334 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTDBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



t April 23, 1874. 



mauy other things are brought forward for sale to give a fair 

 return. 



It is fair to state that when I came here a year and a half 

 ago I proceeded to plant Vines in the house, but I soon ob- 

 served that there had been Vines planted there before, and on 

 inquiry I was informed that they had offered to do well, but 

 were ordered to be taken out. So I at once abandoned the 

 idea and prepared the trees for work, and many of them, espe- 

 cially Plums, Peaches, and Nectarines, bore fine crops of large 

 finely-flavoured fruit. I never saw Green Gages so fine in the 

 most-favoured districts in England. The trees evidently had 

 been managed with skill before they fell into my hands, and I 

 would follow out the pot system were it not the enormous 

 amount of labour it entails from the waterpot. The interest 

 and knowledge it affords in a pomological sense is of great 

 value ; but proprietors generally require profits in a tangible 

 form. 



In conclusion, I believe that Mr. Fonntaine's system can be 

 adopted with success, and if I were to give it a trial on its 

 widest merits I would take out the end of a well-established 

 vinery in which such hardy Vines as Black Hamburglis, Buck- 

 land Sweetwater, Muscadine, Ac, are grown; and when the 

 pot trees were clothed with firm foliage, the fruit nicely set and 

 well hardened with air, they could be wheeled-out or plunged 

 in a sheltered border under a wall, and have the usual atten- 

 tion. The Vines at the period the stone fruits were set would 

 be fit to tie down in their position, and then have the whole 

 house to themselves. Peaches grown overhead would answer 

 the same purpose. We have a number of Cherries, Ac, set 

 nicely under Peach trees, but the increasing foliage warns us 

 that we must move the pots to where they can have light and 

 air. 



To the inexperienced I would advise that they should go 

 personally and see any system of fruit-growing before they 

 spent their money on structures, Arc, as we often hear and 

 read of splendid crops of fruit on trees in pots, &c., at exhi- 

 bitions and elsewhere, but when they are seen by experienced 

 men they diminish into miserable failures, and are a burlesque 

 on skilful fruit-growing. It is, on the other hand, true that 

 some can never give the credit due to a successful neighbour, 

 or accept any system out of the old rut. — M. Temple. 



NOTES ON VILLA, and SUBURBAN GARDENING. 



TiiE cultivators of the soil, both on a large and small scale, 

 require a considerable amount of patience, since their efforts are 

 contiminlly opposed by numerous tribes of depredators. Each 

 season brings with it peculiar enemies, whose attacks will soon 

 overturn the efforts of labour, taste, and skill, unless they are 

 diligently guarded against. Birds will rob you of all your seeds 

 before one is allowed to vegetate ; cats will disfigure your flower 

 beds, and most provokingly scratch-up young plants, however 

 choice they may be; hares aud rabbits will nibble off Carnations 

 and Pinks, leaving only some unsightly stumps ; and moles 

 will form miniature tunnels under the roots of Eoses, itc. 

 Children do not hesitate sometimes to run over a flower bed in 

 search of a ball ; and adults, who are ignorant of the mysteries, 

 often leave their footprints on spots where tender seedlings are 

 just comiug-up. Verily, amateurs need the patience of Job in 

 the midst of such repeated and constant inflictions. Long as 

 the above catalogue is, it includes only a few skirmishes with 

 the enemy, for myriads of insects are always pursuing their 

 destructive tactics in a greater or less degree. How can the 

 pen adequately describe the mischiefs wrought by thesUmy race 

 of slugs and snails ? In frosty weather, indeed, these ruthless 

 foes disappear, or a long drought may seem to have driven 

 them away ; but let a mild day visit us even in the middle of 

 winter, or a shower of rain lay the dust of summer, and these are 

 devouring all before them, as if called into new life. Woe be to 

 the florist in whose frame two or three lie concealed. How often 

 has one in a single night marred the laboirr of months 1 Then 

 come the woodlice, having a fine taste for aU that is tender in 

 veKctatiou, from the cotyledons of seedling Eanunculuses to 

 the petals of Roses. Earwigs hide their detested shapes in 

 every hole and corner, and, assassin-like, deal their deadly 

 bites under the cover of darkness. Eed spider and the green 

 fly bring up the rear, aud, with wonderful fecunditj-, multiply by 

 thousands in a day, till the unhappy gardener is at his wits' ends. 



The above are all either dwellers on the surface of the ground, 

 or carry on their operations there ; but there are other insects 

 whose attacks are concealed beneath the soil, aud which it is 

 still more difficult to guard against. In the early spring the 

 •wireworm saws away at the lower stems of Pansies and Carna- 

 tions, and we know nothing of the matter till the withering of 

 the whole plant makes us acquainted with our loss. Through- 

 out the year larvas of various kinds thus blast the hopes of the 



cultivator, by undermining or destroying the roots ; in short, 

 the attacks of enemies are constant, and therefore war must be 

 interminable. A gardener must necessarily be a great destroyer 

 of hfe, or that life, if spared, will soon destroy him. I shall not 

 enter into the natural history of insect enemies, but shall confine 

 myself to the best methods of extirpation by-and-by, so that the 

 amateur may be assisted in guarding himself against the annoy- 

 ance of loss. 



Perhaps the greatest error which we commit in the manage- 

 ment of our flower gardens is that of turning liali-hardy plants 

 out into the borders before the middle of May. lu no case that 

 I am aware of can any advantage accrue fmrn this practice, but 

 it is well known that plants frequently sustain injuries which 

 they are half the summer in recovering from. I may be told they 

 are sooner in bloom, and this I grant, because the check they 

 receive from the cold nights and dry parching winds is favourable 

 to the production of flowers. But what is the bloom ? a few 

 miserable spikes on a more miserable plant, and a bed not more 

 than half furnished with foliage, in which deplorable state the 

 plants remain until the genial showers of June or July excite 

 them into new growth. 



If, instead of planting out thus early, we took more pains in 

 preparing the plants and the ground properly, and if we de- 

 ferred planting until the last week of May or first week of June, 

 at which time we may take advantage of a few dull days, we 

 should find the plants materially benefited, and the appearance 

 of our gardens on the whole signally improved. At that season 

 we have the concurrent advantages of terrestrial heat and the 

 warm dewy evenings, which are of the greatest advantage to the 

 development of vegetation. The preparation of plants for turn- 

 ing-out has been adverted to in former articles, and, as a general 

 rule, it may be stated that no plant ought to be turned into the 

 borders until it has been gradually prepared and inured to the 

 open air for at least six weeks from the time it was taken from 

 the cutting or seed pot. 



Where beds are stocked with spring-flowering plants it will 

 be advantageous to dig or fork them over in the evenings of 

 warm days, by which means a considerable portion of heated 

 soil will be worked into them. In heavy soils on a wet and 

 retentive bottom this kind of preparation is indispensable. Of 

 the plants which require to be prepared now for autumn-flower- 

 ing in the greenhouse or drawing-room, the Chrysanthemum is 

 the principal one. Directions for its management have been 

 already given ; but for the purpose of the amateur, as being the 

 least troublesome, to plant them out next month in rich soil, 

 layer the tips of the branches in August, aud pot the dwarf 

 plants in September, as will be detailed at the proper time, is 

 the best system of management. The Chrysanthemum for a 

 low east, west, or south wall makes an excellent covering, and 

 some of the earlier kinds will flower tolerably well on a north 

 wall in favourable seasons, and give, with a little protection, a 

 good supply of flowers up to Christmas. 



Propagate Scarlet aud other Pelargoniums for autumn-bloom- 

 iug in pots, and make a small sowing of Chinese Primula for 

 early flowering. Eose stocks for budding must now be looked 

 over, and have all their superfluous branches removed ; and 

 those in pots would be benefited by beini^ plunged in a gentle 

 bottom heat to get the roots as well established as possible before 

 the plants are budded. The propagation of the Eose by cuttings 

 I must defer until next week. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST AND PRESENT WEEKS. 



KITCHEN OABDEN. 



The earlt/ Potatoes on a warm border are well through the 

 ground and look very healthy. The leaves have a growing look, 

 not curled up as they are when exposed to drying east winds. 

 Ean the Dutch hoe through the ground, aud also drew some 

 earth to the plants with a draw-hoe. There is great danger of 

 frost injuring them as yet, but if the plants are eartbed-up they 

 will be saved to a certain extent. It is also worth while to cover 

 them with something if the frost is likely to be keen. A pot 

 inverted over each plant is a good covering, or some straw thrown 

 lightly over the plants will serve the same purpose. After 

 trying a number of different sorts of early kidney Potatoes, 

 Myatt's Prolific has proved itself to be the earliest and best 

 grower. 



Made another sowing of Peas, with Spinach between the rows. 

 Just as the Peas show through the ground the sparrows nip 

 them off if the rows are not protected with wire netting. This 

 is no protection for mice, which get in somehow and attack the 

 seeds before they have had time even to vegetate : a figure-of--l 

 trap is a good means of destroying them. Peas may be used as 

 a bait. Mice do not take kindly to Broad Beans. Pricked out 

 Celery under hand-lights ; the plants had been raised in heat, 

 and were well hardened off before putting them out. The glasses 

 are kept rather close for a few days, and afterwards air is ad- 

 mitted more freely. When the plants ai'e well established the 

 glass covers are kept off altogether, only covering during severe 

 weather. Planted out Lettuce, and made a fresh sowing; also 



