72 



JOTJKNAL OF HOETICULTTTRE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. t January 24, ises. 



iinds may now be done. Should, however, some Pioventfe, 

 Mess, and other summer-flowering: sorts be required to 

 bloom late, reserve a portion till April for that purpose. 

 Should heavy snow or severe weather set in. Pinks and 

 Carnations planted in the open borders will run some danger 

 of destruction in those localities where hares and rabbits 

 abound. Protection can be given by laying small pieces of 

 Larch spray or branches between the rows of plants, and 

 then placing otlier branches on the top of these. Air and 

 light have free access to the plants, and as spring advances 

 the coverings are removed ; for, as vegetation commences, 

 more palatable food in the shape of young clover, &.C., will 

 entice the rabbits and hares to feed at a distance. 



GKEENHOUSE AND CONSEBVATORT. 



The unsettled state of the weather lately, has called, and 

 will probably continue to do so, for much judicious manage- 

 ment in regulating the temperature. AATiile cold, biting 

 winds prevail much caution must be used in admitting air. 

 It will be necessary to support a temperature varying from 

 45° to 50" by moderate fires. Naturally plants make little 

 progress at this season, but they may be stimulated to un- 

 healthy acti\'ity if attention be not directed to the regu- 

 lation of the temperature; a forced and premature growth 

 ■will for ever injure plants both in health and appearance. 

 Kepressing undue activity at this time will in no wise en- 

 feeble plants, or prevent their perfect development at a 

 later and more favourable season. Care must be taken that 

 Camellias receive no check, or their buds will be endangered. 

 Brugmansia sanguinea, a noble conservatory plant, demands 

 similar attention. 



STOVE. 



Still be cautious in the application of more heat. For 

 the Orchids it is far better, the ycai- having only begun, that 

 they start somewhat later, with a free growth than to make 

 a premature and stunted one. Take every care that a due 

 proportion of moisture is maintained in the atmosphere. 

 -ilthough the majority of this tribe requue to be very drj' at 

 the root during the rest season, yet they enjoy and require 

 a somewhat moist atmosphere, more especially if in a state 

 of constant and lively motion. 



FORCING-PIT. 



Bring in asuccessional lot of bulbs, etc., and if not already 

 done take all the hardy forcing plants under the protection 

 of a greenhouse stage, or even a warm shed, or the frost 

 may have them in its cold embrace at a time when you 

 would wish to introduce them to warmer quarters. Apart 

 from this, it is advisable to excite them gradually before 

 they are introduced to the forcing-pit. Let the temperature 

 be from G0° to 75", with sunshine. Shut up early with a 

 moist atmosphere, but give a little air, if possible, before 

 leaving the fire for the night. 



PITS AND FRAMES. 



Sow on a gentle hotbed for pricking-out Cauliflowers, 

 hardy Lettuces, Bed Cabbage, and a few Horn Carrots. See 

 that Cauliflowers in frames and hand-glasses have proper 

 attention in giving air, removing decayed leaves, stirring 

 the surface and jjlacing dry earth or dry chai-red refuse 

 among the plants. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



LABOUR POWER. 



Geneeai, work very much the same as last week, with the 

 addition to attending to many little matters too numerous 

 to mention. Sometimes people write to us inquiring what 

 labour power they ought to have for such a sized garden, 

 telling us the old story about the man to the acre. We 

 are always forced to give a very qualified reply to all such 

 questions. We have seen an acre of garden-ground so 

 managed, that a single man all the year through must have 

 had a comfortable time of it, bo comfortable that like many 

 of our forefathers when John Frost asserted his supremacy, 

 lie might go and enjoy himself with any sport that was then 

 in progress. Wo have seen other gardens of less than an 

 acre, so laid out, supplied with glass, &c., and so much 

 T>anted from the small space, that three or four times the 

 labour power would leave enongh for every one to bo kept 

 actively at work. A garden, too, not only cropped, but 



kept so as to be passable, is a very different affair from 

 keeping everything in fii-st-rate order. We recollect very 

 well of two gardens very much alike, except in the matter 

 of keeping. In the one two men were kept, in the other 

 four. In the first the walks were rolled once or twice a-year, 

 and a little roughness was no objection, nor yet a few weeds, 

 if they did not assume giantlike proportions. In the second 

 case the lawn was rolled every morning in summer with a 

 light roller to scatter the dew, when there was any, that the 

 ladies might walk earlier upon it without wetting their thin- 

 soled slippers ; and the walks were generally rolled at least 

 three times a-week, and so free of a leaf or a weed were 

 they kept, that the proprietor if he noticed a weed anywhere 

 above 1 inch in height, was almost sure to give himself the 

 trouble of going after it, pulling it up, and laying it down 

 very carefully in the centre of the principal walk, just to act 

 as a quiet hint to the gardener. That employer was a noble- 

 hearted man, and though as great an enemy to idleness as 

 ever lived, would at the same time have been horrified at any 

 in his employment being overworked, or even working as hard 

 as he did himself in his commercial undertakings ; and yet 

 though the men were chaffed by their neighbours for having 

 so little to do, it was well understood on the whole that the 

 four men worked sharper than the two in the neighbouring 

 garden. 



A number of little matters also, especially if attended 

 with vai-ious things foreign to the garden, make all the 

 difference in the labour power required. A gentleman not 

 so long ago, after telling us all about his garden, though 

 perfectly satisfied, thought he might manage with much less 

 labour power ; but whatever wo thought then, we formed a 

 very different oiDinion when we leai-ned that men and boys 

 were taken from the garden to beat ibr the young gentlemen 

 whenever they went sliooting — that they had to prepare wood, 

 carry coals to the different places in the mansion, pump 

 water, attend laundry, run all sorts of messages, &c., attend 

 and do all sorts of little jobs at all times and all seasons. 

 No plan can be more wasteful of labom- power. It is not 

 only the time thus lost to the garden, but the men get 

 unsettled and unfitted for garden work just in proportion 

 as they are so employed, and to the number called upon to 

 engage in such employment. If there is not enough work 

 for an odd man to attend to all such matters, it would stOl 

 be advisable to have one man in general for such work, and 

 place him at the garden or farm to till up the time he was 

 not wanted at the house, ic. It will only be safe, however, 

 to count verj' little on such extra services out of doors. 

 Many gardens that would beinfii-st-rate order, and a soui'ce 

 of happiness and comfort to aU concerned, are turned into 

 scenes of endless woiTy and annoyance merely because the 

 gardener can never depend on his labour. Whatever the 

 amount of that labour, it ought to be kept to the garden 

 as a general rule. Of course there are exceptions and emer- 

 gencies when everybody would only be too glad to give a 

 helping hand: but we know full well that no garden can be 

 conducted satisfactorily and economically when everybody 

 about an establishment can take and get what help they 

 may think they need from the gai-den-men. 



GABDBNERS' D\\'ELLINGS AND HEALTH. 



We class these together, because the dwelling more than 

 the nature of the employment, exerts a great influence on 

 sanitary matters. Sudden changes from a hothouse to a 

 frosty temperature may be guarded against by clothing and 

 muffling up. Damp at the feet in dull, muggy weather, 

 may be neutralised by wooden sabots, or india-rubber go- 

 loshes, not worn longer than necessary, otherwise they will 

 heat and draw the feet, and liy the confined perspiration do 

 more harm than good. But no care can ward off the efi'ects 

 of low, damp, shaded, small, unventilated houses. Few 

 can give ventilation in winter, and at the same time avoid 

 cold, cutting draughts. Small rooms are, therefore, apt 

 to be very unhealthy in winter, as the more the heat, the 

 more will the atmosphere be rendered impure by the pro- 

 cesses of combustion and breathing, more especially if 

 the walls or floor bo damp. In a largo room, the fire will 

 form a good ventilator, with the help occasionally of opening 

 the door for a few minutes. And the same with bedrooms. 

 Instead of having in winter to open door or window at night 

 in a small bedroom, it is every way much preferable to have 



