January 19. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
299 
and easy to cover. This stopping process, or stumping, 
is often obliged to be resorted to by the best forest 
primers when they have to deal with trees; I mean, any 
forest trees that have been long neglected. Thero is so 
mnch thinning to bo done at once, that if tho one-hall 
of it were done in one season, many treos would suffer 
severely from it, and so they hit on this stumping plan, 
to arrest the swelling of such branches as they intend 
to remove ultimately. D. Beaton. 
(To be continued.) 
LOOKING AROUND US. 
The last three weeks have been trying ones to the 
patience of anxious amateurs—the let-well-alone policy 
is one they are very slow to learn. Many an anxious 
look has been given to plants in cold-pits, when true 
prudence would have kept the glass shut, and tho cover¬ 
ing untouched, except for turning and breaking it. 
Writing this on the 9th, it is now more than three weeks 
since the plants in our cold-pits saw the light of day. 
I know the inside was cold enough, and, therefore, no 
air was necessary. The snow constituted a valuable 
protection until the 7th, when it began to melt rapidly. 
I have glanced in at a corner or two, and have no 
reason to be alarmed, but, as the covering is not tho¬ 
roughly thawed, I shall leave it as it is a day longer. 
When first uncovered, if the day should be sunny, a 
little shading will be necessary. Air, too, after such 
confinement, should be given gradually, not too much 
at once. I mentioned, the other week, the importance 
of giving a little air, even if the covering was kept on 
several days, whenever the temperature within was high 
enough to encourage growth. The first opportunity 
should be taken to remove every damped or decaying 
leaf. In all structures capable of being heated, the 
keeping constantly covered would neither be necessary 
nor useful; but in severe frost, as we have had, the 
thermometer sinking from 10° to 22° below freezing, 
covering the glass, where practicable, becomes both 
useful and economical. The plants are not dried and 
drawn, and the coal-heap is saved; besides, a minimum 
of attention is required. Large fires pre-suppose fre¬ 
quent waterings, and admittance of air, too, when the 
plants would have been better in a cooler atmosphere, 
and without the admission of dry, frosty air. Hence, in 
a greenhouse, kept in mild weather at from 45° to 50° 
at night, I would prefer that that house should range 
from 35° to 40° during a few nights, with 10° to 20° 
below freezing out-of-doors. A gardener lately wrote to 
me, that he had covered all the pits and houses he 
could, though ho could heat them, and he was sure, that 
with an outlay of a few shillings on litter, his plants 
would look better than some of his neighbours, who, in 
similar structures, had kept out frost by the cost of 
many pounds for coals alone. 
Watering .—In cold pits, little of this will be required 
for some time to come. When the weather brightens, 
and a plant, or pot of plants, gets dry, it is best to lift 
the pot out, and replace it when drained. In houses 
heated, watering will be most wanted where the flue or 
pipe is hottest; and whatever needs it should have 
enough at the time to reach every root. In the case of 
a flue, the necessity of frequent waterings should be 
avoided in severe weather, by having evaporating pans, 
or vessels filled with water, set over the heating medium. 
This will prevent tho atmosphere being dried. In mild 
weather it matters not whether these vessels arc full or 
empty, as if there is no fire-heat evaporating from them 
will proceed but slowly. Much care is necessary in 
watering all greenhouse plants in frosty weather, and an 
effort should be mado to spill as little as possible. A 
little fire-heat with a frosty air outside dries the soil in 
pots very quickly. Such things as Cinerarias, Gera¬ 
niums, and soft-wooded plants, show this before much 
mischief can be done; but in the case of Heaths, 
Chirozomas &c., if you wait until you see the llagging 
signs of dryness, you may pretty well take them to their 
last resting-place at once. Fine specimens of these 
should be examined by weight and striking their sides 
with a knuckle almost every day. In the case of the 
whole of the pea-blossomed fraternity of compact hard- 
wooded plants, such as Gastrolobium, and other 
allied genera, with a similar termination of “ loUum" 
as was long ago demonstrated, they must neither be dry 
nor soaked, or the rootlets go to a certainty. Drainage, 
therefore, must be perfect; and, at times, the means 
mentioned the other week must be resorted to in water¬ 
ing, when the specimen is large. Any one of our readers 
as fond of fruit as they are of flowers, and who have 
succeeding in gathering Strawberries from January to 
March from plants that were runners the previous 
season, will have no difficulty in keeping these hard- 
wooded plants in just the right condition. Copious and 
good directions have been given about Strawberry grow¬ 
ing, but when wanted early, a vast deal depends upon 
the watering. If left too dry, the fruit embryo is dried 
up; if too wet, a gouty dropsy is the result; and in 
winter especially, the disuse, or the ill-use of water 
affects injuriously our pot plants. Let the water during 
winter be always a few degrees warmer than the house. 
Plants in Windows .-—Judging from what little we 
have seen of window-gardening, many of our friends 
will have to visit the plant stores next season. Large 
fires, the dry air of the room, aud the neglect of the 
water-pail at the roots, and the sponge over the foliage, 
have left nothing but dried skeletons, where a month 
ago all was fresh aud luxuriant. The soil, in some 
cases, had been of a loamy character, and so thoroughly 
baked and hardened had it become, that with neither 
finger nor nail could I make an impression upon it. 
Whole tribes of Geraniums, Myrtles, &c., were not 
worth a brass farthing, Fuchsias presented the only 
hope, inasmuch as there might be vitality below the 
soil, though there was none above it. Others, to save 
trouble, had for three weeks kept their window-plants 
on the chimney-piece, or in a recess by the side of the 
parlour chimney, and their dusty, weakly aspect was 
enough to give one the blues. 
A few, copying the example of our old friend, Mrs. 
Think-in-Time, had plants in their rooms almost sufficient 
to make us blush for our own. No dust had been 
allowed to fall upon them ; the leaves had been sponged 
every week; the roots had been watered just as they 
needed it; not a vestige of a yellow leaf was allowed to 
remain; every possible ray of light was given when 
safety from frost was secured; and when cold was ap¬ 
prehended the plants were removed from the window, 
aud covered up at night. The first mild sunny day the 
window will be opened a little, and by-and-by the plants 
will be set outside. Plants in living-rooms, however, 
suffer but little from close vitiated air ; every opening 
of the door brings a fresh supply. It is the heat, and 
the dryness of the air from the fire that injures them, 
and these can only be counteracted by nearness to the 
glass in the day time, so as to cool, as well as have 
light, and a damp atmosphere by sponging and sprink¬ 
ling the foliage. 
Manure Water. —This, in a weak state, will now be 
of advantage to Cinerarias coming into bloom, Camellias 
in bloom and opening their buds, Chinese Primroses, 
Ageratums, Salvias, Tropooolum Lobbiana, Lachenalias 
showing bloom, Cyclamens ditto, Perpetual Carnations, 
Pinks, Scarlet Geraniums in a blooming state, &c. 
Most other things in a greenhouse should have clear 
soft water at this time. 
