230 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 24, 1870. 



fine day when the ground is in good working order. Early 

 Peas should be well attended to, stirring the Boil, staking in 

 due time, and if transplanted giving a little weak manure. 

 Make sowings of Peas, Beans, Radishes, Salading, and of Sea- 

 hale, Rhubarb, and Asparagus directly. Attend to the sowing 

 of winter-keeping root crops speedily. 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



Continue to protect blossoms and to eradicate insects by all 

 possible means. See that all the winter and early spring work 

 among fruit trees is brought to a close forthwith. Finish root- 

 pruning all luxuriant trees; most persons may have observed 

 the effect of moving a large Pear tree very late in the spring, 

 it generally becomes covered with blossom buds, and such in 

 a degree will be the effect of root-pruning at this period. Top- 

 dress newly-plnnted trees, and water when necessary. If the 

 American blight threatens mix clay and water to a paint, and 

 add soft-soap, 1 oz. to a gallon of the clay water, with half a 

 pound of sulphur to the whole, and with this anoint the stems 

 or suspected places. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



See that rolling, mowing, &c, proceed in due order. Now 

 is the period to lay the foundation of a fine lawn, the pride of 

 English gardening. Let all fresh turfing be completed forth- 

 with ; it is a good plan to scatter rough old tan thinly over the 

 turf as a screen from the sun until the roots take hold; some 

 waterings are also essential. Eirly herbaceous plants over- 

 grown may be divided now ; the exterior portions of the stools 

 should be reserved, and the interior rejected. Be sure in 

 planting them again to introduce fresh soil. Cut-in all com- 

 mon evergreens or shrubs before the buds become too much 

 advanced. This is a good time to cut-in Holly hedges. With 

 bright sunshine and drying winds it may soon require the ut- 

 most care to save recently-transplanted evergreens of large 

 size, and no mere surface-watering will be of any service. 

 The ground about the roots, as well as the ball, should be 

 thoroughly soaked. After applying water and allowing the 

 surface to become moderately firm, stir the soil slightly with 

 a blunt fork, which will prevent its cracking, and allow the 

 free action of the sun and air to warm the soil and encourage 

 the production of roots. Take advantage of the present state 

 of the ground to stir the surface soil of the shrubbery and 

 borders, to prevent the growth of weeds and to give the whole 

 a fresh and clean appearance. Do not neglect to put in plenty 

 of Mignonette, and if not already done, hardy annuals Bhould 

 be sown without further Iobs of time, except in cases where 

 they are not wanted to bloom before autumn. Those who 

 force Neapolitan Violets should for the next three weeks or a 

 month propagate a stock either by means of cuttings or 

 runners. Young stock of choice Pansies of last autumn's 

 striking should soon be planted out in the flower garden beds 

 or borders. If the soil is in any way exhausted, a little fresh 

 should be put in every hole, such as old, rotten, loamy turf 

 mixed with old leaf soil, a little soot, and a little coarse sand. 

 Too much manure may enlarge the bloom for a while, but it 

 soon renders the plant unruly. Sow Sweet Peas if required 

 early ; soak them in warm water for six hours previous to 

 sowing them. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



At this period it is of much. importance to have a dung bed 

 or two, giving a very moderate heat, fitted up for the purpose 

 of cooling-down fresh-struck cutting?, hardening-off annuals, 

 and receiving plants from either the stove or greenhouse ; for, 

 in consequence of liberal shifts in these departments and the 

 rapidly increasing size of the Pelargoniums, Cinerarias, Calceo- 

 larias, and Fuchsias, something will have to be removed, and a 

 cold frame is insufficient for some of these tribes. Let, there- 

 fore, whatever spare frames come to hand be fitted up, using 

 a little well-wrought dung, with a good quantity of tree leaves, 

 if at hand. A steady bottom heat of 70° will be quite sufficient, 

 and very little material will afford this temperature if some 

 coarse litter of any kind be packed closely around the frame 

 directly it is built. Such frames should be watered with scald- 

 ing water as soon as a little heat is produced ; this will destroy 

 insects and their eggs. A coating of ashes may then be spread 

 over, and the frames matted up at night for two or three weeks, 

 leaving a little air all night where plants are being hardened 

 off. Such frames will be found of great use, and will enable 

 the possessor to keep his priacipal specimens uncrowded, and 

 to stake out showy plants liberally. The climbers in the con- 

 servatory will now want attention at least oncea-week, whether 

 upon the roof or pillars, or on trellises in tubs or pots. 

 Prune off superfluous shoots ; stop or pinch the tops of gross 



leaders, to induce a flowering habit in those which produce 

 blossoms from the axils of the leaveB, and keep them neatly 

 tied and trained. Large Acacias or groBS climbers will now 

 require abundance of water ; those growing beneath the floor 

 level or under stone covers should, when watered, have a 

 thorough soaking. Keep up in the mixed greenhouse a lively 

 circulation of air all the early part of the day, and dispense 

 with fire heat as much as possible. Where a house of this 

 character contains stove as well as common greenhouse plants, 

 a climate superior in point of heat to the common greenhouse 

 must be maintained ; and in order to do as little mischief as 

 possible through the compromise necessary, let the requisite 

 advances in heat be at all times made when there is a con- 

 siderable degree of light. To this end practise the early shut- 

 ting-up, so much insisted on by all good gardeners, and on 

 such occasions take care that the fire has been very low, and 

 out for an hour or two previously. The heat thus secured in 

 the evening, if accompanied by sufficient atmospheric moisture, 

 will establish a healthy and short-jointed growth. Make a 

 sowing of tender annuals, if not already done. Pot-off Balsams, 

 Cockscombs, &c. ; these will do best in frames on fermenting 

 materials, if kept close to ths glass and well matted-up at night. 



COLD PITS. 



Continue potting-off stock for the flower garden, also making 

 cuttings of Verbenas, Fuchsias, Petunias, Dahlias, and Pelar- 

 goniums ; they will all be wanted for some purpose. Shade 

 carefully newly- potted stock, and more especially cuttings ; and 

 remember that in making cuttings the leaf should not be first 

 allowed to flag, and then an attempt be made to restore it by 

 an abundance of water — the leaf must never be allowed to 

 droop. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Pr.ErARED ground for sowing Onions when dry enough, by 

 levelling and shallow digging, the ground having previously 

 been trenched, ridged, and re-ridged. The heavy rains have 

 made the soil too wet for sowing general crops. 



Asparagus. — Raked over the ground out of doors to level the 

 surface-dressing, and remove any rough pieces of wood, &c. 

 The dressing consisted chiefly of rotten dung and leaves, with 

 a scattering of burnt clay and rubbish from the burning heap, 

 which, from the quantity of weeds so disposed of, will con- 

 tain plenty of different salts, and so far act as a substitute 

 for common salt in keeping worms and slugs away. Asparagus 

 in frames requires plenty of air in fine days to give it a rich 

 green hue, but it is easy to overdo the air-giving in cold 

 weather in March, with easterly and northerly winds, as the 

 shoots are thus made hard and woody, instead of succulent 

 and sweet. Taken as a whole, there is more mischief done in 

 March from giving too much air than from too little, provided 

 that little is given early enough. Ground should be well pre- 

 pared for fresh plantations. In very stiff soils it is a good 

 plan to take out a trench, say 5 feet wide and about 2 feet in 

 depth, fill the trench with prunings of trees and rough refuse 

 from the garden, cover with from to 12 inches of longish 

 dung, and then replace the soil in a bed, and ameliorate it by 

 manure and frequent turnings. The planting may take place 

 at any time, but when the plants are close at hand it is best 

 done when they have pushed 2 or 3 inches. The roots should 

 never be allowed to become dry ; damp them before planting, 

 and take them up from under a mat, as you go on, so that 

 the small fibres may never become shrivelled by exposure. 



There is nothing to be made of Asparagus roots after being 

 taken up to be forced, and hence their forcing is always a great 

 loss or a great expense. Hence many force a good part of their 

 Asparagus in pits, on which lights can be placed and the heat 

 applied where the plants are permanently grown. They stand 

 forcing well in alternate years. The simplest mode is to use 

 linings of hot daDg, but hot water effects the same purpose 

 with less trouble. 



Sca-kaU and Rhubarb. — Put more of both in the Mushroom- 

 house, most likely for the last time, as we can forward a little 

 out of doors, but ours outside are showing little signs of moving 

 as yet, proving how much more backward we are than in the 

 southern counties. This may be partly owing to cones or 

 heaps of burnt clay, ashes, &c, over the buds and roots, as 

 without that care, from the attacks of various enemies, we 

 might have plenty of fine roots from which the buds at their 

 tops had been extracted. These roots, unlike Asparagus when 

 forced, we rarely destroy ; but after hardening them off, cut 



