140 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTIAGE GABDENER. [ February 17, 1363. 



carefully remove all decaying leaves. A batch of Amaryllis 

 bulbs should now be shaken out and repotted in half-decayed 

 turfy loam, mixed with a small portion of sand and a pretty 

 liberal supply of charcoal. Remove to a warmer place any of 

 the plants from which cuttings are required. Alpines and other 

 rare plants in pots should now be looked over, remove all 

 ■decayed matter, and stir up the Burface of the soil. Those which 

 it may be desirable to propagate should be divided into pieces, 

 repotted, and placed again in the frame. W. Keane. 



DOINGS OP THE LAST WEEK. 



In the kitchen garden the routine was much the same as last 

 week, with the exception of choosing a dry day to plant some 

 Potatoes of the Early Ashleaf in the open air on a ridged bank, 

 planting only the south side. This had been ridged-up about 

 24 inches apart, and the sets, just sprung, were set in the furrows, 

 and the nice, dry, aired earth of the ridge was trundled over 

 them, after a slight sprinkling of lime. The sets were sprung 

 an inch or bo before planting. Turned out also into a bed 

 over heated tree leaves, the same kind, plants 3 or 4 inches in 

 height, in rows, 6 inches apart in the rows, and about 18 inches 

 from row to row. The soil put over the leaves was about 

 6 inches deep, then the Potatoes were set on the level,' the small 

 roots carefully covered, and then covered with about 5 inches on 

 the flat. These will have the earth raised to the stems 2 or 3 inches 

 as they grow, which admits of the sun's rays passing up between 

 the rows, and we think that from this mode the produce is 

 rather better than when the soil is left on the level. For such 

 work we have met with nothing to beat the true Ashleaf. The 

 Handsworth and some others may come a few days earlier, but 

 we do not find they are prized at table like an Ashleaf. This, 

 however, may be a mere matter of taste, or even of prejudice, 

 just as io the case of the watery white Turnip, because white- 

 ness will be insisted on. For flavour, several of the yellows are, 

 m our opinion, far superior ; and for flavour and nourishment 

 combined, commend us to a good Globe Swede that has lain in 

 an open shed a week before cooking. If that is cut up, boiled 

 thoroughly— and an hour at least will be required— if in liquor 

 in which pork or other meat was boiled first all the belter, and 

 if a slice of the meat can be had with it, then there is at once a 

 feast for a hungry prince as well as a hungry ploughman. 



A gentleman lately told us that he quite envied the zest and 

 relish with which the ploughboy standing by his horseB, pitched 

 in wedge after wedge of half-boiled pork and dry bread, statincr 

 his belief, and we are certain with much truth, that that boy had 

 more gratification in thus eating to satisfy the demands of his 

 appetite than he himself had in partaking of the finest made 

 dishes, because he did so more as a matter of form than from 

 any natural desire or want. It has been wisely ordered that there 

 should be pleasure in eating; but that pleasure will be greatly 

 dependant upon our working for it and the natural craving for 

 it. Here, as in many other cases, the rich man and the hard- 

 working man are placed more equally as to the means of happi- 

 ness and true enjoyment than is generally imagined. The 

 farmer, then, who wishes to kindly help his labourers, may, 

 without any misgiving, allow them a few of his best Swede 

 Turnips, and tell them how to cook them, which when well 

 prepared will be almost as solid as cheese. 



The Potatoes in the bed alluded to above will be our second 

 crop, as those grown in pots, as previously mentioned, are tuber- 

 ltig nicely. Some time ago we mentioned having some litter to 

 throw over Radishes out of doors, sown in autumn, except there 

 should be a sudden frost. These will naturally, ani especially 

 m such a winter as this, become hard, and we suppose must 

 have sent them in once or twice too often, for a week a»o we 

 were mortified to see a fine plate of early Radishes from a 

 frame, as crisp as possible, come out untasted. If a fortnight 

 or three weeks had intervened between the old and the new, 

 somebody would have found out the difference. 



This simple matter of the Radishes may well furnish a lesson 

 of sound policy. Some people will say, " I had such abundance 

 of such and^sueh good things, as thoroughly to sicken and tire 

 me of them." Now, the great point, is, to have sufficient with- 

 out superfluity. Whenever superfluity is presented, the feeling 

 ot satiety displaces that of pleasure. Of course, in large places, 

 where fine things must be had constantly, our duty is to produce 

 them, and not think of the enjoyment. There can be no question 

 that the very frequency, the uninterrupted supply of a certain 



dish, will lessen the pleasure of partaking of it. The gentleman 

 who tastes the fir-t Cucumber of the season in April, and the 

 same as respects Kidney Beans and Potatoes, will relish them 

 more than the other gentleman who has them at his table every 

 day all the winter. The satisfaction of the latter will spring less 

 from selfish gratification than from the pleasure of presenting 

 rarities for the enjoyment of his guests. 



PET/IT GARDEN. 

 In addition to pruning, nailing, &c, unnailing Peaches against 

 walls, &c, damping vineries in hot days, and giving plenty of 

 air to Peach trees opening their buds, the chief work has just 

 been moving Strawberry-pots from vineries into a Peach-house, 

 not because they will have more heat, but because in this dull 

 weather they will have more light ; and secondly, examining the 

 buds and washing-off any black beetles or fly that made their 

 appearance on the Peach trees coming into bloom. We never met 

 with this ugly gentleman until last season, as fully described in 

 a previous volume, and here he is again making his appearance 

 here and there, notwithstanding all our care. We will, for the 

 sake of others, repeat what was done. In November this house 

 was smoked with sulphur and sawdust, killing, of coarse, every 

 leaf that remained green, and, as we thought, every vestige of 

 insect. Then, to make surer, in a few days the house was tho- 

 roughly syringed — trees, walls, and woodwork — with water at 

 about 180°. After that the whole house, trees, walls, &c, were 

 scrubbed with soap water ; 2 inches of the surface soil of the 

 house was then removed, and afterwards the walls were fresh 

 washed with lime, and the trees painted with clay, sulphur, and 

 G-ishurst ; and now the gentlemen are coming to tell us that 

 they are not quite done for yet. It is true the house has been 

 filled with bedding plants, which are now being taken out, but 

 nothing whatever appears on them. We much fear they burrow, 

 and lay their eggs pretty deep in the soil. Green fly is bad 

 enough, but a mere trifle in comparison to this dark negro 

 devastation. We see no remedy except hunting-up and destroy- 

 ing every one that appears. Por many years one smoking for a 

 Peach-house used to be about sufficient, or if repeated it was more 

 for Strawberries, &c, than for Peaches. We are keeping the 

 trees in orchard-house as cool as possible. We suspect that, 

 from some young tree there, we imported this black fly. 



•OKNAMENTAL DEPABTMENT. 

 Those who grow Gardenias, Rondeletias, Ixoras, &c, Bhould 

 now put them into bottom heat. Cuttings should be put in of 

 Poinsettias and Euphorbia jacquiniseflora, and in a week or two 

 some of the old plants, if helped with bottom heat, will bloom 

 earlier in the autumn, because they will have the end of summer 

 to rest in. Orchids beginning to push should now be watered, 

 and those in baskets dipped in water at about 75°. A higher 

 temperature during the day may be maintained if the sun is at 

 all bright, letting such stove-houses descend to from 60° to 65° 

 at night. Small greenhouse plants may be shifted as wanted 

 into pots a size larger ; but larger shifts fjr specimens should 

 not be given until the sun has gained more power — say the 

 beginning and the middle of March — as such natural excitement 

 is much better than that from any artificial heat. Proceeded 

 with cuttings and potting as last week. We are sorry that the 

 paragraph about Verbena-cuttings reads so confused ; very 

 likely more the result of careless writing than the fault of the 

 printer. We would like to correct two things : first, the cuttings 

 of Verbenas, alluded to at page 121, were not put in tiles three 

 to 10 inches, but three in 2 inches. Then, a little farther down, 

 beginning at the word " Keep," read as follows : " Keep the 

 lough riddlings, mix them with an equal quantity of rough 

 tLeayed leaf mould, and place that mixture on the tip of the 

 rotten dung, to the depth of 1J or 2 inches." Make that level, 

 and beat it slightly, and then cover this with the fine soil, &a. ; 

 and continue the same as given page 121. This will make all 

 clear to "One who is Puzzled," at least we think so. The 

 appearance of the cuttings just says we had better have delayed 

 a little longer, as if we have a cold spring we shall have to try 

 all methods to find room for them and other things. — B. F. 



TftADE CATALOGUES EECEIVED. 



Parr & Sugden, King Street, [Covent Garden. — Illustrated 

 Guide to the Flower Garden, and Descriptive Seed List. 1863. 



E. G. Henderson & Son, Wellington Road, St, John's Wood. 

 N.W. — Catalogue of Flower Seeds, and Select List [of Agricul* 

 tural and Vegetable Seeds. 1863. 



