March 1)5, 1869. 1 



JOURNAL OP UORTIOULTDRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



211 



npright direction when they have reached the arm's flpan of a 

 man, measuring from their Btems. If the Vines show fruit the 

 bunches must all be picked off, for to permit them to ripen 

 frnit tho first or even second jear is a certain way of destroy- 

 ing their constitutiou. What laterals fyoung shoots), they 

 throw out at the axils of their leaves during the summer must 

 be shortened by degrees in September, and the further growth 

 of the ends of the branches stopped. About the middle of 

 October clear the laterals entirely away, and encourage the 

 ripening of the wood by freely admitting the sun. At the 

 middle of November the horizontal branches, it they are ma- 

 tured so far, which can be judged by the brownneas and hard- 

 ness of the canes, are cut over three or four eyes above the 



-3^^' ^^"J';^ - ' "-.-- -''^^™ ,L.*r>*v»*'*-^^-i^i — =-»-_ 



Fig* A. — Fourth year's appearance nfterthe November pniuiDE,', showing; 

 how the first main branches are cat away, as represented by the dotted 

 lines The arrow heads point out where new oues are immediately to be 

 trained in their places. 



vertical turns ; but if they have not ripened their shoots to 

 that extent, cut them so as to be as nearlv as possible of uni- 

 form length. The central branches or luoga, shorten back to 

 three or four eyes, and thus the first year's yuuHii?'/ and train- 

 ing is complete. I lay particular stress on the word pruning, 

 for when this operation is left to he performed in the spring, 

 there is no tree so likely as the Vine to suffer from what is 

 termed bleeding — a discbarge of the sap at the incisions made 

 by the Ijnife ; and it is found sometimes very troublesome to 

 stop. One of the best methods for staying such bleeding is to 

 apply a heated iron to the part cut, and then immediately to 

 rnn melted sealingwax upon it, as mentioned in page 1G2. 

 Other applications which are employed for the same purpose 

 are cow dung and clay, (luicklime, whitelead paint, Thomson's 

 styptic, &c. It is, however, far better to prune at a time when 

 all these difficulties can be avoided. 



There is one chief preventive of mildew, and I wish to 

 impress it particularly ou the cultivator's attention as being 

 truly a " stitch in time. " Keep a sharp look-out for the first 

 appearance of this insinuating pest. It always attacks the 

 young immature foliage first, and then the halt-grown fruit 

 about midsummer. Now, the inst;^nt a speck of it is per- 

 ceived upon the young laterals at the axils of the matured 

 leaves, or on the young foliage and points of the growing 

 shoots, pinch the former and the latter entirely away, or cut oli' 

 at once the points of the growing shoots. This will do away 

 with the feeding and propagating grounds of the fungus, as it 

 cannot begin to prey upon the matured foliage — that is safe, 

 unless the mildew be allowed to go on unchecked. Possibly, 

 after the thinning-away of the young spray, the green fruit may 

 not be affected ; but should it become so, procure some finely 

 powdered flowers of sulphur, tie it up in a piece of louslin, 

 dust it over and about the bunches, and the Oidium Tuckcri 

 will be overcome. — Upwards and Onwards. 

 (To be continued.) 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



HoBTicDLTURAL CoNr;BESSES Thicken. — We have received 

 the programme of one to be held at Copenhagen, from the (ith 

 to the 10th of .July next, in conjunction with the Universal 

 Agricultural Congress. 



At the Royal Horticultural Society's Provincial 



Snow AT Manchester, in July, it is proposed to have some 

 afternoon meetings, at which papers on gardening may be read, 



and discussions held on the subjects that may be brought 

 under the notice of the meetings. Those who intend to con- 

 tribute papers are requested to give notice to Mr. Moore, 

 Botanic Garden, Chelsea, on or before the aOth of June next. 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCUEN (iARITEN. 



Aspniapiis, in planting it is of the utmost importance to pay 

 every attention to a proper rotation of crops. When Celery is 

 grown in what are called Scotch beds, the latter make capital 

 Asparagus ground. The preparation consists in trenching the 

 ground much deeper than the rest, and in burying a consider- 

 able cpiantity of raw vegetable matter in the bottom of the 

 trench, as refuse vegetables, weed^, or half-rotten leaves, with 

 which a little manure had been blended for linings in the pre- 

 vious year. The upper part of the beds has some rotten manure, 

 of course, for the Celery. In taking up the Celery for use, the 

 bed is broken up to a great depth, also the alleys, and thrown 

 into a ridge, which ridge remains tallow until planting time, 

 when it is merely levelled down. It should bo planted now. 

 i.'n/ic'o/i, let a sowing of winter and spring sorts be made forth- 

 with. Cape Broccoli, and Cauliflower for Michaelmas, may, 

 however, be sown a week or two hence. Potatoes, a full crop 

 may now be planted. Kidneys with well-protected sprouts, or 

 any other early kinds, planted now, w.U be a little later than 

 those planted in February. Planting, however, reriuires a little 

 care, the sets should be placed in baskets, in single layers on 

 damp litter, and carefully handled. They should by no means 

 be planted during either sunshine or wind. Those with sprouts 

 2 or o inches long, if managed thus, and covered at night until 

 the second week in May. will closely succeed those in frames. 

 See that plenty of (Ireen Kale, y.avoys, Brussels Sijrouts, Leeks, 

 Scorzonera, Salsiifii, lleet, &c., is sown without delay. Continue 

 successions of Horn Canofs— indeed, sow a bed every month 

 from January to September. 



FRUIT r.ABDEN. 



As soon as the weather becomes more congenial to the open- 

 ing bloom, protecting materials may be gradually removed 

 from Peach, Nectarine, and Apricot trees, but not in such a 

 way as to subject the bloom to injury from too sudden exposure. 

 Where canvas screens on rollers are employed, they should, of 

 course, be rolled up by day, and let down at night ; but if the 

 night should become warm, they need not be lowered quite 

 down, as a little extra air will be more beneficial than other- 

 wise; tor blossoms of Peach and Apricot trees are not un- 

 frequently injured by too much coveriug. When Peach and 

 Nectarine trees are sufficiently advanced, proceed gradually 

 with disbudding, but remove only a portion of the buds at once, 

 selecting the strongest first, and going over the trees two or 

 three times at intervals of about a week. Thus it will be pos- 

 sible to avoid cheeking the trees to the same extent as when 

 disbudding is done all at once. I.ook carefully over Apricot 

 trees, and destroy the caterpillar wherever it is found. It is 

 sometimes very destructive to the foliage and fruit when neg- 

 lected for a few days. Figs must soon have their winter pro- 

 tection removed, and be thinued and tied. If possible, the 

 bloom of the choicest kinds of Pcavs should have a little pro- 

 tection ; when the trees are agamat walls, this is easily afforded, 

 but with espaliers and low standards the difficulty is greater. 

 For the latter a slight frame sha)ied like an umbrella, and 

 covered with canvas, might bo fixed over each tree ; of course, 

 the frame should be larger tha-j IIil- diameter of the tree. For 

 espaliers, a width or two of canvas should be fixed on a frame 

 over the line of trees. If this kind of protection be placed 

 2 feet above the trees, it will keep them safe from any frost 

 that may now be expected, provided it is not accompanied by 

 wind. 



FLOWXR GARDEN. 



Look over all recently transplanted shrubs and trees for the 

 purpose of ascertaining whether or not they are securely staked, 

 for if allowed to be rocked by the wind the tender roots are 

 often broken off, and the plants are consequently deprived of 

 their only means of obtaining nourishment. Mowing will soon 

 require attention, therefore have the turf swept, well rolled, 

 and made thoroughly firm without loss of time, and remember 

 if mowing is deferred till the grass has become long, it will re- 

 quire much time and labour to again bring the turf into proper 

 order. Put walks and edgings in order. 



GREEXnOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



Proceed with staking and tying-up plants which require assist- 



