52 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



t Jarmavy 19, 1871. 



commerce, but it is a vaiit rien. This has been raised in 

 America, and the stock has passed into the hands of the firm 

 of Carter & Co., of High Holborn. The figure which is here 

 given will afford some idea of the form and character of this 

 fine novelty, although, of course, no idea can be given of its 

 purity and elegance. — D., Deal. 



National Tolip Society. — At a meeting of the subscribers 

 •of the Society held at Cambridge last year, after the annual 

 show, it was resolved that the Exhibition for 1871 should be 

 held in Manchester, and the Council of the Botanical Garden 

 there have given £15 to the funds, will provide a teut for the 

 Eihibition, also bottles and other things necessary, and will 

 advertise the Exhibition along with their own. The Exhibi- 

 tion will be held on the 26th and 27th May, in conjunction 

 with the National Horticultural Exhibition. Many growers 

 have already entered, and, including the £15 donation, above 

 £50 has been already subscribed. 



^YOEK FOR THE WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



But little out-door work can now be done where snow has 

 fallen, and it has done so pretty generally ; men should there- 

 fore be employed about such work as can be done withiu-doors, 

 which I have already pointed out. Bet traps for mice, and 

 destroy all vermin. Look after the crops of Peas and Beans 

 in the ground. See to the manure heaps, prepare road- 

 aerapings and charred refuse ; and mix the rubbish wheeled 

 from the vegetable ground with salt. This will form a valuable 

 manure for the land. If possible do not employ the same 

 description of manure twice in succession on the same land, a 

 change will produce the greatest results. As soon as the young 

 Carrots in the hotbed are about an inch high, thin them out 

 to 3 or 4 inches apart. Radislies are sometimes sown on the 

 same bed ; when this is the case they should also be thinned 

 out, and when ready for use they must be drawn with care, so 

 as not to injure the tops of the Carrots. Should the weather 

 continue severe, the frames containing young plants of Cauli- 

 jiowers a.nA Lettuces for spring supply, and the Cabbage Lsttuce 

 for present use, must be covered-up and well protected. Mush- 

 room beds should now be made in sheds or houses purposely 

 fitted-up for a spring supply. The horse droppings should be 

 well beaten down, and the bed should not be less than a foot 

 in depth. Temperature-sticks should then be thrust to the 

 bottom in several places and examined daily; when the heat 

 has become somewhat regular and not exceeding 90°, the spawn 

 may be inserted just below the surface, and the bed afterwards 

 earthed-up. Continue, as occasion may require, to cover a 

 portion of Sea-hale. Elmlarh may also be forced in a similar 

 way. 



TEUIT GAEDEK. 



The general pruning and training of wall trees and espaliers 

 may be proceeded with at all times, except during severe frost. 

 Peachee, Nectarines, Figs, and Apricots are, however, better 

 left for some time yet. Gooseberries and Currants may be 

 planted in rows 5 feet apart, and trained as low espaliers. 

 Where room is an object, this is an economical mode of grow- 

 ing them. These fruits may now have the necessary pruning. 

 Take advantage of frosty weather to wheel manures to such fruit 

 quarters as require that assistance. Newly-planted trees of all 

 kinds should have their roots protected from frost by a mulch- 

 ing of litter or short dung. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



The stock of bedding-out plants should now be looked over ; 

 it the stock of anything is short remove a portion of it into a 

 warm house to produce cuttings for propagation. It is often 

 difficult in the autumn to procure suificient plants of some 

 kinds, and cuttings of all the more softwooded plants struck in 

 this and the next month and properly hardened-off, will bloom 

 equally well with those struck the previous autumn. It is, 

 however, advisable that bedding-out Geraniums and other 

 woody plants which require to be of a certain age and size 

 before they are transplanted to the open borders, should have 

 been struck and well-established before winter, as fresh-struck 

 plants of such are apt to grow too fast to produce a fine show 

 ot blossom. Be on the safe side as regards numbers, there 

 is rarely an overstock at planting time. In all largo places 

 some odd corner is set apart for growing the shrubs and plants 

 most commonly required to fill-up vacancies ; where such is 

 the case, cuttings of the more common ornamental shrubs may 



now be put in, with Honeysuckles, Eoses, &c. Every de- 

 scription of plant used for the above purpose should be pro- 

 pagated, and the more showy herbaceous plants should always 

 form a part. The stock of evergreens should be frequently 

 lifted, that their final removal may be tiiacted at any season 

 without risk. In severe weather beds of Pinks are apt to be 

 eaten down to the stumps by rabbits. Many florists' gardens 

 are exposed to this serious disaster ; it is advisable to protect 

 the beds with galvanised wire-netting, placing some larch 

 stakes, 2 feet out of the ground, at short intervals round the 

 bed, to which the wire should be fastened. The depredations 

 of rabbits would thus be effectually prevented, and I know of 

 nothing better, even when there is none of these vermin in the 

 vicinity, than a close-meshed wire net as a protection to beds 

 of Pansies, Carnations, Tulips, &e., which are often more in- 

 jured in spiing from cold cutting winds than from frost. The 

 EanunculuB bed should have attention ; give it a slight forking 

 over, throwing it up into little ridges ; these can be levelled- 

 down at any time previous to planting. Look over the col- 

 lection of roots, separate the offsets from those which are large 

 enough to bloom for planting in the reserve bed ; these will 

 flower splmlidly the succeeding season. It is from want of 

 this that we often see large spaces in the amateur's Eanunculus 

 bed without a bloom. Holljhocks appear to be coming fast 

 into favour, not only as beautiful border plants, but also as 

 a florists' flower for exhibition. Those planted in the border 

 are extremely subject to the attacks of slugs, which greedily 

 feed on the fleshy shoots ; a dusting of soot occasionally will 

 make these less palatable. Those plants which are wintered 

 in pots must have the decayed leaves carefully removed. If 

 flowers are required to occupy in spring the beds which are 

 afterwards devoted to the usual bedding-out plants, they will 

 have been planted, and such being the case, some choice ones 

 now pushing may require a slight protection from severe frost. 

 Sawdust, leaf mould, or old tan may be put over the best sorts 

 of Anemones, Scillas, Hyacinths, and Tulips, covering the 

 ground afterwards so as to resemble that of the other beds. 

 The pleasure ground will require frequent sweeping and rolling, 

 the walks to be rolled, especially after frost, and every attention 

 ought to be paid to neatness and order. Deciduous trees and 

 shrubs may now be thinned-out and pruned if necessary ; 

 evergreens, however, had better remain untouched for the 

 present. Planting, too, should not be done at this season 

 except in extreme eases, but ground to be planted may now be 

 prepared with advantage. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



Although it is not yet desirable to shift the general stock of 

 stove and greenhouse plants for a few weeks, under some cir- 

 cumstances a part may require fresh potting at this time. 

 When such is the case room must be made to keep them apart 

 from the general stock for a short time afterwards, as their 

 treatment will be somewhat different. Most softwooded plants 

 require heading-back or pruniag at the present season, and 

 this should always be performed a sufficient time before the 

 plant is repotted, in order to enable it to make a fresh growth. 

 It is likewise often necessary, with this class of plants, to dis- 

 root them to some extent at this potting, which is an additional 

 inducement to defer repotting till the plant has made sufficient 

 growth — say young shoots an inch long — to enable it to bear 

 the o,5eration without injury. Attend to the training of plants 

 on wires and trellises. Fast-growing plants, such as TropK- 

 olums, will require frequent attention. Cinerarias will now 

 require some assistance in the shape of weak manure water. 

 Watch for green fly, to which this plant is very liable. As the 

 principal kinds of Begonias will now be showing bloom, they 

 may be advantageously removed to the conservatory, previously 

 staking them carefully to preserve their fine foliage from being 

 damaged. In some old conservatories the flues frequently run 

 under the pathway, and are only separated from the bed in 

 which the plants are growing by -i-iuch brickwork. Where 

 this is the case it may reasonably be expected that the soil in 

 immediate contact with the brickwork will become dry at the 

 bottom if fires are required, and yet may appear moist at the 

 top ; the soil should in such cases be examined frequently, and 

 have water accordingly. 



STOVE. 



Stove plants will be much benefited by bottom heat and a 

 moist temperature till active growth commence. Thin and tie 

 out the shoots as they advance, to form the plants into the 

 desired specimens, and guard against injuring the foliage. 

 Much of the beauty of plants consists in their having clean, 

 healthy foliage. Dry roots of Gloriosa, and a portion of the 



