THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, January 10, 1860. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
' 
Day 
of 
M’nth 
1 
Day 
of 
Week. 
JANUARY 10-16, 1860. 
Weather 
Barometer. 
near London in 1859. 
Thermom. j Wind. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
Rises 
and Sets 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
kef. Sun 
Day of 
Year. 
1° 4 
Tu 
Veronica agrestis. 
30.695—30.567 
45-30 
S.W. 
_ 
6 af 8 
10 af 4 
58 
6 
17 
7 
37 
10 
11 
W 
Crocus vernus. 
30.484—80.422 
47—42 
w. 
— 
5 
8 
11 
4 
29 
8 
18 
8 
1 
11 
12 
Th 
Viola tricolor. 
30.426—30.366 
48-31 
w. 
_ 
5 
8 
12 
4 
55 
9 
19 
S 
25 
12 
13 
F 
Lonicer periclymenura. 
30.443—30.413 
42—32 
w. 
— 
4 
8 
14 
4 
20 
11 
20 
8 
48 
13 
14 
S 
Corylus avellana. 
30.418—30.332 
41-26 
N. 
— 
3 
8 
15 
4 
morn. 
21 
9 
10 
14 
15 
Sun 
2 Sunday after Epiphany. 
30.309—30.202 
39—22 
S.W. 
__ 
2 
8 
17 
4 
42 
0 
<£ 
9 
32 
15 
16 
M 
Ranunculus repens. 
30.154—30.036 
42-26 
S.W. 
— 
1 
8 
18 
4 
5 
2 
23 
9 
53 
16 
Meteorology op the Week.— At Chiswick, from observations during the last thirty-three years, the average highest and lowest 
temperatures of these days are 42° and 30.7°, respectively. The greatest heat, 56 J , occurred on the 15th, in 1852 ; and the lowest cold, 4°, 
on the 14th, in 1838. During the period 120 days were fine, and on 111 rain fell. 
IN-DOOR GARDENING- OPERATIONS FOR 
THE WEEK. 
GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 
The plants will now require particular attention and 
a nice discrimination in the application of water : it may 
be comprehended by all persons interested in gardening 
operations, that when the soil on the surface of the pot 
looks damp it will not require water until it gets 
thoroughly dry at this season, and then it is to be given 
before the plant droops or flags for want of it. But when 
the plant droops and the soil on the surface appears 
damp, the cause is then to be discovered by turning the 
ball out of the pot, when it will be seen whether the 
whole or only a portion of the soil is wet; as it some¬ 
times happens, when fresh potted with light soil, it 
shrinks from the sides of the pot when dry, and when 
water is given it runs down and moistens the outside, 
without penetrating the ball. The evil is corrected by 
holding it for a short space of time in a tub of water of 
the same temperature as the house. If the soil of any 
plant i3 sodden with water it should be turned out of the 
pot, and the drainage examined, and no water to be given 
until it becomes thoroughly dry. 
Verbenas. —They require to be kept tolerably dry, as 
they are more susceptible of injury from damp than from 
cold ; a top shelf near the glass in the greenhouse is a 
very suitable place for them. If mildew appears, to be 
dusted with flowers of sulphur. 
% 
STOVE AND OKCHID-noUSE. 
Although all plants now at rest should be kept com¬ 
paratively dry, they will require to be looked over daily 
to see that they do not suffer for want of water. The 
temperature not to exceed 60° by fire heat, and a fall 
of 10° may be allowed at night in very cold weather. 
Many of the stove plants—such as Aphelandras, Justicias, 
Poinsettias, &c.—may now be cut down altogether, and 
kept dry for a few weeks, which will cause them to make 
an early growth, and to come into flower a few weeks 
sooner next winter. 
Gesneras. —Select a few roots of them and a few of 
the Gloxinias to start into growth to produce a succession 
of flowers. 
FORGING-HOUSES. 
Asparagus. —If the soil in the bed is dry, give it a 
liberal supply of water, so that it may descend to the 
roots, as unproductiveness is sometimes caused by the 
soil at the roots being very dry when the top is kept 
moist by gentle waterings. 
Beans (Dwarf Kidney),—Sow every three weeks, if a 
constant supply is wanted. Keep the early crops well 
supplied with water, and give them frequent sprinklings 
overhead, to prevent the attacks of red spider. 
Mushrooms.— An abundance of water to be thrown 
about the floors. If the beds are dry, to be syringed 
with lukewarm water, applying it like dew at intervals 
for a few hours. Temperature from 50° to 60°, with air 
occasionally in favourable weather. 
No. 589.—You. XXIII. No. 15. 
Peaches. — Continue previous directions. The trees 
in bloom to be artificially impregnated, and the fore¬ 
right shoots to be rubbed off a few at a time before they 
become too large. Cux’rents of air to be carefully avoided, 
especially when the trees are in bloom, as they have been 
sometimes observed to sustain injury from the two end 
doors being left open for a short time. Air to be given 
at the top daily in favourable weather. 
Pines. —As the days lengthen and tbe light increases 
the plants that are swelling their fruit should be sup¬ 
plied with a gradual increase of heat (from 65° at night 
to 75° or 80° in the middle of the day in clear weather), 
water, and atmospheric moisture ; while others that are 
in bloom and starting into fruit require more air or more 
[ moderate temperature, care in watering and less atmo¬ 
spheric humidity. Some of the strongest succession 
plants that are grown in pots to receive their final shift, 
that they may make their growth for fruiting in May or 
June. In old-fashioned pits or houses, where the flues 
run near the tan-bed, the plants should be closely exa¬ 
mined, as they are apt to be injured by fire heat in such 
a situation. 
Strawberries. —A few dozens more pots may be placed 
in a frame where there is a gentle heat and an atmosphere 
more congenial to their healthy growth than in a house. 
Vines.- —When they have made shoots two or three 
inches long, the night temperature to range from 00° to 
65°, with an increase of from 5° to 10° during the day. 
PITS AND FRAMES. 
Keep the plants in these structures as hardy as possible 
by fully exposing them in mild weather, but do not give 
any more water than is absolutely necessary. Remove 
all decayed and decaying leaves, and keep the atmosphere 
in as healthy a state as possible. 
Make small hotbeds for sowing Cucumbers and Melons, 
Radishes and Early Horn Carrots, Cauliflower and 
Walcheren Broccoli, Lettuce, and various other things, 
which will be found useful where the late severe weather, 
or other cause, may have diminished the autumn sowings. 
William Keane. 
IMPORTANCE OF NIGHT AS WELL AS DAY 
EXPOSURE—HEATING versus COVERING. 
The registering thermometer stood, in my garden, at 50° 
soon after ten o’clock at night on tbe first evening of the 
new year, and that determined tbe choice of leaving out ot 
doors, on open shelves, some of my very choicest plants or 
new kinds of seedling Geraniums. Tbe same plants were left 
in tbe open air under a south wall, or rather against a 
south wall, on shelves, on the second and third nights of 
1860, and they will remain out every night that is dry all 
this winter, and that the thermometer is not under 40° at 
bedtime—say, at about ten o’clock. Tbe same practice I 
have now pursued for the last four winters; but from having 
kept no register of the ins and outs, all I can call from 
memory is, that on Christmas night, 1858 —that is, last 
Christmas twelvemonths, my best breeders were out in the 
