uay 21, wea. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICOLTUEB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



377 



Stella, but it is a preat improvement upon that variety in its 

 habit of Rrowtli, which ia densely compact and dwarf. 



It is well adapted for flower-garden groups and pot cnlture 

 for conservatory decoration, also for terrace vases. 



This interesting plant appears to be the only variety in cul- 

 tivation with golden netted leaves, being distinct Irom the 

 Ciconium retieulatum of Sweet, which is not found at present 

 in trade colleotions. — E. G. Henderson & Son. 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GAKDEN. 



Endeavour to mnlch round crops in rows, if possible, doing 

 BO being much better than watering. Observe how well Straw- 

 berry beds look after being mulched ; short grass, old tan, 

 rotten dung, half-spent linings from the hotbeds, indeed 

 any sort of litter, will do for this purpose. Nobody thinks of 

 leaving the ground about a newly-planted favourite tree un- 

 mulohed the first season, and Peas, Beans, &c.. are just as 

 much benefited by mulching as newly-planted trees. In the 

 American ground most of the subjects there planted grow 

 naturally in shaded places, and they will luxuriate in the 

 hottest seasons if the beds are thickly covered with grass, fern, 

 moss, or any other sort of mulching. Asparariiis. this is the 

 very best time in the whole year to apply salt or saline manures 

 to this crop. The drainage of common sewers, stables, cow 

 houses, and laundries, and even pond water made thick with 

 soot will all be now appropriated to the plants. Broccoli for 

 autumn may yet be sown ; Grange's Early White and the 

 Covent Garden are good varieties. CauUfloiccr, it is not ad- 

 visable to sow later than the beginning of this week for late 

 autumn use. Sow very thinly, as you can hardly expect to be 

 able to prick-out next month, so that the crop must stand in 

 the seed bed till tit to plant out permanently, liiulive, about 

 the end of May or the beginning of June is the best time to 

 sow this very wholesome salad for autumn use, and as you 

 ought to sow every three weeks till the middle of September, 

 it, will only be necessary to sow a pinch of seeds each time, 

 scattering them very thinly. All summer crops, of whatever 

 natare or kind, should be sown very thinly if any o! the plants 

 are to be afterwards transplanted. TUey may, it is true, be 

 thirmed-out it they happen to be too thick ; but if the weather 

 is dry at the time much injury may result, and on the whole it 

 is better to sow thinly in the first instance. Lettuces and other 

 succession crops, cuutinue to sow. 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



Thinning-out and regulating tho summer growth of Goose- 

 berry, Currant, and Raspberry bushes is not so much attended 

 to as it ought to bo. pjxamine Peach trees that suffered from 

 frost last season, and carefully remove every piece of gum and 

 canker with a sharp knife. Endeavour to prevent the progress 

 of the green fly, and see that the roots are not suffering from 

 want of moisture, otherwise much mischief will he produced 

 by a wet aatumn. Destroy caterpillar and black fly on Cherry 



trees by giving a forcible washing to the trees with clear lime 

 water. In training Raspberry canes there is no system so pro- 

 fitable as keeping the bearing shoots at a regular distance from 

 each other in a straight row, and by tying them to two straight 

 rails. Whatever system of training is adopted, no time should 

 now bo lost in removing all those young shoots that will not be 

 required for bearing wood next season. 



FLOWER CAEDKN. 



On the average of seasons we seldom experience lato frosts 

 after the middle of the month, and having of late so much 

 sunny weather, we may safely begin planting out half-hardy 

 plants in the flower garden. Beginning with the oldest and 

 hardiest sorts, if these plants have been properly managed in 

 hardening them off (and we have seldom had a better season 

 for this), they ought now to be in good condition for turn- 

 ing out, except, perhaps, in low, damp, or lato situations. 

 Make active preparations, therefore, to commence the work on 

 the first wet day. If the beds have been dug over lately, and 

 the plants have firm balls of earth about their roots, it will be 

 better to plant more deeply than should be done intirmgronnd, 

 : the fresh-dug beds will settle a little. Every plant ought to 

 ive a good watering at the time of planting, and if the weathev 

 IS dry they will require to be often watered till they are once 

 established ; but recollect that " water often and little at a 

 time " is one of the worst precepts of the old school, even with 

 pot plants in winter, and still worse as regards out-of-door 

 crops in summer. In nine cases out of ten slight surface- 

 watering at this season does actual mischief, and plants are 

 safer if left to take their chance than when submitted to such 

 bad gardening. Remove the flowers and seed pods from Ameri- 

 can plants as fast as they become shabby, which will add 

 materially to the strength of the plants. Give the beds a good 

 flooding of water. The pegging and tying-out of the plants 

 should be no longer delayed. Double Wallflowers, Mule Pinks, 

 and some common Dianthuses, Alyssums, Phloxes, perennial 

 Iberises, and many kinds of dwarf Cistuses and Helianthe- 

 mums may be propagated under hand-glasses in a shaded situ- 

 ation, and will be found very useful next spring. Keep Auriculas 

 free from weeds, occasionally watering and stirring the surface. 

 Offsets may be taken oft if rooted ; place them round the sides 

 of the pots in compost before recommended. When the seed 

 vessels of Polyanthuses are swelled, should any decayed blooms 

 remain these must be removed, as they are liable to .retain 

 moisture to the detriment of the seed. Remove the awning 

 from the Tulip bed, and let the flowers be exposed to the 

 weather. When seed is not required break off the capsules. 

 Do not neglect the beds because their beauty is over, but re- 

 move all weeds as they appear. After a shower, water with 

 liquid manure between the rows of Ranunculuses. Do not wet 

 the foliage. Unless Carnations are carefully tied the wind will 

 break or twist off the shoots ; worsted is the best material to 

 fasten them with. As laterals are thrown out from the sides they 

 may be pinched-off, in order to strengthen the other flowers. 

 Let the stakes be put to the Dahlias as soon as convenient ; 

 when delayed much longer the root is often injured by the 

 insertion of the stakes. 



GREENHOUSE AND COJtSEHV.VTORT. 



A mixed greenhouse is an indiflerent place for ripening-oQ 

 the growths of Camellias and Chinese Azaleas, and they should 

 be removed to a close pit kept shaded in the middle of bright 

 days. If there are spare frames or pits, all the Heaths and 

 most of the other hardier greenhouse plants will grow in these 

 far better than in the best-constructed greenhouse, and in 

 that case the greenhouse can be converted into an intermediate 

 stove, or a show house, where only plants in flower are to be 

 kept during the summer. In the summer treatment of the 

 conservatory three grand points have to be observed — viz., never 

 to let the air become too dry, if possible', all the summer ; to 

 keep the house as cool as the weather will allow ; and never to 

 let the plants be crowded together. 



STOVE. 



Very many of the free-growing plants will now want another 

 shift into larger pots, and as they must occupy more room you 

 must remove some of the more hardy sorts to the greenhouse 

 or some other place. Now and in the middle of winter are the 

 advantages of an intermediate house, one having a tempera- 

 ture between that of a stove and greenhouse, most apparent ; 

 this is the most useful house that can exist about an establish- 

 ment. Stove plants now require to have large portions of 

 air, plenty of room, and as much light as the house will admit, 

 in order to ripen their growth properly. Woody plants and 

 large specimens should not be shaded, if possible, but all the 



