October 25, 1864. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



337 



possible. See that the Mignonette has a very light situation, 

 and is plunged close to the glass and free from drip. Store 

 Verbenas growing freely should have their tops pinched, as 

 also Petunias and other ordinary mass flowers. Give all 

 the air possible. Intermediate Stocks intended for next year 

 should be kept dry. Neapolitan Violets to have as much an- 

 as possible. — W. Keanb. 



DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 



KITCHEN GARDEN. 



Plenty of rumours of rain, but none has fallen here. 

 Watered Cauliflowers, Lettuces, Cabbages with sewage water. 

 Tied and earthed up Celery. Gave also a little water to 

 Scarlet Runners still fruiting beautifully. Covered and tied 

 Endive. A capital plan where no glass protection can be 

 given is to grow in rows from 2 to 2 j feet apart, render it 

 large by good treatment, tie up when dry, and then earth 

 up, leaving only the top exposed. If in rainy weather a 

 board is laid along the top the damp will be kept out. Por 

 common purposes nothing answers better for early work 

 than giving the plants of the Large Curly a rough tie, and 

 then placing slates, boards, or tiles along them. We gene- 

 rally, for all the flat-growing kinds, merely cover with boards, 

 or place a few inches of dry tree leaves over them. 



Hoed among young Onions, Spinach, Strawberries, Let- 

 tuces, &c, as the rougher and opener the surface the better 

 will they stand all changes of wet or cold that may ere long 

 be anticipated. As soon as we have time we will take up 

 the most forward Carrots, Salsafy, Scorzonera, Beetroot, &c, 

 as they keep so much better when taken up dry. Laid 

 broken leaves over Cauliflowers, alike to keep them white 

 and prevent frost from affecting them. 



Mushrooms. — Had a piece more put in the Mushroom- 

 house. Our beds under the thatched shed have done wonders, 

 and are still producing profusely. We examined the bricks 

 we made for spawn, and find it is running very slowly, and 

 therefore made up a little bed of litter, and packed it on 

 the bed to give it a speedier action. Much good spawn is 

 spoiled by over-heat and over- wetness ; but no good can be 

 done without good spawn, unless we treat a bed so as to 

 make it become a bed of spawn naturally, and to do that 

 requires more time than we can spare in general. 



We had an instance of this the other day. We generally 

 put our Calceolaria cuttings into a low brick pit, the inside 

 being considerably below the outside surface. But for this 

 we would have done nothing inside j yet fearing that under 

 the circumstances we might have too much damp, we placed 

 about a foot deep of rather dry litter in the bottom of the 

 pit, on which we placed the compost for the Calceolarias. 

 When the Calceolarias were transplanted about March other 

 things more tender were transplanted into that pit, and then 

 after May the same place was used for plants in pots, low 

 enough to stand under the glass, neither the litter beneath 

 nor the soil being removed. Several times lately we noticed 

 our man with armsful of nice Mushrooms from among the 

 flower-pots, which would have been valuable if we had not 

 the supply from the thatched sheds. On removing the 

 surface soil almost the whole bed was a mass of run spawn. 

 No doubt there had been a few droppings in the long litter, 

 leaves, and stubble that formed the understratum, and most 

 likely it contained spawn or spores ; and here these had 

 been extending ever since the end of October, 1863, and 

 only began to produce Mushrooms freely a few weeks before 

 we were under the necessity of clearing the bed out. That 

 bed, covered with glass and protected from frost, we have 

 no doubt would have produced, heavily all the winter. Such 

 masses of spawn are very good for placing anywhere, to ob- 

 tain a little heat and moisture, and they will then produce 

 well when slightly covered with earth. Such spawn is gene- 

 rally too far run to be useful for running in a fresh bed; 

 but lots of Mushrooms may be obtained from it in an emer- 

 gency by the above process, when it generally soon exhausts 

 itself. 



Tomatoes. — Gathered the last of these, which have been 

 quite at home this season. A number of years ago we made 

 some excellent sauce in a very simple way, simpler than 

 any we have seen in the books, and we believe the recipe 

 was in the Journal, but we have now forgotten it and cannot 



find it. We knew there were a few bits of Capsicum, Horse 

 Radish — a very little bit cut fine, and some Shallots, with 

 pepper and salt to taste. Will some kind friend give a 

 simple recipe, which without much trouble will give us a 

 sauce that will stand over the most of the next summer ? 



FETJIT GARDEN. 



The wind being very boisterous, and our friends the birds 

 having commenced pecking our best Pears, we have gathered 

 the greater portion of our fruit. Looked over, also, that pre- 

 viously gathered, and as we will want more room in pits and 

 frames, have been wheeling out rotten dung ready to go be- 

 tween the rows of Strawberries, &c. As time permits, [we 

 will go on pruning a little, as it is more pleasant doing it 

 now than in the depth of winter. 



Orchard-house. — We intended shifting a few trees that are 

 in smaller pots, but have not been able to touch them yet. 

 We rather think we must wait for a wet day, when out-door 

 work must be given up. As stated the other week, trees in 

 pots from 13 to 16 inches in diameter, will want potting but 

 seldom. We have had heavy crops of fine Pears in pots not 

 more than 9 inches in diameter, and, of course, if to be con- 

 tinued these 'would require more room. Por the larger size 

 of pots, we are quite sure that the mode described by Mr. 

 Rivers last week is the best — namely, good top-dressing. 

 Our half or three-quarters plunging onr pots was chiefly 

 owing to deficiency of water, and to save so much watering. 

 We are well aware that trees with pots exposed under glass, 

 do not suffer from sun heat in summer so much as those 

 exposed out of doors. Except some Cherries and Plums, few 

 of the roots of our trees had gone above an inch or two 

 from the pots. Not only did we thus plunge to keep the 

 trees alive, but for a month or six weeks we covered the 

 pots altogether with litter. 



There is one little matter we would like to notice here. 

 In the orchard-house, the latest one, we had some beautiful 

 Ribston Pippins in September, flavour pronounced to be de- 

 licious ; Plums, &c, the same. Then and since we have 

 had fine-looking Pears, but we think the look was the best 

 of them. They were not so high-flavoured and juicy as 

 similar kinds grown out of doors, and ripened on the shelf of 

 the fruit-room. Such, where grown in quantity, we would 

 half plunge out of doors in a warm sheltered place after the 

 middle of June. What do our practical men say ? We also 

 intended taking out our fine plants of Cherries in pots, but 

 time went on, and there they are, and we begin to think 

 from then- appearance, and as we do not mean to force them, 

 they are just as well where they are. 



ORNAMENTAL DEPARTMENT. 



Proceeded with securing greenhouse plants, hardening 

 off stove plants, giving both all the air they could stand, 

 and as soon as possible will remove Fuchsias, Begonias, &c, 

 from the greenhouse, and rearrange for the winter. Examine 

 bulbs to see that mice have not attacked them. Give all 

 the air possible to hardwooded Cape and New Holland ^ 

 plants, but keep them secure from drenching rains, which 

 the state of the barometer would indicate to be not far dis- 

 tant. General work, as to potting, cleaning, &c, much the 

 same as in the last two weeks. We fear the high winds will 

 sweep off the most of our tree leaves, which are falling freely, 

 and when they go careering off into other people's lands, it 

 is a great loss to us, and helps to keep us back for the next 

 season. Were it not for these leaves the flower garden 

 would still be fine, but to keep it free of leaves now would 

 be like washing the skin of an Ethiopian to make it white. 

 A month or five weeks ago, we noticed some men with 

 brooms hunting stray leaves over a lawn, getting some half 

 a dozen to lie down friendly together to be picked up by a 

 barrow afterwards. Long before the barrow came, the 

 leaves would dissolve partnership, and be trying to establish 

 a fresh resting place on their own account. Such stray 

 leaves as these would disfigure the nice lawn, and they might 

 have been picked up individually and put in the gatherer's 

 pocket at once, or in an apron or bag, sooner than half a 

 dozen could have done it by the do-and-the-undo policy. Of 

 course, when the leaves lie thick, sweeping and heaps must 

 be resorted to ; but in the great majority of cases, the 

 making of heaps, to come and clear them up afterwards, is 

 a mistake. 



Calceolarias. — Our chief work of the week has beenprepar- 



