12 



jocenaij of eoeticultuee anc cottage gaedense. 



[ January 9, 18€S. 



from bright sunshine after frost, and to protect them from 

 drying winds. 



GKEENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



Of all plant houses the conservatory requires the smallest 

 quantity of air in winter. In order to keep down dust, so in- 

 jurious to plants in winter, the paths should not be swept when 

 they are quite dry. Gardeners are often compelled to make 

 use of the engine, even in winter, to cleanse the leaves. Very 

 little water will do here now, and that should be 9" or 10° 

 warmer than the general temperature of the house, which may 

 be about 50°. Tbe temperature of the greenhouse should not 

 be raised much above 40° now. The watering ought to be 

 finished early in the day, and the plants should be constantly 

 looked-over to keep them free from dead leaves, insects, or 

 mildew in the pots. 



STOVE. 



The temperature of this house should not exceed 60° by fire 

 heat, and a fall of 10° may be allowed at night in very cold 

 weather. Although all plants now at rest should be kept com- 

 paratively dry, they will require to be looked-over daily to see 

 that they do not suffer from want of water, particularly those 

 nearest the pipes or flues. Orchids may be potted, tied-up to 

 logs, or fitted into wire baskets at any time when little can be 

 done in the open air, but they need not be watered or induced 

 to grow for a long time. This is a good time to prune and 

 regulate the heads of tbe specimen plants. Many, such as 

 Justicias, Poinsettias, Aphelandras, &c., had better now be cut- 

 down altogether and kept dry for a few weeks. It you have a 

 good stock of EiiphorbiajacquiuifEflora, cut down some plantsof 

 it also. This will enable them to make an earlier growth, and 

 come into flower three weeks sooner next winter. This treat- 

 ment equally applies to Juslicia speciosa, and Eranthemum 

 pulchellum, and, no doubt, to all our winter-flowering plants. 

 Look over Gloxinias and Gesneras on the dry shelves, and start 

 a few of each into growth, to produce a succession of flowers. 



FORCING PIT. 



It is only necessary to remark, that where forced flowers are 

 in great request two divisions are necessary ; one for such 

 hardy plants as do not succeed in a high temperature, the 

 other, with mean- for bottom heat, for Gardenias and other 

 stove plants. Almost all plants, however, in forcing are bene- 

 fited by a mild bottom heat. 



PITS AND FRAMES. 



Of all plant structures these have become of late years the 

 most important. Everything, from tbe finest Heath to the 

 humblest Alpine, finds a ready asylum in them during the 

 winter. They require the utmost attention at the present time ; 

 a slimy green pot, a speck of mouldiness on the surface, or 

 even a decayed leaf, if not instantly removed, may be the ruin 

 of the most favourite plant. Very little water will be required 

 here for some time. See that ample covering is ready for 

 nse during the long cold nights. A multitude of half-hardy 

 plants may be kept in these without any means of artificial 

 heating, but at the outset, notwithstanding all care, some of 

 them may be lost. Deaths, however, will occur in the best 

 plant houses. The young stock of plants in these structures 

 is in a growing state, and, therefore, will require to be securely 

 guarded against frost, but give them all the air and light 

 possible on fine da\s, and keep them from mildew and mois- 

 ture. AVhere Hydrangeas are required to turn into beds in 

 the flower garden in April and May, they must now be put 

 into the forcing house. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Much that was intended to be done remains still undone, 

 and in most departments we have chiefly confined ourselves to 

 keeping all going on in regular routine, aiming rather at having 

 all right than at doing much fresh work. As mind and body 

 become more settled we shall gain all the advantages ere long 

 of a little relaxation. After much observation and personal 

 experience we have come to the conclusion that the benefit 

 Irom cessation from or change in labour — in other words, having 

 so many hours or days as a holiday, is not so much seen at the 

 time as afterwards. Even looked at in the lowest sense in 

 which we can well regard it, the amount of labour to be ob- 

 tained from mere physical power, less or more regulated by 

 mind, the amount of the work performed wiU at first be rather 

 less after a holiday than before ; but in a few days the effects 

 •f the change and the relaxation begin to appear, and then, 



provided these holidays do not come too often, we have no 

 doubt that they tell even beneficially on the side of the em- 

 ployer of labour, both as respects the quantity and the quality 

 of the work done. A day or two now and then, in the way of 

 cessation from nsual labour, is anything but lost time, as fresh 

 energy and a fresh stimulus to exertion are thus supplied. 



Vegetables, forced and otherwise, received much the same 

 attention as has been detailed in previous weeks' notices. We 

 shall just refer to a few matters now demanding attention. 



Collcctinrj Tree Leaves.— li is best, if possible, to colleot 

 these when rather dry, as then they may remain a long time 

 in a heap, will heat and waste but little, and can always be 

 made to ferment and heat sweetly by giving them a little water. 

 In many places, however, tbey must be collected in any condi- 

 tion, and scarcely at all until the game-shooting season is over; 

 and if for present or spring use the wet condition of the leaves 

 is of less consequence, only when placed in a heap they will 

 soon rot. They might, therefore, as well be giving out their 

 heat as not for the forwarding of early vegetables where glass 

 or other protection can be given, such as for Potatoes, Eadishes, 

 Lettuces, Carrots, Turnips, Asparagus, Kbubarb, and Sea-kale, 

 which last may be had in any place where a heat of 60°, or more, 

 and darkness, can be secured. Leaves when raked-up damp 

 will soon ferment, and may, therefore, be made into beds for 

 Buch purposes at once. 



Hotbeds. — When a greater heat is required, as for Cucum- 

 bers, &c., it is not easy to obtain enough of bottom heat and 

 top heat at this season from tree leaves alone, unless, indeed, 

 the bed is very large, and, therefore, it is advisable to have at 

 least one-halt of fermented stable manure along with the 

 leaves. Those who are particular in sweetening such stable 

 manure thoroughly before using it, should turn it several times 

 in tbe course of tliree weeks, turning the sides into the centre 

 and the top to the bottom, and watering any that appears dry, 

 until all becomes of a darkish appearance, and so sweet that 

 the moisture that rises from it, when condensed against an iron 

 plate, or a square of glass, shall be not yellow-tinged, bnt as 

 clear as a dev.drop. This sweetening will be hastened by mix- 

 ing the dung with damp tree leaves ; but where economy in 

 material is an object, we would not mix until tbe last turning, 

 as, if done at first with fresh dung, the leaves will be consider- 

 ably wasted before the dung is sweetened. F.ir hastily-made 

 and very lasting, and therefore economical beds, we prefer 

 to have the dung as much heated as to be half sweetened, and 

 then cover that with a foot of fresh sweet tree leaves, through 

 which no deleterious steam will pass. This plan saves ma- 

 terial and time, and the beds when thus well made last and 

 keep a regular heat for a long time, and if made large enough 

 need little or nothing in the way of linings nil tbe spring and 

 summer. 'When we have a range of frames thus to supply 

 with fermenting material, and can only manage a two ora 

 three-light box at a time, we generally make the first bed in 

 the centre, and then the beds on each side help to throw fresh 

 energy into the heating powers of the first. By means of a 

 few drain tiles set upright in the beds we can always keep the 

 lower stratum slowly fermenting and decomposing, by adding 

 air and moisture to it as wanted. Where hot-water pits or 

 bouses exist; in plenty there will be less need for these dung 

 beds ; but they are of great benefit to tbe garden when the 

 summer crops are all gone, and they can be taken to the ground 

 as valuable dressings. Many have found out that it is possible 

 to have too much of improved modes of heating when little 

 else can be had for the kitchen garden, except the remains of 

 the vegetables grown in it, and such will not long be sufficient 

 in supplying a closely cropped garden. 



Mmhroom-hed Dioi.?.— The remains of Mushroom beds are 

 first-rate dressings for almost anything, and especially for 

 flower beds ; the material is generally so light, and the greater 

 part of the strength is gone. We have for many years found 

 it an excellent top-dressing for Kidney Beans in pi ts and at 

 one time we used it largely for Cucumbers in pi.ts and boxes as 

 thin top-dressings, putting on another thin dressing as the 

 roots came through the last. It is also very useful for top- 

 dressing orchard-bouse trees in pots during the summer. But 

 for the corn growing, we would not mind fresh droppings for 

 this purpose if there were a little of this decayed used-up 

 Mushroom dung next tbe surface of the soil. For all these 

 purposes, however, we like such wasted Mushroom dung to be 

 rather thinly spread out of doors at first, before it is thrown into 

 a heap to keep it dry, in order that cold and damp weather may 

 destroy what active spawn may be left. 

 ' Mushroom spawn is almost as bad as any other fungus vhea 



