518 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



DECEMBER. 



Gbeen-house and Window Plants.— Win- 

 ter is now with us, and all tender plants re- 

 quire the closest attention. The generality of 

 house plants suffer more from being kept too 

 close and warm than from any other cause. 

 This should be guarded against, and the rooms 

 well ventilated on all favorable occasions. If 

 Eed Spider or Green Fly — the two great ene- 

 mies of house plants — show themselves, an 

 occasional syringing with water at a temper- 

 ature of 140° is very effectual, and is much pref- 

 erable for window plants to tobacco smoke. For 

 the green-house, however, a gentle smoking 

 with tobacco stems once or twice a week as a 

 preventive is much the best practice. Some of 

 the late Chrysanthemums will still be in bloom, 

 and Primulas, Cyclamens, Azaleas, Callas, etc., 

 should now make the green-house quite gay. The 

 early Tulips and Eoman Hyacinths, Crocuses, 

 etc., will also be coming in, and should be suc- 

 ceeded by a fresh batch every week or ten days. 

 The Amaryllis is also a good winter blooming 

 plant, and there are now so many species and 

 varieties that some may be had in flower all 

 winter. 



Flower Garden. — ^There is but little to do 

 here this month. All necessary pruning of 

 shrubs or trees should now be done ; weakly 

 and weather-beaten evergreens are much im- 

 proved by pruning. As trees in most places 

 are generally planted thickly for immediate 

 effect, a few should be thinned out every year 

 to give the rest a chance to develop, and where 

 they are not removed, judicious pruning is an 

 advantage. Branches should be cut off close to 

 their source, so that the wound may heal over. 

 It is now a good time to top-dress flower beds 

 and lawns with well rotted manure, and, if not 

 yet done, gather all the " bag worms " from 

 Arbor Vities and other evergreens. Many choice 

 or half tender herbaceous plants in the rock- 

 garden may be wintered through by a pane of 

 glass placed over them to keep off the rain and 

 snow. 



Fruit Garden. — All Blackberries, Baspberr 

 ries. Grape vines, etc., in such sections of the 

 country where protection from severe frost is 

 desirable, should be laid down this month and 

 covered with a few inches of soil, rough litter 

 or leaves. An annual washing to the stems and 

 branches of fruit trees, with any alkali that is 

 most easily procurable, is of great benefit. It 

 not only removes all Funguses and eggs of 

 injurious insects, but leaves the limbs clean and 

 healthy. Surface manuring is also of great 

 benefit. Any leafy matter, road scrapings, etc., 

 can be utilized; fruit trees rarely suffer from 

 too rich feeding when applied to the surface. 

 Strawberries, if not already mulched, should be 

 attended to at once. 



Vegetable Garden. — Very little can now 

 be done in this department, except in making 

 preparations for the following season. Spinach 

 and other plants in need of protection should 

 have it before the middle of the month, and the 

 final covering given to Celery in trenches or 

 roots in pits, and, if not alreaidy done, Aspara- 

 gus beds should have a liberal coating of ma- 

 nure; Bean-poles, Pea-brush and stakes of 

 all kinds looked over, the tool-house put in 

 order, and everything prepared for spring oper- 

 ations. 



Snow that accumulates on cold frames or 

 other glass structures should be removed, par- 

 ticularly if the soil that the glass covers was 

 not frozen before the snow fell. If frozen, it 

 may remain on the sashes longer; for the 

 plants, if frozen, are, of course, dormant, and 

 would not be injured by being deprived of light 

 for eight or ten days. 



Whenever it is practicable, all empty ground 

 should be dug orplowed this month, and trench- 

 ing or subsoiling should be done, wherever ne- 

 cessary and time or opportunity will permit. AU 

 such operations, when performed in the fall, 

 not only benefit the soil, but greatly facilitate 

 work In the spring. 



