April 17, 1866. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTICULTUKE; AND COTTAGE GABDENEK. 



293 



DOINGS OF THE I^VST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Yeey much the same as last week, the heavy rains making 

 the ground too soaked to do much. Prepared for fresh beds of 

 potherbs, and sowed such kinds as Basil, Sweet Marjoram, Ice- 

 plant, &c., under glass. Sowed also in a mild hotbed Capsi- 

 cmns. Tomatoes, pickling Cucumbers, Vegetable Marrows, &c., 

 and put in some cuttings of Cucumbers, as we are always 

 rather short of desirable seed. Turned a lot of Kidney Beans 

 from five-inch into ten-inch pots, and put a row of them in 

 the orchard-house, where we think they will be safe. Planted 

 more in five-inch pots, five Beans in a pot ; they will be 

 turned out after they are some inches in height, and be pro- 

 tected with a few laurel branches. We find, even if the ground 

 were more suitable, it would be of little use planting them out 

 of doors, as the pheasants are so keen in looking after all fresh- 

 stirred ground that we might just as well have forty fowls 

 brought to the kitchen garden from the farm. 



Planted-out more Cucumbers, as detailed last week. Those 

 in our earliest three lights, though healthy, are shovring the 

 effects of hard early cropping. Early Cucumbers are an object, 

 and hence the first crop is frequently injured by heavy crop- 

 ping. When it is desired to keep the same plants long in 

 bearing, they should produce but sparingly, until the vines of 

 the Cucumbers pretty well fill the space allotted to them in 

 the frame or pit. Like almost everything, if they bear heavily 

 before they have made plenty of growth, they are apt to pro- 

 duce but little for some time afterwards. Amateurs should 

 also recollect that a large Cucumber, from 16 to 24 inches in 

 length, at an early period and from young plants, wUl injure 

 the plants more than four or half a dozen Cucumbers crisp for 

 the table at from 7 to 8 inches in length. To ease young 

 plants we frequently cut the stalk of the Cucumber half way 

 through, or more, as then it keeps more crisp than when cut, 

 and injures the plant less, though when covered with leaves of 

 Broccoli or Khubarb Cucumbers will keep well some days in a 

 cool place. Particular people like them best cut only a short 

 time before they are used. 'SMien the most fruit possible is 

 wanted from young plants in an early frame or pit, it is ad- 

 visable to follow with another bed from which little shall be 

 cut until the plants are established, and then, when they are 

 in full bearing, either give a rest to or renew the first bed with 

 fresh plants. This will explain how some persons find their 

 Cucumbers standing stUl after yielding fruit from small young 

 plants. They must have a few weeks' rest to recruit their 

 energies, and then most likely they will do well enough. " W." 

 has a deep pit, plenty of bottom heat and top heat, but his bed 

 is 5 feet from the glass, and he thinks that would not do for 

 Cucumbers. We have not a doubt of its doing first-rate, and 

 without setting up the plants on reversed pots. We would 

 advise growing the plants in pots, and without stopping, train- 

 ing them to one stem until they were nearly 4 feet in height, 

 then to tm-u out the plants into the bed, and in a few days stop 

 tbe plant by picking out its point. All the buds on the stem 

 below the trelhs should be picked out, and the shoots trained as 

 they break, to a trellis 15 inches from the glass. Such plants 

 are more easily kept from woodlice, &c., than those grown on 

 a bed, and, as a genertl rule, they will be more fruitful. 



Cucumbers and Vermin. — The strong plants in the frame that 

 were eaten and spoiled did no more good. The process re- 

 sorted to, as detailed some weeks ago, seems as yet to be suc- 

 cessful with the fresh plants turned out, which now half fill 

 the box, and are showing fruit. We may as well repeat the 

 process. Earth was beaten firmly all round the inside of 

 the box, and from 4 to G inches above the level where the box 

 rested on the dung-bed. This was to prevent any steam or 

 smell coming in from the outside — a good plan where fresh 

 rank material is used for linings. This done, the lower part of 

 the box outside, and the bed on which it rested, were smeared 

 with coal tar, and a little was sprinkled farther down on the 

 bed. Litter was then placed over it, so as to cover the box 

 considerably outside. When mice and rats find their way 

 into such beds, they seldom go much lower down outside than 

 the bottom of the box. The heat of the linings would keep 

 the tar there in a moist state, and so long as it is so none of 

 them will willingly go near it. At any rate, they have not 

 meddled with this bed since. We would, however, strongly 

 urge upon any who would try this preventive to make sure 

 that none of the fumes of the tar penetrate into the frame or 

 pit, or that will be as dangerous as the rats themselves. A 

 keen amateur, to make assurance doubly sure, plastered some 

 tar inside of his frame, after reading our previous notice, and 



was inclined to lay the blame on us for the unfortunate results, 

 though then, as now, we were particularly urgent that no fumes 

 from the tar should pass inside. 



Moles and Tar. — Moles have been wonderfully plentiful and 

 active this season. In fields, in pastiires, pleasiu'e grounds, 

 kitchen garden, and in slight hotbeds for Radishes, Carrots, 

 Potatoes, i-c, they have been hard at work. In common fields 

 and pastures we doubt very much if they do not do more good 

 than harm. They put out of the way lots of worms, wire- 

 worms, &e. Their deep runs help to drain the land, and so 

 long as their galleries are deep they do little or no injury to 

 vegetation, and several times in our experience, when they 

 have so taken possession of a Uttle meadow, as pretty well to 

 cover it with their heaps, the spreading of these has acted as a 

 valuable surface-dressing in spring, and the interfering with, 

 these heaps is apt to give the mole offence, and he decamps for 

 a while, until it would be advantageous to bring some of the 

 subsoil to the surface again. In pleasure grounds he does in- 

 terfere with high keeping and neatness, and more especially 

 when the runs are just under the surface, the whole rendered 

 visible by a slight rounded ridge, underneath which you may 

 safely calculate the roots of grass are so cut as to present yon 

 with narrow, withered spaces in summer, if you do nothing to 

 prevent it. Well, having tried iu our hotbeds gentle deterrents 

 which would not keep moles out, if already comfortably nestled 

 there, we were obliged to trap some in the usual way, and the 

 less of the scent of the hand there is about the trap the more 

 easily will the mole be caught. As respects the pleasure ground 

 and gardens, however, we were ahke kind enough to the moles, 

 and selfish enough as regards ourselves, merely to desire them 

 to shift their quarters, and let others trap them who were 

 fonder of the job, and this object we think we have effected by 

 making openings with a trowel, in the shallow runs especially, 

 pouring into the openings a little tar, and then shutting them 

 up. We have scarcely observed a new run since. The mole 

 is such a cleanly creature, that the scent and touch of tar are 

 too much for his delicate sensibilities. 



Peas, Pheasants, and Tar. — This wiU almost appear a ta,r 

 article, but the simple hint may be serviceable to some. Until 

 this season we suffered comparatively little from pheasants. 

 From a small quarter of winter Greens it has not been uncom- 

 mon lately to start twenty in a morning, and they managed to 

 obtain more of the hearts of Brussels Sprouts, &c., than those 

 for whom they were intended. We knew of old how fond they 

 were of Peas and Beans. We began to think we should have 

 to go through the labour of raising all such crops in various 

 ways, and planting them out when or 9 inches in height. 

 We know very well what would stop them— a rather close- 

 meshed wire netting, in a somewhat semicircular shape, the open 

 base a foot in width, and from 9 to 12 inches in height to ths 

 dome of the arch. If the mesh were more than 2 inches across 

 the pheasants would reach the Peas and the yoiuig growth 

 through the meshes. If it is from three-quarters of an inch to 

 an inch, there is the risk that they would get their head in and 

 not get it out again. Such wire guards coidd either have iron 

 feet to go in the ground, or be fastened to stakes ; and the 

 wire if galvanised would last a long time, be useful for many 

 purposes besides Peas, and could be put away in little room 

 when not in use. Common cord netting with meshes not less 

 than an inch across are less useful, as the pheasants will tear 

 them, and find their way imdemeath and, what is a more 

 serious matter, will often hang themselves. We could have 

 used common netting, but we have a vivid recollection of seeing 

 half a dozen beautiful cock birds that had committed involun- 

 tary suicide in a net thirty years ago. The gardener and the 

 keeper wisely kept the matter to themselves ; and the latter, 

 being an obliging man as well as a faithful servant, turned cut 

 every morning early for a week, and made the pheasants so 

 uncomfortable close to the garden, that they went farther afield 

 for their chief feeding grounds. The recoUection of this hanging 

 in the nets kept us from using them, and until the last sow- 

 ing a fortnight ago not a single Pea or Bean was left of aU the 

 previous sowings out of doors. We had sowed in the usual 

 way, only covering with rough ashes as being disagreeable to 

 small birds and mice ; and then we laid firmly along the rows 

 branches of larch, &c., pretty close in texture, which we meant 

 to remain until the Peas were several inches in height. The 

 pheasants saved us all that trouble, miiting their strength to 

 turn the branches aside, and then clearing the rows as they 

 went. 



Our last sowing, a fortnight ago, has as yet remained un- 

 disturbed. We based our operations on the proud cleanly 



