THE COTTAGE GARDENER ANT) COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, March 20, 1860. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
Day Day 1 
of of” ] 
M’nth Week.: 
MARCH 20—26, I860. 
Weather 
Barometer. 
near London in 
Thermom.J Wind 
1859. 
Rain in 
Inches. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
Rises 
and Sets 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
hef. Sun 
Day of 
Year. 
20 
Tv 
Cardamine hirsuta. 
30.328—30.069 
54-41 
S.AV. 
! .19 
4 af 6 
11 af 6 
13 5 
28 
7 
30 
80 
21 
W 
Sun’s declin. 0° 27' n. 
30.002—29.864 
48—31 
N. 
.07 
2 6 
13 6 
24 5 
29 
7 
12 
81 
22 
Th 
Tussilago petasites. 
30.25S—30.217 
47—30 
N. 
— 
v 
14 6 
sets 
© 
6 
53 
82 
23 
F 
Beilis perennis. 
30.276—30.020 
51—43 
N.W. 
— 
57 5 
16 6 
44 a 7 
1 
6 
35 
83 
24 
S 
Callitriche verna. 
80.016—29.991 
53—45 
N.W. 
— 
55 5 
18 6 
58 8 
2 
6 
17 
84 
25 
Sun ] 
5 Sunday in Lent. Lady Day. 
29.986—29.960 
58—44 
N.W. 
— 
53 5 
19 6 
12 10 
5 
58 
85 
26 
M ! 
* 1 
Orchis mascula. 
29.8S7—29.863 
55—42 
W. 
! *““ 
j 50 5 
21 6 
26 11 
4 
5 
40 
86 
Meteorology of the: Week.— At Chiswick, from observations during' the last thirty-three years, the average highest and lowest 
temperatures of these days are 50.9° and 33.1° respectively. The greatest heat, C9°, occurred on the" 24th, in 1858 ; and the lowest cold, 14° 
on the 25th, in 1850, During the period 141 days were fine, and on 90 rain fell. 
IN-DOOR GARDENING OPERATIONS FOR 
THE WEEK. 
GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY. 
As the great proportion of greenhouse plants are now 
commencing, or are in active growth, constant attention 
will he required for the judicious regulation of tempera¬ 
ture, and for the admission of fresh air in this fickle and 
ungenial weather, and in the supply of water to the roots, 
and atmospheric moisture. 
Balsams.; —Encourage the growth of them and other 
such tender annuals by potting them when the roots 
begin to cluster round the side of the pot. 
Calceolarias (Herbaceous).—Shift on the young stock, 
keeping the plants well down in the pots, so as to bring 
the earth in the pots up to the lowermost leaves, to 
induce the plants to throw out fresh rootlets from the 
stem. Keep a sharp look out for green fly. 
Climbers. — Prune off superfluous shoots; stop or 
pinch out the tops of gross leaders, and keep them neatly 
tied and trained. 
Cockscombs. —To remain in small pots until they be¬ 
gin to show flower. 
Dahlias. —Pot off cuttings as soon as struck. 
Sow in heat seeds of stove and greenhouse plants. 
stove and orchid-house. 
Attend to regular shifting, watering, and a free and 
healthy circulation of air, without draught, early in the 
morning to stove plants. Continue to cut down, disroot, 
and repot, as advised last week, those which have been 
flowering through the winter. To be then favoured with a 
bottom heat of from 75° to 80°, and slightly shaded during 
bright sunshine. Calantha veratifolia, Neottia picta, 
N. elata, Phaius of sorts, some varieties of Stanhopea, 
Zygopetalum Maclcayii, and other such Orchids that are 
now making their growth, would be benefited by an 
application of clear, diluted manure water occasionally; 
a kindly humidity to be kept up, and the shading to be 
in readiness for use during bright mid-day sun. 
PITS AND FRAMES. 
Sow tender and half-hardy annuals; pot off those 
already up ; give air daily, and never allow the plants to 
flag for want of water. Pot off cuttings of Dahlias, and 
continue the propagation of Fuchsias, Heliotropes, 
Petunias, Verbenas, and bedding-plants generally. 
forcing-houses. 
Beans (French).—Give them, when in a bearing state, 
a liberal supply of manure water, and see to keeping up 
a succession of them. 
Cucumbers. —As soon as the frames are uncovered in 
the morning give a little air for an hour, to let the stag¬ 
nant and foul air pass off, when they may be closed again 
till the day is further advanced. As soon as the prin¬ 
cipal shoots have reached the side of the frame, never 
allow any of the laterals to grow more than two joints 
before being stopped. 
Melons. —Those lately planted out to be encouraged 
No. 599.— Vol. XXIII. No. 25. 
with a close, moist heat, to get them into free growth as 
quickly as possible. The plants that are fairly established 
to be kept cooler, admitting air at every favourable 
opportunity, to produce short-jointed fruitful wood. 
The shoots to be kept thin and regular, pinching out any 
that are not wanted. The night temperature not to 
exceed 65°, and air to be admitted as soon as the ther¬ 
mometer rises to 75° ; but to be given very cautiously 
during cold winds. Prepare for raising plenty of young 
plants for succession crops, and endeavour to have them 
strong and vigorous by keeping them near the glass ; to 
be provided, when they require it, with plenty of pot- 
room. 
Mushrooms. — Collect materials for fresh beds, and 
give those that have been some time in bearing good 
soakings of manure water ; sprinkle the floor and heating 
apparatus occasionally. The conditions of success are 
to have the materials for making the beds well prepared 
and sweet—that is, free from rank steam, and the spawn 
to be put in whilst the heat keeps regular and moderate, 
and the beds are coated over to keep it so until the spawn 
is well established. 
Pines. — Give plants swelling their fruit plenty of 
manure water, and a humid atmosphere. 
Strawberries. —They require plenty of light and air 
to set their fruit, when they may be removed without 
fear of injury to a stove, or any other house or pit pos¬ 
sessing a higher temperature. 
Vines. —If the Grapes are colouring, a free circulation 
of air, accompanied with a high temperature, will be 
advantageous. Attention to be given, where fermenting 
materials have been used for warming the borders, that 
the heat is not allowed to decline at present under the 
influence of the March winds. Attend to last week’s 
advice as to tying, disbudding, &c., and proceed with the 
thinning the fruit in the succession-house as soon as the 
berries are fairly set. When thinning be as careful as 
possible of the bunches—neither pull them about with 
the hand, by which rust on the berries is frequently 
produced, nor with whatever the shoulders may be held 
up by at the time of thinning, as, by the twisting of the 
stalks, shanking is not unfrequently produced. 
William Keane. 
EXHIBITION OF HYACINTHS 
AT WM. CUTBUSH & SON’S, HIG1IGATE NURSERY. 
It has been laid down as a general law by The Cottage 
Gardener, that whoever has a name for some popular 
plant, or plants, about London, will find it to his advan¬ 
tage to make a public show of it or them yearly, in flower, 
while the Horticultural Society were in the transition 
state from bad to worse, and from the worst to the pin¬ 
nacle of fame and usefulness, to make such shows liberal, 
without ostentation, and to let the public in and out just 
as if the flowers were their own, in order that the safety 
of the flowers from hurt and harm might, that way, be 
secured with more certainty than by any police super¬ 
vision. Last year we recorded the Exhibition of Hyacinths 
