August 29, 1872 ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



175 



Strawberries. — As soon as the necessary layered runners are 

 taken off we shall clean the beds and rows of Strawberry 

 plants which we mean to leave, and mulch them with some 

 not very rotten dung, which, in addition to other advantages, 

 greatly tends to protect the plants in winter, more especially 

 if they are in rows 27 inches apart ; and if a little ridge is left 

 in the middle of that space, that does much to keep the 

 crowns of even rather tender kinds from being injured. We 

 placed young plants in beds by themselves ready for potting, 

 and amongst other work calling for attention, put many of the 

 most forward in their fruiting pots. 



A few simple things are essential to success. A clean pot, 

 and enough, but not too much, drainage. The convex side of 

 the first piece of crock should go over the hole to keep worms 

 from getting in ; the other few pieces should be placed with 

 their concave side downwards, so as to leave the drainage as 

 open as possible. A sprinkling of moss over the drainage, and 

 a dusting of soot over that, will make the pots all that is de- 

 sirable. The best soil is a fresh rather stiff loam, with about 

 a seventh part of sweet rather dry rotten dung mixed with it. 

 If the soil is more light and sandy than is desirable, and there 

 is no other stiffer soil to mix with it, then a double quantity 

 of dung will greatly contribute towards the desired result. 

 When potted, the bud or heart of the plant should only be a 

 little below the rim of the pot. In any case, but more espe- 

 cially if soil is at all light, it will scarcely be possible to make 

 the soil too firm, first with the fingers, and then with a blunt 

 round stick. The pots may stand shaded a little for a few 

 days, but after that the more sun they have the better the 

 plants will fruit. 



Fruit houses in general have needed much watering, and 

 paths and stages frequent sprinkling, to prevent the air 

 getting too dry. Much time has been taken up in carting 

 water. 



ORNAMENTAL DEPARTMENT. 



Walks.— We stated lately how we gave a fresh appearance to 

 our walks for a temporary purpose, and much time has been 

 taken to do them so effectually that they will need little more 

 until next summer than a switch from a broom to remove 

 leaves. There is nothing that is more wearisome than weeding 

 walks when there is something like a carpeting of small weeds. 

 One preventive is never to allow the grass near walks to givDw so 

 long as to ripen and shed seeds. Daisies, if uncut, would soon 

 make a walk bordered with grass quite green at the sides. We 

 have only had two or three small pieces at all bad this season, 

 and the quickest way to get rid of all such annoyance is to 

 give a coating of salt, just enough to make the ground white in 

 fine dry weather, if the colour is no objection. Allow it to 

 remain until the dews and rains help to dissolve it gradually 

 about the roots of the weeds, and then give a thin sprinkling 

 of fine sandy gravel. This, however slight, will render them 

 firm under foot, and thus so far nullify the bad effects of soft- 

 ness and dampness in winter, which are apt to result when 

 line-surfaced walks are salted and no slight fresh surfacing 

 given. 



As stated some time ago, a rough-surfaced walk has advan- 

 tages in winter, but it is unpleasant iu summer when ladies 

 attempt to traverse it with thin-soled boots. The most un- 

 walkable walks we ever trod were in a very large fine place, 

 but formed as they were of rounded pebbles from the river 

 side, from the size of good cherries to fair-sized walnuts, 

 the pebbles sank and rolled so under the sole of the boot that 

 we were glad to get away from them, and more especially as 

 " Keep off the grass " was carded up at every corner. Ere long 

 we saw a beautiful bank of river sand, a slight surfacing of 

 which over these rough pebbles would have made a walk 

 smooth on the surface, and yet so open beneath that the 

 surface would soon be dry after the heaviest rains. 



To avoid these difficulties, so as to have walks serviceable at 

 all times, some proprietors are resorting to stone pavement, 

 others are lajing them down with asphalt, and some of these 

 who dislike the dark colour are fixing different- coloured spar, 

 &c, on the surface of the asphalt, much in the same way 

 as we used to fix enough of gravel and sand on a covering of 

 tar. We hear all sorts of accounts of these walks, laudatory 

 and condemnatory ; and other persons, taking the safe medimn, 

 are waiting until they decide. Of course each plan has its 

 separate advantages, but as pleasing to the eye, and neither 

 too hot nor too cold for the feet, we do not think a well-kept 

 gravel walk is yet to be despised. 



Watering. — We have watered Roses and some other strong- 

 growing plants, and we fear we shall have to water Calceo- 



larias if dry weather continue. During the fortnight of thunder 

 and pelting rains the Calceolarias and Scarlet Pelargoniums 

 looked very badly, as bushels of the blooms of Calceolarias were 

 washed off, and corymbs of Pelargoniums seemed drenched 

 and rotted. However, this week they have been as we like to 

 see them. There is one advantage in having good strong 

 vigorous plants — that you can depend on successions of bloom 

 as long as the season remains warm enough. 



We had two notes about Calceolarias the other day, one 

 complaining that after the first blooming a great portion 

 of the plants died off. We cannot be sure of the reason, but 

 we suspect this dying-off is often the result of dryness at the 

 roots. We watered and mulched our Calceolarias in the 

 tropical days we had, when we scarcely watered anything else 

 in beds. We cannot say we have lost none, but so few have 

 gone — perhaps a score — that their loss with our thick plant- 

 ing has never been noticed. The other case is a more. trouble- 

 some one, and it is far from uncommon, though our corre- 

 spondent imagines he is the only unlucky man. The plants 

 succeed well at first, bloom well in June and the first part 

 of July, grow but little until the middle or end of August, 

 and produce little but green shoots afterwards, as flower- 

 trusses do not form on the shoots. Our correspondent says 

 he has scarcely had a bloom since August came in ; the 

 plants look healthy enough rrc-w, but exhibit little signs of 

 flower-buds. 



We should be happy to tell how to secure continuous bloom- 

 ing, but all we can do is to give a hint, and that only from a 

 case that happened here some years ago. We planted-ont 

 good plants in the middle of May, they bloomed profusely in 

 June and the beginning of July, but the weather being hot 

 and dry they made little wood ; after wet weather in August 

 they began to grow freely, but the growth was succulent and 

 produced few blooms. We came to the conclusion that the 

 flowering tendency was exhausted too early, and then, just as 

 in many other cases, the growth took the lead and kept it, and 

 our autumns were too short to ripen the free growth. In the 

 following season we saw symptoms of the same thing coming 

 on. We had long satisfied ourselves that hardly any amount 

 of sunshine would hurt a Calceolaria provided the roots were 

 kept moist and cool. About the third week of June we forked 

 the surface ground a little, gave a good mulching of rotten 

 manure, and then a good watering? We wished to secure free 

 blooming with continuous moderate growth, and the abund- 

 ance of fresh shoots that broke, some terminated with their 

 bloom corymbs, showed that so far the object was gained. Of 

 course, we only give that as our opinion. It is certain that if 

 by the above or other means free successional blooming is 

 secured, it will be late in wet autumns before there will be 

 many shoots without bloom. In warm seasons Calceolarias, 

 therefore, may be the better for repeated waterings and mulch- 

 ings, when other things do not need it. Blooming profusely 

 now is the best security that the plants will continue good 

 until late in the season. We can . see now myriads of little 

 shoots with the flower-buds peeping at the points. 



We wish we could adduce more instances as proofs, but the 

 one instance leads us to infer that to have continuous bloom- 

 ing, there must be no stunting of growth shortly after planting 

 out ; and that moderate well-ripened growth then, will be the 

 best security against mere luxuriant barren growth later in the 

 autumn. 



Watering In-doors. — Hitherto this has been the easiest 

 season we have had for many years as respects water, partly 

 owing to the frequent showers and having more tank room. 

 Now we are beginning to be more careful, as, to keep glass 

 houses comfortable, a considerable amount of water is wanted 

 to spatter floors and stages with. We must now as to watering 

 act more strictly on the old rule, " Water so as to reach each 

 fibre of the roots, and then just wait until the same process is 

 wanted." In dull weather it may be wanted from two to four 

 days ; in bright weather, like this week, it may be wanted every- 

 day, and if fully exposed even twice a-day. A slight skiff from 

 the syringe is a different affair, and refreshes the foliage, when 

 the roots often would be all the better to have the earth 

 slightly drier around them. When you must depend on rain 

 water, what is used for syringing ought to be clear — filtered if 

 possible. In making a tank to receive water from buildings it 

 adds but little to the expense to make a double filter of brick 

 and cement. 



Neatness is one of the best means of making gardens tho- 

 roughly enjoyable. We know of several little places, patterns 

 of neatness, where one never can find a thing out of place. We 



