224 



JOtTRNAL OF HOBTICULTUEB AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



[ September 21, 1871. 



beetowed on them. Let tlie borders be cleaned and neatly 

 raked over, filling vacant places with spare Chrysantbemums, 

 spring-struck Pansies, or spring-flowering bnlbs. As the season 

 is now considerably advanced, the propsgation of all the more 

 mportant bedding-out plants should be brought to a close as 

 quickly as possible ; late-struck cuttings are bad to keep through 

 the winter, through having an insufficient number of roots 

 and ill-matured wood. Let Scarlet and other Geraniums struck 

 in the open ground be taken up and potted immediately they 

 bave made roots ; they will require a close frame for a week or 

 two, when they should be placed on a dry bottom in a southern 

 exposure to harden them for the winter. For the same pur- 

 pose Verbenas, Petunias, &c., struck in pans and intended to 

 be kept in them through the winter should be placed in a 

 similar situation, at the same time stopping the points of the 

 shoots. It should, in fact, be a point to keep them as hardy 

 as possible by fully exposing them until they are placed in 

 their winter quarters. Mignonette for winter and spring flower- 

 ing may yet be sown. I have always advocated layering 

 Carnations and Pieotees early, and if my directions have 

 been followed out, the layers should now be well rooted. The 

 ■oompost for potting should be turfy loam well rotted. This 

 must be beaten with the back of a spade, but by no means 

 . pass it through a sieve, as it is highly essential that the soil 

 should be porous ; to this may be added one-fourth river sand 

 and a email quantity of rough charcoal. On taking off the 

 layers from the parent plant or stool, it will be necessary to 

 •out back that part of the stem by which it was attached to the 

 joint which had teen divided. Should any of the leaves be 

 withered they must be removed, and two pairs of the lower 

 ones may be shortened. The soil for potting the plants should 

 be sweet. Do not put manure or any other exciting agent in 

 the compost. Put a pair of layers in each pint pot, then water 

 to settle the soil about the roots, and when dry place them in 

 a cold frame on a stratum of sand. The old stools may be 

 planted in the open border, they will often produce in the suc- 

 ceeding summer a good quantity of pipings, which cannot fail 

 to be highly useful to the amateur if he wishes to increase his 

 stock of them. Auriculas will soon require a share of the 

 ^aorist's attention ; examine the pots to see none are soddened 

 with wet ; if so, immediately look to the drainage. Pansies 

 and Pinks which have been planted out must be carefully 

 tended, the large earthworms being apt to pull them up. If 

 these are troublesome pour a small quantity of lime water in 

 their holes. Take eare of the seed of the early flowers, shade 

 and thin the blooms, trap earwigs, and draw-up the soil round 

 the crowns of the roots. 



GEEENHOUSE AND OONSEKVATOKY. 



All the more tender greenhouse plants should now be 

 housed, and the few remaining out may be allowed a short 

 time longer, provided the weather continues dry. As the 

 majority of our massing plants require for their preservation 

 only sufficient protection to secure them from the direct action 

 •of the frost, pits of the most inexpensive character are gene- 

 rally found adequate for the purpose. It is a very common, 

 and at the same time a very injudicious plan, to thrust 

 the general stock of cuttings into greenhouses, vineries, or, 

 in fact anywhere and everywhere, to the injury of the plants, 

 which are excited when they should be at rest, and by no 

 means to the advantage of the proper occupants of the 

 houses, as the plagues of insects and mildew are too often in- 

 troduced by the crowding-in of Verbenas, Calceolarias, and 

 other bedding stock. It is a good time to set about the con- 

 struction of store pits if proper accommodation is not already 

 possessed. They should be excavated to the depth of 18 inches, 

 and drained so that no water can enter; a few layers of turf 

 and a framework of wood to receive the lights, mats, or what- 

 ever may be provided, will complete the necessary preparation. 

 The employment of heating apparatus might in many cases be 

 obviated by following the practice of sinking pits, allowing only 

 the glass roof to be exposed to the weather. In France and 

 Belgium Camellias, Oranges, and many tender greenhouse 

 plants are preserved uninjured through severe winters by the 

 adoption of this plan. The precaution most necessary in this 

 country would be efficient drainage, moisture being almost as 

 bad es frost. Proper attention to this and ventilation would 

 snake them fit receptacles for a vast number of tender plants. 

 The Persian and other Cyclamens should be examined and re- 

 potted when necessary. Those autumnal Koses which have 

 andergone a course of preparation in order to have good 

 Wossoms through October and November, should be got into 

 ■shelter towards the end of the month. Any ordinary green- 



house will do, and no fire heat will be requisite for a long time. 

 They should have a light situation not far from the glass, and 

 should receive frequent waterings with tepid and clear manure 

 water in a very weak state. The Lachenalia family should now 

 be brought forth and potted ; such on a greenhouse shelf will 

 flower in February. The Heliotropes, Scarlet Geraniums, &e., 

 should also have a light situation very near the glass. 



STOVE. 



Ail stove plants which had been removed to the conservatory 

 or other structures should now be taken back to their permanent 

 stations without delay, both for their own sakes and for the 

 sake of a general arrangement in other structures. Give a 

 most liberal ventilation at this time, not forgetting, however, 

 to accompany it with much warmth, for the hardening of 

 growths is not carried out by means of chilling draughts, but 

 by high temperatures, accompanied by a free perspiration from 

 the leaves of the plants. Much attention must be given to 

 watering under the above circumstances. The Orchids are 

 scarcely an exception as to the above atmospheric conditions 

 They, too, must be hardened into ripeness in the pseudo- 

 bulb. 



PITS AND FEAMES. 



The whole winter's arrangement as to the disposal of these 

 structures should be determined on soon, and a regular scheme 

 laid down and progressively acted upon according to the order 

 of the affair. In an ordinary garden it is quite a puzzle with 

 a limited number of such to apportion them to the purposes 

 in hand. The half-hardy things require a frame or two ; some 

 surplus stock belonging to the greenhouse or conservatory, but 

 not quite good enough to be placed there at present, require 

 wintering; the Neapolitan Violets want a frame. Where 

 matters of this kind are not sufficient for the pnrpose, attention 

 should be immediately given to some turf pits as adverted to 

 in this day's calendar. — W. Eeane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK 



kitchen gaeden. 



Ban the Dutch hoe among all growing crops where we could 

 find room for it, as the smaller the weeds the more quickly 

 does a day of sun make them disappear. A loose surface is 

 also desirable, as it prevents caking and cracking, and allows 

 the rain to pass more freely. We sowed a few pieces of 

 Lettuces on the chance of their standing thickly over the 

 winter. These generally stand best when the mere surface of 

 the ground is stirred, and what lies beneath is rather firm. 

 We planted out lots of Lettuces and Endive to come in at the 

 end of autumn. As soon as possible we will throw-up some 

 wide-based, sharp-topped ridges, and plant each side and the 

 apex with smaller plants to stand the winter. The harvesting 

 has interfered with a good many of these little jobs, and we sup- 

 pose we are in the same predicament as many gardeners 

 who see every day what is wanted to be done, and yet cannot 

 find time to do it. It requires much discrimination to attend 

 under these circumstances to subjects which would suffer, or 

 prevent regular successions, by delay. We sowed Radishes of 

 kinds in a nice open place for the last crop which we shall 

 have without any protection. We will soon sow where we can 

 place old sashes or a mat over the plants in a cold night. We 

 often think that sweet crisp Eadiehes early in spring are more 

 relished when there is a cessation of their appearance in the 

 coldest winter months. A man who has a Cucumber at his 

 table every day in the year, cannot enjoy the first crisp Cucum- 

 ber in February or March, like the man who does not see a 

 Cucumber for a month or two. It is quite a mistake to let 

 ladies and gentlemen be glutted with any one thing. The very 

 idea of comparative scarcity often gives an additional zest. 



We cleared the ground as fast as we could of Peas and early 

 Broad Beans, and after threshing them will use the straw for 

 various protecting purposes ; the ground will be turned-up and 

 planted.' We have used the crowbar for some strong late 

 plants. Part of the ground will be trenched for next year's 

 root crops, and in their case the rough manure will be thrown to 

 the boitom of the trench. 



We pruned back the Cucumbers in the small pit that have 

 borne all the season, treated as previously described. They 

 seemed too good to be thrown away, more especially as we can 

 turn the nice young plants that are to succeed them into 6 and 

 9-inch pots, and thus have them strong before we remove the 

 old ones. We have in a pit a few plants grown over the surface 

 of a bed in the common way, and these, showing freely, mil 



