July 14, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAROENER. 



31 



consider the arrangement of the plants. — Edward Luckhurst, 

 Egerton House Gardens, Kent. 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 

 The third Show this year of the Royal Oxfordshire Horti- 

 cultural Society, will be held on Tuesday, July 19th, and 

 three following days, in the Observatory grounds, Oxford, by 

 kind permission of the Radcliffe Observer, and the amounts 

 in prizes offered are as follows — viz., for Plants, £35 7s. Gd. ; 

 Cut Flowers, £26 3s.; Fruit and Vegetables, £12 12s.; Cot- 

 tagers' prizes, £36 17s. Gd. ; in all £120 10s. The Royal 

 Horticultural Society will hold their fourth provincial Show 

 at the same time and place, and prizes amounting to nearly 

 £800 will be given away. The band of the Royal Artillery 

 from Woolwich will play daily under the direction of Mr. J. 

 Smythe, as well as the band of the Oxfordshire Militia. The 

 following railway companies have kindly consented to convey 

 plants from the Exhibition free of charge, providing they re- 

 main the property of the person who transmitted them to the 

 Exhibition — viz., Great Northern, Great Western, London and 

 North Western, London and South Western, and Midland. 

 The Exhibition will be open on Tuesday, the 19th July, at 

 2 o'clock p.m., and on the three following days at 10 o'clock 

 a.m. The terms of admission are — for the first day, 3s. Gd. 

 (if purchased on or before Monday, July 18tb) ; on the days of 

 Exhibition, first day, 5s. ; second day, 2s. Gd., third and fourth 

 days, Is. Gardeners can obtain admission as follows — on pro- 

 ducing their masters' cards — viz., first day, 2s. Gd. ; second 

 day Is. 



The Fruit Committee of the Royal Horticultural 



Society will meet at Oxford on Wednesday next, July 20th, at 

 11 o'Clock a.m., to examine such fruits and vegetables as may 

 be sent for their opinion, 



The drought has been so great about London, and 



forage so scarce, that cow-keepers are eagerly purchasing the 

 weeds grown in the Royal Horticultural Society's garden at 

 Chiswick, for cattle food. The weeds are unusually fine, 

 certainly, having been undisturbed for the last year or two ; 

 and it is gratifying to see how even its misfortunes can be 

 turned to good account for the Society's benefit. 



The "German village" trees have again made their 



appearance in Trafalgar Square, dotted about much in the way 

 children do their mimic toys. Is it solicitude for the beauties 

 of the National Gallery that these terrace trees are not placed 

 on the only public terrace London possesses ? or is it that those 

 in authority do not know how to make the best use of the 

 objects they are entrusted with ? Last year we suggested that 

 some of these trees should be placed on the terrace above, 

 where they would form an effective line of gresn in front of 

 the National Gallery ; but we presume some arbiter of taste 

 directs the decorative department of the metropolis who knows 

 better. 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



kitchen garden. 



See that in this department weeds are not allowed to seed 

 amongst growing crops, such as Potatoes and Asparagus, 

 where, from the luxuriance that surrounds them, they are 

 apt to elude detection till they have deposited their seeds ; at- 

 tention in proper time to such matters entails not one-tenth of 

 the labour that neglect ultimately does. As soon as cater- 

 pillars attack any of the Cabbage tribe, give a slight dredging 

 with white hellebore powder in the morning. Make a sow- 

 ing of East Ham Cabbage for early spring use, and a late 

 sowing of Coleworts. Pay strict attention to early crops of 

 Celery ; let them be gone over with the hand, and all offsets 

 taken off, and where practicable let it have a thorough drench- 

 ing with dung water, after which, on the following day, give a 

 slight earthing-up to prevent evaporation. Plant out suc- 

 cession crops of it. People sometimes comilain of their 

 Celery " running ;" Celery plants removed in a gross Btate need 

 little mora than drought to bring on the flowering habit. Sow 

 another bed of Endive forthwith. Make a small sowing of 

 Early Frame Peas. If the autumn be fine, they may be useful. 

 Make a sowing of White Stone Turnips. 

 fruit garden. 



Attend to previous directions in regard to thinning and 

 stopping the young shoots of all trained fruit trees, and now 

 make the final thinniDg of Peaches and Nectarines, of course 

 leaving the heaviest crop on the most vigorous trees and 



strongest branches. As a general rule no two fruit should be 

 left together. Plums of the large kinds, as well as the finer 

 sorts of Pears, should also be thinned if the crop is too heavy. 

 Young Peach and Apricot trees when making over-vigorous 

 leaders should have the points of the branches shortened to 

 encourage them to make other shoots less vigorous, and of a 

 fruitful character, which will obviate the necessity of shorten- 

 ing them back at the winter pruning. Strawberries will require 

 frequent waterings in this dry weather. Place netting over the 

 plants to protect them from birds, and it will also be very 

 beneficial in partially shading the fruit from the midday sun. 

 Layer the runners in 3-inch pots. For this purpose prepare a 

 compost of two parts of friable yellow loam and one part of 

 well-decomposed dung, with the addition of a tenth part of the 

 whole of charred material. Take care that the pots are well 

 drained, and have them placed on a south aspect, and on 

 boards or slates raised a few inches above the surface of the 

 ground, to prevent the worms getting into them. All spare 

 runners may be cut away, and keep the plants free from weeds. 

 Thin and stop shoots of Figs as soon as they have made a 

 growth of about 6 inches ; and remove all useless growth from 

 Vines, keep the fruit close to the wall, and shaded by the 

 foliage from the sun. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



The Roses are the great attraction here at present, and these 

 should be frequently looked over, removing decaying flowers, 

 &c, which, if allowed to hang on the plants, have a very un- 

 sightly appearance. Now is the best season for observing the 

 effect of the arrangement of colours, &c, and if any alteration 

 is deemed necessary it should be carefully noted. This will 

 greatly facilitate its execution at the proper season. Proceed 

 with the propagation of favourite sorts which it may be desir- 

 able to increase either by budding or cuttings. The Hybrid 

 Perpetuals, Teas, Chinas, and Bourbons are generally preferred 

 on their own roots, and firm, short-jointed shoots of these root 

 very freely at this season ; but to insure success they should be 

 afforded a slight bottom heat, be carefully shaded, and not kept 

 too warm until they emit roots. They will, however, root under 

 a hand-glass on a shady border. Remove suckers from worked 

 plants. Cut-back the shoots of the autumn-flowering varieties 

 to the most promising eye, as soon as all the flowers are ex- 

 panded and begin to fade. If manure water cannot conveniently 

 be given, stir the surface soil with a fork and apply a good 

 sprinkling of guano, the strength of which will be washed 

 down to the roots, and will serve the same purpose as manure 

 water. Slugs must be sharply looked after, otherwise plants 

 to which they are partial will be very likely to be injured. 

 The propagation of flowers for masses is a most important 

 matter, and much depends on its being performed in due time. 

 If stove plants for the ensuing year are propagated and potted- 

 off too late, they will not be easily preserved during the winter. 

 A bed should be prepared in an open situation where constant 

 attention oan be given. The soil should be free and rather 

 sandy, and should be made somewhat fine, as is usual for cut- 

 tings, and a canvas screen should be always at hand to ward 

 off continued sunshine. After the bed is made particularly 

 level in order to equalise the moisture by watering or other- 

 wise, a number of striking-glasses should be placed ready to 

 cover the cuttings as they come to hand, for after all it mnst 

 be progressive work. Choice Verbenas, Calceolarias, Pelar- 

 goniums, Petunias, Heliotropes, Fuchsias, Pentstemons, Mule 

 Pinks, Picotees, double Wallflowers, with numerous other mass 

 or border flowers may be successively put ir, as cuttings of a 

 proper character can be obtained. They should be slightly 

 watered when put in, and should receive a slight shading in 

 sunshine for the first month, after which they may be gradu- 

 ally inured both to sunshine and air. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATOR*. 



Follow up shifting with such of the hardwooded tribes as 

 require it. A turfy compost of three parts sandy heath soil of 

 a fibrous and rather lumpy character, and one part sound loam 

 of a similar texture, will suit the majority. The more tender 

 kinds will require lumps of charcoal, stone, or crocks introduced 

 occasionally until near the surface of the pot. Let every at- 

 tention possible be paid to the most thorough drainage ; this 

 cannot be too complete, taking care especially to use very 

 hollow crocks at the bottom, for if these lie too flat and be- 

 come closed up, it matters little how much depth of drainage 

 material is upon them, all will be stagnation. Some of the 

 stove plants that have recently been brought into the conser- 

 vatory will require attention to prevent their being injured by 

 damp if cloudy weather should occur, and it will probably be 



