to 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[Jan. 20, 



Opj> 



Uitf rtru under at mjual di*mi »U r(>1 * i lmt lh 



plant must be shaped ace g to the number of 



shoots : three leading branches are sufficient if eat 

 b mis only are required. Another advantage is, that 

 t same | Lanta, I m the succession of bloom the y pro- 

 .uce, will answ< the double purpose of exhibiting iu 

 pots or star f cut flowers. After the potting, as 

 above recommended, has taken place, take the earliest 

 ortuaity at which the ground is in a fit state, to 

 plant out any stock not required to bloom under glass, 

 or plants that have been wintered in stores, &c, which 

 will bloom through May or June, and produce a stock 

 of good healthy cuttings. By following the simple and 

 inexpensive treatment just recommended, I am sure 

 that those who take the little trouble that it entails will 

 not fail to be gratified by a fine display of bloom, which, 

 from its lonjj continuance, will most certainly afford 



much gratification. T. 



T n k. Auricula. — About the middle of March, if 

 the weather is fine, the trusses will be getting suffi- 

 ciently forward to select those intended for exhibi- 

 tion. Seven pips are the lowest number allowed 

 by our metropolitan so ties ; therefore select the 

 most promising, containing that number and Up- 

 ward*. Tl *e with round buds, as pearly of a size 

 as possible, the truss also round and compact, should 

 be particularly selected, and if there are any monster 

 pips among them with large oblong tubes or other 

 deformities, remove them while young. At this stage 

 of their g wth, care must be taken in watering that 

 none be allowed to fall into the tubes or pipe, if it 

 happen to be exposed, as is the case with some varieties ; 

 for although the buds be so young, the meal of the eye 

 may be formed, and if so the water will run the meal 

 over the ground-colour, and when the blossom is ex- 

 panded it will be found dull and unfit for exhibition. 

 The mealy-grass varieties require a little extra atten- 



To obtain this 



tion, for their beauty is much increas 

 the white powder on their foliage, 

 object without drawing the plants more than possible, 

 I nail a strip of wood on each de the centre bar of the 

 frame, of Sufficient width to shelter them from rain, and 

 place the plants beneath it. i this means they enjoy 

 a free circulation of air and light till in a proper state 

 «.f forwardness to remove under the hand-glasses, or on 

 She stage. £, 



Polyanthuses in PoT5.—The Polyanthus under pot- 

 culture does best in a western aspect from the present 

 time to the end of its blooming. Give as much air 

 if possible during the day, unless strong eold winds are 



Mowing ; then keep the lights on. If the frame is in a 

 Western aspect, give air at back, bj lifting the Lights 



but if in a southern one, lift the 



Protect tin i at nifcht : a mat 



about three inches , 

 lights at the front. 



or two thro 1 ov« the frame will be advisable. Top- 

 dress as early next month as you can, if tlie atmo- 

 sphere is not frosty. Polyanthu I thrive best in a 

 cool soil, rather Strong in quality than otherwise. One 

 miasm <>f decomposed cow-manure, two of leaf-mould, 

 and two of strong loam (top spit), are suitable for them; 

 but for top-dressing only, the compost given for the 

 Auricula will answer. Water them moderately, in- 

 reasin.: the quantity as the plants increase in growth ; 

 and a .v them to receive light showers during the 



month when the weather is nnt*n /? II" 



Calendar of Operations. 



(For the entuing week.) 



TLA XT DEPARTMENT. 



Conservatory, ccc. — Where the twiners for covering 

 the roof are grown in boxes, or have but limited root 

 room, as much of the surface soil should be removed 

 annually as can be done without seriously injuring the 

 roots, replacing it with some good rich, Pfresh material, 

 and this cannot be done at a better season than the 

 present. The conservatory or show-house should very 

 soon be full of fl< il beauty. Camellias, Luculias, 



Kpacri , Heaths, Primulas, .M nonette, Tree Violets, 

 Cinerarias, Daphne Indies, and many other showv 

 things, may easily be had in bloom about this time ; 

 and, with proper convenience, a few Roses and other 



forced \ . as Oranges, bulbs, &c, should also be 

 coming in, and will greatly assist in maintaining the 



gaiety so desirable in this house. 



FORCING DfiPARTMl 

 Pinfiiv.— There is often considerable difficulty expe- 

 rienced in getting the requisite number of plants to show 

 fro> at this season, and where this is the case every 

 advantage should be taken of mild weather to maintain 

 a brisk temperature, which may be kept at from 70° 

 to 75* by night, and 80° to 85° by day. The difficulty 

 o. getting plants to show fruit is generally the result 

 of their growth not having been properly matured in 

 time to al'ow the plants a period of comparative rest 

 before subjecting them to forcing with the view of 

 getting them to show fruit, and where any difficulty 

 of this kind is experienced timely attention should be 

 given to the preparation of the plants for another 

 season, which is the only means of having them at 

 trmnm All that can be done this season, however, 



with backward plant, will h* to take a (vantage of bright 



to 80 or 85 with sunshine, and 70- to 75° should be 

 secured at night. Maintain a moist growing atmo- 

 sphere, but do not syringe plant t overhead That are 

 showing fruit. Also see that the ro i are m a uronerlv 

 rno.st state, nsing tepid water where any is wanted 

 V121KBY.— In houses being started use mean* ♦« — i *J 



huds to break regularly, and where necessary bend the 

 Vines, raising the backward buds to the highest point ; 

 maintain a moist atmosphere, and sprinkle the Vines 

 morning and afternoon. When the buds begin to break 

 the night temperature may be increased a few degrees, 

 but it should not exceed 55° until they are all fairly 

 started, and 65° by day should not be exceeded except 

 with sunshine and air. Rub off all superfluous buds, 

 taking care to leave the stronger ones, but in cases where 

 there is any fear about the show of fruit, it will be 

 advisable to" leave all promising buds until the bunches 

 can be perceived. It is only in cases, however, where 

 the Vines are in a bad state that there need be any fear 

 about destroying all superfluous buds as soon as this can 

 be done. Admit air on every mild day, using a suf- 

 ficient amount of fire heat to maintain the proper tem- 

 perature. Look well to the border, and see that it is 

 protected from wet or sudden changes of weather ; and, 

 where fermenting materials are used, turn them as often 

 as necessary, adding a small quantity of fresh leaves 

 and dung, in order to maintain a steady heat. 



FLOWER GARDEN AND SHRUBBERIES. 



Let the most be made of fine weather when* it 

 returns, in the way of pushing forward new work, 

 alterations, and all out-doors operations, for we may 

 expect any time to have unfavourable weather for such 

 work, and the ordinary spring duties will shortly be 

 requiring attention. Where the turf is at all unievel 

 time should be spared in course of this or next month 

 to repair thin, as if lifted later than February it might 

 require some attention to get it to take quickly. Unievel 

 turf is an eyesore the season round, and it makes the 

 mowing more tedious and difficult, hence it is worth an 

 ••ffort to spare time to make whatever little repairs may 

 be necessary here. Sweep lawns occasionally to clear 

 them of fallen bits of branches, &c, and use the roller 

 here and on gravel frequently to secure a firm smooth 

 surface. Let the stock of plants, except those that may 

 be wanted to furnish cuttings, be freely exposed to air 

 whenever the weather will admit, so as to keep them 

 hard and n nder them less liable to damp off in the event 

 of their having to be kept covered up for some time 

 Any of the stock from which many cuttings are wanted 

 should be removed to a light warm situation without 

 loss of time, first washing the pots and clearing and 

 adding a little fresh soil to the surface of the ball. Some 

 kinds ol Verbenas, &c, are very subject to mildew when 

 placed in heat in the winter season, but this is easily 

 kept in check by means of sulphur, only let the sulphur 

 be applied the moment the pest makes its appearance. 



HARDY FRUIT AND KITCHEN GARDEN. 



If any planting of fruit trees still remains to be done 

 this should be seen to very soon, and every available 

 despatch used to get it completed. If it is worth while 

 to occupy ground with fruit trees, and incur the 

 expense, &c, of planting them, it certainly is worth 

 consideration whether the ground is in the best possible 

 state of preparation for being planted with fruit trees, 

 ami to incur any expense and trouble which may be 

 requisite in order to render the ground as suitable as can 

 be made for the kind of trees with which it is to be 



planted, 



direct outlay, for provided the ground is well drained, 

 there is little else required except labour, materials for 

 concreting, and a supply of good loamy soil, all of 



obtained about most places, 

 trees without there is a fair 

 prospect oi their d >ing well, and the necessary prepara- 

 tions for securing this can be more conveniently, cheaply, 

 and efficaciously made before planting than afterwards, 

 and the requisite preparations should be made, even if 

 doing this should necessitate putting oft" planting until 

 another season. Push forward the digging or trenching 

 as the case may be, aud get all vacant ground turned 

 over as soon after this as circumstances will admit. In 

 the kitchen garden as in other departments alterations 

 will occasionally be required, such as taking up and 

 relaying Box-edgings that have become imperfect, or 

 those that have grown too strong and bulky, turning or 

 covering walks with fresh gravel, and such jobs should 

 be done if possible before the busy season. 



STATE OF TUB WJUTHBR AT CHI5WICK. NEAR LOltDOJt, . 

 tor the week enUin* Jan. IS, 1855, m ob*erred at the Horticultural Garden*. 



To do this is seldom a work involving much 



which can generally be c 

 But it is useless to plant 



Jan. 









BiBOMKTIl. 



Friday 12!| 

 Samr. 13 24 

 Sunday H '. 

 Hon.. li| 35 



Tue». 

 Wed. 

 Thura. 



17 *:s 



IS ft 



Max. 



3 13 



30. 



30.456 

 30.1 s I 



*•.< 77 



30.118 



Average . 



Mm. 



30.519 



30.432 



I 



30.-2:3 



30.i 1 1 ; 



30,0 1 1 

 29.955 



30.3: 30.-: 



-i 



TSMPKBATURK. 



Ot the Air 



Oltbeharth 



Max. 



Min. I Mean l *»? 



deep. 



Jan 



2 te» t 

 deep. 



Jan. 



12-Fo^kjt; hazy clouds; overcast. 

 13—11 azy ; overcast ; frosty at night. 



" \i~S U * ; ^ iou . dy ; ? lear *' sUari> ,rost at night. 



I rn; 1Z /i Cl0U a dS; Clear aml frcsf y ! »linut snoir. 

 16 -Drzzly; fine; overcast; frosty. 



" iSst" g Sli * htly ; bea * y 8DOw ' 8ho *-"s ; clear and cold ; hard 



28— Froatjr j clear and cold ; snowing. 

 Mean temperature ot the week 6* deg. below the average. 



RECORD OP THE WEATHER AT CHlSWirir 

 Uurin^neUs^^ 



Prevailing Wind*. 



*•£ 



Sunday 21 

 Mon. 



Tues. 



Wed. 2» 



Thurs. Zi 



Friday 

 Sstur. 57 





\6 



H 



41.3 

 4- 



423 



Iff 



* t v 



II 



No. of 

 Years in 

 which it 

 Rained. 



Greatest 

 Quantity 

 of lUin. 



M 





» 



The highest temperature during the above period occurred on t k« «n i 

 54-toerm. W de* -, and the lowest on the 25th, l^kerm 15 d^* ** 



Notices to Correspondents. 



Cajukluas : B. The blemishes on the petals of your flowers «* 

 doubtl* i, caused by cold and damp. % • *«» 



Chesnuts: XX will be obliged by some of our coTTesp 3n ^-. 

 informing him what is the best mode of preserving these fri 

 the ravages of mice after they are sown. "* 



Geological Advertisement : Doone. What would vou think a 

 such an advertisement as this?— " Naturalists are hereto r? 

 quested to satisfactorily deny the following statements :-1tu 

 sun shines by day. The solid constituents of plants are form*! 

 out of water, carbon, nitrogen, and various saline matters. Th* 

 best reply to the above will be published at the expense of jv! 

 Challenger, provided it be not too long." Would you not tbS 

 the advertiser a lunatic? 



Holly Hedge : A B. There is no objection to the plan proposed- 

 but a better way would, perhaps, be in the end of August or 

 beginning of September to take up the whole of the hedge ajrf 

 replant it, trenching the ground as you proceed, and workingij 

 young plants where they are wanted. As you plant settle the 

 soil well about the roots with water; but do not trample it f ao4 

 cover in the whole with a little dry soil to keep in the mois'tor* 

 If you have plenty of manure, a small quantity of it ^ 

 rotted may be mixed with the mould, which is put about the 

 roots ; but the best way would be to use it in the shape of good 

 mulching on the surface. % 



Ice : WB. Do not use salt. Pick the ice from any clean pond or 

 river. Do not pound it, but pack it as closely as possible, and 

 remember that the more solid the pieces are the better it keeps. 

 The thin surface ice with which we are so often obliged to be 

 satisfied in this country keeps badly. If you could freeze the 

 whole contents of your ice house into a solid mass, it would 

 keep better; but how will you get it out when you want it? 



Insects : T Y. The white matter on the shreds of your PIuq 

 tree seems to be the secretion of a coccus or scale insect; if so, 

 y< ur trees ought to be scrubbed with a brush and hotwtter 

 (140°), and all the shreds and dead wood cut away. W. 



Kitchen Garden Refuse : Young Gardener. Provide a hole well 

 lined with puddled clay; into this put daily all your soft 

 vegetable refuse, waste kitchen stuff, and house slops. When, 

 ever you burn weeds, or sticks, or clay, add the ashes to the hap. 

 Carry to it all the leaves you don't want for leaf mould. After 

 laying five or six summer months, take it out, turn it well over, 

 and begin a new heap. In six months more it will be good 

 manure. You may hasten its decay and improve its quality by 

 adding gas-water frvm the gas-works if they are near. As to 

 the seeds of weeds, if you are good for anything as a gardener, 

 no weeds will be allowed to seed near you. Do not add old tan, 

 which ruins a " mixen," unless you burn it, when its asbej 

 become as valuable as other wood ashes. If the heap becomes 

 offensive, you must either add peat charcoal, or cover it with 

 earth. 



Mossy Apple Trees : Lichen. Scrape the moss off by all means, 

 and burn it. You need not meddle with the twigs, but confine 

 the operation to the trunk and main branches, which you 

 cannot easily hurt. A trowel is a good instrument, as it is 

 handy to use and takes off all the loose bark as well. 



Names of Plants : We have been so often obliged to reluctantly 

 decline naming heaps of dried or other plants, that we venture 

 to request our correspondents to recollect that we never have, 

 or couM have undertaken an unlimited duty of this kind. 

 Young gardeners, to whom these remarks more especially apply, 

 should bear in mind that, before applying to us for assistance, 

 they should exhaust their other means of gaining information. 

 We cannot save them the trouble of examining and thinking 

 for themselves ; nor would it be desirable If we could. All wi 

 can do is to I tip them— and that most willingly. It is no* 

 requested that, in future, not more than four plants may to 

 sent us at one time.— Leo. It is Ipomcea Qnamoclit, a tender 

 annual. It requires rich warm soil, and a warm corner in tha 

 garden, when all night cold is over. Your plants seem to have 

 died from wet, cold, and the want of fresh air. We should not 

 sow it before April. We. have seen it flowering beautifully ii 



trie warm light noil of Norfolk. 



Names of Fkuits: G F. From your description and sketch 

 the Apple grown about Norwich, it is, doubtless, Hubbard's 

 Peannain.-^J5 A. 1, Early Nonpareil; 2, Easter Pippin; 3, 

 Like Golden Reinette ; 5, Bedfordshire Foundling*, 6, Syke 

 House Kusset. The Pear is unknown,, probably somethi 

 wild; you may mark it worthless. |[ 



Oxalis : A IL would be glad of a list of hardy Oxalis, conspico- 

 ous enough to be worth one's cultivating. He only kuowsof 

 Floribunda, and Deppii, and Bowii doubtful. 



Pomological SocrETi' : J T. We do not know what the arrange- 

 ments are. You should apply to the Secretary, 20, Bedford 

 Street Covent Garden. 



Potato Yam : Z. You have received young tubers, not sets. Tb« 

 latter are, we presume, unattainable at present. 



Sikkim IliiODODENDRONS : Old Sub. The following varieties of 

 these are now set with flower-buds in the Hort. Society's Garden 

 nt Chiswiek, viz., Edgeworthi, cinnabarinum, glaucum and its 

 dwarf variety, ciliatum and its variety, alpiuum, Theseflorn: 

 and niveum.^f 



Tbmpkbatd : Strawberry-leaf. The following was the gronrf 

 temperature at 1 foot and at 2 feet deep, for the mouths » 

 No vember and December, from 1844 to 1854 inclusive :- 



1849. 

 46.96 



49.05 

 43.01 







Depth. J Months. 



1 foot 



2 feet 



November 

 December 



November 



46.58 

 42.69 



47.58 



1850. 



! December I 44.43 



44.28 47.97 ! 41.18 

 38.19 45.69 I 41.26 



47.30 47.85 41.96 

 41.56 ! 45.17 I 41.06 i 



46.28 

 40.54 



47 75 

 .30 



Months. 



November 

 December 



November 

 December 



44.8.5 

 43.59 



46.06 

 45.29 



47.96 

 44.14 



49.71 

 45.67 



1846. 



48.03 

 38.21 



49.61 

 41.06 



1845. 



1S44. 





47.73 

 43.47 



45.S5 



39.79 





From the above it appears, that in 





Nov. 



43.03 



Dec. 



J The highest mean temperature occurred in 1^...»-JJ 

 (The lowest ditto ditto 1851 . 41 



f The highest mean temperature occurred in l^ 2 --^2 

 { The lowest ditto ditto 1844.. 38* 



Thitomas: A H. solicits information respecting these V lsS * 

 especially as to Aurea and Burchelli. 



Vegetables: A B. The Persil-Celeri (Neapolitan or CeW 

 leaved Parsley), is a large sort of Parsley: the teaf-stall»»J 

 blanched and eaten like those of Celery. In order to Dfanjj 

 the stalks, they must of course be earthed up. The »» •* 

 jaune de Finlande or Yellow Finland Turnip, is an excewj 

 small, regularly-formed Turnip with sugary ten(Jer J^J 

 The top is small, as is also the tap root ; the latter pro«*J 

 from the centre of an evenly-rounded bottom. As a g**"^ 

 Turnip for winter use it well deserves cultivation.!! 



Woods and Forests : Quercus. The last Blue book we 

 seen is No. 377, ordered to be printed Julv 17. 1854. ^ e hf% 

 before us a "report," dated Dec. 7, 1854, by Messrs. M»%jf 

 Murton, and Menzies upon the state of the forests ana 

 management, but we can place no confidence in the ^^ 

 ments of persons who could be concerned in such a darK 

 action as that which ended in the dismissal of Mr. Br0 ? n 'j& 



MISC. : DUs. It is a rule at all publishing offices not to }™tf0 

 with the wording of advertisements, or to refuse the ids* 

 of anything unless against good morals. ^ 



%* As usual, many communications have been received toe^ 

 and others are unavoidably detained till the necessary in 

 can be made. 





h»* 





