Decemlior 11, 1806. ] 



JOURNAL OF IIOimCULTUItE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



44!) 



There is just ono drawback to their use. If the sashes aro 

 from 5 to or more feet in length, the covers, however care- 

 fully lifted off and on, must slide less or more on the sides of 

 the sashes and the tops of the sash-bars, and that would eoi <n 

 wear oil the paint that might be on them. To prevent this, a 

 thin slip of wood, as a lath, may bo tacked on the sides of tho 

 sashes, which will save the paint, and prevent the croBB-pieces 

 of wood beneath from touching the sash-bars, and thus, too, 

 raise tho straw farther from the glass. In such a case, we 

 either run a Blip across the bottom and the top of the sash, to 

 make the cover moro air-tight, or we place at back and front 

 close in to tho cover, cats of straw formed by tying straw in a 

 round rope about 2 inches in diameter, and in eight-feet lengths. 

 Such covers, with this cat. back and front, willkeep out a :• a! 

 degree of cold, because they will prevent heat escaping. 



Some time ago we noticed a case in point which surprised ft 

 few of tho less initiated. There had been a sharp frost in the 

 first part of tho night, and a fall of snow towards morning, 

 and a milder temperature, though cold, after daybreak. By 

 eleven o'clock the snow was all gone from the roofs of bouses 

 and glass exposed, where the inside temperature ranged from 

 38° to 45'. These straw covers were left on at the front part 

 of a house where the inside temperature ranged from '" at 

 night to l>5 during the day, and the snow remained on the 

 covers until night, nay, for two or three days, just as it had 

 fallen, and with so much more heat under the glass. The 

 straw proved itself such a good non-conductor, that though 

 the outside of tho glass felt warm to the hand under the cover, 

 the heat could not pass through the straw, even to have the 

 smallest effect in melting the snow, and this remained on a num- 

 ber of days. There is no better protection to be found than 

 snow, and hence the superiority of such covers or frames in- 

 stead of loose mats. Before the latter can be moved in a time 

 of snow, the snow must be shaken or swept oil', whilst, with 

 such covers, whether of straw, asphalc, or wood, they may be 

 carefully drawn down with their covering of snow, and slid np 

 again when it is necessary to do so. One word more. What 

 is worth doing at all is worth doing well. In looking over, 

 mending, and fresh filling these frames with straw in wet days, 

 we have not done the work so well as it might be done, because 

 the straw was just what we could obtain, and that had passed 

 through a thrashing-machine. Of course the straw had to be 

 drawn as if for thatching, was soft and much bruised, and 

 therefore baggy, and retentive of moisture. Even if thrashed 

 by the flail in the usual way the straw would be left more 

 whole, and when tied into bundles it would be no difficulty to 

 cut off the greater proportion of the empty ears, which are so 

 retentive of moisture. Straw procured in either way is, how- 

 ever, a poor substitute compared with that drawn from the 

 sheaves in a barn, all the wheat heads kept together in little 

 bundles and these heads then thrashed, or the heads cut off 

 and thrashed out, without touching the straw with the flail. 

 Good wheat straw thus treated is better for the purpose than 

 the best reeds, as every tube of straw unbroken is a good non- 

 conductor, and on such a cover the rains never go farther than 

 the surface. Except for such particular purposes, however, we 

 suppose we must make up our minds to hear but little of the 

 merry raps of the flail on a winter's morn. We have had 

 covers so made with drawn straw that were in use for more 

 than three years, and for at least seven and a half months out 

 of the twelve. We have tarred the surface of these covers 

 when finished, straw and woodwork, making the tar thin by 

 heating it ; but though the surface was thus rendered stiil 

 moro impervious to water, we think this advantage was counter- 

 balanced by making the straw more brittle. A cover thus made 

 of drawn straw we consider better in every way if only half 

 an inch thick, than one made from machine-dressed straw, if 

 fully 1 inch thick. Then the first would be light in the wettest 

 weather, because it would never be wet through, whilst the 

 second would hold moisture in its broken and bruised tubes. 

 Farmers who may make such covers for their pits and frames, 

 or who may thatch hurdles for protection for lambs and other 

 purposes, if they wish them to be lasting, may well draw as 

 much wheat straw as they want, and cut off the ears without 

 bruising the straw. The additional labour will not be lost. 

 The greater neatness and wear will be more than a counter- 

 balancing advantage. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



See remarks for several weeks past as to out-door and forced 

 vegetables. The heavy rains have battered down the ground 

 considerably, and if frost at all severe should come, the com- 

 pactness of the soil will cause it to be more felt amongst all 



young crops, and therefore as soon as dry enough it will be 

 advisable to make the surface loose and open, cither with a 

 hoe or the points of a fork. Peas and Be in - may also now be 

 sown; for ourselves we generally sow on turf and tiles, and 

 plant out in spring, which saves much watching and hunting 

 alter vermin enemies. On light soil with a south exposure 

 lladishes and Carrots maybe sown nnd protested; but where 

 it can be Spared it will give less labour at this season to sow 

 them under glass. We know of nothing more profitable than 

 a bed of Early Horn Carrots, or of the small Dutch, sown 

 about tho middle or the end of this month, with a slight hot- 

 bed beneath them, such as was alluded to last week. As a 

 little matter, we mention that the Sea-kale put in pots ai I . i 

 over a slight hotbed in the Mushroom-house was coming on 

 faster than we wished it, and therefore the pots were moved 

 and set on the cool floor of the house, where the average tem- 

 perature would be about 55°. This confirms what was stated 

 the other week, that in many cases it is preferable to put tho 

 roots of these into pots or boxes instead of into a bed at once, 

 to be covered with a box. Where a good supply is wanted the 

 latter plan may be adopted ; but when the roots are placed in 

 a moveable pot or box we can havo the cuttings more under 

 command. 



Mv&kroam bed*: — Our litter from the stables became so wet 

 before we could obtain it, as to be unfit for the above purpose. 

 When great and regular crops of Mushrooms are wanted, the 

 gardener must have the privilege of obtaining droppings before 

 they are exposed to rains. For want of better material we 

 have often made our beds of stubble and tree leaves, with two 

 or three inches of dung on the surface. Such as poor men 

 and boys collect in dry weather from the highways is very good 

 for the purpose. We would have made 1 another piece in the 

 Mushroom-house if we had had the opportunity, but we mutt 

 j wait a little for material. The beds in the lean-to, low, 

 I thatched shed, have done well, and the last part is bearing 

 [ profusely. Tho bed had about li inches of dry litter oyer it ; 

 but the front or open part was a little protected with some of 

 the worst of our straw covers. As we wanted these repaired 

 to go over glass at night, we placed some hurdles along 

 instead, with laurel branches drawn through thorn, which will 

 break the current of air, and added 2 or 3 inches more cover- 

 ing of dry litter. As a general rule, we gather more from these 

 shallow beds in the shed than from similar shallow beds in 

 the Mushroom-house ; and if we can keep mice, rats, and moles 

 from burrowing, we are little troubled with snails and woodlice. 

 In fact, the latter are not troublesome in the Mushroom-house 

 1 until the spring. 



rr.VIT GARDEN. 



See last week as to pruning, dredging with lime, &c. Looked 

 ! over Grapes in late house, removing mouldy berries when 

 seen, and taking away the yellow leaves. Old sashes have 

 been placed over the borders to help to keep the rains from 

 them. It would have been better if this had been done in 

 September, but we could not spare them the sashes. For all 

 such purposes wooden covers, or asphalt ones on frames, are 

 very useful. When borders are outside it is much against 

 the Vines when these borders are soaked with cold rains 

 before resorting to early forcing, and it is very unfavourable to 

 the keeping of late Grapes when the whole system of the 

 plants is charged with moisture. 



Grapes when dry will not stand much frost without being 

 injured, hence a little fire will be necessary even in dry frosty 

 weather. In dull wet weather, as on Tuesday and Wednesday, 

 a brisk fire should be made in the morning, and as soon as the 

 heat begins to tell let there be small openings for ventilation 

 back and front, that there may be a circulation of air all 

 through the house, the air being rendered dry by the artificial 

 heat, the dry floor and stages, and the absence of everything 

 requiring moisture. In mild weather a little air at the highest 

 point of the roof, if only half an inch, will be of advantage all 

 night. In very cold weather it is as well to shut close at 

 night, and dispense with fire heat as much as possible. 



All houses intended for early forcing, with borders outside, 

 should have these borders securely protected from the changes 

 of our climate. The best way to do this is to cover early in 

 autumn, say in the middle of September, with iitter or fern, 

 and then keep off rains by wooden covers, canvas, thatching, &c. 

 In fact, the early covering of borders and securing them from 

 autumn and winter rains, is the best system to adopt with late 

 Vines and early ones as well. Many bunches of late Muscats 

 might be without a moulded berry, or a shrivelled one at 

 Christmas, if the cold rains after the 1st of October were 



