368 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 



[ November 7, IS ,2. 



mornings to wheel it over the land. As a general rule, ground 

 that is very deeply trenched should be manured after trench- 

 ing, and the manure forked-in, except in the case of fusiform- 

 rooted plants, which will require the manure to he trenched-in 

 deeply and not incorporated with the surface soil. Trenching 

 up all vacant compartments must be vigorously followed up, 

 taking care to turn-in all green and decaying refuse, which 

 is much better than throwing such materials in a heap to decay, 

 for this entails a positive loss of fertilising matter. The large 

 amount of rain which has fallen recently has in most places in- 

 terfered considerably with the progress of out-of-door operations . 

 Whatever remains of Celery earthing should on such occasions 

 be attended to. Digging, trenching, the formation of fruit-tree 

 borders, and any necessary working on the soil, should be pro- 

 ceeded with as early as circumstances will permit. Any kitchen 

 gardener without a tank to receive the drainage of the dung heap, 

 or for the mixture of manure water, should speedily remedy the 

 omission. The weather has favoured the slugs, if nothing else, 

 lately; they must be closely looked after, or the destruction of 

 the young and tender Cabbages and Lettuces will infallibly be 

 the consequence. Kidney and Haricot Beans not sufficiently 

 matured for preservation for seed, may, nevertheless, he sup- 

 plied to the table. They will form an excellent and wholesome 

 dish. Protect Bhubarb intended for forcing, and remove all 

 dead and decaying leaves from both the Rhubarb and Sea-Tcale 

 beds. 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



Pruning Pears, Apples, Plums, Cherries, and Currants should 

 be carried on, and nailing should be commenced. Much more 

 can be accomplished in a day, and with greater ease, when the 

 weather is mild. Lay the wood in easily without an abund- 

 ant quantity of shreds ; a good eye and a quick hand are the 

 essentials m this matter. Let the shreds correspond with the size 

 of the wood. Prepare shreds and clean nails in wet weather. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



_ When the land is not too wet, alterations of ground and plant- 

 ing should be carried on with dispatch, but on no account at- 

 tempt planting when the soil is in a state of puddle ; the drier 

 % S °i ls when Placed round the roots of newly-planted trees 

 and shrubs (provided they are judiciously watered-in), the sooner 

 they will emit fresh roots. Mulching is, however, requisite to 

 keep out frost, and earlier in the season to prevent evaporation. 

 As tree leaves are always in request either as a fermenting 

 material or for leaf soil, they should at this season he carefully 

 collected. If they are required as a manure they may be stored 

 away m any by-place and left to rot ; but if, as is generally the 

 case, they are in demand as a cheap mode of furnishing bottom 

 heat to Pines, as weR as for forcing different kinds of vegetables, 

 some pains should be taken to keep them dry. For this pur- 

 pose they should be stacked-up in some dark place or behind 

 the garden walls, where access may be had to them at all times, 

 and, after allowing time for them to settle, put on a coat of 

 thatch to effectually secure them from rain. By these means 

 they will be found in a state fit for use for a twelvemonth to 

 come. 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 

 ?' 5 ne da y ma y be eff aced by the storms of the next. Flat, or 

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

 position of mud from pools which such walks are liable to ; this 

 if not removed immediately, will destroy the appearance of the 

 gravel. Examine all gratings, drains, and watercourses, and 

 prevent as far as possible the evil above alluded to. The im- 

 portance of a well-drained walk free from the influence of trees, 

 their shade and moisture, will be appreciated by those who re- 

 cognise the importance of exercise and fresh air in all -weathers 

 and seasons. Walks subject to moss had better he raked and 

 left rough and loose during the winter. The protection of half- 

 hardy plants established out of doors will shortly call for at- 

 tention, mats and fern should be duly prepared for the purpose. 

 Collect Hollyhock and other seeds ; transplant Sweet Williams 

 and Wallflowers into borders ; plant bulbs, and examine those 

 previously set. Mice are particularly prone to destroy them. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



In most places Chrysanthemums will be the chief feature of 

 attraction at present, and where these are largely grown, which 

 they should be wherever there is a demand for flowers at this 

 season, they make a fine display, and are worth every necessary 

 attention to preserve them in beauty as long as possible. They 

 are very impatient of a close rather warm atmosphere ; and if 

 the house contains plants requiring this treatment, the Chry- 

 santhemums should, as far as possible, be placed in the coolest 

 part, where air can be given freely on every favourable oppor- 

 tunity, for unless they can be freely exposed to air their foliage 

 is soon attacked and disfigured by mildew, especially if the 

 plants are bushy and well grown. See also that they are kept 

 well watered at the root. Use fire heat only when it is abso- 

 lutely necessary, either to prevent the temperature from falling 

 <tm low, or to dry the atmosphere. If Calceolarias, Geraniums, 

 aud Cinerarias must be wintered in the same house with Heaths 



and other hardwooded plants, they should be kept as much as 

 possible by themselves, as they will require a somewhat closer 

 temperature than hardwooded plants; but where circumstances 

 admit of it these should occupy a house or pit by themselves. 

 Cinerarias and Geraniums intended for late flowering will do 

 very well in a cold pit if the weather should not prove very 

 severe ; but those intended for flowering very early should be 

 placed at once where fire heat can be used at will, so as to be 

 able to preserve the foliage from damp. Roses for early forcing 

 should be pruned by this time, and placed where they will at 

 least be safe from heavy rains. Where American and other 

 shrubs are used for forcing they should be taken up and potted 

 without delay, placing them in a cold pit until they are wanted 

 for forcing, or in a turf pit, where they can he protected in 

 severe weather by straw mats, shutters, or other covering. 



PITS AND FRAMES. 



Everything should be finally arranged here as soon as possible. 

 See that the Mignonette has a very light situation, plunged close 

 to the glass at the back of a frame free from drip. Store Ver- 

 benas growing rapidly should have their tops pinched, as also 

 Petunias and other ordinary mass flowers. Admit aU the air 

 possible, and give water grudgingly. Leave air on all night, he it 

 never so little ; this should be done even when matted overhead, 

 except in very severe weather. Now is the time to pot all the 

 Cape Iridaceaa, with others from Mexico, Chili, &c. The whole 

 order delight in light open soil. The stronger Gladioli and the 

 like are much benefited by the addition of one-third rotten 

 leaf mould, the rest peat and light loam in equal portions, with 

 a little sand ; and the more delicate sorts do better in two-thirds 

 sandy peat, the rest of loam and sand in equal proportions. 

 The Hyacinths, Tulips, Narcissus, &c, to flower late in the 

 spring, may now be potted, and those first potted ■will now have 

 the pots pretty well filled with roots, and may, therefore, be 

 brought into a glass frame to get up the foliage and flower- 

 stems slowly, when smart forcing will not much injure the 

 bulbs. — W. Keane. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



The work has been much the same as mentioned in previous 

 weeks' notices. We prepared Rhubarb and Sea-kale for forcing 

 in the Mushroom house, cleared-off the withered stems of 

 Asparagus, and will throw a little salt and some decayed dung 

 over the beds, not because it is the best time, for that is in sum- 

 mer, but the salt now will keep weeds, worms, and slugs under, 

 and the roughish dung will protect the crowns from the ex- 

 tremes of frost. It is always advisable to give an extra covering 

 to Asparagus intended to be taken up and placed in pits or 

 frames for forcing. This wasteful plan can only be defended on 

 the principle that ground from which Asparagus is thus taken 

 is valuable in carrying out a rotation of cropping. But for 

 this, beds forced where the plants grow would ever be the most 

 economical system in the end. However, we have been able to 

 do little this way, and mostly take the plants up ; in all such 

 cases the roots are thrown away afterwards, at least we cannot 

 use them as we do forced roots of Rhubarb and Sea-kale, which 

 are often brought in to force again after they have had two sum- 

 mers' free growth. Though we like to force Asparagus where 

 we can green the shoots by free exposure to light and air, we 

 have often had fine dishes from old roots placed in wami dark 

 places, and then the shoots were exposed for two or three days, 

 when cut, in a light place, with the temperature not lower than 

 from 50° to 60°. Even when this vegetable is forced in frames, 

 air should not be given too freely in cold weather, although a 

 few degrees above freezing, for a cold temperature is very apt to 

 make the shoots hard and stringy. 



Mushroom Bouse. — The wet close weather made us take away 

 all the artificial heat we could, as a fresh bed that has just been 

 reduced enough in temperature for spawning made the house 

 quite hot enough, and we prefer in general to lower the tempe- 

 rature in winter instead of admitting draughts of air. We 

 never much care how much the diameter of a Mushroom may 

 be, but whenever the stalks become rather long it is a good sign 

 that the temperature has been quite high enough. Much can 

 be done by uncovering when there is the least sign of drawing 

 the footstalks, and much may be done with a little dry covering 

 when the Mushrooms do not come fast enough for use. For 

 keeping woodlice down there is no simpler plan than pouring 

 in hot water at the front and back of the beds. If a small 

 spout be used for the purpose the beds will be little or not at all 

 injured. A friend of ours used to apply water nearly at the 

 boiling point all over his bed, and the Mushrooms, he said, never 

 suffered. However, we never went so far as that, and we knew 

 of some cases where wonders were to be done by this mode, but 

 no Mushrooms were gathered. We do not like extremes of any 

 kind. When a bed is made in a house there will often be a little 

 crevice between the bed and the material by which it is bounded ; 

 and there, if the crevice is not one-eighth of an inch wide, wood- 

 lice will congregate, and a little boiling water, or water not far 



