366 



JOURNAL OE HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ May 19, 1863. 



prevent the fruit from getting dirty. Straight wheat straw is 

 often used in preference to clean short grass. 



GBEENHOUSE AND CONSEBTATOBT. 



One great object in plant-houses at present is the preservation 

 of the blossom from the burning effeot of the sun. Abundance 

 of air and moisture, proportioned to the demands of the plants, 

 with shade, must be provided. Camellias, during the formation 

 of young wood when they should be kept damp and warm, are 

 too often packed together out of the way ; at no time do they 

 require more room and attention. The Chinese Azaleas which 

 have been some time growing should be kept in heat until they 

 have set their buds, when they may be removed to the open air ; 

 as may the Oranges and Camellias when the shoots get firm ; 

 exposure afterwards, if protected from heavy rains, will assist 

 them to ripen their wood. Examine Heaths frequently for mil- 

 dew, and apply sulphur the moment it is perceived, some of the 

 soft-leaved varieties being very liable to be attacked by that pest 

 at this season. 



STOVE. 



As regards stove plants and Orchids, thorough cleanliness, 

 free ventilation, plenty of atmospheric moisture, and occasionally 

 a slight shading in very bright sunshine are at present the chief 

 requisites. No means should be neglected to encourage a free 

 growth at this period in Orchids, in order to have their pseudo- 

 bulbs firm and well ripened betimes. 



PITS AND MtAMES. 



Young stock in these structures will now be making rapid 

 growth, and must be carefully attended to as to watering, stop- 

 ping, training, &c. Expose Zinnias and other tender annuals 

 entirely night and day by removing the lights and covers. 

 Plants that are being kept to succeed Tulips, Ranunculuses, &c, 

 next month to have plenty of room given to them ; the lately- 

 struck plants require attention, they will come in very useful 

 by-and-by to fill-up vacancies in beds, &c. W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GABDEN. 



Eote gentle rains have come at last, enough to make the hard 

 clods crumble nicely, but not enough yet to do much more than 

 damp the parched surface. Sowed Peas, Beans, Kidney Beans, 

 and Runners, damping the drills well after sowing before covering 

 up. Gave Cabbage and Cauliflower that we wished to cut early, 

 good soakings of manure water. Watered Turnips, and trans- 

 planted a few, though the garden sorts do not answer so well 

 as the Swedes. With the latter there is no difficulty, and 

 were we farming we would always have a nice little bed in the 

 garden for filling any vacancies in the field. In fact, could we 

 make sure of dripping weather, it would be the cheapest of all 

 plans with Swedes, as we could keep them in a bed easily cared 

 for, and protected from fly, and plant after all danger was over. 

 lhe only secret is firm but shallow planting, just as in the case 

 of Onion-planting. The great point with the latter is just to fix 

 the roots, and not bury the necks, for if you do you will have 

 thick necks and poor bulbs : hence, as a general rule, autumn- 

 sown Onions make the best bulbs, when carefully transplanted. 

 We have effected the Bame object by moving the earth from the 

 necks of those left standing before they began to swell much- 

 say in March. Carrots and Parsnips may also be transplanted 

 m an emergency, but they do not in general do so well as when 

 left where sown. Beet, on the other hand, transplants well, 

 especially when young. 



Pricked out Cauliflowers and Lettuces from seed-bed, and 

 sowed more, also the general stock of Coleworts, and a few 

 more of Broccolis, though thinking we had pretty well enough 

 lor our wants. Threw a little lime and ashes among the seed- 

 beds, to keep slugs off, and make them more stubby, and less 

 inclined to get leggy and foxy. Run the Dutch hoe through 

 Unions, Carrots, Parsnips, &c, and sowed succession of Carrots, 

 the mam crop of Beet, Salsafy, and Scorzonera, and also the 

 last ol our Sea-kale and Asparagus seed, having failed to find 

 a piece of ground for it before, and the first sown six weeks 

 ago, owing to the dry weather, is not yet up, though all safe 

 and swelling in the ground. It is a good plan to sow As- 

 puragus m the autumn as soon as the seed is gathered. Cut 

 off the strong seed-stems of Sea-kale, and thinned redundant 

 snoots. If these are planted with a bit of the old stem in drip- 

 ping weather, they will make good plants before the autumn. A 

 little salt, just enough to whiten the ground slightly, two or 



three times in summer, will do them much good (and the same 

 may be said of Asparagus), and manure water, too, at that time, 

 though we have little faith in either salt or manure water being 

 applied when the plants are at rest in winter. The salt, also, 

 helps to keep down weeds. Attended to Cucumbers bearing just 

 too freely ; thinned out fruit, and stopped and regulated, as, if 

 bearing too much in April and May, the plants are sure to be 

 prematurely exhausted. Potted off those for ridge, Gherkins, and 

 Vegetable Marrow, as the place is rather cold for these things to 

 do much good when sown in the open air. In fact, we find that 

 they are all the better of a little bottom heat to start them in. 

 About Sandy and Biggleswade they have no more trouble with 

 Cucumbers for the autumn supply than other folk have with 

 Peas, except the thinning of the plants, the Beeds of which are 

 sown in rows some 5 feet apart. In common circumstances, 

 however, north of London, the plants will do better with a little 

 hot litter and short grass placed beneath the soil, and it matters 

 little how it is done — whether placed in a trench, or in a hole 

 with the soil above ; or a ridge should be made on purpose, with 

 earth thrown over it. Large Gourds are also helped by this 

 process, though they will often attain 100 lbs. weight if planted 

 in rich soil, and well supplied with manure water. 



After having tried Custard and other Marrows, we have fallen 

 back on the old Vegetable Marrow, just because good judges 

 Bay that after all it is the most desirable for cooking purposes. 

 We cannot say much on the subject, as such a dish once a-year 

 is as muoh as we have ever ventured upon. As our Mushroom- 

 bed in the shed was just perceptibly warm, added 1J inch of 

 droppings, beat firm, and earthed over with about 2 inches of 

 soil, the lower part fresh lumpy turf, and the upper fine riddled 

 loam beaten firm, watered and beaten again, bo as to make it about 

 l\ inch thick. We expect this bed will bear soon, and we must 

 put up a bit more without delay. The Covent Garden people 

 know the luxury of a thick, moist Mushroom in June, July, and 

 August. A cool cellar in these months might be better than our 

 thatched shed, though the latter answers remarkably well. 

 Pricked out Celery, and defended from the sun, and watered 

 freely the first plants, which will soon be turned out. 



EBT/IT GABDEN. 



Disbudded, hunted for insects, thinned Grapes, watered Vines, 

 watered Pigs, thinned Peaches, tied shoots as we could get at 

 them, and kept earliest pit of Vines drier, as the Sweetwaters 

 are changing fast. Regulated Melons ; set these in flower, leaving 

 air on night and day, though the air should be only a quarter 

 of an inch, by means of a peg at top and bottom of the sash in 

 cold nights. The draught of air is of great assistance in insur- 

 ing an abundant setting, and a little air at all times at the top is 

 a great preservative against canker, damping- off, bad setting, and 

 blotched and scorched leaves. Our earliest this season will be 

 in common frames, and the heat beneath them is formed chiefly 

 by mowings of the lawn, leaves, and a little dung ; the layer 

 of old leaves being at the top. When well mixed such a combi- 

 nation will maintain heat long, and may be used safely ; but if 

 the precautions insisted on often are not attended to, failure from 

 steam and noxious vapours will be the result. Many use such 

 materials as " W. M." proposed doing at page 351, and ruin is 

 the consequence. We were lately told of some fine new Gera- 

 niums that it was advisable to hurry on that were thus ruined 

 in a night. We have known scores of instances in which Melons 

 and Cucumbers in frames were injured and ruined by allowing the 

 steam from a fresh lining to get inside of the frame, and no method 

 will insure this more effectually than sliding a sash down over a 

 fresh-made lining in front. So much easier is it to slide a sash 

 down than to tilt it up at the back, that eight out of ten men 

 will slide the sash instead of elevating it. Not only is there this 

 additional danger in such circumstances from steams and vapours 

 at an early season, but the cold air strikes the plant at the back 

 before it is so much warmed as it would be when, by elevating 

 the sash, the cold air is mollified by passing through the heated 

 air as it rushes out. It is a good plan to have ventilating- 

 boards for this purpose tied by a string to the back of the frame, 

 either cut in a triangular form, or, what is better, with notches 

 cut into them, so as to hold more securely ; for if not tied 

 they will always be to Beek when wanted. We dwell on these 

 little matters the more, because want of attention to them is 

 often fatal to the plants and the crops. In every case of new 

 lining, the inside of the frame should be examined, and the 

 ground made firm all round the box, so that steams shall not 

 enter. If the bed is made 2 feet larger than the frame every 



