63 



JOUBNAIi OF HOETICULIUKE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ January 28, 1869. 



GREENHOUSE ANB CONSKBVATOEY. 



The expediency of night coveringg for the roofs of glass 

 honses has been frequently pointed out and generally ad- 

 mitted. It is very economical as regards the amount of fuel, 

 more especially in old houses with badly-fitting glass. Under 

 such circumstances a trial is only required to prove its utility. 

 Maintain a mild agreeable atmosphere in show houses, ami see 

 that all plants are clean and in good health. If any become 

 infested with insects remove them immediately, for no course 

 of culture will sneeeed without thorough cleanliness. Cine- 

 rarias, which are cramped in their pots, should have a shift, 

 as well as Chinese Primroses for spring-tiowering. Introduce 

 into the conservatory forcing-pit bulbs, Eoses, Pinks, Lilacs, 

 and plants of that description in succession. Let every at- 

 tention be paid to providing a succession of bloom with which to 

 keep this house gay, and avoid as far as possible using much 

 firing, which is expensive, and is very injurious to most plants. 

 Be careful not to let plants in bloom sutler from the want of 

 water, giving weak clear manure water to Camellias, Salvias, 

 itc, and use every means to preserve the beauty of specimens in 

 bloom as long as possible. In greenhouses damp and mildew 

 are the great enemies to be guarded against, and these must 

 be sharply looked after, especially in the case of plants that 

 have not ripened their growth and are in a rather soft state. 

 If the former is troublesome it must be remedied by free ven- 

 tilation in mild days, using a little fire heat at the same time ; 

 of mildew, a dry well-ventilated atmosphere is the best pre- 

 ventive, but the plants should be frequently examined, apply- 

 ing sulphur on the first appearance of the enemy. Very little 

 water will be required here at present, but the phints should 

 be carefully looked over about twice a-week, so as to make sure 

 that nothing is allowed to suffer from the want of it. If not 

 already done let all plants be tied with the least possible delay, 

 for it is diflicult to lie a plant so that it will not look some- 

 what stiff and unnatural, and the sooner all this description of 

 work is done the better specimens will look when in bloom 

 later in the season. 



STOVE . 



Begin to repot Orchids, taking them exactly in the order in 

 which they bud. Be sure that jour material is scalded or half- 

 charred, to destroy insects. Keep the plants well elevated, and 

 use plenty of charcoal in lumps of considerable size, fastening 

 the whole at last so that the plant cannot be loosened by 

 agitation. Sphagnum or other moss pegged on the top makes 

 a good finish, and is to be recommended in houses which 

 are unavoidably deficient in atmospheric moisture. Svringe 

 plants on blocks occasionally. Select some of the best "young 

 plants of Euphorbia, Eondeletia, Lrunsfelsia, Jatropha pan" 

 duriefolia, &c., and place them on bottom heat. Cut back 

 Poinsettia pulcherrima, Eranthemum bicolor, E. pulchellum, 

 and Justicia coccinea. Shake out and repot in good open fibrous 

 loam, half decayed, with some sand, the tubers of Gloriosa 

 fiuperba, and place them on bottom heat. No water should be 

 applied to the tubers until they have commenced their growth. 

 This is a very beautiful and very curious plant when well culti- 

 vated. Let the temperature be 60 by night, and (Jo' by day, 

 rising to 70° on sunny afternoons. 



riTS AND FRAMES. 



Provide a quantity of turfy loam, fibrous heath soil, crocks 

 of various sizes, sand, rubble, and pieces of charcoal, and see 

 that every empty flower pot is well-washed, dried and in readi- 

 ness, flower stakes of all sizes neatly made and painted, and 

 everything ready to begin operations in the potting-shed. — 

 W. Reane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST VTEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



A EATHEEsharp frost on Friday night and frost all day on 

 Saturday, with a clouded sky and a stationary barometer, 'lead 

 ns to think we may have cold at last, and perhaps ice by the 

 begmning of the week, say on the 2.5th and 2r,th. If this 

 month pass without enough of frost for ice, there is less 

 chance of a good supply afterwards, though several times we 

 have collected a good quantity in the beginning of March. We 

 presume in the north there has been no lack of this great 

 essential in many families ; but within thirty miles of London 

 •we have as yet had none worth going after. As now and then 

 we may have a season without ice, it is always important to 

 have a house large enough to tide over the most of two years 

 in an emergency, as, though huge blocks of ice can be had from 

 abroad, and cheap enough at first, the long carriage by rail and 



cart make it expensive in the end. These blocks, if surrounded 

 by woollen cloth and sawdust, will keep a long time without 

 melting. 



Expecting frost, therefore, the chief work in the kitchen 

 garden has been protecting, such as packing round Globe Arti- 

 chokes with litter ; placing small mounds of burnt earth and 

 ashes over the crowns of Sea-kale, which also so far protect 

 them from the nibbling of mice, rats, and rabbits ; scattering 

 litter lightly over Celery beds, Endive, Lettuce, &c. ; laying 

 laurel boughs over Lettuces at the bases of walls ; and 

 placing laurel branches over good beds of Coleworts, which the 

 mild weather had made tender. Put some litter over hand- 

 lights with Cauliflowers under them, and protected in the same 

 way those under old sashes and still yielding their produce. 

 As a matter of precaution, and having no wish to use the pick 

 if it could be avoided, took up some Horseradish, Jerusalem 

 Artichokes, Sea-kale, and Ehubarb roots, to be kept covered up 

 in a shed until wanted. Took up also the last of the Parsnips, 

 fine fresh roots, to enable us to trench the ground. Parsnips, 

 we think, are most pleasant for food when taken fresh out of 

 the ground, as when kept some time, though fresh and good, 

 tlieir saccharine properties are increased by the gradual loss 

 of moisture. Vermin, moreover, had begun to operate on the 

 crowns, as they did rather too freely on our Beetroot before it 

 was housed. 



Planted some frames with Potatoes that had been started 

 several inches in the Mushroom house, and find that we must 

 look after rats that have already found their way to them. The 

 slight hotbed of leaves has, no doubt, encouraged the rats to 

 nestle in the warmth. They seldom condescend to eat the 

 Potato, except when crisp and young; but they would soon 

 make a bed like a ploughed field if let alone for a short time. 

 On a similar slight hotbed sowed Horn Carrots in rows, and 

 Eadishes between the rows. This we find better than sowing 

 both broadcast. If the Carrots are 8 or 10 inches apart, row 

 from row, they may stand thickly in the row and be thinned in 

 drawing, and the drawing of the Eadishes will give them room. 



iliislirooms. — When a regular supply is wanted it is well to 

 have a bed in a close, shut-up house, heated or unhealed ; but, 

 as slated by a correspondent, they may be had in open sheds 

 or in the open air all the winter, only the more the place is 

 exposed the more care will there be needed in covering, so that 

 the bed shall neither be too cold nor too hot. A heavy cover- 

 ing, if it become damp in foggy weather, would so heat as to 

 injure what would otherwise have been a good bed. An open 

 shed protected from rain will, therefore, be better than the 

 open air. From one bed in the shed we still have frequent 

 gatherings, and every fresh piece we make in the Mushroom 

 house helps to keep it warm with but little other artificial 

 heat. Though we have had rather large beds, ridged like a 

 span roof, that bore for long periods, yet for constant supply 

 we prefer shallow beds frequently made. AYe have put in 

 another piece in the Mushroom house, using up all the shortish 

 dung that we had collected for some time in an open shed. 



A correspondent tells us that his bed shows plentifully, but 

 the Mushrooms seem to have no more substance than wafers, 

 and wants to know how to grow them fleshy. Perhaps the 

 atmosphere of the place is too hot and too dry. Most likely 

 the bed, below the soil, is too dry. In the first place, reduce the 

 temperature, and syringe the walla and paths if in a house. 

 In the second place, make small holes all over the bed, and 

 water with dung water at 80' or tlO", made from sheep dung, deer 

 dung, cow dung, or horse dung, that has been dried a little 

 before being put into very hot water, allowing the water to cool 

 down to the above temperature. A peck of such half-dried 

 manure would do for eight gallons, or two garden-potsful of 

 water. The best way to secure fleshy Mushrooms is not to 

 have the manure too dry, and after spawning and finding the 

 heat suitable, to plaster the surface over with half an inch of 

 cow dung that has been kept in a heap for a month or two, and 

 let that dry a little before adding the soil. We gave up that 

 custom, which we once practised largely, because we had so 

 many complaints that the Mushrooms would not cook, the 

 hearts remaining raw when the outsides were done. Fleshiness 

 may thus be overdone. 



Cucnmhers. — Having borne too freely about and before Christ- 

 mas, just as we expected a part of those in the pit began to 

 look badly, and we had them removed. The very dull weather 

 was most unfavourable to them in a pit — much more so than it 

 would have been where a steeper roof would have caught what 

 little sun there was. A part will yet do some service, and 

 plants have been potted-ofi' to take the place ere long of those 



