3.23 



tried and found effectual, such tobacco stems, 

 &c, there will be few borers to deal with m the 

 examinatlen. 



Probably most of our fruits do best In partial 

 sl>ade. The gooseberry and currant certainly do. 

 The former must have shades, and if on the moist 

 northern aspect of a wall, so mu-Gh the better. The 

 Easpberry prefers a rather moist soil, aiad partial 

 -shade. 



All Raspberries are hardy where their oaP.es ripen 

 well ; where the shoots appear not to have matured 

 well they will have to be protected in winter by 

 hending them down and covering with soil Some 

 tie them up to stakes and cover with rye straw, 

 corn staiks or cedar branches. In soils where small 

 plants are liable to heave out in winter, strawberries 

 Tyill need covering, — where this does not take place, 

 they need no protection. 



In cultivating raspberries ob a large scale they do 

 best in hills, as the cultivator keeps them from 

 -crowding each ether so much. For garden culture 

 they are better in rows, the suckers to be kept hoed 

 out occasionally as they grow ; enough only being 

 left that will be required for fruiting next year. 

 Where canes are required for new plantations, of 

 -course a portion of the crop must be saerii-ced to 

 the suckers. 



In choesifjg plants, select those that have been 

 budded close to the ground, as when they are re- 

 planted the stocks should be buried an inch below 

 the pear seio«, which prevents the attacks of the 

 quince borer. If a kng stem has to be buried, the 

 usual consequenees of deep planting result, and do 

 as much injury as the quince borer. Also in choos- 

 ing, select, if possible, plants that have been raised 

 from cuttings; for layered stccks have almost always 

 a long deep tap looking root, on which dwarf pears 

 <io not do well. If we have to use such dwarf pear 

 •trees, better skoi ten some of this loag triink root 

 before planting. Kever plaist what appears to be 

 the stem of a tree far beneath the surface, under 

 any circumstances, for disease will be most probably 

 an ulcimate consequence. 



the house, where little water will be required. These 

 plants should not be watered often ; but when they 

 are, it should be thorough. Frequent waterings 

 soon render the roots of these plants unhealthy, 

 when it is very difficult to rest-ore them to vigor. 

 Whenever the foliage becomes of sickly yellow hue^ 

 the best plan is to pluiige the plant in a larger pot, 

 tilling the space with moss, — and when the plant 

 requires water, give it only through the moss, un- 

 less the plant seem to become so dry as to -suffer, 

 when it should receive one thorough watering. 

 Very little fire should be applied to a greenhouse,— 

 just sufficient to keep it at about 45°. Unless very 

 far north, but little fire-heat will be required this 

 month. 



The greenhouse will now begin to look more na- 

 tural, after having had the stock housed last month. 

 With many plants having probably been taken up 

 out of the open ground, many dead leaves will daily 

 appear, requiring frequent removal, neatness is one 

 of the chief beauties of a greenhouse. Acacias, and 

 Australian plants generally, with hard wood and 

 delicate roots, should be placed at the coolest end of 



WINDOW PLANTS. 



Window Plants should not be kept very warm at 

 this season. They should have all the sun and air, 

 and as little of the artificial heat of the room as pos- 

 sible. These remarks apply especially to Mignonette^ 

 which is very impatient of iu-door confinement. 

 Succulents, snch as CJaeti, are excellent window 

 plants in this respect, as the dry air does not affect 

 them. To keep the air about the plants moist, is 

 one of the secrets of window- culture. Some who 

 have very fine windows well stocked with fine plants, 

 make gla'zed cases with folding doors of them, by 

 which, when the room is highly heated and very 

 dry, they can be enclosed in an atmosphere of their 

 own. In such cases, ferns and mosses can be grown 

 to perfection, and pendant plants in hanging vases 

 give a Brazihan forest appearance to our happy 

 Christmas homes. 



AQUARIUMS. 



Aquariums are now so well understood, as to be 

 in a fair way to become essentials in the room-gar- 

 dening of all persons of taste. Growing plants, 

 fishes and water reptiles are placed in the same 

 globe or tank of water, and the gases which the fish 

 reject are the food of the plants; while the plants, 

 on the other hand, prepare the elements necessary 

 for the health of the fish. By this beautiful prin- 

 ciple of reciprocity, both plants and animals remain 

 in perfect health, without the water scarcely ever 

 being changed. A tank tor plants and animals 

 might form the base of a pretty parlor ornament, a 

 central portion consisting of a case for ferns and 

 similar plants, and a cage for birds on the top. 



