JULY. 



678 



AUGUST. 



July .Orchard House, Work in. 



Ventilation is now the greatest care ; 

 fasten back and front shutters down, so that 

 they cannot be closed ; syringing night and 

 morning, and watering copiously when dry. 

 If any trees are growing too rapidly, tilt up 

 *he pots, and cut off all the roots on that 

 side which are making their way into the 

 soil. A week later, serve the other side in 

 the same way. If the surface is getting 

 hard from watering, place some fresh 

 compost loosely on the surface. Pinch in 

 all lateral shoots to within two buds of 

 their base. On the loth and the 25th lift 

 the pots in order to break off the roots. 



Ripening Fruit out of Doors. Remove 

 all trees into the open air, to ripen their 

 fruit in a sheltered sunny spot. This gives 

 them a piquant and racy flavour, unknown 

 to fruit gathered from wall trees. Summer 

 pinching of pyramids and bushes requires 

 rigid attention. 



July.-Shrubbery, Work in. 



Borders, Beds y and Shrubberies. Order 

 and neatness should now reign in the beds 

 and borders ; weeds should be rooted out 

 as they appear, by hoeing or hand weed- 

 ing ; each individual flower carefully ad- 

 justed, the beds and borders, where not 

 covered with plants, neatly raked, forming 

 a clean and even surface, gently sloping to 

 the edges, the clumps and evergreens free 

 from confusion, unless the effect intended 

 is a thicket of underwood. If the shrubs 

 stand apart, let the ground be hoed and 

 neatly raked ; all flowering shrubs and 

 evergreens pruned of all straggling shoots, 

 and put in order; all herbaceous plants 

 staked and tied in a neat and regular 

 manner; and all decayed flower stalks, 

 flowers, and leaves, be cut down or re- 

 moved. 



Hedges. Quick and privet hedge, 

 sihould be closely cut in with the shears ; 

 (ct them bend off a little towards the tops 



which gives them a better appearance. 

 Hedges of large-leaved plants, such as 

 laurel, Turkey and Lucombe oak, and 

 sweet bay, must have the young wood cut 

 back by the knife, as the shears destroy the 

 beauty of their leaves by cutting them. 



AUGUST. 



Aspect and Character of 

 Month. 



Less rain falls this month than in July, 

 according to the ordinary course of Nature, 

 and the mean temperature is a little higher 

 than in that month, the nights being cer- 

 tainly hotter. The average mean tempera- 

 ture in each month at the surface of the 

 ground, and at the distances of I foot and 

 2 feet below the surface, is 61 '98, 6i'8o, 

 and 61-26, respectively. The surface of 

 the earth has been receiving and absorbing 

 the sun's rays during the hot months of 

 June and July, and now it begins to give 

 back a portion of its heat by radiation in 

 place of absorbing it, as in the earner 

 months of the year. 



August. Conservatory, Work 

 in. 



General Management. Flowers are now 

 so abundant in the open ground that an 

 equal profusion would be in bad taste. 

 Those that remain should now have plenty 

 of room and a free circulation of air. 

 Camellias and acacias now require copious 

 watering, taking care that they are not 

 started into second growth. Sprinkle 

 borders daily, and keep up a moist atmos- 

 phere. Train and prune all climbing 

 plants in graceful festoons, avoiding stiff 

 brmal tying in, which prevents free flower- 

 ing in plants of a climbing habit. All 

 plants intended for early forcing should 

 now be placed so that the wood may be 

 thoroughly ripened, for on that chiefly 

 depends the future bloom. 



