Juuo 18, 1868. ] 



JOUKNAL OF HOBTIOULTURB AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



44a 



n great increaso of labour involved in moving ; and secondly, 

 they are vtry apt to forget the difference in watcrint;, when 

 water has to be oarrieil into the garden, into houses, .tc, and 

 where little more is rccjuired than the dipping of a pail, or the 

 turning of n tap. 



As a matter of economy it is of first importance then in 

 every glass house, or at least in every short range, that there 

 should be a water supply. As respects ourselves, could we 

 depend on the snppl}' from ponds, and that could bo done by 

 increased drainaj;e, a greater supply of piping from an elevated 

 cistern filled by a fovje pump would in a short time save in 

 labour all the expense for piping, cisterns, ttc. We are no 

 great admirers of merely having a tap in a house from which 

 water may be had at pleasure. If the cistern is so elevated 

 that you can apply a small hose on the top and merely have to 

 walls round the house with the hose to give all the watering, 

 all is well ; hut if the tap is merely to fill pails as wanted, there 

 IB apt to be a waste of water, or a waste of time in waiting for 

 the pail filling, but all this is avoided when the pail is filled at 

 once by a dip in a cistern or tank. On the same principle wo 

 look on a tap in a water barrel, to he wheeled by a man, as a 

 nice-enough contrivance for an amateur, or a lady or gentle- 

 man, bat quite unsuitable for a workman, who, by dipping, or 

 turning the barrel on the pivots on which it is hung, would 

 empty the barrel whilst a pailful or two were running from 

 the taps. All such matters prove the importance, not only of 

 a water supply, but liaving it so fully at command as to in- 

 volve the least amount of labour, (or in many seasons where 

 all water must be carried, the cost of watering must be very 

 great. The position of a garden is, therefore, of much cou- 

 eeqaence. On elevated ground there is less risk from spring 

 and autumn frosts, but there is a greater risk of suffering 

 from summer droughts, unless there are means of securing the 

 rainfall, or of bringing water up the hill. 



AVe must not omit to mention, that where water is most 

 abundant there is a danger of using it too freely. We have 

 seen crops in kitchen gardens suffering from almost a flooding 

 daily with water from the hose fixed to a pipe. Wo have seen 

 flower beds drenched in June and July by the same means 

 from an elevated cistern, and yet they did not look any better, 

 nor BO well, in fact, as beds the plants in which had merely a 

 little water at the roots once or twice a-week, and the surface 

 stirred to keep the moisture in. We saw a year or two ago a 

 flower garden watered overhead every night, and the plants 

 were anything but flourishing in the baked caked soil. All 

 Buch matters re,]uire discretion, and the injury done was most 

 hLkely owing to the cold produced by evaporation in somewhat 

 unnatural circumstances, as when we have natural waterings 



< by rain we have the cloud that arrests evaporation, a very dif- 

 ferent afiair from a wet soil and a scorching sun. lie this as it 

 may, the facts remain, that it is of first importance in a gar- 

 den to have water at command, as the ease and the difficulty in 

 itB application make a great difference in the labour necessary. 

 -is regards iiianur(; initerin^, three or four cases have been 

 brought to our notice of the injury done to plants and fruit 

 trees from an over-dose of rich liquid. Cue person emptied 

 the cesspools of a large stable on his Vine border, and appa- 

 rently the roots will never want another watering. Another 

 watered Cauliflowers freely with gas ammcniacal water, and 

 they died by degrees, and left nothing for the cooking pot ; 

 and here is another correspondent who has ruined some fine 

 Peach trees in pots, because he watered them from a cesspool 

 connected with a stable, believing that the stronger the liquid 

 was the better the trees would like it. From what we have 

 seen of such liquid, altogether free from a drop of ordinary 

 ■water, we would not have api)Iied it without the addition of 

 from six to ten times the quantity of pure water. The lesson to 

 be learned from all this is, to make sure that all manure water 

 ia weak enough not to injure the roots. It is better to give it 

 often, instead of too strong at any one time, end just as it is 

 well for us to change our food, so plants like a change in the 

 ■quality of their water. Soot, the droppings of different ani- 



.iinala, superphosphates, guano, A-c, furnish plenty of variety. 



«■ Jf droppings are used fresh, they should ferment in the water 



. for some days. Guano is safer used at the rate of an ounce to 

 a gallon than stronger, if it is really good. 



FRriT GARDEN. 



Wc have netted all our Cherries and all the earlier Straw- 



- berries, or the latter would never have been allowed to ripen ; 



this, aa already referred to, being the first time that we have 



noticed green Strawberries eaten and carried off in quantities. 



For the last few days ooi flocks of thrashes and blackbirds 



have decreased, and many that appear are very weakly — scarcely 

 deeming it worth their while to get out of the way, which we 

 attribute to two causes — the green fruit not agreeing with them, 

 and the great difficulty thoy must have in getting more nou- 

 rishing soft food in the way of worms, slugs, snails, itc. Keenc' 

 Seedling Strawberry is now coming in; and just before it 

 I'residcnt and British Queen are doing good servico in the 

 front of the latest orchard house. 



In the orchard house we dashed the glass a little with water 

 just whitened, to lessen the quantity of water that would other- 

 wise be needed inside ; and though giving air early, wo seldom 

 opened the ventilators fully in front, as the less draught pre- 

 vented such rapid drying. In the hottest days wo sprinkled 

 at midday the ground and the lower part of the trees in pots 

 from the syringe, which cooled the house considerably. With 

 abundance of water at command we should not have dulled the 

 glass, though with large squares it is no bad plan in such 

 scorching weather. Provided air is given early or left on con- 

 stantly, we are not afraid of a high temperature during the 

 day. We have finished some of our Cherry trees in pots, 

 which were heavily loaded ; and others are coming in rather too 

 heavily cropped, and would have been better if more thinned. 

 Plum trees in small pots are very heavily laden with fruit, and 

 we have done little in thinning it. As we expected, some has 

 dropped and saved us the trouble ; but to have fine fruit we 

 must thin. These trees have all been well mulched, as stated 

 lately ; and now and then we throw as much soot as can be 

 heldwith the thumb and iwo fingers over each pot — say once 

 in ten days, alternating it with as much of dissolved bones or 

 superphosphate. These trees in pots we should like to pot 

 afresh this autumn, if we gave them no larger pots, as they 

 have not been potted for a number of years. We believe they 

 might remain in the same pots for many years by top-dressing 

 every autumn. The pots are fully half-plunged in the border 

 to save watering, and all they have hitherto had done to them 

 is merely lifting them up every autumn, so as to break all the 

 roots that had run through the bottom of the pot in summer. 



Proceeded with thinning late Grapes as we could get at them. 

 The Peach house yielding nicely we sprinkle several times with 

 water along the floor and path in the hottest days, and give 

 plenty of air, netting the openings as the blackbirds had begun 

 on the soft Peaches. Vineries have had no syringing, but the 

 paths and stages were damped in the hottest days, and in the 

 house where Grapes are coming in a little air is left on all 

 night, and this prevents condensed moisture lodging on the 

 berries. JIany years ago we called on a friend one Sunday 

 morning ; he did not get up early that morning, and on enter- 

 ing the vinery the ( Irapes nearest the top of the house, nearly 

 ripe, were found to be very wet. The sashes were drawn 

 down to admit plenty of air, and the rapid drying of the bunches 

 left watermarks on them, which disfigured them for the table. 

 If a space of from half an inch to an inch had been left open 

 all night at the top of the house for air, such condensation of 

 moisture on the bunches would have been prevented. 



ORN'AMEXTAI, PEPAKTMENT. 



A trying time it has been for bedding plants. Some of otir 

 Pelargoniums lifted out of earth beds have shown a few 

 withered leaves, and as yet we have allowed them to remain, as 

 they shade the stems and the ground a little. With the little 

 water at our command the plants on the whole have done very 

 well, we rather think better than where they were watered every 

 day in such ■weather. Even Calceolarias are holding their own 

 well ; but in their case we have commenced mulching the 

 ground about them with a little rotten dung, which will keep 

 the roots cool and moist. Give the Calceolaria coolness and 

 moisture at the roots, and then it will be the better of all the 

 sun it can get. We find that with our small supply of water 

 carefully given the roots of the plants are pushing well, and 

 the buds along the stems are nice and prominent, only waiting 

 for a change of weather to throw out a profusion of short 

 stubby flowering shoots. Pinks and Carnations we would have 

 watered well if we could, but we have been forced mostly to 

 content ourselves with surface-stirring. 



How deliciously the air is scented with Pinks just now ! 

 They and Carnations and Picotees are best supported with 

 twisted wires, as then no tying is necessary ; all that is required 

 is to place the stems in the twists of the wire, and they are 

 held securely. For fine flowers the pod should be tied to prevent 

 splitting. Cuttings or pipings should now he made, and the 

 quickest way to do so is to catch the shoot with the left hand, 

 and pull out the point of the shoot at the second joint with 

 the right hand, when in general the cutting will be fit to in- 



