270 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ April 10, 1B66. 



fore doing so lay n little soot close to the stems an before re- 

 commended, and branches of evergreens stuck pretty thickly 

 on each side of the rows will be found serviceable in protecting 

 them from frosty winds. Keep the soil between the rows free 

 from weeds, and open by frequent stirrings. Vniccntr, make a 

 sowing for the early erop ; what is commonly called the Scotch 

 Kale is the best variety. Cabbaric, pull up any of the plants 

 that are running to seed in the autumn plantation, and till up 

 from the reserve-bed. During dr\- weather the plants should 

 be snpplied with water, and the soil kept free and open by a 

 frequent use of the hoe or fork. Ci-h-ry, the main sowing for 

 the winter crop should now be made. Continue to prick-out 

 from the early sowings. Clean and earth-up any that has 

 stood the winter, as, if it is of no other nse, it will do for soups. 

 Ciicumhers, keep a brisk heat in the beds as the days lengthen 

 and fine weather increases, bearing in mind that light and heat 

 should be proportionate to each other ; give air daily in a 

 greater or less degi-ee, and keep the lights free from dirt. If 

 green fly or thrips appear, recourse must he had to fumigation, 

 which will generally exterminate them. Kidney Beam, the 

 bearing plants will now require a good supjily of water at the 

 roots, as well as frequent sprinklings overhead. A sowing may 

 be made on a warm sheltered border when the soil is favour- 

 able for early crops, or make a sowing in pots for planting-oat 

 as soon as all danger from frost is over. Lettuce, give air to 

 the plants in frames night and day in mild weather. Loosen 

 the soil about those planted in the open air. If the crops of 

 Onions, Leelcs, I'arsnipx, JSeet, Snl.safy, Scor:nnera, and Hkirret 

 are not yet sown they should be no longer delayed ; and the 

 main crop of Carmt-t should be sown if the ground is in good 

 order. In sowing Peas, it is the most workmanhke method to 

 put the stakes to them at once, as, by so doing, the barren 

 appearance of the ground is removed, and no more trampling 

 on it is necessary for a long time, besides which they afford a 

 slight shelter to the yoimg plants on their first appearance 

 above ground. Spinncli, sow once a-fortnight, and Peas, Beans, 

 and Tuniipn once in three weeks. Sowings of all salads should 

 he made with strict regularity ; and proper attention must be 

 paid to protecting all kinds of seeds from the ravages of birds 

 and insects. Ilhnbnrh will now be coming forward so rapidly 

 out of doors that the forcing of this useful vegetable will no 

 longer be necessary. 



FKCIT GAKDEX. 



Look to blossom-protection on the walls. Clean Strawberry- 

 beds, and thin the suckers from Raspberries, leaving three or 

 four strong ones to each stool. If strong young plants of the 

 Elton Strawberry are Ufted this mouth and planted behind a 

 north wall, they will produce a crop in August and Septem- 

 ber, and will keep up the succession, along with Alpines, to the 

 latest period. On the first appearance of green fly on the 

 Peach and Nectarine trees syringe these with tobacco water 

 two evenings in succession ; if done properly it will stop their 

 career for the season. The mining grub, so destructive to the 

 Apricot and Plum, may be easily detected by the leaves being 

 folded up ; the best cure is to crush them between the fore- 

 finger and thumb. See that wasps are destroyed, as every one 

 that appears now forms a colony in the summer. 



FL0^VEK G.IRDEX. 



Now, with April showers and bright and occasional wtnn 

 sunshine, we must be in readiness for mowing. Have the turf 

 swept, well rolled, and made thoroughly firm without loss of 

 time, and remember if the first mowing is deferred until the 

 grass become long it will require much time and labour to 

 bring the turf into proper order. Patches of some of the more 

 showy of the harrly annuals may now be sown in the vacant 

 places which usually exist in the herbaceous beds, and in the 

 edgings of clumps and borders in the shrubbery. A suflicicnt 

 quantity of cuttings and seedhngs should be potted for planting 

 out in May. With such plants as Coba'as, Mauraudyas, Lo- 

 phospermums, Tropreolum canariense, many bare places on 

 the walls and trellises may be covered and made ornamenta'. 

 Also plant-out Wallflowers, Double Rockets, and young stock of 

 herbaceons plants generally. Prune Tea and other Koses not 

 already pruned, and attend to anj- shrubs that may require 

 that attention. 



GREESnOUSE AND CONSEEVATOKY. 



Besides the permanent plants in the conservatory, many 

 choice plants in pots will be required to keep up a succession 

 of gay flowers during the summer. Among the finest for this 

 purpose are Brugmansias, Erythrina crista-galli, Thunbergias, 

 Stephanotis, Mandevilla suaveolens, jVllamandas, Echites, 

 Achimencs, Ipomceas, with Heaths and Pelargoniums. Let 



these have all possible attention, and bring (hem forward in 

 several lots, so that one sot may succeed another. Pay par- 

 ticular attention to the Lilies now in pits, by giving them a 

 liberal supply of water, and by neatly staking them. A top- 

 dressing of tui'fy peat, sand, and wcU-dccomposcd cowdung, 

 will be of great benefit to them, and they will bo very useful 

 for conservatory or drawing-room decoration late in the au- 

 tumn. Let Fuchsias, which are so useful for summer and 

 autumn flowering in the conservatory, be repotted as they re- 

 quire it in rich compost, watering them occasionally with 

 liquid manure. Nearly all the varieties have a natural ten- 

 dency to form conical bushes, and, by a very little attention, 

 they may be guided into this appropriate form. One strong 

 shoot should be selected to form a leader, and should be 

 trained perfectly upright, the remaining shoots being regu- 

 lated by stopping any which are growing more luxuriantly 

 than is consistent with the proper shape of the plant. Violets 

 are everybody's flowers, and, to have them fine and in abun- 

 dance, they require and-well merit some share of attention, 

 particularly where they do not naturally succeed well. In some 

 situations they grow so strongly, and flower so abundantly, 

 that they merely require at this season to be taken up, parted, 

 and replanted, and, if kept free from weeds, all will go well ; 

 whilst in other places they frequently cause more trouble than 

 a collection of Auriculas. A frame on the north side of a wall 

 is the most likely situation for preventing the attacks of the 

 red spider, to which they are very li,able, and which cause 

 them to lose their foliage during tlie winter. About the be- 

 ginning of September they should be planted in a frame upon 

 a spent Melon or Cucumber-bed, where they will have time to 

 establish themselves well before winter, and if frost is ex- 

 cluded, and plenty of air given at all times during fine weather, 

 perfect success may be expected. In the greenhouse the lead- 

 ing shoots of Epacrises, Chorozemas, Corrcas, Heaths, together 

 with many other choice plants that produce the best effect in 

 a bushy condition, should be frequently pinched or stopped in 

 order to form good specimens ; also those of Calceolarias, Ver- 

 benas, and other young stock intended either for decorating 

 the flower-beds or for succession in pots. 



STOVE. 



Proceed with the repotting of such plants as require it, and 

 give all necessary attention to those in active growth, using 

 every means to induce rapid growth, combined with strong 

 short-jointed wood. The only way of effecting this is by 

 securing vigorous root-action, and keeping the plants near 

 the glass. Ixoras, Clerodendrons, Allamandas, itc, " feeling 

 their pots," will be greatly benefited by a careful supply of 

 manure water, but see that it is given in a tepid state. 



PITS AND FRAMES. 



Attend carefully to the stock of bedding plants, pot-off 

 rooted cuttings as soon as they are in a fit state, and encourage 

 them with gentle bottom heat and careful management to 

 make quick growth, for after this season there is no time to be 

 lost with young stock. Calceolarias, if well established, may 

 be planted out in a turf-pit in poor sandy soil where they can 

 be protected from frost or cold winds, but thej- must be pre- 

 pared for this by previously inuring them to full exposure to 

 sun and air whenever the weather will permit. — W. Keake. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



The weather has been still too unsettled, and the stiff ground 

 too claggy to permit of all being done that is desirable. 



Caidijioirrr. — Forked over the soil among the earliest, which 

 will be later than usual this season, owing to mice and rats 

 having stumped it in as detailed some time ago. a cironmstanco 

 which precluded their producing good heads. Whilst a lot of 

 fine, strong plants in pots, which if let alone would soon hav-e 

 been showing heads, were thus almost cut down to the surface 

 of the soil, others, smaller and in a simUar box, but growing 

 in the soil in which they were sown, were not touched at all. 

 Wiat was if anything more annoying, was the fact that the 

 depredators seemed to have deriveij no benefit, except amuse- 

 ment, from their work, as though the plants were cut over and 

 nibbled, hardly a bit seemed to have been eaten. The most 

 kind-hearted in such circumstances would be apt to give httle 

 mercy in arresting the results of poisoning, trapping, and fer- 

 reting. Hough barlejTneal, made into a stiff paste with a Uttla 

 water, is much relished by rats, and if mixed with a stick, and 

 laid down with the stick in pieces near their runs, it will soon 



