Kovcmlier 5, 1874. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



407 



sand around each bulb, for if much wet succeeds the planting I 

 think the sand prevents decay. Although the Hyacinth is 

 hardy, I think a little protection is all the better in severe 

 weather. I have at times covered my beds with light half- 

 rotten leaves, sticking some Spnice Fir or Laurel boughs among 

 them. Those bulbs that are planted in the mixed border ought 

 to have the same preparation as to soil, by digging a hole of fair 

 size, and working-up some of it with other of an enriching 

 nature,and protected as advised above. Beds of Tulips, Narcissus, 

 and the others will succeed admirably under the same treatment 

 as for the Hyacinth, and both these and Tulips plant about 

 8 inches apart all over the bed, and the same from row to row, 

 but those in patches may go a little closer together. 



All the plants I have enumerated will bear moving when done 

 flowering in the spring. Do it carefully, and in the case of the 

 evergreens water well before taking up, and also after being 

 planted again. A iriece of ground should be kept in reserve for 

 these, shady if possible, and they may be put in moderately 

 thickly, but they must be taken care of during the summer, and 

 the ground kept clean from weeds, in fact everything must be 

 done to assist them to recover their removal at that unseason- 

 able time of the year for such work. — Thomas Record. 



Mildness of the Season. — Some dishes of large and ripe 

 Strawberries, the produce of Vicomtesse H6ricart de Thury, 

 have been gathered in the garden here within the last few days. 

 — E. Rawson Power, Tenby, South JVaks. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST AND PRESENT WEEKS. 



KITCHEN GAEDEN. 



The question is sometimes asked. What is the best edging 

 for kitchen garden walks .' There is not the least doubt that 

 Box is the best as far as appearance goes ; it is also a very 

 cleanly edging. The only fault to be found with it is that it is 

 a harbour for slugs. They sally-out from this snug harbour and 

 devour choice vegetables in the earliest stages of their growth, 

 this more especially when the edging has been neglected for a 

 few years ; by trimming it annually the edging is kept within 

 bounds, and very little chance is left for garden depredators. 

 We have seen edgings a foot high and nearly as much through, 

 and then they were an eyesore instead of beiog ornamental. 

 Box edgings should be cut every year if possible, if not every 

 alternate year. Our plan is to relay a portion each season, 

 and in this way the edgings are kept within bounds, and any 

 gaps are filled up. Edgings are sometimes formed of Straw- 

 berry plants, Parsley, or some of the neater-growing herbs, such 

 as Thyme, Marjoram, ti:c. ; but they soon become unsightly, 

 and are troublesome to keep in good order. Stone, artificial or 

 otherwise, bricks, and tiles are also used. A very neat edging is 

 made of stone-coloured pottery and glazed, but to make a per- 

 manent job of it a brickwork foundation must bo put down. 

 Our choice of an edging is between Box and these stone-coloured 

 glazed tiles. The first named is the neatest, and costs about 

 half as much as the tile-edging at first, but this first cost is 

 more than counterbalanced by the greater attention required to 

 keep the Box in good order afterwards. Now, the tile-edging 

 will last for twenty years or more, and does not require any- 

 thing all that time. Strawberry plants or Cabbages may 

 smother it for weeks or months ; it will be none the worse for 

 it. Many Box-edgings are injured yearly through this cause 

 alone. It is all very well to say, " Do not allow plants to grow 

 over the edgings." No one would if time could be spared to look 

 after them; but when all sorts of trees, vegetables, and weeds 

 are in full growth, it is no easy matter to decide what to do 

 first. 



We have laid down a permanent edging of tiles in this way. 

 First get a moderately solid foundation — of course, the more 

 solid it is the better — and having made the bottom level, about 

 10 inches below the surface of the walk, lay on it a course of 

 bricks end to end, then put on a layer of mortar and another 

 course of bricks, on this bed a brick on edge, and the base of 

 the tiles on the same foundation. On one side of the tile is the 

 brick on edge, and on the other is the gravel, so that when the 

 work is completed the bricks are covered by the soil of the 

 border on one side, and on the other the gravel is fiUed-up to 

 the same height, leaving only the ornamental edge of the tiles 

 above the surface. The tiles are frost-proof, and the brickwork 

 does not suffer, as it is effectually protected. 



The weather has been very favourable for preparing ground 

 for planting. A week ago the ground was dug for Cauliflowers, 

 and to give the plants a good start some nice dry loam was 

 placed on the surface of the ground before the hand-glasses 

 were put down. Most of our time has been taken-up with 

 digging and trenching. 



greenhouse and consebvatobv. 

 Now that flower gardens are flowerless, and even the mixed 

 borders, which are never without flowers of some sort from 



November to October, are now singularly destitute, the above 

 structures should be gay with flowering plants. Foremost are 

 the different sections of the Chri/santhemiiin ; whether the 

 house is large or small they are equally acceptable. For very 

 small houses the Pompon or Chusan Daisy section of Chry- 

 santhemums are better adapted than any other. Where there 

 is plenty of room it is desirable to grow all of them — that is, 

 let all the sections be represented. From time to time during 

 the summer and autumn months instructions as to manage- 

 ment have been given in the " Doings." Now the plants will well 

 repay the labour that has been judiciously bestowed upon them. 

 The quaint forms of the Japanese varieties contrast well with 

 the more correct and symmetrically-arranged florets of the 

 " florist " type, or large-flowered varieties. We have been much 

 bothered with two enemies, the one being as bad as the other, 

 not to mention mildew, which repeatedly attacked the plants 

 before they were taken into the houses, and followed them even 

 there. More troublesome still are the earwigs, which hide 

 amongst the florets by day and feed upon them at night. They 

 can be trapped in two ways. As the most convenient, we have 

 placed small pots inverted on the tops of the sticks, and in the 

 bottom of the pots a little moss ; into these the insects retire at 

 night, and in the morning they can be destroyed. A few lengths 

 of bean-stalks inserted amongst them are also a good harbour; 

 applying the mouth to one end of the tube, a puff of wind clears 

 the whole of them out into a pot of hot water. Damp is even 

 worse to master than this insect pest. Those blooms that are 

 intended for exhibition must be preserved intact if the stand 

 containing them is to be at the top of the prize list ; there- 

 fore, as soon as a single floret decays from damp it is removed 

 at once, as a few hours will cause the florets in contact with it 

 to decay. These, again, will spread the mould in all directions, 

 and the flower will be quite spoiled. We found it necessary to 

 have a fire on nearly every day during the last week, with air by 

 day and a little air at night, except during foggy nights ; indeed, 

 this is one reason of decay in the neighbourhood of London. 

 The close atmosphere accompanied by dense fogs batfle the 

 utmost ingenuity to keep the proper atmospheric conditions for 

 them. 



The earliest Cinerarias are showing signs of opening their 

 flowers ; these plants are well supplied with water. A little 

 liquid manure twice a-week is beneficial to them, causing the 

 foliage to be of a deeper green, and the flowers of a richer tint. 

 It is a sign of bad management somewhere when the foliage of 

 any plant is not of its natural green. Some varieties of plants 

 have pale green foliage, others have rich deep green, and scores 

 of intermediate shades are to be found, each of the different 

 shades harmonising with the colours of the flowers. So much 

 is this the case, that in many instances {some persons say in 

 all), that the colour of the flower can be determined by the 

 colour of the leaf. The aim of the cultivator, therefore, is to 

 so manage the plants under his care that the natural shade of 

 colour in the leaf may be produced. An over-laxuriance in any 

 plant is not more desirable than a deficiency. 



Herbaceous Calceolarias are now at a critical stage. Seedlings 

 are easiest to manage ; indeed the named varieties are so seldom 

 cultivated, that those who have them do not require any in- 

 structions. Seedlings sometimes damp off from careless water- 

 ing ; the large succulent leaves hug the surface of the mould, 

 and in a damp atmosphere decay speedily begios and rapidly 

 spreads; we have also fumigated the house several times to pre- 

 vent green fly from attacking them. Pelargoniums and many 

 other plants, if badly infested with fly, will, when the pest is 

 removed, quickly recover. Not so a Calceolaria ; if aphis is 

 allowed to remain on the plants they seldom flower satisfactorily, 

 and sometimes are totally destroyed. All decaying leaves ana 

 flowers are removed, the plants neatly arranged, and carefully 

 attended to with water, which is wiped-up at once, so that bright- 

 ness and freshness prevails indoors when decay is all around 

 and above us outside. 



FLOWER G.IRDEN. 



Here again we are a little hehiud ; the summer occupants of 

 the flower beds are not yet removed, but had other work not 

 been pressing this would have been done, and those beds that 

 are planted with spring-flowering plants would have been filled. 

 Potting Carnations and Picotees. With us these are more 

 properly greenhouse than flower-garden plants. Were they 

 planted out in beds here they would grow, and some of them 

 would perhaps flower, but very little satisfaction would they 

 give to an ardent florist. Failing open-ground culture, potting 

 was tried, and the result has been very satisfactory. At present 

 a pair of plants are potted into a fiO-sized or small 48-pot. Some 

 persons pot their plants up much earlier than this, but the 

 growth becomes stunted when they remain too long in such 

 small pots, and for the same reason the plants should not be put 

 into their flowering ijots too early in the spring months. One 

 great disadvantage that we labour under here is the light sandy 

 nature of our soil; it does not seem to have sufiicieut holding 

 power. All such plants grow freely enough in it, but when tho 

 time comes for the flowers to expand, the difference in favour of 



