380 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTTJUE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ May 26, 1979. 



be good, because they are Peas. Alter the fine Marrows come 

 in all the small early sorts are little thought of. Among early 

 kinds, there can be no doubt that Ringleader, Carter's, Dick- 

 son's, and Chater's Early will thoroughly defeat the best and 

 truest samples of Sangster's No. 1; but then, so far as our 

 experience goes, Sangster's is by far the best for free growth 

 and free podding. 



FRUIT DEPARTMENT. 



For general remarks see notices of previous weeks. We 

 gave a little manure water to Strawberries, and should like to 

 give them a fair drenching before plaoing dry litter between the 

 rows. Old plantations we see are throwing weak footstalks, 

 and opening the blooms very irregularly. Younger plantations, 

 and those turned out of pots last year, are coming away 

 strongly with very little help from the waterpail. Such sunny 

 weather as we now have will hasten them on more rapidly than 

 wa expected, but we shall scarcely be safe in depending on a 

 supply out of doors until the middle of June. If so, we shall 

 find those we took up and potted the other week, and those we 

 planted in a bed under glass, very useful. We can also put 

 glass over a sloping bank, which will hasten ripening in sunny 

 weather, but will accelerate it but little in dull weather. On 

 the whole, rather small, well-ripened plants in what are called 

 G-inch pots have fruited most profusely with us this season. 

 Larger plants, and in larger pots, did not yield quite in pro- 

 portion to their size. A number of late ones we have in pots 

 in a cool case — that is, in front of an open orchard house, 

 look rather weak, but they are plants from which the main 

 central bud was eaten out by mice, but the roots being strong 

 and good, fresh smaller buds were thrown out at the sides, and 

 as these showed bloom, though rather weakly, we kept the best 

 to see what they would do. All the earliest plants have been 

 turned out into a border as they finished fruiting. This set 

 the pots at liberty, saved watering, will give us Strawberries 

 in autumn, and wo have no doubt heavy crops the next season 

 — that is, in the summer of 1871. 



Melons. — In a three-light pit, heated by hot water, and rather 

 hot at one end, the plants, turned out in a narrow bed, and 

 growing freely, all at once had the larger leaves spotted, and 

 then these began to shrivel at their edges. As the large leaves 

 are more sensitive to casualties than younger leaves full of 

 vitality, we ascribed the evil to extra heat and deficient air, in 

 bo far as allowing a powerful Bun to beat on such leaves before 

 thay were quite dry. In the same range, but farther from the 

 heating medium, one plant in five lights is a little affeoted in 

 tha same way, and as there the same circumstances do not 

 exactly apply, we are doubtful if the scorching and blotch- 

 ing theory is a sufficient explanation. This spotting and 

 blotching commenced nearest the front wall, where the sun 

 would exert less power than farther up, where the leaves seem 

 green and unaffeoted. There is no perceptible reason why one 

 plant in the five lights should be a little affected, whilst the 

 other plants are not as yat in the slightest degree touched. In 

 these five-lights the Melons were planted in the centre, and 

 the whole space, back and front, was filled with small plants 

 which we wished to forward. These we had to clear out, so as 

 to be able to set out the Melon plants properly. We have 

 several times given all the details of management. In our 

 <saae it is chiefly based on a fact and a desirability. The fact is 

 that Melon plants, as a rule, though not without exception, 

 show fruit most freely on the tertiary shoots, whether grown 

 in a bed or trained to a trellis in a house. The desirable 

 thing is, that before the plant shows fruit there should be 

 strength and vigour in the plant to set and swell the fruit. 

 From this one desirable thing comes another, that there should 

 be room for good large foliage, and that there should be a 

 minimum of small, useless shoots on the plant. To gain these 

 objects proceed thus :— The stem that rises from a Melon plant 

 we call the primary shoot. When you nip out the point of 

 that shoot, from every joint below it will come a secondary 

 shoot. Leave what number you like of these, according to the 

 number of plants in a light. These secondaries are the 

 branches— the framework, so to speak, of the plant. At every 

 joint on them will come another shoot, the tertiary shoot, and 

 generally showing fruit at the first or second' joint. We do not 

 wish these to show near the root, because there would not be 

 strength enough in the plant. As these secondary shoots grow, 

 vw nip out the incipient tertiary shoots in the axils ol the 

 leaves for a space of 2 feet or so from tha root, longer if the 

 space is wide. Then when beyond the disbudded part the 

 Bscondary shoots havo grown three or four joints, we nip out 

 the point of the shoot. This will cause the tortiary shoot3 



near the point of the secondary to come out freely ; and as the 

 fruit shows on them let the shoot be stopped the first joint 

 above the fruit. One thing more is important, and that is to 

 get the fruit on these tertiary shoots on each plant set at one 

 time. On this account, the simplest plan for beginners is to 

 have more plants, and only take two secondary shoots from 

 each plant. On the tertiaries from the points of these second- 

 aries, you will set fruit more equally than if you had four or 

 six secondaries from each plant. This care is based on another 

 fact, that however strong and vigorous a Melon plant may be, 

 if one fruit is set and begins to swell freely, it is next to im- 

 possible to get another fruit-flower to set and swell freely. If 

 two or a dozen fruit are wanted from the same plant, these must 

 be set and begin to swell about the same time. 



ORNAMENTAL DEPARTMENT. 



Proceeded with lawn, turf edgings of walks, getting them nil 

 straight and right ; went on with edgings for flower beds, and 

 preparing beds for planting, as we are averse to planting out 

 muoh until we can see our way more clearly as to water, and 

 as the bulk of our plants are in beds of earth they will take 

 no harm for some time yet. The ground until about the 20th, 

 was too cold for the generality of bedding plants. The beds 

 and borders have been several times rough-dug during the 

 winter and spring, and if the present dry weather continue 

 we shall level the loose surface without turning it over, so that 

 the dry surface shall remain there, and wa can then plant 

 at once in the damper soil beneath. But for the dryness we 

 should turn down repeatedly this warm dry surface soil, and 

 thus make a sort of hotbed by turning down sunbeams. With 

 present appearances we must think less of heat than of mois- 

 ture in the beds and borders. 



Gladiolm. — We had some massive rows of the acarlet Gan- 

 davensis, but they had been from two to three years in tha 

 same place, and thus the bulbs had become crowded and risen 

 on the top of each other, which would interfere with free 

 rooting and massive flowering. Owing to a layer of dung being 

 placed over them they had not suffered from the frost, and 

 the spring heat had not brought them forward. We trenohed 

 them out, some having pushed 6 inches, and others not above 

 2 or 3 inches, and planted them in double rows, the forwardest 

 at the back and the d wariest in the front to come in in succession. 

 The roots were covered up so as not to be injured before they 

 were planted. In planting we took out a trench, dug it well 

 at bottom with some rotten dung mixed with it, then a layer 

 of a mixture of rotten dung and light sandy loam, in whioh the 

 roots were well firmed, a little more fresh soil added, a good 

 watering given, and when settled the common soil plaoed at 

 the surface. We feel sure that though late enough these will 

 do well and bloom freely during tha summer. Many bulbs 

 are only just moving, and these will come in late. We have 

 potted a number of the most forward, five in a 10-inch pot, to 

 come in for corridors, &c , and later tubers thus potted will 

 also come in useful. Many of the more delicate-coloured va- 

 rieties will show their tints best in a glass-eovered cool house. 



Watering, and shading a little to lessen the need for water- 

 ing, have taken up much time of the week, but a good deal 

 has been done in potting, fresh arranging, &c. If this weather 

 continue firing will be little needed, as there is no heat so 

 good as sun heat. Floors and stages in houses can hardly be 

 kept too wet, so as to secure a moist atmosphere. — R. F. 



18. — Exceedingly fine clear and very fine. 



19.— Very fine ; clear and fine ; very fine. 



'20.— Very fine ; cloady but fine ; very fine. 



21.— Foggy and overcast ; exceedingly hot; fine, lightning. 



22. — Very fine ; exceedingly fine ; overcast. 



23.— Overcast, fnggy, overcast ; densely overcast. 



24.— Very fine ; fine and clear ; fine at night. 



