THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
47 
Apeil 24.] 
friends or connections at Caraccas or Maracaibo, or, indeed, 
in any of the great towns in Venezuela, should endeavour to 
enlist their good services to procure some of the rare and 
beautiful plants which inhabit the deep forests of those 
regions, or the mountain ranges of Merida, from which 
hardy or half-hardy fine things could he had in abundance; 
hut in attempting importations from thence the unfortunate 
fate of Hartweg’s collections at Carthagena must not he lost 
sight of. If any of our supporters should determine on a 
trial of this nature, we think we could give them such infor¬ 
mation as would he likely to lead to success. 
Uropedium Lindenii was discovered in the woods of New 
Grenada during 1843 by Mr. Linden. The sepals are 
yellowish white, the petals, including the tail-like labellum, 
are of a similar pale colour. B. J. 
THE EEUIT-GARDEN. 
A Calendabjal Companion. —It is strange to reflect, 
that two minds, wide, it may be, as the poles asunder, 
shall drop simultaneously on the same idea, as it were, 
intuitively. Yet, so it is, and our worthy friend, Donald 
Beaton, lias actually been guilty of the robbery of a 
favourite idea of ours, as to this Companion to the 
Calendar. We beg pardon, it is scarcely robbery, it is, 
perhaps, in politer terms—anticipation; or it may be 
something else. Be these things as they may, there can 
be little hesitation in following such a leader; and we 
must this week take the liberty of doing 30 , believing 
that we shall be rendering the state a service. 
Bottom-lieat, Renew. —The most jealous care is neces¬ 
sary over all removals of fermenting materials in the 
month of April. Young gardeners are apt to forget, that 
a double or treble stimulus to fermentation has arisen 
in the great increase of the average heat, as also in 
the impulsive power of intense sunshine. For these 
reasons, we would never plunge any pots their whole 
depth at the spring removal; but rather add what tan or 
other material is necessary by degrees, as the heat sub¬ 
sides. Those who are inexperienced should make a 
point of feeling their trial sticks daily, at a given time. 
There is an old saying—“ What is done any time, is 
never done; ” and young beginners should suffer them¬ 
selves to be influenced by its moral. 
Cucumbers: Frequently remove linings. —Nothing tends 
more to preserve the inmates of frames, under early 
forcing, in good health, than frequent turnings of the 
linings. Most of the cases of “ burning,” are traceable 
to the neglect of this. We would never, if possible, 
suffer any lining to remain undisturbed for more than 
a week, any time between the commencement of frame 
forcing and the beginning of May. The linings should 
be removed alternately; never both at once; and 
water shoidd be freely applied. A quiet day is most 
proper, for there is apt to be an inconvenient loss of 
heat on such occasions. When turned, the linings should 
be topped up with fresh materials, and at the next turn¬ 
ing the latter may be thrown into the bottom. 
Figs. —These are exceedingly apt to cast their fruit, 
and it perhaps oftener happens through want of mois¬ 
ture than any other cause; not as to the amount, at 
any given period, but as concerning regularity of supply. 
Grapes: Increase the air to those ripening. —This, in 
other words, signifies let them ripen steadily; do not 
hurry them, if flavour and good colouring is an object. 
Many persons, in their anxiety to have grapes ripe by a 
given period, sadly prejudice the character of the pro¬ 
duce. We have always found, as to in-door fruits, that 
the slower they ripen, the better they are, both in colour 
and flavour. Some of our readers may have noticed the 
effects of a lowering of temperature on the Keen’s seed¬ 
ling strawberry. Through the pressure of various things 
in the forcing house, in March and April, we have often 
known a half-gathered crop in pots compelled to give 
Way to others of a fresher character; and we have known 
the rejected ones, crammed away into cold frames, pro¬ 
duce much superior fruit to those which were gathered 
from them in the house. Indeed, we have known the 
premier prize taken by berries thus ripened, and they 
were almost black in colour, and of the most exquisite 
flavour. Such matters should not be passed by as trifles 
by our rising gardeners—they point to facts of great im¬ 
portance ; facts which possess a wider bearing than 
light thinkers are willing to concede to them. 
Peaches : Disbud slotvly. —To this we may add, watch 
the development of gross shoots, commonly termed 
“ robbers.” Let it be a maxim to cause them to give 
up their unjustly gotten wealth betimes, by beheading 
them; a rather severe judgment, to be sure, for the 
fashionable vice of monopoly. It is, however, the most, 
I had almost said only, legitimate way of training a 
proud tree, and of equalising its strength. As we have 
repeatedly shewn, years since, all the fine diagrams of 
winter pruning would never effect an equalisation of 
the sap. Indeed, it is matter of notoriety, that since the 
fallacy of such notions has been rendered so potent by 
the horticultural press, during the last seven years, those 
fine hair-splitting systems, and fantastical modes of 
training, have almost disappeared from the stage. Thank 
God, we say, for the advent of so much common sense. 
Tomatoes. —Who does not relish a little of this deli¬ 
cious zest with a rump-steak? Now this is a clumsy 
customer to ripen in the north. Our London fair-wea¬ 
ther gardeners little imagine what battles we fight, in 
order to induce tomatoes to colour at all on the open 
walls. Early sowing, say end of January, fast cultiva¬ 
tion when up, and a thorough hardening off', are here the 
best preparatory steps. A south wall is the only certain 
aspect with us; and this can be ill-spared, as everybody 
knows. In addition, we deem it necessary to plant them 
on mounds, raised six or eight inches above the ordinary 
level, and this, in order that a wholesome check to ram¬ 
pant growth may be always at work, for every trifling 
drought through the summer, curbs their fitfulness, and 
keeps them short-jointed. We do not plant out finally 
until the second week of May, and they are then robust 
plants, almost Showing bloom; and even then it is well 
to bang a spruce bough over them, for fear of an 
undue visit from the ice king. 
Thermometer.—Beware of extreme night heat. We 
are quite aware that “ extreme night heat ” is a most 
indefinite affair; yet such is the amount of brevity in¬ 
herent in all calendars, that everything is compelled to 
wear an apotliegmatical and sententious character; aijd 
this, indeed, rvould seem to point to the propriety of the 
course suggested by Mr. Beaton. By extreme, was meant 
attempting the maximum point, on every occasion, for 
the sake of accomplishing, it may be, an uncertain good. 
There can be little doubt tliat much lower night tempe¬ 
ratures are endured, nay, enjoyed, by most of the in¬ 
mates of our hothouses in their own climes; for it must 
be remembered, that if a blind adherence to what is 
termed nature, is to be the sole maxim, we must, fori 
sooth, have our tornadoes, our harmattans, and now 
and then a rattling hail storm. These things, however, 
would ill assort with our tender hothouse pets, and, 
therefore, such extremes are more honoured in the 
breach than in the observance. For instance, who can 
prove that a thermometer of 50° at night would be inju¬ 
rious to vines under forcing, provided they had been 
brought up hardy,—by which we mean liberally venti¬ 
lated, no codling? We throw this out as a hint for 
consideration. 
Having done with the fruit-forcing calendar, with 
now and then a skip—which said skip strongly reminds 
us of a skipping schoolmaster, who, not being well up 
in his scholastic lore, used to say to his boys, when he 
met with those long and difficult names with which 
