July 30, 1£68. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



79 



eboots as to bo ready to burst their buJs into another growth. 

 Now, gai-Jeiicrs know very well that when the eyes of any 

 plant are in this prominent state in the autumn, they will 

 shoot with prealor vigour in the spring, ami there is no reason 

 to doubt but the same effect, to a certain extent, will take place 

 if these shoots are used as cuttings. It follows, then, that all 

 cuttings of deciduous trees are benetited by being stopped 

 before the growing season is over. When cuttings of exotic 

 plants that are difhcult to strike, or that take a long time to do 

 so, are first put in, they are kept in a close, cool place till they 

 form at the bottom a callosity whence the roots issue; they are 

 then put into bottom heat to facilitate the emission of roots. 

 It seems, therefore, that the most eventful period in the life of 

 a cutting is that at which the callosity is formed, and fortu- 

 nately we can accelerate the period of its formation by ope- 

 Tatious performed long before the shoots are separated from the 

 tree. 



FLOWEB GARDEN. 



It maybe well to consider what is best to be done to counter- 

 act the effects, as regards Hower-garden decoration, of cold, wet, 

 or dry seasons. It may be remarked, that an improvement 

 will be effected in the first place by thoroughly draining and 

 pulverising the soil t<i the depth of at least '2 feet. This will 

 allow of the free percolation and distribution of moisture 

 throughout the whole mass of the soil ; not only of the moisture 

 which falls as rain, or is applied by the hand of man, but also 

 of the moisture which is ever finding its way through the soil 

 by capillary attraction. Where flower gardens are situated on 

 a subsoil of strong retentive clay, it will be best to remove 

 tho soil to the depth of 2 feet, placing C or 8 inches of brick 

 rubbish or rough stones over the bottom of each bed, and 

 making the remainder good with top or spit loam. To do this 

 with large gardens will be attended with considerable expense 

 and labour, and, therefore, as a makeshift, it will do consider- 

 able good to remove only a part of the bad subsoil, and then 

 mix the remainder with brick rubbish and half-decomposed 

 vegetable refuse. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSEIlV.VrOBT. 



No matter how soon in August the Dutch bulbs for very early 

 forcing are potted ; the more roots these bulbs make before they 

 are brought into heat the better. In Holland, the bulbs for 

 the first crop are well established in pots before we think of 

 ordering ours. Gesnera elongata, Crowea saligua, and some of 

 the Correas, will now stand more heat, and with a little forcing 

 they may be brought into flower a month sooner, .attend well 

 to late-auturanflowering plants for the conservatory. Helio- 

 tropes, Siveet Briar, Mignonette, Lemon-scented Verbena (Aloy- 

 sia citriodora), and Fairy Eoses, with the liose-scented Pelar- 

 gonium, are always in requisition for boufjuets after the middle 

 of October, or as soon as the early frosts nip them out of doors. 

 Examine every plant one by one, and give such treatment as 

 the different cases may suggest. This has been a trying season 

 for the best gardeners. Besides thus exercising our patience, a 

 large addition is made to the stock of our experience, upon 

 which we can fall back more readily in future. 



STOVE. 



Plants which flower late in the autumn, and especially those 

 that may be taken to the conservatory to bloom, should now 

 or very soon be in their flowering pots. Eranthemum pul- 

 chellum, several .Justicias, Aphelaudra cristata, Poinsettia pul- 

 cherrima, J'l^cbynanthus grandiflorus, and many more of similar 

 character belong to this class. Another very essential point to 

 be observed with stove plants in general, which are removed to 

 the conservatory while in flower, is to have the compost lighter 

 for them, and not to give them more pot room than will just 

 keep them healthy, with the assistance of liquid manure. 

 Plants of this nature suffer very much in a cool conservatory 

 late in the season, if they are growing in heavy, rich compost, 

 and in large pots, whereas in a stove that would be the right 

 way to make them flourish. 



PITS AND FRAMES. 



We are now on the eve of a busy time for pits and frames. 

 Mignonette is to be sown immediately for winter use. Large 

 quantities of the best China Roses are to be struck without loss 

 of time, to bed-out next May. All sorts offender annuals that 

 are to be sown in the autumn must be put in early. Calceo- 

 larias and Pelargonium seed ought to be sown as soon as 

 gathered after this time. Ciittiugg of bedding llesembryan- 

 themums should be put in among the very first, as they do not 

 flower well or early from late autumn cuttings, and hardly 

 at all from those taken in spring. Every cutting that can be 



spared of the bedding Pelargoniums should bo in the cutting- 

 pot or bed as soon as it is ready to take off, till you have a full 

 supjdy. — W. Keanb. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN (JARDEN. 



Notwithstandini; the great heat of the 21st and 22nd of July, 

 wo see no change of weather as respects moisture. We fear 

 thai we shall soon be unable to have crisp young Lettuces, as 

 the ^ee<\ refuses to grow, or the young plants, from want of 

 moisture in the air, spindle when very young. Celery we have 

 managed to keep healthy as yet, chiefly by covering the bed 

 between, and even very slightly over the plants at first, with 

 dry litter. The sun strikes on the litter without drawing a 

 great amount of moisture from the soil. We have watered 

 Celery seldom, bat gave it a good quantity of water when any 

 was supplied. We were obliged against our will to use our 

 house sewage, but that and all manure waterings must be 

 applied with care to Celery, otherwise the leafstalks will be apt 

 to be injured. Such water should he communicated to the 

 earth by the spout of the pot alone. Manure waterings over- 

 head to Celery often begin to show injuriously weeks after the 

 watering. So much is this the case frequently, that when 

 using sewage or dunghill drainings weak enough, wo would like 

 to follow with an application of clear water from a rose over- 

 head, and then there would be little of that danger. 



We experience great difficulty in such weather in getting 

 men to hold the watering pot low enough. They will stand 

 upright, and send the water down in jets, instead of pouring it 

 on gently. In watering some small seedlings lately a young 

 man was actually throwing the water up as high as he could, 

 enough, by the mere force with which it reached them, to clear 

 all the soil away from their tender roots. 



After the parching heat of the 21st and 22nd, the dull day of 

 the 2.3rd was a relief, and furnished a chance for watering, 

 but auy common watering was quite out of tho question. Un- 

 less the watering reached the most of the roots, it would have 

 been worse than labour thrown away. Much of our soil was as 

 dry as if baked in an oven for fully 6 inches in depth, and yet 

 the plants held their own, drawing moisture from beneath. 

 The damping of half an inch on the surface was, as previously 

 explained, worse than labour lost. A moving of tho surface or 

 mulching would in such cases he better than surface-stirring, 

 when anything more was attempted than a mere cleaning and 

 refreshing of the foliage. 



Winter crops planted are standing still, with little or no 

 growth, and yet can hardly be said to be standing still, for the 

 fly of different kinds has attacked them, and we dread ere long 

 myriads of caterpillars, as never did we have such clouds of 

 the white butterfly. When we had younc boys we used to get 

 them to chase and capture thousands, but such work does not 

 suit staid grown-up men. By thus catching the moths we were 

 seldom troubled much with caterpillars. It is of little use 

 planting vegetables now, even owing to the fly, unless they are 

 protected. We planted out a piece of Cauliflowers, nice little 

 plants, but in a day they were scarcely discernible ; the leaves 

 left were like delicate network. The next lot will have a pot 

 turned over each plant ; that will also save watering. 



Broad Beans not watered are apt to get hard, even when 

 young and well mulched too, the foliage throws oft' so much 

 water by evaporation. Dwarf Kidney Beans, too, unless watered, 

 though bearing profusely, are apt to be hard when cooked. 

 Scarlet Runners are doing well ; also Peas that have been 

 soaked with sewage. Those not watered are soon over. We 

 shall be glad of Scarlet Runners and Dwarf Kidney Beans, for 

 Cabbages will soon be scarce, unless we can water them, and of 

 that we have no hope, as our sewage failed on Friday, and we 

 shall have to wait a few days for a fre.sh supply. Onions are 

 still holding their own without watering, but not growing. 

 The autumn-sown Onions have been very fine. If we contem- 

 plated such seasons we would sow more in the autumn. Those 

 sown in summer tor salads refuse to grow without watering 

 and shading. Our Globe Artichokes have done well, but they 

 will soon be over, unless we can drench them well. 



FRUIT G.AKDEN. 



Without watering, the dwarf Apple and Pear trees seem as if 

 they would cast no more fruit until it in ripe. 



We have mulched the Vine borders to keep moisture in, 

 being well assured that the earth is quite warm enough. 

 Though the Peach house is empty, we had to surface-stir and 



