374 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 10, 1870. 



is not complete, inasmuch as it cannot provide against the 

 vicissitudes of climate, which provision, as before observed, 

 should be the keystone of the arch. Thorough drainage is the 

 first step, provided the soil harbours moisture. This being 

 properly accomplished, some good strong loam should be pro- 

 vided if possible, be the soil what it may (unless a new garden 

 and of a heavy nature), in order to mix with and refresh the 

 old soil, which in the majority of old gardens is what is termed 

 effete or worn out, however imposing its colour and consistence 

 may be. Eighteen inches of sound soil for the average of fruit 

 trees is considered better than a greater depth, provided top- 

 dressings are made use of in very dry and hot periods. This 

 should be placed on a mound (6 feet square) of brickbats or 

 broken stones covered with a coating of cinders to keep the 

 drainage porous. The limits of a calendar will not allow of 

 more being said on this head ; it may, however, be acceptable 

 to enumerate a few fruit trees which ought to find a place in 

 small as well as large gardens, merely premising that the list is 

 not to be considered complete in itself, but merely as furnishing 

 a few hints. Of Pears, procure the Jargonelle, Dunmore, Marie 

 Louise, Aston Town, Althorp Crasanne, Fondante d'Automne, 

 Passe Colmar. Winter Nelis, Glou Moiceau, Ne Plus Meuris, 

 and Beurre de Ranee. Peaches — Pourpiee Ha'ive, R iyal George, 

 Noblesse, Bellegarde, and Late Admirable. Nectarines — Elruge, 

 Violette Hative, and Old Newington. Apricots — Breda, Royal, 

 Shipley's, and Moorpark. Phnns — Pieeoce de Tours, Orleans, 

 Reine Ulaude Tiolette .Washington, and Ickworth Imperatriee. 

 Cherries — May Duke, Downton, Elton, Bigarreau, Late Duke, 

 and Morello. These stand nearly or quite in the order of their 

 ripening. In addition to these, of Apples procure the Early 

 Harvest, Kerry Pippin, Early Nonpareil, Ribston Pippin, 

 Pearson's Plate, Pitmaston Nonpareil, Old Nonpareil, Sturmer 

 Pippin, and Lamb Abbey Pearmain, all table fruit. A? kitchen 

 Apples, Manks and Keswick Codlin, Bedfordshire Foundling, 

 Blenheim Pippin, Dumelow's Seedling, Wheeler's Russet, and 

 Northern Greening. To these may be added others of very 

 excellent character. Anyone, however, desirous of planting a 

 moderate-sized garden would do well to obtain these kinds. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



During the present month more than common attention is 

 required to preserve the garden from the desolating effects of 

 the weather ; all traces of the sedulous care and cleansing of 

 one day may be effaced by the storms of the next. Flat or 

 ill-drained and constructed gravel walks will suffer from de- 

 positions of mud from pools to which such walks are liable, 

 which, if not removed immediately, will destroy the appearance 

 and value of the gravel, Examine all gratings, drains, and 

 watercourses, and prevent as far as possible the evil above 

 alluded to. The value of a well-drairjed exposed walk, free from 

 the shade and moisture of trees, will be appreciated by those 

 who recognise the importance of exercise and fresh air in all 



things in bloom suffer from the want of water. Give weak 

 clear manure water to Chrysanthemums, Salvias, Camellias, 

 <£c, and use every means to keep specimens in bloom as long 

 as possible. Damp and mildew are the great enemies to be 

 guarded against in the greenhouse, and these must be sharply 

 looked after, especially in the case of plants that have not well 

 ripened their growth, and are in a rather soft state. If the former 

 is troublesome it must be dispelled by means of free ventilation 

 on mild days, using a little fire heat at the same time, and for 

 the latter a dry airy atmosphere is the best preventive ; but the 

 plants should be frequently examined, applying sulphur on the 

 first appearance of the enemy. Yery little water will be required 

 here at present, but the plants should be carefully looked over 

 about twice a-week, so as to make sure that nothing is allowed 

 to feel the want of it. If not already done have the plants tied 

 with the least possible delay, for it is very difficult to tie a plant 

 so that it will not look somewhat stiff and unnatural, and the 

 sooner this kind of work is done the better the specimens will 

 look when in bloom. — W. Keaxe. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Mushrooms. — Lately the reasons were given why a bed should 

 be made late in an open shed, and should be deeper than usual. 

 We did not wish to wait long before the bed was fit for spawn- 

 ing, and made, as it was, chiefly of litter partly worked and 

 sweetened, and covered with a slight layer of horse droppings, 

 we had the material so arranged that we could have a regular 

 mild heat to permit of spawning early. Tbe bed would not 

 average more than from 15 to 18 inches in depth, and the heat 

 obtained was not very strong, and quite regular throughout, 

 but we had to wait fully three weeks before the heat was mild 

 enough for the bed to be spawned. To gradually lower the 

 temperature sooner we had the surface of the bed made as firm 

 as possible, and a little earth thrown over it, but still the heat 

 kept quite regular, but fully 10° higher than we would wish to 

 trust the spawn in. We spawned at about 85°, and the heat 

 continues very genial and uniform after the earthing-up — 

 merely a few degrees less than the above, so that we have no 

 doubt that the spawn will run well, and with covering, to keep 

 cold from the bed, we think it will bear well. What we want 

 to impress on the beginners in Mushroom-growing is simply 

 this — that often they must exercise patience. 



Not being able to use our Mushroom house, we should have 

 liked to have spawned this bed a week or a fortnight earlier, 

 but had we done so most probably the spawn would have 

 perished. No doubt the close muggy weather rather put us 

 out in the calculation as to time. In our younger days, under 

 similar circumstances, and according to old customs, we should 

 have bored the bed with holes to let the heat out. We have 



weathers and seasons. Walks subject to moss had better be J )on „ regar ded this plan as chiefly acting by wasting the strength 



raked and left in a rough and loose state during the winter. 

 Proceed with planting; the present is the best time for re- 

 moving large evergreens. Roll and cleanse lawns from worm- 

 oasts ; lime water may be employed to destroy worms if too 

 numerous. Transplant S>veet Williams and single Wallflowers 

 into borders to replace the gay but tender beauties which fade 

 on the approach of winter. Plant bulbs, and examine those 

 previously set. All things liable to injury from severe weather, 

 and which are requisite for another year, should be placed 

 under protection without delay. Such as Fuchsias, Lobelias, 

 Pelargoniums, shrubby Calceolarias, Salvias, Tigridias, &c, 

 will require this treatment. Modes of storing them away differ 

 in different situations. Some can afford pits, some can spare 

 even house room, and some are driven to the cellar. Whatever 

 mode be adopted, let it be borne in mind that confined damp 

 is nearly as prejudicial as frost. A lean-to shed is a very good 

 place, and plants with a ball of earth dried on them after the 

 manner of Dahlias, will keep very well there, plunged in coal 

 ashes, with the addition of an old mat and a little straw over 

 the shed during very severe weather. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



Some of the very earliest Chrysanthemums may probably be 

 getting past their best, and should be replaced at once by some- 

 thing of a more showy charaoter. Whilst the principal collection 

 is in bloom, a selection should be made of the best and most 

 useful sorts, for there are many worthless varieties in cul- 

 tivation, and it iB better to grow duplicates of the really good 

 kinds than to retain such as are but indifferent, merely for the 

 sake of having a long list of names. Be careful not to let 



of the material by letting air into the bed and causing it at 

 first to heat more violently than if air were excluded. Much 

 of the intricacy in such matters, as well as the whole theory of 

 making up a hotbed to give a lasting heat, would be better 

 understood if we would only recollect that a lasting heat is best 

 sustained by admitting merely a small quantity of air to support 

 slow decomposition : hence, frequently, when a bed becomes 

 cold, turning it over when too close will cause it to yield a nice 

 mild heat for a month or two longer. A little moisture will 

 often do the same when the bed has heated itself dry : hence, 

 too, the importance of not having the material too much de- 

 composed before making it into a bed. It then becomes^ too 

 close for air to get in, and cools. We have made beds in a 

 very rough way in March and April, and they had not lost 

 their heat in the following November. The most experienced, 

 however, will often be deceived, and thus we had to wait for 

 the spawning of that Mushroom bed a fortnight longer than we 

 expected. 



Cucumbers. — The plants we put in frames and in hot-water 

 pits early in spring are still bearing, though now coming more 

 weakly. Those in frames have merely had the frames banked- 

 up with litter, and the plants are much stronger than those in 

 the hot-water pits. The beds were made large at first, and 

 with tbe exception of the banking-up they have had no lining. 

 If we did not want the frames we feel sure that adding a good 

 lining to the depth of the bed would cause them to continue 

 for some time, as that would throw in m*re bottom heat, as 

 well as secure an atmospheric temperature of from 60° to 70°. 

 These plants had their roots confined at first to about the third 



