Ootober 1, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
303 
roanent shelter should be put up in the form of the bed, or the beds might 
be sheltered with hoops aud mats. These kind of shelters can he used 
when the bulbs are in flower as a protection from sun, wind, and heavy 
rains. If so protected, the season of bloom will be considerably pro¬ 
longed. 
Water. —As the season of the Hyacinth’s growth takes place during 
winter and early spring it very seldom happens that they require much 
water at the roots, hut during dry parching winds which sometimes occur 
in March, a slight sprinkling over the beds will be acceptable to the rising 
buds. In frosty weather this should be applied in the morning only ; but 
if there is no appearance of frost, then water in the evenings also, pre¬ 
viously to putting on the shutters for the night. This sprinkling may be 
continued with advantage till the blooms begin to expand. As soon as 
the bloom is over the old flower stems should be cut off, but not quite 
down to the ground, the covers removed, and as soon as the leaves turn 
yellow the bulbs should be taken up and laid upon a mat to dry. By 
being laid upon a mat they can be lifted easily under shelter in heavy 
rains, which would injure them much if allowed to fall upon them. 
When the leaves are all quite decayed dress them ofE carefully, without 
bruising the bulbs, and then put them away in a dry cool room till the 
planting season comes round again.—T. T. 
WORK.foiithe WEEK.. 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Weeds. —These always appear very plentifully in kitchen gardens at 
this season. Those which were allowed to bloom and seed in the fore 
part of the season are responsible for the abundant crop now, and we 
could not point to anything more convincing as to the evil and mistake of 
allowing weeds to seed than the trouble experienced with those young 
weeds now. In the hot weather it was easy matter to run the Dutch hoe 
through them, and they would die in a few hours, but now that the soil is 
moist and the atmosphere cool, hoeing has almost lost its advantage. 
After hoeing, the rough of them should be raked off. Should they per¬ 
sist in growing, hand-weeding must be resorted to, and this is both tedious 
and expensive, but it only tends to still further illustrate what we detest, 
the folly of keeping a dirty garden. If allowed to go on now the weeds 
will destroy autumn-sown Onions, Spinach, &c. 
Late Potatoes. —We are pushing on with lifiing these. Nothing 
can be gained by allowing them to remain in the ground now. Choose 
fine days for taking them up, and get them under cover as soon as possible. 
Many complain of their late Potatoes not keeping well, but this cannot 
be expected unless they are treated properly at lifting time. Many think 
if they only escape disease when stored it is all right, but in our opinion 
Potatoes stored while damp have never the same excellent flavour as those 
placed in quite dry. Too much importance cannot be paid to this. So 
long as they are dry and in the dark there is no danger of their deteriorat¬ 
ing in any way. Webb’s Improved Schoolmaster is the best of all our 
late Potatoes this season. We are digging fine crops now from between 
rows of Broccoli, and in quantity and size it is excellent, while the 
sample we cooked the other day were all that anyone could desire. Our 
Potato supply until the new ones come again is safe. 
Rhubarb.— The whole of the leaves on this have nearly disappeared. 
The crowns are thoroughly well matured, and forcing the roots in 
November and onwards will be an easy matter. The decayed leaves, 
however, are no use. They should all be cleared off, and place a quantity 
of good manure over the crowns. The finest Rhubarb we ever possessed 
came from roots which were fed more in winter than summer. 
Cauliflower —Veitch’s Autumn Giant is now turning in. None 
equals it in size or quality. It is superb in every way, and is distinct and 
good in every way. Those who try to substitute any other variety for it 
make a mistake. It has no equal, and should be grown in all gardens for 
an autumn supply. The other day we heard someone say they were 
cutting heads now from plants raised from seed sown last autumn. This is 
superfluous. We are cutting from plants from seed sown in the open border 
in March last. Young plants now a few inches high, and being raised for 
the first supply next spring, should be taken up and planted in frames or 
under handlights to stand the winter. They must have g >od soil and a 
sunny position. We treat a few thousand plants in this way, and 
numbers are left in the seed rows, where they often keep in good condi¬ 
tion and prove very useful in spring. Those put int > frames should be 
kept 3 inches apart, and the lights should not be put over them until there 
is danger of their being injured by Severe weather. Anyone having no 
handlights or frames, but plenty of Cauliflower plants, should dibble a 
quantity of them close to the bottom of a hedge or wall where they will 
be slightly protected. Should a severe winter be experienced, break the 
leaves over recently formed heads when frost is expected. 
Tomatoes.— Early frosts soon injure these, and as they are too much 
valued to allow them to be spoiled for want of attention, frame lights 
should be stood up against those growing on walls. We cut Tipe fruits in 
November last year through adopting this simple plan in time. As s )on as 
the fruits become in the slightest way coloured, cut them at once and place 
them in a warm dry room to ripen. They will lose nothing in flavour by 
this. Where fruits are very abundant they ought to be taken to the 
kitchen and converted into Tomato sauce. We had lately some plants 
growing in a cool pit on which a heavy crop had just formed, and as these 
were growing in pots they have been moved into square boxes a little 
larger than the pots and placed in a warm Cucumber pit. Others have 
been put up on the back shelf of a Pine stove, and we feel pretty sure of 
having plenty of ripe fruit to the new year at least. 
Lettuce And Endive. —Neither of these is quite hardy, and it is 
always a safe and good plan to have a quantity of them in frames to keep 
up the supply when those in the open fail. Plants about half grown in 
the open quarters now should be lifted with good balls of soil attached to 
the roots, and be planted in cool frames 10 inches or so apart each way. 
They will soon become established aud grow large, and be more useful 
than those which may be lifted and stored away when fully grown. 
Store Pea sticks, which will be of service next year. Clear out places 
ready for storing Carrots, Beetroot, &c., and do not allow any useless 
vegetables to remain growing. 
BRUIT FORCING. 
Figs .—Early Treesin Pots .—As soon as the early Figs in pots have cast 
all their leaves the trees should be pruned, well washed, and properly 
dressed preparatory to tying them in to new stakes. If repotting is con¬ 
sidered necessary, no time should be lost in getting it done and everything 
made ready for a new start. The Fig, unlike many other kinds of fruit 
under pot culture, seems to become prolific in proportion to its age, every 
short spur being literally covered with embryo fruit ready to start into 
activity when heat is applied to the trees. In course of time the trees 
become too large for removal from the house, as, for instance, when they 
are in 18 or 20-inch pots, in which it is best to leave them on the per¬ 
manent brick pedestals, and build solid walls of new turf and old lime 
rubbish round each pot from the base of the pedestals to the rim of the 
pots, which should be done so soon as the trees are cleansed and tied. 
When the time arrives for forcing, fermenting Oak leaves and fresh stable 
manure well worked together should be used for filling the pit. This 
soon draws the new roots into the turf, and more turf should be added as 
the roots show on the surface, and the mass being properly supplied with 
liquid manure, the trees will scarcely lose a fruit when the change takes 
place for ripening, besides the steady growth which the cramping and 
high feeding induces results in a steady succession of fruit throughout the 
early spring and summer months. 
Succession Houses .—Permanently planted trees will now be sufficiently 
advanced for lifting and replanting where they are too strong and show 
an inclination to make gross unfruitful wood. When dealing with these 
trees the principal points are—good drainage, rough calcareous compost, 
and firm ramming to insure the even passage of water. 
Late Houses .—The trees in these are still producing good fruits, but 
they mud now have the water supply lessened or withheld, encouraging 
them to ripen up the wood and go to rest. The house should be kept well 
ventilated constantly, but if the wood does not ripen kindly, allow the 
temperature to rise to 80° or 85° from sun heat by closing early, and 
before nightfall admit sufficient air to insure a circulation. 
Pines. —As a fermenting material tan is the best heating medium for 
the roots of plants such as these, and where it can be procured at a reason¬ 
able price it may be considered the most effective, indeed superior to others 
for this particular purpose. In the case of rootless suckers it may be solely 
used as the means of artificial heat, especially for bottom heat, and for suc¬ 
cession as well it has no equal. Beds composed of this material occa¬ 
sionally require to be renewed by an additional supply of fresh material 
about this period, and this should be attended to at once before the season 
is too far advanced and too precarious for such operations to be safely 
performed. The effect resulting from 12 to 18 inches of fresh tan being well 
worked into the rest will be the production of sufficient warmth to afford 
new life for a considerable period onwards, and without the danger of its 
being afforded too profusely. This is also the proper time to make 
new tan beds, which in the first instance should be made 3 to 4 feet in 
thickness. The tan for this purpose should be prepared by laying it in a 
shed dry and airy, where it can be turned over a few times, as it by that 
process becomes drier, and the risk of violent heating is to a great extent 
diminished. When made into the beds daily supervision must be made of 
the beds, or much mischief may happen at the roots of the plants plunged 
therein before it is discovered. The season is so advanced that artificial 
heat must be steadily increased. Although we do not advocate a high 
night temperature, sudden transitions in temperature are to be deprecated 
at any season. For rooted suckers 55° to 60° at night will be sufficient 
to keep them gently moving, 60° to 65° for successional plants, and about 
70° in the fruiting compartments, with 10° to 15° rise from, sun heat. 
Cucumbers. —The first batch of plants which were raised from seed 
sown about the second week in August have nearly covered the trellis 
with short-jointed wood, and are showing fruit freely. These, however, 
provided the supply from other sources is equal to the demand, and there 
is ample scope for root-action, should be removed forthwith to enable the 
plants to thoroughly establish and strengthen themselves for producing 
and maintaining a supply of fruit about Martinmas onwards ; but on the 
other hand, where the roots are confined to pots or boxes and are filled with 
roots highly fed, one or a couple of fruits per plant should be allowed to 
swell and so prevent the stored or pent-up sap from becoming stagnant 
and disease result. Ventilate the houses freely on all favourable occasions, 
so that they may make a short-jointed and consolidated growth, which 
i will, all other points duly attended to, enable them to pass through the 
