


is not a plant but will grow in this compost; 
although, if we were growing heaths and hard- 
wooded plants, we should mix it with half its bulk 
more of peat sifted, for the plants will grow still 
better. 
Pruning of plants (as some call the regulation 
of the shoots) should be confined to the stopping, 
or taking the ends off, of shoots inclined to grow 
too long for the rest of the plant, or to push out 
on one side. In small plants, the pinching off the 
ends of shoots causes other shoots to come, and 
makes the plants bushy. In fact, the plant can 
be grown any shape or form by encouraging 
growth where you want it, and cutting or pinch- 
ing back the shoots where you wish to get rid of 
it. The time to prune a plant into a good shape 
is, directly it has done blooming and before it 
begins its new growth, because the new growth 
is where the bloom for the next year comes, in 
epacrises, camellias, acacias, hoveas, chorozemas, 
and many other plants. Geraniums are exceptions 
to general rules, for they are always growing, and 
those who wish to get them bushy must keep on 
pinching the ends off the shoots as soon as they 
are two inches long, until Christmas time, and 
some may be continued till March. They may 
then be allowed to go up to bloom, when there 
will be a truss or bunch at the end of each shoot. 
These general hints will save the life of many 
a favorite plant. 
The book is so full of useful instruction, 
that we shall no doubt often have to recur to 
it. Meantime, we subjoin the needful opera- 
tions for the season :— 
GENERAL REMARKS—JANUARY. 
Hledges.—Cut, trim, and mend; box edgings 
make ; plant trees, shrubs, make gravel walks. 
Draining —Do this in the winter months. 
THE FLOWER GARDEN,—JANUARY. 
Bulbs.—Lose no time in planting; they ought 
to be in. 
Tulips —Protect carefully from frost and wind. 
Auriculas——Cleanse from dead leaves; give 
air, and seldom water; they must not be kept 
damp. 
Carnations and Picotees in Pots.—Keep dry 
and give air. 
Pinks and Heartsease in Beds.—Cover with 
litter; in frames, give air, and water seldom: 
dampness is death. 
Hyacinths in Beds.—Cover with mats or litter. 
‘ Ranunculuses and Anemones.—Protect from 
rost. 
ee for Show Ranunculuses.—Throw out the 
soil. 
Plants under Glass.—Protect from frost, and 
seldom water. 
Manure.—Collect neats’ dung, turves to rot, 
sand, clean loam, peat, horse and sheep droppings, 
leaves to rot, &c. 
Pots of Cuttings and Pans of Seedlings.— 
Protect. * > 
Dahtias.—Examine; pot any that are in dan- 
er. 
Plant all kinds of ornamental shrubs, and hardy 
flowers. , 
Many flowers and plants may be forced by 
placing them first in a green-house, and from that 
KIDD’S OWN JOURNAL. 


347 
into a slight hot-bed, or into the stove, if there be 
one; the changes must not be sudden. 
THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 

JANUARY. 
Peas.—Sow early peas in rows a yard apart. 
Cabbage.— Dig up vacant spaces and plant out 
cabbage. 
Beans.—Autumn-sown beans for planting out, 
protect. 
r ssa may be formed in a common hot- 
ed. 
Cauliflower Plants—Protect from frost and 
Wet; give air. 
Lettuces and Salads must be kept compara- 
tively dry. 
Winter Crops.—Hoe between the rows; earth 
up the stems. 
Celery—LHarth up, and in hard frosts protect 
with litter. 
Small Salads, Radishes, &e.—Sow in hot-beds, 
or under glass. 
Cucumbers and Melons may be begun now, if 
not before. 
Rhubarb or Scakale——Force, with hot stable 
‘dung. 
Fennel, Mint, &Gc—Pot up and put into mo- 
derate heat. 
THE FRUIT GARDEN—JANUARY. 
Prune and nail; plant trees; destroy insects. 

Boys AND THEIR RULERS; OR, WHAT WE 
po aT ScHooLt. Nathaniel Cooke. 
All of us know something of “ Hic, hec, 
hoc.” Let us, inquire further about it, by all 
means ; for it is dear to each one of our active 
memories. Genitive hujus, too, comes in 
‘nicely ’ in the detail; and reminds us of 
scenes o’er which we love to ruminate. 
This is a delightful Christmas book ; equally 
interesting to boys and masters. It is full 
of fun—natural, not forced; and the illustra- 
tive scenes and sketches of the boys,—their 
doings and their misdoings, draw forth peals 
of laughter. They are capital. 
It would be cruel in us to say more about 
this book. It ought to find an immediate 
place on the family table. 

FLOWERS OF THE GARDEN OF KNOWLEDGE, 
—PrRINCE ARTHUR’S ALPHABET. Cooke. 
This is the third book we are called upon 
to notice to-day, from the establishment of 
Mr. Nathaniel Cooke. We would say a 
word or two here about the philanthropy 
of that gentleman. It hardly needs be re- 
marked, that Mr. Cooke is,-—or was, joint- 
proprietor with Mr. Ingram in that grand 
national periodical, the Illustrated London 
News. He has amassed a fortune therefrom. 
Long may he live to enjoy it! 
But how does he spend that fortune? It 
deserves to be chronicled. He is producing, 
week after week, books of intense interest 
to the million ; and issuing them in a style 
and at a cost perfectly incomprehensible. 

