S4 



JOITKVAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGrE GARDENER. 



[ Janaarj 17, 1863. 



!T Dtparf Ki4i>iey Seans. — Sowed in boxes in front of Cucuip- 

 ber-bed, to be afterwards transplanted into beds or pots. At 

 tliia season we prefer pots, as they are easier managed and 

 can be moved, where room is limited, to suit any fresh 

 arrangement. How few can complain of an inability to fill 

 all their glass space, the cry is all in an opposite direction. 

 How shall we give anything like justice to the myriads of 

 things roqiiiring our attention, and all demanding the best 

 positions y 



Cabbages. — Stirred the surface of the soil and put some 

 charred rubbish round the plants, which will keep some 

 enemies from them and Lettuces ; but we have also been 

 obliged to place a net all round the quarter to save the nice 

 young plants from rabbits and hares. This garden is sur- 

 rounded by an Ivy fence which looks nice in the place, but 

 it is a fine harbour for these marauders, 'and they lie so 

 close in it that there is great difficulty in dislodging them. 

 These thieves do eat the Cabbages, and, therefore, do a little 

 good for themselves ; but when they nip out the points of 

 young trees, and top the shoots and leave them, they do so 

 much mischief that no quarter should be given them. For 

 want of netting-in a young plantation of trees, &c., wa 

 nsed to find a stout softish string well dipped in oil and tar, 

 and stretched all round some 6 inches from the ground, a 

 good preservative, taking care to run a brush with the moist 

 material along the string when it became dry. We shall be 

 obliged to try this and other plans again. WUl any corre- 

 spondent say what is the best and simplest protection from 

 these mai-auders in the case of young plantations ? Our ex- 

 perience leads us to the conclusion, that what will deter at 

 one time ceases eventually to be any bugbear, animals in 

 this respect becoming too much like men, who are apt to 

 form ideas of what is vicious and wi-ong, in proportion as 

 they refrain or indulge. 



Cucumbers and other matters much the same as previous 

 weeks. 



FETJIT GARDEN. 



Pruned, &c., in favourable weather. Watered Strawberries 

 under cover and coming into bloom. Looked over Grapes, 

 and examined the fruit-room. Apples are in general keep- 

 ing well, as they ought to do after such a dry summer. 

 Continued most of the operations alluded to last week. 



OENAMENTAI, DEPAKTMBNT. 



The snow wiU temporarily stop our work of grubbing up 

 old stumps and roots from a part where trees have been 

 felled, and where some more ornamental objects wiU be sub- 

 stituted. The best way to do such work, when the ground 

 is full of roots, is not only to take up .all the stumps, but to 

 trench the ground and clear it of roots. Where the ground 

 had previously been thickly planted, this is a very laborious 

 operation, and takes up much time ; but it is by far the 

 best, as the decaying roots of the removed trees are apt to 

 become harbours for various sorts of fungi, .fee., that will be 

 apt to hurt the roots of the fresh trees. The next best, 

 perhaps, and which we will adopt to save time, is to take 

 out the stumps that are most in our way, to chip the out- 

 sides of hardwooded trees of the bark and a portion of the 

 alburnum, coat these parts with tar, and then bore two or 

 three holes about the centre of the stump. The tar will 

 prevent the dock stooling at the sides, and the holes, 

 becoming receptacles for moisture, wiU cause the dock 

 gradually to rot away. Then take out holes from 5 to 

 10 feet in diameter, and fill up with good fresh soil, and 

 plant on knolls if deemed advisable, which is suitable for 

 most of the I'ine tribe. Sucli fresh soil would be a necessary 

 addition to the exhausted earth at any rate. The old soil, 

 outside of the mounds, will derive fertility from the want of 

 cropping ; but when the roots of the young trees penetrate 

 into the old soil, and if it be deemed necessary, more fresh 

 soil may then be added. This hole, mound, and platform 

 planting enables a person to do the work sooner at first, 

 and yet gives the fresh trees a good chance, and then more 

 help can be given at a convenient opportunity, when time 

 can bo bettor spared. In most gardens large jobs can 

 hardly be carried out and thoroughly finished at oneo, with 

 the usual complement of labour, when it could be comfort- 

 ably managed when done at dilTcrent and suitable times. 

 The plants also get the firesh food just as they are prepared 

 to enjoy it. Nevertheless, wo would prefer thorough trenching 



at first, as then the trees might be helped continuously all 

 the same, whether planted ou the level or elevated on 

 mounds. In the latter case, if the turf is removed, the 

 mound can bo easily widened. Would Mr. Barnes kindly 

 tell our readers if he has yet added to the mounds of the 

 Wellingtonia group at Bioton, the size of these mounds, 

 and the size of the plants now ? It would be interesting to 

 many to know. 



Timiing-up Flower-heds and Borders. — -Whore these are not 

 planted this work has been proceeded with in suitable 

 weather. One of our points is deep stin-ing, and generally 

 mixing just a little of the subsoil, stirring that, however, 

 and leaving it mostly where it is. Last season, though so 

 di-y. Scarlet Gernaniums did splendidly, never better ; but 

 in taking some up we traced the roots fully 4 feet down. 

 All their i-oots were much deeper than usual. Surface- 

 rooting plants, as Calceolarias, suffered most. Never did 

 there seem such rooting work before. The ground turned 

 up now seems in many cases as full of roots, as an old wig is 

 fuU of hair. The turning-up of these, and the frost and the 

 atmosphere together, will reduce these decomposing roots 

 into manure for the future crop. Wo prefer ridging-up all such 

 soil, and mixing considerably as we go along, and keeping 

 a good portion of the surface soil at the surface, instead of 

 turning it down to the bottom of the trench. The surface 

 soil is the richest, and we wish the richest to be at the sur- 

 face to encourage quick growth when the plants are turned 

 out. The comparatively poorer soil at a greater depth gives 

 just enough of a check to promote free blooming. Were 

 the richest soil turned to the bottom, we would have more 

 foliage than we wanted, and would be obliged to plant 

 thinner and to disleaf considerably besides. To insure rich- 

 ness at the surface, what little we can give in the shape of 

 leaf mould or well-rotted hotbed manure (mostly leaves 

 with a little dung), we place on the surface. This, though 

 no doubt the practice would be condemned by good agri- 

 culturists, we generally throw over the ridges and leave it 

 there for a considerable time exposed. We no doubt lose 

 manurial properties by the exposure, but we gain in sweet- 

 ness and the killing of worms, &a., by the frost. Wo gene- 

 rally turn it in a few 'inches without levelling the ridges 

 before it would be too much dried by spring winds. In such 

 mellow surfaces most things succeed well when they are 

 turned out, and one secret of a rich flower garden in sum- 

 mer, we believe to be free growth at first and more stunted 

 growth afterwards. The deep stirring prevents much of a 

 check, secures so far against dryness, whilst the compara- 

 tive poverty of the deeper soil prevents over-luxuriance. Of 

 course when great luxuriance, as in the case of fine-foliaged 

 plants, is the object, the opposite course should be followed, 

 as with Eicinus, Canna, &c. 



Went ou as occasion permitted in looking after young 

 plants, damping, giving air, putting a little fire ou, especi- 

 ally during the day, and potting greenhouse and stove plants 

 as detailed in previous weeks. 



Ice and Snow. — Had we not some ice wo would have been 

 snow-roUing. It is just r.athor thin for that purpose, but 

 still a good deal could have been obtained ; and if a little 

 more fall wo will most likely take advantage of it. We 

 presumed almost everybody knew how to do the work, but 

 everybody does not; as not so long ago we saw some big 

 men lilting the snow gingerly on shovels, after scraping it 

 and throwing it into a cart — a very roundabout mode of 

 proceeding. The snow will roll only when it is soft or fi-esh- 

 iallen. Just stoop down, and make a good-sized ball as if 

 you were to go snowballing on a large scale. Turn the ball 

 over and over in the snow, and as it collects and gets large 

 you may want a man or two to help you with the hugo 

 mound that adds to itself in bulk and solidity as it is rolled 

 along. The size of the huge ball may bo in proportion as 

 to how you are to got it into the ice-house or ice-stack. In 

 the former case it may bo as Large as may be turned on to 

 a barrow, the barrow being laid down on one side. If to bo 

 taken by a cart, the larger tlie mound is tlio bettor, as thon 

 it can be cut into great lumps with a shovel. A heap ia 

 easiest made for a staclc when you can roll the snow from 

 all the surrounding ground. If to bo carted it is of loss 

 moment where you bring it from. If tho snow is fresh and 

 soft a little water will help to solidify it when knocked firmly 

 together. In the case of a stack out of doors, watering the 



