■1- 



JOOKNAL OF HORTICULTURE AXD COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ January 20, lb70. 



fore, that those in conspicuous situations do not suffer from 

 want of water. 



STOVE. 



Proceed with repotting Orchids, taking them in the order in 

 which they bud. Keep the plants well elevated, and use plenty 

 of charcoal in lumps of considerable size, fastening the whole 

 at last so that the plants cannot be loosened by agitation. 

 Sphagnum or other moss pegged on the top makes a very good 

 finish. Keep Stanhopeas very high ; indeed, pots are quite 

 unfit for them. Syringe plants on blocks occasionally. Den- 

 drobiums should have a rather dry yet warm atmosphere, and 

 will require watering at the roots. — W. Kease. 



DOIXGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Hehe the work has been small, owing to the soil being so 

 wet, and having but little ground at liberty to dig, trench, or 

 ridge. Ridged-up ground, to be used for early Potatoes out of 

 doors, Peas, Beans, &c, as soon as it is a little drier; very 

 little is gained by sowing when the ground is wet. Took up 

 all the Parsnips, that we might have the ground at liberty for 

 trenching and digging, and will take up a part of our 



• that we may have a space ready for cross-trenching, 

 so as to mix the manure of the beds, ultimately to be dug 

 and levelled for the earliest Onions. Of our Celery, all in 

 beds, the man says he has not seen a bolted nor a decayed 

 head this season. Y?e protected the tops a little in the most 

 severe- frost, and after the sharpest frost removed every bit of 

 decayed leaf that showed itself. After the end of this month 

 it will often be found that Celery will keep very well, and a long 

 time, if raised carefully with balls, wetted at bottom, and the 

 heads placed rather thickly together, and packed with ashes, 

 <ikc., to keep them blanched. This plan sets much ground at 

 liberty when it is scarce for what is wanted. 



In addition to the usual vegetables forced at this season, 

 and to which reference has frequently been made, we put a 

 barrowload of Swedisli Turnips in the Mushroom house, placing 

 the tubers in a little short dung, having just a little heat. 

 'Wi en the heads have sprung about 6 inches, or a little more, 

 they will be of a yellowish tint, and are very sweet when cooked, 

 retaining the colour at table. We have known many who 

 much preferred them to Sea-kale. No Turnip suits so well as 

 the Swede, as the produce is either more watery or somewhat 

 bitter. With the Swede the flavour is improved by the blanch- 

 ing or growing in the dark. Of course green cuttings could be 

 had in heat if preferred, but we think the blanched are beEt, 

 and are a greater curiosity. When vegetables are scarce, any 

 farmer who has the Turnip may have a dish every day all the 

 winter by placing some Turnips in a dark warm place. If only 

 one short cutting be taken the Turnips will be little the worse 

 for stock-feeding. 



Stirred the surface of the soil among all vegetables under 

 protection, as Cauliflowers, Lettuces, and Endive. Our most 

 forward Cabbages might have been too forward but for the 

 protection of the snow in the sharp frost. Even a north bank 

 of Rose Coleworts are not at all injured. 



FKtllT GARDEN. 



In wet days proceeded with pruning the orchard-house trees 

 preparatory to having them thoroughly washed and cleaned, 

 much in the same way as described for the Peach house. We 

 had fresh stakes put in toRaspberries, intending to connect them 

 with two rows of wire, to which to fasten the canes. A few 

 Grapes still remain in the warmest orchard house, and the 

 plants are now becoming thinner and fewer. In one night, 

 the coldest, the leaves of Scarlet Pelargoniums were a little 

 crusted ; they recovered, though a few leaves remain a little 

 rusty, but the stems, &c, are all right. We mention this, be- 

 cause the sunk stove kept out frost in other nights in a house 

 75 feet long, and the roof nearly a plane of glass. Of course, 

 the back wall helped. Even that night, with 20° below freezing, 

 the frost would have been kept out had not our 3-inch funnel 

 or chimney been rather too much clogged up. It took us some 

 time to put the pole down it ; after all, the draught is entirely 

 regulated by the ash-pit opening ; we would prefer a wider out- 

 let-pipe, but the 3-inch 9-feet pipe was at hand, and we used it. 

 It does very well if the pole be thrust down often enough. Pro- 

 ceeded with pruning out of doors, and will soon follow with 

 whitewashing to deter the birds, ic. Much planting will have 

 to be done in many places this spring, the ground was so dry 

 in the autumn. In planting for cover and wood, we have had 

 to delay a little ; the ground was too wet and adhesive. 



ORNAMENTAL DEPARTMENT. 



The mild weather again has brought worm heaps on the 

 lawn, and rolling and cleaning the roller is the quickest way to 

 clear them off. A wooden roller is better for this purpose than 

 an iron one. Smooth green lawns, and clean firm paths, add 

 greatly to the enjoyability of a place at this season. In wet days 

 we overhauled house plants, removing every trace of faded or 

 damped foliage, and, where necessary, stirred'and fresh- surfaced 

 the soil in the pots. A few dead or withered leaves in a house 

 take away most of its charm. Commenced striking cuttings of 

 temporary summer residents of the flower garden, and potting 

 other plants that are now small. 



All the variegated and Scarlet Pelargoniums will stand a 

 little heat if it can be given to them, and thus small plants 

 standing thickly in boxes, will soon become large plants when 

 more heat and room are afforded. We had no plants that did 

 better last year than those that were placed singly in square 

 pieces of turf— say averaging 3J inches, and were "turned out, 

 turf and all, in the beds, after the turf was full of roots, and the 

 rich fresh fibres coming out all round like the hair of a wig. 



We gave plenty of air to Rases, Dahlias, &c, in a pit, where 

 there is a mild bottom heat. The Roses were washed with 

 hot soap water, and then thinly with clay, sulphur, and soot, 

 in softsoap water, and the shoots have come strong with- 

 out a sign of fly as yet. We have put a lot of mixed Pelar- 

 goniums of the florists' kinds in a vinery, to which an in- 

 creased temperature is given. These are young plants of last 

 summer— not cut down in autumn — in 5 and G inch pots, the. 

 shoots long and rather leggy, and unstopped. From similar 

 plants last season we had a number of early cut blooms, when 

 on finely-grown symmetrical plants a truss of fl jwers could 

 not have been obtained for months afterwards. Thus treated, 

 many of our older Pelargoniums will bloom almost as early as 

 such old favourites as Alba multiflora, and Dennis's Alma 

 One great advantage that the florists' and Fancy sections have 

 over all the Scarlet sections, is that the blooms carry so well. 

 Fill a box with your finest scarlets, pinks, mauves, &c, and a 

 ride of fifty or one hundred miles would show you a great 

 number of petals dropped, whilst the florists' section will come 

 out as fresh as when they were put in. For early forcing we 

 think those unstopped rather leggy plants, each with from two 

 to four or five shoots, bloom the best, and yield moat cuttings. 



Prevention of damp in plants in pits and frames. We have 

 had a number of inquiries on this subject, and we shall return 

 to it. Meanwhile we would say that the best preventive against 

 damp is a free circulation of air; and, again, that is best 

 promoted in winter by having the means of simply heating 

 such places by a small flue or otherwise ; and even in this case, 

 or without any mode of heating, damp will be best guarded 

 against by having the bottom of the frame or pit considerably 

 above rather than below the ground level of the neighbourhood, 

 with the ground sloping away from the back and front, so as to 

 let the rain freely escape. — R. F. 



METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 

 In the Suburbs of London for the week ending Januavy 18th. 



12. — Stormy ; verv fine : clear and fine at night. 

 13 —Frosty air ; cloady but fine ; rain at night. 

 14 — Clearand fine; clondy ; fine, heavy clouds. 

 15.— Fine, very clear; overcast; drizzling rain. 

 16, — Densely overcast ; cloudy and overcast ; fogsy. 

 17. — Dense fog; heavy and overcast; densely overcast. 

 18.— Densely overcast ; foggy ; densely overcast. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



U.B. — Many questions must remain unanswered until next 



week. 



Books (J. W., Hereford}.—* 1 Kitchen Gardening for the Many." You 



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