May 13, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
387 
of manure from the earth closet. Lift them with good balls of soil 
attached, and replant without disturbing the roots. As soon as they are 
planted water freely, and they will begin growing. Where it is only 
wanted for ordinary use two or three rows may be planted in each trench. 
The plants should stand 8 inches apart each way at least. Celery planted 
now will be in excellent condition for use by August. Tread the soil very 
firmly round the plants; never allow them to get dry at the root, and no 
loss will occur from “ bolting ” or flowering prematurely. Many frames 
are now being cleared of early Potatoes. The soil in these should he 
levelled, and then dibble late Celery plants in all over the surface at a 
distance of 2 inches or so from plant to plant. Put the lights over these 
for a few days, water freely, and capital plants will be produced for 
placing out in June or July. Plenty of water with rich and firm soil will 
always produce excellent Celery. 
Broccoli. —Late varieties are small this spring, but the quality is 
good. Sutton’s Late Queen has again proved the best of all. Tbe severe 
weather did not injure it in the least, and at present it is excellent. Seed 
of this variety should be sown now to produce plants which will bear at 
this time next year. Seed of other varieties should also be sown in good 
soil as soon as possible. 
Savoys. —Where many vegetables are required in late autumn and 
winter, Savoys are as useful as any vegetable that can be grown. They 
are always sure of making a crop. They are very hardy and remunerative, 
and such varieties as Gilbert’s Universal and Green Globe are choice in 
quality. The seed may be sown broadcast in a small bed, or a few short 
rows will afford plants for a large plantation. They require rich soil at 
all times. 
Thinning Young Vegetables. —-Turnips, Carrots, Spinach, and 
others sown some time ago are now growing freely, and it should always 
be a rule to thin them before any are spoiled by being crowded. When 
this happens the young plants are drawn, and if not completely spoiled 
they are generally checked and injured. As soon as all such plants can be 
handled they should be thinned until they stand 3 inches apart. Then, 
as they meet again, every other one should be taken out. A sharp boy or 
a woman will do very well for this work, the main point being not 
to delay it until too late. 
Salsafy and Scorzouera. — These are both most useful winter 
vegetables, and although we would not advise a cottager to sow any 
great quantity of either, we would recommend all amateurs to grow both, 
and in large gardens the absence of these crops would be unpleasant. 
They should be sown in much the same manner as Beetroot or Carrots. 
The ground should be open, moderately rich, and from 1 foot to 20 inches 
deep. Drills about 2 inches deep should be opened 16 inches apart, and 
the seed sown in them very thinly. After covering over tread down very 
firmly, and finish off by rolling. Mice are particularly fond of these seeds. 
We have known them to eat every one of them before they had time to 
germinate, and we advise them to be looked over every other day until the 
young plants are well up. 
Lettuces. —Those sown in the autumn and wintered at the bottom 
of a wall had a hard time of it in the spring, but they recovered in April, 
and of late we have been cutting crisp heads from them. Those raised 
under glam in spring have also been planted out some time ago, and are 
doing well, and the young plants which have been raised from seed sown 
in the open are now ready for transplanting. It is these open-air-raised 
plants which many of our readers will have to deal with, and a good 
number should be planted in rich soil at once. These will be ready for 
use in June and July, and as the weather is warm, as a rule, then, and 
Lettuce very acceptable, the crop Bhould on no account be neglected, and 
until the end of June a pinch should be sown every ten days. As a rule 
there are plenty of young Lettuce plants to work with in early summer, 
hut they often become scarce by August and September, and care should 
be taken that the supply is maintained. 
Earthing up. —All Potatoes which are through the ground should 
be earthed up. If the soil is poor sprinkle a little artificial manure along 
the side of each row before earthing, then with a drag hoe draw the soil 
up against the stems to form a broad ridge. Early-planted Cauliflowers 
and Brussels Sprouts should also be earthed up. Before doing so 
last year we sprinkled a small handful of guano round each, and we did 
not lose a single plant afterwards from worm at the root, clubbiug, or any 
cause. The grubs evidently did not appreciate the guano, but the Cauli¬ 
flower did. 
Kidney Beans. —A few more of both the Dwarf and Runner varieties 
should be sown to succeed the first, as through unfavourable weather and 
other causes these are not always a success. Now, however, they may be 
sown with every certainty of their doing well, as the young plants will 
not be through the soil until about June, and then their growth will be 
sure and rapid. 
Hoeing. —Weeds are worse than useless in the vegetable garden, and 
they should never be alio wed to become large or go to seed. The best 
way of treating them is to hoe them down when the soil is dry and when 
they are small. If allowed to grow and seed now they will be a constant 
trouble during the whole season, but if checked in time they will soon be 
exterminated, labour will be saved in the autumn, and the garden will 
leave a neat clean appearance. 
Pickling Onions. —These can hardly be too small, and they should 
be sown later than the others. Now is a good time to put them in. Sow 
them broadcast in a narrow bed, and give them a very poor soil, as this is 
the only means of keeping the bulbs small, 
Tomatoes. —Plants intended for open air culture should now be 
placed outside, but do not plant them out for a week or two yet. If they 
can only be hardened off and planted out without receiving a check there 
is no danger of failure afterwards. Indoor plants now require copious 
supplies of water. Those hearing fruit should have a quantity of liquid 
manure three times weekly. Admit plenty of air to plants on which the 
fruit is ripening. Rub the side shoots off frequently, and confine the 
plant to one or two main stems. 
FRUIT FORCING. 
Figs. — 'Early-forced Trees in Pots .—Take advantage of mild days to 
increase ventilation, and expose the fruit as much as possible to the sun. 
When the first crop is gathered, as will soon be the case with trees in pots 
started in November, return to the treatment applicable to trees swelling 
off crops. Red spider having gained a footing, determined measures must 
be taken for getting rid of it by syringing twice a day, or washing the 
leaves with a weak solution of softsoap, 2 ozs. to the gallon of water, on 
fine evenings twice a day until new growth is being made freely. Where 
the second crop has set thickly on free-bearing varieties, such as Brown 
Turkey, the best of Figs for forcing, thinning should be carried on 
liberally, as there is little danger of the trees casting their fruit after this 
period provided they receive generous treatment. With a view to a suc¬ 
cession of fruit it may be left of different sizes on the same branch, hut it 
is useless trying to take more than two crops in a season, as the trees must 
have rest through September and October. Growth after this period will 
necessitate frequent attention to stopping and training, as the best Figs 
are always produced on vigorous young shoots fully exposed to sun and 
light. 
Succession Houses .—When the fruits are swelling for ripening a higher 
and drier atmosphere will hasten maturity ; but care must be taken to 
afford plentiful supplies of tepid liquid manure to the roots, and to syringe 
the foliage regularly, as any sudden check might prove injurious. As the 
Figs approach ripeness it will not be advisable to wet them if it can be 
avoided, nor is it necessary, as atmospheric moisture can always be secured 
by keeping the mulching, walls, and paths properly moistened, and this can 
he prevented from condensing on the fruit by maintaining a steady circu¬ 
lation of air with gentle fire heat. When grown in a hot, dry house the 
Fig soon becomes infested with red spider and scale, and as a natural con¬ 
sequence the ripening period is shortened, and the trees simply rest 
because they are exhausted ; the second crop is consequently puny, rusty, 
and unsatisfactory ; but feed them liberally, ventilate freely, and syringe 
as often as they are divested of ripe fruit, and they become perpetual 
bearers. To keep a Fig in constant bearing it must be continually grow¬ 
ing, and for this reason the extension system answers the purpose best, as 
the leading shoots are allowed to extend without topping until they 
reach the extremity of the trellis, when they are cut away at the winter 
thinning to make room for others succeeding them. 
Cold Houses .—Fig trees in these, notwithstanding the ungenial spring, 
seem to be showing plenty of fruit, last season being highly favourable to 
the ripening of the wood, and with favourable weather they will afford an 
acceptable supply of fruit in August and September. Assuming the roots 
are confined to reasonable limits inside the house, and that the borders are 
concreted and thoroughly drained with broken bricks and old lime rubbish, 
a material upon which they seem to thrive, they will require very copious 
supplies of water and syringing twice a day. Except in cloudy weather the 
afternoon syringing may be dispensed with, and in bright weather it may 
be performed early with all the solar heat that can be shut in to insure the 
proper drying of the foliage before nightfall. The young growths in these 
structures should be trained a good distance apart, as overcrowding 
impedes the free passage of light and warmth, so essential to the ripening 
of the fruit and wood. Close stopping in late houses is not a good plan, 
as it results in the production of a number of late growths which do not 
get properly ripened before the leaves fall. Toe safest course is to secure 
firm short-jointed wood, and allow the points to grow up to the glass, a 
position in which they will form abundance of embryo Figs ready for 
swelling in the spring. 
Melons. —As pits and frames in which Potatoes, &e., have been 
grown become vacant, they may be prepared for Melons. Root-bound 
plants are not good, and large overgrown plants receive such a check on 
removal that preference should be given to healthy samples stopped and 
in 4 and 5-inch pots. The soil in which the Potatoes, Ac., are grown 
having been cleared out, turn the leaves and add some fresh ones to raise 
the bed to within the required distance of tbe glass, allowing a few inches 
for settling, treading them firmly at the time of putting them in the pit. 
The turning and addition of fresh leaves to the beds will insure a gentle 
warmth and give the plants a start. A few inches of decayed manure 
may be placed on the leaves, and then the soil, a couple of barrowloads in 
the centre of each light to form the hillocks and extending outwards so 
as to cover the bed, and yet leave a hillock in the centre about a foot 
high with a flattened top. When this has been in the frame two or three 
days tread all down firmly, hillock as well as the other part, and if these 
are reduced in height so as to have a depth of 9 or 10 inches of soil, and 
there is a slight incline from them outwards, it will be all the better, so 
as to keep the water from the neck or collar. Earthing these beds will 
not be necessary. The plants having pre riously been well watered, so as 
to cause the roots to leave the sides of the pot and not necessitate water¬ 
ing at planting, put out; press the soil firmly around each, and should 
the sun be powerful shade for a few days until they become established, 
after which it should be discontinued. 
Other plants should now be raised to place in frames, which will shortly 
be cleared of bedding plants. Syringe plants when hot water is at com¬ 
mand during bright weather, but early in the afternoon will be sufficiently 
often for plants in structure-* not so heated. Yentiiate early in the morn¬ 
ing to prevent the foliage being scorched by the sun shining on it whilst 
covered with moisture or the leaves full of moisture, for the ventilation 
