THE FLORAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 31 



REMINDERS OF GARDEN WORK IN JANUARY. 



ilEDGES should be cut and trimmed, and, if damaged, mended with new 

 plants of the same kind, or by laying down some of the branches of 

 the old ; in doing this the branch should be cut half through, and 

 bent down to fill the gap. 



Tulips should be as carefully kept from frost as possible, the soil 

 they are in should not be even crusted on the top, if it can be avoided ; if the 

 earth be frozen down to the bulb, that bloom will assuredly be less perfect than if 

 it were not frozen, however lightly the thing may have been treated in consequence 

 of the known hardy nature of the bulb. 



Aueiculas require no water while there is the least moisture in the compost 

 they are growing in ; they must be cleansed from dead leavts, and must not be 

 allowed to be quite dry, but moisture must be sparingly given; they are also 

 much better kept irom freezing, not that they are tender, but they always bloom 

 the worse for a decided check, and as the fibres or the root are next to the pot, 

 they are reached easily. 



Cabnations and Picottees are generally wintered in pots ; they are as im- 

 patient of wet and confinement as any hardy flower that blows ; they suffer 

 mildew from that cause alone, therefore they cannot have too much air or too 

 little wet ; the frames they are kept in should be impervious to rain, and the 

 bottom should be so constructed that the wet they have in watering should run 

 away, and not soak into the ground, for the damp which would arise from the 

 soddened bottom is as fatal as wet upon their foliage. The bottom of the frame 

 should be paved and cemented, and sufficiently sloping to let the wet run out at 

 once. The glasses should be off every mild day, and be closed in frost and rain 

 this month at any rate ; those in beds take their chance. 



Pink and Heartsease in beds may be preserved, in case of hard frost, by 

 covering with Utter of any kind rather loosely, but not enough to deprive them 

 of light and air. 



Hyacinths in beds or borders should be covered with hoops and mats or 

 litter. 



Ranunculuses and Anemones that were autumn planted, should also be 

 protected from frost. 



Plants in the greenhouse or in pits or frames should be carefully protected 

 from frost and sparingly watered. 



Sow early peas in rows a yard apart, the more sheltered the place the better. 



Dig up vacant spaces when crops have come off, and plant out cabbage a foot 

 apart, in rows eighteen inches from row to row. 



Autumn sown beans for planting out should be protected, and some more of 

 the early kinds should be sown for transplanting. 



AsrAEAGUS may be forced in a common hot-bed, and produced in a short 

 time. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Dendeobium nobile. — Old Subscriber, S. Molton. — The cause of your 

 failure to obtain flowers on these plants, is probably improper or insufficient 

 attention during their season of growth, and we hope that the following system of 

 cultivation may enable you to be successful in the future. The soil for these 

 plants should be composed of one half fibrous peat, and the other portion made 

 up of sphagnum and rotten wood; this mixture should be thoroughly incor- 

 porated without breaking it fine, and an efficient drainage must be secured, or the 

 plants will not thrive ; the base of their stems should be elevated two, three, or 

 four inches according to the eize of the plant, above the top of the pot or basket, 

 January. 



