208 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. t August si, less. 
often do the plants serious injury. Ground which has been occupied 
with Onions after it has been manured and turned answers well for 
this crop, the plants being placed out at about 18 inches apart, which 
is ample for the earliest; but plants of the main crop should be given 
more room, 20 to 24 inches according to the variety and size of head 
desired, and should have attention to keep them free from the 
attacks of slugs by dusting whilst damp with dry wood ashes, soot, or 
quicklime. Avoid keeping the plants too thickly in the seed beds^ 
transplanting as many as will be requisite, and thin out the rest. A 
batch of the latest of these should be pricked out into beds to winter 
for planting out in the spring. 
Winter Spinach will by this time require thinning, which should be 
done before the plants are very large. Allow sufficient space between 
the plants to prevent their damping off during bad weather, and 
keep the soil between the rows well stirred. The latter observation 
also applies to all other crops at this season. The whole surface of the 
kitchen garden where practicable should be hoed. When autumn' 
sown Onions are sufficiently advanced thin them to about 3 inches 
apart, which will admit of every alternate one being removed for 
early spring use as they are required. Where young Onions are in 
request they should be left thicker in the rows to allow of their 
being drawn as required ; but where fine bulbs are required the plants 
must not be allowed to become weakly by being too thickly placed. 
Take up the main crop of Onions as they mature, and let them be 
fully exposed for a few days before storing them away. 
Attend to the requirements of young Cauliflower plants, dusting 
them with dry wood ashes, soot, or quicklime as a preventive 
against the attacks of slugs, and do not allow them to stand too 
thickly, or they will be liable to shank. Another sowing should be 
made at once to obtain plants for pricking into frames or at the base 
of walls to stand the winter for spring planting. 
Lettuces recently sown will need to be thinned as soon as the plants 
can be handled, and every encouragement must be afforded by stirring 
the surface soil in suitable weather, and dusting with quicklime. 
Another sowing may now be made of the hardy Cos varieties, Bath Cos 
(black-seeded), and Hicks’ Hardy White, in a sheltered position to stand 
the winter in the seed bed for transplanting in spring. Maintain a 
good supply of salading, seeing to its being in proper condition for 
use by tying up at intervals, so as to secure well-blanched heads, and 
supply water abundantly in dry weather. Radishes should now be 
sown in more sheltered situations ; a sowing made now will last well 
into autumn. Select fine days for earthing Celery, keeping the soil 
from the centre of the plants by drawing the stalks together and 
firming it well about them. 
Cut away useless stems from Globe Artichokes, and remove all 
decayed leaves, so as to admit sun and air to ripen them at the base. 
Remove the leaves from over the clusters of Tomatoes outside, and 
keep all growths removed, so as to concentrate all the energies of the 
plants on the fruit in order to accelerate its swelling and ripening. 
FRUIT HOUSES. 
Pines .—Many of the suckers or plants started as such last autumn 
now have fruit swelling especially those of the free-fruiting sorts, 
which should be separated from the others started at the same 
time, as those not now in that condition will have completed their 
growth, and will the more readily start into fruit at the required time 
if subjected to liberal ventilation for about six weeks than if kept in a 
confined moist atmosphere. Therefore ventilate freely upon all favour¬ 
able occasions, it not being possible to give too much air when the 
temperature is above 80°. 
The suckers which were obtained from the summer-fruiting plants 
will soon be ready to be repotted if it be not already effected. The 
strongest should be shifted when they have become well rooted and 
before the roots are matted round the sides of the pots into 10 or 
11-inch pots according to the variety. The plants should be afforded 
a position near the glass in a light well-ventilated house, and be kept 
gradually growing throughout the winter months, under which con¬ 
ditions the plants start into fruit the following May or June, and 
afford a supply of early autumn fruit. The remaining portion of the 
plants referred to above may be wintered in 7 or 8-inch pots, and be 
transferred to the fruiting pots in spring, and these in conjunction with 
Smooth-leaved Cayenne and Charlotte Rothschild started as strong 
suckers last March will provide a successional supply of ripe fruit 
throughout the winter months, being supplemented by Queens and 
other varieties started at the same time. 
Maintain the bottom heat steady at 80° to plants which are well 
established, and about 90° to those plants which have been recently 
repotted, continuing it until the roots have penetrated the fresh mate¬ 
rial, then lower it to 80°. Where fruit is swelling keep the atmo¬ 
sphere moderately moist, and give a little ventilation at the top of 
the house early in the morning to dispel superfluous moisture before 
the sun’s rays affect the fruit. Ripe fruit required to be kept should 
be removed to a shady and well-ventilated house. 
Peaches and Nectarines .—The fruit in all but the latest succession 
houses will be removed, and to ensure the proper maturing of the 
wood remove all shoots not required. Do not neglect to syringe the 
trees with the garden engine occasionally to keep red spider in check, 
and well w'ater the inside borders whenever necessary, as the casting 
of the buds is due in a great measure to their imperfect formation, 
consequent on insufficient moisture at the roots of the trees after the 
fruit is gathered and the buds are being plumped, along with neglect¬ 
ing to keep the foliage healthy to the last. 
Remove the roof lights from houses in which the trees have ripened 
their wood to induce complete rest and the cleansing of the trees 
from insects by the late summer and early autumn rains. Where any 
planting or adding fresh soil to the borders has to be done the pre¬ 
sent is a good time to procure and stack a supply. Rather strong 
turfy loam of a chalky or calcareous nature is most suitable, giving 
preference to loam overlying magnesian limestone, and this, without 
any admixture of manure or other substance, induces a healthy 
growth of the trees. Trees for early forcing should not be deferred 
planting later than the end of September. 
ULANT HOUSES. 
Stove .—Clerodendron fallax is most useful when grown from seed 
each year and flowered in 7 or 8-inch pots. For this purpose the seeds 
should be sown as soon as ripe in small pots, and kept shaded and 
moist until they have germinated, when the seedlings should have 
light position, a snelf neir the glass being the most suitable. When 
the plants have a pair of leaves shift them into G-inch pots, employ¬ 
ing turfy loam with a fourth of leaf soil and a sixth of sharp sand. 
Old plants that have flowered and are intended to be kept for another 
year should now be cut down low, keeping them warm and damped 
every afternoon until they have commenced growth, when they can 
be partially shaken out and placed in smaller pots for winter. 
JEschynanthuses now coming into flower must be well supplied 
with water, especially if grown in baskets, for which they are pecu¬ 
liarly suitable when grown in pots plunged in the baskets, the spaces 
being filled with sphagnum ; and if a few pieces of Selaginella caesia 
are introduced it will greatly improve their appearance. 
Euphorbias that were some time ago removed into cooler quarters 
must not be allowed to remain there too long, or they will suffer at 
the roots and fail at a time when they ought to be coming into 
flower. A pit or house where they can have a minimum night tem¬ 
perature of 55°, with abundant ventilation and a light position is the 
most suitable. 
Poinsettias must only have sufficient heat to keep them slowly 
growing, with a light airy position, and water as necessary to keep 
the plants from losing the lower leaves ; but excessive watering must 
be avoided, as it causes the roots to perish and the head of bracts is 
small. Bilbergias are much-neglected plants, though easily grown 
and very beautiful. B. Moreliana, B. thyrsoides, B. splendida, and 
B. vittata are worth a place in every stove, being handsome in foliage 
and their fine racemes of bloom are striking. The pots for these 
plants should be well drained. Fibrous peat with an admixture of 
charcoal and sand to the extent of about a sixth will suit them well. 
Propagation is effected by suckers, which should remain on the 
parent until they become strong. When detached they will root 
freely. Eight-inch pots are large enough for single-crowned plants. 
