Jnnuary 1, 1874. ] 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



15 



wipe the dust from every leaf. Small-leaved plauts, such as 

 Myrtles, may be more speedily cleansed by dipping their heads 

 in a tub of water, and -n-hiskiiig them several times through the 

 water. The health of plants to a very great extent depends on 

 the pores of the leaves being free from dust. What the lungs 

 are to the animal the leaves are to the plant. Any that are in- 

 fested with green fly should be put into a large tub or box and 

 fumigated gently with tobacco smoke two days in succession, 

 giving them about an hour and a halt each time. Keep the 

 surface of the soil in the pots open, and the pots clean. Beware 

 of overwatering Geraniums, and, in fact, all plants at this dull 

 season. One of the very best window plauts is the old neglected 

 Lily of the Nile, Calla lutbiopica. Another first-rate and easily- 

 managed plant is Dielytra spectabilis. When it has done flower- 

 ing it should be placed-out in a light rich soil, be lifted and 

 potted in September, and when the foliage has decayed put it in 

 any cool place till it begins to grow, when it may be transferred 

 again to the window. 



The amateur who possesses a greenhouse should towards the 

 end of the month shift Geraniums that are well rooted, using a 

 rather heavy and rich soil, potting and keeping the plants well 

 lied and near the glass. See that Camellias are never allowed to 

 get dry at the roots, otherwise you may lose your buds ; and do 

 not expose them at any time to cutting currents of air. Calceo- 

 larias that are well-rooted in small pots should have more pot- 

 room. A soil of half loam and well-decayed dung or leaf mould, 

 with a little sand, suits them well. Keep Verbenas, Scarlet 

 Geraniums, and other bedding plants free from dead leaves. If 

 you have Vines in your house and they are not yet pruned, lose 

 no time in getting it done. Little can be done out of doors at 

 present beyond the collection of manure. Road-scrapings and 

 turf-parings are excellent for mixing with your pig manure, 

 and these, well saturated with soapsuds and other fertilising 

 liquids, will make a famous dressing for your garden in spring. 

 Where the ground has been previously rough-dug or ridged, fork 

 it over on frosty mornings, so that the frost may penetrate and 

 pulverise the soil to a greater depth. As we may yet expect to 

 have some severe weather, any plants, such as China Roses, 

 that are rather tender should be protected, for having been 

 somewhat excited by the late fine weather, frost will have more 

 effect upon them and might prove very injurious. Any hardy 

 climbers on walls, as Clematis, &c., if not previously done, may 

 now be neatly trained. 



Vegetables. — Marshall's Dwarf Prolific and Mazagan Beans 

 are the kinds generally used for early crops. The latter is the 

 hardier ; and if not done before this, some may be sown for an 

 early crop as soon as the weather will allow, in shallow drills 

 about 18 inches apart. On a warm border they may be planted 

 in the row about 3 inches apart, and covered about 2 inches 

 deep. On the first fine day a sowing of Dillistone's Early or 

 gangster's No. 1 Peas may be made on a warm sheltered border, 

 which should have been ridged crosswise. Draw the drills 

 within '3 inches of the bottom on the south side of the ridge ; 

 this will keep the seeds dry and prevent them from rotting, as 

 sometimes happens, especially in a retentive or clayey soil. For 

 this crop the seeds should be sown pretty thickly, and in case of 

 intense frost they should be protected by fern or furze. Some 

 of the latter chopped may be put in the drills to prevent the 

 ravages of mice. 



FituiT. — Any fruit trees trained against a wall may now be 

 pruned, have their shoots railed quite straight, and disposed so 

 as to cover the wall equally. Standards may also now be 

 pruned, taking care to cut-out all cross branches. Gooseberries 

 and Currants, if not previously pruned, may now be gone over, 

 BO as to allow the gi'ound to be dug between them. 



Flowees. — If any bulbs, such as Daffodils, Anemones, or 

 Tulips, are not already planted, the earliest opportunity should 

 be embraced for getting them in. Those planted in October will 

 now be above ground ; they should be covered with fern to keep 

 them from frost. Every unsightly object should be removed 

 from the flower borders, so as to give them a neat appearance. 



Window Plants. — Spring and autumn are the times of the 

 year at which window plants require the greatest attention. It 

 is usual to have the plants outside the windows even during the 

 night in the summer season, and kept in the house both night 

 and day during the winter. In the intermediate seasons of 

 spring and autumn the plants are frequently placed in their 

 summer positions during the day, and it is desirable that they 

 should be placed in their winter situations during the night. 

 Our climate is so variable at those seasons that we not only 

 have summer during the day, and winter during the night, but 

 whole days of summer and winter alternating with each other. 

 Sometimes we have warmer days in April than in May or June, 

 and occasionally we have more severe frosts at the beginning of 

 September than any which occur again till November is nearly 

 over. Now, it is not the absolute heat or cold, but the rapidity 

 of the transition from the one to the other, which is injurious to 

 plants, and therefore it is absolutely necessary for all such as 

 have their house plants in the perfection of beauty, to attend to 

 those circumstances. This is more especiaDy necessary in towns 



where people are much less interested in the changes of the 

 weather, and therefore much less observant of them, than they 

 are in the country ; and I have no doubt more plants are de- 

 stroyed from want of attention in tliose variable periods of the 

 year than from any other cause. It is a safe rule to trust no 

 plant less hardy than a common Geranium outside the window 

 all night earlier than about the 20th of Juno, or later than the 

 1st of September. No doubt there are many nights before the 

 first of these times, and after the latter, during which the 

 plants might remain in the open air without injury. There is, 

 however, no knowing what a night may bring forth at those in- 

 constant seasons, and therefore the safe plan is not to leave the 

 plants to chance. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST AND PRESENT WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



The weather still continues favourable for all out-of-doora 

 operations. The thermometer has fallen to the freezing point 

 once or twice during the week, but the days have been mild. 

 Much of our time has been taken up with wall-nailing and 

 pruning the pyramid and other fruit trees on borders specially 

 devoted to their culture. As they have been under summer 

 pruning, all that is required at this season is to thin-out the 

 branches where they are overcrowded. 



We had a very heavy crop of fruit last season. Apples were 

 most abundant, nor has the fruit ever kept better than it has 

 done this year. The fruit-room faces south, and being an upper 

 storey is rather dry, so that where the fruit had not been quite 

 ripe when gathered it has shrivelled a little. Of course there 

 are some varieties of Apples which shrivel more readily than 

 others ; for instance, the true old Golden Pippin will keep in good 

 condition longer than the Pitmaston Golden. Ribston and King 

 of the Pippins do not become soft even under unfavourable con- 

 ditions. Cox's Orange Pippin will keep a very long time, but if 

 the fruit is not quite ripe when picked it also becomes soft. 

 When it is desirable to preserve a quantity in good condition, 

 and the fruit-room is not well adapted for them, it is a good plan 

 to wrap each fruit separately in a piece of soft paper, placing a 

 layer of fruit in the bottom of a box or barrel; this layer is then 

 covered over with dry sand, then another layer of fruit, which is 

 covered with sand in the same way, and so on until the box or 

 barrel is filled. It is not necessary to look over the fruit very 

 often, as should any of the specimens decay the sand will, to a 

 considerable extent, prevent the mould from spreading. 



All the trees are well furnished with buds, but we do not 

 expect those that were overcropped to bear another full crop 

 next season. The borders are being dressed with rotted frame 

 manure, and will be dug over with a fork just deeply enough to 

 break-up the surface. Some persons recommend the borders not 

 to be disturbed by fork or spade. We fancy digging lightly is 

 beneficial to the trees : the borders have a tidy appearance after 

 being dug, and the hoe can be more readily worked when weeds 

 appear. 



It is highly desirable to stir the ground amongst all green 

 crops with the hoe, not so much to destroy weeds as to aerate 

 the ground. 



Lettuce planted in cold frames, and which is now ready for 

 use, should be kept free from decaying mouldy leaves, and have 

 the lights removed whenever the weather is mild, shutting-up 

 closely at night. Made a sowing of early Peas on Dec. 23rd, the 

 ground in splendid order. Our two favourite sorts are Alpha 

 and Tabor's Perfection [Sangster's No. 1], to which are added 

 this year William I. and Blue Peter; both were grown last year 

 tor the first time. The last-named is the best dwarf blue Pea, 

 and William I. will displace all the other early Peas for exhibi- 

 tion purposes. The haulm is generally thin at the bottom, and 

 as an experiment equal quantities of seed of Blue Peter and 

 William I. were mixed together ; the dwarf sort will fill-up the 

 bottom part and thus utilise space. 



FBUIT AND FOKCINCt HOUSES. 



Fines may now have a higher night temperature— 65" as a 

 minimum, with a bottom heat of 85°. As the temperature is 

 increased a little more atmospheric moisture will beneficial to 

 the plants, but no water should be put in the evaporating- 

 troughs as yet. We find it necessary to examine carefully all 

 plants that are throwing-up fruit, and to ascertain the state of 

 the roots; if the soil is very dry it is best to thoroughly saturate 

 it with water, and not to give any more until the soil is again 

 comparatively dry. 



Cncinnhcr houses require a good deal of attention at present. 

 The night temperature ought not to fall below (15° even in cold 

 nights after this time. Tlirips and green fly are troublesome, 

 but tobacco smoke applied on three successive evenings soon 

 clears the plants of them. The leaves being tender at this 

 season, it is better to smoke oftener than to run the risk of de- 

 stroying them. The pipes in our houses are well supplied with 

 evaporating troughs, but experience has taught us that too much 

 vapour ia injiuious, it causes the foliage to be wanting in sub- 



