September 21, 1371. ] JOUBNAL OF HOKTIODLTUKE AND COTTAGS GABDENEK. 



225 



keep up a good anpply before the young plants come in after 

 we remove the old ones, which, but for having younger ones, we 

 feel rather unwilling to do. One plant that bore through last 

 autumn and winter we allowed to remain, and it has been as 

 fruitful all the summer and autumn as the young plants turned 

 out in January. We would here note, for the benefit of the 

 inesperienoed, that good plants turned out own and allowed to 

 fruit much before Christmas, unless they receive additional 

 attention, and be in the moat favourable circumstances as 

 respects light, &o., will not do much good afterwards. It is well, 

 where a regular succession is required, to have a set of plants 

 to fruit in the beginning of winter, and another set to be allowed 

 to fruit little or not at all until the shortest day is passed. 



Quantities of long dung, which we would be sorry to say no 

 to, we have had well watered with sewage and other water, 

 shaking out the shortest, to be mixed with turfy loam for Mush- 

 room beds. Such heaps when worked thus will be greatly 

 reduced in bulk, and will therefore in a half-decomposed state 

 be useful for hotbeds, the bottoms of Mushroom beds, dressings 

 for Strawberry beds, and for digging down in ground to be 

 left trenched, or rather ridged up for the winter. We can 

 allow but very little to have such a frost-sweetening and mel- 

 lowing. 



Mtislirooms. — Owing to so much new work we have never 

 been able to repair our old shed — the best and most successful 

 place we ever had, except cellars, for Mushrooms in the hottest 

 months of the year. We have had a fair supply from the 

 Mushroom house, but we do not think the growth was equal to 

 that obtained from the shaded shed open on one side, but 

 the draught of air considerably regulated and modified by 

 hurdles placed along, with branches drawn through them. We 

 have often found that this sifting of the air suits the Mushroom 

 better than anything like a keen open draught, as the latter 

 does away with that close muggy atmosphere in which the 

 Mushroom naturally delights. We have commenced clearing 

 out the oldest exhausted beds from the Mushroom house, the 

 rotten manure being valuable for potting and surfacing pur- 

 poses when well exposed to the air. We have put in the first 

 piece of a bed, which we shall make rather thin, in order that 

 we may be able to spawn it all the more quickly. For other suc- 

 cessions that will take us into the cold months, the beds will be 

 made thicker, so as to retain an equal temperature longer. As 

 we have no Mushrooms this season except those which we have 

 had from the last-made beds in this house, we have been 

 obliged to omit doing what we did every year when we had beds 

 in the shed out of doors, and therefore could give the Mush- 

 room house a rest, and that was to shut up the Mushroom 

 house closely and fumigate it once or twice with burning sul- 

 phur before clearing out the beds, and giving the house a regu- 

 lar cleaning before putting up the first bed in the autumn. 

 This sulphur-smoking would pretty well dispose of all living 

 vermin in the house, and therefore slugs, snails, and woodlice 

 would be very scarce if we did not take them in with the mate- 

 rial of which the beds are made. As it is, such intruders after 

 the smoking with sulphur rarely troubled us until the spring. 

 After such smoking the house must be well aired and sweetened 

 before a bed is made, as burning sulphur is as great an enemy 

 to all sorts of fungi as it is to intruding insects and snails. 



FEUIT DEPAETMENT. 



For late vineries plenty of air should now be given, even if 

 in dull days a little fire heat should be used to keep up the 

 temperature. 



We went over the dwarf trees as fast as we could, removing 

 the small secondary shoots so as to give more light and air to 

 ripening fruit and maturing buds. A little of this work done 

 now gives a better chance for an autumn sun to perfect the ma- 

 turing process. Fruit of all kinds must be looked after, and 

 tomtit must be warned not to touch the Pears and best Apples. 

 A few fallen ones he might work his sweet will on as a sort of 

 wages to him for the insects he destroys. Many a morning we 

 have seen from our bedroom window four of these pretty little 

 birds going from twig to twig and examining the under sides of 

 every leaf in search of fat insects. The worst of it is, that like 

 a rat or a blackbird, the finest fruit is selected. We never 

 knew of such quantities of quite green fruit being carried off by 

 mice, rats, and birds as in the earlier months of this year. It 

 was quite common to find a good handful of green Strawberries 

 collected in a corner, and yet hardly a bit of them seemed to be 

 touched. 



We almost finished clearing Strawlerry rows and beds of 

 their runners, and extra buds when the stools were very large, 

 leaving most of the leaves on the plants. Cleared all the 



runners from Strawberry plants in pots, set them a little 

 thinner for the sun to play on them more fully, and in all 

 cases where the ball was like a cheesecake with roots, put a 

 pinch of soot over the surface of each pot, Ufiog rather mor& 

 of the fine dust than could be taken between the thumb and 

 finger, and not quite so much as might be held between the 

 thumb and two fingers. Pure dry soot is a different thing 

 from what is often sold for such, with its make-up of dust, saw- 

 dust, &c. This is best spread over the surface of the pot 

 beneath the leaves with the fingers, and then it is advisable 

 to spi inkle the plants slightly all over from the rose of a water- 

 ing-pot, and then the soot clings to the soil and will not be 

 washed over by the good waterings that will follow shortly after- 

 wards. Nothing tends more to give a fine healthy green to the 

 foliage than this little soot. The same effect would be pro- 

 duced by clear soot water, but, then, it is difiieult to clear it 

 without a little quicklime, though that in moderation does no 

 harm and gives a hint to worms and slugs to keep out of the 

 way. 



We find that with few exceptions all fruit is later than usual 

 this season, and we have had to forward some a little by arti- 

 ficial means. So many enemies attack it, too, in this fine 

 weather, that it is often advisable to gather Peathes, Nec- 

 tarines, Figs, Pears, Plums, &c., before they are fully ripe» 

 and allow them to mellow and ripen in a place of safety. In 

 some cases where the juices of the fruit are fully retained, the 

 flavour is even improved by the process, and the fruit is juicy 

 rather than mealy or mellow. 



We gave a good watering to the late Peaches in the orchard 

 house, which we hope will help us for some time yet. Borders 

 in general will now want less watering. We were forced under 

 peculiar circumstances to keep a number of pot plants in the 

 late vinery, but we have partly pruned, at least of all young 

 growth, the -earliest vineries whence the fruit had been cut, 

 and we set the plants in them so that the soil and air of the 

 late vinery, now coming in, should be drier. A little fire is put 

 on in most days, on every day the least shady or cold, and air 

 given accordingly, and a little air left on constantly at night, so 

 that no condensed vapour should rest on the branches. Most 

 of the laterals, too, have been shortened or removed, doing it 

 gradually so as not to check root action, in order to admit 

 more light into the house. The pipes have been painted 

 several times with flowers of sulphur and milk, as it is better 

 to keep away red spider than send it away after it comes. 

 The floor was all finely raked so that the surface might almost 

 be dust dry, whilst a little moisture was left beneath. When 

 all the plants have been removed we frequently paint the stages 

 and wall with lime and sulphur. It gives more light to the 

 house by reflection, and the sun heat will bring out some of 

 the fumes of sulphur, but so mild as not to hurt the Vines at 

 all, whilst it seems to say to all intruding insects. Beware. 

 Many gardeners in largish places are never able to devote even 

 their fruit houses to their legitimate purposes ; but where 

 plants must be kept, much will depend on being able to thirs 

 or remove them as the fruit approaches maturity, and the 

 long-keeping of such fruit as Grapes depends much on the 

 dryish pure atmosphere round them. 



OKNAMENTAi DEPAETMENT. 



Lawns, walks, beds, and borders have been greatly benefited 

 by the rains, as the ground, heavily cropped, was getting very 

 dry. When walks are all right as respects cleanliness, a compara- 

 tively hght roller, to be moved by one man, makes all smootb 

 and neat. One walk rather out of the way we could not get at 

 in time, and we see that in places it is a little green. The 

 rest of the walks, treated as lately described, are as bright as 

 can be, and do not show the trace of a weed as yet. Where 

 the lawns are fresh laid, and rather rich stuff has been used to 

 make all level, wormcasts are apt to appear. Sweeping these' 

 off at whatever time is apt to leave the grass discoloured be- 

 hind them, and future rolling will not make it all right to the 

 eye. We seldom sweep for this purpose, but we have long 

 found that a wooden roller from 9 to 12 inches in diameter, 

 and 4 feet in length, acts better than broom and roller. If 

 in the least damp, any part'of the heaps which the roller does 

 not press down is taken up, and the cleaning of the roller, when 

 encrusted, with a piece of iron or spatula, acts far better than a- 

 sweeping with a broom, for the grass is left beautifully green 

 behind it. The first time we saw these light wooden rollers- 

 was at Tingrith more than thirty years ago, and they were then 

 used early in the morning that the dew might be spread, so 

 that the ladies might sooner walk on the lawn with thin-soled 

 shoes. Then was the idea suggested, how useful such simpl* 



