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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ December S, 1870. 



be more easily injured. What we planted late has gone on 

 better than we expected, owing to the mild weather. We could 

 not plant earlier, having no water to give. Our earliest beds, 

 protected from the drought by shading, have done very well, 

 not showing a single bad or bolted head. 



Large Lettuces are so placed that protection can be given ; 

 younger ones and smaller Endive aie doing well, especially on 

 ridges. Young Lettuces sown late often stand the winter well, 

 when sown rather thickly on ground merely scratched over, not 

 dug or forked-rip; the firmness of the ground is a great means 

 of giving firmness and hardiness to the young plants. 



FKUIT GAKDEN. 



More cars than usual is required in the fruit-room this year/ 

 Apples, on the whole, keep remarkably well. Pears keep worse 

 than usual, and ripen earlier. Ooe fruit allowed to rot will 

 soon injure a lot more in its vicinity, especially when the room 

 ab command will not permit of the fruit being laid down 

 separately. Why should there be such a difference in the keep- 

 of Apples and Pears this season ? We might suppose in the 

 Oise of the Pears, that after swelling but little in ihe dry hot 

 weather, they swelled too rapidly after the damper weather came, 

 and W6re thus overcharged with watery juice, and early ripen- 

 ing and decay were the consequence. Bui-, then, why would not 

 a similar cause act on the Apples, which, on the whole, are 

 keeping as well if not better than usual ? 



Late Grapes we find waot frequent looking over, as one 

 t .inted berry is likely to taint ihose nest to it. As soon as the 

 leaves turn yellow they should bo removed, at first the most 

 yellow ones, as whilst any green remains they keep up a slow 

 sap-movement, and in orchard houses where there are late 

 Grapes, the leaves above the bunches, though the leaves are 

 turning yellow, act as a protection to the bunches in sudden 

 changes of weather. Unless, however, where there is some 

 simple mode of heating so as to keep out frost, it would be 

 well to clear orchard houses of fruit by the beginning or middle 

 of November, as a little frost soon injures a bunch of Grapes. 

 There is no difficulty in this respect in a heated house, as a 

 little fire will easily ke6p the temperature at about 40° at night. 

 At this season a little fire with a fair amount of air will be 

 desirable every day, except in bright sunshine. Unless frosty, 

 very little firing should be given at night, and unless the frost 

 is severe, a little air should be left on the house all night. 

 Very little air will prevent the enclosed atmosphere becoming 

 stagnant. If a fire has been put on in the morning and burns 

 brightly, and the sun is also bright, the air of the house may 

 become too dry, so as to scorch and shrivel the berries. In 

 such a case, instead of admitting too much cold air, if frosty it 

 may be advisable gently to clew the paths, stages, &c, from a 

 fine syringe, so as to counteract the extra dryness. This will 

 seldom be needed except in such a case as the above, where 

 bright sun heat and strong fire heat are allowed to meet and 

 work together, which should in every ease be avoided. As a 

 general rule damp is the thing to be avoided, and hence Grapes 

 will always keep best where no plants are put in the house, 

 with their necessary and attendant waterings. Where plants 

 had to be put, as in a greenhouse, with Vines on the roof, and 

 where it was desirable to keep some bunches as late as possible, 

 we have seen this well managed by enclosing the bunches in 

 bags, large for the size of the bunch, made of silk paper, or 

 book-muslin, so glazed with starch, &c, as to keep out the 

 damp. A small opening in the bag was left at the stalk of the 

 bunch, so that the air round the bunch should be in movement, 

 whilst the damp of the house could not act freely upon it. 



Many will now be thinking of commencing to force Tines, 

 Peaches, &e., but the majority of those for whom we write will 

 do little in this way until the turn of the day, or until January 

 and February are pretty well gone. In all such cases there 

 will not be such a difference in the ripening time as would in 

 an economical point of view compensate for the greater trouble 

 and outlay. There will be some, however, who will grudge no 

 expense to obtain early results, and they cannot commence too 

 soon after the houses are thoroughly cleaned, as lately advised 

 and commented on. It must be kept in mind, especially at 

 this dark season, that the temperature of such houses should 

 be raised very gradually, and rather more moisture should be 

 given in ihe house by syringing than would be aotually re- 

 quired by the increased temperature until the buds have not 

 only swelled but burst. Some persons boast of doing their 

 forcing in a slap-daBh manner, raising the temperature quickly, 

 and acting somewhat in derision of the slowcoaches, who are 

 frightened at a good heat. Slow and sure, we would advise all 

 beginners to take as their motto. If they begin with a vinery 



at 45°, let them take a week to raise it to 50°, another week to 

 55°, and keep the house ranging from that to 60°, until the 

 buds have swelled and broken. 



Piuning the hardier fruit trees, nailing, &c, may be pro- 

 ceeded with now in all favourable weather ; w6 dare not prune 

 so much as we wish, owing to the ravages made on our fiuit 

 buds by birds and other interlopers. We suppose thai there 

 are always some disadvantages to be met with everywhere. 

 Trying to preserve the buds of fruit trees has been a serious 

 matter with us for years. Even now some fine pyramid Plum 

 trees, bristling a fortnight ago with fruit buds, are already 

 greatly injured. Wherever feeding game largely close to a gar- 

 den is followed there will be multitudes of four-footed and 

 winged depredators when the most telling means of defence 

 are prohibited. During the summer we visited a garden nearly 

 as much surrounded with wood as this is, but where we know 

 as a fact that scarcely a fruit bud or a fruit is ever touched. 

 On our visit ventilators, close to the ground, of vineries were 

 left open night and day. Had we done so for a single night 

 we should have expected a scene of desolation in the morning 

 from mice, rats, and birds, as, not to speak of less birds, 

 even thrushes and blackbirds delight to get at a bunch of 

 Grapes. Whence the difference ? Partly because there was 

 no attempt to feed or bring up game in the neighbourhood 

 of the garden, but chiefly owing to a number of cats, that 

 were eating their allowance of scraps from the kitchen behind 

 ono of the sheds. These cats were so fed that they had little 

 temptation to go beyond lbs garden, and at the same time were 

 not so overfed but their presence and walking about kept even 

 birds at a distance, whilst mice were kept out of sight. The 

 claws of a cat or two are ihe best of all vermin traps in a gar- 

 den ; but in many a garden cats, however tamed, domesticated, 

 or even ringed or chained, must be denied a home. There is 

 no doubt that when given to wander, the cat is a sad rover in 

 a game preserve, but well treated, as in the garden just referred 

 to, we have known them kept for years without straying much 

 beyond their allotted boundaries. Besides, when kept, as a 

 matter of course, it would be easy when used to it to shut them 

 up at night. Although no doubt there are many exceptions, 

 yet it may be laid down a8 a general rule, that when a cat i3 

 disposed to wander, it chooses those hours for its purpose when 

 its master or mistress has gone to bed. A cat is not all gain ; 

 even in a garden it will scratch a little at times ; but for catch- 

 ing and deterring iu a kitchen and fruit garden, a good cat is 

 worth its weight in silver. How many of our readers are now 

 distressed about their bulbs in their little gardens being de- 

 stroyed ? They may trap and poison as they will, but there is 

 no such security to be found as in a watchful cat. 



On the same day that we saw the cats in one garden, we saw 

 a sight in another garden which we shall never forget. Mr. 

 Sage, at Ashridge, had taken off the lights from a large lofty 

 lean-to Peach house. The Peaches were a fine crop, all nicely 

 arranged, and fully exposed on the upper side of the trellis, 

 swelling, colouring, and ripening well. With such a com- 

 plete exposure w : e could fancy how rich the flavour would be. 

 Had we had a similar house, we durst not have ventured on 

 similar treatment. In a single day we should have expected 

 every fruit to have had a hole in if. Even on leaving a door 

 open for more air, not to speak of less intruders, we have 

 had pheasants visiting, thinking, no doubt, they might have 

 a taste as well as their betters, and smashing the glass to 

 escape when discovered. In that large kitchen garden we did 

 not observe a single bird. We could recollect of a garden where 

 you could scarcely traverse a walk without a dozen blackbirds 

 screaming out defiance, and vaulting over a wall only to come 

 again when your back wfts turned. 



OEHAHESSTAL DEPAETHENT. 



We must here content ourselves with a few hints. First, to 

 window gardeners. Keep leaves and stems thoroughly clean by 

 freeing them from dust, and softly washing with clear water at 

 from 60° to 65° in temperature. If ycu try Chinese Primroses, 

 do not over-water them, and keep the water from the collar of 

 the plant. If the water gets into the saucer empty it out. As 

 respects Scarlet Geraniums, unless in bloom, tbey will need 

 little water. If you try Cinerarias, if you do not put a little 

 moss in the saucer, you may allow about the eighth of an inch, 

 if not more, of water to remain in the bottom, and you cannot 

 sprinkle the foliage too often if there is fire in the room. If 

 you use bulbs, keep them in the dark until roots are freely 

 formed, and the flower-stems showing, then the more light tbey 

 have the better. True, they will come all the sooner if kept 

 on the chimneypiece, or near the fireplace, and they will even 



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