408 



JOURNAL OP HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



[ November 14, 1865. 



expect them to do a fair day's work indicates bad management. 

 If any transplanting or root-pruning of fruit trees lias yet to be 

 done, let this be attended to without further loss of time, and 

 see that those exposed to the wind arc securely staUud before 

 leaving them. 



FLOWER GARDES. 



The weather is still favourable for executing alterations, and 

 where these are in hand they should be carried on with dis- 

 patch. Take advantage of frosty moi-nings for wheeling dung, 

 &c. Planting, or the removal of large trees or shrubs, should 

 be attended to, for it is of importance that the plants should 

 be afforded some chance of making fresh roots before the trying 

 winds of March. See to even small plants being secured 

 against wiud, for these are often greatly injured by being 

 blown about after jjlanting, which a small stake and a few 

 minutes work would prevent. Collect a stock of briars for 

 budding upon next season. As tree leaves are always in re- 

 quest, either as fermenting material or for leaf soil, they should 

 be collected at this season ; if they are required only as manure 

 they may be stowed away in any byplace and left to rot, but 

 if, as is generally the case, they are in demand as a cheap 

 mode of fiu-nishing bottom heat for forcing, some pains should 

 be taken to keep them dry. For this purpose they shoiild bo 

 stacked up in some back place, or behind the garden walls, 

 where access can be had to them at all times, and after allow- 

 ing time for them to settle put on a coat of thatch to effectu- 

 ally secure them from rains. By these means they will be 

 foimd in a state fit for use for twelve months. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



While the principal collection of Chrysanthemums is in 

 bloom, a selection should be made of the best and most useful 

 sorts, for there are many worthless varieties in cultivation, and 

 it is better to grow duplicates of the really good kinds, than to. 

 retain such as are indifferent, merely for the sake of having a 

 long Hst of names. Give timely attention to providing a suc- 

 cession of bloom with which to keep the conservatory gay, and 

 avoid as far as possible the expense of hard forcing, which is, 

 moreover, very injurious to most jJants. Be careful not to 

 let things in bloom suffer from the want of water, giving weak 

 clear manure water to Chrysanthemums, Salvias, Camellias, 

 &c., and use every means to preserve the beauty of specimens 

 in bloom as long as possible. Damp and mildew are the great 

 enemies to be guarded against in the greenhouse, and these 

 must be sharply looked after, especially in the case of plants 

 that have not well ripened their growth and are in a rather 

 soft state. If the former is troublesome it must be dispelled 

 by means of free ventilation on mild days, using a little fire 

 heat at the same time, and for the latter a dry airy atmosphere 

 is the best preventive ; but the plants should be frequently ex- 

 amined, applying sulphur on the first appearance of the enemy. 

 Very little water will be required here at present, but the 

 plants to be carefully looked over twice or thrice a-week, so as 

 to make sure that nothing may feel the want of it. If not 

 already done, let the plants be tied with the least possible 

 delay, for it is diiBcult to tie a plant so that it will not look 

 stiff and unnatural, and the sooner aU this kind of work is 

 done the better the specimens will look when in bloom. Above 

 all, avoid crowding plants. It matters not how good the potting 

 may have been, or how careful the wateiings, those who mil 

 huddle the plants together must be content with leggy stock, 

 and, what is even worse, with insects. 



STOVE. 



Let the resting section of Orchids settle quietly down towards 

 their winter's rest, by withholding water at the roots, by dimi- 

 nishing the amount of atmospheric moisture, and by permitting 

 a, much more liberal ventilation than in the growing season. 



PITS AND FRAMES. 



All stores intended to be wintered in these structures should 

 now be finally arranged as soon as possible. A dry atmosphere 

 with a considerable amount of ventilation day and night are 

 the requisites. An - obser\'ant person may take a hint from 

 the Verbenas which remain out in the beds. How often do 

 we see them green through a great part of the winter. They 

 are well established, however, at the root, and would infinitely 

 prefer a moderate dry frost to a moist confined atmosphere. — 

 W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Vekt much the same as last week. The rains have made 

 Cabbages grow so freely that we shall earth them up at the first 



opportunity, not only to protect the stems, but also to keep- 

 them from being moved by the v.ind. We prefer leaving >. 

 ihght gutter in the ridge, in case it be necessary to apply 

 manure water in spring. Nothing in dry weather is more 

 benefited by sewage or other manure water, and when such is 

 applied the produce will be tender and sweet instead of hard 

 and stringy. In the whole range of vegetables nothing will 

 beat a sweet tender Cabbage v,eU coolced, and we never consider 

 them well cooked ualess they are bright in colour and pretty 

 well as melting as marrow. Summer-planted Coleworts after 

 the frosty mornings are just now at their best, and best they 

 are. The quarter of Cabbages planted in the autumn of 1864 

 is still a mass of young Cabbage Coleworts after being cut over 

 so often, and we generally leave them until exhausted in spring, 

 as in common winters they fm-nish nice cuttings all the winter. 

 After such hard work for the ground, we generally follow with 

 Celery. At one time v,e fancied that the sproutings from the 

 Cabbage were not so tender as young Coleworts planted in 

 summer ; but after many trials, and especially if the old Cab- 

 bages had the help of a soaking of manure water in summer, 

 we have failed in detecting any difference between them. There 

 is, no doubt, something in the cooking ; but one great cause 

 why vegetables are often unsavoury, and in a condition to 

 bring on inihgestion with all its attendant horrors, is their 

 being kept too long, and welted or heated before they are 

 placed in boiling water. No wonder that iu many large esta- 

 blishments vegetables are sent away scarcely touched, the sight 

 of them being quite timough. Even a young Cabbage to be 

 served up in perfection should be cut only a short time .before 

 it goes into the pot. A first-rate judge of what was good would 

 not have his Marrow Peas gathered longer than just to give 

 time to shell and boil them. Just imagine the difference after 

 being well heated in close-packed sacks, or lying about a day or 

 more in a hot kitchen. 



Cmdijiuii-er. — The weather being somewhat uncertain, and a 

 little frost being rather teUiug after so much wet, removed 

 some of the larger lower leaves fi-om a nice lot of Cauliflowers 

 just showing httle heads, took up the plants with what ball 

 could be secured, and planted them thickly in trenches in an 

 earth pit, on which we could lay some old sashes and other 

 protection. In placing the plants in the trench we laid them 

 slanting rather than upright, so that their own leaves would 

 give a good deal of protection. We also gave a good watering 

 when the trench was half filled, and when settled placed the 

 dry earth over it before cutting back the next trench. That 

 watering will be all that they will require in the way of mois- 

 ture ; and with dryish soil on the surface and plenty of air 

 in mild weather, we have no doubt that they will do well if we 

 can manage to keep rats and mice at bay. They have hitherto 

 been our greatest enemies, and if much covering-up is required 

 they make great havoc amongst Endive as well as Cauliflower. 

 Wbere game is made a matter of first consideration, rats and 

 mice will be sm-e to increase too much at the farm-steading 

 and the garden. 



Lettuces. — Did the same with this necessary for salads, 

 though much less is used in winter than was wont to be the 

 case. People are beginning to think that all such cold ingre- 

 dients are most suitable for summer. If never used at all in 

 winter it would save much trouble and room to the gardener. 

 We also took up plauts with good balls, and planted them 

 rather closely together, watering as in the case of the Cauli- 

 flower, and choosing some not only fit for use for a month or 

 two, but younger ones coming on iu case they should be wanted. 



Endive. — Did much the same with Curled and Plain-leaved. 

 The Moss-curled has been very compact and good. At this 

 season we often take up the Endive and treat like the Let- 

 tuces, as when blanched and ]irotected where grown more or less 

 litter is always an accompaniment. A flat slate or tile is as 

 good a way of blanching as any ; a covering of dry tree leaves 

 or dry straw also answers very well. Those who are fond of 

 Endive may have it all the winter through in first-rate order, 

 if they can secure a dry collar, a dry close shed, anywhere pro- 

 vided it be dry, darkish, and frost-proof. From such positions, 

 placed on the ground, or on benches, or in boxes, we have had 

 it very fine until the end of JIarch. The essentials are — taking 

 up the plants when dry, with fair-sized balls, packing them 

 closely, and for two-thirds of the height of the balls, in moist 

 earth, or made rather moist without wetting the leaves, and 

 covering up the other third with dry earth, or dry ashes. So 

 treated the plants would grow very slowly, the moisture being 

 enough to keep them from shrivelling. They would also blanch 

 in the darkness ; and the dry atmosphere around them, and 



