THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
taken up in the autumn, and put in, by the heels, 
in light soil, under a shed; if with a north aspect 
all the better. A little hay, or other litter, thrown 
over the stems, when very cold, would preserve 
them all right until planting time in March or April. 
Pruning any thing of this nature must bo avoided, 
with the general stock, which, if not cut in the 
autumn, or in mild weather, should be deferred until 
the buds are beginning to break in the spring; and 
all the tender kinds should never be pruned until 
that period, as thus, not only is their safety better 
secured—a cut in winter being an unpropitious 
opening for allowing moisture and cold to pene¬ 
trate—but at that period many nice little shoots, of 
but an inch in length, may be obtained from the cut 
off parts, which are just the very thing for making 
nice little plants quickly, when inserted in a mild 
bottom-heat, and their iittle leaves kept from flag¬ 
ging, by a close atmosphere, and dustings from the 
syringe. But there are many strong-growing, robust 
kinds that may be pruned at any time, as freely as 
you would prune a gooseberry-bush; and among 
these — because, comparatively, little pruning is 
wanted—we would class the most of the hardy 
climbers, that cover trellises, and are fastened to 
stakes, or allowed to clamber over dead and living 
trees, almost at their will. Here the pruning con¬ 
sists chiefly in shortening the main shoots—thinning 
them out where too abundant—and shortening to a 
spur, or removing altogether, the small spray that 
had flowered the previous season, along with all 
dead and decaying matter. Any tying might be 
done in the middle of the day, or even left to a 
future occasion ; but the thinning and pruning part 
could be done as comfortably in frosty weather as 
at any other time, and even more so, for there woidd 
be hard standing for the feet, and the hands might 
be comfortably ensconced in gloves—one of the few 
occasions, however, in which a gardener has any 
use for these muffling appendages. 
Blower-beds. —Where these are planted with 
bulbs, or annuals, for an early display, little can be 
done, except to mulch the former, and protect the 
latter with branches, with a mat thrown over either 
occasionally, in extreme cases. Were we to use 
annuals to any extent for this purpose, instead of 
sowing, or planting them out in autumn where they 
were to blow, we should prefer transplanting them 
in patches, from a reserve garden, in March. This 
practice would enable you to give the beds intended 
for them—as well as those beds which remain empty 
until they receive their summer and autumn bed¬ 
ding-out plants—frequent turnings, and deep stir¬ 
rings, during the winter. If this is done in frosty 
weather, many injurious enemies will receive their 
death blow. This deep-stirring of the soil will well 
repay you in thefollowing season, as it will alike pre¬ 
vent your plants from shanking off with an accumu¬ 
lation of moisture, and save you much trouble in dry 
weather, so far as the use of the water-can is con¬ 
cerned. It matters not whether the plants you use 
root deeply, or merely carpet the surface of the soil 
with their fibres; in either case, the deep stirring of 
the soil of the bed will allow the redundant moisture 
to escape, and guarantee the raising of a considerable 
supply from beneath, by means of evaporation and 
capillary attraction in the hottest weather. It is a 
mistake, however, to suppose, that in advocating 
this deep stirring, we wish you to turn down your 
surface soil, and bring up to the surface, from the 
depth of a couple of feet or so, the soil found there. 
This would just be doing what some farmers on a 
[January 24. 
large scale may have done once in their lifetime; 
and, consequently, ever afterwards became—and with 
their experience to support them—firm adherents 
to the scratching four or five inch depth system, 
beyond which they would deem it next to sacrilege 
to go. From repeated dressings—from even the 
bandsful of prepared compost, put, year after year, 
round at least the smaller of your bedding-out 
plants—the surface-soil of your beds must become 
ameliorated, whatever be its natural constitution. 
Instead, therefore, of bringing up an understratum 
to the surface, as you might do in an old deep-soiled 
kitchen garden, it is better to mingle only a portion 
of the under soil with the upper every year. For 
this purpose, and also to effect this deep stirring, 
a sufficient opening should be taken out to enable, 
you to dig deeply, or even pick the under soil, and 
then the surface-earth may be laid in ridges upon 
the surface again. It is improper, in all cases where 
much nicety is required—and more especially in such 
flower-beds which you wish, as soon as possible, to 
be comfortably warm—to bury at any great depth 
frozen earth ; but the turning of such surface ridges 
on a frosty day would be attended with the greatest 
benefit; for, after all, frost is the best and cheapest 
of all pulverisers and clod crushers. 
Secure your plants in pits and frames, and do not 
be in a hurry to uncover them. Be on the look¬ 
out for fermenting material; for cutting-striking time 
will soon be here. R. Fish. 
GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW 
GARDENING. 
Protecting, &c. —Thick and thickening have been 
the inquiries lately, as to the best means of heating 
pits, greenhouses, and hothouses; for Mr. Frost 
arouses attention to many things that should have 
been thought about before the trees were stripped of 
their foliage. But the protecting of glass, by means 
of external coverings , is a subject that with many is 
ill understood, and worse practised. Those who 
have made the subject matter of inquiry, cannot 
always act according to their convictions of what is 
right. Many, who take a pride in their gardens, 
would rather burn more fuel than be annoyed with 
the sight of any protecting medium whatever placed 
over their glass. Sometimes a provisional grant of a 
hot-water pipe is obtained by some of us, upon the 
condition that no risk of breaking glass, or taking 
the shine out of paint, is to be encountered from mats 
or hurdles! Now, with a proper command of a heat¬ 
ing medium, it is an easy matter to keep up the re¬ 
quisite temperature even in very cold weather; but 
we contend there is more injury occasioned by doing 
so, than would have been effected by smaller fires, in 
connection with either partial or general covering. 
This injury is apt to take place from two causes: 
first, the increased temperature from fire-heat—it 
matters not in what shape applied—will cither dry 
too much the atmosphere of the house, and thus 
the plants will be deprived of their juices, so as to 
endanger the drying up of their tissues; or, secondly, 
if means are taken, in such circumstances, to com¬ 
municate moisture to the atmosphere, in proportion 
to its increased temperature, then the apparent rate 
of growth will bo more a mere extension of what the 
plant previously contained, than an assimilation of 
fresh material to its substance. In cold, dull weather, 
with moderate fires, and suitable outside covering, 
there would neither be a drying of the stems of the 
plants, nor yet an encouragement to growth, when 
