February 9, 1871. ] 



JOUENAL OP HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



107 



the valley have greatly suffered. We hope that in the ligh 

 lands about Sandy and elsewhere there will be thousands 

 upon thousands of healthy Cabbage plants, and that their sale 

 at good prices will do a little to help the market gardeners in 

 that district, as they suffered gieitly owing to the drought of 

 last summer. 



We shall take up and pot some of our small plants that are 

 left and put them in a frame with just the slightest bottom 

 heat, so that the plants may have a number of fresh roots 

 before being turned out. Many a plan must be tried to lessen 

 the mischief which the long-continued frost has done us. We 

 must also depend on the seedlings raised under glass, to be 

 pricked-off and hardened-off before being turned out in the 

 open ground. 



Fortunately, Cauliflowers under hand-lights and other slight 

 protection have stood well. The hand-lights had a little litter 

 over them for a fortnight ; Broccoli has also suffered much, 

 except the hardiest kinds. Altogether we fear that vegetables 

 will be scarce this season. We shall be glad to give more pro- 

 minence than usual to Spinach, and that. Radishes, and Turnips 

 must be obtained, if possible, earlier than usual. 



Where seed Peas are no object, a nice supply for soups and 

 even small dishes may be obtained by sowing the Peas thickly 

 where there is a httla heat and plenty of light, and cutting the 

 tops over when 2 or 3 inches in height. At that size the soup 

 will have much the flavour of Green Peas, as alluded to lately. 

 Many a farmer might have delicious dishes of Turnip tops 

 by making a slight hotbed, placing a frame over it, setting 

 Swedish Turnips inside not too thiekly, and cutting the tops 

 when about 4 inches in height. If the tops are not higher the 

 tubers will not be much injured for feeding stock. If preferred 

 yellow instead of green, the tubers must be kept dark. Any 

 warm place would do for this purpose. 



Successions of Sea-kale, Ehubarb, Asparagus, Mushrooms, 

 Potatoes, Eadishes, &o., must be attended to, but these have 

 lately received considerable attention. With a press of ground 

 work and the retarding nature of the weather, it will not be 

 easy to secure our usual forwardness in the kitchen-garden 

 department. 



FEUIT GAEDEN. 



Here, too, we are behind as to pruning and nailing, but we 

 must try to expedite the first in all things except Peaches and 

 Apricots. The bird question also often interferes with us as 

 respects the smaller fruit. We hope that the Strawberry plants 

 have not suffered. What we have examined, whether old or 

 young, seem sound, owing to the protection of the snow. We 

 have a strong belief that even the Cabbages most exposed, even 

 of good size, would have withstood all the frost we have had, if 

 it had been continuous. The partial and shoit thaws between 

 made them more tender. We shall not be so forward as usual 

 with Strawberries under glass, owing to alterations and fresh 

 stagings in houses, but they look at present ai if they would 

 do well. 



There could be no worse weather for Peach trees in hloom. 

 We could do nothing more for them than keep them at a 

 rather low temperature at night, give them a rise with air 

 during the day, and with a thin flat board, used as a fan, make a 

 slight breeze over the blooms to disperse the pollen gently. 

 Partly owing to the sun of last season, the blooms seem strong 

 and robust, and where thickly set we have thinned them con- 

 siderably. In early forcing such thinning does much to insure 

 a tree healthy setting. Though heavy waterings are seldom 

 now required, yet the roots should not be dry at such a period. 

 The soil, therefore, should be examined, and all the more if 

 the heating medium is close to the soil, or even under its level, 

 the Ifttter sometimes being the case in old houses. Of course 

 we do not approve of any such plan, but many must make the 

 best of what they have, instead of waiting until better means 

 can be obtained. 



Early Vines will also require much attention. Owing to the 

 above causes ours will not be early, but have had the stems 

 damped several times ; though when a damp atmosphere can 

 be secured there is less necessity for this syringing. We seldom 

 syringe late Vines at all, either before or after they break. After 

 they grow some length our water would not be clean enough. 

 What moisture the leaves absorb from damp paths, &c., will 

 be sure to be clean. 



One great security for forward fruit houses in this and the 

 late dark foggy weather is as much as possible to proportion 

 heat to light, and then to give air, but mollified before it reaches 

 the plants. A high moist temperature in such sunless weather 

 is almost sure to be followed by watery spongy growth. Lower- 



ing the temperature five or more degrees, but so as to be safe, 

 renders less atmospheric vapour necessary. Then, though as 

 a general rule the vapour in the air of a house should be pro- 

 portioned to the heat, it is easy to have too much of it when 

 either Peaches or Vines are in bloom. The Peach will set 

 best in a rather dry atmosphere, and though the air for Vines- 

 in a similar condition should not be so dry, neither should it 

 approach saturation point. When the air is very dry, the little 

 cap that encloses the parts of fructification is apt to bind them 

 so closely that they cannot perform their functions. When 

 the atmosphere is too saturated, the pollen is rendered lumpy 

 and inert. For helping the pollen to act, in the case of Grapes, 

 after trying brushes, fine feathers, &c., we have found nothing, 

 better than a dry clean hand drawn very gently along the 

 bunch. For early Strawberries, too, we have found nothing 

 better than drawing a dry hand through the trusses of bloom- 

 when they, too, were dry. 



For all early houses with the Vine roots outside these roots 

 must be protected from the cold, and if slightly warmed all the 

 better. The simplest mode of doing this is to cover with litter, 

 fern, &o., early enough in the autumn to prevent the heat of 

 the summer stored in the soil escaping. Every day we see 

 more and more the importance of planting Vines, &c., inside 

 the house, though most of ours are planted outride ; and even 

 when we renew them we cannot help ourselves unless the whole 

 internal arrangements as respects heatiug, fcc, were altered,, 

 and these matters are not easily done. Of course our Vines 

 are taken into the house through holes made on purpose, and 

 one great disadvantage with us has ever been the rats finding, 

 their way to such holes and gnawing the stems, notwithstanding 

 every possible means to deter and catch them. With one or 

 two exceptions they have rarely meddled with the fruit. We 

 would never think of so planting a new vinery. Under such 

 circumstances the borders must be protected, and all the more 

 in early houses. If fermenting material is used care should be 

 taken that the heat is not too strong, and a tiial stick, and,, 

 better still, a thermometer, should be inserted in the border 

 3 or 4 inches from the surface. From 65° to 80° would do no 

 harm for short periods, but it is well not to exceed that. The 

 average of 70° will tend much to encourage fibres to keep near 

 the surface ; the only disadvantage arising from such covering 

 is that it should not be taken off soon, nor altogether at once, so- 

 as to give the border a chill. We have sometimes had the 

 fruit of early Vines nearly ripe before removing it ; and we 

 know of many first-rate early Grape growers, even when tha 

 Vine roots are not all outside, who seldom remove the cover- 

 ing from the borders until the berries colour. Of course with 

 later houses such care is less necessary ; but in medium houses 

 as to earliness, many failures take place from giving a high 

 temperature to the stems and branches whilst the roots are 

 comparatively cold, and there is therefore no reciprocal action. 



A number of years ago we met, when in the position of an 

 under-gardener, with a striking example as to Vines partly 

 under our charge, which we have never forgotten. The Vines 

 were planted outside, and introduced through the front wall.. 

 In one year there was a splendid crop, ripening in August,, 

 without any care or covering being bestowed on the outside 

 border. The nest season it became very desirable that the 

 same Vines should ripen their crop fully two months earlier. 

 There was nothing done to the border outside, except a few 

 inches of litter put on a narrow part of it in December, the rest 

 being occupied with an artistic geometrical figure in Box, which 

 it was felt very undesirable to disturb ; otherwise the usual rou- 

 tine inside was gone through. The Vines broke well and showed 

 well, but just as the bunches were lengthening and coming to 

 the flowering period, a sudden check took place, the points of 

 the bunches turned up, the central stem of the bunch became 

 yellowish, many bunches became nothing better than tendrils, 

 the little white globular dots in the shoots disappeared, there 

 were no condensed drops of dew on the points of the foliage in 

 the morning, and a very inferior crop, nest thing to a- failure, 

 was obtained, instead of the grand crops before and afterwards. 

 The Vines had used up the reserves stored in the past season, 

 and the inert roots were unable to yield a further supply at a 

 critical period, and the most valuable part suffered first. We 

 believe if the roots had been close to the surface the failure 

 would have been more complete. We thought then, and we are 

 more confident of it now, if towards the end of October from 

 12 to 18 inches of dry litter had been placed securely on that 

 border to the width of 15 or 18 feet, or if a month later some 

 fermenting material had been placed over it to make and keep 

 the surface warmish, so as to excite action in the roots, that no 



