit hotbed, of 

 which the materials had been raised quite to the top, some 

 months afterwards when they liave settled down, a cutting- 

 bed is formed to stand the winter. 



I will now (ilfer some remarks on the subjects which may 

 find a place in the cold pit. 



Cal( KOL.vniA. — All the bedding kinds do remarkably 

 well ; indeed, for many years I have not grown them any- 

 where else in winter. Cuttings put in at the end of Octo- 

 ber, or sometimes as late as the end of November, rarely 

 fail. I usiniUy have the cuttings inserted in rows about 

 o inches apart, and about '2 inches from each other in the 

 row. Thus a large number of plants may be reared in a 

 voi-y small space. Towards the middle or end of March, 

 or, it may be. tho beginning of April, the young plants in 

 every alternate row are carefully transplanted in some 

 warm corner where they can have a few bonghs thrown 

 over them, or some other slight covering in cold weather. 

 The rows left are now (i inches apart, and the plants are 

 usually ready for removal to their summer quarters by the 

 1st of May, I have sometimes planted Calceolarias out 

 before that time, but there is no great advantage in doing 

 so, and when they form a portion of a ribbon-border or 

 of large beds where more tender plants arc used, they can- 

 not well be planted before the others. The soil used for 

 striking the cuttings is made rather open by a liberal 

 application of sand, Ver^- severe winters sometimes inju- 

 riously affect such kinds as Calceolaria amplexicaulis and 

 those partaking of tho semi-herbaceous character, but by 

 giving them a corner next a partition, and .adding some 

 covering over them when tho frost is very severe, enough 

 for all purposes generally escnpe : and although during the 

 past winter protection in addition to the ordinary glass 

 lights was only given on one or two nights, a fair proportion 

 of the plants have been saved, while of such as Aurea flori- 

 bunda tho lo.ss has not exceeded one per cent, 



Gazania si'i.F.NDEXs — Cuttings of this ought to be put 

 in some time before those of the Calceolaria ; but the end 

 of September will do, and in a breadtli of these put in at 

 that time 1 lind every cutting has made a plant, and they 

 were in good order for removing by the 1st of May, 



Ck-stalrea GV.MNOcARfA. — Like the Gazania, cuttings of 



No. 079.— Tou XXXVIU, Ou) gssizi. 



