March 20, 1866. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



225 



ing, ought to be completed before tbis, such as making fresh 

 beds of Kbubaib and Sea-kale. 



FKUIT OAKDEN. 



Apricot blossoms are now fast expanding, and, of course, 

 protection must be afforded in time. Coverings not intended 

 to be often removed should be light and airy, thick heavy 

 material must be so an'anged as to be removed in all season- 

 able weather. Where it is intended to head-down Qld trees for 

 grafting, this should be done at once, and young stock should 

 be grafted as speedily as circumstances will admit. Finish the 

 root-pruning of all luxuriant trees. Most persons will have 

 observed the effect of moving a large Pear tree very late in the 

 spring, it generally becomes covered with blossom-buds. Such 

 may be the effect of root-pruning at this period. Strawberry- 

 beds should be dressed, remove all dead leaves and superfluous 

 runners, and stir the surface of the soil. Make up aU vacan- 

 cies in the young plantations of Strawberries put in in the 

 antumn. Fresh beds may also be planted if required. 



FLOWEE GAKDEN. 



See that rolling, mowing, &c., proceed in due order. Now is 

 the period for laying the foundation of a fine lawn. Provided 

 the weather is not too frosty, let all fresh turfing be com- 

 pleted forthwith. It is a good plan to scatter old tan thicldy 

 over fresh-laid turf as a screen from the sun until the roots take 

 hold. Occasional waterings are also essential. Cut all coarse 

 evergreens and shrubs before the bud becomes too much ad- 

 vanced. This is a good time to cut-in HoUy hedges. Over- 

 grown herbaceous plants may still be divided, the exterior 

 portions of the stools should be reserved and the interior 

 rejected. Planting done after this time will require much 

 attention in wateiing, and this at the very busiest season of 

 the year, especially if large plants are removed, and it is too 

 common a practice to put off such work to the last. Look over 

 beds planted with bulbs, and where necessary stir the surface 

 soil so as to keep it open and fiiable, and also to give it a fresh 

 appearance. Auiiculas and Polyanthuses will now require par- 

 ticular attention. Air must be admitted daily and freely. Watch 

 the trusses as they appear, and pinch off all the weak ones, for 

 if it is desired to have them strong and in full perfection, only 

 one flower-stem should be allowed to remain. Stir the surface 

 of the Tulip-beds, and give some occasional waterings during dry 

 weather with manure water. The Tulip delights in abundant 

 waterings, unless the soil be naturally wet and stiff. Stir the 

 surface of Pansy, Pink, and Carnation-beds. Keep a good look- 

 out after mice, slugs, and wireworms. Take advantage of the 

 present state of the ground to stir the surface soil of shrubbery 

 borders, to prevent the growth of weeds and give the whole a 

 fresh and clean appearance. Do not neglect to put in plenty 

 of Mignonette, and if not already done, hardy annuals should 

 be sown without further delay, except in cases where they are 

 wanted to bloom in the autumn. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSEKVATOEY. 



Climbers in the conservatory wiU soon want frequent atten- 

 tion. Prune off all superfluous shoots, stop or pinch the tops 

 of luxuriant leaders, in order to induce a flowering habit in 

 those which produce blossoms from the axils of their leaves, 

 and keep them neatly tied and trained. Many conservatories 

 are unfit places for Heaths, being generally too lofty, and kept 

 too warm for them. Some of the winter-flowering varieties 

 are, however, very ornamental, and should be largely employed 

 in other decoration during the spring months. As soon as they 

 have done flowering let them be pruned back, and give them 

 a Uberal shift when they start into growth, using good fibry 

 peat for the purpose, and if they are well attended to during 

 the growing season, they will overcome any injury they may 

 have sustained, though occupying an unsuitable position while 

 in bloom. Azaleas, Camellias, Roses, early-flowering New 

 Holland plants, and forced bulbs will keep show-houses gay for 

 some time yet. Let aU plants be pfeced in the best possible 

 position as regards effect, and aim at maintaining a pleasing 

 variety of arrangement, and displaying the colours to the greatest 

 advantage. Pick off decaying flowers and leaves. In gi-eenhouses 

 keep up a lively circulation of air aU the early part of the day, 

 and dispense with fire heat as much as possible. Make a sow- 

 ing of tender annuals if not already done. Pot off Balsams 

 and Cockscombs, &c. These, however, will do better by far in a 

 frame, with fermenting material, close to the glass, well matted 

 up at night. 



STOVE. 



Attend to shifting, watering, and maintaining a free cir- 

 culation of air. Continue to cut down, disroot, and repot 



such plants as have been flowering through the winter. TheBe 

 would be better removed to a bottom heat of 80' in some 

 spare pit or frame, and shaded. Follow up shifting, top- 

 dressing, &c., of Orchids. All Orchids that have commenced 

 growing and require potting should be attended to forthwith. 

 This is a good time to shake out and repot Cyrtopodiums ; 

 they thrive best in good-sized pots, well drained, in a com- 

 post of equal parts good turfy peat, loam, leaf mould, crocks, 

 and charcoal, broken rather small, mixed well together, and 

 when the plants are growing freely they must be well supplied 

 with water. Treat in like manner Sobralias, and give them 

 abundance of water both at the top and bottom when growing 

 freely. Pot in the same compost, omitting the loam, the follow- 

 ing genera :— Houlletia, Acauthophippium, Mormodes, Lycaste, 

 Cycnoches, Catasetum, and Hnutleya. This is also the best 

 time for parting and shifting Ciongoras, Brassias, and Acro- 

 peras ; they succeed well either in baskets or pots, and should 

 be potted rather high in sphagnum moss, with a few large lumps 

 of charcoal built in amongst it in the process of potting, and 

 all made fast with a few deal pegs. Look well after those noble 

 plants, the species of Saccolabium, Vanda, Aerides, Camarotis, 

 and such like, and as soon as their bloom-scapes have fairly bm-st 

 through the leaves — say one inch long, they will be gi-eatly bene- 

 fited by plunging them in a tub of water until they are quite 

 saturated ; after this the judicious use of the syringe will be of 

 great service to them. Continue to withhold water from Onci- 

 diums, except such as are making new leaf-shoots. The gene- 

 ral collection of Orchids will now enjoy a good steaming every 

 clear morning for about half an hour ; this may be done by 

 sprinkhng the pipes or flues when they are warm, and must be 

 done before the fire is banked down. Vandas, Aerides, and all 

 such plants are increased by merely cutting oft' a branch having 

 one or more roots. Advantage should be taken of solar heat 

 at all times. Take care that the air admitted to the plants is 

 mild, that all water applied to the plants is warm, and that all 

 plants not clean be washed. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GAKDEN. 



DuKiNo the past week we have had cold north winds, with 

 bright bursts of simshine during the day, followed by sharp 

 frost in the following night and morning, sufficiently severe to 

 make short work of anything at all tender that was not duly 

 protected. Rain, hail, sleet, and snow have come duly in their 

 turns. After the mild winter, it is fortunate that the cold has 

 come in the beginning rather in the end of the month, as then 

 almost everything would have been gi-eatly injured. As it is, 

 not many hardy things are sufliciently forward to be hurt 

 much as yet. Unless the weather change soon we shall have 

 a late spring ; and the pastures are looking bleak and bare, but 

 even after a cold March it is amazing how fast everything grows 

 in a fine mild April. 



In the frosty mornings wheeled manure and compost for the 

 kitchen garden and pleasure grounds from carefully-preserved 

 lubbish-heaps old hotbeds, &c., and as we are deficient in aU 

 fermenting material, saved every bit that would produce heat 

 when mixed again with fresh manure or fresh-collected tree 

 leaves. Dug and trenched ground, and tirrned over soil-heaps 

 that had not been collected and built in narrow stacks, to which 

 we never give any turning. 



When such stacks can be made of turf, a sufficient amount 

 of air can pass through them to sweeten them, and allow them 

 to slowly decompose, aud if at all large, the same object can be 

 attained by running open drain-tiles through them, or some 

 well-tied bush faggots. If not more than from 2J to 3 or 3i feet 

 wide they will not need such care, and if topped up with a ridge, 

 span-roofed fashion, all the rain that fallswill never injure them. 

 All the centre will be nice and dry, well aired, and fibry, ready 

 to cut down for potting, &c., when wanted, after it has stood a 

 year. The turning over such stacks would merely waste the 

 fibre, and render the whole heap likely to be permeated by rain. 

 Kept as a nice ridged heap we can have dry soil without resort- 

 ing to much shed-room. It is always best to coUect such turfy 

 soil when it is dry. 



Out-ihmr Cmpping. — Notwithstanding hail and snow, the 

 frosty nights and mornings, with sharp winds and bright sun, 

 have dried the drenched ground amazingly, and enabled us to 

 put out a good piece of early Potatoes in good order, and to 

 sow early Peas, Beans, Spinach, and Radishes in the open air. 

 The ground was wetter for Peas than we like, but covered 



