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OPERATIONS FOR JANUARY. 
So great has been the fall of rain in many parts of the country up to the present period, (the 
middle of December), and so much has vegetation been kept in a growing or excited state in 
consequence, that the advice we gave last month relative to preserving plants from injurious 
dampness, acquires twofold force, and becomes applicable, not merely to greenhouse and half 
tender kinds, but also to those nearly hardy shrubs and other descriptions of exotics which 
happen to have a permanent position in the open ground. Although, therefore, protection from 
frost has scarcely yet been necessary for plants of this class, shelter from excessive wet is quite 
as indispensable, because it is wetness which chiefly gives to frost its injurious power. 
Either by screens of oiled canvass or calico, then, or by garden-mats so placed as to throw 
off the rain, or by any other almost impervious covering, tender exotics should always be sheltered 
in extremely rainy autumnal or winter weather, so that the soil about the roots, and consequently 
the entire specimen does not get saturated with moisture. This is particularly needful in the case of 
borders containing exotic bulbs or other tender herbaceous plants, and likewise on borders which 
are filled with the roots of delicate climbers trained to an adjoining wall or trellis. If a covering 
of some description is hung in autumn, and kept during winter from the top of the wall, so as to 
shelter the whole border without materially shading the plants or depriving them of air, they will 
I’equire scarcely any protection from frost. 
But there is another thing in addition to both wet and frost, which hurts many plants 
greatly, especially in particular localities, and which affects species that are generally undamaged 
by frost. This is a cold or violent gale of wind. Many places throughout the kingdom are 
peculiarly liable to strong gales of wind from some one or more quarters ; and these gales 
destroy the tissue of evergreens in winter to a most lamentable degree. There is therefore a 
species of protection demanded in such positions for the specific purpose of guarding against 
winds ; and the best kind of thing for this object is open wooden hurdles, which can be moved 
round to any side of the plant from which the wind happens to be blowing, and which should 
have branches of any common fir, pine, or furze, drawn through them, so as to form an efficient 
screen. These branches 'ought not, however, to be placed too closely together ; for it is a 
principle which should always be observed in carrying out any plan that has shelter from wind 
for its object, that an open, meshy screen, provided it be not too open, is more effective than a 
close and solid one, since the wind is broken by the former, while it is merely diverted and 
comes over the screen with accelerated power by the latter. 
In endeavouring to prevent plants in houses or frames from deriving harm through the wetness 
of the season, the precautions we have before suggested should be continued with increasing 
vigilance. In this department, the culturist has the state of the atmosphere and the fluid supplies 
of the plant almost wholly under his control ; so that he may at any time alter the one by 
attention to the otbei’. A stinted supply of water will do much towards maintaining a compara- 
tively dry atmosphere ; and a little fire heat now and then, when this remedy fails, will render 
the plants perfectly safe. Only, where fires are necessarily employed, there should be the utmost 
rigour in regard to not using or increasing them heedlessly ; for they will do the greatest harm 
when put on to any excess, and can, indeed, be admitted at all, merely to expel a worse evil. 
All those plants which have been taken up from the flower-beds because not quite hardy, and 
stored away in cellars or sheds, should be examined occasionally, to see that they are not getting 
mildewed, or too damp, or are beginning to grow. Mildew may be easily rubbed off, or the parts 
affected may be cut away ; while the cure for dampness is exposure to the air if it be mild 
enough, or being put in a dry room, where there is a fire, for a short time. Any growing parts, 
too, can be carefully cut off, near the base. 
In the forcing house, pit, or frame, the principal thing is to preserve a comfortable degree of 
atmospheric moisture ; which can be done either by steam, by troughs of hot water, or by using 
moist materials for bottom-heat. The last is, perhaps, the best plan ; moist fermenting manure, 
or bark, or leaves, being very congenial to the growth of plants. 
The out-door routine in the pleasure-grounds this month will be almost confined to the work 
VOL. XIIV. NO. CXLT. N N 
