March 31, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICUIiTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



247 



depth, and the alleys with it, and thrown into a ridge, which 

 ridge remains fallow until planting time, when it is merely 

 levelled for planting. It should not be planted until the middle 

 of April. The old beds should be forked up and top-dressed as 

 before directed. Sow Windsor and Longpod Beans for suc- 

 cession crops. Another sowing of Broccoli may now be made. 

 Sow Brussels Sprouts for an autumn supply. Sow Early Horn 

 Carrot. Prick out Caulifloxcer plants from the seed boxes, 

 and sow for a full crop. Give air to Cucumbers, if the weather 

 is mild, during a part of every day ; and provided there is a 

 good heat in the beds, the frames may be left with a little air 

 at night ; great care must, however, be taken to keep up the 

 requisite temperature. Another sowing of Kidney Beans, in 

 pots, may now be made. Sow Lettuce in the open ground, and 

 plant-out in sheltered situations that raised in frames. Sow 

 Buccessional crops of Peas, of various kinds, if not done during 

 the past week. Sow also Cabbage, Savoys, Radishes, Herbs, 

 small Salads, Chives, Fennel, Nasturtiunis, and most other culi- 

 nary crops not already in. 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



Finish planting fruit trees, and tie them up to stakes to keep 

 them from being blown about by the equinoctial gales. Train 

 wall trees, and protect their blossoms by a covering of bunting, 

 net, or straw ropes, &c. Grafting Apples and Pears may now 

 be proceeded with. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



This is a good time to sow a good collection of annuals, 

 whether hardy or tender. For the latter a slight hotbed is 

 requisite. Choice hardy annuals should be sown in patches, 

 and each patch covered with a garden pot, taking care to remove 

 it during the day, when they are coming up, and to replace it 

 at night. If any rude or unimportant shrubbery borders re- 

 quire a little gaiety, and business presses, a mixture of some 

 of the hardier sorts might be made, such as Collinsias, Clarkias, 

 Eschscholtzias, Malopes, Larkspurs, and Candytufts, and strewed 

 at random over the open parts of the border, after a thorough 

 cleaning. Dahlias should be increased without delay, and an 

 early batch of Chrysanthemum cuttings or suckers put in. 

 Lobelias should be potted, and put into a dung bed. German 

 and Ten-week Stocks should be sown in fresh soil in a cold 

 frame, or one that will soon cool down, and a few early German 

 Asters on a slight heat. Let walks in bad condition be turned 

 forthwith, and fresh coated with gravel, filling them well up. 

 They then harmonise better with the adjoining surfaces than 

 when deep. Give air to Auriculas on every possible occasion, 

 as the effect is very much diminished when the flower-stems 

 are drawn np weak. A finely-grown Auricula ought to support 

 its truss without assistance. Whilst the blooms are unex- 

 panded slight showers will be of service when not accompanied 

 with boisterous or cutting winds, but as soon as they are open 

 moisture overhead should be avoided, as it is apt to disturb 

 the paste of the eye, and to give the flower a smeared appear- 

 ance. Polyanthuses, if not parted last autumn, may now be 

 divided advantageously ; if the plants are required for ex- 

 hibition, of course this operation may be deferred. Canker, to 

 a considerable degree, has made its appearance in many col- 

 lections of Tulips ; effectual means must be immediately taken 

 to eradicate it, by removing the soil, cutting away the diseased 

 part to the quick, and allowing it full exposure to the air. 

 Seedling Tulips must be carefully attended to, and kept free 

 from weeds, and their growth encouraged as much as possible. 

 Carnations and Picotees should immediately be put out in their 

 blooming pots, and placed in a sheltered situation on a layer 

 of coal aBhes, to prevent the ingress of worms, &c. In order 

 to make sure, place a piece of fresh-cut Potato in the soil by 

 the side of the plants, and should there be, by any chance, a 

 wireworm overlooked, it will generally prefer the former, and 

 may thus be caught. Dahlia tubers potted off after they have 

 taken root, may be gradually hardened by occasionally tilting 

 the frame lights. Continue to put in fresh cuttings as they 

 become sufficiently long. Pinks and Pansies must be attended 

 to as previously directed, taking especial care to entrap snails, 

 &c. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



The classification of work is at all times of the utmost im- 

 portance, more especially at this period. There are maxims 

 in gardening, established by loDg practice, which if borne in 

 mind by the amateur would save in no small degree the tedium 

 of repetition. For instance, there are certain vegetables for 

 which, in order to produce a continuous succession, no better 

 rule can be offered than to sow a succession as soon as the 

 preceding sowing is fairly above ground. This holds good of 



Peas, Beans, Horn Carrots for drawing young, Badishes, 

 Spinach, small salads, &c. Again, with regard to plants for 

 early forcing, the budding or shooting of one set introduced to 

 the forcing pit, should be the signal for the introduction of a 

 succession. In matters of propagation, likewise, cuttings of 

 various flowers for the summer's display should be collected, if 

 at all possible, simultaneously, struck in a frame or pit together, 

 and nursed together afterwards. They alwayB meet with more 

 steady and uniform treatment under such a course, and it con- 

 duces likewise to lighten labour. A thorough revision of all the 

 plants in the houses where mixed collections are kept and 

 forced, is necessary at some time in spring, the shutting-up 

 of late vineries and Peach houses generally offering facilities 

 for their arrangement, and, of course, for relieving the other 

 structures. It is of importance to keep plants classified, or in 

 families, as much as possible. This will save labour. For the 

 reception of exhausted forcing stock, a pit or frame should be 

 fitted up in order to avoid mixing such plants with the general 

 stock. The amateur may carry out this principle with a small 

 frame. What is required is a bed of mild fermenting material, 

 covered C or 8 inches deep with tan, well topped up with linings, 

 and matted at night. A bottom heat of 80°, with frequent 

 syringing, and the plants plunged, will restore them to perfect 

 health, and prepare them for another campaign. Fuchsias will 

 be benefited by the application of clear liquid manure. Very 

 liberal shifts will be necessary at this period, more especially 

 for those intended for large specimens. Cinerarias for late 

 blooming should, if potbound, be shifted likewise. Let plants 

 in want of water have immediate attention ; nothing conduces 

 more to the encouragement of insects than suffering plants 

 to be checked through drought. Continue to propagate, and 

 see that cuttings and young stock are carefully shaded when 

 necessary. 



STOVE. 



Orchids should now be allowed a slight advance in tempe- 

 rature, especially by shutting up early. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Turned over vacant ground in frosty mornings. What with 

 frost, snow, rain, and Bleet, the ground in this quarter is not 

 yet fit for sowing, but a rising barometer leads us to hope that 

 before this is printed many seeds will have been comfortably 

 committed to the ground. Some seeds sown a month ago, as 

 Peas and Beans, are just beginning to extend the radicle, the 

 seed as a whole swelling slowly. These were safe enough with 

 8° or 10° below the freezing-point, but seeds of small size, 

 and, as they ought to be, slightly covered, would not be equally 

 safe after germination had commenced. The most tender time 

 with all annual seeds is just when germination has taken place ; 

 when the roots begin to take hold, and some leaflets appear 

 aboveground, the plants will stand much more cold uninjured 

 than in the first processes of vegetation. We had a small 

 paper of chipped seeds of Onions sent the other day, with the 

 inquiry whether it would be safe to trust them. We should 

 Bay, Sow again. They had been sown at the end of February, 

 the seeds had swelled and germinated, but the radicle seemed 

 decayed, and the little plumule or rising stem had turned back 

 on itself, and seemed decayed quite at the points, whilst the 

 seed was soft and pulpy. We have also seen some Oats sown 

 nearly a month ago in stiff rather wet soil. Many of these 

 seeds had been sealed up with nn incrustation like clay, and 

 from want of air had commenced to decay instead of to germi- 

 nate. So many were in this condition that the crop would be 

 rather thin. Hence the advantage, in such seasons, of light 

 easily worked soils, as sowing can take place at almost any 

 time. In heavy soils the time of sowing must be watched. 



Planted out more Potatoes, and where the soil was in good 

 condition sowed Peas and Beans. We also sowed Badishes 

 where a little protection could be given. Sowed Peas in boxes 

 in one of the houses, as those we had depended on for planting 

 out had been almost devoured by rats aDd mice. We took the 

 precaution of red-leading them before sowiDg. We gave a little 

 manure water to Peas growing freely in the orchard house. In 

 fine mild days we took off the sashes from Potatoes, Radishes, 

 &c, coming into use. Put in the last piece of Asparagus in a 

 bed with a little bottom heat ; and we planted out Lettuces, 

 and sowed a few Cauliflowers, Winter Greens, &c, in boxes, to 

 be a little in advance of those to be sown shortly out of doors. 

 Cleaned Mushroom beds, and as soon as we can spare the 



