154 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 20. 
almost as well lie in bed—plants or trees that are 
placed out separately to form handsome specimens 
need not—indeed, should not—be placed in large 
pits in the first instance. It answers better to open 
the ground, every third or fourth year, outside the 
roots, and place a ring of good soil for them. When 
that is being done it is an easy matter to adjust the 
roots so that they make the best of the new soil; 
such as are naked, or getting too woody, ought to be 
cut back considerably, so as to produce a lot of young 
active mouths, and some rare species may be thus in¬ 
creased by making cuttings of such roots, or, what is 
preferable, when a long root is cut to keep it within 
proper bounds, the cut-off end may be drawn up so as 
to have a few inches of it exposed above the surface; 
and any root that will grow at all will have a better 
chance of doing so in that position than in any other 
way, as the whole length of its extreme end is still 
fixed in its original position. In all cases were addi¬ 
tional good soil is given to plants growing surrounded 
by grass it will be right to place a couple of inches 
of the poorest soil on the surface lor a bed to the 
turf, because without this the grass on the new relaid 
turf over the good earth would grow rank and greener 
than the surrounding surface, forming a “ fairy ring;” 
and all this work should be got over before the sap 
begins to move in the spring. Old honeysuckles, 
clematis, climbing roses out of health, tree poeonies, 
magnolias in dry places, new pinuses, and indeed all 
new and old trees, ought to be seen to and helped 
whenever a symptom of stand-still is manifest. 
D. Beaton. 
GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW 
GARDENING. 
Protecting Plants, Watering, &c.—Last week, 
among other matters, we directed attention to the 
importance of keeping green-house and window 
plants in cold pits comparatively cool and dry 
during the winter. This dryness, or withholding of 
water, will depend considerably as to whether the 
plants in pots are set upon a stage, on wood-shelves, 
or upon the ground, or floor of the pit. If upon the 
shelves, more water will be necessary, as the plants 
will be unable to absorb much moisture from the 
medium upon which the pots are placed. But even 
then nothing like an indiscriminate use of the water¬ 
ing-pot should be resorted to. The plants, or pots, 
of cuttings that seem unable to supply the means of 
evaporation from their foliage should be carefully 
singled out, and just receive as much water as would 
thoroughly reach all the roots, but not so mucli as 
would run over or through the pots, and thus deluge 
the floor of the pits, as the drier it can be kept the 
better. Where only a few plants want watering, and 
the collection is not large, it is advisable to lift the 
plants out, and return them again after being well- 
watered, and the extra moisture drained away. All 
the instructions so frequently given in calendars, &c., 
about watering so many times in a week, just go for 
nothing. The watering must be regulated entirely 
by the state of the weather, the condition of the 
plants, and the position as respects the temperature 
and moisture in which they are placed. We have 
several times endeavoured to show the evils of the 
dribbling system, and the necessity of watering only 
where it was wanted; then doing 'it effectually, anil 
waiting quietly until the services of the water-can 
were again required. This must be more particularly 
attended to in the circumstances to which we are 
now referring—when obliged to water some plants 
in a growing state, and in a genial temperature, two 
or three times a week. 
I have frequently had plants in these cold pits 
that did not require a drop for two or three months. 
There, moisture is always more ruinous than dry¬ 
ness. When the plants are set upon the floor much 
less watering will be necessary than when they are 
placed on shelves, as from the floor and atmosphere 
combined they will obtain nearly as much moisture 
as will meet the demands of the evaporating pro¬ 
cesses. True, if a sunny day cheers us in a course of 
dull foggy weather, the plants may appear a little 
distressed, as they have become unused to perspire 
so freely. Well, and shall we not give them a good 
drenching now, says some score of young ardent 
gardeners at once, to whom the sight of a leaf a little 
llaccid, or drooping, is wofully distressing. Perhaps 
it may be necessary, but, at all events, do not do it 
recklessly, and in a hurry; for though we like to see 
things done expeditiously, we have little faith in any 
thing that is set about in a hurry. Have you never 
experienced a strange glimmering sensation in your 
organs of vision when, after being shut up in a com¬ 
paratively dark place, you at once emerged into the 
full blaze of a noonday sun ? There was nothing 
wrong with the eye, but it required a little time to 
get used to the sudden transition from darkness to 
light; just so, in a majority of cases, will it be with 
plants in such circumstances. It is not so much the 
want of moisture as the sudden transition that affects 
them—a transition from a state of absorption in dull 
foggy weather, to one of perspiration in a bright 
day. When emerging suddenly from darkness into 
light, we instinctively shade the eye with the band ; 
and a worse policy might be resorted to in the case 
of plants so circumstanced, by first blunting, for a 
time, the force of the sun’s rays. It will, generally, 
then be found that the plants will regain their usual 
appearance before the evening. However, as the 
presence of the sun in winter is too valuable, for 
hardening and condensing the tissues of the plant, 
to be long dispensed with, the tendency to flag in 
these sudden changes may be prevented by lessening 
the powers of the foliage, by dusting the plants seve¬ 
ral times with a fine misty vapour from the syringe, 
and giving but little air, as the keeping the plants 
comparatively close in sun heat will have none of 
the weakening and drawing tendencies that keeeping 
them thus shut up in a dull sultry atmosphere would 
unquestionably have. If the sun should thus appear 
for days, then watering will very likely be wanted, but 
should never bo given without examining the plants 
individually, and performing the operation in the 
morning, that the surface of the pots may become 
comparatively dry before night. In fact, when only 
a few require it, and time is no object, the pots might 
be set in water, within an inch of the surface, 
allowed to drain, and then replaced—as, if dull or 
frosty weather should succeed, the drier the soil is 
the better will the plants be preserved, as the cold 
will have less influence, and evaporation from the 
soil will be diminished. Too much moisture in 
winter is the great thing to be avoided in cold pits. 
In Constructing any Pits, therefore, either of 
brick or of turf, for such purposes, and that are to 
receive no assistance whatever from artificial heat, 
guard especially against sinking the bottom below 
the ground level—rather let it be elevated above it, 
well drained, and concreted. 
Many of us professionals have our troubles with 
these sunk pits, but that is no reason why you should 
