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JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 2S, 1869. 



ance of that kind ; but if former directions relative to growing 

 plants with short-jointed wood have been carried out, stakes 

 may to a considerable extent be dispensed with, although some 

 will be necessary to give the plant its desired shape, but on no 

 account use more than will effect that purpose. Turn all plants 

 frequently round in order that they may not become one-sided. 

 The drainage of young hardwooded plants should often be ex- 

 amined, in order to see that it is effective. At this season 

 several New Holland plants are, as a matter of course, either in 

 bloom or approaching that condition ; they will, therefore, re- 

 quire to be well supplied with water, more especially large 

 specimens not shifted since last season. Cuttings struck for a 

 stock of winter-flowering plants will now require potting-off. 

 As it is not desirable that these should be grown to a large size, 

 keep them rather short of pot room. A hot-water pit will 

 answer best for growing these and similar plants. They can 

 there be brought close to the glass, and by a little attention will 

 become by the autumn stout and bushy, with well-ripened 

 wood ; they may then be brought into bloom at pleasure. 

 Shrubs planted out in beds in the conservatory will require 

 occasional waterings. Large specimens in tubs or pots must 

 also have a liberal supply, provided the drainage is effective. 

 This is the period for the free use of liquid manure, but take 

 care that it is clear, and not over-strong. Large Orange trees 

 while growing are fond of it ; when these produce gross wood, 

 disbud or remove it altogether, and let the lower shoots take 

 its place ; this will induce fruitfulness by moderating the 

 growth. Many conservatories are very unfit places for Heaths, 

 being generally too lofty, and kept too warm. Some of the 

 winter-flowering varieties, however, are very ornamental, and 

 should be largely employed in conservatory decoration during 

 the spring months. As soon as they have flowered, let them 

 be pruned back, and give them a liberal shift when they start 

 into growth, using good fibrous peat, and if they are well 

 attended to during the growing season, they will overcome any 

 injury they may sustain, through occupying an unsuitable 

 position while in bloom. 



ETOVE. 



The greatest care will be necessary to prevent softwooded 

 stove plants from becoming drawn ; as these wiU now be making 

 rapid progress they should have a large share of light, shading 

 only during the middle of a bright day. Some of those potted 

 early may now require a second shift ; in this, however, be 

 guided by the purpose for which the plant is grown. Take 

 every favourable opportunity of fumigating to keep down 

 insects, and syringe frequently, but in doing this take care not 

 to injure the young foliage of large-leaved plants. Should 

 twiners or specimens planted out in beds become infested with 

 insects, these should be cleaned with Gishurst compound. See 

 that growing Orchids have abundance of atmospheric moisture 

 with a liberal circulation of air early in the morning, shutting 

 np closely at a rather early hour, and take care to be moderate 

 in the use of Are heat, in order that a pure atmosphere for the 

 night may be insured. Growing Dendrobiums will now require 

 liberal supplies of water, and let plants on blocks be frequently 

 syringed. Most stove plants will succeed in a mixed green- 

 house, where a medium between the cold greenhouse and the 

 stove is observed. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST W^EEK. 



The very changeable weather has rendered much of our work 

 of an intermittent character. After a very windy night, which 

 considerably tried doors and sashes, as well as" fresh-planted 

 trees, we had a fall of about 2 inches of snow on the morning 

 of the 20th, with a keen north wind, and still a rapid thaw. 

 Though the snow was not thick, we managed by rolling to 

 secure a good quantity in the well of an ice house. ' The thaw 

 enabled us zo roll the snow into huge firm lumps, which were 

 placed in a barrow by tilting the barrow sideways to them, and 

 the lumps were then wheeled at once to the well.' But for a long 

 covered pa6.=age we would have had a cart, but so long as we 

 could roll the snow near the well on clean grass, we should 

 have gained nothing with its help, but rather the reverse. 

 Such damp snow needed no watering, but was easily beaten 

 firmly together, and after a few weeks will come out almost as 

 good as ice. Snow will not roll unless it is soft on the surface, 

 and does best when the layer is not thick. We collected a 

 considerable quantity in six or seven hours, and after that the 

 snow was too thin for us. When snow has been more light 

 and feathery, we have used a little water to consolidate it under 



the rammers. This year, in many parts in the south, imported 

 ice will have to be resorted to, and^where it is easily obtained 

 it will be found very economical for merely cooling purposes, 

 the blocks well covered up lasting so long. For hard freezing, 

 when the blocks are broken small it is little, if any, better than 

 our pond ice. Unless we secure ice from pure good water, it 

 cannot be used as lumps in decanters of water in summer. 

 The ice formed from snow is hardly so firm as pond ice, 

 and when rolled close to the surface of a grass pasture is 

 chiefly useful for keeping jellies, butter, itc, firm, and for cool- 

 ing wine, as it is not pure enough for other purposes. We have 

 several times imitated the blocks of Wenham Lake ice by 

 placing ice from 1* to 2i inches in thickness, in six or seven 

 layers neatly on each other, watering them before a frosty night, 

 and leaving them to the frost, when they became a solid block, 

 and such a block placed in an ice tub, protected with woollen 

 cloth and sawdust at the bottom and sides, with the surface 

 exposed, did service for a long time for keeping butter, jellies, 

 itc, cool and firm. We hope we shall have no opportunity for 

 repeating the experiment this season. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



We managed to get in one piece of Onions in very good 

 order, but it will be some days now before we shall be able to 

 sow more small seeds. The chief work has been hoeing and 

 earthing- up Cabbages, turning over vacant ground, and prepar- 

 ing for planting Sea-kale, Asparagus, Artichokes, &c. Planted 

 out a bed of strong Curumbcr plant/;, and but for the snow and 

 the north wind would have planted out in a small pit heated 

 by hot water. This would have been done on the 19th, but the 

 soil was not quite warm enough to please us ; but had we known 

 that the 20th would have been so boisterous we would have 

 carried the plants to the pit and left them unplanted, in their 

 pots. Much depends on the careful moving these plants, even 

 to the distance of only 100 yards. A deep basket lined inside, 

 with a cover over it, is useful at this season, when the plants 

 are large. We have known the finest healthy plants become 

 unhealthy, and ere long insect-covered, from a few minutes' 

 exposure to a cold wind. We would rather wait a little than 

 run the risk. When amateurs obtain a few Cucumber plants 

 for their beds they cannot take them home too safely, or too 

 completely shut in from the weather. If secured in a box, it 

 is well to let the box be in the bed before unpacking — in fact, 

 if merely the lid is taken off for a few hours all the better. 

 We shall never forget seeing eight lights of frames planted in 

 the middle of March, and with good strong plants brought 

 from a small two-light box ; and though there was everything 

 that could be desired as respects heat, water, and soil, the 

 plants never flourished as they ought to have done. We have 

 no doubt that moving them in open riddles in a keen frosty 

 wind, and keeping them out in it longer than was necessary, 

 was the cause of the disappointment. We have known many 

 cases where a man would carry home in a box some nice plants 

 surrounded with soft warm hay, and the box itself enveloped 

 in a cloth — aU as it should be ; and then he would do all the 

 unwrapping out of doors close to his bed, doing it carefully so 

 as not to hurry, examine the plants all over to see if all were 

 right and free from insects, put them in his bed, and then 

 wonder why they did not go on so well as their former neighbours 

 which were exposed to ng such checks. The advice deduced 

 from such observations would be. Place your box in the bed at 

 once, unpack it there with a cloth over you to keep out the 

 cold air, and leave the plants in their pots, otherwise properly 

 attended to, to recover from the effects of the journey before 

 finally planting them out. Bear in mind that all plants feel a 

 sudden transition in temperature, and feel it all the more in 

 proportion to their tenderness. As the season advances less 

 care will be necessary ; but it is well to keep the principle- in 

 mind, even when no artificial heat is given under glass. 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



The boisterous snowy morning of the 20th induced us to 

 place some laurel branches over Peach trees on the wall, which 

 we thought might do this season without any protection. The 

 wind, aUo, being due north, though there was no frost, led us 

 to sprinkle a little rough hay over the most forward Gooseberry 

 bushes, as the following day being Sunday, we could not have 

 the means of doing it then. We have never any trouble with 

 such sprinkling. The wind soon scatters it from the bushes ; 

 but several times we have saved a heavy crop by this method, 

 when all left exposed lost the young fruit. Very little goes a 

 long way, and the sprinkling acts in two modes — namely, shel- 

 tering from frost, and keeping the sun which generally follows 

 from acting directly on the young fruit. Even on the latter 



