FEBRUARY. 



605 



FEBRUARY. 



the workman, and the time spent in the 

 vain attempt will be altogether lost. The 

 hand of the gardener must be withheld 

 until drier weather prevails and the surface 

 of the soil is fairly dry. Then no time 

 must be lost in preparing the ground for, 

 and getting in, the crops for the coming 

 season. Continue to wheel manure on to 

 vacant ground, and get all digging, trench- 

 ing, and in fact all ground work, as for- 

 ward as possible, bearing in mind that 

 much of the success of the season depends 

 upon it ; and how important it is to have 

 the ground prepared a week or two before 

 cropping, especially where it is heavy or 

 retentive, for none but a practised work- 

 man can appreciate the advantage of 

 having the surface in that finely pulverised 

 condition that follows sharp frost and dry- 

 ing winds. 



Seakale. This may be planted now in 

 the open ground, the plants being set 15 

 inches apart in rows 30 inches from each 

 other. 



Scorzoneras, Salsafy, Hamburg Parsley, 

 &c. A little of each of these may be 

 sown now, but it is as well to defer sowing 

 main crops of these things till next month. 



Seeds, How to Sow. If the ground is in 

 condition for treading, it is best to do so, 

 as, indeed, it is with nearly all seeds ; but if 

 the ground is apt ta clod or bind, it should 

 by no means be trodden, but covered with 

 light soil or pressed in with the rake. The 

 ground, in such cases, should be marked 

 into beds of convenient width, allowing a 

 foot or fifteen inches between, for alleys, 

 to stand in, never treading on the beds. 

 This comes naturally enough after a little 

 practice ; but experience is a dear school 

 to learn in, and the most inexperienced, by 

 following some such directions, may avoid 

 failure as certainly as the most practised. 

 Some gardeners, whose ground is limited, 

 are in the habit of sowing parsley, carrots, 

 onions, leeks, or some such crop, which 



takes longer to grow, along with radishes, 

 sowing both together, the radishes coming 

 off soon after the others are up. This may 

 be a saving of time or room ; but where 

 there is plenty of space it is not advisable 

 to sow two crops together, but let every 

 crop have the best chance of doing well. 



Seeds, Protection of. Chaffinches are 

 very fond of pulling up radish and other 

 seeds as they appear through the ground ; 

 so that they should not be left unprotected. 

 Netting stretched over them will admit 

 light and air, and exclude the birds ; white 

 worsted will keep them off for a day or 

 two, but they soon get used to it, and 

 scarecrows are equally ineffective. A 

 covering of tiffany, canvas, or calico, 

 stretched on laths, will be effective, and 

 resist March winds more than straw or 

 fern ; they need be but a few inches from 

 the ground. 



February. Orchard House, 

 Work in. 



Orchard houses should stand open night 

 and day, unless during severe frosts. 

 Plants in pots must not, however, be 

 allowed to become too dry, because 

 dryness at the roots of trees weakens the 

 buds and renders them less capable of 

 proper expansion under the influence of 

 the rising sap when it reaches them. 

 The trees will benefit if painted over with 

 a similar composition to that recommended 

 in p. 210 for vines. This would tend to 

 prevent the attacks of insects, kill all moss 

 and fungi, and render the buds safe from 

 the ravages of birds, which often play sad 

 havoc with trees in orchard houses. It is 

 a good plan to look through every part of 

 the house at this time of year before the 

 buds break, and clean it in every part, 

 fumigating it and applying an infusion of 

 Gishurst's Compound in the proportion of 

 lb. to 2 gallons of water to walls and trees. 

 in order to get rid of insects that mighr 



