February 17, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



131 



fully preserved, as a general mle, to give deep shadow, and to 

 throw the prominent features into bold relief. If severe weather 

 continue, every available means must be adopted to protect 

 Tulips, Auriculas, &c. Early-planted Tulips and Hyacinths 

 will now be appearing above ground. Let them have as much 

 light and air as possible during fine days. Auriculas and Poly- 

 anthuses which have been top-dressed and replaced in their 

 spring quarters, should now be fumigated with tobacco. Re- 

 member that prevention is better than cure. Keep a watchful 

 eye over Carnations and Pinks lest they sustain any injury 

 from slugs or mice, both of which, at this season, work sad 

 havoc amongst them. Rough weather has lately put a stop to 

 out-door operations, but as soon as the ground is divested of 

 its snowy covering prosecute as vigorously as possible those 

 operations which remain unfinished. Delay the pruning of 

 Roses for another week. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



The conservatory should now be fall of interest, and ought, 

 where much attention is paid to flowers, to be as full of beauty 

 as at any period of the year. Any Camellias done blooming 

 should, if possible, be removed forthwith to some of toe houses 

 at work. A moist atmosphere, a temperature averaging C5°, 

 and a canvas shading overhead, are the requisites in order to 

 cause them to produce wood freely and targe leave?. The 

 Bhading must by no means be neglected. The leave3 of Ca- 

 mellias by this treatment are large, and so healthy that they 

 appear nearly black. Liquid manure should be used abun- 

 dantly. The climbers should have a thorough dressing at this 

 period, cutting away weak and decayed wood, and shortening 

 hack shoots (to furnish back-wood) previous to the growing 

 season. It is somewhat difficult to give directions successfully 

 for the management of a mixed greenhouse. Plants from all 

 climates will occasionally obtain a place there ; and as no 

 special treatment in regard to temperature may be long in- 

 dulged in with impunity, as to the plants from tropical climes, 

 a compromise of some kind must continually take place. As 

 a principle, therefore, cf frequent and somewhat harmless ap- 

 plication, a rather free increase of heat is advised on sunny 

 days early in the afternoon for a few hours, sinking at night to 

 the old point, or nearly so. In this structure there will fre- 

 quently be found Ericas, Pelargoniums, New Holland plants, 

 bulbs, and even Orchids. A division of these families is there- 

 fore advisable. Let the Orchids and plants from hot countries 

 occupy the hot end with little air, and the Ericas, &c, the 

 other end, where there is a much freer circulation ; the Pelar- 

 goniums may stand midway. 



STOVE. 



Some little increase of temperature may now take place here, 

 and that chiefly in the afternoon, by shutting up early and 

 using plenty of moisture, taking care to thoroughly dry the 

 foliage previously by a free circulation of air. As a sort of 

 compromise between the eastern and western Orchids, a tem- 

 perature averaging 65° by day, and a maximum of 60° at night, 

 may suffice, allowing the thermometer to range to 70° or 75 = on 

 sunny afternoons by closing the house early. Look over the 

 fastenings of Orchids en blocks or in baskets, and renew the 

 wires where necessary. Fasten a little fresh material on those 

 not to be shifted, but beware of burying the buds on the eve of 

 pushing. Set baits for snails and cockroaches, and attend 

 closely to the extirpation of scale. Examine, and shift where 

 necessary, stove plants in general ; also cut back some of the 

 kinds after floweiin,; to produce cuttings. 



PITS AND FRAMES. 



Alpines and other rare plants in pots should now be looked 

 over ; remove all decaying matter, and stir the surface of the 

 soil. Those which it may be desirable to propagate should be 

 divided into pieces, repotted, and placed again in the frame. 

 Sow Eeed of Salvia patens, for seedlings make better flowering 

 plants than cuttings. Sow seeds of Lobelia and the Golden 

 Feverfew; the seedlings will make good plants for the edgings 

 of beds, borders, or rustic vases. Bedding plants must have 

 attention, for in all likelihood many of them are suffering, and 

 such plants as appear to be injured most should be removed 

 to other quarters where a more favourable temperature is 

 kept up. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST "WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Here nothing could be done outside, except turning over 

 some ridged-up ground after the frost set in on Wednesday 



morning, and making secure everything tender, by a little pro- 

 tection. Fortunately we had plenty of Sea-kale and Rhubarb 

 roots under the protection of earth and litter, and we placed a 

 succession in the Musliroom house. Some time ago we stated that 

 a somewhat large Mushroom bed (for us), had become rather 

 hotter than we liked after spawning, and the mode we took, on 

 examining the spawn, to make all sure, by inserting some more 

 little pieces. We were after all more afraid than hurt, as the 

 yield has been very fine, and after gathering every day for 

 some time, the bed seems to be yet coming white all over. It 

 often astonishes us how long and how heavily a thin bed 

 averaging scarcely a foot in depth will produce. In our rough 

 lean-to house we can assist with a little hot water in pipeB 

 below the passage, when necessary. The bed referred to is a 

 shelf bed. and though the bed on the ground below it is gene- 

 rally made deeper — say from a foot to 18 inches deep, and 

 does in general very fairly, the pieces or beds there on the 

 ground seldom equal, and are less under control than those 

 elevated on the shelves, though the latter contain much less 

 material. We attribute this chiefly to two reasons — the beds 

 on the rough wooden shelves are assisted by the beds beneath 

 them, when these are in the preparatory state, too hot for spawn- 

 ing, and then if the water in the pipes is allowed to be heated, 

 the heat frotn them also ascends and warms the bed above, so 

 as to keep it more uniform in temperature. We have no ob- 

 jection to a little heat in the bed— say about 70°, and if the 

 spawn is active it will generally be little less than that ; but if 

 the air immediately over the bed is more than from 55° to 60°, 

 the Mushrooms are apt to be thin, and long-stalked, insSead ci 

 firm, and scarcely showing a stalk at all. These beds have fre- 

 quently been watered with water warmed to from 70' to 30', bnt 

 we scarcely ever use clear water. Our favourite auxiliary is old, 

 dry, sweetened cow dung, soaked in a warm place to give out its 

 virtues, but sheep dung and deer duDg are also very good. Any 

 of these is more effective than horse dung, as the crop may be 

 supposed to have enough of that. Frequently, when a bed has 

 appeared to be exhausted, but which on examination we i. und 

 to contain material not yet decomposed, and spawn not quite run 

 to waste, a good watering with manure water, and a little cover- 

 ing of the bed, have in a few weeks given us another good crop. 

 We have several times stated how low a temperatuia a Mush- 

 room bed will bear, even to frosting ; but when we want free pro- 

 duction in a house or shed, it is as well to avoid all this cooling. 



This brings us to the disputed question of covering, as con- 

 tended for as being unnecessary, littery, and unseemly at the 

 best. " What lady would touch your Mushrooms if she knew 

 they were covered with such mouldy hay and litter?'' This 

 was deemed an evident conclusion to an argument against 

 covering at all. We fear that ladies, and gentlemen too, would 

 at times look a little shy at some of the finest made-dishe3 if 

 they only knew or thought of all the processes, and handlings, 

 and touchings through which the materials had passed. There 

 are, occasions when, if ignorance be bliss, 'tis folly to be wise. 

 It might just as well be said, who would think of partaking a 

 a close white Cauliflower that had the roots well drer,.heu with 

 dung water? Still we like to go into an elegant Ml m 



house with box platforms constructed of durable iron, slu'e, or 

 flagstone, heated to a nicety by hot water, and to look on cech 

 covered with Mushrooms in all stages without a panicle of 

 litter about them, and all the surroundings as clean and oem- 

 fortable as a sittiDg-room. Very often our beds are equally 

 presentable, though far behind as respects the attends 

 ness and elegance. Let us never neglect the elegant ii we can 

 obtain it; but for one man who can make a show of his ii h- 

 room house, there are forty-nine, and even we suspect ninety- 

 nine, who would go to no such first expense, and yet who would 

 rather have the Mushrooms without ever putting the question 

 as to how they were produced, or where they came from. In 

 all rough, homely modes of growing Mushrooms, so as to be 

 comeatable by the many, whether in sheds, stables, cow houses, 

 cellars, caves, &c, a little covering of the bed is often of great 

 assistance for maintaining something like equability of tempe- 

 rature and moisture. 



It is true the covering may be so abused as to do more harm 

 than good, bnt that is no argument against its right use: 

 What is good in itself may soon become an evil when carried 

 to an extreme. The remarks we have received as to the 

 answers given to several correspondents, whose want of suc- 

 cess might have easily been turned to success, lead us to think 

 that to them a more minute detail, embracing onr own general 

 practice, may be of importance, so far as this question of 

 covering is concerned. 



