332 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 20. 
FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
Auriculas and Polyanthuses, proceed without delay to top-dress 
with rich, light, well-sweetened compost. Water them two or three 
times during the month, giving it only in the morning ; give plenty of 
air on every mild day, but shut up early, and cover up securely every 
night, for a sudden frost would cripple the blooms. Calceolarias, 
repot; sow seed of, keep clear of insects, and give air daily, to prevent 
damping-off. Carnations and Picotees, attend to with water and 
plenty of air in mild weather. Cinerarias, smoke frequently to 
destroy green fly; repot, middle of the month; give free supplies of 
water to, and plenty of air. Chrysanthemums, put in cuttings of, 
latter end. Dahlias : look over the roots, and remove all decayed 
bulbs. Set some in a warm place to start growth, and alFord cuttings. 
Fuchsias, pot, latter end; put in cuttings of scarce sorts early, to 
afford good blooming plants in July. Hyacinths, protect from severe 
weather, with hoops and mats. Pinks, in fine weather stir up the sur¬ 
face of the soil; press any that the frost may have disturbed down into 
the earth again. Ranunculuses, plant early in the month, choosing a 
dry day for that purpose. Tulips, shelter from frost and heavy storms 
of rain, snow, or nail. Verbenas, look to, trim off all mouldy leaves, 
i give water to when needful, and plenty of air every day not actually 
I frosty. Water, give to all florists’ flowers in pots. Should the green 
! fly appear, promptly destroy it by tobacco smoke. Look after Slugs in 
the frames or pits, and destroy them. T. Appleby. 
PLANT STOVE. 
Air, give freely on all proper occasions, but shut up early in the after¬ 
noon. Cuttings of various plants desirable to increase may be put in 
towards the end of the month. Divide Herbaceous Plants, such as 
Achimenes , Bilbergias , Titlundsias , Vriezia, and Hedychiums, repot and 
divide also. Ixoras (specimen plants), repot; prepare young plants of, 
to make specimens by potting, tying-out, and giving more heat and 
moisture. Insects, diligently extirpate, by every means, such as 
cleaning the plants with a sponge, smoking with tobacco frequently, and 
washing the pipes with sulphur-water to destroy or keep down the red 
spider. Potting: this is the month to *go through the whole of the 
stock and repot them; let batches of such things as Achimenes, Ges- 
neras , and Gloxinias , be potted from time to time. Water, give freely 
as the plants grow and the days lengthen. Soils, prepare for use by 
placing them under cover to dry and warm. Syringe : use this in¬ 
strument almost daily, to give moisture to the air, and refresh and 
cleanse the leaves of the plants, and to keep down the red spider. Let 
everything be kept clean and sweet, let no decaying leaves be seen, nor 
moss appear on the pots or walls. T. Appleby. 
ORCHID HOUSE. 
The season has now come when the general potting of the orchids will 
be needful. Numbers will be growing, and then is the best time of all 
for potting. The materials must be provided in good time, in order to be 
in good condition. Fibrous turves of peat, the same, of loam, sphagnum 
or white bog moss, charcoal, and broken potsherds, arc the principal 
articles wanted. New or well-washed pots must also be provided- The 
turf should be brought under cover and placed where it will become 
partially dry. It might be laid upon the pipes or flues for that purpose. 
I Air will, during the month, be frequently necessary. To keep the house 
j up to the mark of proper heat, good fires will be necessary, and if the 
i sun should break forth, the thermometer will run up rapidly, and then air 
! is necessary to reduce the heat. Blocks: the plants on these will re- 
| quire the syringe to be used daily ; refresh such plants on them as need 
I it, with new blocks, before the plants begin to push forth. Baskets, 
I renew when necessary. If the baskets are made of wire, give fresh 
| sphagnum, and larger baskets, if needful. Dendrobes will begin to 
1 show buds of bloom, give water to and repot them as they need it. 
Heat: the season of growth for most kind of orchids being come, the 
heat may be increased 10° by day, and 5° by night. Insects must be 
diligently destroyed. Moisture in the Air, increase during the 
month. A dry atmosphere, now the plants are growing, will cause them 
! to grow weak and spindly, especially Dendrobes ; let the pipes, flues, 
walls, and floor be diligently wetted every day, especially in the morning. 
! Potting, proceed with without delay; if the young and tender roots 
I push much before this is done, there is great danger of their being broken 
off. Watering at the root to plants growing must be given freely. Let 
all the walls, 3tages, shelves, window-sills, and the glass, have a thorough 
j cleaning, to sweeten the air of the house. In potting, attend to the 
leaves and stems of the plants, sponge them well over in every part; 
nothing is so injurious to plants as having their breathing pores stopped 
with moss or dust. T. Appleby. 
ORCHARD. 
Apples, prune, train, and plant. Apricots, plant, train, and cover, 
b. Blossoms, cover directly to retard. Cherries, plant, prune, 
train. Chesnuts, plant and sow. Currants, prune, plant, b. Cut¬ 
tings of all fruits, plant, b. Dressing, carry out of all borders ; 
beware of the spade. Filberts, plant; hang catkins, and remove 
suckers. Gooseberries, prune, plant, train. Grafts, collect imme¬ 
diately ; put them in a cold corner; in May commence operations at, e. 
Layers, make. Medlars, plant. Moss, remove; use brine. Mul¬ 
berries, plant. Nectarines, plant, prune, train. Orchard-trees, 
! finish planting and pruning; top-dress old ones. Peaches, as Nec- 
j tarines ; apply sulphur and lime wash. Plums, plant, prune, train. 
Pears, plant, prune, train. Quinces, plant. Raspberries, plant, 
prune, tie. Suckers, remove from all fruits. Vines, plant, prune, 
train. Walnuts, plant and sow. Watch for the scale, aphides, and 
other insects, and try to utterly exterminate them. R. Errington. 
FORCING HOUSE. 
Air, admit on all occasions, if safe. Apricots : see Peach. Cucum¬ 
bers, keep good linings to dung-beds; sprinkle bed often; air fre¬ 
quently ; bottom-beat 90 ° maximum. In houses, train regularly, stop i 
occasionally, and give liquid manure, with a moist air heat of 70 ° to 80°. ! 
Cherries as Peaches, only a lower maximum—say 70° sun heat. Cap¬ 
sicums and Cm lies, sow, b. Figs as Peaches, only a higher minimum 
—say 60 °. Grapes, late, keep dry and cool; thin the berries. Heat, 
in all cases, in proportion to, and advancing with, light. Kidney- 
beans, 65° to 70°; plenty of air, moisture, and a light situation. 
Melons, sow; provide beds, &c.; air-heat, 70° to 80°; bottom-heat, 
90 ° maximum. Moisture, constantly provide the air with, wherever 
fire-heat is used. Nectarines as Peaches. Pines (Fruiters), rising, 
increase warmth and air moisture ; liquid-manure to the roots occa¬ 
sionally ; ( Successions ) still dry if in dung-pits. Peaches, disbud, and j 
pinch gross shoots ; fumigate occasionally. Potatoes, get out sue- 1 
cessions. Strawberries, introduce plenty ; keep moist air, frequent I 
ventilations near glass; maximum 65°. Tomatoes, sow, b. Ven- | 
tilation, night and day, as long as air, moisture, fnd heat is secured. 
Vines, disbi.d early, and attend to thinning the berry; keep clear of all I 
waste spray. Keep a mellow state of air, neither damp nor dry, but a 
permanency of air moisture. Watering, attend to with regularity and 
precision. R» Errington. 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Artichokes, defend from frost. Asparagus, plant in hotbed, and 
attend to that forcing. Balm, plant. Beans, plant; earth-stir, and 
transplant from frames, e. Beets, sow a little for early use; plant for 
seed, and dig up for storing any left in the bed. Borecole, sow, e. 
Brocoli, sow a little, e. Burnet, sow or plant. Cabbages, plant ; 
sow ; and plant for seed. Carrots, sow on gentle hotbed for early use ; 
attend early to thinning advancing crops, &c.; plant for Seed, e. Cau¬ 
liflowers, attend to, airing, earth-stirring, removing all decayed leaves 
and slugs; plant out winter standing, should the weather be open and 
mild, and attend to spring-sown crops (see last month); sow, if required; 
prick out. Celery, attend to carthing-up, protection, &c.; leave for 
seed, and sow a little for early use. Chervil, sow. Chives, divide 
and plant out. Clary, sow, e. Comtosts, prepare and turn over. 
Coriander, sow. Corn-salad, sow. Cucumbers, attend to those 
forcing ; prick and plant out; and sow in hotbeds. Dill, sow, m. Dung, 
prepare for hotbeds. Earthing-up, perform when necessary. Endive, 
still protect from wet and severe weather. Fennel, sow or plant. Gar¬ 
lic, plant. Horse-radish, plant. Jerusalem Artichokes, plant. 
Kidney Beans, sow in succession, &c. Keep a good supply of earths 
in the dry for immediate use. Leeks, plant for seed ; sow, e. Lettuces, 
plant out from frames, &c., of the winter standing, towards the end of 
the month, and sow in the open border. If short of plants, sow in frames 
on a gentle hotbed at the beginning of the month. Liquorice, plant 
and dig up. Melons, plant out for early crops ; sow and pot off; attend 
to this sort of work on a kindly calm afternoon, just before sliutting-up 
time. Mint, force, in hotbed; plant. Mushroom-beds, make in suc¬ 
cession, and attend to those in bearing. Mustard and Cress, sow in 
succession. Onions, sow main crop towards the middle to the end of 
the month ; also plant for seed, if not done ; and plant the Underground 
or Potato Onion. Parsnips, take up where left in the ground till now; 
plant or leave for seed ; also sow towards the middle of the month, par¬ 
ticularly in light soils. Parsley, sow. Peas, sowings may be made 
both of early and second on the same day, where the soil works well, as 
the one will be found a good succession to the other at picking time ; also 
to suit some unfavourable situations, it is well to sow in frames in small 
pots, or in sods of turf, which is by some thought best, to plant out when 
a good season offers ; also attend to slicking, earthimr-up, and protecting 
other forward crops. Pennyroyal, plant, e. Potatoes, plant in hot¬ 
bed of any favourite early kinds; this may be done from the first to the 
end of the month ; also plant out during this month all the main crops, 
if the soil will admit of it, and plant whole sets in preference to cut ones; 
also look over those in store, often to keep shoots rubbed off. Radishes, 
attend to (see January), and sow in succession either in border or hotbed. 
Rape (for salading), sow; (Edible-rooted), sow. Rhubarb, sow in 
large pans, or open warm border, and attend to that forcing, either in¬ 
doors, or cover up with pots, or tubs, and fermenting materials. Sage j 
and Savory, plant, e. Salsafy, sow, e., in small quantity, for early I 
use. Savoys, sow, m. and e. Scorzonera, sow, e., in small quantity, 
for early use. Sea-kale, attend to that forcing; cover up in succession. | 
Sualots, plant. Skirrets, sow, e. SriNAcn, weed, sow, m. Sor- i 
rels, sow or plant, e. Tansy, Thyme, and Tarragon, plant, e. 
Turnips, plant for seed; sow, e. Vacant Ground, dig; weed, &c. 1 
There is a right time and a right way of doing everything. Plant out in 
rnild, open weather; wheel out manure, Sic. on frosty mornings, or on a 
fine, dry day; make good use of the hoe on fine, dry days, in stirring 
among the various crops ; look over all in-door stores in rainy weather ; ! 
and tie the ends of new mats before they are applied to use. 
T. Weaver. 
London: Printed by Harry Wooldeidge, Winchester High-street, 
in the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; aud Published by William 
Somerville Orr, of Church Hill, Walthamstow, in the County of 
Essex, at the Office, No. 2, Amen Corner, in the Parish of Christ 
Church, City of Loudon.—January 26th, 1854. 
