274 
OPERATIONS FOR JANUARY. 
of pruning, digging the borders, &c. But it will not be proper to neglect sweeping the lawns, 
walks, and so forth ; for if leaves or rubbish are allowed to accumulate or lie on grass, they cause 
it to decay, or to become patchy and imperfect ; while the existence of worm-casts or any kind of 
dirt on walks not only injures their appearance but spoils the gravel. Besides, as the walks are 
scarcely ever dry and comfortable to walk upon in winter, they should be kept as clean as 
possible, so that the evil may be mitigated rather than increased. 
Operations which involve much carting or wheeling are generally prosecuted vigorously this 
month during frosts. Ground-work, too, where there is any bulk of earth to remove, is one of 
the few things which can be best carried on in frosty weather. By undermining the earth to be 
taken away, and getting into the unfrozen part, the whole can easily be shifted. 
Any mild intervals between this time and the beginning of March should be seized for putting 
in all deciduous shrubs or trees which may not have been planted earlier, in cases where planting 
is desired. It is highly injudicious to defer this kind of work too late, as the plants are thrown 
back nearly a year in consequence, and often lose some of their principal branches, or die 
altogether. 
In the case of any fine evergreens, which may have been transplanted in the autumn, the 
heavy rains will render them peculiarly likely to be injured by frost ; and it will therefore be 
advisable to have the soil about their roots mulched thickly with leaves or any kind of loose 
litter. This will act as a protection to them, and prevent them from being so vitally damaged. 
It will be much better than any covering that might be put round the branches. 
Tulips in beds are sometimes apt to have their leaves cut by severe frost, and oftener so by 
cold winds. A covering of canvass in wet weather, to keep them from getting too moist, will 
generally guard them sufficiently in the former instance ; but they should be sheltered on the 
windy side with those movable hurdles, having pine-branches drawn through them, which we 
have already recommended for tender shrubs, when injurious winds occur. The same sort of 
protection will also be useful for Japan Lilies, or other tender bulbs. 
Advantage should be taken of wet or frosty weather to examine all kinds of implements, and 
see that they are in proper order, getting them prepared when requisite, and arranging them in 
suitable places. All sorts of seeds should likewise now be looked to, and cleaned, or otherwise 
regulated. They must be properly dried before a slow fire if found to be in the slightest degree 
damp. 
Compost and manure heaps should be well turned over this month, after the first frosts, that 
they may have the full benefit of the weather in mellowing and pulverising them. Any species 
of soil that may have been much used, and of which there is but a small stock, should now be 
replenished. Where loam, or other soil obtainable from a meadow or pasture is to be collected, 
the turf should never be cut away from it ; as it is the fibre from the decaying or decayed 
vegetable matter in this which is so excellent a mechanical agent in draining soils used for 
potting. 
