65 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, May 4, 1858. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
1 
Day 
of 
Mth 
Day 
of 
Week. 
MAY 4—10, 1858. 
Weather near London in 1857. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R.andS. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
afterSun 
Day of 
Year. 
Barometer. 
Thermo. 
Wind. 
Rain in 
Inches. 
1 4 
Tu 
Diplacus glutinosus. 
30.169—30.105 
56—23 
N.E. 
— 
29 af 4 
25 af 7 
14 af 1 
21 
3 
24 
124 
5 
W 
Diosma rubra. 
30.230—30.210 
55—29 
N.E. 
— 
27 
4 
26 7 
41 
1 
22 
3 
30 
125 
G 
Th 
Epacris grancliilora. 
30.219—30.184 
55—25 
E. 
_____ 
25 
4 
28 7 
0 
2 
€ 
3 
35 
126 
7 
F 
Erica Linnaeoides. 
30.135—30.111 
56—28 
E. 
-. 
23 
4 
30 7 
15 
2 
24 
3 
39 
127 
8 
S 
Eutaxia pungens. 
30.029—29.908 
60—32 
E. 
— 
22 
4 
31 7 
27 
2 
25 
3 
43 
128 
9 
Sun 
Rogation Sunday. 
29.805—29.731 
65—34 
E. 
— 
20 
4 
33 7 
39 
2 
26 
3 
47 
129 
10 
M 
Eucliilus obcordata. 
29.691—29.G26 
60—46 
E. 
.01 
18 
4 
34 7 
51 
2 
27 
3 
49 
130 
Meteorology of the Week. —At Chiswick, from observations during the last thirty-one years, the average highest and lowest 
temperatures of these days are 61.7° and 40.1°, respectively. The greatest heat, 81°, occurred on the Cth, in 1830 ; and the lowest old, 
21°, on the 8th, in 1855. During the period 125 days were fine, and on 92 rain fell. 
GARDENING OPERATIONS FOR THE WEEK. 
KITCHEN GARDEN. 
Asparagus. —Cut the strongest shoots, and allow 
the weakest to remain untouched. 
Beet.—S ow, if not done before. 
Broccoli is sometimes brought forward too fast by 
a change to warm weather, when it is advisable to dig 
up some before they are fully grown, to be laid in 
by their heels in some cool place, to produce a suc¬ 
cession. After the heads are cut for use, the stumps 
to be removed, as they harbour slugs, and impoverish 
the soil. 
Cabbage. —If the ground is hard between the 
autumn-planted, it should be dug up, and broken fine 
with a fork. Prick out plants from the seed-beds, to 
make them stocky before their final planting. 
Cauliflowers. —Fork up the surrounding soil, and 
give them a good soaking of water. 
Celery. —Prick out into a cold frame with two or 
three inches of rotten dung on a hard bottom, and two 
or three inches of light soil on the dung. They will 
transplant in proper time with a mass of fibrous roots 
to each. 
Cucumbers. —Give air daily, and occasional water¬ 
ings moderately. Train out the vines, or runners, 
regularly, and keep up a brisk heat by linings of hot 
clung. 
Endive. —Sow a small portion only, as it is apt to 
run to seed. 
Hand-weed beds of small plants. 
Kidney Beans (Dwarf). —Sow for succession, and 
a few in pots, to fill up any vacancies that may occur 
in the open ground. 
Lettuce. —The oldest plants to be liberally supplied 
with water, and the Cos sorts to be tied up, to form 
heads. 
Parsley. —Sow, as it is always in request. 
Radishes. —Sow the long and Turnip-rootecl sorts. 
Savoys. —Prick out the young seedlings in beds 
three or four inches apart, to acquire strength for final 
transplanting next month. Sow the principal crop for 
! the autumn and winter supply. 
Seedling Crops making their appearance above 
ground, to be watered, if the weather is dry; but as 
repeated waterings are sure to cake the ground, and, 
therefore, to make it most unfavourable for the growth 
of seedlings, we would advise, where practicable, to 
shade them with a few branches, or any other light 
material, to prevent evaporation. 
Sorrel. —Sow. 
Turnips. —Sow. 
FRUIT GARDEN. 
Fruit Trees. —Clear both young and old from all 
root suckers and shoots emitted from their stems. 
Strawberries. —Keep the plantations free from 
' weeds. 
Proceed with disbudding Peaches, Nectarines, and 
all wall trees during the summer, to ensure a more i 
healthy and fruitful state than can be attained by any 
winter or spring treatment. 
FLOWER GARDEN. 
Beds to be dug, and fully prepared for the reception 
of the usual summer plants, previous to planting. 
When the nights are warm, seeds and herbaceous 
plants, and recently-transplanted trees and shrubs, 
should be watered in the evening, that the soil may 
gradually imbibe the water; but if the nights are cold, 
the early part of the morning is the best time for its 
application. Some plants for masses, such as Lobelias, 
Pentstemon genii anoides, Calceolarias, Verbenas, &c., 
may be planted out in sheltered situations ; and if frosts 
should occur, a few branches laid over, or stuck about 
the beds, would afford sufficient protection. Recentl}-- 
planted Box edging, and fresh-laid turf, will require 
water in dry weather. 
Proceed with weeding and rolling the walks when 
damp. 
Annuals. —Some of the early-sown will now require 
thinning out and to betopped,to make them bushy. One 
plant, if allowed to expand to its natural dimensions, 
will be more effective than a dozen crowded together 
on the same space. 
Dahlias.— Harden off cuttings, which have been 
potted, preparatory to planting out. 
Herbaceous Plants. —The shoots to be staked, 
and tied out separately, not bundled together, as is 
frequently done. William Kf.ane, 
FARFUGIUM GRANDE. 
For the next few years this will be the most popular 
plant among the fancy variegated-leaved plants, be¬ 
cause it is, like Isolepis gracilis, everybody’s plant; 
a plant for the Queen’s drawing-room, and which will 
also do for the rooms and windows of all her Majesty’s 
subjects in the British isles ; likewise for their rock 
gardens, wilderness dingles, and all fancy works in 
roots, stones, and all manner of rustic w r ork. That is 
to say, provided it is kept on short commons at the 
roots, and not too much exposed to the sun ; but above 
all, that every slug, and snail, and nibbling creature, 
within its reach, be caught and “ killed as dead as a 
hammer,” before the plant is risked out of doors, 
But it is as a pot plant, and a trade plant in pots, 
that it will be most valuable and valued. It will be in 
Covent Garden Market this time next year at sixpence 
a pot, as sure as my name is Donald; therefore, see¬ 
ing that there is no reason to prevent Farfugiuni 
grande from becoming a “ state plant ” in the markets 
of Great Britain and Ireland, in less than two years 
from the time it was sold from two to three guineas a 
plant, I shall proceed to show the way to that point. 
But having arrived at that point myself, in a most 
extraordinary manner, and in a very round-about way, 
I must tell the manner and the way, to make good 
No. 501. Vol. XX. 
