THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, December 21, 1858. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
Day 
of 
M’ntk 
Day 
of 
Week. 
DECEMBER 21—27, 1858. 
Weather 
Barometer. 
near London in 
Thermom. Wind 
1 
1857. 
Rain in 
Inches. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R.andS. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
befo.Sun 
Day of 
Year. 
21 
Tu 
St. Thomas. 
30.050—29.964 
54—46 S.W. 
.01 
6 af 8 
51 af 3 
43 af 4 
16 
1 41 
355 
22 
W 
Diosrna ericoides. 
30.200—30.970 
56—50 1 S.W. 
— 
7 
8 
51 3 
10 6 
17 
1 11 
356 
23 
Th 
Eutaxia mvrtifolia. 
30.341—30.292 
57—43 S.W. 
— 
7 
8 
52 3 
49 7 
13 
0 41 
357 
24 
F 
Fuchsia serratifolia. 
30.381—30.293 
53—42 S.W 
7 
8 
52 3 
18 9 
19 
0 11 
358 
25 
S 
Christmas Day. 
30.315—29.238 
55—26 S.W. 
— 
8 
8 
53 3 
42 10 
20 
after 
359 
26 
Sun 
1 Sunday after Christmas. St. 
30.339—30.278 
46—36 W. 
— 
8 
8 
54 3 
morn. 
21 
0 48 
300 
27 
M 
St. John Evan. [Stephen. 
29.364—29.323 
44—24 N. 
— 
8 
8 
54 3 
1 0 
€ 
1 18 
361 
Meteorology of the Week.— At Chiswick, from observations during the last thirty-one years, the average highest and lowest 
temperatures of these days are 43 .4* and 31.4°, respectively. The greatest heat, 58°, occurred on the 23th, in 1827 ; and the lowest cold, 9’, 
on the 22nd, in 1855. During the period 107 days were fine, and on 89 rain fell. 
GARDENING OPERATIONS FOR THE WEEK. 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Cauliflowers. —In very mild weather, like the pre¬ 
sent, the glasses may he left off night and day, to prevent 
them from being drawn up weakly. Divest the plants 
of dead leaves, and keep a sharp look out for slugs. 
Celery. —As it still continues to grow, it will be neces¬ 
sary to earth-up, that it may not be injured when frost 
sets in. 
Hedges.— Quick is sometimes used to form the outer 
fence of gardens : it should now be trimmed to slope 
regularly to a sharp point at the top. Unhealthy shoots, 
that arc liable to the attacks of insects in the summer, 
are the consequences of late pruning in the spring; and 
nakedness at bottom is occasioned by allowing the top to 
overhang. 
Lettuces should be treated in the same manner as 
advised for Cauliflowers. 
Mushrooms. —Horse-droppings should now be saved 
for spring beds. This is the best season for collecting 
them, as horses have a more dry food than during the 
summer. 
Parsley. —As it is doubtful whether it may be pro¬ 
tected by hoops and mats, it is the safest plan, where 
there is a regular demand for it, to take it up, and to 
plant it in pots, or shallow boxes, and to place it under 
protection; or, what is better, in any place where there is 
a little heat. 
Rhubarb and Sea-kale. —Keep up a succession of 
these most useful esculents, by covering them in the open 
gi’ound, or by potting, or planting, them in soil in any 
place where a heat of 60° could be maintained. 
FRUIT GARDEN. 
Cherries, Pears, and Plums. —These trees, when in 
an unhealthy state, are generally infested by a scale in¬ 
sect, which should be destroyed by a mixture of softsoap, 
tobacco-water, and lime, well washed into the crevices of 
the bark, and all parts affected. 
Fig Trees. —Protect, when severe weather sets in. 
The branches should be unnailed from the walls, and five 
or six branches tied into a bundle: ropes of straw, or 
hay, wound round them, will be a sufficient protection, 
where mats are not at hand. 
Fruit Trees. —Finish root-pruning, or transplanting, 
as soon as possible. Secure with stakes any standards 
that have been recently moved, or root-pruned, to prevent 
them from being loosened, or injured, by high winds. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
Calceolarias. — Should the weather continue mild, 
all cuttings that are rooted may be potted off into small 
pots, but kept close in a dry frame until they have made 
fresh roots. They are very susceptible of injury from 
heat or damp. 
Carnations and Pinks. —As rabbits are apt to attack 
them in severe weather, it may be worth while to try 
Mr. Rivers’ plan of dipping small, square pieces of cloth 
No. 531. Vol. XXI. 
into brimstone, tying them to sticks, and inserting the 
sticks in the ground round the beds. 
Lawns and Walks. — Keep them free from fallen 
leaves, sticks, &c., and roll them occasionally in dry 
weather. 
Pansies. —At this season, worms are apt to be trouble¬ 
some in the lately-planted beds. A little lime-water, in 
a clear state, if poured over their casts, will speedily 
relieve the plants of their presence. 
Pits and Frames. —At this dull, foggy season, when the 
' days have dwindled to their shortest span, the plants in 
these structures will require daily attention, to free them 
from dead leaves and mouldy fiower-stems, that, if ne¬ 
glected for a short time, extend mouldiness like a plague- 
spot, and contaminate everything they touch. All fresh and 
straggling growth should be checked, by pinching out the 
tops of the shoots with the finger and thumb. Watering 
should be avoided as much as possible, as it is even better 
to let a plant flag a little than to have it saturated at the 
root. The principal objects should now be—to have a 
dry atmosphere, a free circulation of air in favourable 
weather, as much light as possible, and a supply of water 
limited to the smallest quantity, to keep them from 
flagging. 
Polyanthuses. —Remove any blooms that may appear 
now, and keep all the pots, of everything in frames, free 
from drip. 
Roses. —Protect the more tender varieties at once, if 
not already done, as it is most hazardous to delay it any 
longer at this variable season of the year. 
Seeds. —Cones of Cedars and other Ooniferse, and the 
seeds of choice shrubs, that the remarkably fine summer 
and autumn of this year produced and ripened, should 
now be gathered. 
Trees and Shrubs. — Although the perfectly-hardy 
sorts may be planted in mild weather, in well-prepared 
ground, of a dry nature, we would advise to postpone the 
transplanting of all such as are known not to be perfectly 
hardy, and also large evergreens, until the weather be- 
I comes mild in spring. We would say, plant not at all 
in ground of a clayey nature, and in an unfit state, at 
present, until it is deeply dug, or trenched, and exposed 
to the action of the atmosphere during the winter. By 
such means it will be brought into a fit state for planting 
in the spring. William Keane. 
TRITONIA AUREA. 
This was the fourth division of the subject I had in 
hand the week before last. I left it out then, because it 
was too long ; but it is too important to let it stand over 
until the new year. 
Fifteen months since, I thought one of the experiments 
in hand would show the reason why an Ixia-like bulb— 
as this Tritonia is—could not be sold as cheap as my 
other Tritonia, or Ixia; and when I said, this autumn, 
that it could be sold as cheap as any Ixia, I was quite 
sure of the fact. But I put the subject in a different 
