218 



JOUBNAIi OF HOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ March 16, 1876. 



the screen we sew on good strong corda just long enough to 

 tie to a rail placed witbin an inch or two of the ground. A 

 man can plaoo this screen or remove it in a very short time 

 with a rod similar to those used by a shopman to place his 

 sharling over the window. When this screen is once up and 

 tied at the bottom nothing will move it. It ia pleasant to 

 walk along inside when very boisterous without, and find how 

 snug all is. You can watch the unfolding of the flowers 

 and swelling of the fruit. One can disbud sooner, and tend 

 to the many other little matters, not leaving out the attention 

 to hardening-oft bedding stuff or earthing-up the few early 

 Potatoes growing under the wall, all without exposing oneself 

 to Ihe outside wind, rain, &c. I find a narrow batten of wood 

 a hBudy means of stopping-up the ventilating openings when 

 required. If just a little tight it can be driven in easily, and 

 removed quickly when not wanted. — John Taylor, Hardn-icke 

 Grange, 



KILLING EED SPIDER. 



One of the beet means of eradicating this pest, and one 

 which I have successfully practised for many years, is by creat- 

 ing fames of sulphur with the aid of heated farnace shovels. 

 If the operation is performed with due care every spider will be 

 killed, and not a leaf of either Vines or Cucumbers will be 

 injured. If, however, the work is loosely or carelessly done 

 injury will inevitably be committed. But of this there is no 

 real danger, for a safety valve is always present, which if 

 regarded will lead to satisfactory results. My mode is as 

 follows : — 



On the evening of a still day, and after the house containing 

 the spider has been closed, I secure the aid of two assistants. 

 One heats a shovel at the fire, and runs with it to the door of 

 the vinery. Here ia placed a careful man with a pot of 

 sulphur, which he sprinkles very slightly on the shovel, and 

 the sulphur at first burns with a flame. That ia the danger 

 signal. In a few moments, however, the shovel cools and the 

 sulphur smoulders, showing no incandescence whatever — that 

 is the safety valve. At that stage he hands it to me inside the 

 house, and I sprinkle it freely, and continue to do so as long as 

 fumes are emitted. In the meantime other shovels are being 

 prepared outside. In a quarter of an hour I have a light blue 

 atmosphere, and as soon as my eyes commence smarting I 

 leave the house. 



In the morning I have invariably found every red spider 

 dead, and every leaf alive and uninjured. The slightest in- 

 candescence of the sulphur inside the house will cause injury 

 to the foliage, but I have never found the shghtest harm 

 result if the precautions named have been duly carried out. 

 It is a matter on which none need err, for it ia easy to perceive 

 when the sulphur does not show a flame outside, and as easy 

 to know when one's eyes smart inside the house. I have 

 practised the plan for more than twenty years, and always with 

 the same result of killing the spider and not injuring the 

 foliage of Vines, Cucumbers, or Melons. — G. W. Y. 



[We insert this letter, knowing the writer to be an able and 

 experienced gardener ; but we think it right to urge that great 

 care is needful in carrying out the plan which he details, and 

 on no account should it be attempted by young and inexperi- 

 enced men.^Ens.j 



NOTES ON VILLA and SUBUBBAN GARDENING. 



Geeenhouse and Fkameb. — The first-named structure will 

 now be gay with many plants in flower, and as they come in let 

 them have the most airy part of the house, guarding, however, 

 agiiinst any sudden change of temperature. What I mean ia that 

 after a plant has been forced, even if is only moderately, the 

 change from heat to a cooler atmosphere will frequently cause 

 the plant to flag, and the result is that many of the undeveloped 

 flowers do not expand at all, so that the fickle weather of March 

 must be watched and air given accordingly. 



There is as much or more skill in completing the growth of a 

 plant after it has flowered than there is in bringing it into flower. 

 I allude to such plants as Azaleas, Camellias, Deutzias, Heaths, 

 and such other plants as an amateur grows in a general way. 

 Some, such as the above, make their growth after flowering, and 

 therefore when out of bloom must have a genial atmosphere 

 afforded them to complete that growth so necessary to the nest 

 year's flowering ; while others which are herbaceous, snch as 

 Dielytras, Bichardias, Solomon's Seal, and Lily of the Valley, 

 and many more plants which make their growth at ihe time 

 of flowering, must have just as much care taken of them as the 

 first named, and not be thrown aside, as is frequently the case, 

 to take care of themselves. Unless the bulb has proper time 



and treatment to grow and mature itself it will not flower snc- 

 cessfully next year. So far it has been too cold to do without 

 a little fire heat at night, therefore the sort of plants I mention 

 must be kept at the warmest part of the house and be syringed 

 oocasionally ; but when fine warm weather seta in the plants 

 may be transferred to the pits or frames, and kept growing by 

 husbanding the sun heat and closing early in the afternoon. 



In the matter of bedding plants they may be safely trusted in 

 glass frames now — that is, if they are kept close until better 

 weather sets in. When watering is done let it be inthe morn- 

 ings of fine days if possible, so that the plants may dry them- 

 selves before the evening. 



Prepare a temporary place for the Calceolarias and other similar 

 plants that have been stored in frames ; meanwhile, if they are 

 making too much growth, take the tops off, and in a short time 

 they will break again into growth, when they can be planted out 

 in the place above mentioned, and kept protected for a time by 

 day and night, afterwards be exposed if the weather proves 

 warm and fine. 



Propagate at every opportunity all claases of bedding plants, 

 especially those of small or dwarf growth, such as Alternantheraa 

 and other slow-growing plants. These, after rooting, should be 

 grown in heat ; and even the old plants, in order to produce 

 cuttings, may bo potted and placed in a Cucumber frame ; but 

 they ought to grow rapidly and afford a large quantity of cut- 

 tings, which will root in a few days. 



Kitchen Garden. — Some important cropa must be prepared 

 for now. Successive sowings of Peas and Broad Beans must be 

 made as soon as the preceding crops are above ground, and 

 these also must be protected by ridges of earth and a few twigs 

 placed at the windward side of the rows. Peas cannot be had 

 in use too early, and the crop may be accelerated a week by a 

 little assistance in the way of protection in the earliest stages 

 of growth. Spinach may also be sown between the rows of 

 Peas ; or, if the ground is acaree, even between the rows of 

 Eaapberries. It is a healthy useful vegetable, coming into use 

 quickly after being sown, and should be more frequently seen 

 in amateurs' gardens. A pinch of Snow's Winter White Broccoli 

 should be sown at once ; it is indispensable in every garden. 

 Brussels Sprouts, Cottagers' Kale, and Savoys are equally service- 

 able, and seed should be sown without delay. 'The sowing of 

 later crops of Broccoli may be deferred for a week or two. Sow- 

 ings should also be made of CauUflowera, Lettuce, Kadishea, 

 not forgetting also a row of Paraley. Potatoea should also be 

 planted except in cold and heavy soils. The sets should be 

 carefully prepared, and be assisted to make a stout sturdy growth 

 before being placed in the ground. In light soils and dry situa- 

 tions plant early and deeply ; but in soils of an opposite character 

 it ia preferable to prepare the sets and aid them to make a 

 healthy growth above ground, and then plant rather shallow 

 early in April. That applies to clayey ground and cold diatricta. 

 A little Celery aeed should be sown on a gentle hotbed or in pots 

 of light soil. Do not sow any seeds unless the soU ia in a free 

 workable state. 



Fruit Garden. — The blossom buds are prominent and the 

 weather inclement. Fruit trees on walls must be protected, or 

 there ia great danger of the crop of fruit being lost. Sacking, 

 sheeting, netting, straw screens, evergreens, will all be useful 

 aids in producing fruit if applied and also removed at the proper 

 time. The protecting of fruit blossoms is a work of great im- 

 portance, and the means for fruit-growing are incomplete unless 

 protecting material is provided to shelter the trees against the 

 piercing winds and nipping frosts of spring. Many trees of 

 Apples and Pears produce terminal fruit buds at the extremities 

 of the branches. These must be picked off at once, in order 

 that a wood bud may be induced to break and continue the 

 extension of the tree. Many young treea are greatly injured, 

 if not ruined, by neglect in promptly removing terminal fruit 

 buda. — Thomas Eecobd. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST AND WORK FOR 



THE PRESENT WEEK. 



hardy fruit gaedeh. 

 If the nailing of treea ia not finiehed it ought to be done with- 

 out delay. The Apricota are in flower on south and east walls, 

 and the protecting material ought to be fixed and ready to place 

 over the trees in an emergency. Anything sufficiently thick in 

 texture will answer the purpose of protection, and it is cheapest 

 in the end to obtain a good article. There is a cheap shading 

 in the market made from jute, or a mixture of jute and flax. 

 We have some shading now which is likely to last made entirely 

 from flax. It coata dd. a yard, and will be cheaper in the end 

 than the mixture of jute and flax that could be bought 25 per 

 cent, cheaper. There is one thing which should be mentioned, 

 and that is that the best material is made generally but a yard 

 wide, whereas if it could be bought as wide as the wall is high 

 the expenae of sewing would be avoided. Whether the wall ia 

 covered with protecting material or not, at all events there ought 

 to be a projecting moveable coping which should extend about 



