Docomber 25, 1867. 1 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTDRE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



481 



I have been told that St. .John's Wort makes good cover and 

 is untouched by rabbits. , Of tliis I have no personal ex- 

 perience. 



There is a Grass called Aira caespitosa which forms tussaoa 

 that are first-rate cover. It is not, I suppose, palatable, aa 

 even when game is very plentiful it is seldom cropped, and if 

 not too young and too small when planted out, it would, I 

 think, be pretty safe from rabbits. 



When it is desired to form really good cover, the most satis- 

 factory way of doing it is to commence by exterminating the 

 rabbits. They can easily be increased again at very short notice. 

 Where they exist in any number every shrub planted out must 

 be protected. In many cases I do this with wire-netting, but 

 when the leading shoot is out of reach of game, I find I can 

 protect the stems by daubing them with coal tar. If put on 

 too thickly it kills the trees, but the upper half of the casks of 

 black varnish sold for wire fences, will be found safe and effec- 

 tive. A few branches laid on the ground during snow will 

 be found to save a great deal of damage, since no rabbit will 

 touch growing trees if it can find a prostrate one at which to 

 nibble. — Monticola. 



NEW BOOK. 



liain — Hole, M'hen, Ti'Iiere, and Why it is MeasuTcd. By G. 

 J. Symon-s, F.M.S., &c. London: E. Stanford. 



Tnis is a two-shilling little volume, fall of many and curious 

 facts ; and as every scrap of knowledge will some day prove 

 useful, we accept these facts gratefully. At present they are 

 curious facts, and nothing more ; we will epitomise a few of 

 them. 



A rain gauge collected 10 inches of rain when level with the 

 ground, but at 20 feet above the ground only 8-8 inches. 



The earliest ganger of rain was K. Townley, Esq., at Town- 

 ley, in Lancashire, in l(i77, and other gangers have succeeded 

 to him, until in 18GG there were no less than 1212 rain gangers 

 dotted about tho British Isles. 



In 1827 the water companies supplied London with twenty- 

 nine millions of gallons daily ; in 1860 with ninety-six mil- 

 lions ; and by 1890 it is calculated that one hundred and eighty 

 millions will be needed; but we do not see that gauging rain 

 will teach how that supply can be kept up. 



Returns have been obtained of tho approximate mean 

 annual depth of rain at one hundred and sixty-five stations in 

 the British Islands, and they range from 20 inches at Lincoln, 

 Southwell, aud Stamford to" 1G5 inches at The Stye, at the 

 bend of Borrowdale, in Cumberland. 



July, August, and October appear to be the wettest months 

 at most stations ; but in mountainous districts December, 

 Jannar}-, and February. 



It is tolerably certain that the annual fall of rain, taking the 

 averages of many years, is tolerably uniform. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



M. T. Bass, Esq., M.P., has consented to take the chair 

 at the Anniversary Dinner of the GinnENERs' Eoy.vl Bene- 

 volent Society to be held nest summer ; and Sir Robert Peel, 

 Bart., M.P., and several other gentlemen have intimated their 

 intention of supporting Mr. Bass upon that occasion. 



In a lively book of American travel, its title " Black 



and White," by Henry Latham, tlin following passage occurs 

 relative to that most interesting of ^11 trees, theWELLisoioxu, 

 and its new habitat : — 



"I met Mr. King just returned from a six-years government 

 surveying expedition in Colorado, New Mexico, aud the Sierra 

 Nevada. He described the enormous trees on the western 

 slopes of the Rocky Mountains. In one part they discovered 

 a belt 150 miles in length of the Wellingtonia, the big tree of 

 the Crystal Palace. One hollow trunk, of which both ends had 

 been destroyed by fire, lay on the ground. Tho whole party 

 rode their horses through the tube from end to end. In the 

 middle the tallest of the party stopped his horse, and, standing 

 on his saddle, could just touch the roof of the tunnel with his 

 hand. This may sound scarcely credible, but I am informed 

 and believe that Mr. King is one of tho most veracious and 

 reliable of men." 



ExTK-ioiiDiN-AKT cfforts havc this year been made to 



celebrate Christmas at the Crystal Palace. Although in 

 former years the building has been decorated in an extremely 



gay manner, the decorations of the present Christmas may 

 safely be said never to have been surpassed. Flags, streamers, 

 banners, garlands. Holly, Laurel, shields, and baskets of flowers 

 hang from every girder and rib, and are artistically arranged 

 amid groups of statuary, &c. The Centre Transept has been con- 

 verted, by judicious decorations, into a room — a large one truly 

 — but the vastness of the locale is forgotten in the warmth of 

 the decorations, and in the air of comfort which pervades the 

 building. The great Christmas tree — nearly 100 feet high — has 

 been erected in the North Nave, and is decked gaily with every 

 imaginable ornament. The Fancy Fair and Bazaar — replete 

 with Christmas presents suitable to all — is in full vigour, the 

 entire Palace exhibiting an activity and brilliance unusual at 

 this season. 



WORK FOR THE WT:EK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



The following hints on the good cultivation of the soil may 

 be useful to amateurs. Drain until rain water runs freely 

 through and off the soil, and does not stagnate in it. Turn 

 up the soil until the foot sink into a deep loose loam, int» 

 which the sun and air may readily penetrate. To this end the 

 soil should be deeply trenched in autumn when the crops are 

 taken off, and laid up in rough ridges, which must be again 

 turned over in midwinter after being well frozen. In the 

 spring these ridges are to be broken down with a fork, ready 

 for sowing and planting. Collect every particle of manure, 

 whether liquid or solid ; horse-droppinga and road-scrapings 

 are useful when mixed with the soil. Convert all kinds of 

 rubbish, refuse, greensward turf, or heathy turf, into charcoal, 

 by burning in a close heap ; it your land is heavy, clay burned 

 in the same way is au excellent dressing. Provide a tank in 

 which the liquid from the cow-house, pigstye, the house, and 

 the wash-house, may be collected ; an old barrel sunk in the 

 ground, or a hole dug and lined with soft clay or puddle, 

 will do. Suffer no weeds to grow ; they rob the soil, choke the 

 useful crops, and serve no good purpose. Give every plant 

 room to spread its roots in the soil and its leaves in the air ; 

 there is nothing gained by crowding. At the same time make 

 the most of the ground by double cropping — that is, planting 

 the crops in wide rows, introducing another kind of crop 

 between them to take their place. Change the nature of 

 succeeding crops on the same ground as much as possible. 

 Do not dig or trample cfn the soil when it is so wet as to be- 

 come adhesive like paste. Water the crops in dry weather 

 with the liquid from the tank, dUnted if necessary. This is 

 best done in showery weather, or in the evening when the 

 weather is dry ; give a good soaking, and loosen the surface 

 next day with the hoc. Never let the surface become caked, 

 or cracked; prevent this by deep hoeing. The Potato Onion 

 is a most productive crop ; the small offsets should be planted 

 now in beds 4 feet wide, four lines (not drills), to be drawn 

 10 inches apart on the beds, the bulbs to be placed upright and 

 sHghtly pressed into the soil, and to be merely covered with 

 leaf mould, or any light soil. When they appear above ground 

 earth-up on a fine day. The crop will be ready to take up in 

 the end of June, to succeed the August-sown Onions. 



FRUIT GARDBN. 



Proceed with pruning and nailing as previously directed. 

 Whilst the gi-ound is not frozen, trench as near the roots of 

 fruit trees as can possibly be done without injuring them, and 

 work in fresh compost with a fork. In bad weather prepare 

 nails and shreds. Nails should be heated, but not to redness, 

 and then plunged in linseed oil. Frequently examine Apples 

 and Pears, and remove all that exhibit the least symptoms of 

 decay. Place a number of fragments of unslacked lime in 

 small flower pots or boxes throughout the fruit-room, in order 

 to render the air dry and sweet. Lime will continue to absorb 

 moisture from the surrounding air till completely slacked, and 

 before this becomes the case a bushel will absorb an amount 

 of moisture equal to five gallons of water. The seed-room 

 should be kept cool, yet perfectly free from damp, which 

 should be effected without the admission of a current of air. 

 This can be done by the means above recommended for the 

 fruit-room. It is a good plan to procure more seeds than will 

 actually be required for one season, for although seedsmen 

 ought to be answerable for the quality of their seeds as far as 

 their vegetation is concerned, yet they may be deceived with 

 regard to some of tho varieties coming true to their kinds, and 

 therefore if you have had seeds of Cauliflowers, Walcheren 

 Broccoli, &c., which have come true this season, take cart of 



