292 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUUE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



[ April 20, 1671. 



manure, as once in a stunted state there will be diflSoulty in again 

 inducing them to break freely. 



GEEENHODBE iND CONSEEVATORT. 



Bring forward the stock of plants recommended for blooming 

 in July and August, by shifting such as require it, and allowing 

 them more room. Kalosanths will require, neatly tying out, as 

 they form beautiful globular-sha{.ied plants by a little manage- 

 ment. Fuchsias will require a second shift, which should now 

 be into their blooming-pots, using rich soil for the purpose. 

 The same will suit Scarlet Geraniums growing for specimens. 

 These three plants can be well managed together. Erythriaa 

 Crista-galli is another free-flowering plant well adapted for the 

 purpose, and the different varieties of Nerium, which are seldom 

 seen, but beautiful plants. To grow these in perfection stout 

 bushy plants should be selected, which, after being potted in 

 peat and loam, should be placed close to the glass in a pit ; let 

 them have a good heat throughout the summer, and keep them 

 moist at the roots while growing. About August they should 

 be kept drier, and have the glass taken off every fine day or be 

 placed at the foot of a south wall ; by these means the shoots 

 will become well ripened by the winter. Any dry airy house 

 will suit them, and the following spring they may be forced into 

 bloom with a little extra heat. If left in a house with a mo- 

 derate greenhouse temperature they will not bloom before July 

 and August. Keep the conservatory as cool by day as is con- 

 sistent with the health of the inmates, this will enable the 

 plants to continue longer in bloom, and the house will be more 

 enjoyable to parties inspecting them. Shading must be resorted 

 to during this bright weather, and some pains must be taken to 

 supply the waste of moisture by the dry external air. Any 

 delicate plants full of roots which it is not desirable to shift 

 at present, should have their pot inserted in one a size larger, 

 filling the interval between the pots with moss or sawdust. 

 This, if more generally practised, would save many a valuable 

 plant ; the action of dry air on so porous a substance as a com- 

 mon garden pot soon extracts the moisture from the mass of 

 earth inside, and however carefully attended to many plants 

 die from this cause alone in hot weather. 



STOVE. 



Orchids are now progressing fast, and will require attention 

 in shading daily and gradually increasing the humidity of the 

 house, so as to keep pace with the increase of solar light and 

 heat. If the roof is covered with climbers a little management 

 in training them to eiJect a judicious shading of the plants 

 beneath will save mUoh trouble with the canvas outside, as it 

 will only be needed on very bright days, and add much to the 

 appearance of the house. See that the plants on blocks or 

 suspended in baskets are not allowed to become dry, which 

 would have the effect of causing a check to the young growth, 

 which should be encouraged as long as possible. Plants in 

 bloom should be removed to a house with a drier temperature 

 to prolong their period of flowering. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK, 



KITCHEN GAEDEN. 



Except in pricking-out Cabbages, Cauliflowers, Lattuces, &o., 

 the work has merely been a repetition of that detailed in the 

 notices of former weeks. 



Our forced Asparagus is over, and onee before the last frost, 

 and now since the mild change and the rain of the 15th, we 

 have had small gatherings out of doors. At this early period, 

 when there is a likelihood of frost, we frequently place small 

 pots (4;8-sized) over the shoots that peep through the soil. The 

 hole in the reversed pot gives a considerable amount of light, 

 and if the day is bright the sides of the pot act as a warming 

 pan. Whfen room and conveniences are limited, many of these 

 little schemes must be resorted to. We have of late grown 

 Asparagus in rows. We are halt inclined in future to go back 

 to the bed system, say beds from 3.J to 4 feet in width, with 

 from 2 to 2 J -feet alleys, or sunk pathways, between them ; not 

 because we think the Asparagus does better, or yields better in 

 beds than in rows on a level piece of ground, but in these late 

 dry summers, with a scarcity of water, we cannot help having 

 vivid recollections of the splendid Cauliflowers we used to have 

 in the trenches, when Blightlv shaded by the Asparagus on each 

 side. It is not easy to secure all advantages. 



We may here make a few remarks for the inexperienced who 

 contemplate having an Asparagus bed. 



lat, Do not be deterred by any represented difficulty, and the 

 wonderful expense iooarred by digging down masses of manure 



2 or 3 feet beneath the surface, and the necessity of having 

 many substances to mix besides. The Asparagus does not 

 root so very deeply, and would be more benefited by decomposed 

 manure as a mulching, than by sinking that manure in the 

 ground out of the plants' reach. Any ground moderately rich, 

 and without so much clay as to make it a very stiff loam — 

 ground, in fact, that would produce good Cabbages and Pota- 

 toes — ground where, owing to natural or artificial drainage, 

 there is a freedom from stagnant moisture, will grow good 

 Asparagus. Where the ground is very stiff it should be 

 lightened by burnt clay, lime, sand, &a. ; and in such a ease, 

 though we would stir the soil rather deeply, we would plant 

 shallow and use light mulching every year. 



2Qdly, The best of all times to plant is when the young 

 plants are from 2 to 3 inches above the ground, and then, if to 

 be had, two-year-old plants should be used, though we often 

 employ plants one year old. These plants will thrive much 

 better than the roots planted before they begin to grow. 



Two conditions, however, are essential to success. The 

 plants should be carefully taken up without breaking the roots, 

 and, again, the fioe fresh fibres of the roots should never be 

 dried by exposure to sun and air. In planting, the roots should 

 be kept in a box or basket, covered, and damped, and as the 

 roots are spread out they should be damped with a fine rose 

 before being covered with earth. When thus planted, a mulch- 

 ing of manure after planting, a mulching on the surface every 

 year, and just the slight whitening of the ground in spring with 

 salt, will do more to secure good Asparagus than trenching a 

 yard deep and burying tons of manure at the bottom. It is 

 seldom we have been able to do so, but we have had evidence 

 enough to prove it, that the best way to manure Asparagus is 

 to mulch it when it begins to grow freely, after gathering has 

 ceased. A scattering of salt will then prove beneficial, and, 

 provided the water passes freely, too much manure water not 

 overstrong caunot be given. What we wish to impress on our 

 many readers who may be intending to plant an Asparagus bed 

 this season, is that good and numerous shoots of Asparagus in 

 April and May, and until Peas come in, are but little dependant 

 on winter manuring, but chiefly on the help and manure aff jrded 

 in summer. Such plants as those alluded to will yield mode- 

 rate gatherings in two years. We have had fair Asparagus 

 la three or four years from the seed, sown where it was to 

 remain. In the case of a bed it should be sown thinly in rows 

 a foot apart, the plants thinned a little the first year, and in 

 the second to from 6 to 12 inches apart. S3ed would be the 

 easiest for many, but theu they must wait longer. 



Red-leading Seeds, Trapping Mice, dc. — We are much inter- 

 ested iu what Mr. Abbey says as to the failure of red lead with 

 him. As yet we have only had one instance here, and that 

 was where Peas were sown under cover. Nowhere else has 

 anything touched the seeds that were leaded. No doubt, as 

 Mr. Abbey says, the cat is an invaluable friend to the gardener 

 under such circumstances, but then with many of us, unless 

 learned to run with collar and wire, it would be impossible to 

 keep cats, as, no sooner does the kitten become large enough 

 to be a regular mouser, than the poor thing is missed and seen 

 no more. There is something very singular, too, as respects 

 trapping. Of all traps none with us equals the figure-4 trap 

 with a good weight over it. One most destructive pest, the 

 large grass mouse, we have often found to be above any sort of 

 bait. This year it has been caught in great numbers with a 

 bit of bread on the end of the stick, as well as the short-tailed 

 and other mice. Lately from twelve to fifteen in a night, 

 including sparrows in the evenings and mornings, have been of 

 common occurrence, and still they seem to come, but, with the 

 one exception alluded to, not a pea or bean has yet been touched 

 in the ground. We never caught these large grass mice with 

 such a simple bait as bread before, and very likely our success 

 will only be for a time. We used to let these traps remain 

 unset during the day, but lately the mice seem to go to the bait 

 freely in daylight. Sparrows are generally caught after five at 

 night and before eight o'clock in the morning. Even from 

 very different results and experiences we may derive some 

 general advantage. 



FRUIT QAEDEN. 



We shall leave the laurel twigs on the Apricots and Peaches 

 a little longer. The first have set very well, but a keen frost 

 might easily injure them, as this year we have no coping, 

 sheeting, nor netting. A broad removable coping is an excel- 

 lent protection, and so is any sort of covering that will keep 

 the blossom dry when the weather is wet and cold. Plums and 

 Cherries out of doors are now (April 15th) in full bloom, and 



