February 3, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



89 



delight in. Rondeletiaa must also be cut in and started in the 

 warmest part of the house ; and Crowea saligua, at present in 

 the greenhouse, must have its side branches Bhortened-in and 

 be placed in the cool end of the stove. Do not excite Ixoras at 

 present, but young plants of all kinds, to make the most of 

 them, must be started immediately. 



TANK-FORCING. 



Follow up a proper succession of the plants named in former 

 calendars. Take care to maintain a circulation in the atmo- 

 sphere as often as the heat will permit ; this secured, use 

 abundance of atmospheric moisture, especially in the afternoon 

 and evening. 



COLD PITS. 



Having turned our back on, I should hope, the severest part 

 of the winter, one of the first acts of the coming spring should 

 be, to use a commercial phrase, " taking stock." The cold 

 pits and frames containing stores of half-hardy plants should 

 be closely examined. Most of our best cultivators of half- 

 hardy flowers for the modern massing system, lay in their 

 stock by propagation during July and August. Amongst these 

 in the majority of cases will be found blanks, and some of the 

 best store pots or established plants of the kinds should be in- 

 troduced into heat in order to procure early cuttings. No 

 delay can be permitted in this matter, for much of the success 

 in massing depends upon having plenty of forward, well-es- 

 tablished, and well-hardened plants at bedding-out time. — 

 W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



The continued frost is what we hardly expected, and espe- 

 cially with a south wind. On the evening of the 28th there 

 were some signs of a thaw, and but little frost all the evening, 

 but after midnight the cold became severe, and the night with us 

 was the second coldest of the season. In such weather pro- 

 tection to all things in the least tender became a matter of 

 importance. Where there was no artificial heat, protection 

 was the chief point to attend to, and uncovering quite a se- 

 condary consideration, provided the plants were not induced to 

 grow in the dark. In cold dull days Radishes in use, Lettuces, 

 Endive, Calceolarias, Cauliflowers, &c, remained uncovered; 

 but young Radishes, Carrots, and Potatoes receiving little heat, 

 were uncovered whenever there was the chance of a gleam of 

 sunshine, or even of light free of fog and mist. We had a 

 rather fine day before the frost set in early in the afternoon, 

 and on that day most of the subjects referred to, including 

 Calceolarias, Radishes, and Potatoes, had the lights drawn off 

 for several hours, and in some cases the glass was fresh cleaned, 

 BO that all the light possible might reach the plants now grow- 

 ing. In such keen weather it would have been imprudent to 

 do so, even to obtain the benefit of a bright bud, as the air 

 was still frosty in the shade, and, therefore, tilting up the 

 glasses a little behind was all the air-giving deemed necessary r 

 and that was removed early in the afternoon. With a small 

 amount of air previously given, so that the temperature of the 

 enclosed atmosphere may rise and fall gradually, the sun heat 

 will rarely or never draw or dwindle plants as artificial heat 

 will ever do when not counteracted by the firming processes of 

 light. In severe weather we have had pits and frames to 

 which light was never admitted for a month, and when un- 

 covered the plants merely looked as if they had had a sleep of 

 eighteen hours in the dark ; but Buch covering-up would be 

 ruinous to anything that was excited to elongation hji the ap- 

 plication of heat in whatever form. 



A veteran told us that once a number of gardeners came to 

 see his frame of Cucumbers with fruit to cut on New Year's 

 Day, and with nothing to help him in the way of heat except the 

 stable dungheap. The day was cold — frosty and windy, with 

 snow falling thickly — and at midday, the time of their visit, 

 the glass was carefully covered up, and the covering had to be 

 removed that they might have the desired look inside. There 

 was a knowing look from one to the other, as much as to say, 

 " Ah ! we have found out now, how he beats us. I shall 

 certainly keep my plants warmer and covered-up in future," 

 and they did with the results that might have been anticipated 

 — having their plants weak and eaten.up by vermin. The 

 clever old man said, " Of course, once now and then in such 

 a-day was better than exposure to what could hardly be called 

 light ; but if they had only asked me, I would have told them 

 that that day was quite exceptional, and that if they had called 

 on a fine clear day they might have found me washing my 

 glass eashee. Aa for my first crop, I generally had a double 



set of sashes for the darkest months, and quickly slid on a 

 clean dry sash as one damp and a little dirty was withdrawn. 

 The second lot of sa6hes came in for the second bed." 



During dull days we did a good deal of washing even on the 

 outside of glass, so that the plants beneath might have all the 

 advantage of the light at this season. Thorough cleanliness 

 of the glass is much more important in the case of pits and 

 frames, than even in that of houses of any sort, with either 

 steep roofs or upright glass in front. In such houses the light 

 goes one way or another pretty directly to plants — around them 

 and beDeath them ; but in flat pits or frameB it merely affects 

 the upper surface, and but very obliquely then. On this account 

 pits and frames, however useful, especially for keeping, will 

 never compare in winter, for the healthy growth of plants, with 

 a house that commands more light, and from upright glass oan 

 havo that light pretty directly instead of in an oblique direction. 



One hint more as respects j>rvtectiun witli litter, though it 

 may be a repetition. At the Calceolaria pit, some litter need 

 for "covering had been so often wet, knocked about, &c, that its 

 value as a protection over glass was approaching its minimum, 

 and the litter was more difficult to apply owing to its being 

 worn so short. With the frost ranging from 10 3 to 10° and 

 more below the freezing point, we had some fear3 respecting 

 the low back wall of the pit, and therefore used the eld cover- 

 ing to lay loosely against the biicks, to prevent free radiation 

 from them. This was all the more necessary, as the wall plate 

 of that pit was always rather narrow, and the water that fell on 

 it, therefore, instead of dropping from the necessary groove on 

 the ground, was apt to drop on and trickle down the wall. 

 After continued damp weather, therefore, the wall would be- 

 come damp, and in this case was more apt to be acted on by 

 the frost than if it were dry. A damp wall would part with 

 heat very freelv. Hence we have known cold pits so well pro- 

 tected with ma'ts and litter over the glass, that no host that 

 has yet visited us could penetrate, if the litter was_ rightly, or. 

 even very moderately maurged, and yet the plants inside were 

 mostly destroyed, because the enemy entered at leisure through 

 the brick wall, where nothing had been done to oppose en- 

 trance. Where walls of pits aie at all high— say from 3 or 

 4 feet outside measure, a very effectual protection would be to 

 tie against them a thin layer of wheaten straw— say from 1 inch 

 to 1 inch in thickness. Hardly any frost would thus injure 

 the wall ; it is so difficult for either heat or cold to pass such a 

 number of tubes filled with air. 



This leads us to repeat, that the drier and the opener the ma- 

 terial the better will it act in arresting radiation. When, in 

 severe weather, the covering is not removed for some time, the 

 surface at least should be turned, broken, and fresh shaken. 

 This is of great importance, as every fresh turning breaks the 

 lines of radiation, and forces the frost to begin its work again 

 at the surface. In Murphy's year (1838), when there was 

 roasting of oxen on the ice of the Thames— when for the 

 first and as yet the only time in our life, we left the skin of 

 our fingers on the outside iron latch of the door at five o'clock 

 in the morning, and could with difficulty get off with that loss— 

 and when, as a consequence, thousands and even millions of 

 plants, as Mignonette, for the market, were destroyed— one 

 man, at least, saved long ranges of such pits without injury, 

 the contents of which sold well in the market ; as though 

 he had but a small covering of long litter, he and several 

 assistants stopped up from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m., and kept moving 

 and turning the litter all the night through, going regularly 

 from end to end, and thus forced the frost after each turning 

 to begin its work anew. Often on a sudden frost we have pre- 

 vented its entering our pits and frames by shaking and turning 

 the litter the first thing in the morning, when, as a general 

 rule, the fro6t is more intense than at any other time — say an 

 hour or two before sunrise. 



In the kitchen garden, pleasure grounds, and flower gardens, 

 we took the opportunity of turning over roughly all pieces 

 that had been rough-ridged, trenched, or dug, that the frosty 

 air might have free access to it ; and took the opportunity of 

 wheeling whilst the ground was hard, so as to clear out all old 

 hotbeds, and thus have them in readiness for fresh work for 

 the season. In fact, thi3 was roughly done as we proceeded. 



By pulling out Cucumber plants whose bearing was nearly 

 over, we have made preparations for inserting numerous cut- 

 tings of bedding plants, and among others, as we shall be shoit 

 of the brown Coleus, we shall insert in small pots all the 

 largest leaves, taking them off close to the stems, and insert- 

 ing them deeply enough for the base of the leaf to be a little 

 in the Bandy soil. These, when they callus at the base, Boon 



