366 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICOLTUKE AND COTTAGE GAKBENEB. 



f November 12, 1868. 



the sashes placed over them, they will need nothing whilst they 

 r€main there, except a little Utter thrown over the sashes, if 

 the weather as respects frost should turn out very severe. We 

 would have preferred an earth pit for this purpose, but we had 

 none at liberty, and thongh part of the border may ere long 

 need a little more covering, the pots will mostly be elsewhere 

 before then. Our plants were protected last year for the most 

 of the winter where they stood ; but this involves much trouble, 

 and a mistake in leaving the pots exposed to sudden and severe 

 frost does them much injury. 



We have been able to do nothing as yet with our orchard- 

 house trees in 2>ots, and fear we cannot begin potting afresh, 

 which we think they must need ; but it not, we will remove 

 some 2 inches of the top soil and fresh surface with rich com- 

 post. We should have liked to have done the repotting, if we 

 had used the same sized pots again, before the leaves had all lost 

 their green tint, so that the green leaves would have helped, 

 by reciprocal action, to send the fresh roots into the new soil. 

 Some of these trees have been from five to six years in the 

 same pots, and produced heavily every year— in fact, there is 

 no saying how long they might remain in the same pots if they 

 were rough root-pruned every year and fresh-surfaced in autumn 

 as above, and fresh-mulched every month at least during the 

 summer. Our pots are fully one-half plunged in the border 

 to save watering, and in most cases the roots will pass out a 

 little in summer, and the rough root-pruning to which we 

 shall presently subject them will be the lifting the pot up, con- 

 sequently breaking the roots beyond. When we replace the 

 pots we put a little fresh rich loam in the bottom of the hole. 

 To make the most of the room, we sometimes take all the pots 

 np, place them on the surface as closely together as possible, 

 and pack a little litter among and over the pots for the winter, 

 and then we have the space thus secured for Strawberries, 

 Lettuces, Endive, Cauliflowers, A-c. This plan, however, in- 

 volves considerable labour, and a little risk of injuring the 

 trees in moving them about. 



A few weeks ago we dwelt on the importance of planting fruit 

 and other trees early, and the mode of doing so, especially 

 with the view of meeting the circumstances of the possessors 

 of small gardens, and as we can add little or nothing, we 

 would refer intending planters to what has been previously ' 

 said. From the accounts that reach us, all planting of trees ! 

 that took place since last March has been attended with un- { 

 fortunate results where no extra attention could be given to 

 them, but they had to take the chance of the season as it 

 came. With the number of nurserymen all over the country, 

 it is advisable not to have trees from very long distances, 

 unless the roots are packed so as not to be dried in the journey. 

 In fact, it would be true economy to have the tree? not drawn 

 up, but taken up and carefully packed in damp litter, and to ' 

 pay a little more for the additional trouble. We had men , 

 digging holes for a plantation of trees and cover yesterday, and ' 

 despite of the frost on the surface, and the cool air, the 

 soil was delightfully warm, and neither too wet nor too dry. 

 It requires no reasoning to prove that if we put the trees into 

 these places now they have more chances to do well than if 

 planted after the New Year, and onwards. In order to perform 

 such work now, it is worth while making sacrifices, and we 

 must make them, by allowing some matters to be in abeyance 

 that ought to be attended to. In digging or making holes now, 

 wherever water is found, it is a sure sign that drainage must be 

 attended to before even the commonest trees will thrive. 



Gla:infj. — As winter approaches, care must be taken to have 

 sashes, even if old, in pretty good order, and free from drip, 

 and this can only be secured when the old plan of glazing is 

 followed by having the putty sound. Even though late, we 

 have cleared off the loose putty from many sashes, in dry 

 days run a paint brush along the sides, using rather thick 

 paint with driers and turps, so as to dry quickly, and then the 

 putty nicely put on will adhere well, and will not move, espe- 

 cially if in a sunny day we draw a small brush of paint over it 

 when dry. It is all very well when mending a square in a 

 huny, not to trouble with the paint brush, hut in all lengths 

 ef glazing of any extent, it is true economy to run the paint 

 brush with a thin coating of paint over the wood, and allow the 

 paint to become dry before applying the putty. The best putty 

 is made of the best oil and whiting, and as a rule is good theii 

 according to its age, and the time it has been kept in a heap. 

 Had we much glazing to do, we should like it to be made a 

 twelvemonth ; this accounts for the different prices of putty, 

 though made in the same way. Allowance must be made for 

 working and stowage room. For particular purposes, a little 



white lead is useful for making the putty firmer. At one time 

 we used to find our sash-bars as rough in the morning as the 

 back of a hedgehog, and pieces of putty all over the glass. We 

 found that the rats, hard-driven, had commenced on the putty. 

 A little lead in the putty either was too much for them, or 

 soon poisoned them. At one time we had to guard fresh- 

 glazed sashes from their depredations. 



OnN'AMENTAL DEPARTMENT. 



The sharp frosts will do good so far, they will enable ns as 

 soon as we can find time to clear up the pleasure grounds, and 

 remove all the remains of the dead plants in the flower gardens. 

 We hardly think many leaves will stand the first breeze after 

 the frost of the morning of the 7th. Even the Salvia fulgeus, 

 a mass of scarlet a few days before, gave way on that morning. 

 Dahlias being a mass of blackness which we could not find time 

 to raise, they had earth piled up above their roots. We have 

 lots of Scarlet Pelargoniums, &c., taken up and stored in sheds, 

 with a little litter over them, but we have not had time to dress 

 and put them away for the winter as yet ; but they will keep 

 safe enough for a time, though we always find they do rather 

 better when taken up, cleaned, dressed, and boxed or potted at 

 once. There has been, however, such a press of work needing 

 attention, that we were glad to leave such things to a drizzling 

 day, or a morning unsuitable to other work. Except the Dahlias, 

 we have nothing out now that we care about keeping. 



Centaurea candUUfsima. — We took up the last lot before the 

 frost came on Friday, potted it, and placed it in a little 

 bottom heat. We merely removed the large lower leaves, and 

 left all the more upright ones untouched, and just reduced the 

 ball enough to place it in a G or 7-inch pot. Those potted a 

 fortnight ago are now showing the fresh roots at the sides of 

 the pot already, and will soon be deprived of all their bottom 

 heat. We have no doubt the others just potted will do equally 

 well. The worst of it is, that such plants take up much room, 

 and they are too large to use, without dividing, for edging pur- 

 poses in another year. Small plants are best for that purpose, 

 but we could not take cuttings from our out-of-door plants early 

 enough this season. We shall try the following plan with 

 some of our plants, each having several stems : — Take as much 

 earth away from the roots as will permit these roots going so 

 deeply that the base of these separate shoots may be covered 

 with from 1 to 2 inches of sandy soil. These, with the assist- 

 ance of bottom heat, will soon root, and then by the spring 

 each of the shoots or stems composing the plant will also have 

 emitted roots, and so the old plant may be cut up into as many 

 parts as there are stems, much as may be done with a Chry- 

 santhemum stool. These potted will make fine strong plants. 

 When thus managed, extra care must be taken to prevent damp, 

 as that would rot the stems. The plants of our main lot are 

 potted rather high, but we could accomplish the above object 

 when they are well rooted, and still have no danger of damp, 

 by putting a rim round each pot and filling up from 1 to IJ inch 

 higher round the base of the stems. However treated, these 

 old plants are better for the secondary or inside, than for the 

 outside or edging row. Young plants are best for that purpose. 



The old plants, if the centre is nipped out of each shoot 

 after the days lengthen, will furnish side shoots by the begin- 

 ning of March, which will strike freely in a hotbed, and which, 

 hardened off, will be quite large enough for edging beds, &c. 

 The difficulty of striking late in autumn, is owing to the lia- 

 bility of their damping-ofi, and especially when small succulent 

 cuttings are taken. Hence we used to succeed well with it in 

 July, taking then the side shoots from old plants, as above 

 stated, and at that time needing no bottom heat. What cut- 

 tings we took this season after those made in spring, we could 

 not put in until near the end of September, and as the season 

 was varied we varied our practice. Even then we did not wish 

 to injure the outline of the rows, &c,, which were never better 

 than they were this season, and, therefore, we selected with 

 care some hundreds, not of tidy little bits, but of good stout 

 stems, of the size of a goosequill, or larger in diameter. These 

 felt firm and hard at the bottom. From these we carefully 

 stripped off most of the leaves, leaving only the smallest at the 

 top, and put them firmly in sandy soil in small pots, and gave 

 them a little bottom heat in a pit, with top air night and day. 

 Not one per cent, of these has damped as jet, and on examin- 

 ing them the other day a good proportion of them are filling 

 the pots with roots. There need, therefore, be little diflicnlty 

 with this plant, if either old plants can be saved, or strong 

 firm-based cuttings can be taken. At the same time as we 

 placed these cuttings in the slight hotbed, as we could spare 

 no more room there then, we put a number of small pots with 



