250 



JOURNAL OP HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEK. 



[ October 1, 1868. 



which is now about opening its delightfnily fragrant flowers. 

 The standard temperature here in winter is 45° ; it should 

 never exceed that by fire heat, and for six weeks after Christ- 

 mas it should be kept at about 40°, and little or no air given 

 for three or four months. With this treatment most of the 

 half-stove climbers flourish and bloom as well as could be 

 wished. Stephanotis floribunda, Echites suberecta, Ipoma;a 

 Horsfallii, Combretum purpureum, and many others are thus 

 treated. About this time it is advisable to remove the soil 

 from the stems down to the main shoots, and to replace it 

 with charcoal broken small ; this protects them from damp. 

 The surface of the borders should be kept porous by frequent 

 stirring, and no water should be given until the leaves begin to 

 droop from want of it, and then as much should be afforded at 

 once as will reach the bottom of the border. In a day or two 

 afterwards a little dry soil may be placed over the parts 

 watered, to lessen evapoiation. On this principle all plants in 

 a dormant state in winter should be watered, whether they are 

 in borders or in pots, provided these are well drained. We 

 scarcely ever miss a slight frost or two from the middle to the 

 end i>£ October, and we have all seen at times that if our 

 plants and flowers had escaped this early frost, they might 

 have gone on safely enough for a mouth or six weeks. Except 

 in the case of very young and softwooded plants, few green- 

 house plants are much hurt by a slight frost late in autumn. 

 Two or three rainy days do them much more harm, and it is 

 really a very bad plan to house these plants early. Nursery- 

 men never consider some of their finer Heaths safe out of 

 doors after August, and they house almost all their plants from 

 the middle of September to the middle of October, but theirs 

 are all young, and many of them have been much forced for 

 propagation, and have hardly yet recovered from the confine- 

 ment of the propagating house, so that they require early pro- 

 tection. 



STOVE. 



When stove bulbs are about done growing, water is withheld 

 from them by degrees, till at last the leaves turn yellow and 

 die off. The pots are then turned on their sides and placed 

 out of the way on shelves near the glass ; but when room is 

 scarce, and the bulbs are at rest during the winter, they are 

 often shaken out of the soil and put by in drawers in the seed 

 room, or in a dry cupboai'd in-doors. Now the whole tribe of 

 Orchids which rest for the winter, and more especially those 

 which cast their leaves, may be treated after the manner of 

 stove bulbs, and to those who find any difficulty in wintering 

 them in the usual way, this is the safest plan. The winter- 

 growing kinds, on the other hand, require now to be put nearer 

 the glass, and all shading is of course dispensed with after 

 this time. L;elia superbiens throws up its flower stems at the 

 rate of an inch a-day, and they are now upwards of 2 feet high, 

 and promise to grow mur;h longer yet. Mr. Skinner says that 

 " the flower stems of this most magnificent plant grow from 

 9 to 12 feet long, and carry from eighteen to twenty flowers 

 each," and that its " native place, Chantla, is very cold." 



COLD riTS. 



All the Eoses that are to be forced before Cliristmas should 

 be pruned forthwith, and placed in different pits for forcing 

 and protection ; at any rate, let no more rain touch them this 

 season, it chills and soddens the soil about their roots. A good 

 way to begin to force Eoses is to stir up the surface of an old 

 Melon bed after removing the soil, and, perhaps, to add a few 

 fresh leaves or some tan to create a mild heat of 80°; to 

 plunge the pots in this, not to cover the frame for the first 

 week, and then to begin by drawing the lights only half over 

 the frame for the next week, and to draw them closer by de- 

 grees, but still leaving large portions of air till the flower buds 

 appear. Moss and Cabbage Eoses worked on free stocks of 

 China breeds, will thus flower tbi'ee weeks or a month sooner 

 than others on their own roots or on theDogEose. — W. KE.ixE. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



EITCHEN G.ir.DEX. 



HoED among all advancing crops, filled up every foot of spare 

 ground with wmter and spring vegetables, examined all planta- 

 tions of Cabbages, Broccoli, &e., to destroy grubs, which are 

 troublesome this season ; banked up Celery with litter where it 

 would not have been advisable to use much earth, but for this 

 see previous weeks' remarks. The heavy rains have rendered 

 watering unnecessary; the chief point to be looked after is the 

 saving of water for next season. If this is not done we must 

 blame ourselves, and gardeners generally, and not the season. 



Salsnftj and Scorzonera, often thought little of, come in this 

 season as helps in the kitchen. To have them good the ground 

 should be well trenched as for Carrots, and any manure given 

 should be placed at the bottom to entice the roots to go straight 

 down. Salsafy is almost as sweet and crisp as a hazel nut when 

 well grown and well cooked. 



Jerunalem Articliohcs ra&ke a nice dish at this season when 

 other vegetables are scarce. They will stand for years in the 

 same ground ; but to have them in abundance and good in 

 quality, they should be planted every year like Potatoes. We 

 have frequently so treated them, and can recommend them to 

 those who prefer a waxy to a flour-ball Potato. 



Celi'i-i/. — We have had letters from several correspondents, and 

 we will ."inswer the pith of their inquiries by saying that a 4 or 

 G-inch litter-covering blanches as well as earth, and presents 

 no inconvenience in the way of earthing-up and damping. 



FllUIT GARDEN. 



We have still a considerable quantity of fruit ungathered. 

 We have taken in the most of our Margil Apples, and as yet 

 they are as sound and as hard as bullets, and we are told that 

 in some gardens they are nearly over, so great is the difference 

 in different soils, thin gravelly soils bringing fruit much 

 earlier to maturity than clayey and deep loamy soils. For 

 instance, after using Williams's Bon Chrftien, the Alber- 

 tine, and Ambrosia Pears, we have had to bring in the Marie 

 Louise and Louise Bonne of Jersey with some forcing, whilst 

 some of our neighbours have used these, and have none left. 

 One of our friends has told us that his Margil Apples and 

 Marie Louise Pears are gone. With us, as stated above, we 

 are forced to bring them on artificially. We have stated pre- 

 viously, and we would state again the fact, that we have one 

 tree of Williams's Bon Chrt'tien Pear, and a beautiful fruit it is. 

 If left to itself the fruit would scarcely meet our wants for a 

 week, so soon does it become " sleepy " after gathering when 

 nearly ripe ; but from that tree we generally have a month's 

 supply, and even more, simply by gathering the most forward 

 fruit, wrapping them in paper, and giving them a little artificial 

 heat near the chimney corner. When there is likely to be a 

 break, we adopt the same system with other Pears, as Marie 

 Louise and Louise Bonne of Jersey, &c., and thus keep up a 

 regular succession of sweet succulent fruit. The chief point 

 in thus forwarding fruit that would otherwise be much later, 

 is not only to give additional heat to it, but to prevent the 

 moisture evaporating. When we are particular we wrap each 

 fruit separately in paper, place all in a large pot, and cover 

 thickly with paper, when we sot the pot in a rather warm place. 

 We have seen Apples and Pears ripened for use fully exposed 

 in a hothouse ; but by such a method there is the liability to 

 lose the juices of the fruit, which is not the case when treated 

 as above stated. Of course it would not do to forward much 

 of the same fruit artificially. When properly forwarded a few 

 weeks before the usual time, many connoisseurs have formed no 

 idea that what they partook of was forwarded artificially. 



Flantinrj. — Where much fruit-tree planting is to be donethe 

 sooner the ground is prepared for the trees, or at least stations 

 made for them, the better they will thrive ; and could we have 

 our way we should like to plant by the third week in October, 

 or sooner if the leaves and buds were tolerably ripe. Now is a 

 good time to select the trees, and in all cases where numbers 

 are wanted it would pay to give something more not to drato 

 the trees, but take them up carefully, and puddle the roots 

 before packing them. Some nurserymen put the roots in damp 

 litter, which is next best to puddling, and others just send them 

 as they are in dry litter. The success of autumn planting 

 depends partly on saving all the fibres, that they may grow at 

 once instead of having them all dried up, and the plant being 

 obliged to make fresh ones before the roots are able to supply 

 the expanding buds in the spring. 



0EN.\3IENTAL DEPAETHEST. 



The same remarks apply here as to planting, whether in 

 pleasure grounds or for permanent wood plantations and covers. 

 The press of work in most gardens renders it difficult to com- 

 mence this work in time, but the sooner that preparations are 

 made for it the better will the plants succeed. As a rule, 

 trees and shrubs planted even in November have double the 

 chance to succeed as compared with those planted in February 

 or March. Spring planting often does well enough when there 

 is a moist spring and summer ; but in such a season as we 

 have had, nothing but the water cart— and that is out of the 

 question when planting has to be performed on a large scale- 

 could keep the plants alive. The money that was wasted in 

 labour and trees last spring ought to teach a lesson. Never 



