152 
FLORICULTURE OE THE MONTH. 
out of the reach of the plants, and outside the 
frames ; for decaying leaves in a frame will 
often engender the worst consequences, in 
mildew and destruction. We will take one 
turn in the kitchen-garden and melon-ground. 
All are busy ; some are sowing, others hoeing 
and earthing up. One man is sowing carrots 
and beet-root. Those large seeds which he 
will sow next are the seeds of seakale, and 
they will come up presently ; hut the plants 
will not be fit to cut for two years at the least 
— perhaps, three. He has also some rhubarb 
to sow. Further on, we observe that the beds 
are prepared for sowing all the cabbage tribe. 
The more perfectly you recollect the proceed- 
ings of last month, the more you will discover 
the resemblance between the practice of one 
and the other. In short, nearly every kind 
of sowing is repeated, because it is necessary 
to have them come to perfection one after 
another, and the crops can only be brought so 
by sowing and planting out at different times. 
There is a man sowing rather a large space 
with onion seed. This is to grow into the 
main crop. The seed under this hand-glass 
is celery. The glass will form a protection 
against very severe weather. These pots 
of seeds are tomato, capsicum, and dahlia. 
They will be placed in one of the hot-beds, 
or perhaps the gardener will make one up 
for such things and flower-seeds ; for dahlias, 
cockscombs, balsams, and all the half-hardy 
annuals, should be sown this month. This, 
too, is the proper month for sowing anything 
that was not sown last month. But I observe 
that there have been no potatos planted this 
month as yet ; and this must be done for the 
main or principal crop. They will plant none 
but whole sets, which will be a foot apart in 
the row, and the rows two feet from each 
other. The easiest way of doing this, is to 
draw the drills first, four inches deep, and 
then fill up rather above, so that it may be 
full the four inches in depth. We have now 
got through our rambles for the present. 
You have only to treasure up all you have 
heard and seen, because you will find the 
instructions highly useful, and gardening will 
become as attractive to you as any other 
amusement, if you once take pains to learn. 
FLORICULTURE OF THE MONTH. 
BY GEORGE GLENNY. 
There never was, perhaps, a more deter- 
mined spirit than now animates the practical 
florists of the metropolis, nor a greater dis- 
position to sift matters that affects their 
interests to the bottom. Some time since a 
writer suggested the use of new cow-dung in 
great quantity in the formation of ranunculus 
beds, and the same thing was advocated in 
a gardening newspaper some years ago. At 
a meeting of the Kingsland branch of the 
Society for Encouraging Floriculture in Great 
Britain, the subject of ranunculus culture 
was freely discussed in the presence of forty 
members, many of them highly successful 
cultivators ; and there were some points on 
which there was not the slightest difference 
of opinion. One and all repudiated the use 
of dung next the roots, but agreed it should 
be some distance below the tubers, varying in 
the distance, however, from six to twelve 
inches. Another point on which all agreed 
was the danger of using new cow-dung ; 
various grounds were urged, among which 
was the fearful risk of the black maggot, 
which it was affirmed resulted from the blow 
of a fly, that the green cow-dung would be 
sure to draw if it existed in the neighbour- 
hood. All the modes of culture adopted by 
the successful growers appeared to be con- 
ducted on the same principle, and varied only 
in immaterial details. For instance, growing 
in the cleanest and best seasoned loam, with a 
layer of well-decomposed dung somewhere 
below it ; shading from the heat of the sun 
during the bloom ; keeping the roots liberally 
supplied with water; preventing its evaporation 
during bloom, if possible, by laying tiles be- 
tween the rows; keeping the earth well stirred 
in all the early stages of their growth, and 
close about their stems ; and taking them up 
when the leaves turn yellow. There was a 
singular unanimity among the members. 
Blooms of Camellia japonica, Andromeda 
floribunda, some of the Begonias, heaths, 
&c. were exhibited, but rather to remind one 
another of the season, than as novelties. 
The dahlia growers are feeling the effect of 
the last show, so mistakenly called glorious, be- 
cause instead of having twenty or thirty seed- 
lings capable of producing six blooms each, 
there were perhaps a hundred and thirty that 
could only produce three each, and even these 
very bad. The orders will be so much lessened 
that nothing but a first-rate show, without 
any trickery, will restore the trade, and this 
is contemplated upon a good scale ; but as 
arrangements are complete for weekly shows 
of new flowers, there will be less interest in a 
general seedling show than there might have 
been had no such opportunity existed. Ad- 
vertising may do a good deal for a few flowers 
that deserve growing, but so little has been 
heard of the one hundred and fifty candidates, 
that many of the even highly-favoured ones 
