48 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[April 34. 
J 
our Bible abounds, “ Skip it lad; neither thee nor I | 
knows it!”—having finished that, we proceed to a few 
things in the hardy fruit-garden. 
Blossoms of watt-fruit protect and retard. —Everybody 
now knows what protection means; but are not so know- j 
ing as to the retarding principle, which is as yet only in j 
its swaddling clothes. Itis, however,afine baby, and will, 
doubtless, one day grow up to be a credit to its parents, j 
Our worthy editor seemed to regret that we had not | 
stirred nearer the bottom when disturbing this subject j 
in the number for April 3rd. The fact is, we thought 
it anything but premature to discuss this matter so late j 
in the spring—a matter better fitted, perhaps, for the 
middle of January. Still, “better late than never,”—a j 
maxim as broad in its bearings as charity itself. There ; 
can be no doubt of retardation being a fact, and a great 
fact too. We have not here room to go into the philo- ! 
sopliy of the tiling, but a little careful consideration will I 
show any one its bearings. If any one doubts it, let I 
him try the reverse course for three consecutive springs, 
and see what the average effect of premature excitement j 
can accomplish. This, although not logically conclu- ! 
sive, will yet have the effect of tearing away any film J 
from the eyes which may hitherto have obstructed the 
vision, and of affording a broader glimpse of the subject. 
Mulching. —It is of no use at the end of April await- j 
ing to discuss the over-nice point of whether mulching ! 
does, or does not, prevent the soil receiving the rising 
solar heat. That it does so, there can belittle doubt; 
but it is not a question of heat alone. It is by far more a 
question of moisture ; permanent moisture, we mean, as j 
concerns transplanted trees especially. In advising the 
million, therefore, we say, mulch or top-dress all newly- 
planted trees at the end of April; and do the same to 
all half-starved or meagre-looking fruit-trees, as also to 
all full-bearing kinds, especially if the subsoil cannot be 
relied on. 
Wasps destroy. We confess to believing in the doc¬ 
trine, that keeping down wasps in the spring, as surely 
tends to keep down nests in the ensuing summer. Not 
being entomologists, our readers will doubtless excuse 
a country joke about them. We have a wasp-wise per¬ 
sonage, a shrewd old countryman, who has had much to i 
do with catching wasps, and taking them here, for the 
last quarter of a century, and who bears the very popu- j 
lar cognomen of Tom Brown—a surname second only 
to the Smiths in our directories. Tom affirms stoutly ! 
that every other year is a wasp year, come what will; 
and that, strange to say, those springs that produce most ' 
single wasps, are by no means the most prolific in nests. 
We cannot vouch for the depth of Tom’s philosophy, 
but really Tom has facts on his side very frequently. 
R. Errington. 
THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 
I 
Gladioli. —Now is a very good time to plant out the ! 
different varieties of these very showy border flowers 
that were potted last October and November, and kept 
in cold frames, and which may now be live or six inches I 
high in the leaves. Also a good time to plant the last j 
lot of bulbs of the Gladiolus psittadnus, and its seedling 
varieties, which do not require to be potted or planted ’ 
till the spring. We have often advised that these spring ! 
gladioli should be brought on in three successions, by 
planting some of them in February, others in March, 
and the last lot about this time, which will carry on the 
bloom till the middle, or end, of October. Those, there- j 
fore, who may wish to try this experiment for the first j 
time, will still find dry buibs, or roots as they are called, ' 
in the seed shops, particularly the London houses. Last i 
week I put the last hundred bulbs of the psittachius j 
iuto a bed of pure sand, in the reserve garden, to root I 
and sprout a little, so as to be forward enough for plant¬ 
ing finally where they are to bloom sometime after the 
middle of May. The spaces they are to occupy being 
now too full of other things for spring flowering. I 
never found that moving them from this temporary 
arrangement had any ill effects either on the bulbs, or 
on their flowering, if they are carefully handled at the 
time of transplanting, so that their tender roots are not 
broken or crammed into narrow dibber holes. The roots 
spread out in all directions in the loose sand, and they 
will carry some of the sand with them when removed, 
therefore, the best way to plant them, is to open a flat 
drill three inches deep, if they are set in rows, or if in 
patches, to take up a spadeful of soil, and put five or 
seven of them together, a few inches apart, then to 
cover them with some light compost, and give them a 
good watering to settle it about the roots. Any one 
who knows how to make up a bed for a choice collection 
of hyacinths or fancy tulips, can manage a bed for 
gladioli exactly in the same way; and those who do not, 
must try and make a deep, rich, light bed for them, say 
two feet deep, filled with equal quantities of sandy loam, 
or loam and peat one half, and the rest of leaf mould, 
or rotten refuse of some vegetable matter, with a little 
sand or road scrapings, but no fresh manure, for no kind 
of bulb likes to be near fresh dung. When tins kind of 
bed cannot be had, the next best way is to dig out a 
round hole, eighteen inches wide, and two feet deep, and 
to fill it with the best light compost that can be pro¬ 
cured. The turf parings from the sides of the walks 
and flower-beds this spring, is an excellent thing to put 
at the bottom of the hole ; and broken turf from a com¬ 
mon is still better, say to the depth of one foot, then the 
rest may be from the top spit of any of the quarters or 
corners of the kitchen garden, if it can be spared. 
Planting out of pots does not disturb the ball in the 
least, and place it so that it is half an inch lower than 
the general level of the bed or border; the soil of the 
ball should be moist throughout, at the time of planting, 
and a few boughs of some evergreens should be placed 
round those that have leaves, for the first ten days or so, 
to break the force and chill of the easterly winds, till the 
leaves are inured to the change. When all these things 
are at hand, and things go on as they ought, gladioli will 
flower and seed far better this way than in pots under 
the best management; and no garden should be without 
lots of them, and under this system they need not be 
taken up every year, nor for many years, if the bed suits 
them. 
Japan Lilies. —The very same kind of treatment will 
do for these also in beds, borders, rows, or patches; and 
they are even more accommodating than the Sword 
lilies, or Gladioli, for they will do just as well in the 
American or peat beds, as in the best compost one can 
make. In planting them, it is a good plan to 
cover them full six inches, or, as they must now be 
turned out of pots, say four inches. They, too, may be 
left undisturbed for years; and it is worthy of remark, 
that a young brood of them, not expected to flower for 
the next two years, will increase in size and strength in 
the open ground, when rightly prepared, at double the 
rate they would in pots in the hands of the best growers ; 
so that the trouble of pot-nursing them is best dispensed 
with, even if no flowering bulbs can be spared for the 
borders. It is very strange how few of the finer lilies 
one sees in the best of gardens; for mixed borders, no 
plants give less trouble, and every one admires a fine 
lily in bloom. 
Ixias. —The strongest of them would answer to be 
turned out of their pots now into a warm border, in 
front of a greenhouse, or some such shelter; and I have 
often treated a surplus stock that way, but I must say I 
never found them do nearly so well as when planted” at 
once into the border, at the end of September, and pro* 
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