Janniry 23, 1SG6 ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBXICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



09 



off the lights should be well washed. Parsley, sow a little on 

 a -warm slope. Putatoes, follow up planting at least the early 

 kinda ; cover them 8 inches deep, and di-aw off with the rake 

 or hoe 2 or 3 inches in the first week of Ajiil as a cleaning 

 process. Tomatoes, sow some seed immediately, that strong 

 plants may be ready to tmia out as soon as all danger from 

 faoet is over. 



FF.UIT GiEDEN. 



When pnming the Plum, Chen-y, and other stone fi-uit trees, it 

 is hazardous to cut off large limbs" close to the stem, as gumming 

 is apt to ensue. Shortening-back is therefore advisable in the 

 first instance ; and after the sap has had time to tind its way 

 into other channels, with tho exception of a small portion to 

 keep alive the reduced limb, the latter may be cut closely off 

 with more safety in the following season. Clear off the prun- 

 ings of Gooseberries and Currants, and dig between the rows. 

 In the case of Goosebei-ries the surface soil should be carefully 

 drawn back from below the bushes with a hoe and buried iu 

 the middle of the space, whence fresh soil should be brought 

 to replace that taken away about the plants. Some persons 

 have strictly foUowed this plan for twenty years, and have 

 never been troubled with the caterpiUar. Make cuttiugs of 

 choice Gooseberries, Currants, &c.. taking care to pick out the 

 buds at the lowest end of the shoot, in order to avoid suckers. 



TLOWEB GARDEN'. 



Those who have alterations to accomplish this spring in the 

 way of planting and groundwork, must now lose no time. In 

 pljmting large shrubs it is an excellent practice to half iill the 

 hole intended for the plant or tree with the rakings of the 

 pleasure groimds. This imparts an unusual degree of luxu- 

 riance to the plants, and of a most enduring character too. 

 Look over and correct the general outlines of ornamental 

 plantations. Break into all hedge-like hues, fonn bold recesses 

 where space will admit of it, and endeavour to create variety. 

 The lines of irregular plantations or shrubberies should be 

 corrected in this way at least evei-y three years, as however 

 well they may have been designed originally, the unequal 

 growth of trees wUl, in some degree, mihtate against the first 

 intention. Re-aiTange American masses ; some of the dehcate 

 Azaleas, &c., are frequently overgrown and injured by the 

 grosser Rhododendrons. Biennials may be planted in tiower- 

 borders or bed.s. See to the bulbous tribe ; stii- amongst them, 

 and protect if necessary. As there is no appearance of frost. 

 Moss, Provence, and other hardy Roses, may now be pruned. 

 Cut out as much of the old wood as can be conveniently spared, 

 and shorten back young wood to the most prominent buds. 

 The sooner Roses are planted now the better, except the more 

 tender Chinese kinds. EoU gravel walks, sweep and clean as 

 often as practicable. 



GREEN'nOUSE AND C0S3ERVAT0RV. 



A great step towai'ds the proper management of stove 

 plants in winter was made when those iu flower at this season 

 were found to do well enough in a temperature averaging 4.5° 

 in the couseiwatory. Euphorbia jacquiniajflora is one of the 

 beat plants we have for winter, and the flowers are even more 

 briUiant in the conseivatory than in the stove. Among the 

 forced flowers. Narcissus, Hyacinths, early Tuhps, with some 

 of the different Roses, are now the most prominent. Sweet 

 Briar is always welcome in winter, and no place should be 

 without Mignonette in pots or boxes. Yoimg Orange trees in 

 small pots may be shifted now and placed in bottom heat in 

 the forcing-pit. No plant delights in bottom heat more than 

 the Orange, and few plants which will hve over the winter in a 

 low temperature hke the latter. The great point to attend to in 

 the greenhouse, is to keep the plants from growing till as late 

 in spring as possible ; such plants as show a disposition to 

 grow early should be removed to the coldest part of the house. 

 Pelargoniums and Cinerarias require more heat than the 

 woody gi-eenhouse plants, and are kept in houses by themselves 

 in nurseries and large estabhshments ; but where there is only 

 one house for the whole, these may be kept in the wannest 

 end. Cut down, number, and remove decayed Chrysanthe- 

 mama, let them become dry in a cold pit. 



STOVE. 



Keep the atmosphere rather moist, especially if the weather 

 is bright, and remove to the warmest part of the house such 

 plants as are inclined to start. Above all look out sharply for 

 our common enemies, the scale, mealy bug, and thrips, and 

 wage an incessant war of extermination against them at every 

 point. Some plants, such as Stephanotis, Manettias, Alla- 

 mandas, Dipladenias, &o., may be pruned, trained, and started, 



if in a gentle bottom heat all the better, but those plants 

 wanted for late blooming must be kept back for the present. 

 The whole of the Clerodendrons to be shaken out of their pots, 

 their roots reduced, and repotted into smallpots in light, sandy, 

 loamy compost. Place them in heat until they have made 

 shoots about an inch long, and then, unless required to bloom 

 very early, they may be preserved for a time in a lower tem- 

 perature. Now is a good time to repot such of the Orchids as 

 require it. If you have not yet prepared the necessary ma- 

 terials, do it forthwith. Abimdance of peat cut into cubes 

 vaiying from 1 to 2 inches, fresh sphagnum, and charcoal in 

 lumps, with plenty of crocks, should all be at hand. Com- 

 mence potting those showing signs of gi-owth, and follow up in 

 this order ; half char the peat, and soak the sphagnum in boil- 

 ing water to destroy insects. Keep Ixoras close to the glass, 

 and at the cool end of the house, and give abundance of aii- at 

 every favourable opportimity until the bloom is properly set. 

 Prepare for a general potting next month, and train and clean 

 plants at eveiy opportunity. 



PITS AND FRAMES. 



Place in heat all kinds of stove plants for cuttings. The 

 various sorts of Salvia make beautiful border plants for au- 

 tumn. The sooner cuttings are struck now the better. They 

 should be potted as soon as they are rooted, and grown in heat 

 dirring the spring to make strong plants for tmTiing out. — 

 W. Keake. 



DOINGS OP THELAST WEEK. 



The snowstorm went almost as suddenly as it came, but not 

 without leaving traces of its presence, and of the high winds 

 with which it was .attended, on many a beautiful tree and 

 shrub ; the heavy weight of snow on the larger branches, in- 

 creased by the leverage power of the wind, splitting and break- 

 ing off many in all directions, notwithstanding the efforts to 

 reUeve them of the weight as far as long-handled rakes could 

 reach. Many a symmetrical plant, especially among the Pinus 

 and Arbor VitaB tribe, will have lost their symmetry for years 

 to come. The latter kind of trees are as beautiful to the eye 

 when grown in the regular bush form as when grown to a single 

 stem with the branches coming out regularly all round like a 

 tapering bottle brash ; but the superiority of the latter mode of 

 growth is at once apparent in a heavy snowstorm, the snow in 

 their case gliding off the branches without much mischief, 

 whilst in the former many of the contending leaders will be 

 bent to the gi-oimd, and cracked and broken. Cytisus, Juni- 

 penis, Thujopsis, Ac, would all be safer if grown to one stem, 

 instead of approaching the bush form. Tliis fact we may at 

 least learn from the late storm. The (hsasters among trees 

 and dweUings, &c., on land are after aU less to be deplored than 

 the sad news of the loss of life and property from all parts of 

 om- coasts. Many a home will be thrown into moui-ning by 

 the recent hurricane. 



As, no doubt, many accounts will appear of the late stoi-m in 

 a gardening and -a landscape point of view, it would be interest- 

 ing to know imder what circumstances of general and particular 

 altitude the greatest damage was effected. By the general 

 altitude we would consider the height of the position above tile 

 level of the sea, and by particular altitude the height of the 

 place above the neighbouring valleys. Whether it be from the 

 freer course given to the winds on a height, or on the sides of 

 a hiU, trees often suffer less on such heights than in the valleys 

 beneath. If this should tiu-n out to be the case in the late 

 storm of wind and snow, it may be partly owing to the well- 

 known fact, that more rain and snow generally fall in the 

 valleys than on the heights, even when the weather is calm ; 

 partly owing, we suppose, to the drops increasing in size from 

 their condensing and precipitating upon themselves the moist 

 vapour through which they pass. Even as respects particular 

 altitudes much less rain will fall in a rain gauge fully ex- 

 posed on the top of a house than one equally exposed some 

 2 feet above the level of the ground. The height above flie 

 ground should be the same when similar rain-gauges are to be 

 compared. Independently of these presumed facts, we have 

 often been mortified, when the ground has been parched-Up in 

 summer, to see a rain-cloud break on the hiU, and give us only 

 a few drops, whilst the rain was seen falling copiously in file 

 valley. Taking these things into consideration, were we to 

 come to a conclusion beforehand it would be that the greatert 

 damage would be done on low grounds ; but facts on this 

 matter will be of more importance than any theory, however 



