141 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



W(; ifio V.i ! 



Day 

 ot 



Month 



21 



22 

 23 

 24 

 25 

 26 

 27 



of 

 Week 



Th 



F 

 S 



SCN 

 M 

 To 

 W 



FEBRUARY 21—27, 1867. 



Sun's declination 10° 37' 8. 



Acacia armatn. 



Bossi:oa ovata. 



Sexaueb. Sunday. St. Matthias. 



Oaiuellia Colvilli. 



Erica verniilis. 



Dryandra armata. 



Kain in 



last 

 89 yeara. 



Days. 

 Iv) 

 38 

 14 

 19 

 £0 

 21 

 19 



San 



Rises. 



m. h. 



5al7 



8 7 



1 7 



59 6 



57 6 



55 « 



53 6 



Sun 



Sets. 



Moon 



Rises, 



m. h. 

 23 af 5 

 25 5 

 26 

 28 

 80 



Moon 



Sets. 



b. m. h. 

 64 8 1 6af8 

 1 10 I 32 8 



31 10 

 10 11 



Moon's 

 ABC. 



Days. 

 17 

 18 

 19 

 20 

 21 

 < 

 23 



rioolr 



before 



Son, 



13 63 



13 46 



13 3S 



13 29 



13 20 



13 10 



12 59 



Day 



52 

 63 

 54 

 68 

 56 

 67 

 58 



From observations taken near London daring the last forty years, the average day temperature of the week is 47.0"^; and its nigbl 

 temperature 8'3.5'\ The greatest heat was od". on the 21st, 1843 aud l.S''>9; aud the lowest cold Id-, on the 21th, 18u0. The greatest fall ol 

 rain was 0.92 inch. N.B. — The Calendar contains the names of plants flowering in the greenhouse. 



VEEBENA CULTURE. 



OR repotting; and preparing 

 the store plants of \''crbenas 

 for propagatinn the present 

 is a favourable time. One 

 of the most important points 

 \o be attended to in increas- 

 ing a stock of Verbenas, uud tliat most likely to insure suc- 

 cess, is to liavo the plants in a good healthy state of growth 

 before taking the cuttings from them. If a sickly cutting 

 is employed for propagation tliere is every probability that 

 the plant produced from it will be siclily, unless it is grown 

 iinder fiivourable circumstances ; even tlien it will not 

 assume a healthy character like a plant that has been 

 propagated from a healthy stock, and it is more liable to 

 the attacks of several lands of insects- If the cutting is 

 taken from a plant in perfect health it will strike in half 

 the time tliat is gi'nerally necessary to strike one tliat has 

 been taken from an unhealthy plant. 



My stock plants are alw.iys struelc and kept through the 

 winter in small fiO-sized pots. The cuttings arc put in 

 early in September in a cold frame, and plunged in cocoa- 

 nut refuse ; a two-light box is geucrally used for this pur- 

 pose, and the tops of the cuttings, when the pots are plunged, 

 are witliin an inch or two of the glass. When there is no 

 iRdnd or sun the lights are taken oft' ; also at night, if there 

 is a probability of a heavy dew occurring, and no wind is 

 apprehended. If there is a gentle sliower during the day 

 the lights are also removed, the object being to keep the 

 cuttings from flagging. If they are carefully treated in this 

 way few will fail in striking. I generallj' put eight out- 

 tings in each pot. As soon as the cuttings arc rooted they 

 will begin to grow, when their tops sliould be immediately 

 piuched out, and when thej' have well filled tlie pots with 

 roots, they should be removed to another frame, and more 

 room should be given to prevent their drawing up weakly. 

 They must still be kept as near the glass as possible, aud 

 on no account must they be allowed to suftcr from want of 

 water. On the first appearance of green fiy no time must 

 be lost in fumigating, and as soon as each shoot has made 

 three pairs of leaves it sliould be stojined. This treatment 

 should be carried out all tlirongh tlie winter months, and 

 a fine stock of handsome bushy plants will be the reward 

 for the extra care. 



The best place to keep the plants tlirough the winter is 

 a front shelf in a cool greenhouse, where they can Iiavc the 

 benefit of light and air ; they must be kept as cool as pos- 

 sible from October to Februai'j% when the_y should be re- 

 potted and placed in heat, where they 'i\'ill soon produce 

 large numbers of shoots in the very best condition for 

 propagating. 



Having described in as few words as possible the proper 



No. 308— Vol. XII., New Sehies. 



winter treatment for the Verbena, I will now state tlie 

 care the plants and cuttings receive from this time till 

 they are planted out in May or June. 



The soil most suitable is a good turfy loam mixed with 

 a small portion of sand and leaf soil ; it should be in a good 

 healthy state, neither too wet nor too dry, and instead of 

 rubbing it through a sieve it is better to pull the sod to 

 pieces with the hand. The plants should also be in a nice 

 state at the time, neither too wet nor too dry ; if the old 

 soil in which the plants have been growing through the 

 winter and the new soil to be used now are as nearly as 

 possible in the same condition as regards moisture, there 

 will be no necessity for watering the plants soon after 

 potting ; if they be slightly sprinkled overhead with the 

 syringe once or twice during the day it ivill be sufficient to 

 keep them from flagging. This treatment will cause tlie 

 roots to strike into the new soil much more quickly. I 

 consider it a very had practice to deluge n. plant of any 

 kind with water directly after potting, and for this reason 

 — the soil often becomes sour in consequence, and the plant 

 will not so readily strike root into it ; but, on the other 

 hand, if both soils are in a proper state of moisture at the 

 time of potting, root-action will immediately commence, and 

 by the time the plant will actually want water at the roots 

 these will have reached the sides of the pot, when it may 

 be copiously supplied witli water if the weather should be 

 bright or the temperature high. The pots I use at this 

 time are -iB's ; these should be well drained. After turning 

 the plants out of the small (iO-pots the first proceeding 

 should be to scrape the drainage away from the roots ; then 

 squeeze the ball gently in the hand to loosen the soil from 

 the roots. If the ball is tlien shaken a little some of 

 tlie small particles of worn-out soil will easily fall away. 

 The ball should next be gi'adually opened out ; this is done 

 by making a hole through the centre of it, and gently 

 pidling it out from tlie centre with the fingers. A portion 

 of the new soil can by this means be placed in the centre 

 of the old mass of roots aud soU. This oli'ers fresh food to 

 the roots on every side, and there is no fear of the old ball 

 becoming dry owing to the water passing through the loose 

 soil at the sides, which is often the case where the roots 

 are very much matted together, and when the precaution 

 is not taken to properly disentangle them Before pressing 

 the soil firml}' aljout the roots the pot should be tapped 

 several times on the bench ; tliis will settle the soil well 

 about them. The operation may then be completed by 

 tirmly pressing the soil round the sides of the pot, and also 

 in the centre of the ball. 



After the plants have been potted, they should be placed 

 in a temperature of (i5° or 7(]", and as near the glass as 

 possible, to prevent their drawing up weakly. Here they 

 win produce abundance of fine healthy slioots for cuttings ; 

 two or three crops may be taken from them weekly if pro- 

 per care be exercised in -taking the cuttings. A good sharp 

 j pair of scissors is the best in.'strument for this purpose ; vdib 

 i such 3'ou may cut tlie shoot out just above the next pair of 

 ' leaves. The space from the base of the cutting to its first 

 I pair of leaves will be long enough to insert in the soil, and 

 I in putting in the cuttings these leaves should not bo covered 

 No. 960. -Vol. XXXVII., Old Sebtcs. 



