27 2 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTEY 
Drain the pot well, place over the drainage a little moss 
or chopped straw, and then the roughest part of the 
mould, mixed with a little dried nodules of old cowdung, 
for the deptli of several inches. Then fill up with the 
rest of the compost, consisting of pure, sandy, fibry loam, 
with pieces of peat earth and some flakes of decayed 
leaves. This soil should not he sifted, but roughish, a 
great proportion of it being of the size of beans and large 
peas. Place it firmly against the tuber in the centre of 
the pot, and give no water until the roots begin to run ; 
and afterwards, until the pot is full of roots, be careful 
that the watering goes no farther than the roots. For 
some time, therefore, when the tubers are thus potted at 
once, no watering will be required except in a widening 
circle in the centre of the pot. If the soil is neither wet 
nor dry when used, that part not occupied by roots will 
be long in drying in the winter months. By the time the 
shoot is a foot long it should be fastened carefully to the 
intended trellis; and every few days in winter, and every 
day in spring, the shoots will want fastening in their 
place, so as to keep the base of the trellis full. If once 
the shoots get entangled, farewell to all attempts at 
future regulation. When a strong plant grows freely it 
'( will require a few minutes’ training every day. When 
getting to a large size it will need a good amount of 
water. The shape the plant should assume is purely a 
matter of taste—a flat, a round, or a balloon-shaped trel¬ 
lis, two or four feet in height, answers well. A young 
Larch tree does very well for a support, as the shoots 
merely require to be laid properly among the branches 
to fasten themselves. 
The Dielytra may remain in a dryish, not dust dry 
state, beneath the stage, or in any corner out of sight, 
until its shoots also begin to rise. Presuming that the 
drainage and soil are all right, instead of repotting, take 
a pointed stick and your fingers, and remove the surface 
soil to the depth of some inches, so that you do not hurt 
the roots, and fill up the space with a rich compost of 
loam and very rotten dung The Lilies should remain 
in a state of rest until they begin to move, when they 
should receive similar treatment. Any place where they 
will be cool and secure from severe frost will suit them, 
and if the floor is damp, or they are plunged in a damp¬ 
ish substance, they will want no water during the winter. 
The soil should not be wet, nor yet dry, but in a medium 
state between the two extremes. 
With such a collection it would hardly be right to add 
more to the few mentioned above, though I should like 
“E C.” to try a few Cinerarias for blooming early in 
spring, and a few herbaceous Calceolarias from seed sown 
in August. The aspect would suit them well, as they do 
without a vast amount of sunshine, and the variety of 
colours would be very attractive. In April, May, and 
June a better place could hardly be chosen for them. 
Supposing that a little plant of most of the things 
mentioned were kept, but that the beauty of such a 
house were to depend chiefly on four or five things, I 
would have Chrysanthemums of the small kinds for 
early winter grown, of course, out of doors in summer; 
Jasminum nudiflorum , and Tree Carnations, and Wall¬ 
flowers, grown in the same way, to succeed them. A 
few bulbs, helped on in the kitcln^n, to succeed them, 
with a Cytisus, a Daphne, or a Camellia to lend its 
attractions; the Cinerarias and Calceolarias for spring 
and early summer, Pelargoniums for summer, and 
Fuchsias for summer and autumn. If there was no 
garden at all, in which many of these things should be 
grown or kept for certain periods, side balconies at the 
windows would answer, but would involve more trouble. 
The general treatment during the winter, as respects 
watering, &c., will be foundin the articles on window gar¬ 
dening; but, in the hurry of writing, the matter of air 
giving was not treated upon explicitly enough. As 
the conservatory referred to must, on the whole, be 
GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, January 20, 1857. 
viewed in the winter months as a preservatory rather 
than a conservatory ; in other words, a place for keep¬ 
ing plants healthy rather than growing and flowering 
them freely, a little air should be given freely when 
the atmosphere is.clear, and the external temperature 
averaging 40°. Even in cold weather a little air should 
be given to change the atmosphere of the house, even 
though fire heat should be used to neutralise it. Some 
people have been surprised at the small amount of air 1 j 
and others sometimes give, not because we do not like [ 
the fresh air in tolerable quantity, but because the giving ! 
of much involves, in many cases, a great addition to the I 
coal bill. When air is very frosty it should not strike 
directly upon a plant in the house before it is heated and J 
softened. When the plants are a little distance from j 
the roof, and small openings are made in the highest i 
part, the heating and moistening of the air are effected i 
before it reaches the plants. It. Fish. 
HINTS ON FORCING FRUITS EARLY. 
It has often occurred to my mind that we gardeners, 
in attempting to obtain early Grapes, Peaches, Nec- | 
tarines, Cherries, &c., do not sufficiently study the prin- ! 
ciples of action by which such early fruits may with 
certainty be obtained. We are too apt to follow the 
old practices, such as our forefathers laid down for us and 
taught us. Hence our success is uncertain and incon¬ 
stant. In dry, favourable seasons we succeed moderately, 
and in wet, uugenial ones we fail. The grand object of 
forcing is to produce fruit at an unusual season. We 
can imitate Nature in turning winter into summer as 
far as regards internal atmosphere, warm showers, and 
heated draughts of pure and fresh air. The only thing 
we cannot imitate in that dreary season is light; we 
cannot make artificial sunshine. Flence our forced 
fruits are deficient in colour, which sunlight only can 
give ; but, though not so blooming as summer fruit, yet 
in flavour, size, and quantity we may, no doubt, suc¬ 
ceed very well; and I need not say how acceptable to 
the sick invalid, perhaps tormented with excessive thirst, I 
are a few Grapes, Strawberries, or any fresh ripe fruit. ; 
To them the relief is most grateful. With a space 
covered with glass, heated by hot water, together with 
proper soil and right management, we may succeed in 
obtaining early fruit sufficiently perfect to be invaluable 
to the sick, and very acceptable to those who may be in 
health. The question naturally presents itself to the 
mind of a young or ignorant cultivator, What are the j 
points of culture that I must attend to in order to j 
succeed in producing early crops of fruit? and others 
may inquire, What is the cause of failure or partial j 
success? I will endeavour to answer the latter queries ! 
first. 
I think the failure in the crops on the Vine arises 
from the roots. The roots are, in most places in 
the country, situated in a border outside the Vinery. 
There they may be subjected to a great degree of cold, 
whilst the branches are in a warm, genial atmosphere. 
This is, as common sense dictates, a most unnatural 
state. Good gardeners try to obviate it by a thick 
covering of litter or leaves. Some carry this out so far 
as to even make a slight hotbed on the surface of the 
border. My objection to these palliatives is that the 
roots are still in a much colder medium than the 
branches. I remember when I was gardener to the Rev. 
James Armitage Rhodes, at IJorsforth Hall, the Vines 
were planted outside, and to keep the frosts from the roots 
we not only covered the border with litter, but went to the 
expense of covering the litter with waterproof canvass. 
It might have been expected that this covering WQuld 
have been effectual, and the crops of fruit good, but it 
was far from being so ; I mean in the Vineries that we 
