A STROLL THROUGH THE GARDEN. 
21 
which begins at bottom, and climbs its way up, 
nor like the mistletoe, which springs from its 
seed, deposited by accident, or otherwise, upon 
the bark, into which it roots as firmly as the 
oak does in the soil. These hang in tufts, by 
means of their roots. The endless variety of 
these plants, in habit, structure, and bloom, 
so different, may be said to almost infest the 
trees of a tropical forest, where their splendid 
flowers, in hanging racemes of extraordinary 
length, canopied with the gigantic trees on 
which they are merely fixed, are quite beyond 
description ; fur there is in the orchidaceous 
tribe of plants, notwithstanding their fan- 
tastic forms, a gorgeous display of colours 
seen to the greater advantage from the sub- 
dued and shaded light in which they are dis- 
played ; and, strange as it may appear, they 
may be found of all sizes, from a little larger 
than a common moss, to spifcimens of enor- 
mous size, with spikes or racemes of flowers 
adorning stems from fifteen to twenty feet 
long. Some day, I will take you to Kew 
Gardens, where is to be seen a most noble 
collection, hundreds of the plants being 
brought over on the very pieces of wood which 
they occupied, the collector having sawed off 
the branch beyond the plant, and then sawed 
off the piece on which it grew. I see you 
have made some notes, though nothing very 
particular strikes me as worthy of it in our last 
two days' ramble. Well, these things are as well 
recollected, and if you had any doubt of being 
able to do this, you did well to make notes. 
" There is no dependence from September 
to May on a night without frost, therefore 
cover, whether or not. 
" Whenever there is out-of-door work to 
do in these months, never miss doing it. 
" Cabbage plants, and all their tribe, are 
earthed up their stems, to enable them to 
strike new roots higher up, if so disposed." 
(Exactly so ; if they have abundant without, 
they will not strike.) 
" Seeds sown in a small patch close toge- 
ther, can be easily covered against frost, until 
they can be safely planted out ; but if they 
were sown in their places, they would occupy 
too much ground to cover at all. 
" Sea kale covered up dark, grows and 
blanches at the same time, which makes it 
good to eat, and mild. Rhubarb, if blanched, 
is weakened in flavour, therefore should have 
light and air. 
" Freezing and thawing may check a plant 
that it will not kill, for small plants are often 
turned up on the surface, and the fine fibres 
torn away. 
" Heat always ascends. This must be 
important in the plan for warming a hothouse, 
or greenhouse. 
"The more the nature of a plant is changed, 
the more necessary is it to keep up all the 
artificial treatment which its changed nature 
requires, to prevent its losing the quality 
which the change has given it. 
" A fruit-tree should not be left to its own 
growth. A standard fruit-tree wants as much 
attention and pruning as a wall fruit-tree." 
(So far, so good. Pay equal attention to all 
matters as we go on, and you will soon know 
all that is necessary about Horticulture.) 
The lessons you have had on gardening from 
only walking two or three times through the 
place while the men were at work will be of 
the greatest use to you when you begin to 
try the use of the implements. I can tell you 
here, as well as in the garden, the work that 
is required in each month; nevertheless, we 
shall come to some things that I may wish you 
to see done. I have already observed that 
the winter months are uncertain, therefore, 
those who can avoid it, ought never to delay 
any kind of ground work or alteration till 
after Christmas ; October and November are 
the months for planting, making box edg- 
ings, and all alterations. The soil must be 
thrown into the ranunculus and anemone beds 
early in February, and the tubers planted 
about the middle of the month, in drills six 
inches apart, and the roots six inches from 
each other. They should be gently pressed 
in the ground, and covered an inch and a half. 
All the plants in pots must be still covered at 
night. Auriculas should be top dressed with 
rich earth, taking out a little of the top soil, and 
filling up the pot with rotted cow-dung and 
poultry dung, mixed with a little sand. Roses 
should be pruned at different times, not all at 
once ; cut out all the weak shoots, and shorten 
all the strong ones to two or three eyes ; cut 
out all that cross each other. The dahlia 
roots may be potted this month and next, and 
placed in the hot-bed or stove. Give all 
covered plants air every opportunity, both in 
the frames and in the greenhouse. All the 
beds that are covered against frost in the even- 
ing should be uncovered every opportunity. 
A few of all sorts of annuals for planting out 
may be sown then in a hot-bed, and the next 
month more may be sown in a similar way. 
If the weather be open and mild, the work in 
these two months is a good deal alike. In the 
kitchen garden the cropping begins in earnest. 
The gardener sows some onions, radishes, 
lettuces, and peas towards the end of February 
or the beginning of March. He will also 
plant out the beans that were sown thickly, 
as soon as they have their first pair of rough 
leaves, and at the same time he may sow some 
in drills ; both the planting and sowing are 
done six inches apart in the rows, and the 
