m 



JOUKNAL OF HOKTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



I Deo«mber 30, 1S$9. 



velopment of a liealtby vigoroaa growth in plants, than sab- 

 jaoting tbem to a high temperature at the present dull season. 

 Where Acbimenea are required to bloom curly, a few pots may 

 now be slarled for that purpose. About 40 will be a good 

 temperature for the conservatory when not attached to aittiui;- 

 rooms, and used for the purpose of wintering large specimens 

 without plants in bloom ; but where a supply of store plants in 

 bloom is constantly kept up from a forcing-pit, which is abso- 

 lutely necessary in every large estabhshment in winter, the best 

 heat is 4;j°. Cinerarias, which are great ornaments in this 

 house in winter, are thirsty plants, and should bo well attended 

 to with water; they are also Uable to the attacks of insects, and 

 must be well looked after. Chinese I'rimroseB are likewise 

 very ornamental, and ought to be cultivated in quantity. As 

 regards soil, two parts of rough leaf mould, and one of well- 

 decayed cow dung, with a little sand, suitu them best, and in 

 this they like plenty ot moisture. 



STOVE. 



All stove plants should now bo quite at rest, and in that 

 state .'i.')° is quite high enough for them in cold weather. No 

 more water should be given at the roots than will keep 

 the leaves from flagging, but the atmosphere should be kept 

 more or less moist. A high aod dry temperature is much 

 more injurious to stove plants than any cold tbey can suffer in 

 a temperature above 4'/'. The usual mode of inducing shv- 

 blooming plants to prodnco flowers is to cramp their roots. 

 We have no such control, however, over Orchids, for if we con- 

 iine their roots we disarrange their economy, and endanger 

 the existence of the more delicate kinds ; but as most of them 

 will exist in a dormant state for many months, if moisture be 

 withheld from their roots, we can compel them to alter their 

 natural time of growth to suit our seasons ; spring and autumn 

 growth should, therefore, be discouraged by this means with 

 all tlio shy-blooming kinds. The experiment should commence 

 now by keeping them as cool and dry as they can bear for about 

 sis weeks, and in spring by increasing the heat as the season 

 advances, but still withholding water till early in the summer, j 

 and then giving it only when their buds are ready to start. ; 

 Young iStanhopeas are more difficult to flower than established i 

 plants, because they are more susceptible to changes of tem- 

 perature or moisture. At this stage they may be made to grow 

 in any month of the year. From now op to the beginning of 

 May give as little water at the roots as is consistent with the 

 health of the plants, and up to the middle of February 5!^" will 

 bo the proper temperature. — W. Keake. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WTSEK. 



KITCHEN GiRDEN. 



Vcedii, Hp/usc, Decaying VcnrtahUs, dr. — We have several 

 times, as a mere matter of profit and loss, advocated the fer- 

 menting and partially decomposing all rough vegetable matter 

 instead of burning it. In the latter case the various salts which 

 remain after combustion are the chief fertilising substances 

 left, and though they go in little space and act more quickly, 

 we do not consider that for land in general they can act as fer- 

 tilising agents, and in heavy land as mechanical agents, in an 

 equal degree to such material after it has passed through a 

 process of fermentation and partial decomposition. We can 

 see a case in point before ns every day, and would wish that 

 our readers in general, and our agricultural readers, amateur or 

 otherwise, in particular, would note and turn their attention to 

 it, and either approve or give their reasons for disapproval. 



No good cultivation can be carried on whilst the land is 

 permitted to carryacropof cjuc/ .'irasi, and other rough grasses 

 and weeds, as what supports them takes so much nourishment 

 from the cereals which wo grow for onr own support, and the 

 aaatenance of domestic and farm anitaals. The best mode of 

 dealing such land of couch and other grasses we do not 

 advert to ; the best time is when the land is under fallow, or 

 under preparation and tillage for a Turnip crop, as it is next 

 to waste time and seeds to sow Turnips in nncleaned. un- 

 worked land. It is to what is made of the large quantities 

 of such couch grass frequently obtained that we would draw 

 attention. Generally by harrows, forks, and baskets it is col- 

 lected, with more or less earth adhering to it, in heaps, and 

 then is burned and the ashes spread on the ground, the ashes 

 being chiefly valuable for the alkalies contained in them ; and 

 on stiff land the soil will be more benefited by the burnt earth. 

 or quite as much as if the same quantity of sharp sand had 

 been added. Now, in the case to which we refer, innumerable 



cartloads of creeping-rooted grass had been carted oQ the land 

 and piled in a huge heap ; drainings from the dung and the 

 farmyard had been ponred on it, a little farmyard manure and 

 quicklime were .idded and mixed with it — a little salt would 

 have done no harm — and now, when this huge reeking fer- 

 menting heap is being tamed over, it is easily seen that 

 every bit of the conch grass will be killed and a great amonnt 

 of manure obtained, only inferior to that which comes from 

 stall-fed fattening oxen, ,1'C., under cover. We consider that 

 for obtaining a large heap of fertilising manurial material, 

 this is about the best mode of taming a bad enemy into a 

 good friend. What say our practical readers ? We yearly 

 burn what is noxious, but so far as ultimate economy in fer- 

 tilising material is concerned, we think it is better to char 

 prunings, twigs, ic, than to bum them, and that it is better 

 to take vitality from weeds, annual and perennial, by giving 

 them a high temperature from fermentation and decompcsition, 

 instead of burning them. 



During autumn, winter, and spring, in the garden of the 

 amateur, the cottager, with his garden close to the cottage, and 

 in the plot of the allotment-holder, it is very common to see 

 heaps of vegetable refuse, weeds, ic., burned into ashes, and 

 that where manuring material is very scarce. In many villages 

 little manure can be obtained, except what comes from the 

 cottage and the garden itself, as for reasons into which we 

 need not now enter many proprietors and farmers object to 

 their workpeople keeping a pig, one of the best of good mannre- 

 makers. Under such circumstances, the cottager with his gar- 

 den contiguous to the cottage has a great advantage over the 

 holder of an allotment at some distance, as he can make so 

 much better n.'^e of everything in the way of dust, sweepings, 

 slops, Ac, from the house, and weeds and decaying matter 

 in the garden. We have been gUd to see such a burning 

 heap of Cabbage stumps, haulm, weeds, &c., as that was much 

 better than having them lying about pollnting the air with 

 their gradual decay ; but we could not help thinking that the 

 ashes thus obtained were a poor substitute for a nice heap of 

 decomposing material, the fnriching properties of which had 

 been prevented escaping, whilst much of what was fertihsing 

 could be added every day in the way of dust, suds, and slops. 

 However the most fastidious may dislike dirt in all its forma, 

 we should not for°et that it becomes valuable when kept in its 

 proper place, and put to its proper use. Such a dirt heap 

 should be at a considerable distance from the cottage, if n9t at 

 the farthest end of the garden. When there i.? no heap, a 

 sunk barrel or a hole well puddled should be made to receive 

 all slops and dirty water, to be kept in reserve xintil there is 

 a heap, or vegetables growing to receive it at once. Such a 

 heap is best made in the form of a parallelogram, so that 

 one end may be pretty well sweetened and decomposed before 

 the fresh end has begun to ferment much. On this heap 

 the slops from the house and the accumulated rich water may 

 be frequently poured, and a sprinkling of earth over the place 

 will keep in most ot the good properties, and prevent them 

 evaporating, or even tainting the air. Of deodorisers, dry 

 earth is the best and cheapest. Having the heap at a little dis- 

 tance from the house is so far a disadvantage, as it involves 

 more walking to it : but then it keeps all about the homestead 

 sweet and clean. 



Some time ago. on passing several blocks of cottage buildings, 

 we had to use our handkerchief to shut up temporarily the 

 orifices of our nasal organ, there was such a lot of strong- 

 scented waters making a channel for themselves by the sides of 

 the road. We looked over the fences, and did not see a single 

 heap or hole in the grouped gardens. We could not help 

 thinking that that water, decaying weeds, &-C., would have 

 added some 10 or 20 per cent, to the produce, and thus done 

 good instead of being a nuisance. One word more and we have 

 done for the present. We have alluded to a hole for saving 

 the slops when they cannot well be applied to the ground or 

 heap. Partly, no donbt. for this purpose, some carefal cottagers 

 make a good-sized hole, and everything, as weeds, stomps, 

 haulm, as well as slops, Ac., goes into it to decompose together. 

 This is, no doubt, much better than doing nothing, but we do 

 not consider it so good as forming a heap chiefly above ground ; 

 first, because much of the best properties of the heap are dis- 

 sipated in the air ; secondly, because if the watery part at all 

 preponderates, yon cannot by any process of dust or earth- 

 sprinkling prevent unpleasant exhalations; and, thirdly, the 

 material when dug out o! such a hole, is not so sweet and 

 mellow as when taken from a hsap that has stood drier, and 

 not been subjected to anythit;g like a foetid morass system. We 



