December.^ GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 131 



stagnated or over-flooded during winter. When this and 

 next month are mild, autumn plantings are very frequently 

 as sure as those of the spring. But the precarious state 

 of the season is not to be depended upon, therefore avoid 

 large plantings of any kind, and more especially of deli- 

 cate roses, the roots of which are apt to rot off, except they 

 have been previously grown in pots. Nothing can be more 

 injurious to a plant, at this season particularly, than to bed 

 its roots in mortar, by which the tender fibres either perish 

 or are cramped ever afterward. The soil at the time of 

 planting should be so friable as not to adhere to the spade, 

 which is a good rule in planting at any season, or in any 

 soil. 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 



Carry out of the garden all decayed leaves and litter of 

 every description, cutting down any weeds that remain. 

 Collect all the stakes and rods that have been supporting 

 plants, tie them up in bundles for the use of next year, and 

 put them under cover. Look over every part of the gar- 

 den, and see that nothing has been omitted in the way of 

 covering or other protection. The sashes that are to be 

 used on the frames should be perfectly whole, every inter- 

 stice in the glass puttied, and all ready for use when occa- 

 sion may require. Attend to all plants in pots, and give 

 them gentle waterings as they stand in need; but never 

 during the time the soil is frozen about the roots. 



DECEMBER. 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 



HAVING in the preceding months under this head given 

 details for the protection of plants of a delicate nature, and 

 the forwarding of necessary work, only a few remarks re- 



