191 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, December 28, 1858. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
Day 
of 
M’nth 
D o a f I 1 DECEMBER 28, 1858, to 
Week. JANUARY 3, 1859. 
Weather 
Barometer. 
near London in 1857. 
Tkermom. Wind. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
Pi. and S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
afterSun 
Day of 
Year. 
28 
Tu Innocents. 
30.420—30.411 
40—28 
W. 
_ 
9 af 8 
55 af 3 
20 af 1 
23 
1 
48 
362 
29 
W Heliotropiums. 
30.485—30.451 
48—31 
w. 
— 
9 
8 
56 3 
37 2 
24 
2 
17 
363 
80 
Tir Leschenaultia fonnosa. 
30.535—30.510 
43—27 
w. 
— 
9 
8 
57 3 
54 3 
25 
2 
46 
364 
31 
F Lobelia erinus maxima. 
30.504-30.435 
44—35 
E. 
-. 
9 
8 
58 3 
9 5 
26 
3 
15 
365 
1 
S Circumcision. 
30.444—30.382 
48—26 
s.w. 
— 
9 
8 
IV. 
20 m. 6 
27 
3 
44 
1 
Sun 2Sunday after Christmas. 
30.421—30.379 
44—33 
s.w. 
.01 
9 
8 
0 4 
23 7 
28 
4 
12 
2 
3 
M Myoporum parvifolium. 
30.444—30.394 
46—20 
S.E. 
8 
8 
1 4 
12 8 
29 
4 
40 
3 
Meteorology op the Week.—A t Chiswick, from observations during the last thirty-one years, the average highest and lowest 
temperatures of these day3 are 43.1° and 32.7°, respectively. The greatest heat, 58°, occurred on the 2Sth, in 1S5.0 ; and the lowest cold, 4°, 
on the 2nd, in 1834. During the period 118 days were fine, and on 78 rain fell. 
GARDENING OPERATIONS EOR THE WEEK. 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
As a little heat is necessary at this season, to grow 
any culinary vegetables that may be required early, it is 
advisable to collect leaves, which can generally be pro¬ 
cured in most gardens hi the country. When collected, 
they should be laid in a body, close together, to ferment: 
after three weelcs, or a month, they will be in excellent 
order for use. Eor immediate use, to apply as linings, 
or to build new beds, it is necessary to have at hand 
some hot dung, which should be frequently turned over 
and watered, to dispel the fiery heat; one-part of this 
hot manure to four-parts of the leaves will make a good 
and enduring material for all hotbed and lining purposes. 
If the dung had one powerful heating, previous to its 
mixture with the leaves, no danger need be apprehended 
from impure vapours, if the most ordinary precautions 
are observed. 
Cauliflowers.— If the autumn-sowing failed, it will 
be advisable to sow in a box, to be placed in heat, and 
when the plants are of sufficient size, to prick them out 
in a frame, in a slight hotbed. 
Celery Trenches. —Dig out, to receive benefit from 
frost. In the spring, Cauliflowers may be planted in 
them, and dwarf Peas, or Lettuce, between, which will 
be off by the time the trenches are wanted for Celery. 
Cucumbers. —A seed-bed should now be made, to raise 
young plants for hotbeds ; a one-light box is generally of 
sufficient size for the purpose. After the bed is made, 
and the heat is raised, the dung should be forked up to 
the depth of a foot every other morning, until the burning 
heat has subsided. 
Mushroom-beds. —Protect from wet and frost with a 
thick, covering of dry straw. If it gets wet, it should be 
replaced by dry, fresh straw ; and if mats are laid over 
tho whole, they will assist in carrying off heavy rains, 
and prevent the straw from being blown about by high 
winds. Take the opportunity of a mild, dry day-, to ex¬ 
pose the beds to the sun and air: they should be covered 
up again in the afternoon. 
Potatoes. —If young ones are wanted early, some 
Asli-leaved Kidneys, or Early Frame, may be planted in 
a slight hotbed. If it is not convenient to plant them 
immediately, they may be laid in any warm place until 
they begin to sprout. 
Radishes. —Sow in a slight hotbed. 
FRUIT GARDEN. 
Eruit Room. — Look over it occasionally, and put 
aside for immediate use any fruits that are beginning to 
decay. Fruits of all sorts should be used when in per¬ 
fection, as many of the choice kinds become insipid if 
allowed to get over-ripe before using. Any that do not 
appear to ripen in due season should be removed to a 
warm, dry place for a few days, to ripen them. The 
fruit-room should be kept as dry as possible, and, if 
frost is excluded, it cannot be too cool. If the place 
is damp, and apt to produce mouldiness, a few lumps 
of unslaked lime, in flower-pots, will absorb the moisture 
No. 535. Yol. XXI. 
from the surrounding air until it is entirely slaked. 
The same corrective to dampness may be applied with 
advantage in cold pits and frames. One bushel of lime 
will absorb five gallons of water. 
Gooseberry' Trees. —Destroy all suckers that have 
made their appearance, and finish planting where 
required. 
Wall Trees. —Prune the various sorts, except Figs; 
also standards, and fruit trees on espaliers. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
If any beds remain to be dug, they should now be 
finished. By digging two spades deep, the plants root 
deeper, and produce finer flowers, than if the ground 
were not so prepared; and, should the summer prove dry, 
they will not require half the watering they would do 
if the beds were dug only half the above depth. The ad¬ 
mixture of leaf mould would be an improvement to 
the soil. 
Prepare composts, manures, &c., and turn them over 
frequently. Much of the value of all composts and soils, 
for plants in general, and for florists’ flowers in particular, 
depends on their being sweet and mellow, which is only 
to be attained by time and frequent turnings. 
Evergreens. — A top-dressing of rotten manure, or 
leaf moidd, applied to any choice shrubs that are not 
[ growing as freely as they ought, will benefit them, work¬ 
ing it slightly into the ground as far as the extremities 
l of the roots may be supposed to extend, and covering it 
i with a little fine soil during the operation. 
Flower Seeds. —Whenever the weather is unfavour¬ 
able for out-door work, look over the sorts that have 
been collected during the past season, and clean them, 
previous to storing. 
Half-hardy Plants. —Cover with coal ashes, or moss, 
the roots of Erythrina laurifolia, Tagetes India, Ecu- 
vardia trijohylla, Watsonia fulgida, Oxalis of different 
sorts, Alstromerias, &c., to protect them from frost. 
Planting may still be performed, in open,mild weather, 
in bulbous roots, hardy perennials and biennials, and 
most sorts of trees and shrubs,—but more in the deciduous 
than the evergreens,—on all but heavy, or clayey, soils. 
Rhododendrons. —Where they are grown in masses, 
and indicate an appearance of having exhausted the soil, 
a top-dressing of rotten cowdung, about two or three 
inches deep, should be applied as far as the roots extend. 
It will afford nourishment to this noble tribe of plants, 
and will keep the ground cool and moist, and prevent 
rapid evaporation in summer. William Keane. 
CROCUSES. 
This day, the last Tuesday before Christmas, the first 
Crocus tops appeared above ground in my own garden, 
which reminded me of times long gone by, also of present 
times, and times to come. I merely went down the 
garden to take the mats off some lights, without thinking 
about gardening, or writing, of any sort. But the top of the 
Crocuses, for the first time this winter, was a text on 
