146 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ February 'JS, 1871. 



tantion at this season. As they are now beginDiDg to grow 

 and to throw np their trusses, they require the greatest attention 

 of the cultivator ; they must have plenty of air, be moderately 

 supplied with moisture, and protected at night from the 

 slightest frost or cold easterly winds, when the lights must be 

 tilted the reverse way, so that the plants may not receive the 

 least check in their growth. On the contrary, if the weather 

 be mild they require all the air it is possible to give them. 

 A gentle shower of rain once now and then is of great benefit. 

 About a fortnight after the roots of the Eanuncnluses are 

 planted, they swell to their utmost size. While iu this state, 

 in the event of severe frost setting in, it is advisable to cover 

 the beds with some dry litter to the depth of ,5 or 4 inches, as 

 the tubers are liable to be ruptured by the compression of the 

 frozen soil. In the best prepared beds worms are very annoy- 

 ing and injurious, particularly in March. Lime water may be 

 given with safety ; apply it to Iheir workings in the morning, 

 and fill np the cavities in the surface of the beds with dry soU, 

 which ought to be kept in reserve for the purpose. In the first 

 week of April the plants will be through the ground. The strong- 

 growing sorts are sure to lift a large portion of soil on the top 

 of their foliage ; let this be taken in the hand, broken, and 

 carefully placed on the top of the crowns and about the necks of 

 the plants. Should the grower wish his flowers to be of a good 

 size, a top-dressing of three-year-old cow dung finely sifted may 

 be applied round the plants and between the rows to the thick- 

 ness of one-fourth of an inch ; this has a most beneficial eii'eet 

 in keeping the beds level, and increasing the strength of the 

 plants. Polyanthuses in beds that have been raised by the 

 late frosts slaould be fastened, and a top-dressing of rich ve- 

 getable mould given. 



GEEE^^H0USE AND CONSBETATOEY. 



A general dressing of the climbers should take place im- 

 mediately. When it is desirable that they should bloom late 

 in the autumn it will be advisable to prune late, even after the 

 buds have commenced growing, on the same principle that the 

 Moss and other Eoses are suocessfally retarded by a similar 

 proceeding. Fuchsias for general decoration, or as single 

 specimens on grass, should be brought forth and introduced, if 

 there be room, in a warm end of the greenhouse. Those who 

 have bottom heat to spare, and desire very large specimens, 

 may select some of the best plants, disroot and repot them, 

 and plunge them in a bottom heat of 75°. A good compost to 

 grow them in is two parts decayed leaf mould or peat earth, 

 one part rich yellow loam, and one part horse and cow manure 

 iu equal quantities, with sufiicient silver sand to sharpen it. 

 The Hybrid Perpetual, Bourbon, Tea, and other Eoses will now 

 begin to repay by their beauty the trouble bestowed on them. 

 Give weak and clear liquid manure more freely, disbud barren 

 shoots, and fumigate early. Some of the forward Cinerarias 

 and Pelargoniums may be shifted as requisite, as soon as the 

 blooming habit is sufficiently brought on ; if done sooner, a 

 superabundance of foliage will be the result. 



STOVE. 



Some of the plants which have been blooming for many 

 weeks, and which are exhausted, should be cut back and 

 removed to a moderate house to break slowly, such as the 

 Euphorbia jacquiniieflora, Gesnera latetitia, Geissomeria longi- 

 flora, Eranthemnm pulchellum, Justicia salicina, Poinsettia 

 pulcherrima, and others. These, although not very novel, 

 are very useful, and their early flowering nest November and 

 December depends on early cultivation. A bottom heat will be 

 necessary when they are repotted, which will be in about three 

 weeks. 



FOECIXG PIT. 



See that all Hyacinth?, Eoses, Lilacs, Narcissuses, or, in 

 fact, any other forced flowers, are removed from the forcing 

 pit the moment the blossoms begin to expand. Eetarding will 

 soon be every-day business. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST M'EEK. 



KITCHEN GAEDEN. 



Aftee the frost alluded to last week we have had some 

 favourable days for out-dcor work. Never did we kcow the soil 

 turn up so freely, and be eg dry at this season of the year. If 

 there is no great change as respects moisture, there will be 

 plenty of March dust this year for the comfortable depositing 

 of the seeds. 



The general routine was very much the same as in the 

 last and previous weeks. We put in a good breadth of Peas 



and Beans, trenched the grcutd, and re-dug and turned that 

 intended for Onions and Cairols. The Celery teds were 

 trenched across, so that the dung left in the beds shcnld be 

 regularly distributed across the quarter. With a little covering 

 in the most severe frost onr Celeiy is still very nice, and turns 

 out well. The late-planted is laiher tmall but scund. We 

 never planted Celery so late as last season. It stood quite 

 thickly in the beds in which it was pricked out, as there we 

 could give a little water and shade. We could not have kept it 

 alive if transferred to wide beds or trenches. We could only 

 manage to preserve our earliest, and therefore strongest. Celery 

 by shading. Notwithstanding all this contest with the drought, 

 we have not had a single boiled or bad stick of Celeiy this 

 season. We attribute this a good deal to the mode of treat- 

 ment, and especially to the manner of earlhing-up several 

 times referred to. If we have done nothing else, we believe 

 that we have provedconclusively that the bit-by-bit earthing-up 

 of early Celery is the chief cause of its bolting, and thus be- 

 coming unfit for table. 



Potatoes. — Besides planting under protection, the ground was 

 in a fine state for putting in some of the earliest out of doors, 

 the tubers being just sprung nicely, but not too much. If 

 planted fully 6 inches deep there would be little danger from 

 frost, and there would not be much earthing-up required. 



Besides planting stout Lettuce plants in the orchard house, 

 we have turned out some thinly between the rows of Potatoes 

 in frames that have been planted out lately, after being just 

 stalled in pots. We hope the Lettuces will attain a good size 

 before the Potato tops interfere with them. In such early 

 Potatoes, nipping out the teiminal bud of the shoot when a 

 foot or so in height prevents elongation, makes the shoots more 

 stubby with laterals, and does not interfere with early tubering. 

 Mcst of our Lettuces out of doors on the level, though pro- 

 tected, like our fine Cabbages in the open quarters, have given 

 way before the cold, whilst Lettucces on lidges, which measure 

 say a yard at the base, with a yard slope on each side, east and 

 west, have stood well. The Cabbages that have stood best, as 

 already alluded to, are en ridges, and facing the north. There 

 is little new in this — the less vigour there is in a plant the 

 more frost it wiU stand uninjured. We are often wise behind- 

 hand. We have frequently gone over our forward Cabbages 

 at the end of October, and raised them with a spade or 

 fork sufiiciently to disturb the roots, and then trodden 

 firmly. The check thus given was a great security against 

 severe frost. We did not do so this season, or very probably 

 we might have saved more of onr fine plants. We shall, how- 

 ever, soon turn out a lot forwarded in pots. We shall be 

 obliged to do so as a matter of safety, as they will not be such 

 tempting baits to mice, &c., when they "are in the open air. 

 Even though we put a cordon of tar round a frame, we find 

 the mice passed it, and made sad havoc of a lot of bulbs inside. 

 Well would it be for gardeners to cultivate patience as well as 

 increased constant watchfulness. 



FEUIT GiEDEN. 



Here we can add little or nothing to the notices lately given, 

 as from a press of other work outdoor pruning, <tc., has fallen 

 a little behind, but there is nothing in that respoct too late as 

 yet, as there is no appearance of the sap moving. See what 

 was lately said of Peaches, Vines, Strawberries, &a. 



We potted off young Melon plants, as at present they occupy 

 small space, and we may find room for them before the plants 

 are large. Potted cfi also young Cucumber plants, and turned 

 strong young plants into 15-inch pots to produce fruit. In our 

 small pit the old plants are still producing a few fruit, and 

 some of them appear likely to go on it we do not work them 

 too hard. If they stand until the younger ones bear we shall 

 be satisfied. 



Though this is not, perhaps, the right department to treat 

 on Cucumbers, we may here state that many readers have 

 asked us how we afi'ord our Cucumber plants so little root room. 

 Well, simply because we want a large quantity of Cucumbers 

 in little room, and not strong shoots and parasol-lite foliage. 

 These are all right enough, and productive enough, too, if one 

 can give the plants a roof of 12 or more feet to run over ; but 

 iu a frame or pit of 6 feet or less in width the plants should 

 be curbed rather than encouraged in their luxuriance. Oar 

 little pit is scarcely 6 feet wide, inside measure. There is a 

 narrow pathway behind, and the bed or pit (or the Cucumbers 

 is not quite 3 feet wide, with two 3-iuch pipes in front, and two 

 beneath for bottom heat. Even this narrow bed, for such a 

 limited space, wo find quite large enough for root room, and 

 therefore we often plant in pots, as stated above, and surround 



