34 
it should be covered higher than the sides, in order to 
get a fall for the rain, and so get it away from the bed 
altogether, if possible ; for, after all, wet and damp are 
more dangerous, or, at any rate, more difficult to guard 
against, than the hardest frost we ever have in this 
country. After trying many ways this is the most 
effectual, plan I know of, when carefully done and 
attended to afterwards. When I first left the Agapan¬ 
thus out in the bed all winter, I had great difficulty to 
save the leaves from damping off ; it was then that I 
tried the layer of small sticks, in order to let in a current 
of air at times for the use of the Agapanthus leaves, hut 
I found the benefit of the plan so useful that I recom¬ 
mend it in all cases of this sort. A lady, from Ireland, 
who visited the garden some years back, told me that 
she had a large root of this Agapanthus which stood out 
all weathers for many years, and all the protection she 
gave it was a barrow-load of ashes, spread out to four 
inches thick, and rising in a cone in the middle, over 
the heart of the plant, without attempting to cover the 
leaves all over; the frost soon cut them oft', and when 
she took off’ the ashes, in the spring, she cut away the 
remaining parts of the leaves. Sometimes this plant 
was forgotten until the frost killed all the leaves quite 
to the ground, and she never found that that was any 
harm, for the plant flowered every year equally strong. 
Ever since, I have cut off the leaves of our plants before 
the bed was finally covered for the winter—some time in 
December; from October to that time the plants were 
protected only by a layer of fern, packed in among the 
leaves, leaving the top part of them free to the frost. 
Speaking of Agapanthus, it may be useful to some to 
learn that worn-out plants of it in pots will do very well 
lor planting out in beds, and that in the course of three or 
four seasons they will be improved to such a degree as to 
do for pots again, much better than plants reared in the 
usual way. There is no plant more uselul for out-door 
decoration in summer than this Agapanthus, or Blue 
African Lily, as they call it, and no plant can hear so 
much hardship or do with less attendance; and if the 
Lord Mayor was compelled to keep some plant in flower, 
lor the summer mouths, on the top of St. Paul’s, this is 
the only one in the catalogue that would be likely to 
suit him. Yet a long course of hard management, 
cramped in pots, will tell upon it in the long run, and 
this way of planting out such plants is the best way to 
bring them round again, and also the best way to get 
up large plants in a short time from little side-suckers; 
so that, independently of its great beauty and novelty 
in a bed in the flower-garden, I think I have made out 
a case in favour of turning out the Agapanthus into 
beds. 
Another way of getting over the winter with a bed of 
half-hardy things is this :—Let us say that a protected 
, bed of Cupheas, Salvias, Verbena venosa, or any other 
plants require renewing with fresh soil, and that a few 
fine days in January or February offers a good oppor¬ 
tunity for getting this work done. It is not a good 
plan to replant such a bed as soon as it is renewed, and 
then to cover it over for the sake of the plants; but the 
j plants must be saved while the bed is getting mellowed 
I by the weather, and the simplest way of doing that, is 
to plant the roots in the shrubbery, under some large 
busb, covering them with light soil, and then with some 
leaves or dry litter. We have often kept plants this 
way for a month or six weeks, and sometimes for the 
whole winter. An old tree, out of the way, is a good 
place also :—pack the roots all round the tree, and the 
bottom is sure to be dry,—the first consideration; then 
cover them with straw, placing the ends up against the 
body ol the tree, and tying them round with a rope or 
string, making quite an umbrella all over the plants or 
roots. I have saved plants this way, after losing part 
ol the same sorts under the stage of a greenhouse. 
October 10. 
Again, when half-hardy plants that have been growing 
in pots through the summer are to be housed in sheds,- 
cellars, or under the stages in the greenhouse, it is much 
the best plan to turn them out of the pots, and to plant 
them in as much soil as will cover the balls, and no 
more; the pots will be useful for other plants, and the 
roots of the stored plants can thus be kept in an uniform 
state—not quite dry, but not wet; to prepare them for 
this change, water the pots well two or three days before 
the plants are stored; every part of the ball ought to 
be wetted through and through hy this watering, and 
the whole be well drained of the extra water before the 
storing takes place; then the soil for packing the balls 
in should be a little moist,—damp sand is the best; and 
when the whole is finished, an inch or two of soil or 
sand, in a perfectly dry state, should be placed over the 
whole surface; this very dry covering is the best part 
of the whole process, as it prevents any damp from 
below, and still will keep the roots and soil in a medium 
state for a very long time. All the Fuchsias will keep 
very well this way in a shed, if hay or straw is put over 
the tops in hard weather; roots of Saida chamcedriokles 
and patens, of the common Scarlet Lobelias, very weak 
roots of scarce Dahlias, and many other things of the 
same description, we have kept repeatedly, just as here 
described. Now let us hear how our readers have 
managed. D. Beaton. 
GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW 
GARDENING. 
A few Words with our Friends the Window 
Gardeners. — Bulbs. —In the cold days of winter, how 
cheering do Crocuses, and Snowdrops, and Tulips, and 
Hyacinths, and Narcissuses, &c., look in a window, when 
all is dreary and desolate without. The two first I have 
mentioned are rather impatient of all fostering, and can¬ 
not, without much trouble, be made to bloom out of 
their usual time. They who have them in a garden, 
and wish to stock their window with them as early as 
possible in spring, may lift them in patches a month 
hence, pot them, and introduce them into the window 
when the buds begin to swell, keeping them in the in¬ 
terval where the pots shall be protected from frost and 
drenching rains, though a fair soaking will do them little 
injury if drainage is secured, and freezing prevented. 
As the flower will depend more upon the matter stored 
up in the bulb than upon present treatment, if the 
necessary amount of moisture is supplied, the plants 
will generally do as well, if flowering merely is consi¬ 
dered, if potted when the first growth appears above the 
ground. In the case of all the other bulbs generally 
grown in windows, and especially when bought in a dry 
state, the sooner they are potted now, the better they 
will thrive; as whether bloomed in window or green¬ 
house, a fine flower-stem greatly depends upon getting 
the roots in advance of the leaves. Copious lists of the 
most useful varieties have already been given, and direc¬ 
tions for treatment have not been wanting. For the 
sake of new beginners, some of these may be cursorily 
I glanced at. 1st. Soil. —Rich sandy loam will be the 
i most suitable. The mud and ground stone, cleared 
■ from a highway, laid up by its side, and allowed to con¬ 
solidate for several years, when dug into, and mixed 
with a small portion of sweet, very rotten dung, or 
| decayed vegetable soil, such as tree leaves, will answer j 
j admirably, not only for this purpose, but for nine-tenths j 
of the plants usually grown in windows and small green¬ 
houses. 2nd. Size of Pot. —This should be small rather 
than large, to enable you to have more pots in the same 
room, to move them more easily, and to afford an oppor¬ 
tunity for packing a greater number, when in bloom, in 
vases or baskets. With proper attention as to watering, 
TIIE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
