228 



JOURNAL OP HOETIGULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t March 13, 1973. 



length. It is growing on a flinty chalk suksoil.— G., Bradford 

 Gardens, Dor.^ct. 



WORK FOR THE ^TilF.TC. 



KITCHEN G.VRDEX. 



Take every oppovtuuity of ilestroyiiifj all injurious inserts; 

 their numbers will be greatly lessened. Set mouse-traps about 

 tlie garden. In favonrable and early situations the Aspararfiis 

 beds may be forked over. A little Lettuce seed may be sown 

 upon tliem at tlie same time ; also sow Asparagus seed. Make 

 a sowing of early AVhite Broccoli for autumn use. Trausplaut 

 Ctlihaors from tlie autumn-sown beds; earth-up the early crops 

 when the weather is favourable. A sowing of Cardooiis may 

 now be made if tljey are required early. As soon as the Caiili- 

 flowers are thiuued-out to three plants under each hand-light, 

 loosen the soil about them, and draw it round the stems of the 

 plants. For Cucumbers, keep the lights free from dirt; wash 

 them inside and out if there are lights to shift on. Keep the 

 heat nf the beds from 70* to To', but particularly guard against 

 a violent bottom heat. Cl:erii! and American CJ-cM should now 

 be sown. Sow Leeks on a border for planting out, or sow wliere 

 they are to remain. A good sowing of Pan-le)/ should now be 

 made if not already done. Clear and loosen the soil between 

 the rows sown last season. Two or more crops of J'cas of 

 different kinds should be sown. The main early crops of Pota- 

 toes should be planted as soon as the weatlier will permit. Beds 

 of Sea-kali' may now be made. New Xcaland Sj}iuach should 

 now be sown in pots or boxes, and placed iu a gentle heat. 

 Make another sowing of Early Dutcli Turnip ; or Stone, a sort 

 called by some gardeners tdie Snowball, is excellent. 



FRUIT G.lBnEN. - 



Proceed with the pruning and nailing of Apricots and Peaches 

 as expeditiously as the w-eather will permit. If cut too soon 

 access will be given to the frost, wliich will induce gum and 

 canker in unfavourable situations. Daub all wounds, especially 

 large ones, witli thick paint. Anoint Peaches witli a mixture 

 of clay, soot, sulphur, and Ume, adding soft soap and tobacco 

 juice if you think necessai-y. The great use of sucli p.iinting is 

 to cover the eggs of in.sects, and thus prevent their hatching. 

 For this purpose nothing is better than pure clay well worked 

 up, soot and sulphur, if they do not nourish the buds, keep 

 off birds, and lime gives a lighter appearance than if soot alone 

 were used, and helps to keep the shoots in a more equal tem- 

 perature liy day and by night. 



fi.owi:r g.vrdf.x. 



The weather has been so excessively precarious of late, that 

 it is doubtful whether many of the operations already recom- 

 mended have been performed, therefore look back to former 

 calendars and bring the work up as expeditiously as possible. 

 Woi-ms are very troublesome tins showery weather, but they 

 may be kept in check by watering the turf occasionally with 

 lime water made from stone lime, or they may be brought to 

 tlie sui-face of the ground and tlien removed by hand by water- 

 ing witli a weak solution of corrosive sublimate. The best plan 

 to dissolve this miuer.al poison is to add to it its weight of spirits 

 of salts. Attend to mowing, sweeping, and everything that 

 tends to promote neatness. Vacant beds in the ilower garden 

 will be benefited by being dug over again when they are dry. 

 If it is intended to make any additions of new slirubs or trees 

 in the shrulibery or pleasure ground, they should be planted 

 immediately. Paulovnia imperialis is a noble plant, if for its 

 leaves only, and should be planted on every lawn. It will re- 

 quire protection until the stem becomes woodv, but after that it 

 will stand as well as Catalpa syringrefolia. Araucaria imbricata 

 is one of the noblest plants we have, and many of the Cedars, 

 Piuuses, and Cypresses, to say nothing of Magnolias, are very 

 beautiful. Continue the covering of tender plants some time 

 longer. Piuuses suffer more from the destruction of their early 

 spring gi-owth than from any other cause, therefore endeavour 

 to check it by admitting a current of cold air from the north 

 side, and by keeping the plants shaded on sunny days. A class 

 of Auriculas, styled Alpines, have made great advances iu public 

 favour of late ; they are sells of all shades, from light pink and 

 grey to dark crimson and deep purple, the eye or centre of tlie 

 Hower being yellow. Endowed with extreme hardiness and 

 beauty, they likewise seed profusely. It is dangerous to grow 

 them in the vicinity of Auriculas with white gi-ound if seed is au 

 object, as the humble bee, particularly, will carr^• the farina from 

 one to the other, and thus spoil the crop of seedlings. They 

 do not appear so susceptible of wet as the Auricula, and certainly 

 are not so particular as to situation, flowering and flourishing 

 almost anywhere. They are usually exliibited at spring shows, 

 and cannot be too strongly recommended to the admirer of 

 early flowers. Plants iu frames must be watched iu rainy 

 weather, taking care that they have no drip. Should this be 

 the case, the laps must be puttied the first tine day. Polyan- 

 thuses are now throw-iug out fibres round the neck of the plant. 

 If increase is more an object than blooms, they may be parted 

 to advantage now. The breed of this class of florists' flowers 



requires improvement, and has made less progress than any of 

 the othei-s. Tulips ought to be protected from heavy soaking 

 rains, as well as sharp frosty winds, which we may yet expect. 

 Since beds of Ranunculuses have been planted we have had 

 heavy wet ; they should lie protected with mats, as the roots 

 when swelling are susceptible of frost, which often occurs after 

 much rain at this time of the year. Keep seed pans moderately 

 moist. Dahlia cuttings that are rooted may be potted-off in 

 light vegetable or leaf soil, and put in close frames till they 

 take fresh hold. Young plants of Pansies put out iu beds last 

 autumn will flower better than those ])lanted in spring. Where 

 additions arc requisite they should be made now, taking care 

 in the purchase of them that you secure the roundest flowers, 

 with the colours as well defined as possible. The smoother 

 and thicker the petal the better, and the ground or body colour 

 should be of one shade and perfectly clear, bearing in mind that 

 white tinged with yellow, or yeliowstained wilhorangc, will not 

 now do. 



GBEENHOUSE AND CONSERVATOKT. 



Climbers will now begin to spread over the conservatory, and 

 will require particular care in training them regularly at first. 

 Stephanotis floribunda seems rather more hardy than Passiflora 

 Loudoni, it will live and p-ow^ in an average temperature of 4.'r 

 iu winter. Little syi'iuging should be done here on account of 

 the bloom, water must, therefore, be poured on the pathways 

 and any spare places to keep the atmosphere moist and cool. 

 See that insects are kept down and that plants have sufficient 

 room. Some of the more hardy and common plants iu the 

 greenhouse might now be turned out to some sheltered place in 

 order to give more room to the finer kinds. Young plants in 

 small pots might now be potted on the one-shift system, hut for 

 this it is essential that their roots are not much matted and that 

 they are in a gi'owing state. 



FOECIN'O PIT. 



Keep every part of this pit full of plants, cuttings, ic. ; any 

 plant that can be forced into flower during the spring is desir- 

 able. All the species of .Tasmine force well if they are kept 

 under-potted, and if their young wood is constantly stopped in 

 the growing season they foiTU loose bushes and give-up their 

 chmbing habit. All American plants require large quantities of 

 water. Introduce dry bulbs of sorts to succeed Gloxiuias and 

 Achimenes, and sow a few seeds of Uaisams, Cockscombs, 

 Bowallias, Thunbergias, itc. 



PITS .IND FR.llTES. 



.^moug the first things to be attended to, especially where a 

 large stock is required for flower-garden decoration, is the pro- 

 pagation of Chrysanthemums. Pot Tuberoses in 4S-sized pots 

 in turfy soil, and place them in gentle warmth until they begin 

 to grow. They are useful for setting among plants near the 

 windows, or for the decoration of the liall or drawing-room. — 

 W. Keani:. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN G.4EDEN. 



The heavy rains render much out-door work as regards sow- 

 ing, A'c, quite unsuitable. The weather when bearable at all, 

 was very suitable for proceeding with some out-door work, 

 such as turfing, gi'avelling, and road-making. In view of 

 certain changes we moved a lot of Ilhubarb, Sea-k,ile, and .-Vrti- 

 chokes, as such operations required just the least dryness of the 

 surface of the soil — a very difterent aft'air from sowing smalt 

 seeds : but even in their case much may be done shortly by 

 sowing either iu drills or broadcast, and covering with fine- 

 riddled, dry soil. We h.ave frequently found that seedlings 

 come up strongly under this treatment. We save much refuse 

 and dry soil from the potting-bench for this purpose. In such 

 a spring one may be sure that the soil will contain enough of 

 moisture to cause the seeds to germinate freely, and the dry 

 covering prevents anything like rottenness. True, the covering 

 may soon be wetted by heavy showers, btit even then it will act 

 very differently from a close covering with naturally wet soil. 

 In the latter case the seeds are too apt to be shut-up, as in a 

 case impervious to air, and the wet and want of air will cause 

 them to swell and decay. In the former case the rains will 

 pass through and plenty of air with them, and there will, con- 

 sequently, be a free healthy vegetation. This is one of the 

 gi'eat adA'antages of having a well-stirred, dryish seed bed. No 

 rains that come aftei-n-ards will have a cliance for a long time 

 of making it water-logged, or rendering it hard and uugenial 

 on the surface. 



Globe Artichokes. — Those who prize this vegetable, one of 

 the very best for a conversational dinner, should make a point 

 of planting some every year. Where there are strong jtlants it 

 is an easy matter to slip off some pood-sized pieces by the help 

 of a sharp spade and pickaxe, and plant them 30 inches apart 

 in rich loamy soil. These will yield heads from sis to eight 

 weeks after the older plants haA'o produced. Even in the case 

 of old plants, however, the season may be prolonged by cutting- 

 otV the heads before they are old enough for what are calleij 



