November SI, 1867. 3 



JOURNAL OF HOaTICUIiTORB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



389 



important points in this department is to see that tlie drench- 

 ing autumn ruins Lave every facility for escape. The best of soils 

 will become soured in a very short time by the lodgment of 

 stagnant waters. A good compost-yard on tliis account should 

 be on an inclined plane, and tlio soils or composts should in- 

 variably bfi biid in parallel ridges with their length in the 

 direction of the descent. Those who have not collected their 

 loam should lose no time in doing so. 



STOVK. 



Continue to attend to former directions, hardening growths, 

 and endeavouring to maintain a cjuiet atmosphere, somewhat 

 dry. Keep down all unnatural night heat. 



PITS AND FRAMES. 



Cuttings put in late must now be sorted, and all that are 

 rooted should at once be removed to another pit or frame where 

 they can have more air to harden them olY before the cold sets 

 in ; those not rooted should be rcpluuged and kept close until 

 they have become rooted. Admit air as directed in former 

 calendars. Scarlet Pelargoniums taken up from borders will 

 keep well over winter if they are laid in sand or soil beneath a 

 greenhouse stage. In spring they might at once be replanted 

 in the borders without repotting, if the operation be per- 

 formed in gloomy weather. l''orraiia roots also keep better in 

 this way than in any other, but traps must be set for mice, 

 which are very fond of the roots. In fine weather, when the 

 lights are off, look carefully over all free-growing plants and 

 pinch out the tops of the shoots to keep the plants dwarf and 

 bushy ; also, remove dead and damp leaves. Give air freely 

 night and day while the weather is mild, keep the plants 

 moderately dry, and merely exclude frost. Do not give water 

 ontU the plants actually llag, and then in the morning of a line 

 day. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE L.\ST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GAIIDEN". 



Endive. — A good part of the most forward we have left out 

 of doors, and so that we can throw litter over it in severe 

 weather. We blanch it beautifully as wanted, by covering a 

 yard or two at a time with long grass, with or without a rough 

 frame or hurdle for the grass to rest on. We like this plan 

 better than tying, or covering with slates, tiles, or boards over 

 the plants, though any plan that excludes light will do. They 

 will come beautifully white if taken up and set thickly in a 

 dark room, closet, cellar, or Mushroom-house. Where there is 

 a close shed with windows, a fine supply can be kept easily all 

 the winter, giving air by opening the door in line weather, and 

 the light will keep the plants from blanching much ; enough 

 can then always be had in first-rate condition by covering a 

 yard or two at a time with a mat and a little litter. Endive 

 and Chicory can never bo had better than from a dark cellar, 

 &c., but then, if much is put in, too much will come in at once, 

 and if the plants become over dry the leaves will lose their 

 crispness, and if the soil be moist or the cellar floor very moist, 

 the leaves will begin to damp some time after they are blanched. 

 Much the same remark applies to a dark Mushroom-house. The 

 heat will bring on the green Endive to be soon lit for use, but 

 they do not keep long after they are fit. When there is no 

 convenience except open-ground treatment, it is best to grow 

 plants on ridges to secure dryness, and have litter to protect in 

 severe weather, and clean litter or other covering to blanch as 

 wanted. A common earth-pit will be a great help in the way 

 of making protection easy, but unless rains can be excluded 

 the plants will suffer more from damp than they will suffer 

 from frost on ridges. Some methods must be tried to secure 

 snch salading in winter, unless where pits and frames are 

 ample enough in extent to supply a daily allowance of Lettuces, 

 and even then a little of the whiter Endive makes the greener 

 Lettuce all the prettier to the sight, if not preferable to the 

 palate. 



Lcttiicin. — Took a good many, full-grown and half grown, with 

 balls into an earth-pit, protected by some old worn-out sashes, 

 and have pricked out a lot of young ones under a slight pro- 

 tection and in tho open air, mostly thickly for transplanting or 

 moving every other one in tho spring, if they stand well. Threw 

 ashes over young plants in bods, ic, as the young ones often 

 stand best. For all such pricked-out plants and seedlings, we 

 have long found that the plants stand in proportion to tiie less 

 growth they make in tho first part of the winter, and for in- 

 suring this more stunted growth, nothing is more effectual 

 than a comparatively hard soil. In sowing, therefore, and 



pricking out in autumn, and even now, it is advisable not to 

 dig the ground or give it any manure, but merely prick it over 

 a couple of inches deep or so on the surface. l'"or the plants 

 left without transplanting the ground may be forked between, 

 and mulchings if needed given in spring. These, however 

 small, will bo forward enough for us, more especially as a few 

 rows of small plants, in the front of the later orchard-house, 

 will come in when the supply of winter Lettuce and Endive is 

 becoming short. These would come on earlier with the pro- 

 tection of a glass covering, and Lettuces and Endive could be 

 kept for winter use ; but we should want to cover these larger 

 plants in frost, as unless that is very severe' we like to leave 

 the veatilation on, to keep the trees as late as possible from 

 blooming. 



Turnips.— Took up a lot of white and placed them on a hard 

 piece of ground thinly in the open air, and covered with a little 

 litter. We question "if there is any better mode for keeping 

 them crisp, and without growing. A little wet passing through 

 the litter will not spoil them, so long as the layer is thin, and 

 there is no chance of their heating. If kept in a dry shed, their 

 juices evaporate. Wherever kept — in shed, heap, or pit, it is 

 important that the heap should not be large, as they are apt to 

 heat when shut up, and that not only destroys flavour but 

 encourages decay. Those about 1! inch in diameter now, 

 will scarcely pass tho winter in the open air, if the frost should 

 be severe, and if from :i to 1 inches across they will be better 

 up than left in the ground, however mild the weather. 



Bi'it should also now be housed without delay, as a sharp frost 

 will injure it. When the roots are somewhat dry, they may 

 be packed in dry sand. When we have been scarce of that, or 

 of dry earth, and wished to husband room, we have built it in 

 a heap, with a layer of I'ea sticks, or other bare branches be- 

 tween. It is just necessary to prevent the heap heating. In 

 taking up, avoid breaking the roots, and leave fully half an 

 inch of the leaves, to prevent the bleeding that would take 

 place if you cut too closely. We obtain vei7 good Beet, and the 

 roots not too large, by transplanting. From 1} to '2 inches in 

 diameter is quite large enough for salad use, and the darker the 

 Beet the better it is liked, and the better it looks in the salad 

 ( bowl, contrasted w-ith the white of Endive and Celery. For a 

 ; number of years we have found sowing in the open ground to 

 be of no use unless we can protect the seed-bed securely with a 

 ' net. As soon as the red leaves appear, they arc cleared off by 

 ] birds. These are just as eager to clear off every vestige of a 

 seed-leaf of Prince's Feather, and Love-lies-bleeding, and yet 

 ' they seldom touch seedlings of the Purple-leaved Spinach. We 

 have never been able for years to depend on Prince's Feather, 

 unless we planted it out when 2 or 3 inches in height, and then, 

 like the Beet, the birds let it alone. 

 Su-idish Ticrnijii. — Put a barrowload in the Mushroom-honse 

 ' to produce blanched tops, also Sea-kale and Rhubarb roots, and 

 j will fill a frame, or part of one, with Asparagus directly. 

 I Itadislu-s. — We have put some protection over a bed, which 

 will save us sowing for a week or two in a slight hotbed, as 

 they are so much more apt to be leggy when sown in a little 

 heat before the day has waned to its shortest. We sometimes 

 think it would be as well to have a blank at times. Radishes 

 every day cease to be the treat which they are in March to the 

 man fond of them, who has had none for a month or two pre- 

 viously, and a Radish from a frame then has a flavour all its 

 own. A crisp Cucumber on Easter Sunday can be no great 

 treat to the person who can have one at table every day of the 

 year ; and having new Potatoes in December and January, must 

 lessen the zest and relish which would otherwise accompany a 

 good first dish in March and April. It is always well for the 

 provider to have as much as he can ; but it is neither wise nor 

 prudent to supply any one thing to such an extent as to take 

 away its relish, and make it be looked upon as of no particular 

 value. 



FRUIT nErARTSIENT. 



See what was said on planting and general management in 

 previous weeks' notices. In the dull damp days at the end of 

 the week examined Grapes, and rcmsved any damped berry, 

 keeping the house as dry as possible, with air at back night and 

 day, reducing it to a little in the evening, and giving air in 

 front in line days. In the first orchard-houses the leaves have 

 been cleared from all the trees except Figs and Vines ; the 

 former are still ripening a few fruit, and the Grapes are mostly 

 ripe and hanging well. We mentioned lately as a singular 

 fact, that though the rats had their own shore of a very heavy 

 crop of Pears on bush trees, they had never troubled ns in the 

 orchard-houses, though they covdd have had something most 



