June 3, 1669. ] 



JOUKNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



877 



il this do not create oonfusion, which is as mnoh to be guarded 

 against as a strict formality. Hardenbergiaa, Kennertjas, &c., 

 may be slightly cut back after blooming to induce a now growth. 

 Water should now be given liberally to plants in opon borders, 

 except those very recently planted. Use llio ciipino whenever 

 it can be done without interfering with the visitors ; either 

 early in the morning or late in the evouiug will at this season 

 be found the most suitable time, that tbo house may become 

 dry and airy before it is visited. The display of bloom must 

 be still kept up ; as there is now a larger number of plants lo 

 select from, considerable variety may ho secured at each regu- 

 lation of the inmates. K-jep all plants in the hou.so in the 

 neatest order. Shade daily when recjiiisito, and give air in 

 proportion to the state of the external air. The st-iek of 

 Balsams and other annuils grown for filling the various places 

 in the greenhouse, &c., should be encouraged by frequent 

 shifts ; keep them in bottom heat and near the glass, pick off 

 the early-formed Uowor buds it the plants are rcrjuired to attain 

 a considerable size before being allowed to bloom. Continue 

 to train Kalosanths neatly, and water with liquid manure oc- 

 oasionally. Specimen Searlet Pelargouiums should likewise 

 have liberal encouragement to grow them on. Common and 

 Fancy Pelargoniums for late blooming will thrive better in a 

 somewhat shady situation, and the latter especially, where they 

 can at the same time be protected from heavy rains. Fuchsias, 

 if not in their blooming-pots, should be potted forthwith. 

 Train in the desired form, and pinch back weak and straggling 

 shoots. The glass must be taken entirely off Japan Lilies, 

 Gladioluses, &o., unless early blooms are desired. Ktep a 

 portion in the shade of a north wall for a succession of bloom. 

 — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



NoiwiTHSTANDiMO the showcrs, vegetables, &o., do not grow 

 SO fast as might have been expected, especially in heavy 

 soils. Three things seem to grow remarkably well with na 

 — Cabbages, which we never recollect growing faster in the 

 same time, and, therefore, so far a great advantage, as Broc- 

 coli is nearly out, and Cauliflower not yet plentiful ; grass, 

 a great advantage as regards the pastures and meadows, 

 but making incessant work with lawns (corn crops in gt-neral 

 looking much in need of sun to succeed the showery weather) ; 

 and w)cc(fe, which rarely, if ever, had a better season. We have 

 been often surprited, when, after surface-hoeing in a sunny dtiy, 

 the same ground after a wet day or two, if looked at atten- 

 tively, would show numbers of almost im|ierceptiblo weeds 

 greening the surface again. Where they come from is a marvel. 

 It would appear that hind in general, and, old gardens in par- 

 ticular, if nothing else, are warehouses of weed seeds, which 

 only require to be brought within reach of the atmosphere and 

 the necessary amount of moisture to vegetate. What some- 

 times has puzzled us is, that seeds kept in a damp place, but 

 rather closely shut up, soon mould, and lose their vitality ; 

 bnt seeds kept in the moist soil too deep to come within reach 

 of the oxygen of the atmosphere do not seem to mildew, but 

 preserve their vitality for years, and only require to be brought 

 within the reach of the atmosphere to vegetate and flourish, 

 just as if they had left their seed vessels the previous season. 

 Some of the prominent annual weeds, as Groundsel, &c., we 

 have endeavoured to prevent seeding for many years, by having 

 them cut or pulled up long before they come to the seeding 

 state, and yet year after year every turning by trenching-up 

 fresh soil gives us good crops of these annual weedtJ, wliich 

 shows how thickly and securely the seeds are imbedded in the 

 earth. Last summer we passed a field of what ought to have 

 been Turnips, bnt Groundsel and Sowthistle were the most 

 prominent crops ; and as the pretty winged seeds were flying 

 and falling in every direction, covering even our garments as 

 we passed through them, we could not help thinking that the 

 easy-going farmer was laying up iu the land a good stock of 

 these seeds, to prevent anything like a scarcity of them being 

 felt for half a century. All that the best cultivator can do is to 

 cut them up as soon as they appear, but whenever he turns up 

 his ground afresh, he will hud that he will have plenty of work 

 from the buried seeds springing up as vigorously as if they 

 had been newly sown. We have no correct data for ascertaining 

 how long seeds will retain their vitality when buried beyond 

 the reach of the atmosphere in the ground, but as far as our 

 experiments and observations go, we should say that they 

 would retain their vital powers much longer than they could 



be coaxed to retain them in one of our best seed warehouses, 

 however carefully kept. Borne time ago wo saw a large garden 

 that tor particular reasons was left to itself for a year or two. 

 Such splendid annual weeds wo never saw; it would have been 

 a vp?t paving for the future to have sown it in corn or Clover, 

 which would so far have prevented the weeds ob'ainicg the 

 mastery. In that garden enough of Groundsel could have 

 been found to supidy the cage birds of many counties. We felt 

 that work tor the hoe, from one season's neglect, would thus be 

 provided for half a century. 



So far as our observation and oxperienc-^ go. Groundsel, Sow- 

 thistle, and Chickweed, are the annuals against which the 

 greatest care should bo taken to prevent their reaching the 

 seeding state. To prevent this, the plantu must be cut up in a 

 sunny day when small and young. Catting them up when ia 

 bloom is of no use, if there should be dull or thowery weather 

 afterwards, as the plants possess enough of succulence in the 

 stems to mature the seeds. We have proved this often with 

 Groundsel aud Sowthistle. It makes even the slovenly more 

 careful, to reflect that such weeds allowed to seed, would not only 

 give work to himself, but to future generations as well. Last 

 summer and autumn we saw Thistle-down in perfect clouds, 

 enough to fill whole fields with Thistles, and which would have 

 been done if the scorching sun had not dried the vitality out of 

 many seeds, and the small birds had not devoured a good lot 

 of the remainder. If a man should be so careless and igtiorant 

 as thus to injure himself, he should be prevented from injuring 

 his neighbours, just as our sanitary laws prevent a man, how- 

 ever indifferent himself, creating a nuisance and a source of 

 disease to his neighbours. If a man cannot keep Thistle-down 

 and Groundsel-down lo his own premises, there should be 

 some obligation laid upon him to prevent him allowing that 

 winged seed having free access to the ground of his neighbour. 

 When with all care these seedlings appear, the best plan is to 

 cut them up as soon as they show themsolve?, with a shallow 

 Dutch hoe, and choose a bright day for the purpose, that the 

 sun may shrivel them up. For this purpose a shallow hoeing 

 is best, as the seedlings shrivel np more speecily and it does 

 not bring more seeds near enough the surface. 



Forhimi the Ground amongst Vegctahlcf.—lhia is not SO 

 necessary in light as in rather stiff soils, but it was very neces- 

 sary with us, as the rains had battered the surface, and the 

 ground being somewhat moist was kept cool by evaporation. 

 The ground on the whole was cooler in proportion than the 

 air, except on the frequent frosty mornings. Stirring the snr- 

 fece among Potatoes, Cauliflovrers, and other growing crops, 

 allowed the air and warmth at once to enter. No advantage 

 was thus gained by heat, except that which the higher tempera- 

 ture of the air gave, and the air had freer access to the roots. 

 We thus for a specific purpose were wiUing to neutralise the 

 benefits of the mere conduction of heat to the roots. Than 

 the surface-stirring in such circumstances, nothing seems more 

 fitted to give such plauts a fresh start into vigorous growth. 

 For this purpose a light fork is just as useful as a clean Dutch 

 hoe for cniting-up small weeds. This surface-hoeing cannot be 

 too often done, even though few weeds arc seen. 



Bird.9 and lial-leaded Seedf:, rfc— We find that small seeds 

 are untouched, and the first sowing of Peas and Beans was 

 not meddled with ; but we find that in later sowings of Peas 

 and larger seeds both birds and mice have attacked them, 

 especially after germination had so far taken place that radicle 

 and plumule could be seen advancing. In some such cases 

 where the debris was left we could discover the coating of the 

 lead left on the outer rind of the seed, whilst all the interior 

 was cleared out. Traps became our only remedy then, and of 

 all baits nothing is better than old toasted cheese. We would 

 have treated the birds to strong poison, but then pheasants 

 might have eaten it. Our earliest Peas have suffered greatly 

 from sparrows, which are sure to abound where pheasants are fed 

 near the garden ; and though we tied strings and flags of white 

 paper, &c., the points of the shoots, the youngest leaves, and 

 the blossoms disappeared day after day ; these depredations 

 being so much confined to the earliest crops out of doors, that 

 we would have been in a difficulty had it not been for the 

 forward ones in the orchard house. Guilty, however, as the 

 thievish sparrow was, he was not the only culprit. One morn- 

 ing between three and four o'clock, contrary to general obser- 

 vation, four pheasants and three partridges were on the Pea 

 stakes, and making their morning meal of young shoots and 

 blossoms, and seemed quite agreed in their work of plunder. 

 Their being together was rather a novelty to us, for, as a 

 general rule, birds of a feather, and beasts of a skin or fur 



