CALBHDAE.] 



PItACTICE OF HORTICULTURE. 



[calendar. 



in<^ plants, placed as near the glass as possible, j 

 Abunduiice of water bIiouKI bo given to every- 

 tliiiig that is growing iVoely. llaril-wooded i 

 I'lants, that have been kept dry oil the winter, I 

 very possibly need to bo plunged to tho rim of 

 the pot in a vessel of tepid water, to soften ! 

 the ball of eartli, nnd allow water to pass 

 through freely. Old plants of bedders should 

 be started for cuttings ; and these put in as 

 soon as they can bo taken, iu order that tho 

 bedders may bo brouglit forward iu time to 

 jilant out strong. All store plants from boxes 

 and cutting-pans should be potted oil'. Look 

 to the nnder sides of the leaves of tho cinera- 

 rias, calceolarias, pelargoniums, &c. ; and, if 

 any fly be there, put these together iu a box and 

 fumigate, or fill the house with smoke, and 

 syringe next day. All hard-wooded plants 

 coming into leaf should be freely syringed. 

 Temp. 45° at night, 55' to GO' by da}'. Bot- 

 tom-heat for cuttings, G0° to 70°. 



Kitclien Garden. — Prepare immediately 

 every inch of ground intended for summer 

 crops. Where peas, beans, onions, cauli- 

 flowers, and broccoli are to be put in, the 

 ground must be liberally manured and deeply 

 stirred. Mark out the soil for onions into 

 four-feet beds, and raise the beds six inches 

 above the general level, leaving the surface 

 rough. Choose, for potatoes, ground on which 

 cabbage, broccoli, or celery has been grown, 

 and which was well manured in the preceding 

 year. Make up sloping borders under warm 

 walls and fences, for early horn carrot, onion, 

 radish, lettuce; and to prick out cauliflower 

 and broccoli from seed-pans, &c. Plant, on 

 dry ground, potatoes as soon as possible ; sets 

 should be of moderate size, and with short, 

 stubby, hard sprouts upon them ; when the 

 sprouts are long and white, a sound and 

 abundant crop can hardly be expected. Sow 

 in the open qua7'ters, peas, beans, parsneps, 

 spinach, leeks. Sow on warm slopes, radish, 

 hardy lettuce, cabbage, parsley. Plant po- 

 tatoes, garlic, shalot, chives, onions for seed. 



Flower Garden. — Deciduous trees should 

 be planted without delay. Mixed borders 

 forked over, where it can be done without 

 fear of damaging paionies, bulbs, &c. ; but if 

 these are not tallied, it will be better to leave 

 the borders alone till the plants appear above i 

 ground. Walks, rockeries, edging, roseries, 



peat-beds, and lawns, may all bo formed and 

 planted this month; and llieHOonerthe better. 

 Jlerbaeeous plantrt bIiouUI, nlso, bi? parted and 

 planted. Also ranunculuHea and atiomoues. 

 Sow hardy annuals in pans for planting out. 

 Californian annualn, such as escholtzias, 

 godetias, clarkian, candytufts, nemophilas, 

 vi.-^carias, &c., may bo sown in tho borders 

 where they are desired to bloom. 



Mxncn. 



Fntit Garden. — Cuttings of bush fruits 

 may still bo planted, and grafting should not 

 bo delayed. Pruning and cleaning ought to 

 have been completed some time ago. All tho 

 prunings and clippings of trees and hedges 

 should be burned, and tho ashes used as a 

 top dressing for quarters of bush fruits. 

 Mulch raspberries with half-rotten dung, and 

 they should not be dug between. Plenty of 

 manure should bo laid down between straw- 

 berries. 



Forcing Department. — Tliero must now bo 

 no delay in shifting on all subjects tiiat require 

 increased root-room, for vegetation is fast 

 becoming active ; and if plants make new roots 

 in old exhausted soil, their vigour and their 

 beauty are both deteriorated. Pot gladioli, 

 liliunis, Cape bulbs ; shift ericas ; start 

 fuchsias, and take cuttings. Camellias, which 

 are done flowering, should be started into 

 growth iu a moist atmosphere and genial tem- 

 perature. Plenty of water should be given, 

 alternating with liquid manure, to cinerarias, 

 calceolarias, pelargoniums, and other subjects 

 advancing into bloom. Temp. 50' night, 00° 

 to G5° day. 



Kitclien Garden. — The plots to be sown or 

 planted this month and next, should be 

 manured, and the ground dug pretty deep, 

 and left rough. Should the soil be well 

 drained, the principal crop of potatoes may be 

 planted at once ; but if the soil is damp, it 

 will be better to wait till next month. Plant 

 horseradish in any spare corner, digging the 

 ground pretty deep, manuring the sub-soil, 

 that the roots may come finer. Onion-beds 

 should be marked out, and the soil liberally 

 manured. Prepare for all crops that are to 

 succeed each other, so as to have the ground 

 well sweetened in time to receive them. 

 Sow turnip, long radish, main crop of parsneps, 



987 



