September 5, 1866. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



195 



in the open air. Parsley, thin tlie summer sowing while in 

 a young state, the plimts will then gain strength to stand the 

 winter. A portion of the spring sowing slioiilil be cut down. 

 Tomatoc.i, gather the fruit as it ripens ; remove all the shoots 

 that shade it, also some of the leaves. 



KBVIT GAIlIiKN'. 



Give a final nailing to nil wall trees, that there may he 

 nothing to prevent the perfect maturation of the wood. See 

 that Strawberries in pots for forcing nc\t season are well eared 

 for, placing them in an open sunny situation where they will 

 have all the light possible, and do not allow them to suffer from 

 want of moisture at the root. Where mulching has been used 

 for Peach and Nectarine trees this should he removed at once, 

 if not already dime, for the fruit is seldom well flavoured if the 

 roots are excluded from the action of the sun and air during 

 the period of ripening. It will also be an advantage to have 

 the fruit-tree borders free and unshaded by any crop at this 

 season ; the effect of planting Endive, Turnips, and the like is 

 to keep the border cold and Avet, when, in fact, warmth and air 

 are more particularly required. We should be well satisfied 

 to see the width of the borders reduced could even a more 

 limited space be scoured exclusively to the wall trees. 



FLOWEK GARDEN. 



A surplus stock of bedding plants should always be provided 

 against contingencies, the propagation of such as HeUotropes, 

 Verbenas, and Pelargoniums should be proceeded with ; as the 

 general utility of these plants for decorative purposes is un- 

 questionable, an ample supply of these is recommended. 

 Chrysanthemums out of doors should be carefully staked ; if 

 against a wall, where they thrive better, they should be trained 

 while the succulent shoots will bear it ; propagate by cuttings 

 for blooming in pots. Budded Rose-stocks should be carefully 

 attended to just now, those buds which have started may be 

 encouraged to form a more vigorous growth by stopping the 

 wild branches of the stock. The routine of mowing and roll- 

 ing must be pursued. Hedges may be clipped. Auriculas 

 must be sheltered from bright simshine, as well as from exces- 

 sive rain, keeping the pots free from weeds, and occasionally 

 stirring the surface of the soil with a blunt stick. Layers of 

 Carnations and Picotees where sufficiently rooted may now be 

 taken off the stools and potted. Pinks should be planted in 

 their blooming-beds without delay. 



OliEENHOUSE AND CONSEKVATOHY. 



JIany may hesitate in the work of introducing the house 

 plants while the promise of a late autiunu is before them. It 

 is dangerous to trust anything to the weather at this period of 

 the year ; therefore, housing tender jilants must proceed until 

 the whole stock is reinstated in its winter quarters ; but where 

 the opportunity of partial jjrotection exists, many hardwooded 

 plants may, with advantage, be allowed to stand out until the 

 end of the month. Let each plant be carefully examined 

 before housing, and defects in the soil or drainage of the pots 

 remedied. Clear off moss, remove insects, and replace stakes. 

 Climbers will ixlways require attention to keep the shoots in 

 their proper places ; take care in training that the part of 

 the trellis or stakes nearest the bottom does not become bare of 

 flowering shoots, as the beauty of the plants depends u])on their 

 being clothed with foliage and flowers from the rim of the pot 

 upwards. Pot off small seedling Calceolarias into small pots, 

 and keep them close in a frame for a few days. Luculias, and 

 other winter-flowering plants growing in the border, must be 

 freely exposed to light and air in order that the growth may be 

 well ripened, and to insm-e a fine display of bloom. 



STOVE. 



Wliere there is but one house for the accommodation of 

 tropical plants, considerable care and attention are necessary 

 to properly manage them at this season, as some, having com- 

 pleted this season's growth, require to be kept cool and rather 

 dry in order to ripen the wood, while others in free growth re- 

 quire to be encouraged with warmth and moisture. If there 

 is no convenience for removing to a cooler house such plants 

 as have made their growth, these should be placed together at 

 one end of the stove, keeping them sparingly supplied with 

 water at the root, and giving air rather freely, which will 

 generally serve to prevent any attempt at a second gi-owth ; 

 and those requiring to be kept warm and moist should also be 

 placed together at the opposite end of the house, where very 

 little air should be given, using every care to keep the atmo- 

 sphere about them moist. Allamaudas, Clerodeudi'ons, etc., 

 which have done blossoming, may be removed to a vinery where 

 the Grapes are ripe or ripening, for as they will require vei-y 



little water, they will not do much mischief in the way of 

 causing damp, and their room in the stove will be found use- 

 ful for other jilants. See that everything is free from insects, 

 and keep the foliage of such plants as Ixoras, &c., clean by 

 washing with a sponge and soapy water when necessary. 



riTS AND KIIAMKS. 



Violets should be potted or planted in a frame, Mignonette 

 thinned and sown. Hyacinths, Tulii]S, and other bulbs potted 

 and plunged. Pinks for forcing encouraged, and Cinerarias duly 

 attended to. Hoses in pots should occupy a fair share of at- 

 tention. Some frames should now bo in readiness for the 

 reception of Aliiine jdants in pots, especially the more delicate 

 species, to remain for the winter; this should he done as 

 speeilily as possible in case a wet season should set in, which 

 woidd be certain destruction to this humble but interesting 

 class of plants. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OP THE LAST WEEK. 

 A FEW fine days have again come, causing the cut grain so to 

 rattle with the fork, as to lead some of our impatient farmers 

 to regret that they did not use a little patience and wait, in- 

 stead of carting home the valuable grain in a damp state. In 

 very damp seasons much may be done by building small in- 

 stead of large stacks, and having inside an open framework in 

 the shape of a cone, so that a draught of air may freely pass 

 through the centre. It was the fashion at one time to talk 

 about Ireland, and its deplorable backwardness in agriculture 

 and everything else. Very probably in our short visit some years 

 ago (and we have yet heaps of notes unused for want of time) 

 we might see only specimens of the best farming, and the most 

 economical management, but in the farms we did see, we do 

 not recoUect observing a single stack of valuable grain built on 

 the ground. If nothing more substantial was to be had, 

 stout stakes of wood, some 2 feet above the groxuid level, were 

 fixed in the ground ; on them pieces of zinc, tin, or galvanised 

 iron some 12 or 15 inches square were fastened, and on these, 

 from post to post, the rough wooden framework was placed ; 

 neither mouse nor rat could then pass the horizontal out- 

 jutting smooth iron. With such a contrivance, and an open 

 cone in the centre, there could scarcely be danger from damp, 

 mildew, or heating, even in bad seasons. Though anything 

 but timid, we have at times felt a little alarmed at the armies 

 of rats, not to say legions of mice, that retreat from a wheat- 

 stack when it is taken down after being built on the open 

 ground. In many cases, the rats get more than the farmer 

 does for all his labour, and the aroma that is left behind must 

 be anything but in favour of the grain at the market. Huge 

 lumbering barns, whether of brick, stone, or wood, are going 

 out of favour, as the buikling and keeping them in repair told 

 either upon the profits of the leasehold farmer, or on the rental 

 of the landlord. We have met with cases in which keeping up 

 such and sundry buildings left nothing in the way of a rent- 

 roll. That is no reason why stacks should not be built above 

 the ground, so as to be safe from vermin, or, what in the 

 end would he vastly more economical, be stored in Dutch 

 barns — that is, with solid sides of wood or brick some 2J feet 

 from the ground, and open thence to the roof, whether that 

 was formed of tiles, slates, or wood and asphalt. The 

 barn would only cost the ex]iensc of a few years' thatching, 

 and the expense of thatcliing would be altogether saved in 

 future. Even for hay, it would form the cheapest plan. If 

 the roof were lofty, in other words if the sides were open for 

 15, 20, or more feet, the gi-ain would be still more safe than 

 in a stack, and might be thoroughly secured against any wet at 

 the sides, by keeping the ear ends of the sheaves elevated in- 

 stead of horizontal in buikling. A strip of zinc or galvanised 

 iron about 15 inches wide along the sides, would eft'ectually keep 

 out aU intruders, and any vermin that found their way in would 

 either be taken in with the sheaves, or be forced to run a mine 

 below the building. Fine examples of elevated stacks, and of 

 a Dutch barn, wonderful for its size, may be seen at the farm 

 of Luton Hoo, the farm buildings and conveniences there being, 

 we believe, as yet unequalled in this or any other country. 



KITCHEN GAKDEN. 



The change in the weather has led to something hke a con- 

 test between the lawn and the kitchen garden, the hea\-y rains 

 having made the former gi'ow wonderfully, so as to be in most 

 places beyond the power of hand machines, whilst small weeds 

 have come up very thickly in the latter wherever there was 



