February 7 , 1865. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTtlRE AND COTTAGE GARDENEK. 



115 



potted some nice little Cucumber plants that -n-ere groiring 

 in a hotbed of leaves. We have seen some of our old gar- 

 deners do thi; at the back of the frame, with a thick cloth 

 covering themselves and the opening that the plants might 

 not suffer — a rather dilferent thing from carrying such 

 tender plants all exposed in a sieve to the potting-shed. 

 We choose a medium course. We had the plants under 

 some little, •n-ooden, bottomless boxes, but with a glass move- 

 able top inside the frame. The plants were taken out 

 quickly, placed in a deep basket half filled with warm leaves, 

 and were then can-ied with a thick cloth over and round the 

 basket to a warm stoke-hole shed, where pots and soil had 

 been previously warmed ready for them, the pots aU drained, 

 soil in the bottom, &c., and warmish water all ready, so that 

 the shifting was soon done, and the plants were quickly put 

 back again by means of the warm covered basket, the bed 

 being nicely forked over whilst the shifting was being done, 

 in the close warm place. 



In reference to the mischief accruing from sudden changes 

 of temperatm-e, a correspondent thus writes : — " "What you 

 said last week is all true about sudden extremes. I used, 

 though only an amateur, to be very successful with Cucum- 

 bers. I was done one year, and I have always thought that 

 my most successful rival had something to do with it. He 

 noticed me taking some things very carefully from the bed 

 into my little workshop, and then he came to talk about 

 some long-winded story. I thought I had shut the door all 

 right, but no, I left it open, and when I was at liberty my 

 poor little plants were" in a pitiable plight, and with all my 

 coaxing they did no good afterwards. Thus I was regularly 

 beaten through that good-natured chat."' Well, it might be 

 so — the leaving the door open was qmte sufficient, without 

 indulging in any uncharitable surmises. But why not have 

 been straightforward, and told ilr. Pry to wait "until you 

 had done your job ? The truth most Kkely was that you 

 were determined your rival should not see your fine plants. 

 Such hiding will soon be classed with the things that were, 

 and when the knowing ones are caught at times they may 

 expect to have the joke against them. 



Miishroorti-beds. — These have been producing heavily, and 

 as we were obliged to sprinkle a little litter on the beds in 

 severe weather, we have had it taken off, and swept the beds 

 with a hair broom, so as to leave all clean and firm, then 

 sprinkled gently any part that seemed a little dry, and we 

 have no doubt that we shall have plenty more. At this 

 season we prefer a little moisture in the atmosphere to much 

 watering. A month or two hence water may be applied 

 more freely if the beds are at all dry, and some manure 

 water from sheep or deer-dung will be more telling than 

 clean water. Beat down firmly another piece that had been 

 spawned about ten days ago. The beating firm is so far a 

 preservative against woodlice. Do what we may we are 

 always troubled with them as the spring comes on, and 

 there is nothing for it but scalding and trapping. We have 

 no doubt we take them in with the litter and the dung, for 

 it is rare to be able to find one in the autumn after we 

 have cleaned out the house. 



Sudden extremes are also bad for ilushi-oom-beds. We 

 have seen a bed covered up and producing well, all uncovered 

 to gather the produce, and left uncovered and exposed until 

 the bed was chUled, and the working spawn next to kiUed, 

 so that when the owner went, expecting to gather a basket 

 of fat juicy ilushrooms, he obtained nothing but little dots 

 of brownish buttons, as tough as a blacksmith's apron. 



We think we mentioned about double spawning an ele- 

 vated sparred-bed, and it has done pretty fair on the under 

 side, giving us some very large ilushrooms protruded 

 Jirough the spai-s. The bed altogether is about 15 inches 

 deep. _ A little long litter was placed on the spais, then the 

 turf with the grass side uppermost, all being made regular, 

 TOth a little loam spread over the openings ; on this a little 

 of the dang materials for the bed, and on this spawn in little 

 Dits. The material was of such a nature that there was no 

 danger of overheating, especially at the bottom. The bed 

 above was treated just as beds are generally treated. Though 

 thus Ilushrooms can be had from both sides of a raised shelf 

 bed, except for getting a dish from the under side on an 

 emergency, we do not know if there is in the peculiar 

 system a great deal to recommend it. 



We have put in a little more material to help to make 



another little piece of a bed on the bottom or floor of the house. 

 The bottom part is chiefly fresh long litter from the stable : 

 on that are placed some droppings that had been thrown 

 together for a week. This would throw up rather too much 

 steam in the house at this season, and, therefore, we cover 

 it over with rough, lumpy, dry loam to keep down the moist 

 steam. This soil is much better than wasting the manure 

 by drying it too much beforehand. When people are scarce 

 of material they must make the most of it. One of the 

 finest beds we ever had was formed chiefly of old stumble, 

 with a casing over it of rather rotten dung ; but for all 

 that we prefer about equal parts of droppings and litter 

 cut small, so as to mix intimately. At this season when 

 droppings, unless they come direct from the stable, are apt 

 to be too damp and wet, a little chopped straw, or dry litter 

 chopped, will make it all in good condition. If even then 

 the bed should be rather damp for receiving the spawn, a 

 fine produce may be obtained by wrapping each piece of 

 spawn in a handful of dry litter. 



FBTHT GABDEN'. 



Looked over fr-uit-room, pruned a little in orchard-house, 

 damped the Vines breaking, sprinkled Peach trees, and set 

 Strawberry plants in bloom in the best positions we could 

 muster for light. It is a great advantage to have a place 

 for everything, but in these days how few can command 

 such conveniences ! Among the thousands who relish their 

 eaily Strawberries how few there are who have a Strawberry- 

 house, where the plants can be placed and remain uutU the 

 fi-uit is gathered, as in the beautiful Strawberry-house at 

 Enville. In all these places we reduced the temperature 

 considerably during the storm, for what was the use of a 

 high temperature when the days gave us nothing but fog 

 and snow ? The point of safety in all such cases is quite 

 high enough as respects temperature, and the plants will be 

 found strong and stubby to take the advantage of the sun 

 and clear days when they come. The snow was rather more 

 than a foot deep in this neighbourhood ,- as it is now melting 

 fast, and filling the pools and reservoirs, it is also filling 

 hearts with gratitude that they wiU not now be likely with- 

 out water until the springs rise in the wells. 



We are sorry that some amateurs with small greenhouses 

 against the walls of their dwelling-house have suffered from 

 the snow from the roof of their houses falling and crashing 

 through the glass of the greenhouse. We had thus a score 

 of small squares broken om-selves. The roof of the dwelling- 

 house had been altered, and in attending to the roof of the 

 mansion we forgot our own, and at night the slip of the 

 snow went clear over the spouting and in through some of 

 the glass. In all such cases of lean-to's where there is a 

 high roof above them, some sort of parapet should be erected 

 to prevent such an accident ; or when a heavy fall of snow 

 takes place, and there is a prospect of a thaw, a covering 

 in the shape of shutters or thick canvass should be placed 

 over the lower part of the greenhouse roof, as it will be easy 

 to tell where the snow is apt to fall after it pitches past the 

 spouting. 



On steep roofe the snow remained only a short time ; but 

 on flatter roofs, as on the late vinery, it lay well, and thus 

 gave a good protection to the Grapes, and we took care not 

 to give as much heat below as to melt this snow whilst the 

 fr-ost lasted. The snow also protected all vegetables and 

 young crops out of doors more effectually than could have 

 been done in the sharp frost by any other means. 



ORXA:sIENTAL DEPAETSIEIfT. 



Out of doors nothing has been done here, except clearing 

 paths of the snow, and placing a good portion of it about 

 the garden so that it would find its way to ovu: reservoirs as 

 it melted. If it had continued we thought of having a snow 

 plough made for the roads and walks. For the former a 

 good plough is formed of three strong planks, say 2 inches 

 thick, 10 inches deep, two S feet long and one 6 feet long. 

 The 6 feet forms the base of the triangle, the two others the 

 sides terminating in a point, to which horse-power is at- 

 tached; the handles are placed at the base. The three sides 

 are strongly braced together, and if the snow is deep there 

 is, a heavy weight placed on the bracing or the box thus 

 formed, or a man sits or stands there to keep all clear. For 

 one or two men, for gaiden use, one about the third of the 



