THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, February 12, 1801, 
WEEKLY CALENDAR, 
Day 
Day 
FEBRUARY 12-18, 1861. 
Weather near London in 1860. 
Moon 
Clock 
of 
M’ntb 
of 
Week. 
BaroDieter. 
Thermom. 
Wind. 
Rain in 
Inches. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets 
• 
Rises 
and Sets 
Moon’s 
Age. 
before 
Sun. 
Day of 
Year. 
12 
Tu 
SmtovE Tuesday. 
30.333—30.178 
d eg. d'g. 
38—21 
N.E, 
m. h. 
22 af 7 
m. h. 
7 af 5 
m. h. 
28 a. 8 
3 
m. 
14 
8. 
31 
43 
13 
W 
Lent begins. Ash Wednesday. 
30.508—30.455 
34—2) 
N.E. 
— 
20 
7 
9 
5 
35 
9 
4 
14 
30 
44 
14 
Th 
Persian Iris. 
30.526-30.457 
37—22 
N.E. 
— 
18 
7 
11 
5 
45 10 
5 
14 
27 
45 
15 
F 
Adonis vernalis. 
30.477—30.225 
41—3 5 
N. 
•30 
16 
7 
13 
5 
54 11 
6 
14 
24 
46 
16 
S 
Heliantlius viridis. 
30.184—30.020 
42—32 
N.E. 
•01 
14 
7 
15 
5 
morn. 
7 
14 
21 
47 
17 
Sun 
1 Sunday in Lent. 
30.370—30.225 
44—31 
N.E. 
•01 
12 
7 
17 
5 
4 
1 
8 
14 
16 
48 
18 
M 
Neapolitan Violet. 
30.312—30.122 
45—32 
N. 
— 
10 
7 
18 
5 
12 
2 
14 
11 
49 
Meteorology of the Week.— At Chiswick, from observations during: the last thirty-four years, the average highest and lowest 
temperatures of these days are 45.5° and 30.8 3 respectively. The great >st heat, 58°, occurred on the 16th, in 1859 ; and the lowest cold, — 32°, 
on the 13th, m 1855. During the period 146 days were fine, and on 92 
WORK FOR THE WEEK. 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Arrangements should now be made for cropping the 
kitchen garden the ensuing season. Allot a certain por¬ 
tion of ground for each particular crop ; this will prevent 
much trouble and confusion throughout the summer. 
Where there is plenty of ground it is not of so much 
importance, but where a large produce is required from 
a small garden it is highly necessai*y that some arrange¬ 
ment should be made and followed, so as to keep a 
succession of crops in the ground. In all situations and 
under all circumstances it is highly useful to keep a 
cropping-table, and note the time of sowing, planting, 
and gathering, with remarks on each description of 
vegetable. This table w r ould be of great value in point¬ 
ing out the best time of sowing in that particular locality, 
so as -to have the crops come in at the time required. 
Asparagus, give plenty of air to them, and all other crops 
in frames, and make up fresh beds. Cauliflowers, plant 
out from the seed-pans all the young plants before they 
become too much crowded, and, if needful, make fresh 
sowings. Cucumbers, make fresh linings, and keep up a 
steady heat in the beds. Sow seed for succession crops. 
Carrots, sow in frames, and thin those already up ; also, 
sow a crop in the open ground. Lettuce, sow a crop of Cos 
in frames, and in the open ground. Potatoes, plant for 
first ci’op in a sheltered situation, if not already done. 
Rhubarb, sow on a warm border. Spinach, sow a small 
quantity on a sheltered border. 
flower garden. 
Give the lawn a good rolling after rain, and where the 
turf is uneven to be stripped off, the ground levelled, 
and the turf relaid. Slightly edge the walks and roll 
frequently, to make them firm. Turn walks, and fresh 
gravel the surface where necessary. At this season 
of the year when walks become sodden it may be worth 
while to know that a small faggot burned in the cylinder 
of a garden-roller will heat it so as to prevent what is 
technically called “ licking.” All alterations should now 
be carried out without delay. Prune the Roses from 
which you wish to get an early bloom ; but defer the 
pruning of the more tender kinds to March. Trench up 
vacant and renew exhausted beds. 
FRUIT GARDEN. 
Continue pruning and nailing as directed before. 
Where nets or bunting cannot be procured for protect¬ 
ing the blossom of Apricots and Peaches, suspend from 
the top of the wall to the bottom of the tree a quantity 
of straw or hay ropes made with a few projecting loose 
straws. Dry fern or spruce branches may be nailed 
over the branches of the trees with advantage. 
STOVE. 
Commence applying more heat in moderation, and 
make use of the syringe every fine morning, except to 
the plants that are in bloom. Shake out and repot 
another succession of Gloxinias and Achimenes. Cut 
Ho. 646.— Vol. XXV. Ho. 20. 
fell. 
back Poinsettia puleherrima, Eranthemum bicolor, E. 
pulchellum, Justicia formosa, J. coccinea, &c. Select 
some of the best young plants of Euphorbia, Rondeletia, 
Brunsfelsia, Jatropha, &c., to be placed in. bottom heat. ^ 
GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 
Shift and tie out Pelargoniums as may be required, 
and allow them plenty of space with all the light possible, 
and a free circulation of air whenever the weather will 
permit. Cinerarias and other plants will require frequent 
shifting and placing at greater distances from each other 
that air may circulate freely among them. Do not allow 
Calceolarias to suffer for want of pot room, as a check to 
their growth is apt to throw them prematurely into bloom. 
FORCING-PIT. 
Keep the bottom beat up to 80°, and increase the 
atmospheric heat to 80° for a couple of hours on sunny 
afternoons, with occasionally slight syringings at such 
periods. The general temperature to range from 65® to 
75®. Continue to introduce Roses, bulbs, Lilacs, Sweet 
Briars, &c., for succession. Hyacinths, Narcissuses, 
Tulips, Crocuses, and all flowering bulbs of this descrip¬ 
tion, as soon as done flowering, to be turned out of their 
pots into some light rich soil on a warm border, or any 
other sheltered situation, to mature their bulbs for beds 
and border flowers next season. 
PITS AND FRAMES. 
As the late severe frost and damps will have reduced 
the number of some kinds of bedding-out plants, strong 
plants or store-pots of Verbenas, Fuchsias, Petunias, 
Heliotropes, Salvias, Calceolarias, &c., to be removed to 
some house, pit, or frame, with a moderate bottom heat, 
to excite them to furnish an abundance of early cuttings. 
Make a sowing of Phlox Drummondi, and place it in 
heat. Sow in a mild hotbed some Ten-week Stocks, 
Asters, French Marigolds, and other half-hardy annuals. 
Top dress Auriculas and Polyanthuses with a light loam 
made rich with rotten cowdung. Take off the offsets 
before top dressing; plant three or four in a five-inch 
pot, and place them in a shady part of the frame. Sow 
seeds of the same in shallow pans, and place them in a 
cold frame. W. Keane. 
DOINGS OF THE LAST WEEK. 
With the exception of a slight frost one morning, we have 
enjoyed a week (ending February 5th), of fine weather almost 
resembling that which gentle April generally brings. Some 
day3 have also given us a fair amount of sunshine, making plants 
and their attendants look all the more cheerful. We might even 
tramp the ground with firmer tread, and allow our feelings to 
rise to enthusiasm-point, but for the wrecks of Roses and every 
thing deciduous carrying a green leaf at the approach of the frost. 
Some evergreens too, look as if they had been held over the 
scorching flame of a furnace. Singular enough, some fine plants 
of Sweet Bay are little touched, whilst commonly-supposed 
hardier things are injured. The ground being in good order, 
flower-beds that had been dug were turned over, and beds and 
borders undug before the frost have been partly dug and laid up 
