280 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 9, 1866. 



this kind of work will soon be past. The scarcer varieties of 

 variegated Geraniums should not be risked in beds too long, 

 they had better be taken up, and potted immediately the 

 weather becomes at all threatening. After potting it wili be a 

 good plan to place them on a gentle bottom heat in a pit or 

 house where the atmosphere can be kept sufficiently dry to 

 prevent the foliage being injured. So circumstanced they will 

 soon become established, when they may be stored away for 

 the winter in a cool, dry house, where they will be secure from 

 frost. Any beds which may have become shabby, and which 

 are to be planted with bulbs or anything else for spring decora- 

 tion, should be cleared at once, and replanted. When planting 

 beds 2 feet in diameter with bulbs, we would advise to put two 

 rows of Crocuses round the bed, not more than 1 inch from 

 each other, then six Hyacinths set equally over the remain- 

 ing portion, rilling up the vacant spaces with early Tulips. 

 Each bed of this size will thus contain about seventy-two 

 Crocuses, six Hyacinths, and a dozen early Tulips. The taste 

 of each amateur can regulate the colours of the various kinds 

 of flowers, as there is room for great diversity. The Hyacinths 

 may be all different, or mixed, or all alike in each bed, and the 

 Crocuses may be mixed or of one kind. If there is a number of 

 small beds together, a good effect woidd be produced by having 

 one colour in a bed, the contrast being furnished by the beds 

 themselves. As there may be innumerable combinations of 

 colours, each amateur can consult his own pleasure in the 

 matter. The month of October is the most eligible time in the 

 whole year for alterations ; whether planting or general ground 

 work they should be carried forward with vigour as soon aE 

 possible. Such matters should not be allowed to press on the 

 ordinary business of the garden; extra work requires extra 

 labour, and if such is not supplied a corresponding amount of 

 injury must occur in some other department, and the blame 

 not unfrequently falls on the gardener. Alterations carried 

 on during the autumn are doubly important, both on ac- 

 count of the season for planting, turfing, and such operations, 

 and also on account of the busy character of the spring months, 

 which always bring sufficient claims on the most diligent with- 

 out the pressure of extras of any kind. The remodelling of 

 parterres or the making of new ones may be carried on now ; 

 and where old ones are to be broken up, the herbaceous plants 

 already existiug should be numbered or named in due time, in 

 order to be able to ascertain the heights, colours, &o. 



OT.EEN'noUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



Hyacinths and other Dutch bulbs, if not already purchased, 

 should he procured and potted without delay. Orange trees 

 intended for forcing in winter, for the decoration of the con- 

 servatory, should also now be attended to. These and Daphnes 

 are invaluable for winter blooming, and should be largely 

 grown for that purpose ; also, see to having plenty of Salvia 

 splendens, which is useful for mixing amongst Chrysanthe- 

 mums. It is a good practice to use the largest plants of 

 Salvias in a shady situation out of doors for a few weeks in 

 autumn. Plants so treated will be found to bloom more 

 strongly and last longer in beauty than others run up in a 

 warm house. Look carefully after the watering of large speci- 

 men hardwooded plants in pots, especially Heaths, which are 

 soon injured by being over or under watered. Examine speci- 

 mens often and carefully, and when they are found to be dry 

 water thoroughly so as to' moisten the whole of the ball ; also, 

 look sharply after mildew on softwooded Heaths, and dust the 

 plants with sulphur directly the enemy is perceived. Let 

 Azaleas be tied into form as soon as can be done, in order to 

 give them a neat appearance. Also attend to the staking and 

 training of other plants as leisure time can be found. Look 

 carefully after red spider on Bossiaeas, Chorozemas, and any- 

 thing else liable to that insect, and see that it is extirpated be- 

 fore the plants become disfigured. Red spider is easily got 

 rid of by laying the affected plant on its side and well washing 

 the under sides of the leaves with the engine, applying the 

 water with as much force as the foliage will bear. Repot 

 strong-growing Pelargoniums ; plants that are fairly established 

 after repotting can hardly be kept too cool ; also keep Cine- 

 rarias as cool and moist as is consistent with safety, and at- 

 tend to repotting such as require it. Primulas must also be 

 carefully attended to in order to encourage them to make rapid 

 growth, particularly double varieties. Keep tree Violets clear 

 of their great enemy, red spider, by a liberal use of the syringe, 

 and give them plenty of warm water, which will assist in keep- 

 ing them in vigorous health. Van Thol Tulips for forcing may 

 be potted, place them on coal ashes and cover them, and early 

 in November remove them into heat. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



A rising barometer has relieved us from pelting rains ; but 

 so far as harvest work is concerned there has been great hin- 

 drance from a dense misty fog, which has continued without 

 intermission from Saturday to Wednesday, and kept the sur- 

 face of everything saturated with moisture. Such weather has 

 told unfavourably on the ripening of fruit, and even what 

 was pretty well advanced could not be gathered in such a damp 

 state. The finer wall fruit seems to have suffered this season 

 from two causes — a sort of parching of the skin, chiefly in 

 Nectarines, when bright sun and cold nights succeeded warm 

 dull weather ; and then damping and rotting of Peaches from 

 being surrounded with a continuous mist. We do not know 

 what they may be in the north, but we fear there will be few fine 

 October Peaches in the south this season on trees out of doors, 

 if subjected to similar conditions. It is so far pleasing to hear 

 that whilst we have had this thick misty weather, other places 

 have been altogether or nearly free from it. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Much the same as last week. Reference has been made to 

 the Early Vim Savoy, and we can corroborate what is said of 

 its usefulness. It furnishes a great deal of gathering from a 

 small space, as it may be planted with advantage, like Coleworts, 

 a foot apart. To have fine huge heads of the larger Savoys it 

 is a good plan to sow in autumn and plant out then like Cab- 

 bage, or early in spring. These, though standing longer in 

 the ground, will yield finer heads than those sown in spring, 

 especially in cold soils. Gathered a lot of Tomatoes, and tied 

 up Endive, the best Lettuces having suffered considerably from 

 the continuous wet. Planted out Lettuces for standing, and 

 for lifting when larger. Will bring Onions under cover as 

 soon as dry. Strewed lime, burnt earth, and ashes over all 

 fresh-planted things to keep them from slugs, &c. Weeds are 

 again threatening, and it is of little use hoeing when the sur- 

 face becomes green in such weather, as they take hold of the 

 earth in a day or two. When the surface is becoming green 

 with small weeds, the quickest way often to dispose of them is 

 to turn them down with a shallow spit of the spade. Earthing- 

 up Celery, &c, must be delayed until drier weather. There has 

 been little need of the water-pail this season. 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



As already alluded to, the continuous drizzle or misty fog 

 rendered picking fruit, for keeping, out of the question ; but, 

 notwithstanding the shady summer, fruit has ripened quite as 

 early, or rather earlier, than usual. Even our late Peaches on 

 the wall are over, and though they swelled well, they had less 

 than their usual flavour. We have yet a fair supply in the 

 orchard-house ; but these, too, will he gone sooner than last 

 season. With abundant ah- they could not have been kept later, 

 except by shading the house, and that would have injuriously 

 affected the flavour. Plums in the orchard-house, too, are dead 

 ripe, although last year we had them good up to the end of 

 the month. Many Nectarines out of doors, unless well shaded 

 by their own leaves, which shading lessened colour, seemed to 

 acquire a hard parched appearance in their skins even before 

 they were ripe, although presenting no such aspect under glass. 

 We attributed it to a bright sun and cold nights after a course 

 of wet, close, warm weather. 



Figs. — Some good fruit have been obtained from trees out of 

 doors on a west aspect, but before the fruit are all ripe the 

 leaves are turning yellow and falling, and other trees are 

 showing signs of ripeness in wood and foliage earlier than 

 usual. After such moist, growing weather, those who have 

 the chance should now cover the borders of late vineries, and 

 also those intended for early forcing, so as to keep wet and 

 cold from them. 



The leaves of the tree3 in our early Peach-house are not 

 ripe enough for pruning to be practised. We wish they were, 

 as the house would now he valuable for general storage, and 

 the same may be said of our earliest vinery. Ere long every 

 spare place under glass will be wanted. 



Strawberries. — As we have been scarce of pots for fruiting 

 Strawberries in houses, and it would be of no great use to pot 

 good plants now, wo have turned out a good many from 

 60-sized pots into a nicely-dug well- enriched piece of ground, 

 placing them in rows a foot apart, and fi inches asunder in the 

 row, that they may be lifted in spring with good balls, and 

 either potted or planted under glass. We have pricked out a 

 lot of runners somewhat closer together, to be used for a similar 

 purpose later, or for making fresh plantations in spring, lifting 

 them with balls, which will thus liberate the ground that might 



