February 21, 18C5. ] 



JOUKNAL OF HORTICULTUBB AND COXXAGE GAE.DENEB. 



161 



rather less in length, are very nice when cooked whole. The 

 flavour of the Bean is thus better secured than when the pods 

 are cut up or whittled into little morsels. These and other 

 vegetables are often sadly spoiled. The last time wo sat at a 

 public dinnpr party the sight of the vegetables was more than 

 enough. What had been good Beans looked as if they had 

 been sweltering for a fortnight in the sun on the top of a 

 nibbish-henp. Soft boiling water and a little dash of carbo- 

 nate of soda, with even common attention, would have made 

 .all the difference between the enticing and the revolting. 



Other matters in the kitchen garden and fruit garden 

 much the same as in previous weeks, as the frost has pre- 

 vented much being done. In the orchard-house, proceeded 

 with painting the trees and whitewashing the wall, or rather, 

 thinly covering it, the wash being fresh lime dulled with 

 blueblack, and a good portion of flowers of sulphur. We 

 have not washed the wall much after syringing well with 

 the wai'm water, and will, therefore, put on the finishing 

 wash of lime and sulphur rather thin, so aa to fill up any 

 holes that may be left. Last season, in July, we found a 

 trace of spider, and on washing open parts of the wall with 

 sulphur and soft soap water, we soon got rid of them by 

 shutting up early when the sun was in the house. 



OENAMENTAL DEPARTMENT. 



Went on potting, &a., as in previous weeks. The frost 

 being sharp, protection gave us but little trouble, as we 

 allowed it to remain night and day, except in the case of 

 Cucumbers, Potatoes, Strawberries, ic, in heat. In such 

 dull frosty weather, this gives a great relief where much is 

 done in the way of covering and protection. Having nothing 

 very particular to record, we would give a few words to our 

 friends, the window gardeners, taking a number of matters 

 in a random way. 



Old Scarlet Geranivms Boiting. — "Alpha" says she cram- 

 med some boxes in the faggot-style as we recommended, and 

 put them in a spare room without iire, watered them at 

 Christmas, and what with frost and damp they are rotting." 

 Very sorry ; such plants should have been packed firmly in 

 soil, either dampish, or made so by watering, and then 

 covered on the surface with an inch or two of dry soil. When 

 frost set in, the plants and tlie box .should have been covered 

 either with cloths or a little dry hay. Watering should have 

 been let alone until the plants began to break. In a cold 

 place we are satisfied if they thus break in March — that will 

 be time enough. 



Scarlet Geraniums for the Window. — No plan tried beats 

 Mr. Beaton's Harry Moore's. Supposing the box to be filled 

 for 1865 : — Let the plants become rather dry after Septem- 

 ber, pick off the leaves before the end of October, and take 

 the boxes to a spare room, or garret, before the plants are 

 touched with frost ; protect them from fi-ost when it comes ; 

 uncover, and keep near the light in fine weather. In March, 

 as they break, prune away any dead points and irregular 

 bitsj and give a little water, not by drenching the box, but 

 by making little holes with a pointed stick about G inches 

 apart, and filling these with water in the first place. By 

 the time the new leaves are as large as a shilling, scrape off 

 a lot of the sui-face soil, stir up the rest a little, water with 

 water about 60" if needed, then top dress with fibry loam 

 and old cowdung, or any other rotten manure, and water 

 afterwards as needed, keeping the boxes inside until the 

 20th of May. The less the plants have grown before that 

 time, provided they are healthy, the more abundantly will 

 they bloom, and the better will the wood be ripened for 

 another year. We see no reason why a Geranium-box should 

 not thus continue with the same plants, and never removing 

 them, to go on blooming every summer for the space of 

 twenty or even thirty years. Such plants are much easier 

 kept in winter than those with luxuriant growth taken up 

 out of flower-beds, the free-blooming and little growing of 

 such plants in pots and boxes, are what enabled them to be 

 BO easily kept in a garret, spare room, or dry cellar. We 

 have known such boxes placed in a hay-loft, a little hay 

 shaken over them in, December, and remaining untouched 

 until March, when the young buds were breaking, and then 

 they were allowed some Uglit in fine days. They will thrive 

 aU the better if few of the largest leaves are not more than 

 the size of a florin when placed outside the window in May. 



Fuclisias Drop2}ing their ^'lowers. — " Omega " tells us that 

 her Fuchsias all dropped their bloom inside of the window 



last summer. This was owing either to want of air or want 

 of water : most likely they would have done as well outside 

 the window for a time. We have known Fuchsias drop 

 their flowers and seem damp enough, and even the pot 

 when struck emitted a heavy sound, and yet, except at the 

 outsides of the balls, such plants were dry. When holes 

 were made in the centre of the ball with a pointed stick, 

 and then watered, or the pot was submerged in a pail of 

 water for ten minutes, the blooms opened and kept on well 

 enough. The plants had either been shifted when the roots 

 were dry, or the fresh soil added had been left rather loose, 

 and the water applied escaped by the loose soiL 



Repotting. — A great many window gardeners lose their 

 plants, or render them unhealthy, by shifting them with the 

 soil of the old plants dry. It is nest to impossible ever to 

 make the old ball and the new soil fraternise in such circum- 

 stances, and the water given is repelled from the old ball as 

 by a duck's wing. Hence, in potting, the importance at 

 this season of adopting one of two methods. 



First. Here is a nice Geranium or Pelargonium in a four- 

 inch pot, the roots fiUing the pot nicely. Well, as it is de- 

 sirable to grow it on with little check, the pot is well 

 watered some hours before shifting, the outside ball is 

 gently rufBed, and the roots disengaged before the baU is 

 transferred to aerated heated soil in a six-inch pot, the soil 

 being packed rather firm. In such a case, if the soil is 

 rather moist, no water wUl be required for a time, except 

 where the old ball and the new soil touch each other. 



Secondly. Here is a little Fuchsia in a small pot growing 

 slowly all the winter, and the pot now fuU of roots. Well, 

 treat it in the same manner ; but 



Thirdly. Here is a large Fuchsia in a large pot. We have 

 pruned it a little, and we are more anxious that the plant 

 should be a mass of bloom, than that it should become more 

 luxuriant, or larger than usual. Well, we shall suppose 

 that the pot is standing on the damp floor of a cellar, in 

 which case it would need no water all the winter. If it 

 stood in a dry garret, it might need a little, unless it was 

 plunged in some damp material. Now, if the plant is 

 pretty vigorous, it may thrive well in a window for several 

 years, if top dressed like the boxes of Geraniums. If he- 

 coming a little weakly, it is best to give it fresh soil in the 

 same space of feeding-room — that is, in the same pot, or the 

 same sized pot. To secure dampness of the roots in this 

 ease, the best plan is to shake the most of the dry earth 

 away, dip the roots for ten minutes in water at 60°, let them 

 drain a little, and repot in rich light loam, pretty well con- 

 solidated. By this plan little water will be needed until the 

 plant is growing away freely, and providing the fresh soil is 

 just moist, the fresh roots wiU run into it all the more kindly 

 from not being deluged with water. 



Let us here repeat, that next to cleanliness, nicely aerated 

 warm soil for spring-shifting is a matter of great importance. 



Bulbs now showing for bloom, and in bloom, should have 

 all the light possible, and when dry will relish a little clear 

 manure water. Hyacinths in glasses will be benefited by 

 two or three bits of charcoal in the glasses ; but for the sake 

 of observing the rooting process, there is no great pleasure 

 in seeing these glasses in rooms, though they are more 

 elegant than the general run of pots. The best plan is to 

 grow them in pots, and keep these out of sight, by plunging 

 or planting in an elegant vase or basket. Flowering 

 plants may be transferred from pots to glasses, by holding 

 the ball from a pot in your hands m a pail of water, 

 washing away the earth, and then placing the roots in the 

 glasses. When in bloom, or nearly so, such plants may be 

 moved to the middle of the room, or even the mantelpiece 

 on a cold frosty night, but during the day they should have 

 all the light possible. Some time ago we saw in a fine day 

 what ought to have been a noble row of Hyacinths on the 

 mantel-shelf of the sitting-room. It was something like 

 transferring the worthy owners to the black hole of Calcutta. 

 — E. F. 



TEADE CATALOGUES EECEIVED. 



Lamoureur, Clai-k, & Co., Plymouth. — General Price Cur- 

 rent and Garden Directory. 



William Davidson, 30a, St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh. 

 — Select List of Seed^, Plants, and Implements. 



