70 



JOTJENAL OF HOETICULTUEB AND COTTAGE GAEDENES. 



[ Jannary £S, 1871. 



SoiT Peas in pots or boxes for planting ont in March, also two 

 crops in the open garden, one of an early variety, the other of 

 an approveci kind which does not come in so quickly. Sow 

 another crop of Eadislies in a frame where there is a little 

 bottom heat, or they may be sown where Potatoes are planted. 

 A crop should also now be sown on a south border. Keep up 

 a succession of Sea-tcaU and Ehubarb either by covering the 

 roots with pots and fermenting material, or by planting them 

 in pots and placing them under stages in the greenhouse or 

 stove. The latter method has the advantage of giving much 

 ie iS trouble than the former, a great consideration in the busy 

 time which is approaching. 



FKUIT GABBEN. 



Planting in every part, both against walls and in the open 

 ■qiartere, should ba completed without delay. Mulch ihenewly- 

 p. anted trees, and at once stake those reguiring support. Prune 

 and nail Apricots, and continue the same with other wall trees 

 noi yet completed. The following composition is recommended 

 as a dressing for Peach and Nectarine trees — viz., Scotch snuff, 

 iresh slsked lime, sulphur vivum, of each 1 lb. ; mis with soap- 

 Sids tothe consistency of paint, add sufficient soot to make the 

 whole of a grey colour, and lay it on wi;h small paint brushes. 

 I suspect this composition has a more important influence than 

 the destruction of insects or their eggs, as the leaves of the 

 ' trees to which it is applied are generally of a more healthy ap- 

 paaranee throughout the summer than those left without dress- 

 iag. T^'hc'ie Filberts are brought under the dominion of the 

 knife and spade — by far the best method oi cultivating them — • 

 let all suckers ba effectually removed, and some manure forked 

 ia about the trees. Shorten all the strong shoots of last year's 

 gi'owth, but do not interfere with the small ones, as it is from 

 these the nuts are principally produced. It is better to thin 

 oat the large branches if they are crowded with v/ood. 



FLOWEE GAEDEN. 



Proceed as rapidly as the weather will permit with the re- 

 moval and planting of large shrubs. Layering may be success- 

 stilly performed where the plants have become bare and un- 

 sightly at the bottom. Fork over the borders in the shrubbery, 

 sweep and roll the grass edgings and walks, remove every- 

 thing unsightly, and let the whole assume an air of neatness 

 aad order. Those who are much annoyed with worms may try 

 the following receipt — Take 1 oz. of corrosive sublimate, grind 

 a fine, and dissolve it in sixteen gallons cf water ; then with a 

 watering-can and fine rose water the turf infested. This wOl 

 bring all the worms in a great hurry to the surface, when they 

 may be picked up in a watcring-CsSi and carried to a distance. 

 Anemones and Esnanonluses may le planted if the ground is 

 in a dry state, and the weather mild. If the soil of the bed be 

 in a poor condition, throw it out to the depth of 1 foot, place a 

 layer 6 inches thick of well-rotted hotbed atd cow dung, and 

 311 up the bed with fresh maiden loam from a pasture. Before 

 planting, lay the roots between the folds of a wet piece of 

 Sannel for twenty-four hours. Carnations and Pinks in pots 

 should be attended to ; remove ail damp, and protect them 

 from heavy rains. Keep Auriculas and Polyanthnsea tolerably 

 dry at this season. Prepare a rich compost for top-dressing by 

 frequent turnings. Hyacinths may atili be planted ; to have 

 them in perfection apply plenty of rotten cow dung to the beds. 

 Those beds which were planted in autumn should be stirred on 

 the surface with a fork, and top-dressed with the same material. 

 Prepare beds for Pinks, Carnations, and Pansies. Look over 

 the Dahlias, and remove all decayed portions from the stems 

 and roots. 



GKEEKnOnS33 AND COKSEKVATOKY. 



Now that the shortest day is past some of the plants which 

 it is intended to make the most of during the growing season 

 may be started gently preparatory to being potted about the 

 middle of next month. Any nice compact plants of the finer 

 varieties of Scarlet Geraniums which are intended to make 

 specimen plants for vases, baskets, or single specimens on the 

 lawn during summer should.uow be shaken out of their pots, 

 and repotted in fresh soil. Give them, if possible, a gentle 

 bottom heat for a week or two until they make fresh roots, and 

 keep a moderately moist atmosphere, with a temperature of 

 from 45° to 50'. Alter they have fully recovered the check 

 remove them to a light airy part of the greenhouse, and place 

 them in large pots or tubs towards the end of March, where 

 they will produce trusses of splendid bloom from June until 

 September or October. Herbaceous Calceolaiias from this time 

 forward should be grown rapidly, potted in similar compost to 

 the Geraniums, and kept in a moderately moist, close atmO' 



Spnorv^C 



a pjringeful of clean tepid 



water over them about one o'clock on clear sunny days, and 

 remember that the green fly will quickly devastate your Cal- 

 ceolarias if you do not fumigate with tobacco about once a-fort- 

 nijht. Cinerarias, if they happen to be uuderpotted, or have 

 been standing near the heating apparatus during the late sev ere 

 weather, must be sharply locked after, or they wiU soon be- 

 come smothered with insects. Fumigate them in time , and 

 assist those which are coming into bloom with a little clear 

 liquid manure once a-week. Fuchsias must also be looked to 

 without delay, where fine specimen plants are required. Shake 

 the old plants out, reduce the roots, and repot them, introduce 

 them to a forcing house at a temperature of about 60°, and as 

 soon as yon can take cuttings an inch long, strike them, and 

 grow them as quickly as possible, remembering that if you 

 want large plants they must be grown to a considerable size 

 before they show bloom. For soil use light, turfy, sandy loam, 

 such as the edgings of gravel walks, with turfy peat, half-de- 

 composed leaf mould, a Utile charcoal, and some sand. 



STOVE. 



Some of the plants will now begin to grow, such shonld be 

 potted if they require it, and be placed in the warmest and 

 .lightest part oi the house. Seeds of stove exotics may now be 

 sown ; some will require to be placed ia a hotbed, particularly 

 the seeds of many of the Leguminosse, while others will do 

 better in a stove where there is a greater amount of air and leas 

 heat. 



fllS AKD FKAJIES. 



Give plenty of light and air to these structures in fine weather. 

 Inspect the plants at every opportunity, and pick oS all damp 

 and decaying leaves. Fumigate with tobacco if the plants be 

 infested with green fly ; this ought to be attended to prior to 

 taking off cuttings, as this insect soon increases in number 

 when brought into a higher temperature. Pot off autumn- 

 struck cuttings of Scarlet and Ivy-leaved Geraniums, Fuchsias, 

 Verbenas, shrubby Calceolarias, &c.,that are still in the cutting 

 pans ; place them in a httle heat till they are well rooted. 

 Make a hotbed for cuttings and seeds with fermented dung weU 

 sweetened. Those who do not possess great advantages, and 

 yet are expected to have the flower garden very gay in the 

 summer and autumn, may do much with a small supply of fer- 

 menting material by making a hotbed 3 feet high at the back, 

 2 feet high in front, and the size of a single-light box. — 

 W. Kea^'e. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



Up to this, the 21st instant, we have had a trying week for 

 gardening. What with dense fogs and mists, heavy rains, 

 boisterous winds, snow, sleet, thaw, and frost, fitfuUy and al- 

 most hourly succeeding each other, we hardly knew what to do 

 as respects all out-door gardening. No better proof than we have 

 had of late could be given of the advantage of a small house 

 of glass over a pit or frame, as with the latter little could be 

 dene in such weather. A house, with means of lieating it, is 

 also a great improvement over a house not heated at all, or 

 heated imperfectly ; for nothing is a greater damper to enthu- 

 siasm in gardeniug than to see plants perishing from cold, and 

 be destitute of the means of preventing it. For all small bouses, 

 heating by a brick or iron stove inside the house will ever be the 

 most economical plan, and a little care will prevent dust from 

 ashef. The firing, &c., can all be done under cover. The nest 

 cheapest mode is having a little flue either beneath the floor- 

 level, the top of the flue forming part of the tiled pathway, or 

 the fine may be placed above the floor, where it will be least 

 conspicuous. We prefer the former, as the flue is not seen. 

 Hot water will always be found the best where there is much 

 heating to bo dene. Where the place is very small, beating by 

 gas, with or without a little boiler, is very handy, and so is 

 heating from a kitchen boiler, when the pcsition suits, and it 

 will only suit when all the heating pipes are above the level of 

 the boiler. 



The work as a whole was very much a repetition of what we 

 have alluded to in previous weeks' notices, and, therefore, 

 without any particular arrangement as to departments, we 

 shall allude to a few matters that have come more prominently 

 before ns. % 



Wirn'oic Gardening.— Whin Geraniums and other plants 

 have been kept in waim rooms, they are apt to be lanky and 

 sickly after such a winter, and may want a little nipping back, 

 but as this done now would be apt to retard blccming, it is 

 better to avoid it, if the plants are at all stubby. We have 

 received many complaints from those who grow in pots and 



