Febrnary C, 18€8. 1 



JOUKNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAKDENER. 



li: 



other stove plants with ornamental foliage ; Camellia reticulata, 

 Lilium auratum, a few other choice grec-nhouse and hardy 

 plants, together with Berberis steuophylia, u hybrid ahrub with 

 very ornamental rich apricot-coloured tlowers ; and of Conifers, 

 Thuja compacta, Thujopsis boreahs glauca, and lletinospora 

 pyramidalis. Fellows intending to take their chance in the 

 baUot should send in the numbers of the lots they may select, 

 on or before Tuesday, the 11th inst., which, we may remark, 

 is also the day of the Annual General ifeeting. 



The Challenge Medal or £20 in money at the option of 



the winner, offered by Mr. James Bateman, F.E.S., to the 

 exhibitor gaining the greatest number of marks for Orchids at 

 the meetings of the lloyal Horticultural Society during 18C(J-(i7, 

 has been won by Mr. James Anderson, gardener to T. Dawson, 

 Esq., of Meadow Bank, Uddingstone, by a largo majority of 

 marks. 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Attend to the due preparation of ground for crops in general, 

 but beware of carrying on any operations while the soil is wet ; 

 better be a fortnight too late with any given crop. \Yhere 

 kitchen gardens are composed of light fandy soil they are 

 better dug or trenched some weeks before tlie ground is wanted 

 for certain crops, especially Broad Beans, which like a firm hold 

 of the gronud. CaulijUmeiis, have hand-glasses readj* for the 

 plants in pots ; enrich the stations very much, adding fresh 

 loam if it is at hand. Under each hand-glass turn out four 

 strong plants from the pots, one in each angle, soaking well 

 with liquid manure previously. Cucumbers, as there are many 

 amateurs and gardeners who have not the advantage of a pit 

 for growing their Cucumbers, the following way of forming a 

 bed may be new to some, and will be found much better than 

 making one wholly of dung, as it will not sink so much, nor 

 take so strong a lining to keep up the heat. Mark off on the 

 ground a space 1 foot longer and wider than the frame, next 

 build up to this size with faggots of stout brushwood to the 

 height of 2 feet, then lay a row of faggots IB inches in di- 

 ameter along the back, front, and ends for the frame to rest 

 upon, placing them close and firm, leaving the interior space 

 to be filled up with fermented dung and leaves as a foundation 

 for the soil. Ilorsiradiah, plant if not already done, dibble it 

 in in rich light soil from 1 foot to 15 inches deep. Sea-Icalc, 

 let this and llhuharh intended for next year's forcing he planted 

 immediately in rich trenched ground ; throw up a hillock of old 

 tan, ashes,' or sand around each crown to coax it on through 

 the vicissitudes of the weather during this month and March. 

 Thoroughly drain any portion of the garden which exhibits the 

 least appearance of requiring such an operation. Where water 

 is apt to stand on the surface through the puddling properties 

 of heavy soils, try to improve the texture by a dressing of 

 sand, ashes, lime rubbish, charcoal dust, &c. 



FRCIT GARDEN. 



Finish all pruning in this department without delay. Goose- 

 berries, Currants, Filberts, and all standard fruit trees ought 

 to be kept clear in the centre, so as to have a full surface ex- 

 posed to light inside as well as outside. 



FLOWER GABDEN. 



As before observed, see that all planting is completed forth- 

 with. Improve as much as possible outlines of every kind. 

 Plant fresh masses or groups where necessary, and introduce 

 specimen plants where fitting opportunities offer. Much mis- 

 chief is done by planting single specimens in recesses. These 

 should be carefully preserved as a general rule, to give deep 

 shadows and to throw the prominent features into bold relief. 

 If frosty weather should set in every available means must be 

 adopted to protect Tulips and Auriculas. At this season mice 

 are apt to be very mischievous amongst Polyanthuses when 

 kept in frames by eating the hearts of the plants ; they must, 

 therefore, be trapped. When the weather is sufficiently fine lose 

 no time m planting Kanimculuaes. These beautiful flowers 

 delight in a cool subsoil. Seed may now be sown in pans or 

 boxes ; the compost of decayed leaves and sand having been 

 well watered the night before the seed may be scattered 

 rather thickly, pressing it gently on the surface ; cover very 

 sUghtly. If a proper quantity of compost is not prepared lose 

 no time in mixing it, at the same lime keeping a vigilant 

 watch for all injurious insects. It will soon be time to place 

 Carnations and Picotees in their blooming pots. Plant out 

 biennials in masses where requisite. In borders the re-arrange- 



ment of perennials had better stand over until the latter begin 

 to bud in March. A calculation should now or soon be made 

 as to how far the inmates of cold frames will supply the 

 demands to be made upon them. Bauip, no doubt, will be 

 found to have reduced tlie number of some kinds. Strong 

 plants, or store plants, of Verbenas, Fuchsias, Petunias, Helio- 

 tropes, Salvias, and Calceolarias, which had become well esta- 

 blished in the autumn, should be removed forthwith to some 

 of the houses or pits at work. These will quickly furnish 

 abundance of early cuttings, which should be slipped off and 

 propagated. 



GREENnOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



As the season advances give more air to these houses. See 

 that suitable composts are ready under cover for potting and 

 sowing seeds. Some of the hardwoodcd plants may now be 

 propagated by cuttings where a gentle bottom heat can be kept 

 up. As charcoal is now allowed by all to be of use to plants, 

 endeavour to have a supply of it at hand for mixing with the 

 soil before the potting season arrives. The early-forced bulbs 

 will now be out of bloom in the conservatory, and should be 

 removed to some sheltered place, from which frost is excluded, 

 in order to ripen their foUage, and other plants may be in- 

 troduced from the forcing pit. Hibiscus, Clerodendrons, JuB- 

 ticias, and other half-stove plants which flower in the con- 

 servatory may be pruned, and some of them placed in a higher 

 temperature, but they should not be potted until they begin 

 to grow freely. A few Neriums and Hydrangeas may be forced 

 into early growth for this house. A gentle heat would now 

 benefit the Chinese Azaleas for early flowering. Continue to 

 give as much air to the- greenhouse daily as the state of the 

 i weather will admit of, and see that all the plants are watered 

 i regularly. The great point is to keep these plants from growing 

 early. 



1 STOVE. 



Many of the Orchids that have been kept di-y during the 



winter should now be prepared for a fresh growth, by picking 



out as much of the dry materials in which they have been 



growing last year as can safely be done without injuring their 



roots. All decayed roots should he cut back to where they are 



I fresh. Let the "dry pieces of peat be well saturated before you 



I add fresh. The following stove plants will flower freely in a 



temperature of i^i" :— Poinsettia pulcherrima, Aphelandra cris- 



; tata, Justicia speciosa and coccinea, Eranthemum pulchellnm, 



Begonia octopetala, Phajus grandifolius. Euphorbia jacquinise- 



flora, Echeveria gibbiflora, Gesnera elongata and lateritia, 



Pancratum aimt-num, and Ardisia crenulata (for the berries). 



FORCING riT. 

 Continue to introduce fresh suppUes of plants as the former 

 ones are removed to the conservatory ; also other plants from 

 which you wish to obtain an early crop of cuttings. Common 

 plants that do not promise much bloom should be at once die- 

 carded to make room for others. Failures of this nature always 

 occur more or less in early forcing. 



PITS .iND FRAMES. 



Here, if the number of plants required for bedding-out is 

 considerable, there will be plenty of employment for aU hands. 

 The whole of the autumn-propagated plants must be pottcd-off 

 without delay, so as to have them well rooted and turned out 

 into temporary pits by the 1st of April, in order to set the pots 

 at liberty for a second lot of plants, which should now be 

 coming forward in the propagating frames. Sweet Peas, if 

 wanted to bloom early, must now be sown in pots, in heat, for 

 transplanting. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST 'W'EEK. 



KITCHEN AND FRCIT DEPARTMENTS. 



The weather being stormy, potted Cucumber plants in a 

 dung frame, carrying them covered up in a basket into a warm 

 shed and back again, and used water at a temperature of about 

 100", in addition to warmed soil, so as to give them as slight a 

 check as possible. A chill or a check now will often affect the 

 plants for the season. These are more easily managed in 

 places heated by hot water ; and where the work can be done 

 inside of a house, or in a pit large enough to work in, such care 

 is not required, but we often raise the spring plants in a small 

 hotbed, as we could not afford enough of heat to a hot-water pit 

 without giving more heat to other places than we want, and 

 we therefore would have to use more fuel than absolutely 

 i necessary, but which would be all very well when the place was 



