Fetiraary 11, 1375. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



Ill 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



FBBBUABT U— 17, 187S. 



Royal Society at 8.30 p.m. 



Royal Botanic Society, 3.45 p.m. 



1 Sr.NDAY IK Lent. 



Entomological Society at 7 p.m. 



Zoological Society at 8.30 P.M. 



Royal Horticultural Fiait and Floral Committeeo, 1 P.M. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



ta 



23af 9 

 39 9 



1 10 

 81 10 

 16 11 



after. 

 32 1 



m. h. 

 morn. 

 8al 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Days. 



5 

 6 



5 



8 

 9 



10 



11 



Clock 



before 



Sun. 



14 30 



14 29 



14 27 



14 25 



14 22 



14 18 



Day 



of 

 Year. 



42 

 43 

 44 

 45 

 40 

 47 

 48 



From observations taken near London during forty-throe years 

 30.8°. 



, the average day temperature of the week is 45.7^ ; and its night temperature 



SOME BEDDING PLANTS FROM SEED. 



[ T may be well to preface this paper by the 

 remark that it is meant especially for those 

 who, though anxious to have a well-fur- 

 nished summer flower garden, have not the 

 accommodation necessary for wintering a 

 large stock of bedding plants. This class 

 is, happily, year by year becoming larger, 

 and the standard of taste is being so rapidly 

 elevated that flowers, instead of being looked 

 upon as things of luxury, are almost becom- 

 ing necessaries of life. To very many a home without a 

 nice garden is not a home at all, but only a house to live 

 in. This being so, that law which almost always brings 

 a snpply where there is a demand is fast giving us a stock 

 of hardy and annual plants specially adapted to the wants 

 of the almost glassless amateur. Less than twenty years 

 ago little could be done in the way of furnishing a flower 

 garden with continuous summer-blooming plants, except 

 with tender things kept over winter. Now, between those 

 which are hardy and those which can be got up from seed 

 in spring by the help of a little glass, a good display can 

 be made. 



It is presumed that the amateur has a frame or two 

 and the means of making a hotbed, which should be done 

 early in February ; and as so many, in fact all, the good 

 fortunes of the year depend upon this hotbed, it may be 

 well to say a few words about the making of it. 



At this season it is no mere cartload or so of stable 

 litter and leaves that will do. For a single-light frame, 

 say 6 feet by dh feet — and in most of cases this will be 

 amply sufficient — a bed 9 feet by C.^ feet will be' needed, 

 which gives a margin of 18 inches all round the frame ; 

 and to do this four or five cartloads, according to size, 

 of stable dung will be needed. If leaves are to be had, 

 less by a cartload will do. They serve to steady and pro- 

 long the heat ; but if the dung be properly prepared, and 

 the bed well built, they can be very well done without. 

 Let the dung be first thrown up into a high conical heap, 

 shaking it well in doing so ; and as at this season there is 

 more danger of its being too wet than too dry, the outside 

 of the heap should be lightly combed with a wooden rake, 

 which helps to run off the heavy rains. When fermenta- 

 tion has set in, turn the heap two or three times at inter- 

 vals of forty-eight hours or so, until the heat begins to 

 moderate, and the dung is all of a uniform dark brown 

 colour, when it is ready for use. 



To make the bed, measure a space G'. feet by 9 feet, or 

 S feet more each way than the size of the frame, what- 

 ever that may be, drive in a stout stake at each corner, 

 and proceed to build by putting on thin layers all round, 

 shaking it well, and beating each layer level with the 

 back of the fork. It is a bad practice to tread it every 

 two or three layers, as I have seen some do ; the weight 

 of the frame and pots will soon make it solid enough. 

 "When about four-lifths of the material have been used 

 slope the toj) of the bed so that it may be G inches lower 

 at the front than at the back, and then put on the frame, 



No 724.— Vol. XXVIII., New Seeies. 



when the remainder of the dung may be built round 

 about it quite up to the top. I prefer this method early 

 in the season for small frames ; later and with larger 

 frames G inches of a margin is sufficient. In a day or 

 two a strong heat accompanied by a rank steam will 

 be given off. This will not continue long if the dung 

 has been well fermented in the first instance, and when 

 the heat stands at about 70°, and the air in the frame is 

 clear or nearly so, it is then fit for anything. For plung- 

 ing material, although it has some disadvantages, I like 

 nothing better than sawdust ; but sandy soil, sifted coal 

 ashes, or tan will do. 



The next best thing to having plenty of plants when 

 bedding-time comes is just to have enough and not very 

 many to spare. Surplus plants represent wasted labour, 

 which might have been more profitably employed in im- 

 proving the quahty of those really needed. It is, there- 

 fore, well to have an exact calculation made beforehand 

 of what is wanted, allowing, of course, a pretty wide 

 margin for mishaps. 



Agerathms (the dwarf varieties). — If cuttings of these 

 are to be had they are better than raising seedlings, and 

 they strike very freely in heat, but the strain is now so 

 well fixed that a very equal stock can be had from seed. 

 Sow somewhat thinly in a shallow box or in pots, cover- 

 ing very Hghtly with fine soil. When the seedlings have 

 attained two pair of leaves prick them into 3-inch pots, 

 two in each, or two abreast, into long narrow boxes, out 

 of which they are conveniently planted. Such of them 

 as show undue grossness of growth should be pulled up 

 as soon as noticed, or, at least, separated from the rest. 



The best varieties are Chater's Imperial Dwarf, clear 

 azure blue ; Pluto, lightish blue, very profuse bloomer ; 

 Tom Thumb, porcelain-coloured. 



Lobelias. — The Erinus varieties, especially the dwarf 

 sorts, are indispensable in the flower garden, and they 

 should be sown as early as possible. The seed is very 

 small, and being sent out in infinitesimal pinches, which 

 are called packets, requires to be carefully handled. Pre- 

 pare the pots by thoroughly draining, and use soil com- 

 posed of half loam, half leaf mould, tempered by a little 

 silver sand, that for the top of the pot being finely sifted. 

 Press it rather firmly down, so that it may not get dry 

 so soon on the surface as it would if loose, making it 

 quite smooth on the top. Having sown the seed as evenly 

 as possible, do not cover it with soil at all, but give one 

 watering through a very fine-rosed watering-pot, and 

 then cover the pot with a sheet of glass. If it can be 

 done without, do not water again until after the seed has 

 germinated. If the pots should afterwards get dry take 

 them out of the frame, and place them for a few minutes 

 in 3 or 4 inches of lukewarm water, which will moisten 

 the soil without disturbing the seeds. When the seedlings 

 can be handled, prick them 2 inches apart into boxes, 

 either returning them into the hotbed frame for two_ or 

 three days, or, if put into a cold one, shading and keeping 

 them close until they are somewhat established. 



The following are good sorts:— Lobelia Erinus speciosa. 

 Crystal Palace variety ; L. Erinus compacta ; L. Erinus 



No. 1S70 —Vol. LIII., Old Sekies. 



