264 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 5, 1871. 



rubbish attached to every kitchen garden — I allude to this 

 matter because the aceumulation cf weeds aud decayed ve- 

 getable matter is considerable at this season — one to receive 

 the matter convertible by gradual decomposition into manure, 

 the other to contain every substance that can conveniently be 

 burnt. A good reserve of burnt earth and wood afbes should 

 belong to every garden ; the latter may be very advantage- 

 ously substituted for manure of a stronger character in rich 

 soils which it is desirable to relieve. Vegetable gourmands 

 pretend to discriminate between the Broceolis and Cabbages 

 grown on poor soil and those cnliivated in highly manured 

 gardens around London. It is highly probable that the flavour 

 of the Cabbage tribe may be heightened and not improved by 

 Tank soil, and no doubt manure is sometimes excessively and 

 injudiciously employed in the cultivation of vegetables, as in 

 most cases it is not the mere production of the object, but its 

 attainment with every interest and peculiar advantage that is 

 coveted ; therefore, the judgment should be exercised in every 

 case that involves a distribution of manure, and another 

 attempt made towards a most desirable improvement in vege- 

 table culture. Thin out young crops of Spinach, Turnips, &c., 

 before they become weakly and drawn through standing too 

 ■olosely together. Slir the surface of the soil deeply among 

 growing crops to admit air to the roots, and to keep down weeds. 

 Let spare ground be manured and dug or trenched for another 

 crop whenever time can be spared for that kind of work. 



FEUII GARDEN. 



Look daily to the housing of tender kinds of Pears, gathering 

 ^ few at a time, and preserving carefully names and dates. 

 Let preparations be made for planting fruit trees at an early 

 opportunity, avoiding deep and highlyrmanured borders, drain- 

 ing thoroughly for stagnant water, and planting high in pro- 

 portion to the humidity of the situation. 



FLOWER GAKDEN. 



Tender plants in borders must be covered when there is the 

 slightest appearance of frost. As has been often recommended, 

 give careful attention to young stock, and recollect that sturdy, 

 well-rooted plants are much easier to winter than large plants 

 with long-jointed soft wood. With good convenience late-rooted 

 cuttings may still be potted-oiJ, but unless they are very thick 

 in the cutting-pots we would prefer wintering them in these 

 to shifting at this season, for they occupy much less space in 

 the cutting-pots, and having more space for their roots they 

 are frequently more healthy, and require less attention in 

 winter than those potted singly. Square pans 12 inches 

 wide and 5 inches deep are very suitable for wintering Ver- 

 benas, Lobelias, and other plants which can be kept in a small 

 state. One of these will hold some twenty good plants, and 

 with care, to prevent their being iojared by damp, they will 

 winter quite as well treated in this way as if potted singly in 

 -l-inch pots, and a vast quantity may be stored in a small 

 space. Where subjects of this kind have to be wintered in cold 

 ■frames or pits the plants should be potted singly, as they 

 would be very liable to damp off, despite every care, if placed 

 thickly together in pans and put where it may be impossible to 

 give air for weeks together. I must, however, protest against 

 the system of wintering bedding stock in such unsuitable 

 places. This practice is generally adopted from some mistaken 

 notion of economy ; but if a fair calculation of the time required 

 to attend to plants wintered in this way could be made, and all 

 ■the losses taken into account, it would be found to greatly 

 outbalance the trifling cost of putting up a proper heating 

 apparatus, and furnishing a few bushels of coke or coal annually. 

 Where alterations are projected or in hand these should be 

 proceeded with, and where plantations are to form part of the 

 demesne, and in conspicuous situations, trenching should al- 

 ways be resorted to. Gilpin had a very good plan of forming 

 groups in parks; he first determined on the positions where 

 two, three, or more, would be effective, and not far from each 

 other, he planted these with trees of the desired kind, and of 

 a permanent character, and then enclosed a rectangular figure 

 around them, filling up all the intervals with trees of very rapid 

 growth, with Gorse, Broom, &e., as nurses. Alterations carried 

 out during the autumn are doubly important, both on account 

 of the season for planting, turfing, and such operations, and 

 also on account of the busy character of the spring months, 

 which always bring sufficient claims on the most diligent, with- 

 out the pressure of extras of any kind. The remodelling of 

 parterres or the making of new ones may be carried on after 

 the middle of the month, and where old ones are to be broken 

 ap the herbaceous tribes already existing should be numbered 



or named in due time in order to be able to ascertain the 

 heights, colours, &e. Ornamental shrubs, whether evergreen 

 or deciduous, may be removed with every chance of success 

 after the second week ; no hesitation need take place as to the 

 kinds, provided the ground is properly prepared by trenching 

 or othersvise, and thoroughly drained. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSEEVATOEY. 



The Camellias which had been forced into growth in Feb- 

 ruary and March will shortly be ready to open their buds. Let 

 them be liberally supplied with clear and weak liquid manure ; 

 soot water and guano in a liquid state is advised ; the latter in 

 very small quantities. The application of liquid manure is 

 frequently wrongly conducted. There is no such wholesale 

 manuring in Nature as we see practised in an artificial way. 

 The ammonia of the atmosphere is presented in very weak 

 doses, but in a continuous way. May we not take Nature as a 

 model? Some of the earliest Epacrises may be placed in a close 

 part of the greenhouse, where they will soon open their 

 blossoms, also Daphnes, and many other plants, provided their 

 flower-buds are prominent. Aim at keeping the atmosphere of 

 this house rather dry, using just enough of fire heat on damp, 

 cold nights to allow of giving sufficient air to keep the atmo- 

 sphere in motion, so as to prevent damp being iojnrioua. In 

 arranging the stock in its winter quarters in these structures 

 beware of overcrowding, drawn stock is not endured in these 

 days ; it is far better to throw a portion entirely away than 

 to spoil .superior specimens. Much of second-rate character, 

 which requires another season's growth, may be preserved in 

 good dry pits, at least till the middle of December, -nhen, if 

 very hard weather occurs, they may have a chance of removal, 

 perhaps, to some of the other structures until the end of 

 January. It ought ever to be a maxim in regular plant houses 

 that no two plants touch, still we must confess that many who 

 would admit the propriety of the principle are frequently com- 

 pelled to practise otherwise through want of sufficient accom- 

 modation. The ephemeral things introduced for decorative 

 purposes must be removed as they exhibit sipns of decay. 

 Mildew is often engendered by such plants. With ordinary 

 resources a good successional supply of Heliotropes, Fuchsias, 

 Scarlet Geraniums, &c., may be managed. The Chinese Chry- 

 santhemums will shortly give a feature to the general display ; 

 large plants may be taken up, potted, and kept in a close frame 

 for a week or two, when they will flower equally well with 

 others. Salvia azurea should also be taken up from the ground 

 and potted, it will bloom until late in November if kept in the 

 conservatory. Salvia gplendens is also useful for the same 

 purpose. 



STOVE. 



Twiners on the roofs of stoves should now be more than ever 

 kept within bounds, cutting back all shoots that have done 

 flowering, and tying the others so as to obstruct light as little 

 as possible. Place specimens ripening their wood in the coolest 

 part of the house, and water sparingly at the roots. Achimenes, 

 Gloxinias, and Gesneras, that are properly ripened off may be 

 stowed away in any dry place, where they will be secure from 

 frost, but take care to place them where they will be free from 

 damp, and they should not be exposed to a lower temperature 

 than about 45° or 50°. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK 

 " It never rains but it pours " has been well exemplified 

 during the past week. For eight days we have scarcely had a 

 dry hour until this Saturday afternoon, the SOih of September, 

 when we saw the sun once more. On Friday night and Satur- 

 day morning we had downpours that turned most of our walks 

 into miniature canals. Having previously picked over our 

 flower beds, they stood four days and nights of almost constant 

 rain with impunity, looking if anything more bright from the 

 moisture. The rain of Thursday, and especially of Friday 

 night and Saturday morning, accompanied as it was with a 

 wind approaching to a gale, has given the masses of bloom a 

 drowned appearance, from which, unless we have bright, dry 

 weather in October, they will not recover. If, however, we 

 have some dry, bright weather, there are sufficient fresh open- 

 ing buds to continue the brightness a few weeks longer where 

 there is strength and vigour in the plants. To-day we looked 

 along lines of Madame Vauoher Geranium, from which, two or 

 three days ago, we could have cut hundreds, if not even thou- 

 sands, of fine pure heads oi bloom almost without their being 

 missed, and yet to-day, when we wanted thtm, we could not, 



