364 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ May 14, 1868. 



to keep the moisture in. The plants are strong and looking as 

 if they would form large fine heads, which we always regard 

 as one of the finest sights in the garden. The second crop had 

 the ground stirred among the plants, and a little water was 

 given at the roots. A third piece was planted with joung 

 plants, previously pricked-out and hardened-oti, raised with 

 balls, and set in shallow trenches in rows 2 feet asunder. We 

 waited until Saturday to do this work, as the atmosphere was 

 more cloudy, and there was premise of showers, at least before 

 long. Such plants would have had a poor chance without 

 shading in the scorching sun of the previous days. Much of 

 success in all departments depends on plants suflering as little 

 as passible when changed from one position to another. 



Beet. — The most forward is coming up well, and we had to 

 net immediately, for the birds as usual were on the watch, and 

 would have destroyed every seedling as soon as it showed the 

 red leaves. 



- A^pnra(jns. — Planted a piece in rows 2 feet apart, in ground 

 well turned and prepared previously. We generally spread 

 out the roots on the well-broken surface, turn over the soil on 

 the roots from the spaces between, so that the ground forms a 

 somewhat flat ridge above the roots, and then cover with 2 or 

 3 inches of old Mushroom-bed dung, or other rotten manure. 

 Some grass mowings, thrown in a heap to heat and kill all 

 Daisies, &c., are also a good mulching for Asparagus in summer. 

 Except for protection, the manure given in winter is of little 

 use, the help should be applied when the Asparagus is growing. 

 A little sprinkling of salt twice] during the summer is also 

 useful. We allow the Asparagus generally to take its own way 

 for two seasons. This season old and young plants came 

 quite in a rush, and had we known it we would have planted a 

 week earlier, when the plants were only a little above the 

 ground ; but as it is, though many plants were G inches in 

 length and some longer, they never suffered after being planted 

 and watered. This was chiefly owing to the roots being kept 

 moist in a barrow, covered with a mat, and sprinkled so that no 

 fibres were dried up by the sun. Such plants would not be 

 suitable to send to long distances. In all stiff soils, and where 

 thorough open drainage cannot be given under each bed, such 

 eorface-planting and surface-manuring are more imvortautthau 

 trenching and manuring to great depths. The deep covering 

 of the roots is one cause of failure, or comparative failure, in 

 stiff soils. Without great preparation we could not rival the 

 productions from the deep light soil of Battersea, but any one 

 may have a few rows of Asparagus in his little garden without 

 going to the wondrous outlay that some recommend in forming 

 a bed. Even in stiff soils the roots will do well if kept near 

 the surface and mulched on the surface. 



Cucumbers and Bats. — Since those unwelcome visitors — rats, 

 cut down our Kidney Beans we have seen little of them, and 

 we somewhat prematurely hoped they had left us for a time ; 

 hut the other night they made their way into our pit and 

 gnawed a number of our best Cucumbers, and bit and mangled 

 some scores of young ones, many not more than 3 or 4 inches 

 long. We have failed to discover their retreat, and must, 

 therefore, confine ourselves to trapping and poisoning them, 

 though the latter is much against our will. The last corn 

 stack built on the ground in our neighbourhood has been taken 

 down and threshed, and now we expect to suffer from rats for 

 some time. As yet the rats have contented themselves with 

 the fruit of the Cucumber, and have not touched the shoots. 



FKUIT GARDEN. 



Straiclierrles. — Hoed the ground again among Strawberries, 

 that every little weed might be killed if there were any, and 

 also to keep the surface loose to let tlie rains in when they 

 come. Will try to strew the ground with a little quicklime 

 previously. Some Black Prince and others turned out of the 

 houses have taken fresh vigour and produced some high-coloured 

 good fruit out of doors. Those swelling and ripening under 

 glass had a little superphosphate of lime placed on the surface 

 of the pots to help them, just as much as could be conveniently 

 taken between the thumb and the lingers. Every watering 

 will wash the virtue to the roots. There is not much danger 

 in giving an over-dose of this. It does very well mixed with 

 water, 2 ozs. to the gallon, and comes in as a change between 

 clear water, soot water, dung water, ito. 



Orchard //ohscs. — Considerably, but not fully, thinned fruit 

 <m Peach trees, &c., which were of just a fit size for tarts. Ob- 

 served a few appearances of the brown aphis, and syringed 

 those trees with quassia water ; the rest of the houoe in sunny 

 afternoons we syringed with clear soot water and clear common 

 •water alternately. The Little Gem Pea in pots has produced 



more abundantly than we expected at first, and the flavonr is 

 good. In the latest orchard house the syringing has as yet 

 kept all in good condition. If the hot sunny weather should 

 continue we will boil some soft soap, rather strong, make a 

 paint with it and flowers of sulphur, and daub the open places 

 of the wall with the paint. This, and frequent syringings with 

 clear soot water not over-strong, are great preventives to the 

 attacks of red spider and other insects. Plums, Cherries, 

 Peaches, &c., are swelling well. Soft soap of itself is a great 

 enemy to all the insect tribes, and may be used for syringing 

 when the fruit is young, but never after Peaches are much 

 larger than marbles, as after that it is apt to affect their downy 

 skins. It is best applied thus : — Take 1 lb. of soft soap, boU 

 it in a gallon or two gallons of water, and let it stand covered 

 up in a pail for a number of hours. Then pour it off carefully 

 into twenty or twenty-five gallons of pure soft water at about 

 90°, allowing any sediment to remain, and this liquid, though 

 soapy and unctuous, will leave no residuum, unless on Peaches 

 too far advanced, whilst it will prevent all insects from freely 

 using their breathing powers. A^Hien insects appear in small 

 places it is well to use the powdered tobacco of Mr. Pooley and 

 others, and syringe with clear water next day. We have little 

 faith in any killing and cleaning after plants become very 

 much affected, the great point is to keep insects from coming. 



Most of the Strawberry plants removed from under glass 

 have been planted out, which saves watering them when stand- 

 ing about in pots, and secures a fair autumn crop without in- 

 terfering at all with wondrous crops the following summer. 

 What is planted out late can yield little or nothing this autumn, 

 but there is no other plan that will beat these forced plants for 

 yielding crops the following season. That first crop in the open 

 air will be the best, that in the second year will not be so good, 

 and the third crop will in general be very poor. When the 

 plan is followed, only two crops should be taken after the plants 

 have been turned out. 



Proceeded with tying Peaches, thinning Grapes, <tc., and 

 kept the floors moist in these parching days. Prepared some 

 dung beds for frames and Melons, making them at once, and 

 putting earth in immediately, as previously stated, and will 

 plant lu the beginning of the week, when the earth will be 

 sufficiently warmed. Washed a Peach wall with soft soap 

 water, as green fly had begun to make its appearance. We 

 prefer made soap water to that from the washhouse or laundry. 

 Could we get the latter we should prefer it for watering at the 

 roots. When strong shoots now appear on Peaches, Apricots, 

 &c., stopping-back may be useful for causing two or three 

 shoots to fill up a vacancy, and the sooner the stoppage takes 

 place the better will these secondary growths be ripened. If 

 only one shoot is wanted, the strong shoot skouldbe stopped, 

 and after the secondaries have grown a little one of them 

 should be selected. Extra strong shoots are to be avoided in all 

 such fruit trees, as they rob the weaker shoots of their due 

 portion of matured juices, and grow too vigorously themselves, 

 to be so ripened in our climate as to prove fruitful. The first 

 proceeding of the cultivator should, therefore, be to remove, 

 or early to stop all such over-vigorous shoots, in order that the 

 strength of the tree may be equalised throughout. Our aim 

 should be to obtain wood not over-strong, nor very weak ; but 

 even a weak, well-ripened shoot is preferable to a very vigorous 

 one imperfectly matured. 



ORNAMENTAL DErAETMENT. 



Heartsease have had a favourable time in the sunny weather. 

 Viola cornuta seems almost as sweet as, and to us is more 

 pleasant than the Piussian Violet. Tulips will now be in their 

 glory, and the tine florists' kinds should be protected at least 

 from heavy showers and hail, which may yet come, as on the 

 7th we had ice the thickness of a pennypiece, though the day 

 before and the day after were excessively warm. On Saturday 

 morning we had rumblings of thunder in the distance, and 

 clouds less or more all day, and we uncovered all our bedding 

 plants, expecting the rain that did not come. The wind being 

 nearly due south we left all uncovered for the night, resolving 

 to roughly cover in the morning, if no rain came during the 

 night, as they were becoming too dry to stand a bright sun long 

 before they were watered, which we were unwilling to do until 

 we saw what would come to us from the clouds, the best of aU 

 watering. Much time has been taken up in potting Ferns 

 nnd other plants intended for the open ground, the greenhouse, 

 and other houses, so as to bring them on rapidly, the contest 

 beneath every foot of glass now being, whether that foot shall 

 be devoted to the eatable or the ornamental, or to both. For 

 instance, no sooner do we plant Cucumbers or Melons, than 



