May 21, 1874. ] 



JOUENAL OF HORTIcnLTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



409 



After the plants are put in the beds should receive a thorough 

 soaking of pond water, so as to make the soil almost like a 

 puddle, and then the following day be hoed' and raked over, bo 

 as to leave the surface loose. The plants may then be pegged- 

 down, and will require little more attention unless the weather 

 is very dry. 



Eecently-transplanted shrubs and trees must be carefully at- 

 tended to with water until they get fairly established. It is fre- 

 quently the case, however, that too much water is given at the 

 loot, thereby souring the soU and rendering it uncongenial to 

 the young rootlets and the after-growth of the plants. The soil 

 should be kept moist, but not to saturation, and the plants as 

 soon as the weather gets warmer might be watered overhead with 

 the engine on the evenings of bright days, which will be of vastly 

 more service in repairing the loss sustained by evaporation than 

 if given in excess to the soil while there is a deficiency of active 

 rootlets to absorb it. Where Roses are infested with the grub it 

 ■will be necessary to go over the plants frequently to destroy the 

 pest. Green fly is also very troublesome at this season; a good 

 washing with the garden engine on two or three successive 

 evenings will greatly assist in getting rid of this destructive 

 pest, but this must be done after all danger of frost is over. 

 Persevere in the destruction of insects on fruit trees, in order to 

 afford the young shoots a fair chance of making healthy growth ; 

 also proceed with disbudding and stopping gross shoots. Look 

 after the caterpillars on the Gooseberry trees ; the quickest way 

 of getting rid of this pest is to give the trees a heavy washing 

 with the garden engine, throwing the water against the under 

 sides of the leaves, which will wash off the caterpillars, and 

 they are readily killed on the ground by means of an iron rake. 



Every spare half hour may now be profitably employed in 

 killing weeds and stirring the ground among growing crops. 

 Vegetation, which has been so long checked by cold north-easterly 

 winds, is now beginning to make rapid progress, and weeds, like 

 other things, grow apace; they therefore require sharp looking 

 after in order, if possible, to prevent them from flowering and 

 seeding. Planting in the kitchen garden should now be done in 

 drills. In this way the plants are more effectually watered, 

 and the first hoeing, by filling-in the drills, acts as a slight earth- 

 ing-up. 



JBromplon SfocT;s. — Two sowings of these should be made, the 

 first about the middle of May, and the second about the 21st of 

 June. Sow in beds of rich sandy loam in an open situation ; 

 and about the end of August, if the weather is moist, or in the 

 beginning of September, transplant them into a border, placing 

 five in a patch; at the same time pot-off a store to be kept in a 

 frame over the winter for planting- out in spring. Use 6-inch 

 pots for the purpose, which should be filled with good loam 

 mixed with a little rotten dung. The more airy the situation 

 is, and the drier the plants are kept in dull weather the better 

 they will succeed. Plants that survive the winter in the 

 borders are always finest, but those kept in pots are well 

 worth the trouble. Seed three or four years old is better and 

 more likely to produce double bloom than that of one year old. 



Tender Roses that have suffered from the effects of the past 

 winter will now require to be pruned. Standards would like- 

 wise be much improved by giving them a good soaking with dung 

 water, it is best applied in cloudy weather. Such herbaceous 

 plants as Pc-eonias, &c., that soon come into bloom should be tied- 

 up. Divide and transplant Hepaticas, and strong-growing plants 

 of Double Scarlet Lychnis, or take some cuttings close to the 

 root and plant them in a mild frame-heat in small pots, these 

 will soon strike root and be fit for planting-out in the borders. 

 Harden-off carefully tender annuals and other plants, and con- 

 tinue potting-off annuals and struck cuttings as they require it, 

 putting-in scarce sorts for stores. If cuttings of choice rock 

 plants, such as Phlox setacea, nivalis, subulata, verna, pro- 

 cumbens, and amcena, with Saponaria ocymoides, Onosma tau- 

 ricum, Alyssum saxatile, Iberis sempervirens, ttc, are put into 

 prepared cutting-pots in sand and placed in a mild frame-heat 

 and treated as Verbena cuttings, they will soon strike root and 

 be fit for planting-out or potting-off as may be required. 



If green fly appear on Carnations dust them with Scotch 

 snuff, or brush-off with a camel-hair pencil. Put all the sticks 

 in the pots, and attach stems that are beginning to spindle. Con- 

 tinue to put in the side shoots of Pansies as cuttings. Dahlias 

 may in some situations be put out, sheltering them during the 

 night for the first ten days. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST AND PRESENT WEEKS. 

 A WHITER in one of the daily papers has something to say 

 abont the " cold week in May," and seems to imply that as a 

 usual thing the temperature is much lower than one would be 

 led to expect from the increasing height of the sun in this 

 month. We have certainly had two extremely cold weeks — frost 

 almost every night. Acres of early Peas in blossom have been 

 ploughed-up in Essex, to the heavy loss of the growers. The 

 weather has tested the comparative hardiness of the different 

 sorts of Peas. Taber's Early Perfection (the best stock of Sang- 



ster's No. 1) is uninjured, while Laxton's Alpha has suffered. 

 Carter's Blue Peter and Laxton's William I. were not so much 

 exposed as Alpha, and they are not materially injured. Potatoes 

 in exposed positions, or wherever they were not thoroughly shel- 

 tered from the east winds, are blackened. Under a wall facing 

 west we have Myatt's Prolific and Veitch's Ashleaf ; not a leaf 

 is injured. On south borders the Potato ia slightly injured. 



KITCHEN G-UIDEN. 



Recently allusion was made to planting Cauliflower plants out 

 of boxes. On Thursday the wind changed, and by Friday morn- 

 ing had worked round to the west ; this gave us a chance to get 

 the plants out into drills, planting carefully, and saving all tho 

 roots during removal. Have also been sticking successional 

 crops of Peas. We must always cover with Pea-protectors. A 

 useful appliance is now made of galvanised wire netting for this 

 purpose. The netting is bent in the form of a half-circle, and is 

 sold in lengths of 3 feet at the moderate price of 9.s. per dozen. 

 Where sparrows are plentiful no garden should be without these 

 protectors. With care they will last for the best part of a life- 

 time. When the Pea plant reaches the top of the protectors it 

 will be time to remove them, and if the sticks are put to the Peas 

 at once the birds seldom attack them, at least to an injurious 



extent. v 4 ii. 



We have been cutting a good supply of Asparagus, but the 

 quality is indifferent. Though the frost has not been severe 

 enough to kill the young heads, it has seriously impaired their 

 quaUty. With genial weather and a warm shower it would be 

 all right. Planted out a few rows of Celery. Early planted, this 

 has a tendency to run to seed in the autumn, but this may be 

 prevented by managing the plants well. They must receive no 

 check, which they often do when sown in boxes in a hotbed, 

 and then removed to a cold frame or hand-light without being 

 careful to do it in warm weather, and also not keeping the 

 lights close for a few days. Scarlet Runners had come through 

 the ground, and the plants would undoubtedly have been killed 

 if small pots had not been placed over each. Some new sorts of 

 Potatoes were saved in the same way. It is easy to do a hundred 

 or two plants, when a whole quarter must be left to take their 

 chance ; but the advantage of being able to dig Potatoes a fort- 

 night earlier from the plants protected will well repay any extra 

 trouble required. 



PEUIT AND FORCING HOUSES. 



Pineries.— The first fruit, a Queen, was ready to cut last week. 

 In the house started in January it has not been necessary 

 during the last few weeks to shade the plants in the fruiting 

 house, but it is needful when the weather is hot and scorching, 

 as fruit that is ripe or ripening is readily injured by the sun. If 

 only a few plants require to be shaded, the best way is to place 

 a newspaper over them, not close on the crown of the plant, but 

 raised above it. Should it be necessary to shade the whole, this 

 is best done by a blind fixed on a roller outside ; it should only 

 be used during hot sunshine, and not before 10 a.m., nor after 

 3 p >i. There is not much required in these houses at present, 

 except to see that the fruit is ripened-off with a good flavour. 

 By the time the fruit is ripe the plants ought to be rather dry at 

 the roots, and no more water is required until the fruit is cut. 

 It ought not to be left in the fruiting house after it is ripe ; the 

 most convenient way is to cut it with a good stalk, and hang it 

 up in a cool fruit room. Newly-potted suckers must be kept 

 growing freely. 



Cucumber and Melon Souses.— The only way fo have plenty 

 of crisp young Cucumbers is to keep the plants in healthy 

 growth ; and to do this, if the same plants are continued m 

 bearing all the year round, fresh mould must be occasionally 

 placed to the roots. This is done by forking away the surface 

 soil, but not to injure the roots to a great extent ; the surface is 

 then dressed with a compost of turfy loam and rotted manure 

 in equal parts. The best Cucumbers are obtained if the plants 

 are not more than six months old. A great depth of soil is not 

 necessary for them ; 20 inches is quite deep enough. Plenty of 

 drainage underneath is also of much importance; it drains the 

 bed and prevents overwatering. Melons are approaching the 

 ripening stage. As the plants are trained to a treUis overhead 

 it has been necessary to secure the fruit from falling by fasten- 

 ing square boards, with a hole at each corner, under the fruit. 

 Without this precaution the fruit would drop on the surface of 

 the bed and be injured. Red spider should be thoroughly dis- 

 lodged from the plants, as it seems to spread more rapidly on 

 the Melon than it does on anv other plant ; leaves and frmt are 

 alike over-run as by magic. The fruit is improved in flavour by 

 being cut and laid on the shelves in the fruit-room for a few 

 days before using it. We also examine the bed a week or ten 

 days before the fruit is hkely to be ripe, and should it be dry, 

 give sufficient water to moisten it to its entire depth ; no more 

 water wiU be required after this. 



Orchard House.— A good deal of work is required here at this 

 time, especially if, as is the case with us, a series of shelves are 

 fiUed with Strawberries. In the first place, all the plants re- 

 quire plenty of water at the roots and syringing twice daily. 

 The shoots on Peach and Nectarine trees require stopping. Ail 



