March 11, 1875. ) 



JOUBNAL OF HORTIODLTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



205 



otherwise they draw up together, and their roots become en- 

 tangled, 80 that they are not easily separated without great 

 injury resulting. Clean vessels and fresh soil must be used, 

 and the plants must be again placed near the glass, and at all 

 times have air admitted according to the weather and the 

 oharaoter of their growth and habits. At this time of the year, 

 when every place is crammed to excess, all sorts of temporary 

 contrivances have to be adapted for the welfare of the plants, 

 and trouble in this respect is never thrown away. 



Another important class of plants must not be omitted from 

 the list of seeds to be sown now, and that is the climbers for 

 trelliswork and covering bare walls, or making groups of flowers 

 in suitable places in the open ground, also for suspending from 

 vases, &o. These are the tall-growing Nasturtiums, Sweet Peas, 

 Convolvulus major, Calempelis scabra, or as some call it, Ecore- 

 mocarpus scabra, Lophospermum spectabile and scandens, as 

 well as the common Canary Creeper. All the above are fast 

 growers, and if they are wanted to cover a large space they 

 ought to be grown to a good size before planting out. 



It will be necessary to say there must be a regular process of 

 hardening-off as their growth and the weather permit, tor none 

 of the things named above ought to be kept in heat beyond a 

 certain stage of their growth, and some will require moving to 

 cooler quarters. Others, such as Balaams, will be best kept 

 growing in a milder temperature till they flower. — Thomas 

 Recokd. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST AND PRESENT WEEKS. 



HAEDY PKL'IT G.iBDEN. 



" When the wind is in the east it's neither good for man nor 

 beast," is an old saying, and unlike a good many old couplets it 

 is true ; nor would its truthfulness have been questioned if the 

 whole of the members of the vegetable kingdom had been in- 

 oluded in the adage. Not only are our hardy fruit trees affected 

 by it, but in the forcing houses its influence is also felt. At the 

 present time the blossom buds on Apricot, Pear, and Cherry 

 trees are very prominent, but none of the incipient buds have 

 as yet burst through the scaly protecting covering in which they 

 are enveloped, and it is well for the trees, as the east windu 

 accompanied by frosts that would cut off any exposed blossoms. 

 On Friday morning the thermometer exposed on the lawn 

 registered 10' of frost ; on other nights the temperature fell 

 below the freezing point. At present nothing can be done either 

 with trees on the open borders or on walls. Nailing, except a 

 few small MoreUo Cherry trees, has been finished, the borders 

 dressed with manure and dug. 



The nailing of MoreUo Cherry trees on north walls is usually 

 left until the last. As the fruit is all borne on the young wood of 

 last year, it is well to lay it in rather thickly. Of course the 

 largest proportion of young wood is formed at the extremity of 

 the branches, and unless the trees are well managed the centre 

 becomes thinly clothed with bearing wood. All growths near 

 the centre should be encouraged to grow by careful training. 

 Instead of nailing the young wood near the naked branches 

 close down to the wall, they will do better if tied with strips of 

 matting or tine tar twine to the stems ; when the trees are in 

 leaf they will in this way hide the naked stems. The Morello 

 Cherry does not do well in any soil; the trees delight in a 

 medium clayey loam, but in damp stiff loam or light sandy soils 

 the branches canker, and some of them die-off early. If trees 

 are in this plight it is necessary to unnail the whole tree and to 

 nail it again regularly over the space to be occupied. Perhaps 

 no more profitable fruit trees can be planted on walls facing 

 north than these, bat in some gardens if all such walls were 

 planted with them there would be too many. 



Red Currants succeed as well on a north wall as anywhere. 

 They come in after those planted on a warmer station are over, 

 and it is very easy to net the trees to keep birds from carrying 

 off the fruit. Gooseberry trees are also quite as much at home 

 on a north wall as the others ; and a dish of Gooseberries is 

 always esteemed, especially when the main crops are forgotten. 

 In Scotland some of the late varieties, such as Warrington and 

 Hedgehog, can be preserved on the trees in good condition down 

 to October. 



The best way to train both Currant and Gooseberry bushes 

 on walls is to nail a branch horizontally right and left from the 

 main stem, training up from these (vertically) the branches 

 that will furnish the wall with bearing wood. These should be 

 about (i inches apart, and even if the walls are high there is no 

 difficulty in furnishing the branches with fruitful spurs their 

 entire length. 



If the protecting material for walls is not already fixed in its 

 place no time should be lost in attending to it. Correspondents 

 are sometimes asking how the trees ought to be protected. The 

 question is not always What is the best way ? but, How can it 

 be done the most cheaply ? First, there ought to be a project- 

 ing coping about a foot over 1''"^ wall; this may be of wood, 

 which is perhaps the cheapest, then some stout poles, such as 

 are used in the Hop-growing districts to train the Hop plants to 

 should be obtained. These are sunk in the ground about 2 or 



3 feet from the base of the wall, the upper end of the pole rest- 

 ing against the wall coping. The poles must be about 12 feet 

 apart, tbese will prevent the material from being dashed against 

 tbe trees. The simplest way is merely to nail the canvas to the 

 coping and also at the bottom of the poles. When it is not 

 required over the trees it can be rolled up and tied at the top 

 with a small piece of strong twine. 



IKUIT AND FORCING HOUSES. 



Vineries. — In the earliest house the Grapes have set well and 

 have been thinned. If the Vines require it the border should 

 have a good watering, as the formation of young rootlets has 

 previously taken place. A good supply of manure water will 

 cause the berries to swell to a large size. The Muscats are now 

 in flower, and they seem to be setting pretty well. The dull 

 cold weather may be thought injurious at such a critical period, 

 but as a rule Grapes set better in dull weather than they do 

 with continuous sunny days, but a few blinks of sunshine are 

 certainly beneficial to raise the temperature a few degrees. On 

 sunny days with a high temperature in the vineries, when a 

 bunch in flower is shaken the pollen may be dispersed in clouds, 

 but it is not so efficacious as the smaller quantity which would 

 be distributed in dull weather, or better still with just occasional 

 glimpses of sun. 



Many Grape-growers also stipulate for a very dry atmosphere 

 at the flowering period, but a mistake may be made in this 

 which will not be easily remedied. The atmosphere may be - 

 come overdry if no water is sprinkled on the paths or borders. 

 The result of this will be that the juices of the leaves will be 

 dried up, the growth checked, and the whole plant be predis- 

 posed to the attacks of red spider. We water the outside borders 

 of the early houses about three or four times during the season ; 

 each time the fermenting material is turned over a little 

 fresh stable manure is added to raise the waning temperature. 

 The young growths ought not to be stopped when the Vines are 

 in flower, especially Muscats. 



CUCUMBER AND MELON HOUSES. 



K xcept attending to thinning-out and tying the growing shoots 

 of Cucumber plants to the trellis, little more attention has been 

 required. A very large proportion of male flowers were pro- 

 duced on some plants which had been raised from seeds ; these 

 were picked off, as they tend to exhaust the plants. Red spider 

 appeared on some of the plants. There is no remedy except 

 knocking them off with water applied from the syringe. This 

 has been done on fine mornings, applying the water with some 

 force to the under sides of the leaves ; but as these are very 

 easily damaged some caution is necessary. 



The young plants of Melons had been growing on a shelf near 

 the glass in small pots, and were very healthy, having made 

 short-jointed stout growths. The border had been previously 

 prepared for them by the soil being placed in the house a few 

 weeks previously to become warmed. The temperature of the 

 house is from 6U' to 65". As the plants were put out in rather 

 moist soil, no water was applied to them at the time of planting. 

 They will be watered after having made some growth. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



These are now more attractive than they are at any other 

 season of the year. Besides the usual forced flowers, such as 

 Koses, Deutzias, Azaleas, Ac, Hyacinths and other bulbous- 

 rooted plants are also in full beauty. It is also worth noting 

 here that some Hyacinths flower much stronger if the plants 

 are kept in a warm house until the flowers are almost open the 

 whole length of the spike, and amongst them are some of the 

 best of the new sorts, such as King of the Blues, single; and 

 Koh-i-noor, double red. Ida, the best yellow Hyacinth, opens 

 best in heat ; and Lord Byron, a fine porcelain blue flower, if it 

 is not opened in heat the flowers at the top of the spike some- 

 times do not open at all, and a symmetrical spike is impossible. 

 We pay attention to tying the spikes to sticks about the time 

 the first flowers open. If this is not attended to in time the 

 spikes fall over and sometimes snap at the base. 



Ainanjllis of sorts have also a brilliant and decided effect. A 

 succession of them are kept up by placing the bulbs in heat, 

 and just before the flowers open place them in the greenhouse, 

 as, if the flowers are allowed to fully expand in heat, the^ do not 

 last very long. 



Chnjsanthemums. — The cuttings had been put in, two or 

 three in small pots, and as they were put in a hotbed they rooted 

 freely ; the plants have now been potted-off into 4 andS-inch pota 

 and have been placed in cold frames. 



Picked withered flowers from Heaths, Epacris, &c. This 

 should always be seen to as soon as the flowers fade, as not only 

 are they unsightly but are also injurious to the plants. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



We continue to pot-off Zonal Pelargoniums as opportunity 

 offers. Those intended for the principal beds and borders were 

 done some time ago, and are now well established in pots. 

 Some are planted out in boxes, but bedding Pelargoniums do 

 not plant out so well from boxes as most other bedding plants ; 

 the mould falls from the roots and the plants suffer. The best 

 way is to pot the plants in 5-iuch pots, and to see that they have 



