THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
383 
SeptembIer 19.] 
growth, and so increase the size of the bulbs, and bring | 
them to such state of maturity as will enable them to | 
flower. 
Ranunculuses. —The same care must be bestowed 
upon the beds intended for planting with these flowers; 
but there is no need of so much hurry. The tulip ought 
to be planted in the month of November, and, as near as 
the weather will allow, the 10th day of that month. This 
date suits all the counties south of Birmingham. Those 
to the north had better be planted a little earlier. The 
roots of the ranunculuses should be frequently examined 
and all insects destroyed, and decaying bulbs removed, 
for the treatment of the rest of florists' flowers see the 
preceding numbers of The Cottage Gardener. 
T. Appleby. 
THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 
Mushroom-beds make. This is just the season for 
this kind of work. Use dryish, husky materials. The 
grand thing is to use such materials as will heat them¬ 
selves dry, and continue warm the greatest length of 
time. Beds made with such materials, attended to 
when required with the finest showery waterings with 
tepid water, and with due attention to coverings, will 
continue in bearing a very long time. Let the materials 
be turned over several times previously to making up 
the beds; and horse droppings should form the prin¬ 
cipal part of the materials used, particularly if for boxes 
and shelves ; but for the common ridge beds out of 
doors, half horse droppings and half dry husky litter, 
mixed up well together, will form excellent materials for 
these kinds of beds. The beds should be spawned as 
! soon as the heat is a little on the decline, and covered 
with a light loamy soil, neither too wet nor too dry, from 
one aud a half inch to two inches thick. It should be 
watered with a very fine rose waterpot, and covered 
equally all over, and beat down with the back of a 
smooth spade; then sprinkled again, and beat down 
again and again until the whole face of the bed is quite 
smooth and even. Let the whole dry off a little before 
it is covered with any thing. The coverings should be 
very thin at first, so as not to draw up too much heat, 
&c. Refuse hay is the best material for covering the 
beds with; but, in the case of out-door beds, thatched 
hurdles, or the like, would be found useful to throw oft' 
the rain. 
Asparagus. —Where plenty of strong plants have 
been prepared for keeping up a regular supply of this 
! vegetable, from the middle of October until the next 
i spring, a preparation should now be made for com 
mencing its gentle forcing; and those who are provided 
with tank heat, or - the means of obtaining hot-water 
pipe heat, have nothing more to do than to clear out the 
structure, lime-white its walls, &c., and well furnish it 
with the requisite quantity of light soil, leaf-mould, or 
decomposed sweet old tan ; the leaf-mould we have long 
found the best, but the chief point is to secure a well- 
regulated genial warmth, particularly whon the plants 
are first placed on the bed. Those who have the com¬ 
mand of tank or hot-water pipe heating have this essen¬ 
tial requisite fully at hand, but those who have entirely 
to depend on fermenting materials should always give 
this matter a little consideration, and reflect how they 
may best make a beginning that will secure a satis¬ 
factory ending; and for this purpose great care must be 
taken not to apply too strong a bottom-heat at first. 
Such a mode of proceeding being sure to hurry up the 
crop in an unnatural manner, and produce asparagus of 
a small and flavourless kind. 
The foundation of the hotbed, whether in pit or frame, 
should be made of a quantity of rubbish, pruniugs, 
trimmings, bush faggots, or anything of a similar kind 
that can be spared; on this a slight hotbed should be 
placed made with well wrought materials, or what is 
better, with old half-decayed hotbed linings, upon this 
place six inches of decayed old tan, leaf-mould, or light 
earth, on which the plants should be placed as thick 
together as they can be put, after having been taken up 
very carefully with all their roots to them, and without 
being bruised; care should be taken too, that the buds 
at their crowns are not bruised, or the shoots will appear 
deformed and rusty; over the crowns of the plants when 
first placed, about two inches of either of the foregoing 
materials should be put carefully all over them ; a com¬ 
mand of bottom-heat at the commencement from 75° to 
80° is quite sufficient, increasing it a little by the ap¬ 
plication of linings in about a fortnight, but the princi¬ 
pal aim in applying linings should be to command a 
surfaoe or interior atmospheric heat of from 60° to 65°, 
instead of the strong burning bottom heat which was 
formerly aimed at, by leaving flues in the liot-beds and 
boring holes through them to admit all the possible 
heat that could be commanded underneath the plants. 
If the interior atmosphere is thus kept warm and genial, 
there will be no fear but that the bottom heat will be 
sufficient. For this purpose, place at the foundation of 
the linings some open rubbish or faggots, as recom¬ 
mended for the foundation of the hotbed, hanging over 
the outside of it any kind of refuse litter to prevent the 
cold air entering; on this should be placed the ferment¬ 
ing materials for commanding the top or interior heat, 
which is more in imitation of the sun shining; and by 
protecting the outside of the lining with thatched hur¬ 
dles, furze faggots, or faggots made of evergreen prim¬ 
ings, bean, or artichoke stalks, or any kind of handy 
refuse, and occasionally topping it up, a beautiful uni¬ 
form heat may be commanded with little trouble or 
expense for the length of time required. This atmo¬ 
spheric temperature of 60° or 65° should not, however, 
be applied until the asparagus has fairly started its buds, 
which may be ascertained by examination, or by observ¬ 
ing them making their appearance through the light 
shallow covering, which should then have three or four 
inches more added to its surface. 
Cardoons. —A part of the earliest should have a 
thorough soaking of liquid manure, and when dry the 
leaves should be tied up round the heart of each plant, 
and then bandaged with hay or straw bands, and earthed 
up> to blanch. The tube or growing crop should be duly 
encouraged by surface stirring, and the application of 
liquid manure. 
Cauliflowers. —Those already up should a,t an early 
opportunity be pricked out; if mildew prevails in the 
seed-bed they should be dredged all over with flowers of 
sulphur whilst damp. Those who intend sowing their 
cauliflowers at the end of the month should have a 
little good fermenting material in their mind's eye. 
Cucumbers should be sown for winter crops in a 
kindly heat; the plants early pricked into small pots 
placed close to the glass, and kept well aired to keep 
them healthy and strong, which will ensure their giving 
satisfaction when placed in their proper quarters. 
Kidney Beans. —The growth of kidney beans should 
be encouraged in spare pits and grounds where they are 
up and growing, by having the lights shut close at 
night, being sprinkled down early on sunny afternoons 
with tepid water, and then shut up. As melon and 
cucumber pits and frames become vacant more should 
be planted in succession. As the nights get colder, add 
also a little extra heat by linings and slight coverings, 
at night, if found necessary. 
Routine Work. — Celery : earth up ; see last week- 
Cabbages: plant; let the soil be made rich to receive 
them. The quarters where the onions are taken off in 
general come in well for the cabbage crop. Continue 
pricking out all kinds of young plants into nursery-beds 
