ii6 POT-POURRI FROM A SURREY GARDEN 



JUNE 



Hands and fingers after weeding — Shrub-pruning — ^Boxes for birds — 

 Eobins in greenhouse — 'Burning Bush' — Two Polygonums — 

 Strawberries — Geraniums and cuttings — Cactuses — Freesia bulbs 

 — Qloriosa swperba — Luncheon dishes — Cucumbers. 



June 2nd. — It must be admitted that one of the great 

 drawbacks to gardening and weediag is the state into 

 which the hands and fingers get. Unfortunately, one's 

 hands belong not only to oneself, but to the family, who do 

 not scruple to tell the gardening amateur that her appear- 

 ance is ' revolting.' Constant washing and always keeping 

 them smooth and soft by a never-failing use of vasehne — 

 or, still better, a rnixture of glycerine and starch, kept ready 

 on the washstand to use after washing and before drying 

 the hands — are the best remedies I know. Old dog-skin 

 or old kid gloves are better for weeding than the so-called 

 gardening gloves ; and for many purposes the wash- 

 leather housemaid's glove, sold at any vUlage shop, is 

 invaluable. Good gardeners tell you never to cut flowers 

 except with a sharp knife. This is good advice for shrubs 

 or pot-plants, the clean cut being better for the plants ; 

 but I advise that the knife should be on a steel chain a 

 foot or so long, with a good pair of garden hook-shaped 

 scissors at the other end — for the cutting of annuals or 

 lately planted plants with a knife, in light soil, is very 

 much to be avoided. The smallest pull loosens the roots, 

 and immediate death, in hot weather, is the result. Another 

 advantage of knife and scissors together on the chain is 



