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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 2, 1871. 



may be stamped with a number corresponding with the name 

 in the book. Plant offsets of Tulips, arrange the best bed de- 

 finitely pi'evious to planting when the soil is sufficiently dry, 

 the sooner the better. Take every opportunity of removing 

 from the flower garden any remaining plants which it is de- 

 sirable to keep for nest season. Half-hardy plants and shrubs 

 will likewise require some protection on frosty nights. Among 

 the best protectors for this purpose are conical and pyramidal 

 baskets made roughly with common Osiers ; they admit air, 

 but in severe frost should be thatched very slightly either with 

 Fern, dry leaves, or the light spray from Yew or Spruce Fir. 

 In this form they are not unsightly, and are cheaply made. 

 As the beds are cleared proceed to fill them in one or other of 

 the methods noticed in former calendars. It planted in the 

 mixed style keep the shrubs in the centre of the beds, and the 

 bulbs and low herbaceous plants to the sides and edges, where 

 they will easily catch the eye, and prove more attractive. The 

 bulbs, &c., should be correctly labelled, that they may not be 

 disturbed in subsequent cleaning. To carry out this plan eSec- 

 tively a reserve garden is indispensable, so as to remove the 

 plants to it in the spring, as well as for propagating and pre- 

 paring them for winter. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSEEVATOEY. 



The conservatory should be made as attractive as possible, as 

 it will now become in some respects the only place where 

 >f owering plant? can be inspected with comfort in unfavourable 

 weather. Let the work of watering and changing the plants be 

 •done early in the day, that the effects of the watering and 

 syringing may be removed, and an agreeable dryness pervade 

 the house, before it is visited by the family. No pains must 

 likewise be spared to keep the house gay by introducing plants 

 ■in succession as they come into bloom, including a portion of 

 'the stove plants which have been grown expressly for this pur- 

 pose. A little gentle forcing will bring the different varieties 

 ■of Epiphyllum truncatnm in bloom, and with the addition of 

 ChrysanthemumSi 'ate Fuchsias, Pelargoniums, Pancratiums, 

 Amaryllis, Mignonette, Neapolitan Violets, &c., a tolerably gay 

 appearance may be maintained until the time when forced 

 plants will be more generally available. Fires will be necessary, 

 not so much for keeping up the temperature, unless during 

 frost, as for the purpose of promoting a medium state of dry- 

 •2193S in the internal air, so as to render the house enjoyable in 

 all weathers. Some of the most useful plants for house de- 

 -ooration during winter and spring when subjected to gentle 

 '■forcing are the different kinds of Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Kal- 

 mias, &e., usually termed American plants. As these have now 

 perfected their buds, plants well furnished with buds can easily 

 be selected for the purpose. Without naming each particular 

 kind suitable, it may be remarked that many of the hybrid 

 ■scarlet Rhododendrons, which owing to their earliness rarely 

 bloom in perfection out of doors, are the best for early forcing, 

 coming into bloom with but little trouble. After selecting the 

 5)lants from the nursery have them potted in peat, in as small 

 pots as the roots can be placed ; they may then be watered and 

 aat in a pit or empty vinery to be brought forward as required, 

 beginning with them very gently in a moist heat, and increasing 

 4ke heat as they advance towards blooming. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 

 kitchen gaeden. 

 Oahiages. — As the heavy rains had beaten the ground we ran 

 the points of a four-pronged fork between the rows, so as to 

 leave the surface rough and open, choosing a dry day for the 

 purpose. A fork or a Dutch hoe is the best tool for this work, 

 as there is then no trampling on the ground after stirring it. 

 After a damp night we scattered a light dusting of wood ashes, 

 lime, and soot over .the plants — just enough to prevent the 

 ■snails and slugs from feeding on them, and not enough to 

 impede the action of the leaves. The plants, though smaller 

 than usual at this season, so as to be safe from frost, are 

 healthy and growing well. Some graas mice nibbled a few, but 

 several we caught, and round the quarter we beat a narrow 

 space level and firm with the back of a spade, poured a cordon 

 of tar over it, and that neither mice nor rats care to touch, 

 so long as the tar remains moist enough to taint their fur. 

 Notwithstanding the care in preparing the ground, we lost a 

 few plants from grubs at the roots ; and once there they can 

 be destroyed in no other way than by examining the roots and 

 catching and billing. We have, however, been troubled with 

 very few this season. When slugs threatened to do damage we 

 have several times run a cordon of lime and salt between the 



rows, but at a good distance from the young plants. The 

 small quantity of salt under these circumstances did good as a 

 manure, and if the weather was at all dry, it and the lime 

 together prevented a snail passing. Nest to picking up snails 

 and slugs nothing annoys them so much as frequent surface- 

 stirring. On the whole, we never saw less of slugs and snails 

 than during this past season ; and even caterpillars, that did 

 great damage around us, troubled us but little. As soon as 

 possible we shall prick-out a lot of small Cabbage plants in a 

 bed, as when thus treated they make far better plants in every 

 way in the spring than when left in the seed bed all the 

 winter. 



Cauliflowers. — Veitch's Late Cauliflower promises to be a 

 very fine late kind, with leaves more upright than spreading. 

 We shall have a quantity of rough hay and clean litter to put 

 over the latest heads in case sharp frost should come on sud- 

 denly, but we hardly expect it just yet. This variety seems to 

 be quite as hardy as the Walcheren. If we had a place which 

 we could keep free from vermin and now cover with glass, we 

 would take up a number of plants of this and other kinds with 

 small heads at present, as when taken up with balls the beads 

 would swell well, and be quite fresh when cut. Thus treated 

 we have had nice Cauliflower throughout the winter, the plants 

 being carefully protected from frost. When Cauliflower heads 

 are nearly at their best at the end of October, we have kept 

 them a long time by cutting them off close to the ground, 

 removing the whole of the leaves, except two or three of the 

 small ones over the head, and then packing the stems in rather 

 damp earth or sand, with dry sand on the surface, in an airy 

 shed where there was little light, and from which frost could 

 be excluded. When such heads are placed for an hour in cold 

 clean water they become quite firm and crisp. We have taken 

 up and suspended the plants in sheds, planted them thickly 

 in open sheds and in the open air, so that they could be easily 

 covered when frost came ; but of late years our great drawback 

 has been keeping them from being spoiled by four-footed 

 enemies. We have had scores of fine heads of Broccoli and 

 Cauliflower thus cared for destroyed apparently only for mis- 

 chief, as, on close examination, the left and cut-off parts would 

 suit so well as to show that hardly anything had been eaten. 



Young Cauliflower plants placed under hand-lights have not 

 as yet bsen touched, partly owing to the surfacing of rough 

 road drift sand, from which the finer particles had been ex- 

 cluded. It is very difficult for a mollusc to get over such 

 material. 



Lettuces and Endive planted on banks for spring supply have 

 also had the surface of the soil between them gently broken, 

 and this was more especially necessary as the surface had been 

 beaten smooth at planting time, so that the small plants should 

 be more secure. We have not noticed one plant that has 

 given way. The rough surface will also keep off frost better 

 than one which is smooth. This simple fact finds its way 

 slowly among many of our readers. One of the things that 

 convinced us many years ago was noticing that one round pit 

 of Potatoes which we had helped to cover was frosted when 

 opened after a severe winter, and another had the Potatoes 

 sound, and this, too, we helped to cover. Both pits belonged 

 to mechanics, and for the time very intelligent men. The 

 Potatoes in each ease were placed on a level surface, so as to 

 form a cone, and were covered with straw. A space of 18 inches 

 was then marked out round the heap, and beyond that a trench 

 was dug all round, affording the earth to cover the heap, the 

 soil being all over, except at the base, fully 15 inches thick. In 

 one pit, as we put on each layer of soil we trod it rather firmly 

 from the straw to the outside, and when finished we beat it 

 firmly all over, so that the outside presented a smooth shin- 

 ing surface, to throw the rain off, as its owner said. The 

 second pit was covered in the same way, but, except for the 

 first layer or two, there was no treading, and when flnished 

 there was no patting of the outside. The rough exterior and 

 the less solid soil arrested free radiation. We have often 

 noticed since that in general, as respects a raised mound, a 

 smooth surface absorbs more moisture than a rough more open 

 one. We say in general, because in a regular downpour of rain 

 the smooth surface will have the advantage, but it will be 

 different during the drizzling rains that usually mark our 

 winters. A few inches of rough litter on the outside of the 

 first pit would have kept all safe. Pea and bean haulm, or a 

 few tree leaves, are for this purpose very useful to cottagers 

 who must keep their Potatoes out of doors. 



Potatoes. — What few we have left from the garden have kept 

 very well, and, so far as we can learn, those that followed the 



