JULY. 



66=; 



JULY. 



open air to ripen their fruit. On the loth 

 and again on the 25th, lift up the pots and 

 break off the roots which have protruded 

 through the drainage holes. Attend to 

 pinching of pyramid and bush trees, and 

 retard the ripening of peaches, apricots, and 

 nectarines, by removal into the open air. 



Summer Pinching and Pruning. Pinch 

 laterals, and pinch off all leading shoots at 

 the end. Summer-pinch pyramidal peaches 



Syringing and Watering. In hot and 

 dry weather trees will require watering 

 abundantly every evening ; in all weathers 

 syringe morning and evening. Trees in 

 pots whose fruit is now swelling may re- 

 quire watering morning and evening, unless 

 a heavy mulching is placed on the top of 

 the soil to prevent evaporation. If the 

 surface of the soil in the pots or border be 

 dry, add a new top dressing. Thin the 

 fruit, pinching in all shoots to the third 

 leaf. Ventilate freely, and syringe until 

 the fruit begins to colour. 



Watering Fruit-Trees in Pots. Fruit- 

 trees in pots require watering to a con- 

 siderable extent, because the sun and 

 heated air exerts a drying influence on all 

 sides of the pot as well as on the surface 

 of the soil, thus causing much moisture to 

 evaporate that would otherwise go to the 

 nutriment of the plant. 



JULY. 



Aspect and Character of 

 Month. 



The month of July is the hottest of all, 

 the mean temperature being 6l, although 

 the thermometer ranges from 82, and 

 sometimes falls to 42. This high tem- 

 perature is chiefly occasioned by the in- 

 creased radiation of heat at the earth's 

 surface : in consequence, the nights are 

 much warmer than those of June. A 

 period of rainy weather usually occurs 

 about the middle of the month, accom- 

 panied by thunderstorms. 



July. Conservatory, Work in. 



Plants going ottt of Flower. Remove 

 from the conservatory or show house those 

 plants which show by their faded blooms 

 that they are past their best : their pro- 

 longed presence would detract from the 

 freshness essential to beauty and good 

 order. By this time the work of decay will 

 have commenced ; exotic bulbs have nearly 

 finished flowering, and require to be in a 

 state of rest ; those whose stems are still 

 green should have water, in order to mature 

 the bulbs. When done flowering, keep 

 them in dry earth or sand, and in a warm 



j situation to ripen. 



Calceolarias and Cinerarias. Calceo- 



j larias and cinerarias require as cool an 

 atmosphere as the house admits of; those 

 which have flowered, cut down, and plant 

 out in a light loamy border ; sow seeds of 

 both for flowering in spring. 



July. Flower Garden, Work 

 in. 



Annuals and Biennials. Annuals for 

 autumnal flowering may now be sown, and 

 perennials and biennials sown in March 

 transplanted. Stocks, gillyflowers, sweet- 

 williams, Canterbury bells, scarlet lychnis, 

 and others of the class, may now be trans- 

 planted into nursery beds prepared for the 

 several sorts ; or any of them may be 

 planted at once in beds or borders where 

 they are to remain. 



Annuals^ Tender. Cockscombs of all 

 | kinds, balsams, and curious annuals, may 

 I now be brought out of the frames, cleaned, 

 ; and top dressed, and tied to suitable sticks, 

 and copiously watered all over, the leaves 

 I syringed, if needful, and the plants placed 

 | where they are to stand and flower. 



Baskets , Vases, &*c. Baskets, vases, 



! &c., will require an occasional regulating. 



: Remove everything in the shape of 



decayed bloom or leaves, and take ad- 



i vantage, when a number of fresh plants 



