July 19, 1864. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



53 



stalks are withered, when they will be fit for storing. As 

 they are liable to decay if bruised, they should be care- 

 fully handled, and not thrown about lite so many stones. 

 Let them be very dry when stored, and spread out thin, not 

 laid in heaps. Lettuce, sow also more, and keep a good suc- 

 cession of Radishes and Salads. Peas, the late-sown should 

 have attention paid to watering and staking. Potatoes, the 

 lifting must be prosecuted as fast as they become ripe. 

 Spinach, a good breadth sown now in rich soil will afford 

 many successive pickings in the autumn, and will tend ma- 

 terially to save the winter beds from being picked before 

 they become strong. 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



Espalier Apples and Pears to have the leaders tied in, the 

 superabundant shoots spurred, and the fruit well thinned. 

 Attend, also, to choice Apples and Pears planted in the open 

 quarters, but not trained ; remove superfluous shoots, and 

 try the effect of tying downwards the points of some of the 

 strongest shoots. It has been practised with very good 

 effect on trees inclined to grow too luxuriantly. Attend to 

 the stopping and nailing of wall fruit trees in general, and 

 prosecute the thinning of Grapes on the open walls. Remove 

 all runners from Strawberries not required for making new 

 plantations. Fruit trees generally may now be budded. 



FLOWER GARDEN. 



Dahlias that have attained a good size to have their side 

 shoots properly thinned out, leaving three or four of the 

 strongest and best-set shoots. Examine the fastenings care- 

 fully ; if they have got too tight and are cutting the stem 

 remove them, and retie them, allowing plenty of room to 

 admit of the stem increasing in size. See that the pots on 

 the top of the stakes are gone over every morning, and all 

 the earwigs that are found destroyed. These insects, in 

 common with others, are very numerous this season. We 

 find that a little soot sprinkled on the plant when wet with 

 dew is an excellent preventive to their ravages ; as long as 

 that remains they will not touch the foliage. Cover the 

 blooms of Carnations and Picotees as they expand, placing 

 cardboard collars beneath them. Layering may be com- 

 menced, beginning with the grass or shoots which are most 

 forward. _ As the Pink pipings root, prick them out in good 

 soil. Trimming, staking, and pegging-down must be well 

 followed up at this period, where neatness and order are 

 essential. See that sufficiently strong stakes are applied to 

 plants with heavy foliage and gross habits, such as Dahlias, 

 Hollyhocks, Larkspurs, Phloxes, and tall-growing Asters. 

 Keep Roses as much as possible free from insects, and if 

 time can be spared, dead blossoms should be removed. 

 Budding may be proceeded with. Proceed with the pro- 

 pagation of favourite sorts which it may be desirable to 

 increase, either by budding or cuttings. It is generally 

 preferred to have the Hybrid Perpetuals, Teas, Chinas, and 

 Bourbons, on their own roots, and firm short-jointed shoots 

 of these root very freely af this season. To insure suc- 

 cess they should be afforded a slight bottom heat, be care- 

 fully shaded, and not kept too warm until they emit roots. 

 They will, however, root under a hand-glass on a shady 

 border. Remove suckers from worked plants. Cut back 

 the shoots of the autumn-flowering varieties to the most 

 promising eye as soon as all the flowers are expanded and 

 begin to fade. 



GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 



This is generally a critical month with the greenhouse 

 plants out of doors. The fervid heat is sometimes so great 

 as to produce the tropical winter of vegetation, when the 

 parching heat of the sun acts upon, and produces in some 

 degree a dormancy in the system of plants ; at other times 

 when occasional showers fall, and we see the surface of the 

 soil in the pots moist, we are satisfied until the drooping or 

 withering foliage upbraids us for our neglect, and ofteD, 

 particularly with Heaths, New Holland, and other such 

 plants, it is noticed when too late to save them. The 

 ill effects may be avoided by plunging the pots in coal ashes, 

 and syringing the plants overhead of an evening, and ex- 

 amining them when doubtful on the subject, by gently 

 turning one or two out of their pots to see the state of 

 the ball, as it requires some experience to distinguish 

 whether a plant wants water or not from the ring produced 

 by rapping your knuckles against the side of the pot. The 



conservatory will now be gay with Balsams, Globe Ama- 

 ranths, Fuchsias, Pelargoniums, Cockscombs, Thunbergias, 

 Japan Lilies of sorts, and the rafters and trellises with 

 creepers arranged in festoons, or in any other manner most 

 suitable to give a pleasing effect to the whole. The Camellias 

 out of doors to be surfaced with fresh soil if they require it. 

 The thinning of fruits and flowers is an operation that we 

 generally perform with great reluctance ; nevertheless, it is 

 one of the most useful to produce fine fruit and flowers, and 

 a regular annual succession of them : therefore, we would 

 advise that the buds of the early-flowering Camellias should 

 be gradually thinned, leaving ultimately only as many of 

 the most healthy and prominent buds as the condition of 

 the plant would bear without fear of injury to its strength 

 and productiveness the following season. Cinerarias, 

 whether seedlings or suckers to have regular attention, and 

 those intended for autumn work to be potted forward with- 

 out delay. The Chrysanthemums that had been planted 

 out in May, and repeatedly stopped as recommended during 

 the summer, will now be bushy plants. The last stopping 

 may be given towards the end of the month to such as are 

 intended for early blooming. The stopping of the others to 

 produce a succession may be continued to the middle of 

 August. 



STOVE. 



Encourage the onward progress of the young stock for 

 winter blooming. Maintain a moist and comparatively high 

 temperature. Orchids must be carefully shaded during 

 sunny days, but when the weather is at all cloudy allow 

 them as much light as they will bear without injury. Keep 

 the foliage clear of insects and dust, by frequent syringings 

 or spongings as may be necessary. W. Keajje. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Besides taking up Potatoes and pricking out winter 

 stuff, the chief work has been surface-hoeing among growing 

 crops, alike to kill miniature weeds and keep moisture in 

 the ground, and mulching with short grass and litter the 

 sides of rows of Peas in full bearing and coming into bloom. 

 We have been able to give but very little water, and even 

 our sewage-tank has been emptied three times during the 

 week. In such parching weather Cauliflowers can scarcely 

 produce large heads unless they be liberally watered or 

 freely mulched. For the latter purpose, nothing of a littery 

 matter comes amiss, and as soon as the crop is taken it is. 

 dug down and thus helps the next one. Thinned out Cu- 

 cumbers, which still continue to do well. Planted out some 

 of the smaller Tomato plants against a wall, and turned out 

 larger plants from large pots, the plants showing plenty of 

 fruit, against the back wall of an earth pit, where they will 

 receive pretty well as good help as if they were trained 

 against a wall. These will ripen plenty of fruit before the 

 cold weather comes. We have grown them plentifully 

 against a wooden fence, and even on the open ground full 

 in the sun ; but in the latter case it was late before the 

 fruit ripened, and very often it had to be gathered when 

 merely changing colour, and to be put into a warm place to 

 colour. In the latter circumstances, connoisseurs have in- 

 formed us that the flavour of the sauce was inferior. To 

 get the fruit ripe early the seed should be sown in March, 

 and the plants grown on under glass until the end of May 

 and then be turned out. To grow them late and where 

 green fruit are a consideration, it is best to sow about the 

 middle or end of April, and plant out in the beginning of 

 June, before the plants receive a check. In managing them 

 afterwards the chief points are — to stop the shoots a joint or 

 two above the clusters of fruit as they show, and to remove- 

 all the foliage, or at least the larger leaves, that would at 

 all shade the fruit. When grown in soil at all rich there is. 

 sure to be a superabundance of luxuriant foliage. This 

 might be remedied by growing in poorer exhausted soil, but 

 then the fruit will not be fine to look at nor yet so juicy- 

 All things considered, we prefer rich firm soil, such as may 

 be obtained by a couple of spadefuls of rotten manure to a 

 plant,, and then regular stopping and disleafing. Each leaf- 

 stalk has generally from five to seven and more segments, 

 and when such a stalk is not removed, from three to five of 



