118 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ February 10, 1876. 



tend to arrange themselve?, aa regards the dates of flowering, 

 in the order of the colours of the spectrum, the average earliest 

 being those which are nearest the part of the spectrum where 

 the actinic rays are at the maximum. It will be olstrved that 

 the differently- coloured varieties of Seilla bifolia are in the 

 same order of flowering of the plants of the same colours in 

 the British flora. — Alexander Buchan. — {Xatiire.} 



DOINGS OF THE LAST AND WORK FOE 

 THE PRESENT WEEK. 



KITCHEN GABDEN. 



Our first sowing of Fcaa are through the ground, and only 

 require mild weather to progress favourably. We have made 

 another sowing, and this time Fillbasket and G. F. Wilson have 

 been put in with the early sorts. These will come in when 

 Alpha, Dr. Hogg, &c., are over. It is a good plan to sow Peas, 

 and also Beans, thiclily in shallow boxes, where they can be 

 started in a little heat, and gradually inured to the cold before 

 planting them out. The young plants must be carefully trans- 

 ferred from the boxes to the open ground, for if they are planted 

 in a careless matner, or without being inured to the cold, they 

 will not do 60 well as those sown in the open ground. In sowing 

 the Peas out of doors at this early season a deep drill is drawn, 

 which is only partially filled up, a ridge of soil being left on 

 each Hide. These slight ridges about 3 inches high Ehtller the 

 young Pea plants from cutting frosty winds; and as the plants 

 advance in growth the sides are filled in, which is prefera! I.^ to 

 eajthing the rcws up, especially in dry soils. In very wet dis- 

 tricts this might not be an advantage. 



The middle of the month will be a good time to plant out 

 eai-!i/ Potatoes. A common practice is to plant with a dibber 

 after the ground has been manured and dug. Others draw 

 drills about inches deep with a hoe, in which to plant. Our 

 practice is to plant as the ground is dug, using a line to cut out 

 the space for the tubers. This is quite as expeditious as any 

 of the other methods, and treading upon the ground afterwards 

 is avoided. 



When the weather is favouiable the hoe is kept at work 

 amonf Bt growing crops ; we are also digging-in the manure 

 that had been spread on the fruit-tree borders. The early Cab- 

 IjagfS mutt be eaithcd-up. The Cauliflower plants in boxes 

 have been placed in a sheltered position out of doors. They 

 will be planted out if the weather continues favourable. Some 

 seeds of Early London and Walcheren have been sown in a hot- 

 bed to succeed the autumn sown plants. We do not allow the 

 young plants (o remain longer in the heat than to develope the 

 seed leaves. The boxes are then placed in a cool frame, and the 

 plants are pricked out in a few days after hardening. Lettuce, 

 Eadishes, Mustard and Cress, and ChervO, for use in the kitchen, 

 and other salad crops, are now sown out of doors. Roots of Mint 

 and Tarragon must also be Ufted, and a few pots of them placed 

 in heat. 



PINE HOUSES. 



There is nothing being done in these houses different from 

 what has been stated in a previous number. As the days 

 lengthen a slightly higher temperature has been kept up with 

 more moistute in the house, and water in the evaporatiog 

 troughs. The days have been sunny, which allowed of 70' at 

 night when the nights were not cold ;"if dull weather, with frost 

 outside, should set in, 05° is quite high enough in any of the 

 houses. We have cot ripe fruit this week, and others are in 

 various stages of ripeness, and there are plenty of plants that 

 win throw up fruit during the next six weeks, so that a succes- 

 sion is ensured. Soil has been prepared for succession plants and 

 Euckei s. Our light sandy soil is not well adapted for Pine-grow- 

 ing, and it is necessary to obtain clayey loam from a distance; 

 but the dealers will not cut the surface spit so shallow as we do. 

 They seem to digit out, and very little turfy material is obtained 

 in a cartload. By mixing this top spit with our own turf cut 

 thin from grass land, a good compost is obtained. We mix as 

 follows : Five barrowlcads of loam to one of rotted manure, and 

 to every barrowload of the compost is added an 8 inch pot of 

 crushed bones, and as much charcoal broken into pieces as large 

 as pigeon's eggs. This compost is best mixed two or three 

 months before using it, and should be used in a moderately dry 

 state. A wooden rammer is u^ed to make the compost pretty 

 firm in potting. 



PLANT STO^-E AND ORCHID HOUSES. 



Many plants in the stove are now starting into active growth. 

 We are potting those hardwooded plants that require it. Speci- 

 men plants are carefully looked over fur mealy bug, for if this 

 pest should gain a lodgment ou such plants as Ixoras or Stepha- 

 notis it will sadly disfigure the flower trusses. The young 

 growing wood of Dipladenias must be trained to fine string run 

 np and across the rafters, one end of the string being fastened 

 to the trellis to which the plant has been trained. The growths 

 are trained near the glass until the flowers are formed, when 



the strings are cut and the young growths carefully trained 

 round the trellis. Stephanotia florjbunda is also grown in this 

 way, except that the young growths are made the previous 

 season, and well ripened by exposure to the sun. The large 

 specimen plants shown at the metropolitan exhibitions are 

 managed in this way. The plants would not be nearly so well 

 furnished with flowers if the growths were tied down to the 

 trellis as they are made. 



Palms that are in small pots for the size of the plants will be 

 potted at once ; larger plants that are not suffering will be 

 potted later, say about the middle or towards the end of April. 

 Ferns should not bo allowed to become pot-bound if it is in- 

 tended to make fine specimens of them. Plants that have 

 received a check seldom make handsome specimens. Adian- 

 tums should be placed in the sunniest part of the house, and 

 they like more turfy loam in the compost than some of the 

 others. The Australian tree Ferns although they may be 

 wintered in the greenhouse, and will produce new fronds there 

 during the summer months, succeed better if they are now 

 removed to a house with a night temperature of 55°, and 

 where they can be well eupplied with atmospheric moisture. 

 They should also be repotted before the young fronds are 

 thrown-up. 



We shall also repot many of the Orchids as time permits ; a 

 large proportion of them are best shifted at the time they start 

 into growth. It is of the greatest importance to drain the pots 

 well, using clean crocks; the pots used should also be quite 

 clean. A very large proportion of Deudrobiums do best in 

 baskets where they can be hung up close to the glass roof. If 

 wooden baskets are used, the best material to make them of is 

 teak ; but those made of potteryware, and recently advertised 

 in these columns, are durable, and equally well adapted for the 

 plants. If it is thought better not to repot or rebasket some of 

 the plants, a little fresh sphagnum and fibrous peat should be 

 placed on the surface of the pots or worked into the sides. 



PLOWEE GAEDEN. 



We h&^e linined a portion of the Roses, the others will be left 

 until the end of the month, or later, to insure a succession of 

 bloom. A month hence will be time enough to dig-in the sur- 

 facedressing; this we generally do for the sake of neatness. If 

 it is necessary to water when the hot weather sets in, a fresh 

 dressing of rotted manure may be applied. A mistake is often 

 made in pruning, and that is to leave too much young wood and 

 not to cut it back enough. The shoots in the centre of the tree 

 should bewell thinned-out, all the very weakly and gross growths 

 to be removed, leaving only those of moderate growth. The 

 koife should not be used at random, but the shoots should be 

 cut at an outside eye ; if the cut is made at an inside eye the 

 growth wilt be thrown into the centre of the tree, and still 

 further tend to crowd it. Budded Roses that Lave made only 

 one season's growth should be cut back to three or four eyes. 

 Weakly growing Hybrid Perpetuals should be cut to 2 or 

 3 inches, while those of the most robust growth may have a foot 

 or more of the young wood left. 



Pliloxes are now pushing strongly in the open ground. The 

 cuttings have been put in — one in the centre of a small pot. 

 They may be potted three or four in a 60 sized pot, and repotted 

 singly into CO's after the cuttings are rooted; but the other 

 system saves trouble, and as the pots are placed in a gentle hot- 

 bed the cuttings very soon strike root ; not 5 per cent. fail. 



Beds cf Pinks have been stirred up a little on the surface, and 

 the plants made firm in the beds by pressing around the roots 

 with the fingers. Carnations and Picotees in pots in cold frames 

 ought to be looked over and have any decayed leaves removed, 

 and the surface of the soil just stirred up with a label. We have 

 not yet had time to do ours, but the plants are exceedingly 

 healthy. 



Auriculas have all been looked over. A few have been re- 

 potted, and the remainder surfece-dressed ; a little of the old 

 mould is removed, and some material composed of about equal 

 parts loam and cow manure put on to replace it. All superfluous 

 offsets are removed at this time and placed in small pt te. Any 

 plants of a scarce sort, especially if the plants are tall, should 

 be headed-over a little above the surface of the ground. The 

 top will strike out roots readily in a short time if it is covered 

 with a bell-glass and not overwatered. The bell-glass should 

 be removed occasionally and wiped with a dry cloth. 



We were able to obtain late in 187-1 a very small plant of 

 Taylor's Glory, one of the scarce varieties. It gave no increase 

 np till April last year, when it was not much larger than it 

 was when purchased. Risking all ou one venture the top was 

 cut off, and made a nice plant the same season. Otisets soon 

 formed from the old stool, and from that one little plant of 

 Glory nine plants have been raised ; some of them are siill very 

 small, but they have lived through the winter, and are all start- 

 ing into growth. We cannot always expect a hit like this, but 

 if a plant of any scarce sort refuses to throw offsets with us, 

 its head is struck off. Mrs. Sturrcck and Meteor Flag gave one 

 offset each only, but that is two plants instead of one. With 

 care there is not much fear of losing the top. The weather is 



