November 10, 181.8. 1 JODilNAL OP HOBTICOLTUBB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



385 



haying lost twenty plants out of a thousaml, and tbey nsver 

 were watered except at planting in spring. Previous to pluut- 

 ing a quantity of wcll-maJe manure, charred enrtb, and soot, 

 was dag in. These plaula have nucceeded well, flowering more 

 continuously than any other plant. Shortly after the IJrat 

 display of flowers, they ran ri'.piilly to seed owing to the great 

 drought. I clipped the Viola cornuta over with sheep shears, 

 cutting off both seed-pods and ilower3 ; the plants loolsed for 

 soma time rather bare, but Iho ariaugement adopted, repre- 

 sented in the accompanjing illuati-ation of a C-feet border, in 

 a great measure prevented that defect being apparent. 



f\ / \ / ^^ 



1. Back row. Aceratum, lavender-colonrcfl. 



a. Vandyltes of Cnlceolavia Yellow Gem (Downie & Laird's). 



3. Vandykes of tTuzauia splendens. 



4. Vandykes of Viola cornuta. 



I have a bed or two in the flower garden planted wbolly 

 with Viola cornuta, but dotted with plants of Cloth of Gold 

 Pelargcninm, and anotb^r bed with Mrs. Pollock. The Viola 

 cornuta in the.=e bed.^ I treated in the same way as above 

 stated, clipping it over, and they have been the gayest beds 

 in the garden, and continued in perfect beauty up to the middle 

 of October. 



The vandyked border planted with Calceolarias, Gazanias, 

 and Viola cornuta, is now (October Slst), still looking gay not- 

 withstanding the frosts wo have already had. 



As a contrast I bad a small circular-bed or two on grass ia 

 the flower garden planted with Viola lutea. This has done ad- 

 mirably, flowering continucusly throughout the past hot sum- 

 mer. The treatment was the tame as for the Viola cornuta ; 

 after the drought the extended branches were cut-in a little 

 here and there, and the seed-pods taken rS, Since then, up 

 to the present time, they have flowered coruinuoviUy. — Wir. 

 Melville. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



It will be seen by our ad^eriising columns that Mr. J. C. 

 Stevens will sell by auction, on the lOili of December, the 

 splendid New Goldun Coleoses raised in the garden of the 

 Royal Eorticnltural Society at Chiswiok. These are of a class 

 entirely different from those raited by the Society last year, 

 and are, perhaps, the most lovely novelties in foliage at present 

 existing. Some of the leaves ara bright carmine, with beads 

 of gold for an edging, while others uro golden, with crimson 

 shading and sanguine blotches ; some are entirely golden, with 

 dark red veins, and altogether they avo so novel and so beautiful 

 as to insure for them a wide range of popularity. 



We regret to record the death, on the lOlb inst., of Mr. 



Pbestoe, the able gardener at Victoria Park. He had been a 

 short time from home, and on hi.:' return wcs attacked by 

 typhus fever, which carried him off in a few days at the f-ariy 

 age of thirty-five. He has left a wife and several children, 

 and, we understand, quite unprovided for. 



WORK FOR THE VvEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Cape Broccoli and Caulijlou-ers, if there are any more of these, 

 though only 3 or 4 inches round, turn them into a cold pit, 

 placing the roots in some light rich soil. They will swell- ofi 

 and come in very useful ia the dead of winter, and some straw 

 or other additional covering can always be thrown over them 

 in severe weather. Garlic and Slialluts, it is generally found 

 that these thrive best when planted about this seBsoa. The 

 ground should be well trenched, and a place chosen where none 

 of the Onion tiibe has been grown for some time. Many 

 failures arise from planting them too deeply. They should 

 mciely be fixed on the surface and then sprinkled over with a 

 mixture of soot, lime, and ashes. The smaller variety of 

 Shallot is most prized by cooks generally ; the large sort is more 

 easily grown, and produces more abundantly, but the flavour 



is by many considered not sufficiently strong, i'-'as, make a 

 sowing of theflB and IJ;oad B,?an3. Tho3e sown now will be 

 usefulit the weather should bo favourable, and though they be 

 cut down by frost it will be only tho loss of tho seed. Sow 

 upon wide ridge?, so that tho young plants may bo defended 

 from east and north winds. Cover tho seeds with chopped 

 furzo, barley chaff, or sharp sand, as a protection from mice. 



FEUIT GARDEN. 



Proceed with pruning and nailing in all favourable weather, 

 for if deferred until spring tho work will be apt to interfere 

 with other matters then demanding attention. If tho treea 

 ■were suitably attended to in the summer, there will not be 

 many useless shoots to be removed now. Vines and Rasp- 

 berries deprived previously of all unnecessary wood, had better 

 have the shoots remaining left unshortened until the rigour of 

 the winler shall have passed. Apples and Pears against walla 

 should have their fruit-bearing wood spurs kept as close to the 

 wall as possible, not only to secure the beueQt of the wall, and 

 prevent the unsightliuess of long, overgrown spurs, but also 

 to obtain fruit of good .=ize and flavour. Attention to the 

 short spurs produced on good, healthy trees when growing na- 

 turally as standards, will furnish a useful lesson on this sirbject. 

 In the case of some of our best sorts of Pears, which have a 

 tendency to form bold blossom-buds at tho ends of short shoots 

 of the present year's growth, care should be taken to retain a 

 Bufiicient number of them, and, if long enough, to fasten them 

 closely to the wall. Plum trees may bo pruned much the same 

 as Pear trees, but as the best fruit is generally produced on 

 wood of two or three years' growth, care should be taken to lay 

 in a little young wood every season. Those not much accus- 

 tomed to liailing are apt either to use shreds too short, or too 

 many of them. Trees, especially young ones, are often irre- 

 parably ruined bv the former, and made to resemble rag shopB 

 by the latter. Comparatively few shreds will be necessary, if 

 placed alternately, with a slight strain, upon the upper and 

 lower sides of tho shoot, and if the stronger ends are fastened 

 with willows or ropeyarn. However pretty it may be to see trees 

 beautifully trained, the eli'scting that object by driving in nails 

 close to the branch, or putting a strain upon it, endangermg 

 the bark, ought not to be allowed. Unfasten tho young shoots 

 of Peach, Nectarine, and Apricot trees, so far from the wall 

 that they will incur no risk of being broken by boisterous winds, 

 in Older that the part previonsly reposing against the wall may 

 be duly ripened before it ia exposed to severe frost, and that 

 active veeetation may be retarded to a later period in the 

 spring. Where thin tiles have been placed on part of the border 

 next the wall for the radiating of heat, and keeping the border 

 moist, they may be removed, to prevent them from being 

 broken by frost, or the performance cf the necessary operations, 

 and if not considered too valuable, and if the draining is very 

 defective, they might be bedded in clay, to throw tho water off 

 the border. In extrtirje cases, advantuga riiight be taken of 

 concreting the bortltr. For these who are desirous of forming 

 new plantations of Gooseberries andCuirants, which- should be 

 dene every six cr seven years, young plants being found to pro- 

 duce more handsoma fruit, Ki:d more plentifully than old ones, 

 we would recommend from among the many varieties now cnl- 

 tiva'cd the folk-wiag— viz.. Yellow Sulphur, good, and very 

 earlv, but does not last Icna ; Red Champagne, Taylor's Bnght 

 Venus, Pi Imaston Green Gage, lied Warrington, Woodward's 

 Whitesmith, Melling's Crown Bob, Farrow's Roaring Lion; 

 and, for preserving, the Small Rough Red. Of Currants, the 

 Black Naples, Red and While Dutch, and Knight's large Red. 

 In light soils the above may now be pla'nted with greater ad- 

 vant.ge than in spring. In preparing the ground, let it be 

 trenched to the depth of about 2 f^iet, thoroughly mixing with 

 the surface spit a literal allowance of manure. About 5 feet 

 may be considered a proper distance between the plants. Prun- 

 ing Gooseberries and Currants may now also be proceeded 

 with. Let the centres of the bushes be kept free and open, 

 cutting clean off any strong shoots that rise from that part. 

 Cut out all branches that cross each other, leaving the leading 

 shoots about 10 inches apart, and topping at a bud inclining to 

 the open space. All lateral twigs not required to form branches 

 should be spurred-in to a few buds. Black Currants require no 

 pruning, except thinning out the branches a little when the 

 bushes have become large and thick of wood. 



fiREENHOUSE A:>'D CONSERVATOBV. 



If the plants are all clean, the work in the greenhouse is 



mere routine. See that Cape bulbs, as we call the Iridacea;, are 



i now well supplied with water, if their pots are full of roots. 



