16 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ January 3, 1889. 
ing materials in such circumstances may be dispensed with ; but the 
borders having been exposed to cold rains and snow, the temperature of 
the soil will be little if any warmer than the surrounding ground, and a 
good bed of fermenting materials can be used with advantage, placing it 
on the border about 18 inches thick, and protecting with shutters. 
Supply the inside borders thoroughly with tepid water, or at 90°. To 
economise fuel employ fermenting materials inside the houses also as a 
source of genial warmth and moisture constantly, and turn it frequently 
to liberate the ammonia, adding fresh material as necessary. Where fer¬ 
menting materials are not obtainable the surfaces may be sprinkled, but 
not the roots, with liquid manure daily. The temperature should be 
50° to 55° by artificial means and 65° from sun heat. 
Pruning and Cleansing. —Vines from which the Grapes have been 
cut must be immediately pruned. Cut to a plump bud as near to the base 
as possible, but as some Vines do not prove satisfactory when closely 
pruned, the operator must be guided accordingly, and choose the best 
bud on firm well-ripened wood wherever situated, which will cause the 
spurs to become too long ; but that can be obviated by training a shoot 
from the base to displace it after fruiting, and the Vine will show in 
good finish of its crop the advantage derived from the extra foliage. 
The spurs under any circumstances will become long in time, but it is 
easy to train up young canes. Remove all loose bark (avoid peeling and 
scraping), but wash with softsoap and water. Thoroughly cleanse the 
house, surface dress the borders, clearing off the loose surface, using fresh 
loam with about a twentieth of bonemeal intermixed. Keep the house 
as cool as possible to secure complete rest. 
Late Grapes. —Maintain a mean temperature of 45° with a dry 
atmosphere where Grapes are hanging. Examine every bunch 
frequently, and remove all decayed berries. Ventilate the house on 
fine mornings, and keep it closed when the weather ■ is damp. The 
Grapes may be cut, the ends of the stems being inserted in bottles of 
rain water secured in an inclined position, so as to admit of the fruit 
hanging clear of the bottles. Failing a Grape room any dry room will 
be a suitable place where an equable temperature of 40° to 45° is 
maintained. This will admit of the Vines being pruned and the house 
being cleaned. 
Cherry House.— The house having been closed about the middle 
of last month, fire heat may be applied to secure a night temperature of 
40° to 45°, and 5° more by day, allowing an advance of 5° to 10° from 
sun heat, admitting air abundantly in mild sunny weather. Seethft 
there is no deficiency of moisture in the border, and 'attend with regu¬ 
larity to watering trees in pots. Syringe the house and trees occasion¬ 
ally. If any trees are found unsuitable, this is a good time to change 
them. Trees which have been trained to a wall for three or four years 
are the best, and being lifted occasionally previously they can be moved 
with fibrous roots and some soil, whereby safety and speedy re-estab¬ 
lishment is secured. May Duke, Black Tartarian, Governor Wood, and 
Elton are suitable varieties. 
Pines.— Fruiting Plants and Starters. —These must now have a 
mean temperature of about 70°, varying 5° according to external influ¬ 
ence, admitting air at 80° with sunshine, but not lowering the tempera¬ 
ture, allowing it to rise to 85°, and closing at 80°. Syringe the plants 
occasionally early in the afternoon, when the axils of the leaves become 
dry. 
Plants for Successional Fruiting.— Early in February some more 
Queens should be started to supplement the supply of fruit from those 
plants which are already introduced for that purpose. Beds that have 
the bottom heat afforded by hot-water pipes can soon be prepared for the 
reception of the plants, but it is not the case where fermenting 
materia's are employed, hence the necessary steps must be taken at once 
to prepare the needful beds, 85° to 90° of bottom heat being secured by 
the time required. When plants that have been kept somewhat dry are 
to be started, see that the soil is thoroughly moistened, so that with the 
extra warmth root action may commence at once. Anight temperature 
of 60° to 65°, and 5° less in severe weather, will be suitable for succes- 
sional stock, and 5° to 10° more in the daytime, according to external 
conditions. 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
With the beginning of the year vegetable growers will soon find 
their work increase, and to make the most of the season no oppor¬ 
tunity must be neglected. Some may say they cannot see the use of 
doing anything in the vegetable garden until the season is more ad¬ 
vanced, but good cultivators plant and sow little by little until by 
March or April they have many valuable crops inthe ground. We admit 
the early planters and sowers run several chances of having some of 
their first crops checked, if not ruined, but this does not occur always, 
and it is better to lose some of the earliest than to never make any 
attempt to secure them. 
Hotbeds. —These are invaluable to all early vegetable growers. A 
fortnight ago we advised that the material for making them be col¬ 
lected, and they may now be formed. When the foundation is wet, or 
in a position to receive all moisture, they will not go on well for long, 
and if necessary we would make a foundation with branches and wood. 
The benefit of this little extra labour would soon be experienced, and 
the more firm the materials are put together the longer and better is 
the heat retained. A loose hotbed will heat quickly and violently and 
suddenly decrease, but a firm one will not rise to the extreme or drop 
immediately. They should all be formed in sheltered sunny positions, 
and extend 1 foot or more beyond the boundaries of the frames that are 
placed on them. We make some up in this way, and some of our 
frames are so deep that we put the hotbed inside them. Both are very 
useful. 
Early Carrots. —Now is the time to sow these in frames. They 
will be ready by Easter, and form one of the most acceptable vege¬ 
tables at that time. The little French Horn variety is the earliest. 
We grow them in the following mixture:—Ordinary garden soil, six 
barrowloads ; leaf soil, one barrowload ; sand, one barrowload ; and 
soot, half a bushel. A larger quantity may be mixed, but these are our 
proportions. They are all thrown together under cover, kept there for 
a few days if wet, and turned over two or three times that they may be 
all well mixed. This is then placed on the top of the hotbed and in¬ 
side the frames to a depth of 1 foot. It is firmly trodden down and 
levelled, and the seed is sown thinly and broadcast on the surface. 
More soil to the depth of 2 inches is then put over the seed, and the- 
surface is beaten down with the back of a spade. The lights are placed 
on immediately afterwards, and a little protection is thrown over them 
if the weather proves severe. The young plants appear from two to 
three weeks after sowing the seed, and as soon as they can be handled 
some of them should be drawn out, as it is very important for the suc¬ 
cess of the crop that crowding be avoided from the first, and at all 
times. If it is encouraged or allowed to go on the roots will be some 
weeks later in being ready for use than if they have space to develops 
from the first. 
Radishes in Frames. —We have tried the double cropping 
system of growing the first Radishes amongst other crops, but they 
were so unproductive in themselves and injurious to their associates 
that we have given up trying them with anything else, and now grow 
them alone. A one or two-light frame affords space to grow a great 
many. Indeed for private use we should not sow seed in more tlia,n one- 
light at a time, and this at intervals of three or four weeks. While we 
make hotbeds intended to last to a height of 4 feet we only make the 
Radish beds 2 feet deep, as this gives ample heat to bring them to 
maturity. The soil is placed in as if for Carrots, and made as firm as- 
possible, for in this rests the whole secret of getting every plant to form 
a bulb. When sown in loose soil the majority form too much top growth 
and no root, but extra firm soil will produce opposite results. Wood’s 
Early Frame is our favourite variety for a first crop, and as the seed 
always germinates freely it should never be sown thick. It will 
germinate in a few days, and if it is seen that the plants are too close 
some of them may be drawn out as soon as they can be handled. 
Radishes if secured extra early are a very remunerative market crop. 
Early Tomatoes from Seed. — Tomatoes are valuable and 
acceptable at all times, but when they can be cut in quantity in April 
and May they are doubly so, and by securing them very early and 
extensively as a market crop they would prove more remunerative than 
Grapes or Cucumbers. They are certainly easier to manage than either 
of these crops, and if several pits were devoted to them they would give 
much satisfaction ; but to be able to cut fruit in the months named the 
seed should be sown now, of an approved early cropping variety. 
Drain one or more 6-inch pots, fill them to near the rim with a mixture 
consisting of three parts loam and one of leaf soil or well-decayed 
manure. Sow the seed thinly on the surface and cover with 1 inch 
more of the soil. Place the pots in a temperature of 65° or 70°, and the 
young plants will appear in six or eight days. Keep them near the 
glass ; when 3 inches high transfer them into 3-inch pots ; use the same 
kind of soil, place them in the same quarters, and they will grow 
rapidly. 
Forcing Potatoes.— We have tried these in pots and boxes, but 
never with any great success, and the most profitable place to force them 
is in frames on hotbeds. Ours are near the Carrots ; all the beds are 
made together, and some are set apart for Potatoes. Into these we 
place soil consisting of three parts loam and one part of old Mushroom 
bed manure, with a dash of leaf soil if the loam is stiff. This is made 
about 1 foot deep, and the tubers are planted with a trowel. They are 
put down 6 inches, with 15 inches from row to row and 1 foot from set 
to set. The only variety used is Veitch’s Ashleaf, as it is very compact 
in growth and prolific. It takes them a fortnight or so to appear 
through the soil, and then the frames are ventilated a little on fine days 
and carefully covered at night when there is the slightest danger of 
frost. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
The Conservatory .— However well plants may be grown or effec* 
tivelv arranged this structure cannot be thoroughly enjoyed unless the 
surroundings are perfectly clean, therefore the stages, glass and wood¬ 
work, should be washed occasionally. The house is now gay with dwarf 
Poinsettias, Euphorbias, Centropogon Lucyanus, Primulas, Cyclamens, 
Cinerarias, Heaths, Solanums, Rhododendrons, and many bulbs. 
Epacrises .—These may be brought forward into bloom by intro¬ 
ducing them into gentle heat. Their slender stems crowded with 
flowers are charming when arranged to stand above plants of a dwarf 
compact habit. At no season are these plants more highly appreciated 
or display their beauty to greater advantage than during this and the 
following month. Their flowers last much longer now than when the 
sun has gained considerable power. This is not the only advantage,, 
for the plants start again much earlier into growth, and therefore have 
a long season of growth before them, and every chance of its being 
thoroughly ripened, without which the plants cannot be expected to 
flower profusely. 
Tulips .—The early Tulips that were placed thickly together in pans 
and boxes, and are now being forced, should, as they show the colour 
of their flowers, be lifted out. By so doing even pots or pans can be 
made up, and the flowers will last equally as long as if they were 
