470 



JOURNAL OF HORTIOULTDRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



[ Jano 21, 1877. 



by parching winds and hot snn. Pick og all dead flowera and 

 peed vessels from Rhododendrons, ifec, as fast as they go out of 

 flower, in order to enable them t:i make new growth without a 

 chance of swelling or perfecting their seed pods. They not only 

 snap off the easier and more readily while young and green, but 

 the plants are much benefited by their remov'il, as they are the 

 better able to perfect their new growths for next year's bloom. 



Trees and shrubs which were trans(jlanted l.ito and are show- 

 ing signs of distress will require frequent supplies of water. 

 Many trees which a few weeks since looked both fresh and green 

 have not made suiiicient root-action to withstand drought, and 

 they will coneequentlv dwindle away and finally perish unless a 

 good soaking of water is given to them occasionally. If the sur- 

 face of the soil is covered with manure — mulching — immediately 

 after the water has been applied, its benefit will be the greater 

 and much labour will be saved. 



Newly-laid grass lawns, if they show any signs of cracking, 

 should have some fine soil placed in the cracks, and have a 

 good soaking of water also and a thoroQgh rolling afterwards. 

 Neatly-clipped edges both to borders and paths, a smooth and 

 even turf, and an absence of weeds are indispensable to every 

 well-kept villa garden. 



Amongst fruit trees much attention is now required, more 

 especially to trees on walls. Peaches and Nectarines are sadly 

 affected with blistered leaves, the result undoubtedly of the long- 

 continued ungenial spring. Picking ofl these malformed leaves 

 and giving the trees a good washing daily with a garden engine 

 is the best remedy, and about the only thing that can be done 

 to accelerate their growth. Stop all shoots growing straight 

 out, or as it is termed breastwood, and tie or nail-in all young 

 healthy shoots in their proper positions. Strawberries will 

 require thorough applications of both clear water and liquid 

 manure, or many of the fruit blossoms will be found to go blind 

 ■or barren. When black or other flies appear on Cherries or 

 other fruit trees, syringing the attacked points with a solution of 

 soft soap and tobacco water is one of the best of antidotes. 



To keep up a continual supply of gay flowers in the green- 

 house or conservatory it will be necessary to frequently clean 

 and change the plants ; decayed flowers and leaves must be 

 regularly picked off, and plants will not last as long in bloom 

 now as they did while the weather was coolnr. Draw down the 

 shading while the sun shines directly on the house, and keep 

 all pots scrupulously clean. Thorough cleanliness in this de- 

 partment is always important. 



Nearly all plants used during the winter have either ceased 

 flowering or are fast going out of bloom, and must be removed 

 to make their summer growths. Pelargoniums, as soon as they 

 are past their best, should be removed to an open place out of 

 doors, where they may harden their wood and be cut down. 

 The tops strike very readily, and if potted-on make fine plants, 

 which will produce six or seven heads of flowers for next year's 

 supply. 



Azaleas and Camellias which have bloomed late must be re- 

 moved to a pit where they can be shaded, syringed, and shut up 

 close in early afternoon, or to a vinery where th'^y can receive 

 the benefit of both shade and moisture. A great deal of next 

 year's success of blooming depends on having quickly grown and 

 well ripened new shoots. 



Roses grown in pots have now ceased blooming, and must be 

 removed to the potting-bench there to uudergo the process of 

 ehaking-out and repotting. If larger-sized plants are not wished 

 for return them to the same sized pots as before. If a plant is 

 weakly grown reduce it to the smallest pot its roots will go 

 into ; but if strong and large plants are required shift them to a 

 size or two larger according to the strength of the plant. No 

 plants are more deserving of attention than Roses in pots when 

 well grown. They cost very little to purchase in the first place, 

 do not require great heat to force them in early, and are always 

 welcomed. They can be had (if judiciously pruned and grown) 

 in bloom from March to June. By this time Rosea out of doors 

 are fast opening, and therefore the Rose season is greatly pro- 

 longed. It is on the summer growth that depends in a great 

 measure their capabilities of bloomiug next season. A good 

 strong yellow loam mixed with a little decayed manure is a 

 suitable compost for potting all the Hybrid Perpetuala, but for 

 Teas a little leaf soil and sand is needful. When the potting is 

 completed plunge them to the rim of the pots in short dung or 

 cocoa-nut fibre, and water them overhead frequently when 

 the weather is at all dry. They will then make new and strong 

 growth, and will repay the cultivator another season for his 

 pains. — J. W. Mookjian. 



DOINGS OP THE LAST AND WORK FOE 

 THE PRESENT WEEK. 



KITCHEN G.UIDEN. 



Onn complaint two weeks ago waK of cold and wet, also the 

 difliculty of destroying weeds in such weather. There are some 

 sorts of soil in which weeds grow with great freedom, and 

 others where they are much less persistent. Every gardener 



knows his own special work and difficulties, but the difficulty of 

 destroying weeds is solved when a person makes up his mind 

 never to allow them to appear above ground. Continual work- 

 ing with the hoe in the spring and early summer months will 

 keep everything clean and promote healthy growth of the crops. 

 Except two slight thunderstorms, during which over half an 

 inch of rain fell, but little more has fallen during the last two 

 weeks, and as the days have been hot with not much dew at 

 night the ground is now very dry, and during the last few days 

 we have hoed amongst nearly all the different crops. 



The Pea ground has been hoed and the rows eartbed-up, after- 

 wards sticks were placed to them. Potatoes and Peas on the 

 early borders where they have had no artificial protection are 

 later this year than we have ever had them. This may be 

 attributed to the severe frosts which prevailed when the Potatoes 

 had grown a few inches out of the ground, and which quite 

 destroyed them. To be sure of Potatoes, even by the second 

 week iu Jun«, it is quite necessary to place some glass protec- 

 tors over the plants, even if frosts are not severe enough to 

 show their effects upon the leaves; still they do experience a 

 check from continued cold nights. The Peas will be ready for 

 picking in a day or two, whereas if we had been able to have 

 placed some glass ridges over the first sowing we should have 

 gathered Peas by the last week iu May. 



The hot weather is forcing all sorts of crops on at a very 

 rapid rate. Cauliflowers faster than we can use them. Asparagus 

 is abundant and very good ; a portion of it has been allowed to 

 grow on while the other part is kept closely cut-in. If Aspara- 

 gus beds are closely cut-in every year untd the longest day no 

 wonder if the plants degenerate. Our plan is to let a portion 

 grow away while the other part is cut until Peas are plentiful ; 

 then the whole of it is allowed to grow away, although an occa- 

 sional dish may be gathered for two weeks longer. The beds 

 receive much benefit from a dressing of salt and guano in equal 

 proportions. If the weather is dry this may be washed in by a 

 good watering with clear water. 



VINERIES, 



This has been one of the most anxious seasons ever ex- 

 perienced by us for early-forced Grapes. It was our intention 

 to have the early Muscats in by the middle of May, and the 

 house was started suilioiently early for this. Never had the 

 wood been better ripened or the buds more promising. The 

 borders outside were protected by shutters, and a covering of 

 fermenting material was placed over the roots. All would have 

 gone on well, but the continued wet baffled us. The water rose 

 in the stokeholes to a depth of 18 inches, and we kuew that 

 the roots of the Vines were also submerged t3 that depth; so it 

 was quite certain that to keep-up a high temperature would be 

 doing injustice to the Vines, and they were allowed to grow-on 

 slowly until the waters subsided. Nevertheless, many of the 

 bunches in one house have berries disfigured with black spots, 

 which cannot be accounted for by any other cause ttian the 

 deluging with ice-cold water from beneath. The Muscat of 

 Alexandria has not suffered in any way, but Golden Cbampiiin, 

 Buckland Sweetwater, and some of the Black Hamburghs have 

 done 80. Duke of Buccleuch, though a noble-looking Grape, 

 has also a tendency to be easily injured. It is a great dis- 

 appointment to all Grape-growers that these two otherwise 

 noble Grapes are so difficult to manage. Our own opinion is 

 that they require certain treatment — for one thing, a drier atmo- 

 sphere than most other sorts excepting Canon Hall Muscat, 

 which would do with the same treatment. They might be 

 treated similarly to Black Hamburghs until the stoning was com- 

 pleted, and as soon as they took their second swelling we would 

 afford a temperature of 05" at night, with a rise of from 5° to 15" 

 by day. We would allow no water from evaporating troughs, 

 but would sprinkle the walls, paths, and borders of the house 

 twice daily in dull cloudy weather, and three or four times if 

 the weather was bright and the sun shone all day. 



Many gardeners, especially those with little experience, do 

 their work too much by square and rule — so much damping-up, 

 and this at certain times, utterly regardless whether the outer 

 air is charged with moisture or the sky is cloudless with a dry- 

 ing east wind. A man who takes an interest in his Vines or 

 plants will study their wants, and watch anxiously for the 

 change of a wind from east to west, and will take proper steps 

 to meet it. 



Ventilating and firing is equally if not of more importance 

 than atmospheric moisture. The main element of success is 

 to ventilate early in the morning; for instance, in a span-roofed 

 house running north and south the sun is acting upon the glass 

 at this season before 5am, and by an hour later than this the 

 temperature, if the house has been shut-up close, will have 

 risen quite 10' or 15'. We do not say that this will do any 

 harm, but it is better to ventilate as soon as the temperature 

 begins to rise, and to increase the ventilation as the suu riies to 

 its meridian. Most people think six o'clock early enough to get 

 into the gardeu ; if so, we would leave a little ventilation on all 

 night. Thou as to firing. This is scarcely required at all at 

 this season, as the temperature can be kept-up high enongb 



