418 



aOUBNAL OF HOETICDLTUBE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



Ma; 22, 1S73. 



each kind to fill up gaps, and also, if you have any beds of annuals, 

 reserve some plants in pots to replace them as soon as they get 

 shabby. The importance of properly mulching the beds cannot 

 be too much insisted upon, and where it is inconvenient to use 

 short grass because of its untidy appearance, the beds should be 

 surfaces an inch thick with leaf mould or fresh light soil, or 

 ■where neither can be used hoe the beds over, so as to form a 

 loose surface. Mulching is advantageous not only for saving 

 labour, but also, where cold spring water has to be used, from 

 preventing the soil from being unnaturally cooled by the fre- 

 quent application of water from a cold medium. The indispens- 

 ability of using water as warm or even warmer than the soil is 

 well known to practical men, and a few eipei-iments will soon 

 satisfy the amateur of its advantages. As '•' worm i' the bud " of 

 Hoses is making considerable havoc in some gardens, look care- 

 fully over the plants and destroy the larvje between the finger 

 and thumb ; at the same time you may regulate the growth 

 of the plants where necessary. The Cloth of Gold is a very 

 ■vigorous grower, and, like some of the other Koisette varieties, 

 will grow to the length of 10 or 1.5 feet before it blooms. Seed- 

 ling Auriculas may now be pricked out into pans or boxes of 

 leaf soil and sand at regular distances, keeping them in a closed 

 frame for a few days tUl they have taken fresh root, when they 

 may be placed in the shade and protected from drenching rains. 

 Tulips still continue to be the centre of attraction. The reports 

 from various quarters describe the bloom as generally good, but 

 those which miss flowering are very numerous. Bees are .apt to 

 get inside the flowers, disturbing the farina. The careful florist 

 with a camel-hair brush ■will remove it, so that the purity of the 

 cup may be apparent. Kanunculuses are growing fast, but are 

 in much want of rain. If they have been top-dressed "with very 

 rotten manure, as pre^viously recommended, they ■will in some 

 measure have escaped the effects of the drought. As Carna- 

 tions continue to grow, keep them regularly tied-up to their 

 ■flowering-stakes ; the pots must also be well atttended to ; all 

 weeds must be removed and the plants top-di-essed. Dahlias 

 may now be planted out ■with safety. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSEKVATORT. 



A very free ventilation will now be necessary, using atmo- 

 spheric moisture in proportion. Give every encouragement to 

 ■the growth of Azaleas intended for forcing early, watering them 

 freely, especially when pot-bound, with weak liquid manure, 

 stopping unequal or over-luxuriant shoots with the hand, in 

 order to render the plants compact. Those Camellias which 

 "have completed their growth should be cooled down ; no arti- 

 ficial heat wiU be required. If they are of a somewhat luxuriant 

 character, the best plan is to keep them short of water for a 

 mouth, gi^ving merely sufiicient to keep them from flagging. 

 This, after early forcing into wood, will ensure the production 

 of blossom-buds. Let Pelargoniums have weak liquid manure 

 occasionally, also Cinerarias and Calceolarias. Let some Nea- 

 politan Molet cuttings be struck for next ■winter's bloomings and 

 get out what Chrysanthemums are required. 



STO^VE. 



Cultivate and get forward as soon as possible the various young 

 ■stock intended for flowering through the autumn and winter. 

 The Euphorbia jacquiniffiflora looks very nicely if planted three 

 in a pot. The Gesnera elongata should not be forgotten, nor 

 Begonia manicata and incurva. Some of the Justicias, as sali- 

 cina, the Geisaomerias, &c., will be useful. For Orchids, keep 

 up a considerable amount of moisture in the air, and syringe the 

 blocks frequently. Fire heat may now be dispensed with, but 

 the house should be closed early, particularly when the nights 

 are cold. If the plants are syringed in the afternoon'it should 

 be done earlj^ so that they may dry before night. Many of 

 the free-growing plants will require shifting occasionally. — 

 "W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



No rain has fallen except that alluded to last week, and a cold 

 dry east wind has been blowing ever since ; the thermometer 

 ha^ving fallen on one occasion to 33°. All the crops are in a 

 backward state. The earliest Potatoes in the fields are little 

 more than just through the ground, and where much exposed 

 have been touched by the frost. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Peas have been sown for succession. This is done when the last 

 so^wing has been above ground for a week. Champion of England 

 and Veitch's Perfection are the sorts usually sown at this time, 

 but we have added by way of trial Carter's G. F. Wilson and 

 Laxtou's Omega ; the first is earlier, and the second later than 

 Perfection, wliich has long lield the highest position in our esti- 

 mation as a late Pea. Whether any of the new ones will displace 

 it remains to be proved. The earliest Peas have done badly this 

 year; the border where they are sown was occupied ■with Straw- 

 berry plants in pots last summer and autumn. What with that 

 and continuous rains late in the season the gi'ound was very wet, 

 ■which sufiiciently accounts for the bad result. The sorts so^wn 

 were Laxton's William the First and Alpha, Eastes' Kentish 



Invicta, and Taber's Early Perfection. They have flowered in 

 the order named, but Alpha is the most promising ; it was our 

 best early Pea last year. 



Asparagus is very good ; we do not remember halving ever cut 

 better heads of this excellent vegetable; it is also producing 

 abundantly. 



Dwarf Kidney Sea-ns should have been producing abundantly, 

 but they were not required, and we did not sow them. Our 

 usual practice is to sow in boxes thickly, and transplant, when 

 the first rough leaf is formed, four plants in an 8- inch pot. It is 

 astonishing how long the same plants will continue to bear if 

 the pods are picked as soon as they are ready. 



We have been looking over the Pear trees on walls. Some 

 double oblique cordons were a mass of young wood ; this has all 

 been cut back to three or four leaves, and the leading shoots 

 trained into the wall. Notwithstanding the cold, the fly has 

 appeared on some Sea-kale plants which had just formed the 

 seed leaves. We find spent hops from the brewery the best 

 preventive, as well as cure, for this pest. 



FRUIT AND FORCING HOUSES. 



The same work has been continued here as last week. There 

 is a good succession of Pines in the fruiting house. Queens 

 have thro^wn up fruit freely, and promise to be good. Offsets 

 that had formed on the stalks and at the base of the fruit have 

 been removed. It is the custom with many growers to give 

 Pines manure water when the fruit is swelling, but it ought 

 only to be applied in the early stages, and it should be weak; 

 a small pinch of guano in the water pot, just enough to colour 

 it, is as good as anything. The evaporating troughs are now 

 kept filled with water. All through the winter and spring 

 months a sufficiently moist atmosphere can be maintained by 

 sprinkling the paths and walls of the house twice daUy. 



Vines in the late Muscat house are now in flower. AH shy- 

 setting sorts requiring a high temperature set best in a night 

 temperature of 7(J°, with a moderately dry atmosphere. Our 

 usual practice is to allow the evaporating troughs to become 

 dry, but continue to damp the walls and paths in the morning, 

 and again when the house is shut up in the afternoon. On 

 ■visiting a celebrated old garden the other day I noticed a fine 

 house of Muscat of Alexandria, and the intelligent gardener, on 

 being questioned about them, said, " When the Grapes were in 

 flower the house was frequently do-wn as low as 55° at night." 

 This proves that Muscats set in a low temperature, at least at 

 night. In the vineries here we do not allow the temperature to 

 fall below 7U ', and the bunches are shaken gently twice a-day. 

 This, with a rather dry atmosphere, causes them to set freely. 

 We do not stop the lateral shoots while the fruit is setting; as 

 soon as it is all set the laterals are stopped. The cutting east 

 ■winds have caused us to be alert in regard to ventilating, as the 

 incipient berries are very susceptible to rust, especially those 

 of Black Hamburgh. 



Melons are flowering in the second house, and are looking 

 well. We are giving Monro's Little Heath a trial ; it is earliest 

 in flower, and is a very free-fruiting sort. Our plants are not 

 cropped heavily, three or four fruits being all that are allowed 

 on a plant. We are careful to select a sufiicient number of 

 female flowers that are aU open on the same day, if possible. 

 There ought not to be more than twenty-four hours' difference 

 between the time of impregnating the flowers ; if longer the 

 fruit ■will not swell evenly. Hed spider has not appeared as yet, 

 for which we are thankful, as we do not like to syringe them, 

 and to paint the pipes with sulphur will not do, for if the fumes 

 are powerful enough to kill the red spider, the leaves, which are 

 very tender, will be much injured. Thrips, which used to be 

 very ti-onbleaome on the Cucumbers, seem at last to have suc- 

 cumbed to ijersistent fumigating with tobacco smoke. 



ORCHARD HOUSE. 



Aphides were more than usually numerous ; we did not fumi- 

 gate sufficiently before the trees were in flower, and by the time 

 the blossoms were well expanded they came in legions. We did 

 not smoke until the fruit was set, and one or two of the worst- 

 infested trees have been permanently injured, many of the 

 leaves having turned yellow and fallen off. Peaches and Nec- 

 tarines have all had the fruit thinned. It was a tedious process, 

 as the fruit ■was as thick on the branches as peas in a pod. We 

 have thinned all the Strawberries in the same house ; they are 

 two weeks later in flowering than usual, and the foliage is some- 

 what drawn ujj. The Strawberry plants have weak manure 

 water every day, and they require a large quantity just now. 

 When the trusses were being thinned a peculiarity was observed 

 in one sort — viz.. Premier. This has always been good in pots, 

 but in the present year a large proportion of the fruit is blind, 

 and some badly shaped. All the other varieties promise to pro- 

 duce large well-shaped fruit. 



CONSERVATORY AND PLANT STOVE. 



Tying and regulating the growing shoots of climbers. It is 

 not well to tie them in too closely ; some of the shoots ought to 

 hang down loosely, and others be festooned from one wire to 

 another. None of the shoots should be allowed to twine round 

 the wires or each other, especially in the stove. Such subjects 



