426 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTXCULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



t December C, 1887. 



will injure anything, so far as watering goes, bat we are doubt- 

 ful of using it from the syringe over plants at all tender, and 

 that tank was the chief place we depended on for pure rain 

 water. Generally about midsummer we could clean the tank out 

 every year, though there was nothing in it but a little mud from 

 decomposed tree leaves. Perhaps more frogs found their way 

 into it this year than usual, and the worst of it is, that when 

 they get in they never get out, and their remains would have 

 some effect. To make sure of good soft water we should not 

 like to cover the tank over. There can be little other impurity 

 than what comes from the smoke that lodges on glass, and 

 the Moss and Lichens with which some slates are encrusted. 

 We shall be sorry to empty this large tank, and yet we fear that 

 otherwise it will become a nuisance, and may be hurtful as well 

 as unpleasant to the men. Can anything be done to remove 

 the scent, and that will not injure it for plant watering? 



Wire Netting. — "Done For" and " Gueatly Vexed " have 

 written to us, complaining that the cheap wide-meshed netting 

 recommended by us and advertised at so low a figure in this 

 Journal, had been of little use to them as a protection against 

 rabbits, plicasmits, &c. The first says — " I bent the netting 

 in a semicircular shape over my rows of Peas, fastening it at the 

 sides to the ground with pegs, but then the pheasants and par- 

 tridges came in at the open ends and cleared out the seeds for 

 me." Well, we said nothing about the convenience of open 

 ends, that was something like shutting the doors and opening 

 the windows. " Greatly Vexed" tells us "That depending 

 on our recommendation, he procured several webs of this 

 galvanised netting, fastened it with hurdle-stakes inside a 

 Thorn hedge, and that he is little the better of all his outlay, 

 as the rabbits squeeze themselves through between the stakes ; 

 and where that is rather hard work for them, they scratch a 

 tunnel beneath the wire and prey on his young Cabbages 

 almost as much as they used to do." We think that we told 

 how all this could be avoided, by pinning the netting firmly 

 down to hard ground all the way, and, better still, sinking the 

 netting in a little trench at least 2 or :> inches beneath the 

 surface. If we did not do this explicitly enough, we are much 

 obhged to our correspondent for telling us of his failure, as if 

 attended to, it need not be a failure in future. We sunk our 

 netting about 2 inches beneath the surface, and thus avoided 

 the necessity of pinning down with hooked sticks ; but recently 

 we found that some of our Cabbages were nibbled, and on 

 closely searching the ground we found too many proofs that 

 our little enemies had again found their way in. On examin- 

 ing our fence we found that in many places the ground had 

 sunk so much as not only to leave the bottom of the netting on 

 the surface, but in many places an inch or so above it. This 

 was very tempting to the rabbits, which, seeing delicate feeding- 

 ground before them, had nothing to do but to scoop out a small 

 tunnel-entrance. Without troubling ourselves to sink the fence, 

 we merely with a spade piled up from 2 to 3 inches of soil 

 against it and trod it so as to be firm, and since then we have 

 had no more of such visitors. As a general rule, pinning the 

 netting however securely on the surface will not avail, as the 

 rabbit will be tempted to make its burrow beneath, but in 

 almost every case when it commences its burrow and comes 

 against the hard wire beneath the surface, it gives up the 

 attempt and considers an entrance impracticable. .4t least, 

 with plenty of scratching up to the net, we have found no 

 attempt to undermine deeper when the net is thus sunk beneath 

 the surface '2 oi 'i inches. 



FRUIT GAHDEN. 



An accumulation of other work has prevented our proceeding 

 with pruning, nailing, and cleaning out-of-door fruit trees, 

 though never could there have been better weather for the 

 purpose. 



Strawberry jylarits in pots we protected from the frost, as 

 against our wall they are still standing out of doors, and we 

 never like the pots to be hard-frozen after this period. The 

 roots are much more easily injured by frost in a pot than they 

 would be in the ground, or even with the pot plunged. We 

 hope soon to take a lot of them into our orchard-houses, 

 but we would like to give them a rough washing first. A very 

 little straw, however, will keep Strawberry plants in pots fuUy 

 exposed safe from even a sharp frost, and soaking rains may 

 he guarded against by laying the pots on their sides, and if 

 the pots are placed in narrow beds the protection necessary 

 is easily given and removed ; but where practicable the plants 

 always do best that have glass protection after the end of 

 October. What with bedding plants, &c , we have not as yet a 

 Irame empty, but as soon as we can empty one we will give just 



a little bottom heat, and fill with pots of Black Prince and 

 Keens' Seedling to bring them on gently. 



Dressed the spaces between the rows of Strawberries out of 

 duuri: with rotten dung. A number of late runners, well rooted, 

 we shall plant out some or 8 inches apart, and then if we 

 wish to do so we can fill a mild hotbed with the best of them, 

 to bear a fortnight or three weeks before they do so out of 

 doors. This makes us sure, if our stock in pots should become 

 exhausted, as, after commencing to gather forced fruit, it is 

 unpleasant to have a break, and these under glass with a little 

 heat below them, will enable us to have fruit about as early as 

 will come out of doors farther south. 



Most of our other work in this department has been looking 

 over Grapes, giving them plenty of air, and in dull weather a 

 brisk fire during the day, and affording a little air at top all 

 night. Very few damped brries have as yet troubled us. Looked 

 over the fruit-room, and have been so far disappointed in Pears, 

 that they do not keep so well as they used to do. There 

 seemed with many scarcely a gradation from the seemingly hard 

 state, when they would try the best teeth, and their quickly- 

 rotting as they were fit for tise. The damp, drizzling autumn 

 might have had something to do with it, but one would imagine 

 that would affect Apples likewise, which are keeping very sound 

 and well. 



We have said so much on planting, A-c, that we must refer 

 to previous numbers, but would still say it is better to plant 

 now than to defer it to the spring, as the ground is but little 

 cooled as yet. 



ORNAMENTAL DEPARTMENT. 



The frost last week has rendered the remains of the flower 

 garden rather shabby, though such plants as Salvia fulgens are 

 looking well, a row being still a hedge of bright scarlet. Small 

 neat plants of this would do very well for cool rooms in winter. 

 As cut flowers, we never knew anything that faded sooner, 

 especially in hot rooms. We thought at first the stems had 

 been carelessly cut, but when we cut them carefuUy close to 

 the joint, so as to avoid the hollow stalk resting in the damp 

 sand, it was all the same, the leaves shrivelled, and the flowers 

 dropped in a very short time. But for this, this hardy fine 

 Salvia would be of great utihty in forming pyramids of cut 

 flowers. 



We shall clear off the remains of the flower garden as soon 

 as convenient, though even now it is far from disagreeable, 

 except where we have mutilated the beds to take plants from 

 them that we thought we might need, and need more likely 

 than those who can take largo cuttings early either from a 

 reserve garden, or from their dressed beds, owing to their em- 

 ployers leaving early in the autumn. Here we never take cut- 

 tings so early, nor yet so large in s'ize, as we would desire, 

 because we wish to keep the beds iu fine condition as long as 

 possible. Our cuttings of Searlel Peherponiums are, therefore, 

 smaller than usual, and so they are also required to stand in 

 little room all the winter in their cutting-boxes. Could we take 

 large early cuttings we should never trouble ourselves with 

 taking up old plants. 



The old plants are chiefly valuable to those who cannot give 

 enough of light and good growing treatment to young ones all 

 the winter. As frequently stated, the old plants pruned in as 

 incidentally alluded to last week, and put in close together, 

 may be kept in any place where they will be rather dry, and 

 free from frost ; and from plants so kept, and that did not show 

 a leaf all the winter, we have taken a score of fine plants just 

 breaking their deer antler-like shoots in March, and if these 

 could have fair treatment then as to light and in other respects, 

 they would beat the best yoimg plants struck in autumn. By 

 such means our cottager friends may keep a score or two of 

 plants in little room and with little trouble all the winter. 



In relation to this subject, a correspondent tells us he suc- 

 ceeds best by taldng up the plants early, potting them singly, 

 setting them in a shady place, watering, and syringing the 

 leaves in warm days, and thus treated the plants scarcely loes 

 a leaf, and look well all the winter. We know he is quite right, 

 but then such plants require room all the winter. Another 

 correspondent says he is surprised we do not recommend 

 bottom heat for such raised plants. We think we did for the 

 tender kinds, to encourage making roots at once, and the same 

 might be done with the scarlet bedding Pelargoniums when the 

 owner would rather see them gi-een all the winter instead of 

 in a torpid state, like so many wooden faggots ; but all that 

 requires room and good treatment, whilst by removing every 

 leaf, pruning in the head, cutting back the roots, and pocking 

 as many as possible, and as closely together as posEible, in a 



