414 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 24, 1870. 



are tardy in producing fruit Bhonld be root- pruned. This ope- 

 ration must be performed according to circumstances ; if the 

 trees are planted too deeply, or the soil has been raised above or 

 about them since planting, by all means fork the roots out care- 

 fully, and plant them again with care on the surface, spreading 

 them out judiciously, and then mulching them. If trees to be 

 operated upon are planted high and dry, fork about them at a 

 reasonable distance, and prune back the main or strongest 

 roots as you discover them. Very beneficial results follow 

 from such an operation when performed judiciously. Rasp- 

 berry plantations may be cleared of the dead canes and super- 

 fluous wood ; the suckers should be taken off, and where re- 

 quired the strongest should at once be planted for succession. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



Dahlias temporarily placed heels upwardB under cover to dry, 

 Bhonld now be carefully stored away for the winter. See that 

 coarse-growing plants which may be encroaching upon their 

 weaker neighbours are reduced, so as to occupy their proper 

 places. Gladioli may still be planted, but most kinds of bulbs 

 are now better in the ground than out of it. For Gladioli 

 choose a warm, thoroughly-drained situation, work the soil 

 well by deep digging, and add plenty of rotten manure. Elevate 

 the bed or patch a few inches above the general level, plant the 

 bulbs 5 or 6 inches deep and 6 inches apart, surrounding them 

 with 1 inch of sand before covering with mould, and protect 

 them during the winter against excessive wet and frost by 

 means of a thick layer of sawdust, old tan, dry litter, and old 

 carpet, thatched frames, or tarpaulin. The last three coverings 

 must be removed during favourable weather, and the former 

 covering entirely cleared off when the plants appear. Ranun- 

 culuses may also still be planted. The situation of the beds 

 should be cool and somewhat moist ; at the same time there 

 should be good drainage. The most suitable soil is a hazelly 

 loam. If, therefore, the natural soil is unsuitable, remove it to 

 about the depth of 2 feet, and 4 feet in width, replacing it with 

 rich loam from an old pasture ; this ought to be rather firmly 

 trodden in, and should form the foundation and principal por- 

 tion of the bed. On this should be laid a liberal dressing of well- 

 decayed manure, mixing it a little with the under soil, and over 

 all, for the top of the bee , should be laid a layer of soil 6 inches 

 deep for planting the ti.bers in; this soil should be Btiffish 

 loam, fibry, and mixed with well- decayed eowdnng and leaf soil. 

 Draw drills 6 inches apart and 2 inches deep with a small hoe, 

 and plant the tubers 4 inches apart, with the claws downwards, 

 gently pressing them into the soil. The crowns of the tubers 

 should be at least 1J inch under the surface of the bed. The 

 beds and borders intended for Roses Fhould be thoroughly 

 trenched and turned, at the same time adding plenty of rotten 

 dung, which should be well incorporated with the soil as the 

 work goes on. This is considered to be the grand secret in 

 Rose-growing, as without attention to this it would be vain to 

 expect umbrageous trees or, indeed, an abundance of bloom. 

 Of all months in the year the present is decidedly the best 

 suited for the removal and planting of hardy summer Roses. 

 In lifting the plants great care should be exercised to preserve 

 as many roots as possible; avoid wrenching or straining the 

 roots in lifting. Prune the ends of broken roots, and cut away 

 all suckers. Deep planting is to be deprecated. Standards 

 should be secured to stakes as soon as planted. When all this 

 is finished fork up the surface as roughly as possible, get pro- 

 tecting materials in readiness, such as Spruce boughs or Furze, 

 also dry Fern or Moss, to be applied to the most tender sorts 

 when severe weather sets in. If possible, keep the material dry 

 till required. To save time at another season old-established 

 shrubs should now be gone over and pruned by shortening or 

 removing all uncouth or straggling branches, taking care to cut 

 in such a manner that tbe foliage willconoeal the incision made 

 in tbe branch. Proceed with the planting of evergreen and 

 deciduous trees and shrubs Devote any spare time or bad 

 weather to preparing protecting material, which will be required 

 for delicate trees and shrubs that cannot fully withstand the 

 severity of our winters. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



If the different varieties of half-hardy Lilinms are pnbjected 

 to a successful mode of pot culture, they will prove most de- 

 sirable objects during the summer and autumn months for the 

 decoration of either the conservatory or greenhouse. The sorts 

 most in repute at present for this purpose are the splendid va- 

 rieties of recent introduction from Japan. The present is the 

 best period of the season for tbe general potting or transplant- 

 ing of Liliums ; their flower-stems are now sufficiently withered 



to allow of their safe removal without injury to the bulbs, and 

 potting thus early will enable them to thoroughly establish 

 themselves previous to the flower-stems making a start. That 

 they should be so established is very necessary, and of much 

 more importance in the cultivation of this class of bulbous 

 plants than is generally supposed. Of scarce sorts any small 

 bulbs that may have formed on the flower-stems should be 

 saved, and be potted separately in small pots, or planted out in 

 a pit or frame in suitable soil, where in a year or two they will 

 make strong flowering bulbs. If the object of the cultivator be 

 to grow the old plantB into fine large specimens, the bulbs 

 must not be divided too much, but remove carefully as much of 

 the old soil as can be conveniently done without disturbing the 

 roots, and then let them be placed at once in the p»ts in which 

 it is intended to flower them, which ought to be thoroughly 

 drained, and of a deeper form than those in general use. The 

 soil most suitable for the cultivation of Lilinms is a rich 

 fibrous heath soil uBed in a rough Btate, and without any ad- 

 mixture of other soils, with the exception, Bhonld the nature of 

 the heath soil require it, of a portion of silver sand. After 

 potting let them be placed in a cool part of the greenhouse or 

 in a cold pit, protecting them from severe froBt only, and 

 giving them a very limited supply of water until next season's 

 flower-stems appear above ground, when a gradual increase will 

 be requisite. 



COLD PITS. 



Cold pits afford the best possible accommodation for the 

 culture of all greenhouse plants in summer, but unless they 

 are furnished with pipes so that a little heat can be had to dry 

 the atmosphere occasionally, and also to exclude frost, they are 

 not fit quarters for many plants in winter ; and although in 

 mild winters most greenhouse plants can with care be wintered 

 in cold pits, snchaBBoronias.LeschenaultiaB, Gompholobiums, 

 &c, if not already done, should be removed to safer quarters at 

 once. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



TrrE prognostics as to the weather have been fully realised. 

 On Sunday, the 13th, we had from 3 to 4incheB of Bnow, which 

 rapidly thawed and disappeared, but almost every night we have 

 had a sharp frost, getting more keen towards morning. These 

 frosts from the 12th to the 19th destroyed our flower garden 

 display. The Coleuses succumbed three weeks ago. The 

 Iresine was splendid until the 12th, or rather the 13th, for it 

 stood the snow well. Calceolarias are as yet but little affected, 

 though of course the flowering is nearly over. Some scarlet 

 Geraniums elevated and rather dry in vases seem, with all the 

 frost, to be yet sound to their points. No doubt the dry sum- 

 mer helped to make them more firm, and therefore less liable 

 afterwards to suffer from the extremes of heat and cold. 



Some years ago, as hints to young gardeners in managing 

 fires, &c, we remarked that the state of the moon ought to 

 form a part of their considerations. As a general rule the 

 greatest cold in winter is felt jast before daybreak. A brisk 

 sharp fire in the morning will, therefore, often supersede the 

 necessity for having large fires at Dight. Another secondary 

 rule may be deduced from the state of the moon. When the 

 moon is growing to the full the coldest temperature is generally 

 experienced in the evening and onwards until the moon sets. 

 At new or full moon we can scarcely calculate on much dif- 

 ference from sunset to sunrise, but when the moon is waning 

 and giving its light in the early morning, it is well to provide 

 for a fall of temperature then, eBpecially if the Bky is unclouded. 

 During the last week, with a west and even a south-west wind 

 prevailing up to this day, the 18th, we have had with rather mild 

 evenings sharp frosts every morning. Most likely this will 

 change as the moon changes. We by no means asBert that such 

 a rule is at all general : no doubt every reader conld give us 

 plenty of exceptions, but still the bulk of facts would seem to 

 say that in a waning moon we have the lowest temperature in 

 the morning, and that therefore a sharp fire, or a little pro- 

 tection before it is quite daylight, is of more importance than 

 piling on fire or extra protection in an evening comparatively 

 mild. 



In many places it is getting customary for garden assistants 

 to get up and take their breakfast before going out to work in 

 the winter months. This not oDly makes a long period be- 

 tween breakfast and dinner, and puts men who live at a distance 

 to an additional expense for fuel in the morning, but keeps 

 them awsy from the garden early in the morning, when a little 

 firing and protection would be not only most serviceable. 



