404 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
[ May 19,1687. 
too dry, and it is a good plan to supply them with water heated to 90°, 
and then cover with hay. Mushrooms are acceptable at all times, and a 
lied or two may be formed now to bear in July and August. A cool shed 
is the best place for them now, and if made up, spawned, and earthed 
in the usual way, there is little danger of failure. 
Spinach. —Our Spinach sown last autumn was completely killed 
during the winter, but the spring sowings are in now, and its fresh 
delicacy is very acceptable. We regard Spinach as one of the most use¬ 
ful vegetables for a gentleman’s table. It can be used in such a variety 
of ways, is always a choice vegetable, and when well cooked it is 
delicious. Every gardener should have a constant supply of it, and this 
is easily secured by sowing a few rows once a fortnight. Unless the de¬ 
mand is great do not sow much at once, as it is apt to run to seed rather 
early in summer, and as soon as it does this it is useless. It will grow 
well in any good ground if sown in drills 2 inches deep and 1 foot apart. 
The round-seeded variety is the best for the summer season. 
Turnips. —Early William is now ready in the open. It is the best 
of all early Turnips. We have still roots of the Swedish variety in 
store, so that our supply of Turnips has extended throughout the year, 
but the Swedish are only good for flavouring now, whereas the Milans 
are tender and delicious as a dish, but the first will soon seed, then they 
become hot and dry, and to have summer Turnips good and delicate 
always they must be sown in small quantities and often. If two or 
three rows are sown now at intervals of ten days they will be much 
better than having them coming in widely apart and in large quantities. 
Veitch’s Red Globe is one of the best for present sowing. Hot dry 
weather does not influence its quality to any extent. As the early 
Spinach is cleared off sow Turnips in its place. No one need hope 
to secure tender Turnips from poor shallow soil, but where it is deep or 
moderately so and rich they grow fre'ely and prove first-rate in quality. 
Thinning Young Vegetables. —Turnips, Carrots, Parsnips, 
Onions, &c., are now growing freely, and many of them are becoming 
quite crowded in the rows and beds ; but there is always a danger of 
their becoming too much so, and this is the worst thing that could pos¬ 
sibly occur. Young plants that are overcrowded while small will never 
prove quite satisfactory when large, and many will fail to gain maturity. 
No over-thinning after crowding has taken place will ever compensate 
for the damage done to them in the first instance, and if crops of the 
finest quality are desired they must be freely thinned. They need not 
be thinned to the full extent when so small, but always keep ahead of 
crowding until maturity. 
Empty Frames. —Now that early vegetables are being cleared out 
of the frames many of these are empty, and as it is not profitable to 
allow them to remain so until the autumn or winter the soil they con¬ 
tain should be levelled, and then plant Vegetable Marrows or ridge 
Cucumbers in them. These, as is well known, will succeed in the open 
quarters, but in cold districts they will do better in the frames, and 
taking a crop of this kind from them is making the most of these 
structures. 
Spring Cabbages. —These are now large, firm, and excellent. 
Webb’s Emperor is early, large, and excellent in quality. In cutting Cab¬ 
bage at this time it is a good plan to allow the stems to sprout again, 
and to supply a large number of small heads in the autumn ; but those 
which have run to seed need not be left for this purpose, as they will 
not prove useful under any circumstances. 
Earthing. —In windy and exposed spots earth up all Cauliflowers, 
Brussels Sprouts, and such like, when about 6 inches high, as if the soil 
is well drawn up to the stems there is less danger of their being blown 
over or shaken at the root before gaining maturity than if left 
unearthed. 
Rhubarb and Seakale Flowering. —Almost as soon as both 
of these are fairly into leaf they begin to flower, and as this is not 
beneficial, every flower stem or head ought to be cut off before it has 
had time to open. 
Peas and Beans. —Now is the time to sow Peas and Broad Beans 
for a supply in August. In many cases Peas are very plentiful when 
they come in at first, but by the end of July the supply lessens, and by 
August they are frequently scarce. This is caused by sowing too many 
about the same time, and if three weeks were allowed to intervene 
between the sowings, and a good row or two made about the end of 
May, August Peas would be more plentiful. Sow on the trench 
system, give them plenty of manure, and they will prove luxuriant and 
fertile. Broad Beans should be sown on the level ground, but in deep, 
stiff, rich soil. 
Keep the Dutch hoe going amongst all growing crops. On no 
account allow the weeds to seed. Water any recently planted vegetables 
that are suffering from drought. Get the whole of the garden into 
first-rate order. Want of hands is often an excuse for disorder, but 
want of inclination may sometimes be included. Rest assured there is 
no profit in a badly kept vegetable garden, and a little extra help in the 
busy season will, as a rule, be amply compensated for before the year 
is ended. 
HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 
Stopping and Disbudding. — It is yet too early to stop the 
majority of fruit trees, more especially those that are well established, 
but many of those newly planted, may well be attended to. Wherever 
a good length of young wood is laid in, it is apt to break irregularly, 
the strongest shoots at or near the ends taking more than their share of 
sap. Take out the points of all but the leader, and this will encourage 
the back growths. Espalier or horizontally trained trees may, if well 
attended to, be induced to form two pairs of branches, thereby more 
expeditiously filling the walls or trellises. The leader being duly short¬ 
ened back at the winter pruning, say to a length of about 10 inches, 
will now be furnished with several young shoots. Select a well-placed 
pair for laying in right and left, and a third to take the lead, all the 
rest being pinched back. Early in July the leader should be stout and 
hard enough to be cut back to near whatever distance the horizontal 
branches are trained apart, and this will cause the formation of several 
strong shoots, from which another trio should be selected and treated as 
before. This rapid method of furnishing wall space ought not to be 
attempted in cold late districts, and wherever the earliest pruned 
branches do not always ripen properly, nor is it advisable in the case 
of the weakly growers. Peaches and Nectarines are setting excellent 
crops, at least where not injured by frosts, and they are also singularly 
clean and free from blister. What few leaves are badly curled should 
be removed, and in the case of the more vigorous trees disbudding and 
stopping may commence. Remove any very gross shoots, which, if left, 
soon spoil the trees. Pinch back to about four leaves any of the strong 
foreright shoots at the base of which young fruit are swelling, and rub 
off a good many inside shoots. Always reserve, and lay in when long 
enough, a young back shoot on the .upper side of each young fruiting 
branch, and another at or near the end. In most cases it is the former 
only that is needed for furnishing the tree with fruiting wood next 
season, the old fruiting wood being cut away at the winter pruning, 
but it is necessary to have foliage or active growth beyond the swelling 
fruit, or otherwise they rarely mature. Apricots will be thin this year, 
but it may yet be advisable to resort to thinning out wherever clusters 
of fruit have formed. When near the size of large Damsons the green 
Apricots are excellent for tarts, and we delay thinning till they are 
large enough to thus use. 
"Watering Borders under Copings. —One of the objections 
urged with some reason against glass copings is the fact that they appa¬ 
rently much weaken the trees. We have them principally over Apricots, 
and at one time the trees certainly deteriorated to a marked extent. 
This was simply owing to the principal portion of the roots being too 
dry, since they have been watered soon after the fruit is set and occa¬ 
sionally afterwards they have done much better. Even when revolving 
copings are fixed, these being adjusted when advisable to let the rain 
reach the trees, insufficient water reaches the roots ; in fact, half the 
Peach and Apricot trees on hot borders in this country do not get 
enough moisture at the roots near the walls. They may be moist on 
the top and dry as a bone a few inches down. Give them water and 
liquid manure occasionally, as well as a liberal mulching of manure, 
and better crops of fruit are certain to follow. 
Figs Trees Killed by Frost. —It is some years since so much 
damage has been done to the open-air Fig trees by frost. Many trees 
unprotected by mat and straw thatch or branches of Fir are killed down 
to the ground, while even the protected trees will in many places be 
very thinly set with fruit. Those cut down by frost frequently break 
strongly from the stem just above and below the ground or below the 
snow line ; but the shoots thus formed are long and sappy, and only a 
moderately severe frost will cripple them. Anyway, two or three sea¬ 
sons will be lost, as those rank growths are slow in arriving at a bearing 
stage. We prefer to start afresh with new trees, these usually fruiting 
either during the first or second season, according to the size of the 
tree, and do not grow so luxuriantly. Most nurserymen keep a good stock 
in pots, and these, if planted in a compost of fresh loam, garden soil, 
and lime rubbish or chalk in about equal proportions, and not allowed 
to suffer for want of water, will soon become well established. If 
planted when in full leaf it is not advisable to separate the roots from 
the soil, but as a rule they take to their fresh quarters more readily 
when many of the roots are disentangled and spread abroad in the soil. 
When planted with their balls of roots and soil intact they must be 
examined often and watered when necessary. Brown Turkey and White 
Marseilles are the hardiest and most prolific sorts. 
Netted Gooseberry Bushes. —Birds being very destructive to 
both the buds in winter and the fruit in the summer, it has been found 
the most economical plan to permanently enclose them with a frame¬ 
work and wire netting. Those who have adopted the plan, and to our 
knowledge the number includes several readers of this Journal, are 
strongly advised to have the roof only permanently covered and the 
sides temporarily. They should be closely covered in till such times as 
the birds cease to be destructive among the buds, after which the sides, 
at least, should be uncovered till the fruits are ripening and blackbirds 
are busy among them. When kept closely covered in the birds, notably 
the cuckoo, cannot get at the caterpillars, and the latter, therefore, have 
either to be destroyed by some other means, or otherwise they clear the 
bushes of leaves. This is no imaginary danger, as one large permanently 
enclosed breadth of bushes cost in one season nearly £5 to clear it of 
caterpillars. Fir tree oil, used at the rate recommended by the vendor, 
is a gcod remedy for this troublesome pest. Our protected bushes are 
usually earlier than those not covered, and certainly well repay for the 
extra outlay. 
FRUIT FORCING. 
Figs. —Earliest Forced Trees in Pots .—The watering at the roots 
must be lessened, but still afford the supplies needed to keep the foliage 
in good order, and discontinue syringing. For the colouring process a 
free circulation of warm air is necessary, leaving the top ventilators 
open a little at night, the highest coloured fruit being the best flavoured. 
As soon as the first crop is gathered commence syringing the trees twice 
a day, also watering copiously at the roots with weak guano or other 
forms of liquid manure, which will enable the trees to make a more 
