March 17, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



sible. Tie down a good many of the weak and short-jointed 

 branches of Pears and Plums on walls or dwarf espaliers. 

 This will bo found much better than the old and spurring-back 

 method. In the meantime, cut off all over-luxuriant wood 

 close to the stem. Destroy all insects before the trees bud. 

 Clean off all scale, &c, using on trees liable to insects a wash 

 composed chiefly of clay, water, and sulphur. Top-dress Haut- 

 boi3 Strawberries in beds, also other kinds where the ground is 

 somewhat exhausted, as soon as the old leaves are removed 

 and the plants thoroughly dressed. 



FLOWEB BAEDEN. 



The weather being favourable, and vegetation on the move, 

 the mowing of lawns will have commenced in many places. 

 Where high keeping is to be carried out, it is of the utmost 

 importance to take every possible means in the spring to insure 

 a permanent green sward throughout the summer. Lawns, or 

 portion of them, having a hungry sandy soil, and liable to 

 " burn," should have a slight dressing every spring : even com- 

 mon soil will benefit them, as it encourages the production of 

 surface roots. A dressing of marly or clayey soil in a highly 

 pulverised state would obviate the tendency to burn. A 

 slight dressing of guano has an excellent effect in such cases, 

 having considerable saline properties. Those who desire to 

 have Moss and Provence Rose3 throughout the summer should 

 now cut back a portion for that purpose, merely pruning away 

 the parts which have budded. Superfluous suckers of Roses, 

 Lilacs, &o., may be removed and planted out for suceessional 

 Btock, and the old stools of Roses richly top-dressed. The 

 pruning of Roses in general must forthwith be completed. 

 The late frosts have proved the necessity of attention to pro- 

 tection. Auriculas will require double mats over the frames 

 whenever there is any indication of frost, for should the trusses 

 of expanding flowers meet with a check, they will but rarely 

 open satisfactorily. A moderate supply of soft water may 

 now be given whenever necessary, and where there has been 

 no opportunity of top-dressing the plants with rich compost, 

 an application of guano water about every ten diys will be 

 found highly beneficial. Seedling Ranunculuses which are 

 just out of the ground are extremely tender ; the boxes or pans 

 in which they are sown should be placed in frames, though 

 plenty of air must be given as often as possible to prevent 

 their becoming drawn. Carnations and Picotees will soon 

 begin to spindle ; these shoots should be removed if they have 

 flower buds on them, and one of the strongest lateral shoots 

 encouraged to take the lead. In procuring freBh varieties, do 

 not forget the Rose Picotees, which are not only beautiful but 

 extremely fashionable amongst florists. Fanny Irby (Wilson's) , 

 Princess Royal (Wilmer's), Mrs. Barnard (Barnard), Ivanhoe 

 (Crouebe's), Correggio (Wilson's), and Queen Victoria (Green's), 

 will be found good. The beds of Tulips may now be gone over 

 carefully, breaking the surface soil with the hand, at the same 

 time exposing to the full action of light and air any leaves 

 which may have the canker. Attend to covering as occasion 

 may require. Vacancies in beds of Pinks should immediately 

 be filled up. Plants may be potted-off in large pots for 

 blooming. 



GBEEXHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



At no period of the year, perhaps, is caution in the use of 

 fire heat more needed than in the month of March. March 

 winds are proverbial, and March suns are at times intensely 

 bright. Now, as these winds are by no means to be desired 

 in hothouses, the very best plan is to keep down fire heat to 

 the lowest possible degree all the morning, and where forcing 

 is going on to havo a lively fire for a couple of hours in the 

 afternoon — say from three o'clock until five. By these means 

 the necessity of giving much air will be obviated, and the 

 climate within will be maintained in a most wholesome state 

 a3 regards moisture, &c. Frequent attention is necessary at 

 this period in giving of air and gradually diminishing the 

 amount of ventilation. A great reduction should be made soon 

 after noon ; n forcing houses, and the whole of the air should 

 be taken away as soon as it i3 considered safe to do so. 

 Canvas shading will be in great requisition also. Conserva- 

 tory plants to be retarded, Camellias making growth, and 

 even the late Vines swelling their buds, will be benefited by a 

 little shade during bright sunshine. Shading will now be of 

 the utmost importance in the conservatory. Camellias growing 

 should be so placed as to receive both more shade and more 

 atmospheric moisture than the general inmates of this house. 

 They are, in fact, far better in a small house by themselves, 

 which should be kept up to 70° by day, and 60° by night, receiving 

 much the same treatment a3 Orchids at this period. Large 



specimens of Fuchsias should now receive very liberal shifts, 

 in fact, with well-regulated potting and thorough drainage, they 

 should be placed in their final pots or tubs at once. Now is a 

 good time to sow imported or home-saved seeds of tropical 

 plants. Half fill the pots with drainage, and then fill with 

 loam and silver sand in equal parts. Water them thoroughly 

 but slowly with a fins-rosed pot, and cover the surface with a 

 good coat of sphagnum. They may be placed on a warm shelf 

 in a shaded part of the greenhouse. Some of the growing 

 Heaths may be shifted now ; use abundance of drainage, and 

 sandy heath soil full of fibres ; thrust it in lumps round the 

 ball, now and then forcing down pieces of stone or lumps of 

 charcoal, and finally coat over the surface with some of the 

 finest portions of the soil, which should have a liberal amount 

 of sand. The ball must be moderately moist before shifting, 

 for if thoroughly dry, no after-watering can bring it right. Pot 

 Cipe or other bulbs as soon as the foliage is becoming strong ; 

 use chiefly loam, leaf soil, and silver sand. Dress Pelargoniums, 

 and stake them out ; slip off all inferior and ill-placed shoots, 

 and make cuttings of them, they will flower well throughout 

 the autumn. Lisianthus Russellianu3 should now have a liberal 

 shift with much drainage, and should be placed in pans of 

 water in a Cucumber frame, or other situation where there is 

 a moist heat. Attend well to watering. Be shy, however, in 

 watering newly-shifted things ; do not water these heavily. 

 Give them a little water frequently through a fine-rosed pot, 

 until they become well rooted. 



STOVE. 



Growing Orchid3 will now require shading for a couple of 

 hours during bright sunshine, for fear of too copious a per- 

 spiration, also in order to retard Dendrobiums in blossom; 

 the latter, however, will do extremely well in a dry, warm 

 parlour or drawing-room, only they will require a good water- 

 ing at the root occasionally. A very moderate amount of at- 

 mospheric moisture will suffice for these plauts when in flower. 

 The growing specimens must at this period have a consider- 

 able increase in the quantity of moisture supplied. — W. Eeane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Cabbage stumps that afforded frequent nice gatherings of 

 young sprouts all the winter, have mostly been removed to the 

 rubbish-charring, or turning heap, and the ground they occu- 

 pied thrown out into 4-feet beds and 4 feet ridges, the trench 

 beds to come in ultimately for Celery, and the ridgeB were sown 

 with one row of Peas along the centre. As at present we have 

 no means of protecting these Peas, the seeds were all red-leaded 

 before sowing. For an improvement, as we think, we just 

 damped the Peas with strong soft-soap water, so as to make 

 the lead adhere. Very little of the lead thrown on as powder, 

 and stirred among the Peas with a stick, suffices to c:>at them 

 nicely. Four pounds of lead would be sufficient to coat all 

 sorts of seeds for the season in a large garden. An ounce 

 would be quite sufficient for a quart or two of Peas. All Beede, 

 as Cabbage, Lettuce, and Turnips, that we leaded last season 

 were not touched at all by birds or mice whilst in a vegetating 

 state, or even before germination commenced. It is rather 

 singular, that without making a hole to reach the seed there is 

 something in the way of instinct that tells there is danger. 

 When Peas and other crops were well above ground we have 

 suffered from pheasants, rats, and grass mice eating the crisp 

 young shoots ; but it is of importance to keep sparrows, green 

 linnets, and mice from the seeds whilst they remain beneath 

 the ground, and this the red lead seems to do. We sowed 

 some Peas in tiles this seaeoD, and neglected to lead them, and 

 rats and mice have found them out. When we have put leaded 

 and unleaded Peas side by side, the latter have been nibbled 

 and the former never looked after. As stated above, it is 

 singular that, when leaded, neither birds nor mice seem to care 

 to make a hole to look for the seeds, whilst en unleaded row 

 will have holes made from end to end in a night, and a good 

 proportion of the seeds demolished. 



One simple word more as to sowing Peas. We rather like 

 the ground to be well stirred. In the ridges just referred to 

 we dug over the 4- feet Bpace, adding a little manure previously, 

 where the ground i3 much exhausted with a heavy long-con- 

 tinued Cabbage crop, before we added the soil that came 

 from the trench bed. Bjt though it is true that roots should 

 be encouraged to go down, Peas, like Wheat, are rather averse 

 to an open loose tilth ; and therefore, when we draw out a 

 widish drill with the hoe, wo generally run our foot pretty 



