JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
238 
[ March 24, 1881. 
seriously injure the plants. If not already done preparation should 
be made for planting Asparagus by having the ground well manured 
and trenched, giving preference to ground already well enriched and 
of a good depth of rather light loam; if heavy, a good proportion 
of sand and old potting material should be mixed with it. Plant¬ 
ing may be performed at once, but is best done when growth is com¬ 
mencing, selecting two-year-old plants. Remove the soil entirely a 
foot wide and 3 inches deep, so that the roots can be laid out evenly, 
covering with fine soil. If the roots are to be taken up for forcing 
the plants may be placed 18 inches apart and 2 feet distance between 
the rows, omitting every third row, whilst for permanent plantations 
the rows may be 3 feet and the plants 2 feet apart. Planting early 
Potatoes should be proceeded with without delay. Strawberry planta¬ 
tions must be examined and all weeds forked out, pointing the spaces 
between the plants lightly, and not so deeply as to disturb the roots. 
Where it is intended to make new plantations this spring the ground 
should be prepared by a dressing of manure and by trenching. If good 
well-rooted runners of last year are at command defer planting until 
growth takes place, lifting with a good ball of earth to each, firming 
the soil well about them, and giving a good watering if the weather 
be dry. Plants that have been layered in small pots are also suitable. 
Forcing Department .—Shift Tomatoes into larger pots when they 
need it; 8-inch pots are sufficiently large for early fruiting, and 
ample to obtain strong plants for prepared borders or pots. Pot 
firmly, employing turfy loam with about a fourth of old manure. 
Train with one stem, removing all laterals, and have the plants near 
the glass to encourage sturdy growth. Make a sowing between now 
and the end of the month to raise plants for cultivation in cool 
houses, pits, and training to the walls outside. Ventilate frames 
freely on all favourable occasions, especially those containing plants 
raised in heat for outside planting. Potatoes advanced for taking up 
should be kept rather dry to improve their quality. A sowing of 
Prench Beans made now in a pit will come in in advance of those in 
the open. Continue to make sowings of these in pots or pits where 
there is sufficient heat to maintain the succession. 
FRUIT HOUSES. 
Peaches and Nectarines .—Tying and regulating the shoots must 
have strict attention, avoiding overcrowding them or tying too 
tightly. Any very strong shoots may be stopped so as to equalise 
the growth. In the earliest house the stoning process will soon be 
completed, when it will be necessary to regulate the crop, reducing it 
to one fruit to each square foot of trellis covered by the trees. After 
the stoning is over the inside border must be well supplied with 
tepid liquid manure, and the surface mulched with about 2 inches of 
short manure, keeping it well moistened, syringing the trees twice a 
day in bright weather, but only once when the weather is dull. The 
temperature after stoning may be increased to 65° or 70° at night 
and 70° to 75° in the daytime, with an advance of 10° to 15° with sun 
heat. In the succession houses thinning the fruit must be attended 
to where too thickly set. Disbudding also will need early and re¬ 
peated care, attending to tying-in the young shoots as they advance, 
being careful to regulate them so as not to be too crowded. Fertili¬ 
sation of the blossoms in later houses should be attended to unless 
bees frequent the trees, when they will perform this work better than 
any artificial treatment. 
Figs .—The earliest Figs will be swelling rapidly, and careful atten¬ 
tion must be given in supplying water, especially to trees in pots, 
and if the pots are well drained there is little danger of an excessive 
supply. Continue CO® to 65? as the night temperature, and 10° more 
by day, but with sunless weather a few degrees less will be more 
beneficial to the trees. When the weather is favourable abundant 
ventilation will be necessary. Syringe twice a day, proportioning the 
moisture in the house in accordance with the increased light and 
sunshine. Fig trees in houses will be making rapid progress, hence 
the necessity of frequent attention to stopping and thinning the 
shoots. Attention must be given early to this, and the stopping of 
the shoots attended to as soon as the fourth or fifth joint is visible. 
Do not hasten later houses on too rapidly, but maintain a moderate 
degree of heat and moisture, with a liberal supply of air when the 
state of the w eather permits, so as to secure sturdy short-jointed wood. 
ORCHARD HOUSE. 
Apricot trees in most localities in these structures are now flower¬ 
ing, and will require abundance of air whenever the state of the 
weather will admit; and should dull damp weather set in during the 
time the trees are in flower it is advisable to facilitate the setting by 
the use of a camel’s-hair brush, which should be well filled with 
pollen from the anthers repeatedly and placed upon the stigmas. 
This, however, is not necessary when the air is dry, as the shaking 
of the trees sharply when the air is still will distribute the pollen 
effectually, or wind will effect the same purpose. When the nights 
are cold, as is usual after bright days, it is advisable to close the 
ventilators somewhat early in the afternoon, so as to retain as much 
as possible of the sun’s heat as will prevent an injurious depression 
during the night. Syringing the trees must be discontinued until 
the frost is fairly set, when it should be resorted to in order to keep 
down insects, morning and evening, omitting the afternoon syringing 
when there are indications of frost or a low temperature at night. 
Water must be afforded trees in pots plentifully, also trees planted 
out. Allowing the soil in which fruit trees are growing to become 
too dry at any time during growth is very injurious, and should be 
carefully guarded against. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
Operations in this department have been retarded by the wintry 
weather, and unless alterations are pushed forward vigorously there 
will be difficulty in having Box edgings and transplanted trees 
established before dry weather. Where large breadths of lawn have 
to be laid down measures should at once be taken to have it properly 
prepared and levelled. Before sowing the seed the surface must 
have a good tilth, and be firm so as not to admit any after-settling. 
The margin should be laid with turf 9 inches to a foot wide. Com¬ 
plete as soon as possible the planting of deciduous trees and shrubs. 
Press forward the pruning and training of Roses and other 
trellis plants, seeing that the shoots are not overcrowded, and laying 
in the strongest and best ripened. Protection afforded the tender 
wall plants and Tea Roses may now be removed, cutting out the 
weak branches of the latter, leaving only the strongest and best 
situated, shortening back only to well-ripened wood. Prune the 
Hybrid Perpetual Roses, thinning out the weak and old wood, shorten¬ 
ing back the healthy wood more or less according to its strength. 
The surface of the beds should be pointed over, and be well mulched 
with short manure, especially where the soil is light. Many Roses 
do well on their own roots. Cuttings of Roses that have been 
forced and have the wood tolerably firm strike freely in brisk moist 
heat, the cuttings being inserted as the plants cease blooming. Prun¬ 
ing most evergreen shrubs may now be safely performed. Lawns will 
require well rolling, also walks. Any patchy or mossy places on 
lawns should have the surface well stirred with a rake, covered with 
fine sifted soil, and sown with grass seeds, lightly raking them in, 
and well rolled. Mossy lawns and where the grass is not sufficiently 
free in growth should be dressed with soot and wood ashes, apply¬ 
ing the dressing at the rate of a peck per rod at once. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Stove .—Increased length of day should be accompanied with more 
heat. The temperature now should be 65° to 70° at night and 70° to 
75° by day, advancing to 80° and 85° with sun heat. Yentilate care¬ 
fully, not allowing cold air to be admitted by the side lights directly 
on the tender foliage, but a little ventilation at the lower part of the 
stage may be allowed in the hottest part of the day. A more humid 
atmosphere will be necessary, which should be secured by damping 
available surfaces in the morning and syringing the plants in the 
afternoon. iEchmeas, Billbergias, Gesneras, Tillandsias, &c., should 
have a light position so as to insure their free flowering. Hoyas, 
such as H. imperialis, should be grown where they will not receive a 
great amount of atmospheric moisture, or the flowers will fall before 
opening. Cuttings of Euphorbia jacquiniseflora for early flowering 
may now be inserted, selecting those 4 to 6 inches long, taking them 
off with a heel; insert in sandy soil, and place in bottom heat. Poin- 
settias should be kept dry for a time after flowering, but not so as to 
cause the wood to shrivel. Centropogons also should be given a 
season of rest and have the flowering shoots cut back a little, and 
