Docombor 24, 1868. ] 



JOUaHAIi OF HOIJXICUIiTUKE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



483 



•not be drier than for a coUootion of stove plants, therefore the 

 ooldeet end of a stove is a Rood place to winter them in. 

 Early in March remove them to a warmer place — under the 

 shade of an early viuevy, kept from GO" to 7;V, or a Cucumber 

 lionse will do ; but constant shade is necessary, as the leaves 

 are excited by the moisture of the atmosphere, while the 

 material about the roots is so dry that atmoepherio moisture 

 can have no effect upon it. Some plants, however, will be apt 

 to prow at this singe, particularly in the first season ; these 

 must be kept in a drier atmosphere, or iu the driest end of the 

 house. From 70" to 7")" should be the temperature for April. 

 Every bnd now will be swollen, and the success of the plan 

 depends in some measure on the length of time the buds can 

 be kept in this state. As soon as they open into shoots plunge 

 the roots in water till all the material about them is well 

 soaked ; after this, abundance of air, as much lisht as the 

 leaves will endure, and a temperature of from 70° to S0° are 

 essential till their growth is nearly finished. TTnder any mode 

 of culture the youn^ shoots must be preserved from too much 

 moisture lodging in the centre, till they are ripe enough to 

 endure it. The rallunaJe of some of the points in this course 

 is not so obvious as one could wish, but in every instance 

 where the mode described has been tried the result has been 

 favourable. 



riTS AMD FnAMES. 



Plants in these structures, not artificially heated, will sustain 

 no injury in frosty weather if they are left covered for weeks 

 together, and, iu truth, should they become frozen, it will bo 

 much better that tb(>y should rem-viu covered, and be allowed 

 to thaw gradually than be suddenly exposed to a heated atmo- 

 sphere. In nature we see that plants sustain no injury under 

 a covering of snow, even though it bo a yard thick au.l continue 

 for weeks, and why is this ? not because, as some suppose, the 

 snow is white, though that is very favourable to preventing 

 the escape of terrestrial heat, but because the snow keeps the 

 surface of the earth at an equal temperature, which is suffi- 

 cient to prevent the plants from sustaining injury from the 

 low temperature, and yet not sufficient to admit of their 

 growth ; therefore, if we can keep the plants from growing they 

 will not sustain any injary by being for a time without light. 

 Plants should present a dwarf and robust appearance, thus 

 being well fitted to bear deprivation of light for some time if 

 severe weather shoirld set in. Damp has accumulated very 

 much cf late, owing to the heavy rains and cloudy weather 

 with which we have been visited. It may be removed by 

 giving air at the front and back in sunny days ; but where 

 the pits are heated by flaes, a dry atmosphere may be obtained 

 by putting on slight fires, at the same time allowing a free 

 circulation of air amongst the plants. — W. Ke.ine. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



A WEEK, on the whole, with on almostevery night a downpour- 

 ing, making us regret that we have been able to do but little 

 towards storing some of the abundant supply of rain water that 

 ran to waste. The wet has been a hindrance to out-door ope- 

 rations, otherwise the weather has had more of the mildness 

 of the end of April, than of gloomy December. 



EITOSEN GARDEN. 



Everything is growing more tender than we like, and bundles 

 of twigs of evergreens have been set aside in readiness to place 

 among Lettuces, Cauliflowers, &c., it the weather should sud- 

 denly turn frosty, as many plants will be less able to stand it, 

 than if the weather had been drier and colder. Bundles of 

 dryish litter have also been put together in readiness to throw 

 over beds of Celery, Cjleworts, Violets, &c., if it should be 

 judged necessary, as, after such free growth, two or three 

 nights of severe frost would destroy almost everything. As 

 yet we have not had a bad head of Celery this season. This is 

 very fortunate, as we shall not have too much of if, and the latest 

 planted did not grow very strong. One reason why we will 

 protect some Violet beds from frost is, that though the flowers 

 look well after frost, and seem but little injured, all the odour 

 for which they are prized will bo gone. We have seen nice 

 little vases of the single Violet iu winter, that, however they 

 might please the eye, were no better, so far as scent was con- 

 cerned, than so many leaves. 



Near Radishes, on a sloping bank, is placed a heap of litter 

 to protect them from frost when it comes, as they are as yet 

 tender and crisp, and a little bnrnt rubbish strewn amongst 

 them keeps many of their enemies at a distance. We have put 



up our first hotbed for Radishes, and will sow them in rows 

 alternately with Horn Carrots. We find it moat economical to 

 defer sowing Carrots until the turn of the days, and depend for 

 young ones in winter on those sown late iu summer. Wo will 

 pot directly a lot of Aehlcaf and I'roliCc Ashleaf Potatoes in 

 small pots. 



CiicumbiTS. — Pat up also a rough hotbed for a frame, iu 

 which we will sow Cucumbers, as we generally find the young 

 plants thrive better in dung heat, than in the heat from hot 

 water, after January — that is, when thoy are young, and until 

 they become strong plants for final planting out. Of late years, 

 early in spring our plants, as respects bearing, ran a very close 

 race, sometimes the fr?me beating the hot-water pit, and rather 

 oftener the pit boating tho frame, when plants of the same 

 age were used for both. A double or a single light for seedlings 

 thus sots pit-room at liberly, or leaves it to the winter Cucum- 

 bers, so that strong plants may bo ready to put iu before the 

 winter-bearing ones are removed. Frequently, to prevent a 

 want of Cucumbers, we grow a few plants to fl Is^rge size in pots, 

 and let these fruit iu the jiot-water pit in spring ; and, planting 

 out the others, those in pots come in more quickly, and when 

 the planted-out Cucumbers come in, those in pots can also be 

 renewed. We had good fruit last yeor from plants in 8-inch 

 pots some weeks before v;o had any from those planted out, 

 the plants being of the samo ago. 



A word hero as to sowing Cucumber seeds. " Beta " tells ns, 

 " I bought several new advertised sorts last season, and had 

 not a healthy plant from them ; on an average I had not more 

 than one plant from six seeds, and none of the produce came 

 up to the description. Surely the seeds must have been 

 doctored, or deficient in some way." We do not readily believe 

 iu the doctoring of seeds by any respectable firm. One thing 

 is perfectly evident, that any first gain made by such a practice 

 is sure to be followed by great ultimate loss, as a man will 

 rarely be deceived a second time. There are people who will have 

 seeds at such a price, and stand out so much for quantity too, 

 that we can feel little sympathy for them if they make a very 

 dear instead of a cheap bargain. It is very rare that new Cu- 

 cumber seed receives any " cooking" or preparing for market. 

 A respectable seedsmiu would not allow two new seeds to be 

 made up into a packet with four or half a dozen in which 

 all vitality had been destroyed. In most cases, we believe the 

 fault is more owing to the sower than to the seed merchant. 

 We have given seed to others to sow, and have sown ourselves, 

 and not obtained a single seedling, and from the same packet 

 we have sown a second time and obtained a seedling from every 

 seed. Too much wet, too much covering, will cause many a 

 seed to rot, and too much dryness after the radicle of the seed 

 has protruded, will cause it to shrivel up into a lifeless skeleton. 

 Old Cucumber seeds, and now ones at all imperfectly ripened, 

 are the most easily injnred by moisture and deep covering. In 

 either case the seeds will rot. The great point of safety is, in 

 either case, to allow the seeds to absorb moisture very graduaUy, 

 and still have the seeds within reach of the air. 



We are presuming the heat is quite suitable, say averaging 

 70°. Wo have sown six-year-old Cucumber seeds in one'pot, 

 and not a plant did we raise ; we have sown from the same 

 packet, and had ten plants from twelve seeds. In the first 

 case we sowed in fibrous soil, neither wet nor dry, covered to 

 about the depth of one-eighth of an inch, watered, and placed 

 the pot in the hotbud. In the second ease the pot was filled 

 with similar soil to within 1] inch of the rim, was then well 

 watered, allowed to stand twenty-four hours to drain, then a 

 sprinkling of drier soil was placed on the surface to the depth 

 of nearly one-eighth of an inch, gently pressed down, and on 

 that tho seed was placed carefully, and then covered with about 

 one-sixteenth of an inch of dryish soil, gently pressed, a 

 square of glass laid over the pot after being set in the bed, so 

 that air could pass under the glass, anda piece of paper over the 

 glass to keep out sun light. In this cato tho moisture from 

 the soil in the pot and from the bed was enough to enable the 

 seed to absorb moisture slowly, so as gently to excite the germ 

 of vitality instead of destroying it, and it was rare that any 

 watering would be needed until the plumule or little stem 

 began to show itself, and then only a little warm water was 

 given at a time. Much the same care is required in the case 

 of new seeds at all imperfectly ripened, as in their case the 

 too free absorption of moisture, especially if they are too much 

 covered up, so as to prevent the access of the oxygen of the 

 air, will be apt to rot fhe germ. 



A sort of excuse may be given for thus dwelling on these 

 matters, as what applies to such a large seed as that of the 



