DECEMBER. 



724 



DECEMBER. 



the better for next season's bloom. Plant 

 as many on their own roots as possible; 

 they are more durable, and perhaps more 

 bwmtilul in this form than any other. All 

 utiwly planted roses should be mulched 

 over with 3 or 4 inches of light dungy litter 

 on the surface. 



Routine Work. Examine and renew the 

 labels on these and all other named shrubs 

 and herbaceous plants ; provide stakes and 

 pegs, and make labels in bad weather. 

 Take stock of, and finally decide on, the 

 disposition of your bedding stuff; sweep, 

 roll, and mow, if need be from the mildness 

 of the season, your turf. Keep your gravel 

 bright, clean, and as hard as adamant, and 

 by such means make the flower garden, 

 even in ruins, a cheerful, comfortable win- 

 ter promenade. 



Tulips. If planted early last month, 

 some of these may be peeping through the 

 soil ; if so, they may be protected by having 

 a slight pyramid of sandy peat earth or 

 leaf mould placed over them. During very 

 frosty weather the beds or rows must be 

 covered with mats, woollen nets, &c., as 

 nothing injures these bulbs more than 

 severe frosts on their crowns just as they 

 are coming through the ground. 



Tulips, Preparation of Ground for. The 

 ground for tulips should be trenched from 

 2 feet to 30 inches deep, mixed with a 

 liberal dressing of well-rotted manure. It 

 is also a good plan to place a layer of 

 manure about 6 inches from the surface, so 

 that it may be readily and speedily available 

 for the roots. The bulbs should be placed 

 6 inches square and 4 inches deep, and any 

 period from the middle of October to the 

 middle of December will do for planting 

 them. 



December. Fruit Garden and 

 Orchard, Work in. 



Dwarfing Fruit Trees. The modern 



system of dwarfing fruit trees, by which 

 space is so much economised, is produced 

 by a special course of pruning, commencing 

 a year from grafting, when the apple tree 

 should be pruned back, leaving about eight 

 buds on the shoots. In the second year 

 the head will exhibit eight or ten shoots, 

 and a selection must now be made of five 

 or six, which shall give a cup-like form to 

 the head, removing all shoots crossing each 

 other, or which interfere with that form, 

 thus leaving the head hollow in the centre, 

 with a shapely head externally, shortening 

 back the shoots retained to two-thirds or 

 less, according as the buds are placed, and 

 leaving all of nearly the same size. In the 

 course of the summer's growth the tree will 

 be assisted by pinching off the leading 

 shoots where there is a tendency to over- 

 throw the balancing of the head. At the 

 third year's pruning the same process of 

 thinning and cutting back will be required, 

 after which the tree can hardly go wrong. 

 The shoots retained should be short-jointed 

 and well ripened ; and in shortening, cut 

 back to a healthy, sound-looking, and well- 

 placed bud. After the third year, little or 

 no shortening back will be required, espe- 

 cially where root- pruning is practised ; the 

 tree should now develop itself in fruiting 

 stems, which will subdue the tendency to 

 throw out gross or barren shoots. 



Espalier Trees. Espalier trees, and trees 

 planted against a wall for horizontal train- 

 ing, do best when the shoots are tied down ; 

 in the absence of trellis on the wall, there- 

 fore, studs should be driven into the wall 

 at convenient distances for that purpose, in 

 order to avoid the stiff and formal distor- 

 tion the branches undergo in the old pro- 

 cess of nailing with shreds. 



Gooseberries and Currants. If the bushes 

 have not been pruned in November, let 

 the work be now done and brought to a 

 finish without delay. 



Raspberries. Take up and removr 



