December 24, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
569 
from tlie carts on, it should be broken thereon with mallets before begin 
shovelled into the house, where it should be repounded and rammed 
together, and boiling water applied as advised in the making of ice ricks 
at page 634. In order to secure a good supply of boiling water for the 
purpose of consolidating the ice by its frequent application during the 
process of filling the house, it will be necessary to temporarily erect a 
boiler on a few loose bricks close by. When the house is filled a thick 
covering of the same material as that put between the walls and the ice 
should be put on top of it, and the passage leading to the house from the 
outer door should be rendered air-tight by placing closely together therein 
several bundles of clean straw.—H. W. Ward, Longford. 
HYDRANGEAS. 
Continuing as promised my remarks upon the culture of Hydrangeas, 
the following system of treatment will be found a good one. 
At the commencement of the year, or even earlier, these plants can be 
started into growth. A vinery or Peach house just started is a capital 
place for them. As soon as they commence growing they are arranged on 
a shelf close to the glass to keep them as dwarf as possible, for if some 
distance from the glass they are iiable to become drawn. As soon as the 
flower truss is just visible the plants may be transferred into 6-inch pots, 
the smallest size it is possible to shift them into. At one time I was under 
the impression that this treatment assisted them wonderfully in develop¬ 
ing their gigantic heads of bloom. The practice is now abandoned and 
our plants are not potted, the trusses of bloom being equally as large as 
before. The treatment now is to top-dress with a little cow manure and 
sprinkle upon the surface of the soil two or three applications of Standen’s 
manure during the time the heads are developing. This treatment 
insures dwarf plants from 1 foot to 15 inches high, with trusses 10 inches 
or more in diameter, provided they are not expanded in too much heat or 
grown in too confined an atmosphere. After the flowers are visible an 
intermediate temperature should be provided and air admitted freely 
whenever outside conditions will allow of this beiDg done. The flowers 
are a long time in developing even after they are visible, and this batch 
of plants can be divided when they reach this stage for the purpose of 
forming a succession. The plants to be retarded should be gradually given 
cooler treatment until they can be placed in the greenhouse, and if 
allowed to expand their flowers under these conditions they will form a 
capital succession to those pushed forward in heat. 
Those rooted at this season of the year are allowed to make a start 
under similar conditions to those already advised, and are then placed into 
4-inch pots, using the above compost. These will produce equally as fine 
trusses as those that had been grown during the previous season. The 
plants may be divided and started into growth at intervals of a month, 
according to the demand. The last plants should be started in the cold, 
frame, and may finally be divided and a portion placed outside. The 
amateur may start his first plants on a shelf in the greenhouse, leaving 
the remainder in the cold frame. A portion of those started in the green¬ 
house can be placed in the cold frame after the flowers show, so that they 
will come into flower after those in the greenhouse have faded. Those 
left in the frame may also be divided and a portion placed outside, which 
will insure a long succession of plants in hloom either for room-decora¬ 
tion or the greenhouse. 
The varieties most suitable for this purpose are H. hortensis, H. 
Otaksa, and H. Thomas Hogg. The last-named is more slender in 
growth than the two former, and produces pure white flowers, which are 
admirably adapted for cutting and bouquet-making. Thie should be 
grown in all gardens, for it is the finest of the Hydrangeas. The second 
named is a magnificent rose-coloured variety, and produces very large 
trusses of bloom, and should certainly he largely grown where these plants 
are appreciated. The old H. hortensis cannot be despised, for it is de¬ 
cidedly one of the best for general purposes. Its flowers and trusses are 
both large when well grown. It is very changeable in the colour of its 
flowers, which naturally are of a rosy hue, but very frequently heavily 
shaded with blue. Sometimes the flowers come quite blue, and whether 
of this colour or shaded they are even more beautiful than when they 
come their natural shade. There are many speculations as to the cause of 
this blue colouring in the flowers, some believing it is due to the feeding 
they receive in the form of stimulants, others to the soil in which they are 
grown. There can, however, be no doubt that when iron exists in the soil 
the flowers are shaded more or less. Blue flowers, however, cannot be re¬ 
lied upon, for if cuttings are taken from one plant and the whole treated 
exactly the same as regards stimulants and soil some will be rose in colour, 
while others will be blue or shaded. The flowers of the variegated form 
of this variety very frequently come blue, and when they do they are 
charming ; the contrast of the white variegation of the foliage and blue 
shaded flowers are very effective. This form is well worth growing for 
various purposes of decoration on account of its foliage, which when forced 
early in the season is very beautiful grouped with other plants. 
H. paniculata grandiflora should also be grown in pots, for it is really 
charming with its large panicles of creamy white flowers, which are most 
freely produced under good cultivation. This requires slightly different 
treatment from H. hortensis and its varieties. For growing in pots strong 
plants should be obtained to commence with, imported plants generally 
being the best. These cannot be obtained for some time yet, but should 
be obtained as early as possible, and be placed into 6 or 7-inch pots in the 
same compost as recommended for other varieties. Partially prune the 
stemsand plunge the plantain a cold frame. In spring, just before growth 
commences, prune the shoots closely back. If one eye is left on each 
ahoot of the last season’s wood it will he sufficient. Encourage them to 
grow under cool frame treatment until the roots are active, when the 
plants can be removed to the greenhouse hnd allowed to come naturally 
into flower. No attempt must be made to force them the first season, or 
the growth will be weak, fail to flower, and the plants probably he 
ruined instead of being thoroughly established for the following season. 
After flowering they may be placed outside, the principal object being 
to get the wood thoroughly ripened, for upon this entirely depends 
whether the plants flower well or the reverse. The shoots should be 
pruned closely back any time during the winter prior to starting the 
plants into growth again. This season the plants may be gently forced, 
but a warm close confined atmosphere must be avoided or the growths 
will grow weakly and fail to flower. Plenty of air must be admitted to 
insure sturdy compact growth, and then fine flowers will be the result. 
The plants should be top-dressed when introduced into heat, and freely 
supplied with stimulants after growth has once commenced. 
This is a beautiful plant for decoration, and can by gently forcing be 
trained to flower months before its natural flowering time, which is from 
the end of August. It cannot he forced into flower so early as the 
varieties of H. hortensis, but by starting it into growth a little earlier each 
successive season no difficulty will be experienced in inducing it to flower 
moderately early in the summer, when it proves invaluable for the con¬ 
servatory.—B. 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Forcing is the main consideration just now. Our produce grown in 
this way for Christmas consists of Asparagus, Seakale, and Rhubarb. We 
find roots force uncommonly freely this autumn, and the growths are 
both abundant and of high quality. Those who refuse to force anything 
early in the autumn under the impression that it cannot he done profit¬ 
ably then may begin now with safety. Rhubarb is forcing readily in the 
ground with a hotbed over it. One day some of our men covered three 
large crowns. They put the casks upside down over them, and then 
covered them all with hot manure. When we looked inside ten days 
afterwards we found the growths had sprouted about 2 inches and then 
perished. The cask being made air-tight by having the manure on the 
top the steam had no means of escaping, and failure was the result. Others 
with the top arranged so as to admit a very little fresh air and allow the 
steam to escape are going on well. 
Seakale may now be covered, but remember to provide a little ventila¬ 
tion. Where there are old-fashioned Asparagus beds with deep pigeon¬ 
hole brick pits between for filling with fermenting material some of them 
may be started; but it is not wise to begin this system of forcing too 
early, as the growths, although covered, may become so tall before April 
that they will be severely checked. We certainly prefer lifting the roots 
to this plan. Kidney Beans should be put in largely, as those sown now 
will only come into fruit about the beginning of March, and that is a 
time when they fruit very freely. There is no better way of dealing with 
them at this time than by putting six or eight seeds into a 3-inch pot, and 
potting or boxing them on as they grow large and become ready. We 
have ceased to grow Kidney Beans for Christmas use, as they fruit so 
sparingly a,t this time that we could not grow them with any degree of 
profit, and we find it more satisfactory to devote our glass houses to the 
culture of other things. 
Mustard and Cress. —We keep up a daily supply of this now. 
Those who sow it are perhaps not always so careful as they ought to he, 
the general impression being that the seed will germinate and the crop 
prove satisfactory in any kind of soil, and this leads to any old soil being 
used. Now and again we have found some of our shallow boxes which 
were filled with any old soil just manage to throw up the young plants, 
and then patches here and there would die. This, even with Mustard and 
Cress, was not satisfactory, and in looking for the cause we found that 
very old potting-shed soil had been used. Some of it had been pressed 
down very firmly, but in other parts it was loose, and it was these spots 
that had failed. Since then we have filled the boxes with pure leaf soil, 
ramming it down firmly, and now we have the finest crops of Mustard 
and Cress we ever possessed in winter. Both the leaf soil and the extra 
firmness of it seem to be beneficial. 
Potatoes.— Those which have been stored for some time should be 
uncovered, turned over, and any bad ones picked out. Early Kidneys 
which have been lying spread out thinly in a bottom shelf in the fruit 
room have begun to sprout rather freely. Those we want for frame 
planting early in the year will be allowed to advance, but the others which 
will be kept for the first plantation in the open will have the longest of the 
shoots brushed off and be allowed to restart before planting. Were 
the shoots now on allowed to remain, they would be much too long by 
planting time. When it is frosty the desire is to cover the seed tubers as 
well as possible, and this is right; but when a thaw sets in and mild 
weather comes the thick covering is often allowed to remain. This causes 
the growths to spring up rapidly, and the result is much injury to the sets. 
Cover by all means in frosty weather, but be as particular to uncover when 
it is mild. 
Hotbeds. —These will very soon be required, and all the materal for 
