April 8, 1863. ] 



JOUKNAL OP HOKTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



261 



Bnis^els Sprout<:. — Tlie common, from imported seed, is still, 

 all things considered, the best. The Dalmeny -varieties are 

 good ; but on the whole are not so profitable for general 

 purposes. 



Tiimijfis. — A few White Dutch. For main garden crops the 

 American Ked Top is the best, sweetest, and most crisp. 

 Leeks. — The Musselburgh is as good as any. 

 Radishes. — We almost entirely use three sorts — Scarlet 

 Short-top, and White and Ked Turnip-rooted. 



Kidney Bcaiis. — Unless in warm places it is too early to sow 

 Kidney Beans out of doors. In our opinion nothing beats the 

 China Dwarf, called often Kobin's Egg, for general purposes. 

 Next is the Cream-coloured ; and theNewiugton to be gathered 

 young and cooked whole. Scarlet Kunners of course. 



Celery. — Incomparable White for main crops, it takes so 



little room, should now be sown under glass, if possible — a 



hand-light will do. Cole's and other varieties are much larger. 



Spiiiuch. — Kound-leaved, and round-seeded, for summer, 



Prickly-seeded, or Flanders, in autumn for winter. 



These are the seeds to which attention must now be chiefly 

 directed, and more depends on getting them into the ground 

 in good condition than sowing them very early, when the 

 groimd is in a clammy wet state. A little time lost in sowing is 

 soon made up if the ground is nice, sweet, and mellow. A great 

 deal of seed is destroyed by being put into the ground when 

 this is in a wet clammy state. There is the risk when at all 

 deeply covered that the seed absorb so much moisture as to 

 rot, and besides, if the soil is rather stiff, the seed is wrapped in 

 it, as in a piece of soft indian-rubber, and perishes for want of 

 air and its oxygen reaching it. Ground so puddled will scarcely 

 become kindly all the season, as rains do not pass freely 

 through it. Seeds sown in nice, dry, mellow soil scarcely ever 

 suffer from wet afterwards, as the showers pass freely through 

 it. All these considerations point to the importance of having 

 some March and April dust for seed time. We mean not dust 

 on the fields and gai-deus, but dust on the highways, for if the 

 soil is too dry the germination of the seeds is unduly arrested. 

 Ran the hoe through growing crops, and hoed and raked 

 some walks that from being shaded had become a little green. 

 Swept the others hard to give them a fresh appearance, and 

 will fill up some blanks in the edgings as soon as possible. 



Gave a little more earth to Potatoes in frames, as the tubers 

 were running rather near the surface ; watered Peas in pots in 

 an orchard-house beginning to show bloom ; gave abundance of 

 air in sunny days to Eadishes, Carrots, Lettuces, Cauliflowers, 

 &c. Sudden changes affect all plants under glass less Or more. 

 In the brighthot sun of Tuesday, after a period of dull weather, 

 Potatoes, Kidney Beans, &c., began to flag, though the ex- 

 amination of the soil showed they were quite moist enough. 

 A slight syringing and slight shade for a couple of hours made 

 them all right. After a course of dull weather the plants are 

 unable to bear the rapid evaporation which the sim so 

 suddenly causes, and hence a slight shading will often be of 

 great use for short periods under such circumstances. The 

 great point is to allow the shade to remain no longer than is 

 absolutely necessary, as all growth in shade is comparatively 

 weakly. 



Spawned a piece of a shallow Mushroom-bed, and prepared a 

 piece more with fresh material, working up a part of the old bed 

 with the fresh dung, owing to being scarce of materials. The 

 only objection to these shallow beds is that they generally do 

 not bear long, or regularly, and hence the necessity of suc- 

 cessions. One reason why we make even these shallow beds of 

 poorer materials than we used to do, is to humour the prejudice 

 for thinnish Mushrooms. The thick, fat, juicy fellows which 

 we used to delight in, do not suit every one. For Sea-kale, 

 Khubarb, &c., see previous weeks. 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



As to general work, we are rather behind with naUing, &o., 

 out of doors. We deferred pruning Gooseberries, and we 

 presume the delay will matter little, as after all our washing, 

 and dredging, and stringing, the birds will have it pretty 

 well their own way. We stated the other week, and repeat 

 it, that if gardens are to be made preserves for game, they will 

 soon be little else than pi-eserves for that game and its atten- 

 dant vermin. There is scarcely even a Laurel bush that does 

 not become the roosting-place for at least its hundred of small 

 birds. Not only do Pear trees, &c., suffer terribly, but we 

 noticed that some nice Thorn trees were having the most for- 

 ward buds regularly picked out. As a rule, no class in the 

 community are greater admii-ers of the little birds than gar- 

 deners ; but when there are innumerable thousands instead of 



scores, and trees loaded with bloom-buds to-day are cleared 

 pretty well to-morrow, a man begins to feci that he may have 

 too miich of the poetry of birds. It is of very little use netting 

 under such circumstances. Do what you will the biids wUl 

 find their way under it, and take what they want, and espe- 

 cially in the morning as soon as the day breaks, tinder such 

 circumstances there will be no safety except in securely netting 

 vegetable and fruit gardens all over as high as the walls for a 

 number of months in the year. Netting individual places seems 

 only to entice the robbers to see what is there, and no fastening 

 will keep them out. 



The orchard-houses, especially the first, have been a picture,, 

 and Tuesday, with its powerful sun, and the free ventilation, 

 would pretty v;ell secure the setting of the fruit. There has 

 been quite enough of wind to render any brushing of the strong 

 prominent blooms unnecessary. This house we shut up early, 

 the other is left open in favourable weather tiU bedtime. In 

 the first house, Tuesday was the only day lately in which all 

 our ventilating power was at command, as even now, and 

 especially when the fruit is set, we will use more sun heat 

 shut in, to bring the house on in succession to the Peach-house. 

 The trees at the back will not be such a show after Tuesday, 

 as the bright sun, and the breezes of wind, have caused a good 

 many of the petals of the bloom to drop. No insect of any kind 

 has as yet appeared. Judging from the frequent directions 

 about smoking houses, plants, &c., the bill for tobacco must 

 be no small affair in some places. 



A few of the Tom Thumb Pea pots are showing bloom, and 

 if there be a few sunny days a good many will be out. This 

 Pea must be gathered early enough when under glass, or it is 

 apt to eat hard. It must not be so large as it might be out of 

 doors. The glass seems to harden it. 



Peach-house. — Thinned out shoots, tied them, and exposed 

 the fi-uit in the Peach-house. Took off a single twig carefuUy, 

 as it had some cui-led leaves, and in these were a few gi-een fly — 

 the only appearance of anything in that shape not wanted 

 that we have yet seen in the house ; and removing the twig, 

 which could be well spared, was better than washing or smok- 

 ing. This house as yet has had nothing done to it for insects, 

 because except ou that twig none as yet have appeared. We 

 had more than our share of them three years ago ; and were we 

 left untroubled this season, which it might be too much to ex- 

 pect, we would still in another season use such preventives as. 

 were detailed as being used in winter and spring. 



This Peach-house, of which the roof is at an angle of 45°, is 

 the best place for setting early Strawberries that we have, and 

 a shelf of plants with the fruit swelling was cleared off to 

 finish in the pits and vinery, and they were replaced by plants 

 showing bloom from a pit and frame. This all makes work, 

 but in the back of the Cucumber-pit we could swell the fruit 

 more quickly, and with enough of light to flavour them, than 

 we could do in the Peach-house, whilst neither in the Cucimiber- 

 pit nor the ^-inery could we give air enough to suit the Straw- 

 berry when setting. Owing to the gleams of sunshine the fruit 

 has been good in flavour. We mention this shifting of the 

 Strawberry plants to show that much may be done in this way 

 in little room, but at the expense of a much greater amount 

 of labour than when plants can be set in and perfect their 

 crops in one place before being removed. A place for every- 

 thing is by far the most economical as respects labom' ; but, 

 then, to have a Strawberry-house, a Melon-house, a Fig-house, 

 a Geranium-house, a Heath-house, a New HoUand-house, a 

 bedding-plant-house, a Eose-house, &c., involves a considerable 

 sura for a first outlay, and this in general is so deterrent that 

 the most that can be obtained from a small space is too often 

 the great object, though that causes a greater amount of labour 

 and of continued consideration. For Vines, Figs, &c., see 

 previous weeks. 



ORNAMENTAL DEPAKTMENT. 



EoUed the lawn and walks in pleasure grounds. Turned 

 over ridges and numerous beds left rough for bedding jilauts. 

 Pi-uned shrubs and Roses. All Briars for budding should now 

 be planted. Picked up all wood and leaves broken and drifted 

 by the late high winds ; the half-rotten hotbed dung, consisting 

 chiefly of tree leaves that had been used as a slight dressing 

 for the beds, was turned down as above stated, by a very 

 shallow spit of the spade, as if very dry it would blow about on 

 the gi-ass, and the birds would scratch it, and it had lain long 

 enough exposed to be quite sweet enough tor the purpose. The 

 airing and sweetening of this slight surface-di-essiug is a matten 

 important to success. Of course, for vegetables we .should not 

 like to waste its virtues on the air, but would dig it down at 



