A STROLL THROUGH THE GARDEN' FEBRUARY. 
Gl 
rots into a kind of mould. I should use it 
as the base of every compost. The larger 
heap to the right-hand is a heap of turves only- 
cut last autumn ; you see by the stripes of grass 
growing on the outside the thickness the turves 
were cut. Many people take the top spit of 
a pasture; that is, instead of the turf with three 
inches of soil, they take eight or ten inches of 
soil ; they both rot, but the thinly cut turves 
form a compost of two-thirds loam and one-third 
vegetable mould, the other is nine-tenths loam 
and one-tenth vegetable mould. The heap 
next to it is peat earth, that is, the top four or 
six inches or more of a common, and is a mass 
of woody fibre-like old roots of long-decayed 
plants ; this fibre does not completely decay, 
but is a useful soil on that account. Many 
plants, especially the hard-wooded plants of 
the Cape, have remarkably fine fibres, and 
must have a light spongy kind of soil to 
penetrate ; this is made by sifting this turfy 
peat, which is first chopped with a spade into 
small pieces, and then rubbed through a very 
coarse sieve ; it is then mixed in certain pro- 
portions with richer earth, for this peat is the 
poorest soil we can get ; like sand, it alters the 
texture of the soil, but adds nothing to its 
lichness. Next to this is a heap of pure 
vegetable mould, that is to say, leaves swept 
up and rotted. This is the most fertilizing of all 
innoxious manures ; however large the quan- 
tity administered it damages nothing. In 
that respect it is unlike the ordinary animal 
manures, because in too large a quantity they 
damage a plant. There is a heap of mould 
formed by the dung of an old cucumber 
bed, two or three years rotted ; the other 
heaps next it are the same from last year's 
beds ; this is the state in which alone dung 
should be used for potted plants ; per- 
fectly rotted into mould. Further on we have 
a heap of rotted cow-dung, and beyond that 
there are heaps of coarse and fine sand ; and 
lastly, there is a hole into which all the waste 
of the garden is thrown, to form a dressing for 
general purposes. If a garden is kept up in 
anything like a good style, a waste piece as a 
store for soils is absolutely necessary. 
The conservatory is beginning to look gay, 
the Camellias are opening their flowers every 
here and there, and like so many stars, lighting 
up the fine dark green background with spots 
of brilliant hues. The Acacias are showing 
their golden flowers and are becoming at- 
tractive. The Correa rosea has its million 
drops hanging like so many pearls all over its 
pyramidal surface ; while others of the family, 
more brilliant though less abundant in their 
flowers, add to the variety. Here are many 
plants full of flower buds, all but bursting, 
and promising an early development of their 
beauties. These magnificent rhododendrons, 
azaleas, and roses, in fine bloom so long be- 
fore their fellows that are planted in the bed, 
have been forced in yonder greenhouse, the 
temperature of which has been raised for the 
purpose of bringing forward all those flowers 
in the drawing-room as well as those before 
us. But while we are upon the subject we 
will step across. Here, you observe, is a com- 
mon greenhouse with the usual stage of shelves 
one above another. If there were only green- 
house plants, there would be only just so much 
warmth given artificially as would merely 
keep out the frost ; but here there is a con- 
tinuous fire, or nearly so, to keep the heat up 
to fifty-five or sixty degrees. Observe, here are 
hyacinths just coming into flower, narcissus 
and other bulbous rooted plants all but in 
bloom. Here also are Siberian and Persian 
tflacs, the delicate Deutzia scabra, the Azalea 
indica, and Rhododendron catawbiensis, the 
hardy North America deciduous azaleas, and 
many other subjects, in all stages, from those 
just brought in from the cold frames to those 
all but ready to be removed to the conserva- 
tory. Indeed, they are quite ready, but the 
frost would damage them in this short transit. 
The pinery is looking well ; the distance 
is not far, so we will take that in our way. 
Here we have some ready to cut. Those 
which are earthed up so high have been grown 
after a plan recommended by Mr. Hamilton, 
an intelligent practical gardener, who, when 
suckers, as they are called, meaning the side 
shoots, come out, instead of breaking them off 
and striking them, that is, rooting them as 
young plants, earths up the stem and grows 
them on the old root, which sustains the 
suckers in full growth ; and the growth is still 
more accelerated when the suckers or side 
shoots strike roots into the soil that is heaped up 
to them. These are as fine as the fruit on the 
old plants. Here is one that has two of these 
side shoots, and both with good large fruit on 
them. The fact is, that upon this plan the 
suckers never receive a check ; the cutting of 
the fruit throws all the strength into the side 
shoots, and by earthing up to the base of the 
shoots they form roots of their own in the 
fresh mould, and thus obtain additional nou- 
rishment just as they want it to swell their 
fruit. It is the custom to keep these pineries 
as regular in the temperature as possible, but 
there must be a good deal of difference in 
their native climate, and there are people who 
fancy we should imitate the climate and all 
the other circumstances that attend the growth 
of plants in their native habitats — this is a 
mistake. The grapes and pines grown in our 
hot-houses are superior to those grown where 
they are indigenous, simply because they 
? receive no check ; whereas, in their native 
climate they are subject to occasional checks. 
