492 



JOUBNAIi OF HOETICULTUEB AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ December 21, 1871. 



printed on the finest paper, illustrated witli hundreds of 

 woodcuts, engravings on steel, and chromo-lithograplis. It is 

 published in parts, of which fifty-four out of the sisty-five, 

 which will complete the whole in 1872, have already sppeared. 

 Each part costs 4s., but as a great number of the copies were 

 destroyed in the fire at the Hotel de Tille, the price of £13 to 

 subscribers for the whole work will be raised to £16 when it is 

 ■completed. Up to the present time the Bois de Boulogne and 

 the Bois de Vincennes are complete. There now remains Paris 

 proper to be illustrated and described. 



To all owners of estates, country residents, landscape gar- 

 deners, architects, and amateur horticulturists this work is an 

 invaluable boon, and it ought to find a place in every public 

 library. 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



EIICHEN GiEDES. 



Proceed with manuring and trenching, which are the prin- 

 ■oipal operations at this season. Sifted coal ashes are exoel- 

 .ient for the back walks as bearing the winter traiBo well, and 

 being always pleasant to walk upon ; a coating may now be 

 put on if they are in bad condition. Beans advancing should 

 have the snifaoe soil stirred, and the earth drawn over them. 

 Peas sown on a warm border will now be peeping up ; the 

 surface soil should be stirred about them, and a covering of 

 decomposed leaf mould laid immediately over the rows. If 

 ■cutting winds prevail some branches of Spruce Fir or Birch on 

 4he windward side will be usetal. 



FEUIT OABDEN. 



Pruning and nailing wall trees should be carried on with the 

 ^itmost dispatch at every favourable opportunity. Trees in- 

 fested with scale should be loosened from the wall entirely, the 

 bark well scraped, and painted with a mixture of soft soap, cow 

 dung, and lime, taking care to well work the composition into 

 -the crevices of the bark. If planting young trees or removing 

 others has still to be done, attend to it at once. Let Goose- 

 berry and Currant bushes be pruned on frosty mornings, or 

 when the ground is in a dry state, so that it will bear to be trodden 

 upon without injury. After pruning give the ground among 

 ■the Gooseberry trees a good dressing of lime, which is useful 

 as a preventive of their great enemy the caterpillar. Also 

 wheel the manure necessary for the other small fruit bushes 

 whenever a favourable opportunity occurs, and dig the ground 

 that it may look clean. and fresh. Where the Easpberry grub 

 is troublesome, give a dressing of gas lime before digging the 

 ■ground, taking care to apply it regularly about the base of the 

 plants. The ground among fruit bushes should be dug very 

 lightly, especially in the case of Easpberries, which have their 

 roots near the surface, and it is better in all cases to dispense 

 with digging, where it cannot be done without injuring the 

 Strong roots. The pruning of orchard trees of large size is much 

 neglected in many places, the head being allowed to get so 

 thick of wood that fruit cannot be expected save from the 

 points of the outside shoots ; and except when the crop is acci- 

 dentally thinned to something considerably below an average, 

 the fruit is small and of indifferent quality. Dry frosty weather 

 -offers an opportunity for properly thinning the heads of trees, 

 as men can work at this with comfort when it is too cold for 

 nailing. Cat out all branches which cross the others, and dead 

 pieces, leaving the shoots snfiiciently far apart that light and 

 air may have free play among those left when the foliage is on. 

 In removing large branches care should be used to make close 

 clean cuts, and if the wood is coated with strong thick paint, 

 this will help to prevent decay setting in before the wound is 

 healed over. 



FLOWER GABDEN. 



Flower borders should now be top-dressed with some well- 

 prepared compost, which should be forked in and the surface of 

 the borders left as rough as possible. This will give them a 

 Iresh appearance during winter, and will be of great service in 

 stiff soils, for the soil will be pulverised by the frosts of winter. 

 From about standard Eoses, which, by the weakness of the 

 shoots and the paucity of their bloom this season, are showing 

 symptoms of decay, the surface soil should be taken off down 

 to the roots, and all suckers removed, after which a thick coat 

 of well-decayed dung should be placed round them, and covered 

 with soil. This applies with still greater force to those standards 

 planted out in turf, in which case, taking it for granted that 

 the turf is not nearer the stem than IS inches, the soil should 

 be removed as in the former case, and a good dressing of strong 

 compost applied. If this be covered with flints or white pebbles. 



the unsightly appearance of the soil upon the turf will be 

 obviated. 



GEEEXHOCSE AJtII COXSEEVATOEY. 



Many failures in plant-growing, and the sickly and drawn 

 character of the inmates of greenhouses, may be fairly traced 

 to the attempt to maintain a degree of artificial warmth in- 

 compatible with the amount of light. Heat as weU as atmo- 

 spheric moisture should at all times be regulated strictly in 

 accordance with the amount of light. No prescribed tem- 

 perature, even if stated by the most experienced, will answer 

 well without some modifications founded on the character of 

 the weather. For instance, a general temperature of oo' by 

 day may be recommended for the conservatory through De- 

 cember, supposing it to be what a house of the kind ought to 

 be — namely, filled with Camellias in flower, hybrid Eoses, and 

 a host of other gay subjects. This recommendition will be very 

 suitable whilst the weather continues open, but if frost sud- 

 denly sets in the attempt to keep up even this moderate tem- 

 perature will, from the construction of most houses, soon pro- 

 duce bad efl'dcts, provided the frost continues, more especially 

 if accompanied by a dull and lowering sky. In such cases the 

 experienced gardener will allow only the minimum amount of 

 heat, and be content with an average of 45'. The attempt to 

 maintain an unnatural degree of heat will, of course, require 

 the assistance of a corresponding amount of atmospheric 

 moisture, and this under ordinary circumstances wiU have a 

 tendency to produce drip. 



STOVE. 



Some of the early-ripened tall Cacti may now be introduced 

 either into the stove or the forcing pit, and receive a liberal 

 watering to commence with. If, however, the blossom-buds 

 are not well matured it is of little use forcing them. Do not 

 encourage any fresh growth among stove plants at this period, 

 rather aim at that kind of routine management which will 

 serve to consolidate the growth already made, and to properly 

 develope the blossoms of late-flowering plants. Great caution 

 will be necessary during the next month to provide against 

 drip. Many plants, such as Orchids, will make late growths in 

 spite of system, and these, although not encouraged by im- 

 proper temperatures, will be liable to decay if condensed vapour 

 or drip be permitted to lodge in them. Where the heating ap- 

 paratus is sufficient for the purpose (as it should be in all 

 cases) a very free circulation of air may be encouraged, not 

 only by day but also by night when the weather wiU permit. 

 This is the best corrective after aU to drip and the condensation 

 of moisture. — W. Keaxe. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK 



KITCHEN GAEDEX. 



We laid a leaf over some young heads of Cauliflower to keep 

 them from being stained by the litter. As the thaw has set 

 heaps of leaves heating, we shall at the beginning of the week 

 be preparing beds for Cucumbers, Carrots, Eidishes, early 

 Onions, Potatoes, &o., so as to get a little in advance. Now 

 is the time for washing glass, cleaning houses, washing plants, 

 tying mats, making tallies, sticks, and stakes of all kinds. 

 Labled most of our forced Strawberry pots, to prevent confusion 

 on the plants being again transplanted. Leaves that are heat- 

 ing require no turning, and plants must not be plunged in too 

 great heat, or else they wiU be destroyed. For all delicate 

 purposes, such as Cucumber beds, the leaves should be allowed 

 to heat well before using them, so as to destroy all molluscs 

 and spores that might be amongst them. We find a good plan 

 to keep snails and slugs out of moss is to soak it in a barrel 

 of very warm water, with a spadeful of quicklime well worked 

 through it. 



Laid-in a stock of Ehubarb, Sea-kale, and Asparagus roots 

 for succession ; these ought all to be kept well secured and 

 damp. For out-door forcing nothing is better than an old 

 barrel. A barrel set over a huge Ehubarb stool with the bottom 

 end uppermost, and surrounded with a mound of leaves or 

 litter, would yield a good many gatherings of early Ehubarb. 

 Such a barrel bored with holes half an inch or a little more in 

 diameter, in rings 6 inches apart, would hold a great number 

 of roots of Dandelion or Chicory; the top of the plant is left 

 outside the barrel, and the bulk of the roots inside, packed in 

 damp earth layer above layer. This if placed in a dark cellar 

 would furnish many a salad for the winter months. 



As the weather became mild we took the opportunity of exa- 

 mining beds in the Mushroom house, and brought in material for 

 making another bed. We could not do this during the severe 



