May 16, IIU. ] 



JOUENAL OP HOETICULTURK AND COTTAGE GAKDENEE. 



986 



The plants in this house will now be growing freely, and 

 will require frequent attention as regards stopping and 

 training. Give them a proper amount of pot-room, and 

 afford them all the sunshine they will bear without scorch- 

 ing, with a moist atmosphere, admitting air freely on mild 

 days ; also afford them sufficient space for the perfect deve- 

 lopment of their foliage. Go over creepers frequently, so as 

 to regulate their growth and prevent confusion, which, with- 

 out attention, soon happens. Syringe and shut up early on 

 the afternoons of fine bright days, and be as sparing as 

 possible in the use of ai'tificial heat. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OP THE LAST WEEK. 

 Dehohtpul warm showers have set all vegetation rapidly 

 growing, and the change on the pastures and corn fields, as 

 well as on most garden crops, is astonishing. It wOl give a 

 nice help to Strawberry plants now coming into bloom, and 

 as for mowing, a man can do double what he could do in a 

 dewless morning, and the ground too hard and dry for even 

 a roller to squeeze down the little worm and other heaps. 



KITCHEN GAKDEN. 



Very much the same as in previous weeks. Gave a little 

 salt to Asparagus and Sea-kale. Sowed more Turnips, Peas, 

 and Beans. Planted out Scarlet Kunners. Pricked-out a lot 

 of Onions sown late in autumn, to yield large bulbs before 

 those sown in spring. Planted more Cauliflower; sowed 

 successions of Lettuces, Onions for salads. Cabbage for sum- 

 mer, &c. Potted Chilis, Capsicums, Tomatoes, thinned out 

 leaves, and some shoots of Cucumbers. Dug up Potatoes in 

 frames, and placed the tubers in dry earth for use. Cleared 

 off the soil, and some 18 inches of the tree leaves that 

 were beneath it. Stirred up what was left and added fresh 

 litter and short grass, so mixing that the grass would give 

 moisture enough to the litter, and thus keep on for a long 

 time the process of combustion ; then replaced the leaves, 

 making a bank back and front for the frames to rest on, and 

 filled at once with soil for Cucumbers and Melons. These 

 beds will last for a long time, and when the soil is removed 

 and the bed forked-up they will do for cuttings late in 

 autumn. A little practice enables us with such a rough 

 system to avoid over-heating and great changes of heat and 

 cold. 



Mushrooms. — We have just spawned our last piece in-doors 

 on an elevated platform. At this season, do what we will, 

 the woodlice will annoy us inside the shed-house, and espe- 

 cially if the bed is made on the floor ; if on the shelves, we 

 are much less troubled with them. Even after scalding and 

 trapping numbers of them, we have been obliged to set pots 

 and hand-lights firmly over good patches, if we did not wish 

 to see them holed and scraped m the morning. We are 

 scarcely ever troubled with them during the winter months. 

 We generally smoke the Mushroom-house with burning 

 sulphur every autumn, and that must leave few alive. No 

 doubt they are introduced along with the fermenting 

 material. We have just made up our first piece in the shed 

 out of doors. The material consisted chiefly of long litter 

 from the stables, with a few droppings and tree leaves for 

 want of something better. This had been thrown together 

 and watered to cause it to ferment. It was turned and 

 watered again, the object being not to waste the straw too 

 much by making it too wet. When used the other day it 

 had settled down into a half-decomposed, dry, cakey material. 

 This was well broken and packed together some 16 inches 

 deep, and ere long an inch of horse-droppings will be spread 

 all over. The advantage of the dryness is, that a little 

 manure water can be given when the bed seems to require 

 more noui-ishment. Over-dryness will starve the spawn, over- 

 wetness will rot it and cause it to exhaust itself in thiokish 

 threads. As instanced the other week, if we had thought 

 of it in time we might have saved some of this trouble. 

 Part of the bed made last season, and which bore in sum- 

 mer and autumn, was left after we had wheeled two parts or 

 more out for manure. We believe the rest would have done 

 well too if we had left it. The material was dry rather than 

 wet. A watering with warm water and a slight covering of 

 rough hay until the weather became warm, has caused the 



piece to yield a fine lot of Mushrooms. This instance shows, 

 that if the bed be di'y the spawn will not suffer from cold. 

 From about the end of last October, when the house Mush- 

 rooms were coming in, this shed-bed had been exposed to the 

 colds of winter, with little or no protection except from wet, 

 and now it is coming quite thick again. This shows the im- 

 portance of not having the material of the bed too wet, nor 

 yet too hot. Spawn will keep long enough if dry. It is quite 

 a mistake to make so much ado about having it only in the 

 autumn after it has been fresh made. We have had fine 

 beds from spawn kept on a latticed shelf in a dry shed for 

 five years. 



TRUIT GAEDEN. 



Chiefly employed in regulating, topping, thinning, dis- 

 budding, or dis-shooting Peaches, thinning Grapes, arrang- 

 ing and stopping shoots, planting-out Melons, &c. Some 

 wet duU days, as Wednesday, were very suitable for thin- 

 ning Grapes, and doing other work under glass. 



ORNAMENTAL DEPAETMENT. 



Besides keeping the conservatory neat, potting stove and 

 greenhouse plants, the chief work has been potting late- 

 struck Verbenas, and other bedding plants ; dividing 

 Dahlias, and planting them out in a trench in the kitchen 

 garden among light, rich material, to be afterwards moved 

 with good balls, giving a pot, and the shelter of the Peach- 

 house to those that were rather late, if of the best florist 

 kinds. Pricking-out lots of other things in beds, as Agera- 

 tums, where they could have more room, but more generally 

 turning them out in bunches, so that they may require little 

 trouble in watering until we are ready for them. Harden- 

 ing-o£F by pretty full exposure plants in earth-pits, &c., and 

 getting the ground well dug and pulverised, turned and 

 returned for their reception. Did our ground please us, 

 most likely we would have turned lots of things out this 

 week, but we got behind with aU this work in spring, and 

 we would prefer delay in planting-out to planting-out in 

 beds not sufficiently stirred and pulverised. Most of our 

 bedding-out plants are growing in temporary beds, where 

 they are without pots, and they will suffer but little in the 

 removal. The ground before the rains was also too dry for 

 us to plant, without sacrificing too much of our water. We 

 expect to have a few plants in their places before this is in 

 print ; but as a general rule we have never gained much by 

 planting out before the 18th or the 20th of the month. If 

 planted much sooner here the plants require less or niore 

 protection, and we would prefer giving it when they are in 

 earth-pits, and where, from not being in pots, they require 

 but little water to keep them healthy. As a general rule, 

 the bulk of bedding plants will thrive afterwards in pro- 

 portion to the sunbeams dug down into the soU; and if 

 time can be given, the soU can be well warmed if the heated 

 surface is frequently turned in. The vane poinintg so much 

 to the north, makes us also a little cautious. — E. F. 



TEADE CATALOGUES EECEIVED. 



W. Bull, King's Eoad' Chelsea, London. — Retail List of 

 New, Beautiful, and Rare Plants. 



Groenewegen & Co., Amsterdam. — Catalogue of New and 

 Rare Plants. 



CO VENT GAEDEN MAEKET.— Mat 13. 



The supply is fair, but not more than equal to the demand. Good dessert 

 Oranges are more scarce. A large cargo of new Potatoes, and of good 

 quality, has arrived from Lisbon. They sell at from 3d. to 5d. per pound. 

 Of old Potatoes, the stock on hand is very heavy. Flowers chiefly consist 

 of Orchids, Pelargoniums, Azaleas, Mignonette, and Roses. 



PBtriT. 



Apples Jsio'^ 2 "' 



Apricots, Green, pottle 1 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bush. 14 



Filberts 100 lbs. 40 



Cobs do. 50 



Gooseberries ...^ sieve 4 



Grapes lb. 8 



Lemons iOO 5 



Melons each 



s. 

 o4 



a 







1 



6 











!J0 











(1 



60 



n 



7 







14 







10 















Mulberries .... punnet 



d. s. 

 Oto 



Nectarines doz. 



Oranges 100 



Peaches doz. 



Pears (kitchen) ...doz. 



dessert doz. 



Pine Apples lb. 



Plums i sieve 



Strawberries oz. 



Walnuts bush, 14 20 



