101 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, November 16, 1858. 
In two or three years time, this will be as fine an example of 
gardening as any in the country. Indeed, it ought to be, for the 
liberal-minded owner has spared no expense, as this brief account 
will show. T. Appleby. 
FORCING PREPARATIONS. 
The time has at length arrived when those who would force 
successfully must “ put their house in orderand, indeed, 
whether houses, pits, or other structures, they require a thorough 
revision. This subject deserves a full consideration, and I may 
observe, that it involves separate considerations,—viz., examining 
and cleansing the interior and heating materials ; the pruning, 
cleansing, and dressing of fruit trees; the protection of fruits— 
in pots, tubs, &c.—intended for forcing ; and the securing pro¬ 
tective materials. Before I proceed, let me observe, that there 
can he little hope of complete success without thorough clean¬ 
liness : forcing-houses should be made as clean and as sweet as a 
dairy. 
Therefore, the interior of all such structures must be 
thoroughly examined. The first thing to be thought about, is, 
whether any alterations, or re-arrangements of the interior be re¬ 
quisite, and whether any painting has to be performed. If such 
be the case, it should be done as early as may be, in order that 
the foul smell may be got rid of as soon as possible. But paint¬ 
ing is a thing to be avoided : it should be done earlier. What¬ 
ever alterations may he deemed necessary, there must be a 
thorough cleansing in all parts. Water, I need scarcely hint, is 
the article that is most wanted. Then there is the whitewashing, 
&c., all of which must be seen to. In whitewashing, it is neces¬ 
sary to add as much sulphur as the lime will carry : this is a 
valuable adjunct to other means, in averting the ravages of the 
red spider, and the much-dreaded Yine fungus. Next in order 
comes the examination of the heating apparatus, whether pipes or 
flues. The boilers also should be well understood ; if any sus¬ 
picion exists, they should be examined by a competent person. As 
for pipes, they sometimes require scouring out, but these things 
should be duly reported on. 
My second suggestion is, the pruning, cleansing, and dress¬ 
ing of fruit-trees. All pruning should be done the moment the 
leaves have fallen, whatever be the period at which they are 
required to be forced. To go into detail about pruning in general 
would occupy too much space. But I must say a little more 
about cleansing and dressing. The object of all dressings is two¬ 
fold,—to destroy whatever insects, or eggs, may exist, and to avert 
their attacks in future. There are several practices extant as to 
the kinds of dressing to be used; but I would have it borne in 
mind, that soft soap and sulphur are the two principal things on 
which the gardening world at present depends—that is to say, as 
to power. But in many cases it becomes requisite to use some 
tliickcning medium, to form a body of some endurance on the 
wood; and for this purpose such things as lime, clay, cow- ' 
dung, &c., are used. I will, therefore, merely offer an universal 
recipe, which, although it may not suit every case in gardening, is 
yet of service in nino cases out of ten. I 
It is this—one gallon of water, in which four ounces of soft i 
soap are well dissolved; add then as much sulphur as it will carry; 
and finally thicken with clay to a regular paint. This mixture 
may be applied to any fruit tree in a rest condition, but not to living 
foliage. The stems should be thoroughly painted with this mix¬ 
ture, not leaving a crevice untouched. In the case of Vines, the 
loose bark must be stripped away as clean as possible, before 
applying the paint. This is a most indispensable procedure, for 
this extraneous bark is of no real use to the tree, which, indeed, 
in a state of high health, seems to make an effort to cast it off. 
The stem enlarges, and, like a fast-growing youth, the same coat 
no longer fits, and, in attempts to wear it, the seams, or other 
parts, give way. Vines should have a second dressing, if possible, 
for too much care cannot be taken lo avoid the ravages of the 
fungus. 
Beaches, too, may receive this dressing twice; at least, such 
is my practice, or was, last January; and I can only say, that I 
never before saw a house of Peaches and Nectarines go through 
the whole season—until the fall of the leaf—without an insect. 
A finer house of Peaches and Nectarines could not be in the 
kingdom. Pigs, too, will do with this dressing; and, of course, 
iu orchard-houses, fruits in pots equally need it. 
We may now come to the protection of fruit trees in pots or 
tubs. With many it is a practice to leave some of these things 
above ground through the winter, than which no practice can ! 
be worse, for it is perfectly unnatural. There are some hard- 
faced things which may be thus handled, to be sure. A man 
may throw' a Rhubarb, a Sea-kale, or a Jerusalem Artichoke root 
on the ground in November, and plant it in the following 
February, and the plant succeed. But this will not do with 
Vines, Peaches, Strawberries, &c. They must be plunged quite 
up to the rim of the pot or tub. How many complaints do we 
hear of the blindness of Strawberries, in part owing—in some 
cases—to the wholesale destruction of the roots by the frost. 
Besides all these precautions, we have yet another point for con- 
I sideration—the securing proper protective materials for pits, 
frames, &c. These are of various kinds. Some use shelters, 
some straw mats, and, indeed, various other inventions ; but, after 
' all, I think we cannot yet supersede the old Russian mat. What¬ 
ever the kind may be, a proper provision should be made in time, 
that we bo not taken by surprise. There are many things forced 
J in pits or frames, which demand roof protection, especially where 
dependent on fermenting materials. 
For my part, after trying various things during many years, 
in many cases I feel obliged to have recourse to mats and dry 
straw. It is a well-known fact, that any cover touching the glass 
itself becomes a conductor ; but place it hollow, and it possesses 
a much greater efficacy. I know this in my own person : I am 
constantly liable to rheumatism in the knee joints, more or less. 
Now, when in bed, if the sheet touch a kuee when in ill-humour, 
aching is the immediate consequence; and why ? because the 
sheet robs the knee joint of warmth, the blanket robs the sheet, 
the coverlid robs the blanket, and the cold air robs the coverlid. 
And thus we may see what a constant pillage is going on. 
Now, in covering pits with mats and straw, if we put the mats 
first, in close contact, I do not think we do wisely. Rather first 
put on lightly plenty of mere dry straw, and then press all with 
mats. 
People very frequently are puzzled with the idea of conducting 
and non-conducting powers, hut they are very simple. The main 
business, first, with pits and frames, is, to prevent a too sudden 
loss of that interior warmth which has been previously accu¬ 
mulating. This is what they term arresting radiation. At the 
same time it must be admitted, that covering materials—in the 
case of cutting winds—certainly avert that refrigerating action, 
which winds are known to exercise, by passing over bodies 
warmer than themselves. Dryness is a great essential, and, al¬ 
though we cannot dry mats when we choose, we can continue to 
renew the straw when it becomes much draggled. I had almost 
forgotten to suggest, that all glass should be kept clean. 
R. Ebeington. 
IPOALEA CiERULEA. 
The following statement may, perhaps, be interesting to some 
of the readers of The Cottage Gardener Mr. Glover, of 
Smedley, Manchester, has an Ipomcea ccerulea (which grows in 
one of his fern-houses), that has produced, during the past season, 
13,000 blooms. Strange to say, these blooms were weighed, 
the weight of them being 25 lbs. Now, this said plant must 
have received a deal of nourishment from some quarter or other. 
It clearly proves Mr. Beaton’s assertion in last week’s Cottage 
Gardener, which was, that any vigorous climber must exhaust 
the soil in a bed in the course of about three years. The above 
statement respecting the Ipomea I had from Mr. Glover. It was 
a splendid sight to see the blooms as they came forth.— Samuel 
Tattersall. 
RUSTIC WORE. 
I see that one of your correspondents is inquiring about rustic 
work. I, therefore, beg to send you a plan of making rustic 
vases, as I made a few' about twelve months ago. As most of 
our florist friends are, no doubt, in the habit of getting their 
groceries from one place, I advise them to go to their grocer, 
and get him to give them a small butter-tub; when got, saw 
it hi halves, or according to the exact depth the}' would like 
the vase; after which, go to the Oak-yard with a saw, cut some 
tolerably straight sticks, without bark, one inch or more in 
diameter: but do not forget a pillar of three inches in diameter. I 
give 2s. per cwt. for the Oak. 
Nail the sticks close together all round the vase, in whatever 
form may suit the caprice of the individual. Make holes at the 
bottom for drainage, by boring with a red-hot poker ; after which, 
nail the vase to the top of the pillar, being sure to make it firm. 
