May 2fi. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
1.35 
flowering Salvias and Rhododendrons , when the buds j 
are set, &c,, but these should all be shaded at first, and 
receive moderate exposure afterwards. 11 is preferable 
not to place Camellias and Azaleas out until the point- 
bud begins to swell, and while the second should have a 
free exposure as respects the tops in a short time, the j 
Camellias carry a better green if they do not leel the full 
force of a Midsummer sun, and vet are so placed that 
they do not want shading. 
4thly.—With but few exceptions, hard-wooded plants, 
after they have been growing freely, and receiving a 
little shade at first, to use them to out-door circum¬ 
stances, require to be shaded no more afterwards. r l lie 
continuous shade was the reason of the Epacris not 
blooming freely. What has led many to give them this 
treatment, was the danger of their hair-like roots being 
burned and scorched in their pots; but this being 
guarded against by plunging, and at the same time 
attending to drainage, these, and many Heaths generally 
grown, would, after a short period of transition to use 
them to it, require no shade when placed out-of-doors in j 
summer, and the want of that shade would make them ; 
more stubby and prolific. 
othly.—No plant of any size, standing out-of-doors, is 
safe in a windy day. We have seen gullies swept on 
grass and gravel by the damaged heads of such plants : 
acting as brooms in a rainy, windy night. For securing 
such plants, nothing is more economical and suitable 
than driving in stakes, in rows, five or six feet from each 
other, connecting these with rods, and fastening the 
stem of each plant to the rod, placing moss round the ! 
stem to prevent it being injured by the bandage. This | 
will keep the plants upright. 
Othly. What is worth doing at all, is worth doing 
systematically and well. In almost every garden, a 
place is required every season for hardening-off plants, 
and as a standing place in summer. Protection and 
shade will be sure to be wanted ; and it is well not to 
be at the mercy of portable stakes, and single, isolated, 
littery mats. A simple skeleton for supporting a pro¬ 
tecting or shading covering is easily made, and though 
costing a little labour and expense at first, would be a 
saving for years afterwards. Supposing, for instance, 
that we could command a space, seven or eight feet 
wide, in front of a south, west, or cast wall, but prefer- 
iug the first as having the power to shade at pleasure. 
Now, against this wall, at the height ol six or seven 
feet, less or more, we would fasten a stout rail of wood 
longitudinally—say for twenty feet in length. Opposite 
this, and enclosing a space of seven feet, we should 
drive in a row of five larch pole stakes, so that they 
stood three feet above the ground. On these we would 
fasten a rail, and then from that take five other stout | 
rails to the one placed longitudinally against the wall, 
and if these were stout, the skeleton frame would be 
finished ; but to make assurance doubly sure, we would 
put other five stakes in the centre, and fasten the trans- j 
verse rails to them. We would secure protection to the i 
two ends by mats or cloth, made to hook off and on ! 
easily, having a transverse rail at the bottom of either 
end to fasten it to there. The covering for the top we 
would have in two pieces, so that we might expose 
plants in one division, and shade or cover in the other 
at will. Many materials might be used; we would 
prefer light canvass, or strong unbleached calico. We 
would have it long enough to hang a little over the 
front. We would fix the one end securely against the 
wall, and the other to a wooden rod, or roller, from one 
to oue-and-a-half inch in diameter, and the end extend- i 
ing beyond the cloth and the skeleton frame at least 
six inches. On this space we would wind up a cord 
longer than the length of the width of the roof; and as 
we pulled the cord, the resistance given by the cover 
being fastened at the top would cause the whole to 
revolve, mounting the roof, and taking the cover along | 
with it, being easily fixed at the top, or any other inter- | 
mediate distance, by fastening the string kept tight to a j 
staple or nail iu front. Whenever the string was loosed 
the rod and cover would run down. Would not such a | 
simple thing as this save much of trouble, and annoyance, 
and vexation, to many of us? 
?thly. We have often wondered that something on a 
similar plan, but better and more elegantly made, did 
not exist, not directly in sight of, but at no great 
distance from, the mansions of many who ardently love 
flowers, but who would wish to behold their beauties 
more fully than they could well do in a greenhouse. A 
similar contrivance would also enable amateurs to enjoy 
for a long time their best Geraniums, &c., when their 
house or houses were wanted chiefly for other purposes. 
Last summer, we noticed a neat structure of this kind, 
with a shelved stage underneath, at Delapre Abbey, 
near Northampton, which, at that time, was chiefly ♦ 
filled with Fuchsias, and compact, well-bloomed florists' 
Pelargoniums. Having applied to Mr. Mackie, he has 
given the following outline of its structure— 
“The position should be free from the prevailing 
winds of the district, and, if possible, should face the 
south. Sockets aro sunk into the ground for receiving 
the posts, much as is done for fixing the posts in laundry 
grounds. The posts are three inches by two inches, 
and made at the top with a morticed joint, that the top 
length may extend securely from one post to another. 
The height of each post is five feet six inches, the width 
of place nine feet, and length twenty feet. In that length 
six upright posts are necessary, three behind and three 
before, and the same number ot cross bars, one to form 
each end, and one in the middle. On each ot these 
cross bars a piece of wood, two feet iu height, is fixed 
by morticed joints, or screws, and another piece ol two 
inch wood, fixed longitudinally on these, forms the apex 
of the roof. A rafter at each end, and in the middle 
fixed to this ridge, and to the plate on the top of the 
posts, completes the skeleton on winch to suspend the 
covering. The cost, including labour, material, and 
having it neatly and strongly done, averages about 
three shillings per foot iu length, exclusive of covering 
and stage. Strong calico, without preparation, keeps 
