178 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTDRB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



I September 6, 1867. 



be apt to overpower them by its massiveness. This would be 

 prevented by planting in bands or rings. 



The plan could only be carried out on gravel ; and to look 

 well your plants must be low, or the divisions of the beds will 

 not be seen from a distance. We would recommend that your 



pathways of gravel should be from 1 to IJ foot wider ; they 

 now seem little over 2 feet — we would have them from 3 to 

 4 feet. You can easily do this by reducing the length of the 

 oval 2 feet and the width IJ foot, and extending a little farther 

 on the lawn. 



a a, Lawn. 

 b, W^lk, 4 feet wide, 

 r. Entrance walk, 9 feet wide. 

 d. Walk in front of villa. 



Wide walks are no attraction unless yon have people to keep 

 them gay; but the walk (i), at the farther side of the lawn 

 should be G feet instead of 4 feet wide. Your entrance walk c, 

 is 9 feet wide, that in front of the villa (d), is 7 feet in width ; 

 and unless there are strong reasons to the contrary, we would 

 make the opposite walk alluded to, and the end one, also 

 7 feet. This yon may do without lessening your lawn. _ A 

 walk often does great mischief in destroying unity of expression 

 and breadth of view ; and you can only be reconciled to the 

 break thus made by a self-evident utility, usefulness of it- 

 self giving a reason almost suiBcient to satisfy even refined 

 taste. 



c, Walk, G feet wide. 

 fj\ Borders, 14 feet wide. 

 g. Border 5 feet wide, with wall and palisade at back. 



Granting the full propriety of having the four large triangular 

 beds at the corners cf the lawn for evergreens and Roses, we 

 cannot perceive the advantage of separating these at each end 

 from the lawn by a circular gravel walk, and thus having so 

 much gravel at the ends. Why not bring the lawn up to such 

 beds and thus enlarge its size ? If you must have Box for 

 these beds next gravel, well and good, or even Box next the 

 lawn if you like, but with a strip of gravel 9 or 12 inches wide 

 instead of a walk. Were it ours we would confine the Box to 

 the central group, and place turf verges round these large 

 clumps, and round the borders, too, outside. However, these 

 are mere hints.] 



WORK FOR 



KITCHEN GAEDEK. 



Celery, if any strong plants remain, they may betaken up 

 with balls and " heeled " deep for use in soups ; this will save 

 the prime stock for salads. Cahharie, trench and manure well 

 for the winter sorts in due time, and plant out some more 

 strong plants of the early kinds for late Coleworts. Endive, 

 plant out more for the last batch, u.sing high slopes, which may 

 receive covers, or hoops and mats, when severe weather arrives. 

 M^ishroomx, the best way to secure good and lasting crops 

 throughout the autumn and up to Christmas is to make the 

 beds early enough to give them plenty of time to work slowly, 

 depending more on the warmth of the atmosphere than upon 

 fermentation in the manure. The natural warmth of the last 

 fortnight in August and the first three weeks in September 

 will guarantee the safe working of the spawn, provided a 

 proper medium be procured. Three things are requisite in the 

 dung to insure the spawn working well — viz., what is techni- 

 cally called "sweetness," an open texture, and a medium 

 degree of moisture. It is a good plan to make the beds in the 

 the Mushroom-house at twice, that is to say, if the shelf is 

 1 foot in depth, which is not too much for substantial beds, 

 8 inches might be made any time in July, and the remaining 

 4 inches as wanted. In this case use new droppings from the 

 stable door, with plenty of fresh littei amongst them, and add 



THE WEEK. 



one-third of strong loam at least, beating the whole into a 

 solid mass. For the surface of such beds well-fermented dung 

 alone should be used. It should be borne in mind that depth 

 in the bed, and loam mixed with the dung, tend at all times to 

 render the bed more durable. Remember that Mushrooms are 

 as fond of abundance of air, and even light, as other plants. 

 They grow most in the fields at night, not because they hate 

 light, but because they can enjoy abundance of atmospheric 

 moisture, which is so quickly dispersed by the return of day. 

 Let, then, abundance of atmospheric moisture be secured at 

 all times, as also a nearly uniform temperature of 55° or 60°, 

 and no tear need be entertained of injury from light or air 

 either day or night. Lettuce, plant out some strong Bath Cos 

 for the latest autumn use on rich soil and in a sheltered position. 

 Winter Spiiuich to be thinned to about (J inches apart, and the 

 hoe worked through it. Scarlet Runners, let all the old pods be 

 picked clean, except a few for seed ; they exhaust the crop 

 much, and prevent succession. Turnips, thin in due time, 

 and run the hoe through them. 



FKUIT GAnCEN. 



Particular attention now requires to be directed to the gather- 

 ing of the earliest varieties of Apples and Pears. As a general 

 rule, the latter may be considered fit when the stalk parts from 

 the spur by merely raising the friut to a horizontal position 



