DECEMBER. 



19 



Mignonette that is coming into flower, and 

 water with weak liquid manure. Auriculas 

 must be watered carefully, but on no account 

 be allowed to become dry. Material of some 

 non-conducting kind should be put round the 

 outside of wooden frames to exclude frost. Few 

 things are more suitable for this purpose than 

 fresh leaves. If these be placed to the depth of 

 a foot, round the outsides, it will take a very 

 severe frost to penetrate to the frame. Calceo- 

 larias and other half-hardy plants should have the 

 lights kept off whenever there is fine weather. 



Flower-garden and Pleasure Ground. 



Finish planting all kinds of bulbs that are 

 intended for spring flowering, not forgetting 

 Ranunculuses, Anemones, Hyacinthus candicans, 

 Ixias, Sparaxis, &c. The ground should be 

 covered subsequently with some rough litter to 

 exclude frost. Gladiolus bulbs should be lifted 

 and stored away safe from frost. Sweep lawns 

 and collect leaves for making hot-beds and pro- 

 tecting half-hardy plants from the cold. Push 

 forward the planting of all kinds of trees and 

 shrubs while the weather keeps mild, and before 

 the temperature of the soil is reduced so con- 

 siderably as to check root action. Any alterations 

 needed in the pleasure ground or shrubberies 

 should now be undertaken, in order that the 

 ground may get settled down again before spring. 

 Plant Roses and protect them from the effects 

 of severe frost by surrounding them with bracken 

 or other rough litter. Lift and protect similarly 

 any half-hardy herbaceous plants or shrubs before 

 severe weather sets in. These include Euony- 

 mus, Veronicas, Myrtles, Osmanthus, Desfon- 

 tanea, Eurya, &c. Dig shrubbery borders and 

 make the whole tidy before frost causes such 

 work to be abandoned in an unfinished condi- 

 tion. 



DECEMBEE. 



Plant-houses. 



Orchid Houses. — The dull and foggy 

 weather prevalent at this season of the year is 

 very -troublesome to the cultivator of Orchids, 

 particularly in low-lying districts where fogs 

 are the usual condition. In such places very little 

 damping down of the houses must be practised 

 unless a considerable amount of fire-heat is used 

 to keep up the desired temperature. In the 

 latter case, instead of damping the paths and 

 stages, moisten well the surface round the hot- 



water pipes two or three times daily, according 

 to the state of the external atmosphere. 



Most of the Cattleyas and Laelias will now be 

 dormant, and a damping down of the houses in 

 which they are situated three or four times a 

 week will be sufficient. In the intermediate 

 section many plants will require moisture to 

 keep them in a healthy flourishing condition. 

 Here the cultivator must again be guided by 

 external influences. In some localities, especially 

 on elevated ground in exposed situations, where 

 the soil is naturally dry, there is far less humi- 

 dity in the atmosphere. Where such is the case 

 it is almost impossible to avoid aridity, especially 

 if the surface within the houses is non-porous. 

 For Odontoglossums we advocate the use of 

 tanks running underneath the stages the whole 

 length of the structures, and if the hot-water 

 pipes are placed side by side over these there is 

 no surface to dry. It is far better to reduce the 

 temperature of the houses two or three degrees 

 than to have a parching heat. If canvas were 

 fixed on rollers so that it could be let down in 

 severe weather the difference to the inside tem- 

 perature would be very great. With an equal 

 amount of artificial heating the house would be 

 at least ten degrees warmer. The great draw- 

 back to such coverings, however, is that they 

 often get frozen to the rafters and cannot be 

 rolled up till it has thawed. 



Hothouse. — Where much indoor decoration 

 has to be done a batch of Caladiums should be 

 grown on for the purpose, as no better deco- 

 rative plants can be found than some of the 

 dwarf varieties. 



Continue to propagate Coleus, Acalyphas, and 

 other plants of that class which are easy to culti- 

 vate to supply plants for decorating. December is 

 not a month when we may expect to see many 

 hothouse plants in flower; still, there should be 

 a quantity of the winter-flowering section of 

 Begonias in bloom. These, together with such 

 things as Euphorbia jacquiniceflora, Epiphyllums, 

 Rondeletias, Scutellaria, Thijrsacanthus ruffians, 

 Sericographis, &c, will make a brilliant show, 

 intermixed with other fine-f oliaged plants. Most 

 of the plants in this department will now be 

 at rest, therefore the temperature of the houses 

 should be kept as low as is safe, so that the 

 plants may not be unduly excited too early. 

 Potting material of all kinds should be brought 

 under cover, and, if possible, put into a tempera- 

 ture quite as high as that in which the plants 

 are growing, in order that it may be ready for 

 use when required. 



Greenhouse and Conservatory. — One 



