68 



JOUENAL OF EOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ July 28, 1870. 



bulbs now in full beauty should be kept in order by tying 

 up loose growths and keeping the ground free from weeds. 

 Novelties Bhould have their colour, habit, and time of flower- 

 ing marked down as a guide for future arrangements. Follow 

 up Eose budding ; those planted last winter, if they have not 

 started well, must have a little more time. Care must be taken 

 that all the decayed and withered petals of Carnations and 

 Pieotees are removed from those caliees where the seedpod is 

 formed. This may be ascertained by subjecting each to a 

 gentle pressure of the thumb and finger. It will also be ad- 

 visable to carefully split the calyx in order to prevent the 

 lodgement of water, which is apt to take place when this is 

 neglected. Proceed with all possible dispatch in layering, and 

 prepare some good loam and leaf mould, well mixed, for potting- 

 off the early-rooted layers, for, when sufficiently rooted, they 

 are better away from the parent root ; it gives them a check 

 and prevents spindling. The old stools of Pinks will have now 

 made considerable growth, and thrown up much grass ; this 

 will ffiord a second crop of pipings, and a large stock if re- 

 quired. If the plants have been grown in pots they may be 

 turned out in the open border the first showery or suitable 

 weather. It is advisable to preserve some old stools of new or 

 scarce sorts, for, it well grown, they are often more steady in 

 the production of well-laced flowers than younger ones, and they 

 are also useful for producing seed. The beds of Banuneuluses, 

 from which the roots have been taken up, should now be dug 

 over and ridged up in order to sweeten the soil by exposure to 

 sun and air. The soil, also, for planting Tulips should be 

 carefully turned over, and all grubs and wireworms destroyed. 

 Entrap by all possible means earwigs on Dahlias, and remove 

 all misshapen buds as they appear. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSEEVATOET. 



Although flowers of all kind are at this period most abun- 

 dant out of doors, yet some large and well-grown specimens of 

 ehoice kinds will always furnish interest in the conservatory. 

 To accomplish this, large Ehifts must be had recourse to, ac- 

 companied by improved modes of potting — viz., extra drainage, I 

 together with a greater reliance on turfy soils in a lumpy state, [ 

 than upon complex composts. The climbers must at all times | 

 receive much attention in this house. Stopping gross wood is 

 too much neglected. Above all secure a thorough freedom 

 from insects, together with a most cleanly system. All this 

 presupposes plenty of labour directed with judgment. Cut 

 down Pelargoniums, pot off cuttiDgs directly the roots are . 

 formed, and repot plants previously headed down as soon as : 

 they begin to break. Shift and sow Cinerarias and Calceo- 

 larias. Sow Mignonette for winter use. The stock of pot Eoses 

 should be looked over, useless wood and decayed blossoms 

 removed, and the plants shifted ; fibrous loam, night soil, and 

 burnt earth may be used effectually. Camellias which have 

 matured tbeir flower buds may receive additional assistance 

 either by soil or manure water, as circumstances allow. The 

 common Anemone, potted three or four in a pot, and placed in 

 a comfortable frame wilh the Neapolitan or Eussian Violet in 

 September, may be introduced to blossom on the shelves of 

 the greenhouse during November and December. The com- 

 mon single Blood Wallflower, also, if sown in March, the 

 leading shoots pinched out in June, and potted three in a 

 moderate-sized pot, generally produces a good bloom through 

 the dead of winter. Many more plants of this kind might be 

 enumerated. 



STOVE. 



Those Orchids suspended in baskets or on blocks should 

 have frequent handling as to their state of moisture. They 

 will require a liberal supply at this period. All blocks will 

 need frequent though light syringings. The business here is 

 mere routine at this period ; propagation matters having been 

 attended to, together with high cultivation, little remains but 

 to endeavour to perfect the wood already made. This must be 

 accomplished by a freer circulation of air, and a somewhat 

 less amount of atmospheric moisture. — W. Keaxe. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 

 With next to no water, for years we have never seen plants 

 suffer more in a garden than they did on the 21st and 22nd 

 inst , and even the 23rd was trying, though the air was cooler; 

 and some slight signs were given, if not of a change, at least of 

 a more vapour-laden atmosphere, as on the morning of Satur- 

 day we had a better deposition of dew than we have seen for 

 two months. Many plants whose leaves were prostra'e and 



seemingly half dried up, revived and stood erect for a time on 

 Saturday morning. 



It is rather tantalising to read how some of our coadjutors 

 and friends speak of what may now be done after " rain has come 

 at last." From the beginning of the year we have scarcely had 

 more than skiffs of rain — nothing to sink into the soil, nothing 

 to replenish our exhausted reservoirs. Most of the rains have 

 been very partial. Daring a day from home, in a space of 

 some twenty miles, in three small places far apart, we found 

 the roads in a puddle from next to a deluge, whilst immediately 

 beyond this little spot we might as well have driven through 

 the desert of Sahara. The absence of anything like a hay crop 

 in this neighbourhood, though very trying to the holders of the 

 land, will be lessened in its evils by the reported heavy crops 

 in the northern counties. On our journey the other day from 

 Luton to Oxford, with ihe exception of a few green meadows, 

 we found the whole of that district bad suffered from drought 

 as much as our own neighbourhood. Even the princely Blen- 

 heim with its wondrous lake was no exception. The park 

 grass crackled beneath our feet ; the extensive lawns, except 

 in shaded places, had scarcely a tiDge of green. Even in such 

 circumstances, though in many places the cereal crops were 

 thin, in others, Barley and Wheat especially, seemed rather to 

 be above the average— a pleasant ihought for us bread-eaters, 

 though liable to be greatly counteracted by this unlooked-for, 

 hideous, and more than culpable war. 



From all we could learn at Oxford we came to the conclusion 

 that as respects the fall of rain, this has been an exceptional 

 year. We recollect many years ago, in an early article in this 

 Journal, alluding to the proverb, " Curt corn to the west, drive 

 cattle to the east," based on the fact that the dripping weather 

 of the western counties was so conducive to rich meadows, 

 whilst the drier and sunnier atmosphere of the eastern counties 

 was more favourable to cereals. Thi3 season, on the evidence 

 of such men as Mr. Garaway, of Bristol, the drought has been 

 felt severely in the west ; whilst Mr. C&nuichael, of Sandring- 

 ham, spoke of the splendid crops in that naturally rather 

 hungiy district, owiDg to the frequent and abundant rains. 

 Oar recollections of Oxford and its gathering will be delightful, 

 only possible to be enhanced if the visitors to the horticultural 

 department had been three times the number they were on the 

 first two days. Something in thi3 respect may be owing to the 

 neighbourhood, to the extreme heat and fierceness of the sun, 

 to having the horticultural and the agricultural shows so far 

 apart, and, perhaps, to having them at the same time at all. 

 Many seemed to complain of the toil in going over, so as to 

 " do " one of the exhibitions thoroughly. 



' Those who are interested in the watering question, will do 

 well to correct for themselves an extract, as given about the 

 middle of page 49, first column. It should have been, "Be- 

 tween March and May, we have much cold wet weather." As 

 printed, the word " wet " is left out, to the derangement of the 

 sense and argument. Great as was the outcry about general 

 dryness, we found no case where there were less means of arti- 

 ficial watering than our own. Our small sources were very 

 nearly exhausted on the two dread dcys above referred to. We 

 knew if we could tide over until the 25;h, we should have the 

 chance of getting some, even if dirty, water, though other things 

 were not neglected. 



The chief work of the end of the week, was mulching and 

 shading, the latter in the case of small plants coming in along 

 with the first. For instance, we put rather short litter round 

 Lettuces, young Cabbages, Cauliflowers, and Broccoli, not so 

 protected before, fresh planted Strawberries, &c, and on 

 many of these we sprinkled longer cleaner litter over the tops. 

 Calceolarias showing signs of suffering, and which we would 

 be sorry ta lose for three months, and which in addition to 

 mulching we could not litter without destroying their beauty, 

 we shaded rather thickly with laurel boughs, firmly inserted 

 and secured, so that even in wind they might not chafe against 

 the flowers. The young growths of the lauieis came in well for 

 this purpose. A little water was given to individual plants 

 suffering most. Everything under glass was given less air, and 

 the glass more or less shaded, to keep out the drying heat, 

 either with moveable coverings or a fair coating of whitened 

 water. With everything looking well it seemed a pity that so 

 many plants should be burned up, which they would have been, 

 with our inability to water, and two or three days of burning, 

 cloudless sun, such as we had on the 22nd. We hope to tide 

 over until the 25th or 26th, when we may expect either more 

 means or a change of weather. The gardener with a plentiful 

 supply of water, knows nothing of the anx : ety of him who hae 



