THE CALE>~DAE. 



167 



narcissuses in pots ; they may be removed to perfect 

 their foliage in the reserve ground. Hardy annuals 

 may now be sown in favourable weather. Take stock, 

 as it were, and appreciate accurately all your resources 

 in hand. Auriculas will now be coming forward ; give 

 them a more liberal allowance of air and water. Tree 

 Pa?onies require temporary shelter in this month and 

 the next, if at any time. Prepare the ground for 

 dahlias, by digging it deep and manuring highly. Tour 

 stocks, China-asters, &c. &c, may now be sown under 

 glass on a gentle hotbed. Finish pruning; cut your 

 roses close to an eye by a clean stroke with a sharp 

 knife, so as not to tear the bark. Above all, do not 

 leave a long snag to die down to the bud ; the hollow 

 left by its pith will serve as the retreat and resting- 

 place of the detestable grubs which will destroy your 

 buds. If your gardener prunes a standard-rose, or any 

 other ornamental shrub, with a pair of shears, or slashes 

 at them with a carving-knife, like a French Zouave 

 paying his compliments to a party of skirmishing Cos- 

 sacks, — for the first offence, make your shrub-slayer a 

 present of an excellent buckhorn-handled pruning- 

 knife : for the second, turn him out of doors, "to seek a 

 shelter in an humbler shed." Disbud dog-rose stocks, 

 leaving only those buds to shoot on which you intend to 

 insert your bud. A covering of old fish-net, supported 

 by hoops, over tulip, ranunculus, and hyacinth beds, 

 does no harm. Have a peep at Kew, Chiswick, the 

 Eegent's-Park Botanical, and the leading nurserymen 

 about London. Let your gardener go too, if he is wide 

 awake at the times when his eyes are usually open. But 

 it is possible to visit even Kew, and to come away with a 

 vague impression that it is a place where a few green- 

 houses and hothouses are open to the public, gratis. 



