June 16, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



427 



have to mulch a great deal if we mean to keep things alive, 

 and then we may be beaten after all. 



In sowing Turnip?, Radishes, Lettuces, Peas, Dwarf Kidney 

 Beans, and Cauliflowers, as we had uo hope of watering after- 

 wards, we soaked the drills well before sowing, patted the seeds 

 into the damp soil, and covered with the dry soil. All our 

 previous sowings thus treated turned out well, and as yet the 

 plants have stood well. This, as already stated, is a very 

 different affair from mere surface watering. The latter cakes 

 the surface, and prevents the moisture rising ; the former leaves 

 the surface dry and open, and in such weather lessens evapora- 

 tion. At any rate, all sowings so treated look as if they liked it, 

 and are almost independent of the water-pail. The only crop 

 that spemed to suffer was some rows of Broad Beans in bloom, 

 and to these we gave a fair allowance of house sewage, and then 

 covered up the moist with dry soil, and now they seem to set 

 their blooms well, which in the dryness they refused to do. 



Fortunately, as the season is so dry, we have depended chiefly 

 on sown Lettuces, which, treated as above, are much more in- 

 dependent of the water-pail than transplanted ones. Had we 

 plenty of ground we would never transplant, as in all seasons, 

 and especially in dry ones, the plants not lifted, from rooting 

 more deeply, do best. It is necessary, however, in such a case 

 to sow thinly, and to thin-out in good time. Parsnips, Carrots, 

 Beet, and Onions have been more or less thoroughly thinned, 

 as they would have been injured if left longer. The thinning 

 would have been move easily done if the ground had been a 

 little moister. Our last-sown Carrots are just up, and a third 

 sowing of Horn Carrots now will give a good supply of young 

 Carrots in the autumn. 



Celery. — This we would have planted but for the weather. 

 We are keeping it rather close and shaded to save watering. 

 When close together a pailful of water will do as much good 

 as a barrelful in the trenches, and such matters must have 

 thought, unless a determination is arrived at to cart water three 

 or four miles. Celery is a ditch plant, and leaving it to become 

 dried up is the way to make e very plant start into flower. 



Potatoes. — These, when planted about 8 inches deep, in 

 general need no earthing-np. Ours were scarcely so deep, and 

 we deferred drawing a little earth to them, hoping for rain first. 

 As that did not come, and as the plants began to show signs of 

 suffering, we drew a little earth to them, and the growth since 

 has been rather more rapid than we like, but very healthy. 

 We attribute the sudden change to the greater coolness thus 

 given to the roots, and we also think that more of the vapour 

 that is raised from beneath was thus arrested near the tubers. 

 At any rate the earthing-up has removed every trace of suffer- 

 ing, and the tubers are swelling more rapidly. On the whole 

 we are no great advocates for earthing-up, and it never should 

 be done so as to disturb or hurt the roots, as we have known 

 whole fields of Potatoes greatly injured by running a plough or 

 scarifier between the rows too late ; but in all cases of close 

 cropping, where it is necessary to plant vegetables between the 

 rows of Potatoes, the slight trench between the rows will be 

 useful for the purpose. 



We shaded early Turnips with laurel boughs. 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



Our Raspberry canes suffered a little last winter, but not so 

 much as those of many did, and now if the plants are shorter 

 than usual they have plenty of young fruit. To do them 

 justice and have them fine, the shoots ought to have a good 

 soaking of manure water. The Raspberry is a most useful 

 fruit, and a little attention is never thrown away. The present 

 is a good time in thriving plantations to go over them, and 

 cut out the weak young shoots not likely to be wanted, as that 

 will give more strength, and sunlight, and air to the canes left 

 for next year's bearing. Those who have not yet tried would 

 be surprised how much more prolific a cane would be that had 

 a tolerably full exposure in the previous year than one crowded 

 up with a lot of competitors all the summer, the most of which 

 would be cut away at the winter pruning. 



Strawberries. — We had made arrangements, as we thought, 

 to keep up a supply until about the 16th inst., but we fear now 

 that we shall not gather freely out of doors until later. We 

 lost one row on which we depended, partly from its being cut 

 down by grass mice. It was vexing to find a shelf and floor 

 strewed, scarcely a fruit ripe, and hardly one bitten, showing 

 that the whole had been done for sport. These grass mice 

 are our worst enemies. We have had a frame of Cauliflower 

 plants in spring cut over in a night, and yet scarcely a bit 

 seemed to have been consumed. Our future supply will chiefly 

 come from plants in the orchard house — those in pits and 



frames, which were lately taken up as previously detailed ; and 

 to make sure that there may be no interval before there shall 

 be a plentiful supply out of doors, we will cover a piece, on the 

 13th, on a south bank, with some old sashes. Where we have 

 been able to water two or three times with sewage there is an 

 abundant crop, and though the surface soil soon becomes dry, 

 independently of the dry litter, the berries swell well, though 

 much more slowly than if they had a moister atmosphere. If 

 we had had the water, in addition to making the roots comfort- 

 ably moist we would have syringed or engined the tops towards 

 evening, so as to give moisture to the leaves. We scarcely 

 ever recolleot of the air being drier than it has been of late. 



We shall have to net or otherwise keep birds from Straw- 

 berries long before they are ripe, as the birds have commenced 

 upon them when as hard as marbles. But for birds selecting 

 the best fruit we could let them have a share, as it is pitiable 

 to see blackbirds and thrushes rapping and beating so long on 

 dry hard ground, vainly expecting thus to tempt worms, &c, 

 to come out to see what is the matter. Still, it is astonishing 

 what quantities of soft food some birds will collect, even in the 

 driest weather. Of late, except when we had symptoms of the 

 rain that did not come, we have scarcely seen a plug or a snail, 

 and have had scarcely any trouble to arrest their depredations. 

 Early in the morning we have seen a pair of starlings catering 

 for their young, and the quantity of molluscs, worms, and large 

 insects that they carried in their bills must have been procured 

 with great searching. A pair of robins that built close to 

 the window were equally industrious, and we have no doubt 

 the same pair have made themselves very domesticated for 

 years. The little robins in these dry mornings would come 

 with their beaks full every ten or fifteen minutes. The little 

 tomtit, mischievous in early spring, has so assiduously searched 

 for insects on Peach and other trees, that he has scarcely 

 allowed a single fly to escape him. We could partly forgive 

 the little fellow for scooping out so many of our fruit buds in 

 spring when we can see him so busy now in looking for insects. 



Cherries. — These we have been obliged to net on the wall, 

 though hardly beginning to colour, as the birds pull them down 

 for something moist, though hardly able to nibble them. At 

 the foot of one small tree we counted forty fruit, most of them 

 punctured but none eaten. 



Apricots, though well thinned, have thrown off a few fruit. We 

 watered the trees a little some time ago, and would like to give 

 a good soaking, not minding sewage if not over-strong, as a con- 

 siderable part of the strength would be absorbed before reaching 

 the roots. We have no doubt that the fruit dropping pre- 

 maturely and the branches and limbs of the Apricots dying off, 

 are greatly owing to dryness at the roots. In a season like this 

 we should like to give Apricot trees, and Peach trees too, a good 

 watering before the fruit stoned. The want, as in our case, of 

 being able to give moisture from the surface, encourages deep 

 rooting, and that is too frequently accompanied with ill-ripened 

 wood, which may show, but refuses to set, its bloom. We could 

 have little ill-ripened wood last season, however, as the trouble 

 of thinning stone fruit is something out of the way. Even 

 Cherries have set much more thickly than usual, and if left to 

 themselves it will be well if in their case, and in that of Plums, 

 a good many drop before they take the second swelling. 



In orchard houses we are now meeting with an extra diffi- 

 culty — until we have rain we shall have no water that we can 

 use with a syringe or engine with propriety. We can merely 

 damp the floors with dirty water, and the pots have had to be 

 treated with sewage, though sometimes it was rather strong. 

 To save watering the pots were all mulched, even the outsides 

 of them, and having nothing at hand to please ns, we purchased 

 a lot of the horse droppings, &c, collected on the highways. 

 These, thrown into a heap and covered with litter, heated rather 

 violently, which heating we encouraged, as we did not wish to 

 be troubled with the growth of weeds. It is astonishing how 

 such material and half-rotten leaves, as mulching, keep in 

 moisture. A layer of either would prevent the soil beneath 

 them from becoming dry, so very different is their action from 

 that of a top-dressing of lighter litter through which the air 

 passes freely. Nevertheless, when thus using such material 

 for mulching for pots, we must not depend on the mulching 

 itself being moist, but must examine the soil beneath it, for 

 hough that soil is defended from direct radiation and evapora- 

 tion, there will be no end of moisture escaping from it in 

 sunny days through a free evaporation from the foliage. Any 

 sort of water will be rich enough after passing through Buch 

 mulching. The only note of care we urge on beginners is, not 

 to refrain from using the mulching, but to be sure frequently 



