JANUARY. 



JANUARY. 



sotis, pansies, pinks, primulas, phloxes, 

 polyanthuses, violets, &c., and growing 

 bulbj planted in the autumn, will be some- 

 what raised out of the ground or above the 

 ground level by the action of the frost. 

 These must be firmly pressed down into 

 place and a little fine mould drawn round 

 them. Hoe or point the surface of the 

 soil between the flowers when it is dry 

 enough. 



Litter ; Removal of. Nothing, perhaps, 

 is more objectionable, even in the winter 

 months, than an untidy garden. Leaves 

 and all litter of dead and dying plants 

 should be collected and carried away, and 

 neatness and order should everywhere be 

 apparent. 



Ranunculuses, <SrV. Beds intended for 

 choice ranunculuses and anemones should 

 receive a liberal dressing of two-year-old 

 cow dung, and be laid up rough, so as to 

 be ready to receive their singular-looking 

 corms and tubers in the following month. 



Rockeries, &*c. Old structures of this 

 kind may now be repaired and renewed, 

 and new rockeries may be formed of 

 materials that have been collected for the 

 purpose. Stones are the material that is to 

 be preferred for ornamental work of this 

 description, but as they cannot be got 

 everywhere and anywhere, and as the desire 

 to have a bit of rockwork in one corner or 

 another of the garden is general, clinkers, 

 debris of stone ware, bricks, cement, chalk, 

 concrete, and even rough pieces of timber, 

 may be utilised for the purpose. 



Roses. Hardy roses may still be planted, 

 and all weak plants requiring it may be 

 pruned. Tea and China roses should be 

 protected above the surface of the ground 

 by boughs, the roots being shielded from 

 harm by heaping up spent tan, cinder 

 ashes, &c., over the roots and round the 

 stem. Stocks should be obtained from the 

 hedgerows for budding if this has not been 

 done in November or December. All 



ground occupied by roses should be well 

 manured, and care must be taken not to 

 injure the roots when digging in the 

 manure. 



January. Fruit Garden and 

 Orchard, Work in. 



Apricots. The pruning of these is better 

 deferred to the end of the month, or even 

 to February. At all events, the pruning 

 of the hardier sorts should be completed 

 before these are touched. These directions 

 apply equally to the peach and the nec- 

 tarine. 



Currants and Gooseberries. Cuttings of 

 these may now be taken with the view of 

 obtaining young plants. The cuttings 

 should be from 12 inches to 18 inches long. 

 Do not pick off any buds until the shoot 

 has rooted, because the bursting and 

 growth of the bud acts as an incentive to 

 root formation. Place the cuttings in rows 

 from 1 8 inches to 24 inches apart, planting 

 them about 3 or 4 inches deep, with a 

 distance of about 6 inches from cutting to 

 cutting. The ground about gooseberries 

 and currants should on no account be dug 

 over, as this mode of treatment injures the 

 roots. If not already mulched, the ground 

 should be covered with a coating of half- 

 rotten manure, and the surface soil lightly 

 raised and stirred with a fork to incorporate 

 it with the manure. 



Figs. Fig-trees may be pruned this 

 month, but, as in the case of the apricot, 

 peach, and nectarine, it is better to post- 

 pone the work till after other trees have 

 been pruned, or to leave it even until 

 February. If, however, the work is done 

 in January, merely leave a sufficient 

 number of last summer's shoots from the 

 base to the extremity of the tree in all 

 parts where possible, and cut out the ill- 

 placed and superfluous ones. Also cut 

 away a portion of the aged bearers and 

 long extended, naked old wood, so that in 



