MONTHLY CALENDAR. 403 



blooms if planted in sliady situations, or j^otted into 6-incb pots, and shaded 

 in very bright weather. Cuttings may still be taken from promising plants. 

 Mark all seedlings having good or singular properties. Though a flower may 

 not be of good form, still, if it have any novel traits of character, it will b© 

 advisable to save seed from it, in order to perpetuate or improve both these 

 and its form. At the end of the month, side-slips may be taken and cut 

 down. Strong straggling plants will afford a good supply of rooted cuttings 

 for making up autumnal beds. 



1 1 75. About the second week, the awning may be taken from the tulip-shed, 

 and the foliage of the plants exposed fully to the action of the sun and rain. 

 Offsets in warm situations will require taking up before those on the main bed: 

 as soon as the foliage turns yellow, they may be removed with safety. Seed- 

 lings which have grown one year shoiild be allowed to remain in the ground 

 during the first winter ; when two years old they may be lifted and kept 

 separated. 



1 1 76. Offsets and exposed beds should be taken up at an earlier period than 

 those that have been covered, choosing a dry day for the purpose, as soon 

 as the foliage begins to change. They should be stowed away in some dry 

 airy place, where mice cannot have access to them, leaving them there till the 

 bulb is thoroughly dry, the fibres, husk, and skin remaining also. 



1 177. Sorts which it is desirable to save seed from should have the seed- 

 pods covered with a piece of glass placed in a notched stick. This will pre- 

 serve the crown from receiving moisture, and prevent decay. Remove the 

 seed-vessels of all others, as the bulbs become ready to take up sooner than 

 if they were allowed to remain on. 



1 178. Reserve-Garden. — A shady piece of ground in the reserve-garden 

 should now be prepared for cuttings of double wallflowers, rockets, sweet- 

 williams, pansies, and other plants required for next spring's bloom. Alreetias 

 and many other spring-flowering plants may also be divided and planted out 

 this month ; and beds of annuals for autumn-flowering should be sown in tha 

 space left by the zinnias, China asters, and marigolds planted out. 



§ 3. —The Mixed Kitchen and Flower Garden. 



I179. Mushroom-Growing. — Mushrooms may easily be had at any season 

 of the year by adopting an artificial process, and spawning, with Llilltrack or 

 other artificial spawn, a bed made after the following manner : — The best, 

 situation for the artificial growth of mushrooms is a cellar or underground 

 tool-house, or any other place where the atmosphere is of that close, damp, 

 foggy character which is always so peculiarly favourable to the growth 01 

 fungi. The antechamber or passage to an ice-house is an excellent i^lace for 

 a mushroom-bed, and is frequently made use of for this purpose : any shed, 

 however, whether underground or not, may be made available ; and, indeed, 

 "With a little more care, mushrooms may be grown in the open air, without 



2 D 2 



