188 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



[ Uarcta S, 1868. 



House, Clapham, Surrey. I believe my friend Mr. Freeman 

 (fhe gardener there), told me it was on an Apple stem, about 

 3 feet 6 inches or 4 feet in height, straight and clean, and the 

 head of Mistletoe healthy and compact. — T. Batters, Gardner 

 to C. Castkman, Esq., Glasshazes, Lyndhurst. 



TRELLIS ON A WALL. 



A PLAN which is followed by our gardener, and which I have 

 never before seen, for iixing laths to a wall for training trees on, 

 is BO firm, easy, and good, that I am sure many of the readers 

 of The Jooknal of Hokticultube will be glad to know about it. 



The nails used are merely pieces of soft iron of the shape 

 lepresented in tig. 1, and which can be made by any worker in 



Fig. 1. 

 iron. The size for laths of the ordinary thickness used on 

 walls is 4J inches long, and half an inch wide at the widest 

 j)art, and the iron is about one-eighth of an inch thick. The 

 iool for fixing them is a kind of key, made of steel, of which I 

 give a side and end view (ji{i. 2). It is about. 8 inches long, 

 and 3 inches round at the thickest part. 



® 



The size of the nails and that of the holes in the key agree ; 

 the end of the nail is inserted in the end hole of the key, and 

 driven into the mortar by striking the other end of the key with 

 a hammer. A hole of the requisite size is then made through 

 the lath with a gimlet. The nail in the wall is put through it, 

 and the projecting portion firmly clenched. A long lath will 

 not require more than two fastenings. The plan is known to 

 few ; but in one garden near here there are laths so fixed which 

 have been in use for forty years. — E. Watts. 



WORK FOR THE "WEEK. 



KITCHEN GAKEEN. 



If the sucoessional crops are sown at the first favourable op- 

 portunity the permanent ones will not suffer much by the 

 delay of a week or ten days if the soil is not in a fit state ; and 

 if time is taken to do the work in a proper manner it may 

 prevent loss of time and disappointment afterwards. Aspara- 

 gus, where this is forced regularly a few rows must be sown 

 annually to keep up the supply. Any time this month will do 

 for the sowing. Artichokes, it is a good plan to plant out, 

 every year, during the month, a few rows of suckers ; these 

 will produce after the permanent ones have done bearing. An 

 equal number of the older stools may then be destroyed annu- 

 ally. Plant them in single rows. Horseradish, this should be 

 Ireated exactly like the Artichoke, by planting a few rows 

 annually, and trenching-up the oldest bed, picking up every 

 morsel of the roots. Plant late Potatoes rather thickly in the 

 iied, in order to destroy what remains of the roots. Peas and 

 'Beans, it is a good plan to sow early and late sorts at the same 

 time, to prolong the succession ; but rather sow often than a 

 large breadth at one time — say every other week till the end of 

 April. The forced Peas should be planted out when all danger 

 of severe frost is over. Rhubarb, this should be planted with- 

 out loss of time, where new plantations are wanted or any new 

 sort is to be tried. Do not trust to seedlings from superior 

 sorts, they sport as much as Broccoli. Sea-kale, either sow a 

 few rows, or plant cuttings from the crowns. 



FKDIT GARDEN. 



The chief business here is to provide coverings for the Peach 

 and Apricot trees, and any of these which are not yet nailed 

 must be attended to forthwith. Whatever covering is used it 

 should be made to lift up during the daytime. More harm is 

 often done by close-fixed coverings than when the trees are not 

 protected at all. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



If it is not decided with what plants the beds in the flower 

 garden are to be planted this season, the sooner the decision is 

 made the better. Autumn-sown annuals may now be removed 

 to their blooming places, planting three or five in a patch 

 according to the kind and size. For beds intended to contain 



half-hardy plants, annuals planted in a line round the outside, 

 and pegged or clipped into shape, form a neat and gay edging 

 in the early part of the season, and leave the centre of the 

 beds to be thickly planted with such plants as are intended for 

 summer and autumn decoration. Californian annuals, such 

 as Clarkias, Collinsias, Leptosiphons, Nemophilas, &c., sown 

 now will bloom almost as soon as those sown in autumn ; 

 indeed, it is advisable to sow a few at the time of plant- 

 ing, as they fill up all vacancies, and prolong the season of 

 bloom. Herbaceous borders, if not dressed over in the autumn,, 

 must be attended to immediately, and either fresh compost or 

 manure must be afforded all plants which are weakly. Proceed 

 with the planting-out of biennials of all kinds, and prepare a 

 good-sized piece of ground for a sowing of Anemone coronaria, 

 hortensis, and vitifolia. Anemones delight in a strong rich 

 soil, and a rather shady situation in summer. Sow the seed, 

 after well rubbing it in sand, in shallow drills 9 inches 

 apart, and cover with rich soil from the compost yard. A sow- 

 ing of Ten-week Stocks must also be made on a warm sunny 

 border ; cover with litter or mats at night until the seeds begin 

 to vegetate. Sow, likewise, a general assortment of annuals for 

 transplanting to fill up vacancies. Auricula seed may now be 

 sown ; the best compost is sandy peat and leaf soil. Shallow 

 boxes or pans should be filled nearly full, and watered well to 

 make the soil settle ; the seed may then be thinly sown on the 

 surface and covered very slightly. The blooms are now rising ; 

 take care that the trusses be not drawn by keeping the hghts 

 on too much. Still keep a sharp lookout for snails among the 

 Polyanthuses. With a small hand-fork keep the surface of the 

 bed loose, taking care not to disturb the fibres ; if grown in, 

 pots the soil must be occasionally stirred, keeping them mode- 

 rately moist. If the fine days last week were taken advantage 

 of, many Ilanunculus beds will have been planted ; if not, the 

 sooner the better. The beds of Tulips must be carefully gone 

 over, and the cracks filled up, putting the soil firmly round 

 the neck or rising leaves. Carnations are now beginning to 

 grow, and diseased plants which have struggled through the 

 winter thus far are dying off. All vacancies in the beds of 

 Pinks must now be made up, and the soil kept in a loose friable 

 state on the surface. Look well to trapping wireworms and 

 other enemies. 



GREENHOUSE ANP CONSERVATORY. 



As a large number of spring-flowering plants a e now coming 

 into bloom in the conservatory, more air must be admitted ; 

 but those recently removed from the forcing pit, and all stove 

 plants brought into bloom, must be arranged in the warmest 

 part of the house. Fresh beds of soil should now be made 

 for climbers that are to be planted this season, and a portion 

 of the old soil removed from such established ones as are 

 known to quickly exhaust the soil, replacing it with a fresh 

 supply. This will be a good opportunity to cut or root-prune 

 such climbers as have rambled over the houses ^•ithout flower- 

 ing much for the last year or two ; and where duplicates exist 

 this is a suitable time to cut down some of them to the ground, 

 in order to prolong their flowering season. This is the best 

 plan to adopt with plants infested with the scale or other 

 troublesome insects, if care is taken to clean the remaining 

 portion of the plants, and the pillars or trellises to which 

 they have been trained. It is now a good time to propagate 

 greenhouse plants by cuttings where a gentle bottom heat 

 can be maintained. Great attention is required to keep these 

 plants from growing too fast at the present season ; the least 

 confinement is injurious to many tribes of woody plants in 

 this department. The tops of young plants in free growth 

 ought occasionally to be cut off, in order to make them good 

 bushy specimens, even if their bloom is sacrificed at this stage. 



PITS AND FRAMES. 



Here the work need not be pointed out. The means of pro- 

 viding room after the plants are potted is the gi-eatest difficulty 

 in most gardens. Glazed calico is sometimes used to protect 

 plants when potted-off. Choice annuals, such as Brachycome 

 iberidifolia, Viscaria occulata, Mesembryanthemum tricolor, 

 Portulacas, Clintonias, and the like, should always be potted- 

 off as soon as they are sufficiently large to handle, and after- 

 wards be placed in a warm moist atmosphere, with plenty of air 

 in mild weather, until they are properly estabUshed. — W. Keane . 



DOINGS OF THE LAST ^VE]r,K. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Just before the rains of the 29th ult. we took up most of our 

 Celery, as we wanted the ground for Onions and other crops. 



