JANUARY. 



578 



JANUARY. 



fora short time, but avoiding cold draughts 

 of air. 



January. Flowei Garden, 

 Work in. 



Alterations of Borders^ Wai**, <5rY. All 

 alterations in the form of flower beds or 

 the direction of walks, if not already carried 

 out in the autumn, may still be made, and 

 all vacant ground dug over and thrown up 

 into ridges. The surface of old walks may 

 be renewed by skimming off the surface to 

 a depth ranging from I to 3 inches, accord- 

 ing to circumstances, with the spade, and 

 turning it over so as to bring the part that 

 had previously been below uppermost, to 

 form a new and fresh surface, which must 

 then be raked even and rolled. 



Annuals and all seedlings. Autumn- 

 sown annuals in the reserve garden in the 

 open ground should be protected by hav- 

 ing some boughs stuck among them, or by 

 being covered with mats, canvas, &c. Beds 

 intended foi the main sowing of hardy 

 annuals should be prepared for this pur- 

 pose. Pans, boxer ">r pots of any tender 

 or choice kinds Ox seedlings in pits or 

 frames, should be covered up in event of 

 frost, either with mats, long litter, or some 

 similar material, which should be laid over 

 them to the depth of, say, 9 inches, and 

 close round the sides of the structure. 



Auriculas, Polyanthuses, <5rY. These 

 plants, if protected by frames, should be 

 examined from time to time, and watered 

 with care. Early blooms must be removed 

 from polyanthuses. 



Bedding Plants^ Manuring for. To 

 grow bedding plants in perfection, the 

 beds should have a dressing of manure 

 annually, or a heavier application every 

 second year. It would be almost as reason- 

 able to attempt to grow two crops of 

 cabbages in succession without enriching 

 the soil as two crops of bedding plants. 

 Many of them exhaust the soil more than 



I any crop whatever ; and to grow them 

 rapidly, and in perfection, the beds must 

 be liberally manured. 



Borders, Pointing Surface of. Next in 

 importance to draining, trenching, and 

 manuring, and often of greater moment 

 than any or all of them put together, is the 

 frequent digging, forking, and scarifying of 

 the surface ; and from December to April 

 are the months specially adapted for these 

 operations. It must be remembered that 

 deep digging is not intended, but merely 

 the stirring of the surface soil with a fork 

 or hoe. Working the surface of the ground 

 with a fork is the operation which has been 

 already mentioned as "pointing," and is so 

 called because the stirring of the ground is 

 effected by the introduction of the points of 

 the fork. Pointing should not be carried 

 beyond a depth of 2, or at the utmost 3 

 inches. The object of it is to loosen and 

 break up the surface and admit the air. 

 Deep digging when plants are growing is 

 simply ruination to them, especially to 

 those whose roots seek the surface. Borders 

 which are stocked with herbaceous plants 

 should only have the surface well broken. 



Borders, Rough Digging. The moment 

 that flower beds are cleared of their sum- 

 mer occupants, they should be dug up as 

 roughly as possible. But rough digging, 

 while it can never present a smooth, may 

 always exhibit an even surface, and, in that 

 case, it is not unsightly. Besides, the 

 objections against it would generally be 

 silenced if its obvious importance were 

 understood. It would be difficult to say 

 whether the mechanical or chemical in- 

 fluence in enriching the quality of the soil 

 is the most important. Certainly, both are 

 of the highest value, and their influence 

 will be powerful, or the reverse, in exact 

 ratio to the quantity of fresh surface ex 

 posed to atmospheric influence. Hence 

 the importance of rough digging or forking 

 over ground in frosty weather; resulting in 



