March 12, 1868. 1 



JOUENAIi OF HORTIOULTDRB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



201 



Utter, beat well, and cover it with an inch of soil, which is also 

 well beaten down. Wo next put on the dung, as mentioned 

 above, well beating it down as the work proceeds ; then we finish 

 off with the droppings, leaving all as firm as possible. In 

 nine days sr so the bed will be fit to spawn, or have a tempe- 

 rature of from 7,5' to 80'. We soil it at the same time, leaving 

 it as firm and smooth as we can. 



I should mention that our Mushroom house is a cellar, and 

 the beds are all made on the floor, some in the form of a ridge 

 and some nearly flat. We cover them with hay, and never 

 water till they decline bearing. 



I do not suppose there is anything new in this system, for it 

 was taught mo by my father, who was under the late Mr. 

 Mearns ; but any of your readers who may try it will not be 

 disappointed with the result, as the sample sent will, I think, 

 be sufficient to prove. — John Gouan, Gardener, Lea Castle, 

 Kiddeninii':ter. 



[The Mushrooms were well grown, densely crowded, and of 

 all sizes from that of a pea up to that of a crown piece, but there 

 is nothing new in the system of culture ; it will do well under 

 the superintendence of an experienced man, like other rough- 

 and-ready modes, alluded to by Mr. Fish and others. One 

 circumstance much in your favour is having the bed in a cellar 

 with its next-to-uniform temperature and moist atmosphere. 

 Beginners we would advise to prepare the dung a little more, 

 and have it dried, without too much heating it. Too much 

 heat is that by which most beginners lose their crop. — Eds.] 



MY ORCHARD-HOUSE JOURNAL. 



It is, I think, probable, that some of your readers may be 

 interested in the periods of blossoming, setting and swelling 

 the fruit, and other matters pertaining to the culture of a 

 large collection of orchard-house trees in pots, the trees from 

 five to fifteen years old. I propose, therefore, at intervals to give 

 in your columns a short journalistic account of the doings of 

 my trees, commencing this spring of 1868, and continuing it, 

 if permitted, through the season. 



Feb. 5. — The " Mumc," a .Japan Apricot in full bloom — a 

 charming tree. Its calyces are of a deep crimson, and its petals 

 delicate pink. This is the earliest of all stone fruits. Last 

 season it blossomed in January, towards the end. This in- 

 teresting tree bears a small compressed fruit, yellow, and some- 

 thing like an Almond in shape ; it is acid and bitter, and al- 

 though the tree blossoms so early its fruit is not so early as 

 Oullins Early Peach Apricot. 



Feb. 2G. — Apricots in full bloom. The old trees perfect 

 masses of blossom — most beautiful. Seedling Apricots, of 

 which there are some forty in number, di£fer by several days 

 in their periods of blossoming, thus giving hopes of variety in 

 their fruit. They are full of blossom, and full of interest. 



March, dtli. — Apricot blossoms have shed their petals ; every 

 blossom seems to have set, so that the thinning of the fruit 

 will be a tiresome business. The seedling Apricots vary much 

 in their time of blossoming, many are now in full bloom, 

 whUe others, standing side by side and under the same treat- 

 ment, have not opened a bud. 



The blossom buds of Peaches and Nectarines are bursting 

 fast. I observe to-day a curious anomaly, the Lord Palmerstou 

 Peach, one of the latest, is nearly in full bloom — earlier than 

 any other. Its large Anemone-like flowers, like those of its 

 parent the Pavie de Pompone, are most conspicuous and orna- 

 mental.— T. E. 



WARNING TO INTENDING EMIGRANTS. 



What a happy people we Britishers ought to be ; but we 

 have been trudging on in the easy ways so long, that we do not 

 wait to think of the comforts and blessings we daily enjoy, and 

 nntil we go to foreign lands, or the distant colonies, and are 

 knocked about " from pillar to post," and worn out in fighting 

 continuous disadvantages, we cannot thoroughly realise the 

 fact that ours is, indeed, " the happiest land upon earth." We 

 hear continually of the advantages possessed by other lands, 

 and certainly " one side of the story is good until the other 

 side is told," but in sober truth I wish to warn those who are 

 needlessly discontented with their lot here, and to prevent 

 them, if possible, " jumping out of the frying pan into the fire." 

 As I am now addressing my brother horticulturists, I sliall 

 confine myself simply to horticultural subjects, and endeavour 

 to show a few of the drawbacks as exemplified by my own ex- 



perience in various parts of North America, both in the British 

 colonies, and in the United States. 



A careful and energetic person in the western part of the 

 State of New York, some years ago planted an orchard of dwarf 

 Pears. They were fine trees, well planted, and the ground in 

 excellent order. For two seasons they did well, and promised 

 handsome results, but there came one of those fearful winters 

 sometimes experienced in those latitudes, when the mercury 

 falls to many degrees below zero, and out of nine hundred trees 

 not six survived. The hopes of the planter were destroyed at 

 one sweep. The intense frost had killed all the Quince roots ; 

 some of the trees had sap enough in them to open the buds, 

 and then they went off as though a fire had passed through 

 them. 



Another cultivator had a plantation of native Vines, in 

 number about four thousand. They had grown well for two sea- 

 sons, and a similarwintertothat just mentioneddestroyed them 

 all. The ground had frozen early in the autumn after heavy 

 rains, and was surcharged with moisture. During the month 

 of January a rapid thaw set in, and the plants were heaved up, 

 all the fibrous roots being broken, and nearly all above ground. 

 Before they could be covered or replanted the ground froze 

 again ; and as almost the whole plant, root and branch, was ex- 

 posed to the action of frost and sun, the result was the total 

 destruction of the vineyard. 



Another fruit-grower had a fine young Apple orchard, six 

 years planted, and in consequence of the severity of the weather 

 the field mice were very much put to it to find food. The 

 result was, that the vermin barked nearly every tree in the 

 orchard, and most of them died, and even the survivors might 

 have gone too, for all they were worth afterwards. 



An enterprising English farmer, who has had plenty of ex- 

 perience in the management of hedges at home, has been trying 

 for some years past to grow a live fence round his garden, but 

 all to no purpose. Do what he may the mice find their way 

 to the plants every winter, and girdle them most effectually. 

 So persistent and so numerous are they, that the hedge project 

 has had to be abandoned. His case is not a solitary one. 



All these unfortunates are careful and tidy cultivators, and 

 their mishaps have come upon them through no neglect on 

 their part, but have been positively unavoidable, having been 

 brought about by natural causes. 



With an average temperature during the winter months o£ 

 about 10' Fahr., a gardener can well imagine what an amount 

 of boiler power and piping must be required to keep the frost 

 out of glass structures, and at all the establishments with which 

 I am acquainted the fires have to be made up once or twice 

 during the night. Then, again, a great heat must be kept up 

 for fear of a sudden change outside, and the dryness of the 

 atmosphere is productive of all sorts of insect pests. Nowhere 

 in America have I seen such green, short-jointed plants, as are 

 to be found in English houses. During the winter the American 

 plants look drawn, and pale in colour. 



As regards out-door operations, for at least four months in 

 the year not a spit can be turned, and crops of every kind 

 must be under cover before the ground freezes, and it often 

 happens that for the best part of six months stern winter holds 

 everything with an iron grasp. 



Tijen, when seed time comes, there is literally no time for 

 work. Within a fortnight everything must be done, and it is 

 then a long time to wait for the crops to come in, for there is 

 no relay or succession of garden products through the winter 

 as in England. The summer comes at once, and with it intense 

 heat, and often protracted drought, or else such violent rain 

 storms as prostrate everything, and cause much damage to 

 growing crops. 



Then, the grower of fruit has the Tent Caterpillar, the Codlin 

 Moth, the Curculio or Plum Weevil, the American Blight, the 

 Fire Blight, the Peach Borer, the Gooseberry Caterpillar, and 

 many other enemies to battle with. The grower of vegetables 

 the Striped Bug, the Chinch Bug, the Squash Bug. the Onion 

 Maggot, the Cockchafer, the Cut-worm, the Spbynx Caterpillar, 

 and many other desperate and resolute foes. The agriculturist 

 has to fight with Piust and Smut, Hessian Fly, Wheat Midge, 

 Cut-worm, Grasshopper, and many other pests ; so that in addi- 

 tion to the extremes of climate, there are many other enemies 

 to meet. 



Now, I do not mean to say these difficulties are insurmount- 

 able, but what I wish to show is this, that in running away 

 from discomforts and adversities at home, we do not know how 

 much greater we may meet by going abroad. After many years' 

 experience, my advice to all is, stay at home. I shall be glad 



