September 19, 18*i5. ] 



JOURNAL OP HOBTICULTUllE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



287 



Mine has a south aspect, and tlie buu iiervados the whole 

 house, and not without result, I can assure you. 



Then, of Vines. 1 have a span-mofed house, 20 feet wide, 

 that does not please nie, and to which I intend putting litteen- 

 feet Bides. Tlie Vines are planted 2 feet apart, and I shall hack 

 every other, wliicli will result in my having four rows of Vines, 

 each Vine being -1 feet from its neiglibour, and the hght will 

 ho free to entir from the top ami all the sides. I shonid very 

 much like to know how many feel of rod and how many spnrs 

 are renuired for each show bunch. 1 tliink my Vines will have 

 at least double the number of spurs per foot of rod that they 

 have now, and we are sure that means capacity for work, and 

 yet the house, as it is, is better than a lean-to. 



Have we not, then, been following this one idea — that nothing 

 will sncceed well that is not trained under the glass — too long 

 and to our great loss? and is it not lime, in this our ])ractical 

 age, to begin to take cubic measure into account '! A house 

 with a hack wall 15 feet liigh, and 1.5 feet wide, treated as a 

 lean-to at an angle of 45°, gives a front of 21 feet ; if 50 feet 

 long, it contains 1050 sijuare feet of trellis. On my plan, as 

 shown by the section, the back wall, 15 by 50, would contain 

 750 s(piare feet, eleven front trellises 5 feet apart and 'J feet wide ; 

 9 X 15 = VA'j, X 11 — 1485 ; add 750 ami it makes 22:)5 square 

 feet of trellis. Compare this with 1050, and how many will 

 regret that good old plans of gardening were ever departed 

 from ? 



It is said, those who run may read ; and any one who talks 

 about plants being drawn, because they are far from the glass, 

 will not he listened to in these days when we can see for our- 

 selves at Sydenham and Kew. 



In closing this letter, I may say I have no interest to serve 

 in recommending a particular form of house ; hut, as a fruit- 

 grower, who has learned much from the perusal of your 

 valuable paper during the last eight years, I desire, if an 

 anonymous letter can carry weight, that my experience should 

 be at the service of those who are intending to build fruit- 

 houses, and as the most certain way of placing it before them 

 I send it to you. — G. H. 



CUTTING-IN SHRUBS ANNUALLY. 

 In my garden I have a Sumach, which was as I thought 

 dying, so I cut it down to a stump about 8 or 4 feet high. Next 

 year it shot up and produced some tine foliage: I continued 

 cutting down to the stump each year after the leaves had fallen, 

 and it has in each improved both in appearance and size of 

 foliage and branches. This year is the best year of growth it 

 has had, and it far surpasses all I have ever seen of the sort. 

 The growth from the stump this year is from 5 to 6 feet, and 

 the stems the leaves grow on are about 4} feet long. I enclose 

 a leaf which is about half a foot long. Several of my neigh- 

 boius have trees, but have not cut them down ; there are also a 

 few at the Botanic Gardens, Liverpool, but not cut ; they have 

 but small leaves in comparison to my plant. The soil in my 

 border is the common garden soil, rather stiff. I shall feel 

 obliged if you will give your opinion on this subject. — A Sub- 

 scriber, Liverpool. 



[Many shrubs and plants would he greatly increased in 

 vigour if they were cut-in every year mucli the same as is done 

 with a Willow stool. No doubt if mere size of foliage is de- 

 sirable, the young shoots thus formed will yield large leaves, 

 until the stool is exhausted. Are you quite sure, however, 

 that the leaf sent is the leaf of a Sumach ? if so, it does not 

 belong to the commoner kinds found in gardens, and more re- 

 sembles Khus venenata than any we know. If so, the leaves 

 before they drop will become of a purplish red colour. This, 

 and some others which the smooth leaf would seem to point 

 to, are very poisonous, and, therefore, if a Sumach, you must 

 be careful in the cutting, that none of the juice get on your 

 hand. — Eds.] 



Eaeth- 

 promotes 

 it. Keep 

 are obser 

 only sure 

 crop may 

 row fiom 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN G.'iRDEN. 



UP the BroccoU plants as they advance, this greatly 

 their growth ; also earth-up other plants that require 

 a watchful eye for the caterpillars ; as soon as they 

 ved have them gathered oli' by hand, this being the 

 means of extermination. Cuhliaiies, the main spring 

 now be planted, the small dwarf sorts at IH inches 

 row and 20 inches in the row. A double quantity 



may be planted in the rows, so as to admit of thinning-out 

 every other one in the spring. VauUjlou'crs, prejiare the ground 

 for the plants wliich it is intended to protect witli liund-glasses, 

 the .soil should be rich, and, if possible, under a south wall; 

 nine jdauts nuiy ho planted under a good-sized liand-glass, and 

 in the spring five or six of tliem may be taken away, and planted 

 elsewhere. Varivis, sow a few Early ilorn in a sheltered place 

 to stand the winter. C'lUnj, llie hrst earllnng of a crop should 

 not take place until it has made considerable jirogress, by com- 

 mencing too early it is drawn up weakly ; the earth should be 

 closed round the stalks with the hand. Cucumlii'ix, the heat 

 of the bed containing bearing jdants must not be allowed to 

 decline, or they will not continue (u-oductivc, whereas by pro- 

 per attention they will produce fruit till Christmas. Dung 

 should now be procured, and prepareil for beds next month. 

 Dwarf Kidney /iciow, if a supply is required tlirough the winter 

 a sowing should now be made in pots lialf lilled with soil, 

 which allows of the plants being earthed-up. Kiulire, tie-up 

 for blanching when the plants are ipiite dry, or lay a tile upon 

 each plant ; another plantation may also be made. Globe Arti- 

 chokes, cut oil the stems as fast as the heads are used. Mush- 

 rooms, the beds recently made must be spawned immediately 

 the heat has become moderate ; when earthed they should be 

 well beaten down, as solidity is one of the principal causes of 

 productiveness. Saludinij should now be raised under a hand- 

 glass, or in boxes placed in a forcing-house ; to keep up a 

 constant succession a sowing should be made three times 

 a-fortnight. 



FIIUIT GARDEN. 



Look over wall trees, and cut off all foreright breastwood, or 

 what are commonly called after-shoots. Strawberry plants in 

 pots must not be allowed to become very dry, nor ought they 

 to be drenched with too much water. Gather carefully and 

 progressively the various Pears and Apples as they arrive at 

 their full growth. Discard at once bruised fruit, its posses- 

 sion entails ultimate trouble. 



FLOWER G.4.RDEN. 



See that the faded blossoms and seeds are regularly removed 

 from beds, other blossoms will be thus encouraged ; much of 

 the \Hb.\ energy of a plant is expended in the perfection of its 

 seeds. Borders deficient of Snowdrops, Crocus, Narcissus, and 

 other such early spring-floweriug bulbs should have some 

 introduced. Tender plants which it may be intended to winter 

 for use next season must soon be taken up and placed in safe 

 quarters. Plants, however, which are still in good condition 

 may be left for some weeks longer. Variegated Geraniums will 

 not bear much frost, and when the plants have to be wintered 

 in situations which are not very suitable for them they should 

 he taken up before they are at all injured, as they will be much 

 more liable to damp and die back in winter if the wood is at 

 aU touched by frost. Except when there is a sufficient stock 

 of these they should not be cut back as is usually done with 

 the old scarlets, but should he kept over the winter just as they 

 are lifted from the beds, and cut hack early in the spring after 

 starting them into growth, when the cuttings will root very 

 freely in heat, and in the case of Flower of the Day or any 

 other free growers, wiU make useful-sized plants by turning-out 

 time ; and even the strongest growers of these do not cover a 

 bed very quickly unless planted thickly, and the plants, there- 

 fore, should be wintered in as large a state as the accommoda- 

 tion will permit. The autumn-rooted stock of Verbenas, &c., 

 must be well attended to, keeping them perfectly clear of green 

 fly, exposing them freely to the night dews, and keeping them 

 hardy, in which state they will be much less liable to fog off 

 under a week or two's confinement in winter than if they were 

 kept in a growing soft slate imtil overtaken hy severe weather. 

 Plants which are not sufficiently established must, however, 

 be treated somewhat more kindly, for there is but little chance 

 of carrying such over a severe winter unless they are at least 

 well rooted, and these might with advantage be placed upon 

 a gentle bottom heat to encourage the roots, hut do not keep 

 the atmosphere close and moist, for growth should not be 

 encouraged after this season. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



The principal and most desirable object in the management 

 of greenhouse plants, is to obtain a robust and hardy growth, 

 and at this time to accommodate them to the changing in- 

 fluences of the season by lessening their vital action by free 

 ventilation, and by the gradual and judicious curtailment of 

 water. The great business here will be to house the more 

 tender sorts of plants in good condition, the pots to he rubbed 



