Jane M, 1869. ] 



JOITRNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



42d 



afford, as those struck early will make strong plants for next 

 season. Attend to the tyinf;-np of these and Pahlias, and go 

 over the masses of Verbenas, ,to., frequentlv, to keep their 

 growth orderly and neat. The propagation of Carnations, Pico- 

 tees, Cloves, i-o., should not be longer delayed. As cuttings of 

 the yonnf; grass will succeed at this season, a slight hotbed 

 ehonld be made, on which place a few inches of very snndy soil. 

 Select the weakest grass for cuttings, and place a hand-glass 

 over them. The stronger shoots left will answer for layering. 

 The present is a favourable time for putting in cuttings of all 

 the more showy herbaceous plants, selecting for the purpose 

 the small shoots not furnished with bloom. A north border is 

 a Bailable place to strike them in, and a hand-glass will facili- 

 tate their rooting quickly. Pansies for autumn blooming may 

 be treated in the same way. 



OBEENHODSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



By means of a tasteful arrangement, and the introduction of 

 neatly filled hanging baskets, even small conservatories should 

 now present a gay and interesting appearance. This, however, 

 is not all ; attention must be paid to plants for autumn and 

 winter display. These while in active growth, as they now 

 should be, require a good supply of water, and insects are more 

 troublesome than in the oa^e of plants at rest. Give Luculias 

 plenty of water at the roots, and an oconsional supply of clear 

 weak liquid manure to old plants, until they have made suffi- 

 cient wood to insure a good amount of flowers. Manure water 

 must not, however, be given to young specimens growing 

 Tigoronsly, as that would only cause them to become gross, a 

 condition in which they seldom flower satisfactorily. In order 

 to secure fine heads of bloom from this plant, it should be 

 allowed a few weeks of comparative rest, after about the middle 

 of next month, keeping the roots rather dry, and exposing the 

 plants as freely to air as possible without injury to the foliage, 

 or the health of their neighbours. Brugmansia sangninea is I 

 also a useful plant for winter and early spring flowering when | 

 managed so as to be pruned and rested about this time. See j 

 that large specimens of Camellias are not allowed to become [ 

 too dry at the roots after they have set their buds, for the ; 

 latter frequently fall owing to this cause. Young and vigorous j 

 plants, however, often require to be watered rather sparingly I 

 to prevent their making a second growth. Place in their 

 blooming pots the principal .^tock of Chrysanthemums, using 

 for potting a rather heavy loam, with a portion of well-rotted 

 cow dung. Seedling Chinese Primroses, Cinerarias, and other 

 plants required to furnish the winter supply of bloom, should 

 now be forwarded, by shitting into 60-sized pots; keep them 

 in a cold frame where slight shade can be given them in hot 

 weather ; or, which is better, turn the frame to the north. 

 Ijook to the stock of plants out of doors in showery weather, to 

 see that none of the stock is suffering from imperfect drainage, 

 and throw screens over delicate plants during heavy rains, 

 especially such as have been recently potted. 



STOVE. 



As light has now reached its greatest intensity, and solar 

 heat nearly so, fires may be dispensed with in the Orchid 

 houses and stoves, except, perhaps, on the evenings of wet days, 

 when a little fire may be necessary to allow of the admission 

 of air early in the morning. As plants at this season are grow- 

 ing fast, the above conditions must be taken advantage of, to 

 snpply air liberally, which, in conjunction with light will help 

 to arrest the rapid growth of those plants whose disposition to 

 flower depends mainly on free exposure to both at the same 

 time. There are but few plants which will not benefit by in- 

 dacing a sturdy habit, and, consequently, the commencement 

 of well-ripened wood. Pot Achimenes and Gloxinias for late 

 blooming. Stove plants which have been removed to the con- 

 servatory while in bloom, should be replaced in heat as soon as 

 their beauty is over, in order to permit their young wood to 

 ripen before the short days. — W. Keanb. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Almost a continuation of the doings of previous weeks, as 

 regards succession crops. We planted Peas in good condition, 

 and so far apart as to leave room between them for four or five 

 rows of winter vegetables. We are generally free from envy, 

 bnt we have occasionally felt something very like it, when we 

 have passed through large gardens, and seen whole quarters 

 uaoocupied in spring and early summer, ready for winter 

 vegetables, whilst we ourselves could scarcely find a yard of 

 nnoccapied ground at home, bnt were forced to grow the lowliest 



things in all sorts of positions and conditions. We are no 

 advocates, in these days of progress, for very large walled-in 

 l^aidens for supplying vegetables, but, on the other hand, it is 

 one of the great errors of the time to suppose that an endless 

 succession, and a plentiful supply of vegetables and small fruit, 

 Clin bo obtained for a largo establishment from ono or two 

 acres of ground. Much produce, it is true, may be obtained 

 from an acre of ground when the coarser crops, as Potatoes, 

 Turnips, and even the later Cabbages, are grown elsewhere, 

 bnt the ground can carry no more than its dense covering ; and 

 though, thanks to a little courteous but plain speaking, we 

 have little to complain about, when fine quarters of Onions, &o., 

 are exhausted, we k-now it to bo a fact that many gardeners 

 snffi'r much when from a limited space they cannot obtain the 

 snjiply that is wanted. It is often surprising to us that gentle- 

 men who will be satisfied with a very moderate return from an 

 acre ot field land, worth, perhaps, no more than from 2'js. to 

 80s. an acre, will not be satisfied with twenty times the returns 

 from the same piece of ground, merely beeau«6 it happens to 

 he walled or fenced round. With the matter thoroughly venti- 

 lated and understood, there need be no unpleasantness about it. 

 Of all parts connected with gardening, the kitchen garden ig 

 that alone for which substantial value can be retufned. Mower 

 gardens, plant houses, &c., must merely be looked upon as 

 fine paintings and statuary — something to gratify the eye; 

 costing little at first, but costing much every year to keep in 

 order so as to be pleasing. What often surprises us is, that a 

 lady and gentleman, who like a well-furnished table, will grudge 

 an extra rood of ground to the gardener to secure a good supply 

 of esculents or vegetables, and yet will think nothing of adding 

 an acre or two to the pleasure ground or flower garden, though 

 every yard so added will be a drain on their resources every 

 week, and after all yield no return except a gratification to 

 the eye. 



Except where everything has to be grown at home, the ra- 

 pidity of transmission by rail furnishes the best reason against 

 having very large kitchen gardens, provided the owners choose 

 to go into the market for such early produce. We know cases 

 in which gardeners considerably north ot London could not 

 send Peas and Potatoes in snffii!ient quantities to the familiee 

 in London. Why, they could only have effected such results 

 by growing the earliest kinds, not in the open air but under 

 glass ; and although fine products are thus obtained, as mealy 

 young ripe Potatoes instead of waxy watery ones, the produce 

 must be comparatively limited. Thanks to the steamers and 

 rail, it is no uncommon thing to find the markets north of 

 Loudon supplied with Peas and Potatoes from the south of 

 France, the Channel Islands, at times from Algiers, and very 

 frequently from Cornwall and Devonshire, when no such pro- 

 d uce could be obtained from the open air in the garden at home. 

 These are matters of great gratification, as bringing the earliest 

 productions within the reach of the working classes. But 

 beneficial as they are, they are often a source of unpleasantness 

 to the gardener. Servants like changes as well as their masters, 

 and when Peas and Potatoes are seen in the markets of the 

 counties north of London, brought to sell because they are early, 

 out comes a demand for new Potatoes for the servants' hall, 

 when the gardener has none fit for use except the early ones he 

 has prepared under glass for his employers. The best mode 

 of avoiding all unpleasantness in such matters is to purchase 

 these early products, or have it understood that there must be 

 a waiting before the products come in naturally in the climate 

 of the place. There is generally a law of compensation in these 

 cases, as where crops come in fit for the table very early they do 

 not continue late in such good condition as where they come in 

 later at first. What we wish clearly to State is the simple fact, 

 that much north of London — in Hertfordshire,^ Bedfordshire, 

 on to Yorkshire — it is impossible to compete as' respects early 

 crops with Devonshire and Cornwall. The rail gives the 

 southern counties the opportunity ot sprtading their early pro- 

 duce, and when this is desired either above or fcelow stairs, it 

 should be purchased at once, without any left-banded reflection 

 on the gardener because he cannot bring in such produce equally 

 early. A clever plodding man will do much to regulate climatic 

 relations ; it is beyond his power to control and conquer them. 

 We recollect years ago feeling annoyed almost to explosion 

 point, on seeing an old general, who had a sort of craze for 

 young Garden Beans and bacon, as he went every day counting 

 and examining the state of the Bean beds, and querulously 

 inquiring when they would be ready, as he had partaken of 

 them, and so fine, in Cornwall more than a week previously.^ 



The rains have greatly assisted all crops, and made them in- 



