84 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Janaary 22, 1874. 



a representation of the gigantic Cereus of llexico. The 

 Eehiuocaetus, originally from America, is frequently culti- 

 vated in this country. Its stems, clustered together in the 

 shape of an egg or sphere, present longitudinal sides separated 

 by straight furrows. These sides are furnished on their whole 

 length with white ootonous excrescences, provided with short 

 and spreading spines. It is from the centre of these thorny 

 tubereules that the flowers spring. They are always large and 

 beautiful, and last for many days. The Eehiuocaetus of 

 Otto, which is frequently cultivated, is indigenous to Mexico. 

 The Melocaetus has a globular, ovoid, or pyramidal stem, 

 with the sides separated by straight furrows. This stem is 

 surmounted by a kiud of woolly, or rather hairy tuft, formed 

 of very compact spines, from the axilla of which the leaves 

 spring ; they are very small, aud ephemeral in their duration. 

 The Melocaetus vulgaris, cultivated in gardens as an orna- 

 mental plant, was originally from the Antilles. 



" Lastly, we must mentionthe Mammillaria. The thorny 

 tubercles of this Cactus are spirally disposed round the stem. 

 The flowers, which last a long time, often surmount the trunk, 

 forming a kind of crown to its branches." 



DOINGS OP THE LAST AND PKESENT WEEKS. 



ELIKDY FRCIT AND KITCHEN GARDEN. 



DuHiNfi the pre'jeut mild weather an opportunity will be 

 afforded to push forward the nailing. In most places the old 

 system of training trees with nails and shreds is still followed, 

 although in many new gardens the walls have been wired, the 

 aid of nails being dispensed with. In the matter of nailing and 

 tying trees out of doors the state of the weather must be studied. 

 Where there is much wall space, some of the work may have 

 to be done in unsuitable weather, but men cannot do such work 

 in a frosty wind with satisfaction to themselves or their em- 

 ployers. Where walls for the finer sorts of fruit, especially 

 PencUcs and Nectarines, c&n be covered with glass a great ad- 

 vantage is gained, as not only can the work be done under 

 shelter, but even if there is no heating apparatus there is the 

 greater certainty of a crop, which will be very far superior as 

 regards quality to that ripened out of doors. In many places, 

 and especially where the soil is light with a gravel subsoil, 

 Peaches and Nectarines out of doors are a very precarious crop. 

 The best fruit we have seen from open walls has been in gardens 

 where the soil has been of a good depth and a clay subsoil. 



Many gardeners do not nail their Peach trees until March, 

 they wait to see where the flower buds will be most abundant ; 

 but a little experience will soon teach the cultivator which class 

 of wood to remove at the time of pruning. The wood ought not 

 to be too thickly placed, all gross shoots should be cut out at 

 the base, aud only the medium shoots cut back — ^that is, those 

 which are furnished with triple buds, in which case the triple 

 bud will usually be a wood bud, and it can readily be dis- 

 tingulshed by its form, which is elongated and pointed. In 

 pruning always cut Ijack to siich a bud. The smaller shoots are 

 seldom furnished with wood buds except one at the point of 

 the shoot, so that if these shoots are cut back there will be no 

 growth beyond any fruit that may set upon them, and the fruit 

 would not come to perfection. Peach trees ought to be removed 

 entirely from the walls and be nailed afresh, aud if it is neces- 

 sary to use any of the old shreds they should be dipped in 

 boiling water first. Begin by nailing-in the main branches, 

 fiUing-iu the intervening spaces with bearing wood, aud training 

 some young growth to cover the naked stems of the old wood. 



Our own work has been finishing pruning the fruit-tree 

 borders aud digging the ground. We bad a reserve of some 

 rich loam that had grown Melons, a dressing of this was placed 

 over the surface of the ground first. If digging and trenching 

 are behindhand, all such work ought to be rapidly puslied 

 forward, and any alterations or planting to be done must be 

 Been to forthwith. 



FRUIT AND FORCING HOUSES. 



Early vineries now require attention. In our own houses the 

 most forward growths have been trained and stopped ; this 

 ■work should be done in time and with care. The best way is to 

 fasten one end of a strand of matting to the spur, and attach 

 the other tightly to a wire in the direction the shoot has to be 

 trained. The growing shoot can then be tied to this with a 

 strip of matting, bringing it down to its place gradually ; if the 

 growths are tied down too closely at first mauy of them wiU 

 snap off. By the time they are long enough to tie down, the 

 temperature may be much increased. If it is desirable to get the 

 Grapes ripe as early as possible, the minimum temperature 

 may be 05", rising in dull cloudy weather to 7U° by day, and 

 with sun heat to 75'. When the growths have pushed about 

 5 or 6 inches will be a suitable time to give the border a second 

 good watering, aud before doing so (if it was not done after the 

 first watering), spread some rotted manure over the surface of 

 the border, so that the water may wash nutriment down to the 



roots. Syringe the waUs and damp the paths twice daily, as 

 weU as allow water to evaporate from troughs over the pipes. 

 Do not syringe the Vines after they start into growth. 



Cut all the fruit from the Vines in late houses. The method 

 pursued is this : Three or four bits of charcoal are placed in 

 clear aud clean bottles, which are then filled to within an inch 

 of the top with clear rain water; a striu" is attached to the neck 

 of each bottle, so that it may be fastened to a rail fixed a little 

 above the shelves of the fruit-room. The bottle is allowed to 

 hang in a slanting position to allow the bunch of Grapes to be 

 clear of the shelves. AU the bottles are first placed in position ; 

 aud as the Grapes are cut with the branch attached, the bunches 

 are conveyed to the fruit-room, and the end of the branch in- 

 serted in the water at once. Lady Downe's, Gros Guillaume, 

 and Muscat of Alexandria are the sorts which have been bottled 

 this year. Lady Downe's seems as if it would keep well ; very 

 few decayed berries have been removed. The other two sorts 

 will not keep so long, as the footstalks begin to wither. As 

 soon as the bunches were cut the Vines were pruned, all loose 

 bark removed, and they were then dressed with the usual 

 composition. 



Mushroom House. — Beds in bearing mast not be allowed to 

 become dry. If the bed is dry, as probably it will be, water with 

 rain water some degrees warmer than the temperature of the 

 bouse. It is not desu'able to give the beds a soaking, merely a 

 moderate watering. Mushrooms are sometimes tough at this 

 time of the year, when much artificial heat is required. This is 

 invariably owing to two causes — viz., the beds not having enough 

 water, or overdryness in the atmosphere of the house. Water or 

 syringe the paths, walls, &c., as often as they become dry, which 

 sometimes will be once a-day, at other times once a-week. The 

 Mushroom house is generally on the north side of a garden wall, 

 so that it is not usually a dry place. A thermometer to test the 

 bottom heat should be placed in all beds where the spawn has 

 commenced to run, and should the temperature of the bed fall 

 below (Jo^, a covering of dry oat straw may be placed over the 

 bed, which will be the means of keeping-up the temperature. It 

 should always be borne in mind that there is much more danger 

 of the spawn being destroyed by too much than there is by too 

 little heat, and the beds had better be too dry than too wet. 

 Those who possess a good Mushroom house need not fail to have 

 a bountiful supply of Ehuharh and Sea-kale, which may be in- 

 troduced to this structure as has been x^reviously directed. 

 Chicory and DandeUon roots may also be potted and placed 

 here to blanch ; they are at least wholesome additions to the 

 salad. 



See that there is a continuous supply of Mint and Tarragon 

 from the early vinery or other forcing house. Cook will be sure 

 to ask for it if there is none. Mustard aud Cress sown once 

 a-week in boxes will maintain a continuous supply from the 

 same source. 



PLANT STOVE AND GREENHOUSE. 



^ The smaller plants in the stove will require repotting, espe- 

 cially those that are intended to form specimens. Nothing 

 injures a plant so much as allowing it to become pot-bound. 

 It is early yet, and only those plants that really do require a, 

 shift should have it now, and the potting must also be done 

 with care. Many of the hardwooded stove plants succeed best 

 in a compost of turfy loam and turfy peat, one part of the 

 former to four of the latter; leaf mould and rotted manure are 

 best omitted. The pots, as well as the crocks, should be quite 

 clean ; the latter should be laid-in carefully at the bottom of 

 the pots, the larger potsherds being placed under, and finishing- 

 off evenly with smaller pieces. Some fibrous peat quite free 

 from loose mould should be placed over the drainage ; indeed, 

 too much care cannot be taken in potting all classes of valuable 

 lilants to see that the drainage is perfect, and this must be 

 looked after at the time of potting, as it is almost impossible to 

 remedy any defect afterwards. The potting material for all 

 stove plants should be porous ; silver sand added to the soil wiU 

 effect this. 



It-'s desirable iu all houses to have an edging of small plants 

 to i/ue stages. These are best grown in 5-inch pots, but the 

 plants must not remain too long in the same pots, otherwise 

 they assume a sickly appearance. The best plants for this pur- 

 pose are some of the Selagiuellas, such as apoda and dcnticulata. 

 Some of the Adiantums are equally weU adapted, especially 

 A. cuneatum. Small plants of Gymuostachyum Verschaflelti 

 and SouerQa margaritacea intermixed, make a charming line ; 

 they must all be kept in healthy growth by frequent potting in 

 suitable soil. We have been re-arranging the plants in the 

 greenhouse, and now that forced flowers are coming in there 

 will be no lack of bloom. Cineririas, where the seeds were 

 sown early and the plants have been well cared for, will now 

 make a good show with their brilliant colours ; the flowers will 

 be all the brighter aud open better if assisted with a little ma- 

 nure water when the pots are full of roots. The water must not 

 be strong, otherwise it will injure the plants by causing the 

 branches to die-off. The tree Carnations have not failed to give 

 us blooms all the winter. Most of the leading flowers have a 



