48-1 
THE COTTAGE GARDENEll. 
March 24. 
llemove all tlio loose soil from the surface as far as the 
roots, and replace it by a layer of loam enriched with 
some leaf mould or woll-decomposod dung. After this 
is done they may he placed in their summer quarters 
out-of-doors. 
The linest plants of show Geraniums I ever saw, were 
placed during this season upon a levelled manure-heap, 
the heat of which was nearly over. These plants grew 
rapidly, and produced strong shoots clothed with the 
finest foliage, and whoever has such a convenience, 1 
would advise to try at least part of their stock in 
the same way. To prevent a heat too great, it would be 
an easy matter to cover the dung with a thick coating 
of sawdust or old tan, and half-plunge the pots in it. 
Where there is not this opportunity they should be 
placed in an open part of the garden, either upon gravel 
or coal-ashes, hut not thickly together, as if they were of 
no value now they are out of llower. A good cultivator 
will take just as much care of his gtlants after they have 
bloomed, and gratified him with their beauty, as lie did 
2 >revious to their disjday. They must be regularly supplied 
with water, and protected from high winds, insects, and 
anything else likely to injure them. 
As soon as there is the least fear of frost let them ho 
removed into the greenhouse. One point must not be 
forgotten : if they have made roots through the holes at 
the bottom of the pots, these should all be cut oh’ 
cleanly with a sharp knife, and the jdants replaced for 
a week or two, and a liberal supply of water given to 
prevent them llagging. Previously to placing them 
upon the stages of the greenhouse clear them of 
all dead or decaying leaves, and arrange the shoots 
for the following season, by thinning them out judi¬ 
ciously, and tieing them into form if they require it. 
The greenhouse to receive them will, of course, be 
thoroughly cleansed out, the wood painted, if it requires 
it, and the glass repaired. 
Winter Treatment. —This portion of Pelargonium 
culture may be described in a very few sentences. 
When the plants are first placed upon the stages they 
will require more water, because the air in the green¬ 
house is naturally drier than the open air; there¬ 
fore, water freely for the first month, and then 
gradually reduce the quantity. The best time for the 
watering during the damp months of autumn is early 
in the morning; by giving it then, the overplus that 
will run through the pots will have time to dry up before 
the evening. This will, in a great measure, prevent 
that plague, the spot, as it is called, making its appear¬ 
ance. The floor of the house should be kept as dry as 
possible, and in very damp, long-continued wet weather, 
a little fire in the morning, combined with a due admis¬ 
sion of air to carry ofi' the damps, will be serviceable. 
Abundance of air, whenever there is no frost, should be 
given all through the season of autumn and winter. 
This will induce that strong bushy habit so essential to 
the producing fine plants and rich bloom the following 
season. The green fly very often prevails during the 
early part of autumn ; these must be got rid of by 
frequent gentle smokings of tobacco. A constant super¬ 
vision must be bestowed in removing every yellow and 
dying leaf. If the soil becomes mossy or hard-baked 
on the surface, let it be stirred up with a pointed stick, 
the moss removed, and the surface loosened. Heat, in 
severe weather, should be applied just to keep the frost 
out, and no more; too mucli heat would bo quite as 
injurious as frost itself, besides rendering the plants 
more tender, and less able to bear frost or damj). 
T. Api’lery. 
{To he continued.) 
CELERY AND ITS CULTIVATION. 
If we take the lengthened period of a plant’s servi¬ 
tude as a proof of its utility and importance, there are 
not many that exceed Celery; for coming into use in 
the beginning of August, we have its services until 
the beginning of April; and, in some cases, even 
a little later than that. Taking also its general popu¬ 
larity into account, it is no wonder that its cultivation 
should form an important feature in the garden opera¬ 
tions of the season; and in most of gardens its import¬ 
ance is considered such as to entitle it to the best places 
that each afi'ord. In addition to this, every attempt 
made to improve the varieties in cultivation is gratefully 
received by the horticultural world; and though, as 
with every thing else, all that is reported “ new ” is not 
improvement, yet it must be admitted that much has ; 
been done during the last twenty years in that direction ; , 
and though we may occasionally see Celery with stalks ! 
hollow, or “pipy,” yet the proportion is small compared | 
with what used to be the case prior to the period I speak ! 
of. The plant being of llritish parentage partly ensures i 
its hardihood; and we may fairly set it down, that 
although, in common with many other plants, it sulibrs 
from exposure to severe frosts, yet it still deserves the 
name of one of our most hardy vegetables, and one 
likely to endure the vicissitudes of the season, so far as 
regards the changes of wet and dry, mild and severe, 
weather, with less injury than most other jilants. 
To obtain good Celery at the earliest possible jioriod, 
the plants ought to be so prepared, by early sowing and 
pricking-out, as by the time this reaches our readers 
to be lit to plant out into the ridges, or other places 
prepared for it. This, however, is not always the 
case; yet every one having the means ought to avail 
themselves of the chance of having early Celery, by 
sowing a pan or two, and placing it in heat some time 
shortly after Christmas. 'The seedlings from this sow¬ 
ing must be pricked out into other shallow jians or 
boxes, when large enough to handle, and then again 
placed in heat; and, jirobably, another planting-out 
into boxes a little deeper, &c., may be advisable before 
the season is so far advanced as to allow the Celery 
being planted out-of-doors. Now this sowing and those 
prickings-out must be done in an atmos))here congenial 
to the plant, or rather under circumstances favouring 
its growth, which is a mild and rather moist bottom and 
top-heat; and such present themselves in the ordinary 
hotbed, wdicn made of dung, or other fermenting 
materials. 
A gentle hotbed afibrds the best possible place for 
those seedlings, and if it can be so contrived as to allow 
such an abundance of air as to amount to almost com¬ 
plete exposure, the plants will be also benefited to an 
extent beyond which it will be difficult to advance by 
any known means. In this we mean also to include the 
plants being indulged with the best mixture the compost 
yard alibrds, and boxes, pans, or separate pots proper 
to its welfare being all taken into account as well. All 
these considerations, together with others of a minor 
nature, as occasional watering with liquid manure, &c., 
will, if carried out properly, be rewarded with a batch 
of fine sturdy plants by the middle of April, which 
ought then to be planted out in trenches })reviously i 
prepared on some early border, and where the advan- ' 
tages of shelter from cold winds form a feature in its 
recommendation. With all these advantages combined, 
it is likely that good useful Celery will reward the cid- 
tivator early in the season, provided that duo attention, ; 
in the shape of watering, stirring the ground around it, 
earthing-up betimes, and other duties, bo attended to 
when required. 
Apart from the above, yet equally important, if not 
even more so, is the sowing and roaring of plants, to * 
