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JOUBNAIi OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



t May 28, 1868. 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Keep this department free from weeds ; one good weeding is 

 better than three hoeings and rakings. Indeed, except for 

 covering seeds or gathering off stones, the rake should not be 

 mnch used in tlie kitchen garden. Asparngus will be much 

 improved if the beds do not become dry till the berries begin 

 to change colour in the autumn. Lreks are a very useful 

 vegetable in winter, and this is about the best time to plant 

 them out from the seed beds. Onion.^ are often injured by 

 being left too long in the seed bed, or too close together in the 

 rows. Thin, sow, and plant succession crops as their different 

 states indicate. 



TKUIT GAItDEN. 



You cannot pay too much attention to thinning, stopping, 

 and training the summer growths of fruit trees. Fig trees 

 should have the points of the shoots that are rampant pinched 

 out. This will cause the young fruit to swell better, and will 

 have a tendency to render the shoots more fruitful. In making 

 a fresh plantation, secure a dry situation, and keep the plant 

 growfng from one stem, as the sucker-like appearance which 

 Fig trees generally present is a great drawback to their proper 

 management. Vines in favourable situations should have the 

 fruitful shoots shortened to an eye beyond the bunch, and these 

 shoots so thinned that the Vines will be able to perfect the 

 bunches. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



All the China, Tea-scented, and Bourbon Koses that have 

 been forced since last Christmas will now be on the decline, 

 and should be well pruned back, and all the weaker shoots cut 

 out entirely. There are many of them so free-blooming as to 

 continue in flower for months, but it would be bad manage- 

 ment to let them do so, as there will be no want of Koses for 

 the next six weeks. If these plants were now repotted, shaking 

 away the greater portion of the soil from their roots, and 

 placed in a shady situation for about two months, pinching out 

 what flower buds they make during that time, they would be 

 in a fine condition for autumn use in the conservatory. Large 

 plants of Sweet Briars that hare also been forced throughout 

 the winter, should now be entirely cut down to the surface of 

 the pots and set in a shaded place. It will not answer to prune 

 Briars that have been forced, like other Roses. They become 

 so hard in the wood by being constantly deprived of their 

 foliage, that nothing short of cutting down will bring them 

 about again, but by this system the same plants will do for 

 years and answer better than young ones. The very gayest 

 bed on the lawn in autumn might be made by the following 

 bigh-coloured Koses, which are of nearly the same tints of 

 scarlet and crimson. Suppose the bed to be a circle, place 

 Oloire de Ilosomeue in the centre, and tie it up to a stake, it 

 being of a half-climbing nature ; then a circle of Cramoisie 

 eblouisante and Cramoisie superieure, then Henry V. and 

 Saint Pierre ; the next circle of Fabvier, and the last, next to 

 the grass, of Psyche, which is a Bourbon, but differs little from 

 the rest in foliage. This is about the time to plant these out, 

 and any Kose-grower can furnish a large bed of them for a 

 few shillings, as tliey are all cheap varieties ; indeed, their 

 cheapness and their high colours are the reason for pointing 

 them out. As we are at length likely to have a good soaking 

 rain, it will not be necessary this week to do more than direct 

 attention to former calendars, and urge the necessity of bring- 

 ing the work up as soon as possible. Where the grass on lawns 

 is much burned by the hot weather, it will assist it much in 

 recovering its verdant hue to dress either with liquid manure, 

 or some artificial manure considerably mixed with light sandy 

 soil. A little lawn Grass and Dutch Clover seed thrown on 

 previously to covering with soil will do much good, especially 

 on spring-laid turf where soil to fill up the cracks is indis- 

 pensable. Mow, roll, and sweep lawns and walks, and keep every 

 thing and every place as clean as possible. Annuals may now 

 be advantageously thinned, and the thinnings if not too large 

 may be used for filUug up gaps in the borders. Seedling 

 Auriculas must be shaded from the glare of the midday sun, 

 and especially watch the attacks of green fly, which usually 

 secretes itself in the heart of the plant, and multiplies very 

 fast in hot weather. Remove the insects as they appear. 

 Place two or three flat oyster shells on the surface of the soil 

 in the large pots ; it prevents evaporation, and also saves the 

 roots from being washed bare in watering them. Polyanthuses 

 are very subject to the attacks of red spider ; to keep these 



pests down shade the plants, and if in a bed keep the soil 



strengthen the roots. The bulbs on the offset beds will soon 

 be ready to take up should dry weather set in. Use every 

 means before recommended to keep your Carnations and 

 Picotees free from green fly. If the insects become numerous 

 the bloom will suffer severely. Tie-up diligently and top-dress 

 with some very rotten manure. Pinks do not appear so hable 

 to the attacks of the green fly as the before-mentioned flowers. 

 Water seedlings, and pull up those which are single or have 

 serrated leaves. They are not only worthless, but their removal 

 will benefit those whicli remain. Continue to put in cuttings 

 of Pansies. Those slipped nearest the root succeed best, the 

 thinner they are the better; strong shoots seldom make good 

 plants. The stakes ought to be put to Dahlias without delay, 

 and the plants will be better of a mulching of rotten manure. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



New conservatories, where a collection of climbers has been 

 planted this spring, should now be kept as hot as a stove, and 

 as damp as water can make them day and night ; it is bad 

 policy to use the common routine for such a house the first 

 season. We often hear of large conservatories becoming too 

 hot and injuring the plants in summer, but it is the want of 

 moisture in the atmosphere and not the heat which causes the 

 mischief. All spare places and under the stages in any con- 

 servatory should now scarcely ever be dry. Plants in flower 

 here must be constantly shaded while the sun is strong upon 

 the glass. Ladies when viewing the large Pelargoniums at the 

 metropolitan shows are often heard to say how much they 

 would like to have some of their own plants trained in the 

 same way. Nothing is easier if there are plenty of plants of 

 each sort to be so trained. When the plants are just coming 

 into flower put four or five of them into one large pot, keeping 

 the best side of the plants outwards, and with a little training 

 a specimen of any ordiuary size can be made at once ; and if 

 the soil is good the plants will flower in this way much longer. 

 Keep the greenhouse moist by frequent syringing ; turn the 

 plants round from time to time, that they may not become 

 one-sided ; and allow them to have plenty of room on all sides, 

 which is the grand secret in growing these plants to perfection. 

 The flower buds of such young plants as are intended to 

 become specimens ought to be picked off in order to encourage 

 their growth. There is nothing more general or more difiicult 

 to manage than attempts at growing and flowering these plants 

 in the same house ; but then they cannot by any possibility be 

 grown to anything like perfection. House plants in our climate 

 must have large portions of water thrown over or amongst 

 them, to keep up a moist atmosphere while they are growing, 

 and flowers will not stand this with impunity. 



STOVE. 



Clerodendrons, Vincas, and other stove plants intended to 

 flower in the conservatory through the summer should now be 

 removed to the coldest part of the house. There is hardly a 

 stove plant which may not be thus inured in summer to flower 

 in the conservatory. Most of the Orchids are well suited for 

 this purpose, and as few ladies can endure the close heat of 

 the stoves, unless the inmates of these houses are so managed 

 their beauty is in a great measure lost. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 

 We continued in the daily expectation of rain, which did 

 not come until Friday and Saturday, when we were quite pre- 

 pared for it. We well cleaned a second tank in good time, and 

 should have been vexed if the pure soft rains had become 

 mixed with what had remained for the greater part of eighteen 

 months, with frequent additions from every shower. In the 

 very dry days of the first part of the week, ending on the 23rd 

 inst., two things struck our attention — first, the boldness with 

 which all crops that had been surface-stirred or mulched met 

 the heat and drought ; and, secondly, the rapidity with which 

 Lettuces, Cabbages, Cauliflowers, &c., grew in the latter warmer 

 days of the week, when not assisted at all in the way of water- 

 ing. The genial warmth made all the difference, the warm 

 nights as well as the warm days. The sun was quite as hot in 

 the earlier days of the week, but the air was drier, and more 

 parching, and the nights much colder. All our smaller crops, 

 as Onions, Carrots, Parsnips, &c.. had a good hoeing with the 

 Dutch hoe, so as to leave the surface loose and clean. 



Box Edfiinij.—Vfe shall not yet be able to do anything to 

 ours, but "from this to the middle of June is a good time for 



^ ^ ^ .__ cutting it in rather freely, when that work is done only once in 



moist 'around"lherQ. ' Break 'off the capsules of Tulips to ' the season. After this'time there will be httle risk of frost 



