March 27.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
307 
plan to have two plants in one pot, or ball, of all the 
kinds that may be trained flat on the beds as soon as 
they are planted. Then, at planting time, I would split 
the ball a little on the top between the two plants, and 
let each lean a little to one side; a much safer way than 
planting a whole ball, which might get so dry in a few 
days that no water could get into it. I never allow a 
whole ball to he planted, under any circumstances, for 
that very reason; if there is only one plant in the 
middle, more than one-half the ball is shook oil', hut the 
great hulk of our stock here is planted with only as 
much soil as will hang to the roots, because we turn 
them out into cold beds in April, into leaf-mould and 
sand, as fast as the weather will allow us to trust them 
under mats, or some temporary coverings. Here they 
stand full in the sun and get very little water, so that 
the change to the flower-beds is hardly felt; hut then 
every plant is watered as soon as it is put into the ground, 
and when a bed is finished a rose pot is applied all over, 
and next morning the plants look more fresh and bulky 
than they did in the reserve beds. 
This is the right time to plant out old plants of Ver¬ 
bena venosa, for the shot-silk-like bed. They are hardy 
enough to stand the winter; but they must not be left for 
another season without changing and making the plants 
smaller, by dividing the roots, if they were left undis¬ 
turbed they would grow this next summer so strong, as 
to master the variegated geraniums, and render the 
whole bed next to useless. It is upon the nice balancing 
of the two plants together that the effect is brought out, 
and small plants of both are better than large ones, if 
they are planted thick enough. The way we do here, is 
to take up the old plants before the winter, cut off the 
tops, and plant the roots under some spreading tree in 
the shrubbery, and if hard frost sets in we throw some 
boughs over them. The bed is then partly renewed with 
fresh compost, dug roughly, and about the end of March, 
when the weather is dry, it is forked deeply to mix it 
well. The old plants are taken up, and the strongest of 
the underground runners are cut into pieces, from four 
to six inches long, and the pieces are planted in rows, 1 
a foot apart every way, and ten inches from the outside 
of the bed. They are covered two inches thick with 
soil, and, as each patch is planted, a little stick is stuck 
down at the place, to guide the planter. When the 
geraniums are put in next May, one row is planted 
round the edge of the bed, and then along between the 
sticks; when there are plenty of pieces on hand, three 
or four of them may be put together to guard against 
failures. When the Geraniums are put in a foot apart 
each way the bed looks nearly thickly enough planted, 
without the verbenas; indeed, if the geraniums touched 
each other all over the bed, it would not be too thick. 
The verbena shoots will be able to push up among the 
branches of the geraniums ; and if these shoots become 
in the least crowded, some of them must be cut back, or 
pulled up altogether. After the middle of July, the beds 
must, or should, be looked over regularly once a week, 
to see that no part is too thick or too thin of shoots; 
that none are longer than the rest; in short, the whole 
should appear like a new-made bouquet, for the whole 
season. There are iro other two plants in England that 
will produce the same effect; and 1 hope I have now 
explained all that is necessary to know how to make a 
rich ornament of this bed, about which I have bad more 
inquiries than any one could believe. 
Companion to the Calendar. —1 have told lately 
how much amused I was with a threatening, that if we 
did not tell all that was written in the former volumes 
to a new subscriber, some of us would be “ sent to 
Coventry; ” and all of us have acknowledged that much 
of our contributions is suggested by the letters of cor¬ 
respondents. Now, without having any objections to go 
down to Coventry, or to Rath either, I should very much 
like to please new subscribers, if it were only on account of 
their having got into good company, and a Companion to 
the Calendar is the best form that I can think of for such 
a purpose. Then, to carry it out, I would suggest that 
each of us should give an article or two every month, in 
explanation of the Calendar: saying why such and such 
things ought to be done so and so, and how to set about 
it. In this way all our new subscribers will come in 
for the cream of what has been already said in former 
volumes. At any rate, if each of us had a monthly 
article to explain the calendar for that month more at 
large, we should be killing two birds with one shot, if 
not three. New beginners, of whom a rising crop is 
ripe annually, would be better instructed ; old ones 
would be reminded of the principal things to be done 
during the month, as, at present, by the calendars, with 
this addition, that the reasons for particular ways 
would be added, and the writers would escape, so far, 
from the artillery of correspondents. We need not, 
however, tie ourselves down to any particular rule, but 
each, in his own way, write what he thinks most needful 
for a class of readers. Next week I shall endeavour to 
put this idea into form ; and, from my own personal 
knowledge of the anxiety of my brother writers to do 
what is most likely to advance the usefulness and credit 
of The Cottage Gardener, I am quite sure they will 
fall in with my views. 
Meantime, to make up for this digression, I propose 
an entirely new flower-becl for next summer. I made 
some trial experiments last year, from which I believe 
the bed will answer perfectly. It will be a neutral bed, 
made up of equal quantities of the Zauclimeria Cali- 
fornica and Gupliea strigilosa; the former quite hardy, 
and the Cuphea all but hardy, so that; it is easy to find 
plants for this arrangement. Take old or young plants 
of both (but not old plants of one, and young ones of 
the other), and plant them in rows—one of Cupheas, 
and the next of Zauchsnerias, and so on, all over the 
bed; their leaves will relieve each other. Their mode 
of growth and flowering is the same, and the red colour 
of the Californian will blend well with that of the 
Cupheas. D. Beaton. 
GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW 
GARDENING. 
GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF GREENHOUSES —( Continued ). 
Ventilation. —I have already alluded to the temper¬ 
ature, and ventilation and firing are the means we 
possess for regulating it. Means should be secured for 
a thorough circulation of air from the sashes in front, 
and the highest point in the roof, as there the heat will 
generally be the greatest. In cold weather in winter, 
! unless there are means for heating the air before it 
| enters, the little given should be at the top of the house, 
as thus the cold dry air would be heated and absorb the 
moisture before reaching the bulk of the plants. When 
the air is very dry, and the weather very cold, the less 
air that is given the better. In such circumstances, the 
heating medium should be cool before the sun strikes 
upon the house, and then the sun-heat will raise the 
house the less; and 10° or 20°, for a short time, from 
sun-heat, is a very different affair from having that 
increase from artificial means. The prudent gardener 
must, therefore, be so far a weather prophet, as to notice 
the signs of what is coming. The most knowing may 
be outwitted at times, such as when a bright day 
succeeds a very cold dull morning; but even then, in 
very cold weather, when the house temperature rises 
rapidly from the fire and sun-heat combined, it is safer 
to shade a little, in preference to admitting a great body 
of air. For greenhouse plants, generally, in favourable 
weather, too much air cannot be given, night or day, 
! 
