6D 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ JaLsaiy 22 i9(Tr 
and a little longer, have been forced and gathered, the roots are 
little the worse for cattle, though they would be if long clusters 
of useless growths were permitted to deprive the roots of their 
juices. It is a question of managemen*", and the few gardeners 
who have managed them as suggested know what we have written 
is true. 
As following on a vegetable destroying winter it seems desirable 
to make reference to the important subject of an early summer 
supply of vegetables from spring sown seed. We can do little 
more than direct attention to this matter, leaving some ot our 
practical correspondents to describe the requisite cultural details. 
It is when the warm days of spring come and these pass to early 
summer that the disappointment is apt to be the greatest in waiting 
for vegetables. Weary waiting it is to gardeners who have no 
suitable glass structures and protectors in which they can raise and 
gradually harden such plants as Lettuces, Peas, Cauliflowers, 
Cabbages, and Celery for planting the moment the weather is 
favourable. In this way some weeks may be gained in the longed 
for supply, but for ensuring it on the earliest date the necessity for 
suitable appliances is absolute, and it is a simple fact that in 
small and moderate-sized gardens innumerable, especially in the 
suburbs of towns, they are not provided. Many of these gardens 
contain a conservatory, or one or more vineries or plant houses— 
regarded as supplying “ glass enough for the place,” and the 
value and utility of moveable cold frames does not appear to be 
in the least appreciated. Some gardens in which a good deal of 
money has been spent on glass structures neither contain frames 
nor handlights ; though they are absolutely necessary for affording 
a gardener a fair chance to do what is required of him, and in few 
gardens is the supply of these cheap and valuable cultural aids 
adequate. 
Both in spring and summer lean-to and span-roofed frames are 
of very much greater service in gardens than the owners of those 
gardens appear to have any idea of, both for advancing early vege¬ 
tables and flowers for p’anting out, for growing plants in summer 
for winter flowering in the conservatory, and for protecting 
Lettuce and Endive, for salads, also Cauliflowers in the autumn for 
use as far into the winter as possible. Moveable frames or glazed 
“ boxes ” are indispensable for preparing seedlings both of vege¬ 
tables and flowers for planting out that may be raised in heated 
houses, for if the plants remain in these too long they will be 
drawn and spoiled, while if in their tender state they are trans¬ 
ferred direct to the open air during the fitful weather of spring 
they may, and probably will, be ruined in a week. Boards affixed 
on edge, and the space between them bridged with large squares of 
glass, and made secure, are most serviceable sheltering aids ; but 
even those are absent from gardens where suitable frames should 
be supplied. Gardens without a reasonable number of frames and 
handlights are insufficiently furnished, and never is the want of 
them so keenly felt as after a prolonged and destructive winter. 
With these simple garden necessities, and a mild heap of ferment¬ 
ing materials of leaves and a little suitable manure, much can be 
done that is otherwise out of the question ; yet sometimes the 
impossible is expected by persons who are wholly unacquainted 
with the needs and methods of production. We are not writing in 
the interests of gardeners solely, nor yet mainly, but endeavouring 
to point the way in which gardens may be made the most productive 
at the time the produce is the most wanted in order that the re¬ 
sults may be the most satisfactory to all. 
A little remains to be said about seeds. We have received 
letters from managers and assistants thanking us for inserting the 
note of “Retail Seeds nan” on page 45, and indicating the 
extraordinary pressure that must inevitably occur in spring if seeds 
are not ordered till the time comes for sowing. This will involve 
the necessity of men working unreasonably long hours by gaslight, 
and even then the goods may not be despatched with the desired 
punctuality. It is a distinct advantage to gardeners and owners 
of gardens to have seeds in hand ready for seizing favourable 
opportunities that may occur for sowing, and the seeds do' not 
cost a penny more when ordered in midwinter than in spring. 
Alike in the interests of workers in gardens and seed; stores we 
direct attention to this subject as meriting consideration at a 
time when seedsmen’s assistants as a body are insufficiently 
employed. Our desire is to see the difficulties of the protracted 
winter minimised as far as possible, and to suggest means whereby 
the disappointments which are more than possible in spring may 
be modified where they cannot be averted. Further references, to. 
the frost will be found on page 67. 
THE ESSENTIALS OF CROTON CULTURE; 
A Croton may be only 12 inches high and confined to a 4-inc& 
pot, or two or three times that height and in a pot slightly larger ; 
or it may have assumed the proportions of a specimen. But in any 
case if well grown and coloured it will be beautiful, graceful, and 
useful. For the Croton, indeed, may well be claimed the leading: 
position among plants cultivated for the beauty of their foliage. 
It must, however, receive the treatment which all first-rate plants- 
demand, otherwise Croton culture will prove a great failure. A- 
non-essential point is that of soil. A Croton may have any kind^ 
of soil—loamy, peaty, unmixed, or mixed, and failure will not 
follow on that account. I do not, of course, mean it to- be inferred’ 
that where a good soil, such as a sandy, fibrous loam^ can he- 
obtained as the base of the compost that it should be lightly passed 
over ; but I do mean that no one needs be deterred from culti¬ 
vating Crotons on account of a meagre supply of good soil. 
A matter of considerable moment has to be decided whenever 
new sort is introduced. As a rule, we have to grow the plant for 
a season in order to determine its value, and after that to start 
afresh with the home-grown top as the parent of good decorative 
stcc’i. This fact raises the question afresh, so pronounced in the 
case of many other bought-in plants, of the necessity of choosing 
personally any plants wanted, and not hesitating to pay a good* 
price for a good article. A suitable time to buy is during autumn. 
If brightly coloured plants with well developed foliage are chosen- 
they can either be grown the next year and good plants secured, or 
the tops may be struck in early spring, and any poor foliage near 
the base of the plant removed. It will thus be seen that a weMf 
coloured cutting with fully developed foliage is of great iim- 
portance. 
Then it is necessary to see that the part propagated is a& 
slightly hardened as possible. For this reason it is much better not 
to be too hasty in spring propagation. It is not uncommon for a» 
summer struck cutting of young current growth to overtake those 
rooted in early spring. Of course, if there is plenty of heat some 
latitude may be allowed, but as a rule it is safer to wait until April 
than to begin two months earlier. At the same time in cases where 
most of the preceding year’s growth is wanted in order to make taR 
plants the practice of layering may be proceeded with by the- 
beginning of February. 
We have now arrived at the really essential parts of Croton- 
culture. These are light, heat, moisture, cleanliness, and good 
feeding. Light with as much sunshine as the plants will stand is 
so essential that it is impossible to colour Crotons well without its 
aid. The growing part should be kept all through within a few 
inches of the glass, and only when the youngest leaves push against 
it should the pots be lowered, and that but a few inches at a 
time ; but light of itself and without heat is of no particular value. 
The plants winter well in a moderate stove temperature, and aro 
neither particular as to light or to higher temperature than of 
55° to G0° during the three colder months ; but by February a^ 
higher temperature must be allowed, and all sunshine made the 
most of. If a little air is admitted from an early period in the 
season it can be increased during summer very advantageously and 
direct sunshine allowed che foliage without damage, and closing 
early in the afternoon with the best results following. Sunshine, 
gives colour, and heat rapid growth ; but the heat must be accom¬ 
panied by a moist atmosphere, and during the season of growth it is- 
hardly possible to give too much moisture. In early morning 
moisten everything about the structure and plants, and as the 
season progresses make repeated applications. Even when the 
ventilators are closed in sunny weather it will be necessary to- 
apply moisture again about 6 and during the height of summer a 
second time about 8 to 9 P.Jr. The plants must on no account be 
allowed to become dry at their roots. Such a copdition is fatal. 
The plants may not exhibit any bad effects at the time, but before 
long the loss of foliage will be sure to follow. 
Having insured light, heat, and moisture in due proportions 
cleanliness is not so difficult to secure. If mealybug is present 
