252 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 26. 
Again look at the protected plants to see they are dry. Grass, keep it 
clean and well rolled. Hedges, evergreen and otherwise, may yet be 
planted and dressed. Layers of evergreens, or deciduous shrubs, may 
be made as the borders are cleaned. Manure, in composts, apply to 
such flower-beds as may require assistance ; and in a solid, rotten state 
to alt Roses. Mulcii all newly-planted trees, &c. Potted’plants in 
reserve garden secure from frosts. Planting, push forward in mild 
weather. Privet, make cuttings of the young shoots for increase. 
Prune and regulate every tree or bush which requires it; be more sparing 
with evergreens. Ranunculuses, if the soil be dry, plant a lot for 
another succession. Roses, prune, plant, and dung, if not already 
done; protect Tea and young Bourbons; and wash them with strong 
lime and soot paint, to kill moss and insects. Seedlings, and all young 
plants, protect according to their hardihood and strength. Suckers, 
pull up and destroy, unless wanted for increase, as those of some Roses, 
ike. Trench vacant ground. Walks, roll as soon as they are dry, 
: after rains or frost, and keep them regularly cleaned. Weeds, destroy 
| everywhere. Wheeling, reserve for frosty or very clry weather. Four 
i times, within our memory, after unusual mild weather to the middle of 
January, we experienced severe frost and rough weather; provide against 
another of these trials in time, and see that everything is ready for 
securing a supply of ice at the first opportunity. D. Beaton. 
ORCHARD. 
Apples, cleanse from blight, moss, &c.; brine and soft soap are good 
for such purpose. Bush-fruit, plant, prune. Composts, procure and 
prepare. Cherries, plant, prune. Cuttings, plant oi Gooseberries. 
Fruit-room, look over weekly; be sparing in giving air; remove de¬ 
caying fruit, and keep the room dark. Filberts, plant. Fork, borders. 
Gooseberries, plant, prune. Layers, make. Loam, procure for 
stations. Mulching, perform. Mulberries, plant. Medlars, 
plant. Nails and Shreds , dress. Nectarines : See Peaches. Plums, 
plant, prune. Pears, plant; prune ordinary kinds. Peaches, plant, 
prune, train, and dress. Planting in general proceed with. Stations, 
make. Training in general proceed with, Trenching, carry on. 
Trees, stake. Vines, prune and train. Walnuts, plant. Wall- 
trees, in general prune and regulate, Wash, the following, may be 
applied to walls: two-parts soot, two-parts sulphur, four-parts lime, 
applied with a brush into every crevice; urine or soap-suds, or both, may 
be employed to mix with. R. Errington. 
FORCING-HOUSE. 
Air: See Ventilation. Asparagus, get out succession-beds on mild 
heat. Apricots: See Peach. Bottom-heats, sustain and assist, 72° 
to 78°. Cucumbers, top, dress, train. Cherries: Sec Peach. 
Coverings, use where possible, to save fire-heat, and to protect from 
extremes. Figs: See Peach. Fires, use discreetly. Glass, wash all 
roofs. Grapes, ripe, use fires and air liberally, remove decaying berries. 
Insects, extirpate: use fumigation, the sponge and soft soap. Kidney- 
beans, pot, and provide successions. Nectarines and Peaches , in 
bloom, air liberally, and shake to disperse the pollen. Mushrooms, 
protect well, if out doors ; in house, use much water on floors. Pines, 
continue to sustain proper heat to, cover well in dung-pits, and remove 
linings. Peaches: See Nectarines. Roofs, protect in boxes, tubs, 
ike. Strawberries, give air and light, use liquid-manure where 
blossoming; introduce successions. Tarragon and other herbs, in¬ 
troduce to heat. Ventilate as freely as you dare. Vinery (Early), 
proceed steadily ; keep a moist air ; raise the heat at blooming-time ; 
use sulphur against mildew. Water, always use in a tepid state. 
R. Errington. 
GREENHOUSE. 
Air, admit at every favourable opportunity, whenever the temperature 
outside is above 85°, except in windy or foggy weather, especially among 
Heaths, Epacrises, and Azaleas that you do not wish to bloom early. In 
foggy weather, though warm, it will be advisable to put on a little fire, 
to change the visible to invisible vapour. If the fog was of short con¬ 
tinuance, and could be kept out of the house, air might be dispensed 
with, as well as fires, though it should not be forgotten that the motion 
given to the air by a little firing is a great security for the health of the 
plants in dull weather. Soft-wooded plants should be kept at one end of 
the house. Bulbs and hardy Shrubs, such as Lilacs, Azaleas, and 
Roses, introduce from the forcing.house, placing them at the closest and 
warmest end of the house ; Calceolarias, Cinerarias, Geraniums, and 
Chinese Primroses, clean, shift, and supply at times with manure-water. 
Camellias and Cytisuses opening their buds, supply with manure- 
water. Climbers, prune in, if not already done, those that produce 
their flowers on the young wood; others, such as Kennedy as, now 
flowering and growing, attend to; and especally train, every day, the 
Tropaeolums , if you wish to prevent confusion. No time should be lost 
in potting such kinds as Tricolorum, Jarrattii, Speciosa, Azurea , &c., 
if not already done. Fires, light in close, dull weather, to enable you 
i to give a circulation of air. Beware of heating too much when frosty, 
I as, without due precaution, the atmosphere will be too dry; it is better 
to use coverings for the glass. Fuchsias : the forwardest may now 
I be pruned and repotted. Geraniums and Cinerarias will, in all 
likelihood, want cleaning and fumigating. The first may now be 
repotted for late May and early June blooming, and the latter must be 
shifted and kept growing, so as to prevent them throwing up flower- 
stalks, if late bloom and large specimens are desired. Where room is 
1 limited, a fine display is obtained by successions, and using not larger 
than six-inch pots. Not a withered leaf, nor an aphis, should stand 
longer than when seen. When the fly covers a leaf in myriads, smoking 
with tobacco then is tantamount to labour and money thrown away. 
Roses in pots, for April and May and June blooming, in the greenhouse, 
finish pruning ; wash with a paint of soot, sulphur, and clay ; top-dress 
I with rich compost; and plunge, if possible, in a house or pit—sawdust 
will be a good material—and give at first a temperature of 40° to 45° at 
night, and from 45° to 55° during the day. Succulents, unless growing 
| and showing flower, refrain from watering. Tropveolum Lobbianum , and 
Manettia bicolor, will be great ornaments now in a warmish dry green¬ 
house. Water plants only when requisite, and perform the operation 
after breakfast, using water rather higher than the medium temperature 
of the house. Place a few Achimenes, Gesnera, and Gloxinia roots into 
heat for early blooming. In a conservatory or greenhouse, where no 
hard-wooded plants to speak of are grown, and where a medium heat of 
50° can be maintained—that is, 45° at night, and 55° during the day— 
Poinsettia pulcherrima, Euphorbia Jacquiniflora , &c., may be in- 
troduced from the stove. For the Poinsettia especially, if a little extra 
heat can be given in April, a close cold pit in summer, an average night 
temperature of 50° in October, and a medium of from 45° to 55° in winter, i 
nothing can surpass the brilliancy of the large crimson floral leaves,fora ! 
couple of months, at this period, while the brilliancy remains longer in I 
such a house than in a plant stove. (See Calendar of last month.) 
R, Fish. 
KITCHEN-GARDEN. 
Artichokes, attend to, shelter, &c. Asparagus, plant in hotbed; I 
attend to that forcing ; temperature about 65°, and at night 50°. Beans, 
plant, b.; earth-stir among often ; advancing crops protect from frost; | 
plant in hotbed, if required. Beet (red), plant for seed. Brocoli, protect j 
from frost. Cabbages, plant, e.; sow, e.; plant for seed. Cardoons, 
attend to, shelter, &c. Carrots, sow small crop ; plant for seed; (early 
Horn) sow on gentle hotbeds, fill the frame up well with earth, so as to 
bring the crop up close to the glass; attend to early thinning-out, and 
earth-stirring with a little pointed stick among all frame crops. Cauli¬ 
flowers in frames, attend to protection from frost, and give all open 
air possible in open weather, by taking the lights entirely off; also, hand¬ 
glass crops, clear away all decayed leaves and slugs, and earth-stir often ; 
if young plants are required, a pinch of seed may be sown in pans, and 
placed in any heated structure, but have a gentle hotbed made up ready 
to prick them out upon, keeping the young crop up close to the glass. 
Celery, earth up, shelter, See. Composts, prepare and turn over. 
Cucumbers, sow and pick out; temperature, by day, 7 0° to 75°, and at 
night 65°. Dung, for hotbeds, prepare in earnest ; wheel on to vacant 
ground. Earth for hotbeds, prepare. Earth-stir, and fasten plants 
disturbed by frost, &c. Endive, blanch, protect. Frost, protect 
plants from, by temporary coverings Ground, trench vacant. Horse¬ 
radish, plant at any time during the month in open weather. Hotbeds, 
make and attend to. Jerusalem Artichokes, take up and replant in 
open weather, at any time during the month. Kidney-Beans, sow in 
succession in hotbed, &c. Kale (Sea), attend to; force, in succession. 
Lettuces, in frames, attend ; protect from frost; sow on warm border, 
e. Liquorice, plant, e., and dig up three-year-old. Melons, sow', for 
fruiting in May; day temperature 75°, night 65. Mint, force, in hot¬ 
bed. Mushroom Beds, make, and attend to those producing ; procure 
horse-droppings for. Mustard and Cress, sow in hotbed. Onions, 
clear from weeds ; examine stored ; sow a small crop, e. ; plant for seed. 
Parsley, sow, e., protect from frost. Parsnips, plant for seed. 
Peas, protect from birds, by straining a single string of worsted along 
over the row ; attend to the early Pea sowing as near the first of 
the month as possible. It is a good maxim to always have a mouse 
trap or two set about the pea quarters. Sow: earth-stir; shelter 
from frost; and prepare stick. This is a good season for making 
main sowings of early and second early Peas where the soil works well 
and the weather is open. Potatoes, plant in slight hotbed; and they 
may also be planted out in the open border, or quarters, in fine 
open weather, where the soil works well. Examine those in the store. 
Radishes, sow, in hotbed ; thin out as soon as the plants can be handled, 
and sift a little dry earth among them; sow in border, e. Rape (for 
salading), sow in hotbed; (edible-rooted), sow. Rhubarb, attend to; 
force either in pots, to be planted in some heated structure, or covered 
up with pots or tubs and fermenting materials. Salading (Small), sow. 
Savoys, plant for seed. Spinach, keep clear from weeds and fallen 
leaves ; make a small sowingtowards the end of the month. Tansey, plant 
in hotbed. Tarragon, plant in hotbed. Turnips, plant for seed ; should 
the weather seem inclined to set in severe, store in a good supply, or heap 
them to cover them over with coal-ashes. Weeds, continually destroy, 
and do any work which will lessen that of the following busier months; 
in particular, such as planting all the main out-door crops of Potatoes, 
wherever the soil will allow of it, and the weather is favourable. Wood- 
lice, destroy in the mushroom-house by trapping under dry hay, and 
scalding it in hot-water; or by baiting small pots with boiled potatoes, 
or slices of potatoes under dry moss. T. Weaver. 
London : Printed by Hugh Barclay, Winchester High-street, in 
the Parish of Saint Mary Kalendar; and 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 London.—December 26, 1854. 
SUibcvti^cnmitiJ. 
Just. Published, Price 6 d., 
The POULTRY-KEEPER’S POCKET ALMANACK 
AND 
Diary of Prorrctfwcpa tu iljc pnultry-^avtf. 
By the EDITORS of “THE POULTRY BOOK.” 
Besides the usual contents of an ALMANACK, 
it comprises a RULED DIARY, with the requisite directions for 
recording the transactions of the Poultry-Yard. Also directions for the 
Management of Poultry ; Drawings of Spangled, Pencilled, and Laced 
Feathers ; with much other useful information. 
Published by W. S. ORR & CO., Amen Corner, Paternoster Row, 
London ; and to be had of all Booksellers. 
