156 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICITLTUBE AND COTTAGE 0ABDEMB. [ February 24, 1863. 



as the ground is in a fit state for that purpoae. Look to the 

 ifig trees ; prune and train those that require it, tying or bending 

 the strong shoots down, which will induce them to push out a 

 number of very short-jointed bearing shoots. Protect the 

 blossom of wall-fruit trees. Fir boughs or straw ropes where 

 ilaythorn s hexagon netting or canvas cannot be obtained, 

 should be employed to ward off the effects of frost. Clear away 

 dead leaves from Strawberry plants. 



STOVE. 



Orchids will require an advance of heat, and unfailing at- 

 tention in regard to atmospheric humidity. Look sharp after 

 insects, the snails and slugs are very fond of the youn» tender 

 buds at this period. Some Achimenes, 'Gloxinias, &c., to be 

 Bet to work. Some of the Ipomaeas, Echitea, Pergularia, Ste- 

 paanotis, &c, may be trimmed-in, disrooted if necessary, and 

 plunged in a moderate bottom heat, using but little water until 

 an active root-action takes place. Some of the Echites are easily 

 rooted, and will endure a vast amount of drought. 



GBEENH017SE AND CONSEEYATOEY. 



Orange trees in tubs or pots to be carefully examined in order 

 to ascertain whether or not their roota are in a healthy state, 

 and those requiring more room should be shifted at once. 

 When a shift cannot be conveniently given to large specimens, 

 it is advisable to remove as much of the surface sott as can be 

 done without injuring the roots, and replace it with a mixture of 

 good turfy loam, ground bones, rotten cowdung, and sand. If 

 they are infested with the scale or coccus family, apply with 

 the engine clear soot water in a careful manner. Some of the 

 hardwooded plants may now be propagated by cuttinga where a 

 gentle bottom heat can be kept up. Sow annuals for pot-bloom- 

 mg. bnilt herbaceous Calceolarias when they fill their pots 

 with roots, and keep them near the glass and weU fumigated. 

 £lace Camellias past bloom in heat to make their growth. Shift 

 Cinerarias freely, and fumigate often. Prune, P ot, and start 

 Fuchsias in a nice bottom heat if possible. Heaths to have 

 plenty of air when not frosty, and ahift any that have filled their 

 pots with roots. Similar treatment is recommended for New 

 Holland plants. Pelargoniums wanted to bloom early to be 

 kept rather warm, and to be shifted into the pots in which they 

 are to bloom. Keep those intended for late bloom closely 

 stopped. Tram the young shoots of climbers before they be- 

 come entangled. } 



PITS AND EBAMES. 



Ihe plants m these structures will require to be carefully 

 watched, as the warmth caused by the increased power of the 

 sun m the daytime will most probably induce a too rapid 

 progress at the expense of constitutional strength and vigour. 

 It is, therefore, desirable to keep them as cool as may be found 

 to be practicable, by allowing the free ingress of the external 

 air. Anything like close confinement when the sun is shining on 

 the pits and frames will certainly be injurious ; at the same 

 tune, if the air is very keen and cutting, the lights must be opened 

 rt. m'^ lea ^l x P° 8ed . »nd in such a manner as to prevent 

 A^S "$? fr° m , aotm S °n the excited juices of the plants. 



£ttfo«^3£2 y * h ° 8t ° Ck <****** P lants . an A get rooted 

 cuttings potted-off as soon as they are in a fit state for that 

 purpose, and encourage them with a gentle bottom heat and 

 ?» ™ u . 1 . mana 8f m 1 en * ^ , m ake quick growth, for after this there 



ZZl i me v° Z l0 , 8t Wlth youn e 8tock - Sow Mignonette, Ten- 

 week Stocks Cockscombs, Balsams, and all tender and half- 

 hardy annuals in heat. W . jj^ 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



JZ^T"™? and tri « ht daV9 naTm S come at length, 

 Z™ nt work accordingly, as f« as possible, though necessity 

 compelled us to do some work we would have preferred leaving 

 to a ramy uncomfortable day. Wheeling in the hard morn- 



X'nrfT 1 "^ d f 1D ? the °V-that is, turning ridged-up 



ground topsy-turvy, to give more of it the sweetening influence 



r> t! f DarriD S hea P s .. ^d heating parings, scrapings, 



111 othe ' mate " al > »", covering, sufficiently hot to kill all the 



I ^pwSTSF ' , 6 T n ° f HoU y ho <*-stalI«< as possible, 

 aa the charred, half-burned sterna are much more valuable. The 

 dry weather has been very useful for such work, and, therefore, 

 mueh could be done with little labour. ^ 



p KITCHEN GAEDEN. 



rut a little loose litter over Cauliflower hand-lights in the 



coldest nighta, turned broad leaves over Broccoli coming in, and 

 had a little rough hay ready to place a handful over, if the frost 

 got severe enough ; sowed Carrots, Lettuce, and Cauliflower in 

 a two-hght box, to obtain just a little heat for them, the two 

 latter to be pricked-out ultimately, to give room to the Carrots. 

 Placed a foot of leaves over some Sea-kale in the open air, and that 

 was pushmg without more help than a cone of asheB. A good 

 cone of ashes with these few leaves, will give an early cutting 

 without the bother of pots or boxes. The first are expensive 

 affairs when there is not a handy man to wield the fork in 

 looking for the heads. When there is little beside the ashes, it 

 can all be done with the hand,- or if a fork is used, the points 

 will not have the chance of shivering the pots.- The great point 

 is to place no rank manure about such plants, or it will be no 

 great credit at table to gardener or cook. Another matter is to 

 cut it when from 4 to 6 inches in length, the elongated stems half 

 a yard in length are little better than insipid juice. Took the 

 first cropa from the Mushroom-house, and put the plants in a 

 cool shed, that they may be quite hardened before planting them 

 again. This may be done at any time aa respects the crowns 

 with 3 or 4 inches attached, but the lesser roots cut up into 

 pieces are as well stored in sand or dry earth until they begin 

 to push. Placed some rotten rubbish-heap material over 

 ground intended for Asparagus, as we could command nothing 

 better ; and when manure is scarce, after so far loosening the 

 ground, it is well to keep the manurial matter near the surface, 

 and add by top-dressing. Though Asparagus seed may be sown, 

 and plantations made, we prefer planting AsparaguB when it 

 has sprung 2 inches, and keeping the roots moist, oovered with 

 moss or mat, so that no small fibres can be dried. Planted in 

 that state of growth, and with that care, it is rarely that a single 

 plant will fail. e 



Potted-off some more Dwarf Kidney Beans that were sown 

 thickly in a box, putting five plants into a seven or eight-inch 

 pot, using soil previously aired and warmed, and warm water 

 for watering, the two last simple matters being more necessary 

 to success than many people imagine. We have nothing to say 

 againat sowing the Beans in pots at once, where there is plenty 

 of room, but that we are scarce of ; and, therefore, by sowing in 

 a box, we have two or three lights at liberty for several weeks, 

 and, besides, the transplanting tends to make the plants more 

 robust and fruitful. Potted Cucumbers and Melons in dung- 

 and-leaf bed, prepared bed for Cucumbers, swept over Mush- 

 room-beds, and cleared out as manure for flower-beda the Mush- 

 room-beds that did such good service in the shed in the summer 

 and autumn. We find that the droppings of horses are now so 

 much wanted for giving a little extra heat to tree leaveB, that our 

 next bed for Mushrooms must consist chiefly of these tree leaves, 

 with a few inches of dung on the surface. 



FEUIT GAEDEN. 



The tomtits have commenced their visits since the frosty 

 mornings ; and we should like those who benevolently consider 

 that killing one of the pretty little fellows occasionally is nothing 

 but a horrid murder, to notice how soon, if unmolested, two 

 or three of them will clear a Gooseberry-quarter for you, or 

 leave a row of Pears little else than bare poles. However, were 

 it not for such wholesale work we should be sorry to meddle with 

 them, for we are well aware they do good as well as mischief. 



If preserves for game are maintained as they are in some places, 

 we prophesy that kitchen gardens close to them will have to be 

 netted all over, if anything is to be expected from them, unless 

 there are some battues every now and then for small birds, as 

 well as for hares and pheasants. A slight net of wire stretched 

 from wall to wall in an enclosed garden would not only be a 

 new idea, but we are sure that under such circumstances of high 

 preserving, it would also be the most economical in the end. In 

 many places already it would be perfect folly to get a row of 

 Peas up without protecting them with ridges of wire-netting ; 

 and what small birds do for PeaB, partridges and pheasanta will 

 soon do for Broccoli, Cauliflowers, &c. We know that frequently 

 in the early summer we might wish, and wish long enough, for 

 nice dishes of young Peas to please visiting company, if we did 

 not set a boy with tongue clappers and wooden clappers to keep 

 the winged tribe at a little distance, as these sounds, discordant 

 though they be, are not so shocking to nervous people as the re- 

 port of a gun in a garden— in fact, the latter is quite out of place 

 in a garden if it could be avoided. It is very trying to the patience 

 when you expect to gather a superb dish of Peas or some first- 

 rate Strawberries, to find that the birds hare shelled the first 





