7G 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
OCIOBEE 31. 
meaning people, who raised an outcry against it, some 
English turf would hardly be fit to walk upon by this 
time; we should have nothing better than the muddy 
worm-casts in winter, and a husky, hard, dry, harsh 
bottom for the rest of the year, only fit for iron heels 
and hob-nailed shoes. Early frost is the worst of all 
for carpet moss ; it stops the grass from growing, there 
is no bite for the scythe, and the moss rules the roast 
till next March or April; then, aud under this state of 
things, moss does a great deal of harm by choking the 
finer grasses, aud occupying their place. In our climate 
the scythe should not go to rest, on the average of 
seasons, till the end of November, and that solely for 
the sake of the moss, which requires to be kept down in 
October and November, with as much care and diligence 
as we apply to short grass in March and April. English 
lawn-moss has the same habit as Tulips and Hyacinths; 
it begins to grow soon after the middle of September, 
and goes on growing all the winter and spring, but goes 
to rest for the summer. Now, if it is neglected all the 
time it is in growth, how can it be expected to improve 
the lawn? Another most extraordinary fancy took hold 
of people’s heads, about getting rid of the worms on the 
lawn, as if they were not industrious enough, and the 
best fertilizers in the world; were it not for the worms, 
our lawns, in a few years, would be worse off than if 
there was no moss at all; what with mowings and 
sweepings, and other necessary hardships, the surface of 
the lawn would soon wear patchy, were it not for the 
worm-casts. It is truo, wo might sift good mould, wheel 
it on the lawn, then sweep it about, and when it was 
quite dry roll it in, just as nine men were doing under j 
the north wing of the Crystal Palace, the last day I was 1 
there; but it is equally true, that we might forget all 
this at the right time, nine times out of ten. The 
worms, however, never forget the right time, and they, in 
their way, compel us to look after our lawns just at the 
time when we might think lawns could take care of 
themselves for the rest of the season. The worms and 
the moss had a rich harvest of it this time, like the rest 
of us, aud the consequence is, a nearly double the usual 
work to keep the grass in good order, with the full 
assurance, that those who live the longest will find the 
benefit of all this sweeping, scratching, and rolling. 
Very fine-sifted coal-ashes is the best of all dressings 
for a good established lawn, but for new places, or where 
the surface of old lawns is patchy, the plan at the 
Crystal Palace is the best, only that it should not be 
done till after the last mowing for the season; it was 
not for feeding or encouraging the grass that they were 
laying on that rich loam at the Crystal Palace, but in 
order to fill up cracks and fissures which the dry autumn 
made in their stiff clay bottoms, the quantity they put 
on was just sufficient to fill all these rents, and no more, 
and they might mow over it next time without disturbing 
the dressing. Where moss has been neglected, and has 
got the mastery over the grass, in some bare places, now 
is the time for a good scratching over the moss with an 
old rake; after that an old birch broom, which never 
sweeps clean, is the best to tease and gather up the moss; 
after that a few handfuls of grass seed thrown over the 
place (aud November is au excellent time to seed old 
lawns ) will improve it sooner than anything, if a little 
sifted earth is put over the seeds, and the whole is well 
rolled when the surface is perfectly dry; but it stands to 
| reason that no more sweeping, or disturbing of the 
i surface should be done for the rest of the season, only 
j the roller now-aud-then during the winter, and after 
■ frosts, when the grass is perfectly dry ; but for a lawn 
i that has had no amendments this autumn, the grass 
| may be wet or dry, as it happens, and roll equally well. 
WINTERING HALF-HARDY PLANTS. 
There are more prospects for a lucky hit at keeping 
half-hardy flower-garden plants this winter than we have j 
had for years past, and, therefore, the more stimulus for 
us all to push our practice in this department farther 
than some peoplo could dream of years ago. Old speci | 
mens of all plants for the flower-garden are most useful 
in May, and every plant that can be saved from the frost 
should be looked to at once; damp is more to be dreaded, 
however, at this early season than frost; see, therefore, 
that none are crowded into damp pits at first taken up; 
a certain degreo of dryness is essential now, whether 
plants are potted or merely kept loose in their balls, so 
that sheds and outhouses arc more useful just now than 
closer quarters. I have cut off every one of the old 
leaves from all my own Scarlet and other border Gera¬ 
niums, and I have close pruned many of them, all but 
the strongest shoot, for training them into pyramids 
another season; then, after cutting back the roots a 
good deal, I got as many as eight two-year-old Tom 
Thumbs into No. 16-pots, and adding one-third dry sand 
to good mellow loam in a dry state, I was able to shake 
it well among all the openings between the roots, then 
a good watering, and exposure under the walls of the 
garden, with mats stretched over them at night. Here 
I shall keep them out as long as it is safe, and mean¬ 
time they will ripen better, make young roots, which 
can work very freely in the sandy compost; and those 
of them which I must keep dry for want of room will 
be better able to bear it than by any other means known 
to me. I shall not let the soil get quite dry about them 
before Christmas; in the meantime, I must look over 
all their wounds two or three times, and cut off a little 
here and there wherever I see symptoms of decay. 
Nothing is more dangerous during the first two months, 
after much pruning at this season, than the festering of 
wounds at the ends of soft branches cut off, and the only 
remedy is to cut back a little to the quick again and 
again till the parts are dry and firm. Ten days ago, I 
cut back all my older Geraniums quite into the hard 
wood, not a leaf was left; the roots were also closely 
pruned. 1 put them in by the heels in sandy soil, rather 
moist, and in an outhouse, where I can cover them over 
with mats, and keep a smart frost from them; they are 
beginning to root famously already ; their heads will be 
as dry as faggot-wood before I shall have to put them 
down in the cellar, and then a little moist soil about 
their young roots will keep them fresh all winter with¬ 
out damping the hard branches. 
These are the sorts of plants to keep plunged in pots 
all next summer, where Geraniums go too much to leaf, 
aud do not flower so free on that account; depend upon 
it we have a good deal to learn on this head yet. I 
never needed to plunge pot-plants at Shrubland Park ; 
recollect, the last year I was there, I had to make up a 
bed under the Albert Tower at the end of June, with pot 
Geraniums in full bloom; they were all odds and ends, 
some young, some old, aud some very old indeed; but the 
very oldest answered best, and some of the best looking, 
at first, being the youngest, did not turn out so well as 
I expected. After the first flush of bloom was over, i 
the rest was not much to boast of in comparison to the i 
old stumps, which most people would be afraid to 
venture in one of the most conspicuous situations about 
a place, but that bed opened my eyes to the value of old 
Geraniums, and if it had not been my lot to be at work 
near the sea, on the west coast of Argyleshire, whence 
we had au excellent communication this very day from 
“ A Lady,” I should keep every morsel of my very oldest 
Scarlets, aud prune them just as close, top and bottom ; 
as I have just said, keep them out of pots all the winter, 
very dry overhead, but with a little moisture round the 
roots the whole winter; towards the end of March I ! 
would pot them singly in 82-sized pots, and in a very 
