llarch 2, 1S71. ] 



JOURNAIi OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



157 



WEEKLY CALENDAR, 



Day 

 o( 



Month 



Day 



of 



Week. 





Average Tempera- 



Rain in Snn 



Sun 





Moon 



Moon's 



Clock 



before 



Snn. 



Day 



of 



Year. 



JIARCH 2—8, 1871. 



ture near London. 



43 years. 



Rises. 



Seta. 



Rises. 



sets. 



Age. 











NiKht. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. ' m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



Days. 



m. s. 



2 



Th 



Meeting of Hoval and Linnean Societies. 



48.7 



84.7 



41.7 



17 



46af6 39af5 



after. 



18af 4 



11 



12 24 61 



3 



F 





49.9 



32.2 



41.0 



14 



41 6 1 41 3 



20 1 



6 3 



12 



12 11 



62 



4 



S 





49.7 



31.5 



40.6 



11 



42 6 ; 43 5 



26 3 



46 5 



13 



11 58 



63 



5 



SUH 



2 SCKBAT rs Lext. 



4S.9 



81.8 



40.S 



16 



40 6 1 45 5 



41 3 



19 6 



14 



11 44 



64 



6 



M 



Meeting of Entomological Society, 7 P.^r. 



48.6 



82.2 



40.4 



18 



38 6 1 46 5 



58 4 



45 6 



15 



11 30 



65 



7 



To 



Meeting of Zooloi^ical Society, 9 p.m. 



49.1 



32.4 



40.7 



18 



36 6 48 5 



18 6 



9 7 



O 



11 16 



66 



8 



W 



Meeting of Society of Arts, 8 p.m. 



49.1 



31.5 



40.8 



18 



34 6 30 5 



38 7 



SO 7 



17 



11 1 67 



From observations taken near London daring fort^ 



-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 49 1 



°, and its night tern- 



perature 82.3°. The greatest heat was 70°, on the 4th, 1860 ; and the lowest cold 14°, on the 3rd, 1S62. The greatest fall 



of rain was 



0.48 inch. 











EAISING AND PLANTIXG-OUT SUCCESSFULLY 

 EAELY PEAS. 



F all the important Htchen-garden plants 

 none are in greater variety to perplex the 

 cultivator, being but slightly difierent in their 

 character, than early Peas. This is suiS- 

 cientlj exemplified in the numerous seed 

 catalogues, almost every nurseryman advo- 

 cating his own kinds, yet each of these, 

 apparently to a great extent, only some for- 

 merly well-known variety slightly altered by 

 local influences. However, it is to be hoped 

 in time to come, for the benefit of the private gardener, that, 

 as much as possible, the number of nominally new varieties 

 may be restricted to the most trusty kinds. 



A few days ago I planted out my first earlies. The kinds 

 are Sutton's Ringleader and Dickson's First and Best. I 

 adopted what I may call (at least it is so to me I, a compara- 

 tively new method of raising early Peas. A little more than 

 three weeks ago I had a lot of boxes prepared. These were 

 about 2 feet long by about 1 foot broad, and 4 inches deep. 

 I had placed on their bottoms three rows of nicely-prepared 

 inverted turves, almost fresh, and fitting neatly to each 

 other. On the top of the tiu-f, in all the boxes, I sprinkled 

 a slight coating of good soil. Then, all being ready, on the 

 top of the rows of turf the lines of Peas were sown. This 

 done, I had the seed covered with a couple of inches of 

 good soil, and the sowing was complete. I had the boxes 

 placed on the floor of a vinery on the move, and they 

 remained there till the Peas had pushed fully an inch 

 above ground, after which time they were removed to a 

 cooler Peach house to harden off the young plants. 



On a tempting fine day last week I wanted a number of 

 boxes for other purposes, and not having too many I thought 

 in such weather I could not do better than transplant 

 some Peas to their quarters out of doors. Accordingly I 

 at once prepared a place for planting, by well forking and 

 levelling the ground, which had previously been prepared 

 in the autumn as for most early crops. The situation 

 selected was at the back of a south border, nearly at the 

 base of a Peach wall. As soon as the ground was ready, 

 I had a line stretched at a distance of 6 feet from the 

 bottom of the wall, and by it I cut out a trench the same 

 as for lajing Box, only a little deeper, so as to receive 

 some additional fresh loam at the time of planting. I 

 next began to lift the Peas out of their boxes, for these 

 had been just taken out of the Peach house, and with the 

 assistance of a flattened curved piece of iron which I found 

 at hand, I easily managed to remove the first row without 

 injuring the roots. This was the only row that gave me any 

 anxiety in taking it out, for the remaining two rows were 

 lifted out without any difficulty with my hands. Thus, with- 

 out the slightest injury to the roots, and in the most simple 

 manner, all the Peas were transferred from the boxes to 

 their new quarters. The pieces of turf when taken out 

 were dense masses of loose, beautiful, white roots, and, put 

 into the ground as they were, success may be expected. 

 One row having been put in as described, I had ready 



No. 518.— Vol. XX., New Seeies. 



as many hand-lights as would reach to the end of the line, 

 and on consideration I thought I could not do better than 

 put in a second row a foot or so distant from the first one, 

 so that I might, as much as possible, take advantage of 



' the temporary glass. I also thought on the closeness of 



I the plants, but they can easily be staked out. I therefore 

 forked-up ground enough as before, and put in another 



' row, as in the previous case, only a foot nearer the wall. 

 Both rows having been planted, they received a gentle 



I watering, and the hand-glasses were at once put over them. 

 The tops of the lights have been taken off every day since 

 planting, and I have noticed that the progress of the 

 plants has been regular, so that, after all our severe 



; weather, I look forward to have a nice lot of fine early 

 Peas. 



The above plan of treating early Peas, as far as the use 

 of the turf is concerned, I have not seen anywhere tried 



! before. However, the method is most excellent, and as 

 the rearing of a good stock of fine early Peas is a matter 

 of great importance to a large number of your readers, I 

 have thought it worthy of notice. — PiObekt Mackellab. 



FORCING PELARGONIUMS. 



Whex successfully grown, I know of no plants that will 

 repay their cultivator better than those belonging to tliis 

 branch of the Pelargonium family. Their treatment is 

 very simple, and easy to understand, involving little labour, 

 and hardly any expense, but in its results affording much 

 pleasure and profit. These Pelargoniums are more valuable, 

 perhaps, to the gentleman's gardener and grower for sale 

 than to the amateur ; stUI the latter, if he has a heated 

 glass structure, may, with a little care and attention, grow 

 them successfully. From what I have seen of several 

 gardens for some time past I do not consider the varieties 

 referred to are so generally grown as their good qualities 

 entitle them to be. I think they cannot be excelled by 

 any other class of plants for furnishing a rich display in 

 the conservatory throughout April and during part of May; 

 I do not mean isolated specimens here and there, but a 

 batch of two or three dozen well-grown, neatly-staked, 

 and tastefully- arranged plants. Or. if they are requked to 

 furnish only cut flowers for sale, or for supplying a family 

 in London (and this is what most gardeners are required 

 to do at the present season), a gardener cannot find in 

 any other plant a more generous and a less capricious 

 friend. 



The varieties which I have found most useful for the 

 purpose are Alma and Crimson King among the dark- 

 colomred kinds, the latter especially carrying some very 

 large beautiful trusses excellent for cut flowers : Queen of 

 February and Alba Multiflora among the light-coloured 

 ones ; Phyllis, too, another light variety, wiU force, but is 

 not so well adapted for the purpose as those previously 

 named. 



The cuttings may be struck any time between February 

 and the end of September ; February and July being, per- 

 haps, the best times for the purpose. 



I shall suppose that the cuttings are struck in February. 



No. 1170.— Vol. XLV., Old Series 



