8apt«mber li, 1887. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTOBB AND COTTAGE GABDENBR. 



301 



Continne to put in cnttings of new and scarce plants ; a close 

 frame witlinut artificial beat will answer to keep them in at 

 present. — W. Kk.ine. 



should have the decaying corolla plucked out. This helps the 

 seeding mucli. Make observations on tbe colour and general 

 character c^f the llower garden before tbe season closes in order 

 to improve next year. After studyiug the individual effect of 

 flowerR, let collective eflcct receive a tborougli consideration, 

 and tbo important principles of proportion and outline as well 

 as combination of colour.-) have Ibeir full weight. 



OREENDOUSE AND CONSF.IIVATORV. 



The sooner the hulbs are potted for forcing the bettor, more 

 especially with regard' to imported roots. Tlie chitf business 

 is to get tbo root well established before growth commences, 

 otherwise it is impossible to produce an early and strong bloom. 

 Most of tbe failures we meet with are chargeable to tbe omission 

 of this most important point, and tbe fault has not uufre- 

 ijuently been charged, most unjustly, on tbe bulbs. A soil com- 

 posed principally of a mellow loam, with the addition of old 

 cow-manure and leaf soil, and a sprinliling of sharp sand, and . . 



fine charcoal dust, will be excellent material. Secure good "''"^K t*^ attain bis object, "Well, on the whole it is just as 



3 the level of ^^''"' f'^r," 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WFJEK. 

 The most of our work has been a mere continuation of that 

 of the preceding week, c.msiderable time Itiug taken up in 

 rendering lawns, flower-beds, and gravel as neat as possible 

 to bear the inspection of visitors, as well as to escape tbe 

 personal mortification of perceiving the untidy, day after day, 

 staring one in the face. With every tfTort, however, as most 

 gardens are now managed, there will bo comers and places that 

 cannot be reached in time, so as to have tbe whole demesne 

 in first-rate order, and one of our old masters used to say, 

 whilst making every effort to attain that result, when still 

 failing to attain bis object, ' 



drainage, and pot the bulb high (three parts above 

 the rim), taking care that tbo soil is in a mellow state, neither 

 wet nor dry. Shako the pot shgbtly, in order to prevent thu 

 bulb settling too low, but do not by any means press the soil. 

 They succeed by far tbo b^i^t in a cold frame, audit is most de- 

 sirable that they should receive no moisture beyond what the 

 soil contains, until tbe pot is somewhat filled with roots. Those 

 who have not the convenience of a frame may plunge tbem in 

 cinder ashes in some sheltered spot, taking care to raise them 

 above the ground level for fear of water lodging. Take care 

 that there is a free passage for the rain, and let them be covered 

 with U inches of some mellow material, such as old fan, old 

 leaf soil, sawdust (if not too new), or ashes. This depth is 

 necessary to keep out sharp frosts. Those put in water-glasses 

 should bo kept iu a somewhat dark place until pretty well 

 rooted, suffering the bulb to barely touch tbe water at first. 

 Heliotropes to flower tbroiigU the winter, and the Scarlet Pe- 

 largonium, should now he introduced to the greenhouse, and 

 placed on a light, cool slielf. Autumn frosts may shortly bo 

 expected, and it such could be warded off by some means, most 

 of these tilings would be better out of doors for another fort- 

 night. Pot early Cinerarias, those taken in hand in due'time 

 will now be showing bloom, and will be very useful in pro- 

 longing the autumn display. Those who desire Moh-ts iu pot.-i, 

 should now pot their Neapolitan, and Early Kussian, which 

 were cullivateil early for tbe purpose. This is the period also 

 for planting a frame or pit of Violets ; and if required to bloom 

 through November and December, continuing until April, n 

 little bottom heat is a desirable thing. It must, however, be I 

 of a moderate character, not exceeding by any means 75°. i 

 The plants to be idanled with good balls of earth, and to | 

 receive a slight shading for a week after planting, after which 

 they will require an abundance of air day and night, but no 

 rain. Pelargoniums cut down a few weeks since, may now be 

 disrooted, the soil shook entirely away, the roots slightly 

 pruned and repotted in clean pots thoroughly drained. The 

 Anne Boleyn Pinks for early forcing, if not potted, must bo 

 done forthwith. All these things for early forcing should at 

 this period be strong and well established in their pots. 

 Primula sinensis must be forwarded by frame protection, and 

 the size of the pots increased ; heat will not be necessary, but 

 confinement in a frame will promote their growth, and secure 

 their caily flowering. Successions of Jlignon^tte, for winter 

 and spring use, should be sown every three or four weeks. 

 Protect it from the weather in a common frame, keep it near 

 the glass, and well thinned, leaving only six plants in a five- 

 inch pot. Roses of the Tea-scented and" Chinese kinds should 

 also be placed under glass, aud if requisite repot them, to pro- 

 mote immediate growth aud early blooming. 

 stove. 

 Give regular attention to Orchids, in order to ascertain which 

 have completed their season's growth, such should be instantly 

 removed (more especially if any yellowness occur in tbe leaf), 

 to a moderate house. Several of the Bletias, as well as the old 

 Phaius grondifolius, are very useful for producing winter or 

 early spring flowers. Tbe Maxillaria aromatica, also, is an ex- 

 cellent carlv thing, provided tbe growth is early made and well 

 matured. This principle, indeed, applies to allforeing matters. 



FITS AND FIUMES. 



Mignonette to come in in spring, should be thinned and 

 pricked out into other pots, kept close and shaded for a few 

 days. Cuttings of Pelargoniums should be occasionally looked 

 over, picking off all leaves that exhibit a tendency to damp off. 



our employers saw everything done they would 

 suppose there was nothing to do." We have never in our 

 course had any chance of arriving at that consummation, bat 

 when one desirable thing had been done, had always several 

 more staring us in tbe face and requiring to be done. In such 

 circumstances. Common Sense an I Prudence would say, " See 

 that all that comes principally under the eye is attended to 

 first ;" and hence in a gentleman's garden, all about and neaj 

 the mansion should first receive attention, and every effort be 

 made to have all neat, tidy, and comfortable, and enjoyable on 

 a wet day, as well as a dry one. The state of the walks and 

 lawns is, therefore, of primary importance. 



Then, again, in a kitchen garden, if there are houses, these 

 houses and tbe borders and walks near them, should always be 

 neat and clean. A few large weeds in a distant quarter will 

 not strike the eye so much as similar weeds near the houses, 

 whilst such weeds inside the houses always convey the ideas 

 of slovenline-^s and idleness. We shall never forget the im- 

 pression made iu a pretty well-kept place, from seeing large 

 weeds disputing the post of honour with greenhouse plants in 

 the plant-house. Unfortunately we walked into that greenhouse 

 first, from a door in the boundary-wall, and we greatly regretted 

 j dojng so, as the weeds there gave a sort of character to tbe 

 I whole place, as these weeds would rise up to our mind's eye 

 when surveying fine crops and neat flower-beds. The simple 

 lesson we would wish to inculcate is just this — If short of 

 labour power (and that shortness cannot be altogether con- 

 cealed), do not let it bo seen in the most prominent places, 

 j as near the mansion, or in glass houses, &e. We think we 

 once chronicled how a clever good gardener lost a good place, 

 because on a necessary reduction of labour he allowed the re- 

 I duction to appear prominently in a small flower garden near 

 i tho house. He might have left uucropped the half of a large 

 ' kitchen garden, or sown it in grass or grain. No one likes 

 , even to see the result of a reduction or deficiency thrust npon 

 them, and much unpleasantness in such matters would be 

 j avoided, were it only thoroughly comprehended how much of 

 pleasure, or the reverse, is obtained iu a garden by the first im- 

 ! pression made. No after-sights, especially in the case of short- 

 j time-staying visitors, will do away with tbe effects of that first 

 1 impression. The proprietors and the managers of gardens 

 should keep this in mind where there is much not quite np 

 to the mark. If seen at all, these places should be seen after 

 the senses have been well supplied with the beautiful and 

 the interesting. One exception may be made iu a place that 

 is all thoroughly well kept, and the visitor has only time to 

 look round ; in that case it is often well to commence with tbe 

 plainest and to end with the most artistic and highest kept, 

 and in that case the last picture may be the most impressed on 

 the mind. In small places it is as well that tbe best should be 

 seen first and last likewise. The kind of day makes a great 

 difference as to our sensatious when looking on a flower garden. 

 The same groups seem very different in a dull wet day to what 

 they do in a bright sun, and even in tbe latter case the gar- 

 dener will gain something if the visitor looks on the sunny bed 

 whilst his own back and not his face is to the sun. 



Cottage Garhess. — Whilst in the autumn the gentleman's 

 gardener must keep an eye to neatness and cleanliness, it is 

 still more indispensable that the cottage gardener and tbe 

 allotment gardener should do so. It is often very melancholy 

 to contrast such gardens in spring and autumn. In tbe first 

 time, all speaks of promise, and tbe fresh-turned soil, the neat 

 borders, and clean walks are quite in unison wiih the seaeon 

 of the year — the expanding buds ,tbe opening flowers, the skip- 



